"A certain man made a great supper, and bade many; and sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready." (Luke 14:16-17)
"Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb." (Rev. 19:9)
The supper is the last meal of the day. In this parable there are three calls to supper. This parable must not be confounded with the calls to "dinner" spoken of in Matthew 22:1-7. The "dinner" is the mid-day meal. In the parable respecting the calls to dinner, we learn that those who made the call were "spitefully entreated" and slain, and that even the son of the king was killed. The king who had sent forth the call "destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city."
This parable of the calls to "dinner," showing the fate of those who first rejected that call, fittingly represented what actually came upon those who rejected the gospel of Christ, and slew him and his apostles. The Lord sent armies against that nation, who "destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city" -Jerusalem.
The Call to Supper
This call to supper in the parable undoubtedly has reference to the "marriage supper of the Lamb." A blessing is pronounced on those who are called to that "marriage supper." A marriage supper follows the marriage. The marriage of the Lamb occurs before he comes; for, as we have already seen, when Christ finally comes, he will "return from the wedding." (Luke 12:36)
This call to the marriage supper, then, must be the same as the first angel's message of Revelation 14, and the time proclamation of the tenth chapter, already noticed. As recorded by Luke, this first call to supper goes to "them that were bidden." Who were those that had been bidden?-Those who had heard and accepted the gospel of Christ. They profess to love Christ, and to love his second appearing as the full fruition of their hope. Why should not the call go first to them? As it was necessary that the gospel should first be spoken to the Jews who had the Scriptures, and claimed to be looking for the coming of the Messiah, (Acts 13:45) so the message of Christ's second coming was first presented to those who claimed to be his followers, and to love his appearing.
The Call to Them that Had Been Bidden
The first call to the supper, being to those who had been bidden, must go to the churches. Now, as a matter of fact, the proclamation of the near coming of Christ, from the year 1833 to the spring of 1844, was made in the churches, and to quite a large extent was seconded by the ministers of those churches. William Miller's first publication of his views on the near coming of Christ was in a Baptist paper of Brandon, Vt. The labors of himself and his associates up to April, 1844, were largely in church buildings or halls secured by the churches of the day.
Elder Himes thus speaks of the labors of Elder Miller down to the spring of 1844: "He labored among all parties and sects, without interfering with their organizations or discipline, believing that the members of the different communions could retain their standing, and at the same time prepare for the advent of their King."
Elder Himes, in speaking of his own and Elder Miller's united labors, further states: "Most of the ministers and churches that opened their doors to us and our brethren who were proclaiming the advent doctrine, co-operated with us until the last year"-the year 1844.
Open Doors for the Message
Concerning his work and the nature of it, Wm. Miller said: "Doors have opened to me to proclaim this doctrine of the second coming of Christ among almost all denominations, so that I have been able to comply with but a small portion of the calls. . . . In every place where I have been, the most pious, devoted, and living members of the churches do most readily embrace the views thus proclaimed; while the worldly professor, the Pharisee, the bigot, the proud, haughty, and selfish, scoff at and ridicule the doctrine of the second coming of Christ."
Respecting the nature of the advent message, the same can be said of it that D'Aubigné said of the Reformation,-It "was accomplished in the name of a spiritual principle. It had proclaimed for its teacher, the word of God; for salvation, faith; for arms, the Holy Ghost; and had by these very means rejected all worldly elements."
A Mighty Wave of Revivals
The nature of the revivals that followed the proclamation of the advent message are thus described by L. D. Fleming, pastor of the Casco street Christian church, of Portland, Maine:-
"The interest awakened by his [Wm. Miller's] lectures is of the most deliberate and dispassionate kind, and though it is the greatest revival I ever saw, yet there is the least passionate excitement. It seems to take the greatest hold on the male part of the community. What produces the effect is this: Brother Miller simply takes the sword of the Spirit, unsheathed and naked, and lays its sharp edge on the naked heart, and it cuts! that is all. Before the edge of this mighty weapon, infidelity falls, and universalism withers. False foundations vanish, and Babel's merchants wonder. It seems to me that this must be a little the nearest like apostolic revivals of anything modern times have witnessed."
An Experience in Richmond, Me
As an illustration of the revival work that went with the preaching of the advent doctrine, we will quote from the report of one who was actively engaged in that movement. In speaking of a quarterly meeting held at Richmond, Me., representing thirty Freewill Baptist churches, he says:-
"As I entered the place of worship, Elder Rollins, who was seated by the side of the pulpit at the farther end of the house, arose and said, 'Brother White, you will find a seat here by me.' After the sermon, liberty was given for remarks, and I spoke with freedom upon the Christian life, and the triumphs of the just at the second advent of Christ. Many voices cried, 'Amen! amen!' and most in that large congregation were in tears. . . . Near the close of that meeting, after getting my consent, Elder Rollins arose and said: 'Brother White, who sits at my right side, will speak at the Reed meeting-house this evening, upon the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Come up, brethren, and hear for yourselves. We have sufficient room to entertain you all. Come up, brethren, it will not harm any of you to hear upon this subject. . . . He very well knew that most of his brethren would leave their meeting in the village, and go three miles to hear me, and that their appointed business session would be broken up. And so it was. Three fourths of the ministers and nearly every delegate left, and the Reed meeting-house was crowded at an early hour. My subject was Matthew 24. The spirit of God gave me great freedom. The interest was wonderful.
"As I closed with an exhortation to Christians to fully consecrate themselves and be ready, and to sinners to seek Christ and get ready for the coming of the Son of man, the power God came upon me to that degree that I had to support myself with both hands hold of the pulpit. It was a solemn hour. As I viewed the condition of sinners, lost without Christ, I called on them with weeping, repeating several times, 'Come sinner, and be saved when he shall appear in his glory. Come, poor sinner, before it shall be too late. Come, sinner, poor sinner, come.'
"The place was awfully solemn. Ministers and people wept, some aloud. At the close of every call to the sinner, a general groan was heard throughout the entire assembly. I had stood upon my feet explaining the chapter and exhorting for more than two hours, and was getting hoarse. I ceased speaking, and wept aloud over that dear people with depth of feeling such as he only knows whom God has called to preach his truth to sinners. It was nine o'clock, and to give liberty to others to speak would be to continue the meeting till midnight. It was best to close with the deep feeling of the present, but not till all had had a chance to vote on the Lord's side. I then called on all in the congregation who would join me in prayer, and those that wished to be presented to the throne of mercy, that they might be ready to meet the Saviour with joy at his second coming, to rise up. Every soul in that large house, as I was afterwards informed by persons in different parts of it, stood up. After a brief season of prayer, the meeting closed.
"The next morning I returned to the village, accompanied by at least seven eighths of that Freewill Baptist quarterly meeting. Every one was telling what a glorious meeting they attended the evening before.
Calls for the Message in Other Places
"At intermission, delegates and ministers invited me to join them in making arrangements as to time when I could lecture to the several congregations in that quarterly meeting who had commodious houses of worship. It was then in the middle of February, and it was decided that there remained not more than six weeks of firm sleighing, giving the people a good chance to attend meetings. Twelve of the most important places were selected for my labors in six weeks. I was to give ten lectures, which would require me to speak twenty times a week. This gave me only half a day each week, which I generally found very necessary to travel fifteen or twenty miles to the next place of meeting." [1]
Hundreds Converted
Revivals and the conversion of hundreds every-where followed the preaching of the advent doctrine, and especially was this the case as they approached the termination of the Jewish year 1843 (March 21, 1844). It was during that winter that the writer in his native village-Victor, N.Y.-first heard upon the subject, and though only twelve years of age, accepted, so far as understood, the second advent faith. Solemn indeed was the impression upon the people, not only in meetings, but everywhere. Victor was at that time only a village of some two hundred inhabitants, but the country round about was thickly settled. As the result of that series of meetings held in that small village, there were five hundred converts reported.
Testimony of the Methodist Year Book
As to the mighty wave of revivals that followed in the track of the advent proclamation, we find in the Methodist Year Book that "during the four years from 1840 to 1844, 256,000 conversions took place in America." What was true in America was equally true in other countries where the call was made. "A mighty power went with the preaching, and souls were converted everywhere." As the first call to the marriage supper went to the churches,-"them that were bidden,"-it was through them extended to all who would come and share in the salvation awaiting the people of God. Whether the message was preached, prayed, or sung in "advent melodies," the mighty moving of the Spirit of God accompanied the work.
Children Preaching in Sweden
In this connection we will notice how the Lord wrought to introduce the proclamation in those countries where the law forbade the preaching of anything contrary to the "established church." Sweden was one of those countries. There the Lord used little children to introduce the work. The first of this manifestation was in the summer of 1843, in Eksjo, southern Sweden. A little girl, only five years of age, who had never learned to read or sing, one day, in a most solemn manner, sang correctly a long Lutheran hymn, and then with great power proclaimed "the hour of his judgement is come," and exhorted the family to get ready to meet the Lord; for he was soon coming. The unconverted in the family called upon God for mercy, and found pardon. This movement spread from town to town, other children proclaiming the message. The same movement among children was manifest to some extent in Norway and Germany.
"Yes! I Had to Preach"
In 1896, while holding meetings in seventeen different parts of Sweden, I passed through several places where the children had preached in 1843, and had opportunity to converse with those who had heard the preaching and with men who had preached when they were children. I said to one of them, "You preached the advent message when you were a boy?" He replied, "Preached! Yes, I had to preach. I had no devising in the matter. A power came upon me, and I uttered what I was compelled by that power to utter."
Boquist and Walbom in Orebro, Sweden
In Orebro Laen (county) this work spread until older persons were moved to proclaim the message. Then the civil authorities, instigated by the priests of the "established church," arrested two young boys, Walbom, eighteen years of age, and Ole Boquist, fifteen years of age, saying they would make a public example of them. They whipped their bare backs with birch rods, and placed them, with their bleeding wounds, in Orebro prison. When these wounds healed, they took them out of the prison, demanding of them, "Will you cease preaching this doctrine?" Though they beat them with rods the second time, opening their wounds afresh, all the answer they could obtain was, "We will preach the preaching that the Lord bids us." Through the intercession of a prominent lady parishioner in Orebro, King Oscar I. told the authorities to let those boys out of the prison, and to let that people alone. So the victory for the truth was gained in Sweden.
Boquist's Testimony
In the Review and Herald of Oct. 7, 1890, is a very interesting narrative in regard to the children's preaching, written by O. Boquist himself. He says:-
"In the year 1843 a religious movement occurred among the people in Karlskoga Parish, in Orebro Laen. The leaders in this movement were children and young men, who were called 'rapare.' These preached with divine power, and proclaimed before the people, with great decision, that the hour of God's judgment had come.
"In the fall of the same year, I, O. Boquist, then fifteen years of age, with another young man, Erik Walbom, eighteen years of age, became so influenced by this unseen power that we could in nowise resist it. As soon as we were seized by this heavenly power, we began to speak to the people, and to proclaim with a loud voice that the judgement hour had come, referring them to Joel 2:28-32 and Rev. 14:6, 7.
Children in Vision
The people informed me that those who were thus influenced by this heavenly power were lost to everything around them. They were actually in vision from God, and spoke with a power that carried a mighty convicting influence. They said that these little children, while under that influence, would speak with the force and dignity of full-grown men and women. So those who saw it were led to conclude that it was the Lord using them prophetically to utter these solemn truths. The writer continues:-
"The people congregated in large numbers to listen to us, and our meetings continued both day and night, and a great religious awakening was the result. Young and old were touched by the Spirit of God, and cried to the Lord for mercy confessing their sins before God and man.
"But when the priest in the church was apprised of this, many efforts were put forth to silence us, and thus to stop the prevailing religious excitement; but all efforts were unavailing. The sheriff was then requested to cause our arrest, and during six weeks a fruitless search was made to find us in the forest, whither we had fled for refuge.
"Finally, however, we were summoned to appear before the pastor of the church. Our number had increased so that forty young men and women presented themselves at the parsonage, where we were submitted to a long trial. All but myself and Walbom were permitted to return to their homes; but we were arrested, and on the following day were placed in custody in the Orebro prison, where we were associated with thieves in cell 14, as though we had committed some great crime."
Boquist's Sister's Testimony
On Sept. 22, 1896, the sister of Boquist, seventy-two years of age, attended our meeting at Orebro, and told us about the experience of her brother; for she witnessed his whipping, imprisonment, and liberation. She sang for us the hymn that Boquist and Walbom sang as they walked out of the prison on to the bridge over the moat surrounding that sixteenth century castle, used in 1843 as a prison. The power of the 1843 movement accompanied the testimony and the singing of the hymn. Translated into English, the hymn is as follows:-
Hymn Sung by Boquist and Walbom
"No one can ever reach the eternal rest,The Boy Preacher at Karlskoga
Who hath not forward with strong vigor pressed;
No one can ever reach that shining goal,
Unless he forward press with heart and soul.
His urgent strife must last until the end;
On this alone our hopes must all depend.
Narrow the gate is called, the way named Small,
But grace and choice are free for one and all;
But all depends on pressing, pressing on;
By that alone the haven can be won.
"Make strong, yea, strong resistance, O my soul!
To all that comes between thee and thy goal.
Gainst every hindrance fight. Stand firm! stand steady!
For those who forward press the crown is ready.
If you the joys of heaven would ever taste,
Press forward past each hindrance. Be in haste;
Leave, leave, O leave the wiles of all the world,
Thy banner of resistance still unfurled!
"When the world calls thee, 'Come and with us go,'
Do not obey; that pathway leads to woe.
What the world asks, refuse at any cost,
If you comply, dear soul, you will be lost.
For love of Christ I offer this advice:
Strive in God's strength; this is the crown's own price.
To every hindrance make resistance strong;
The crown is worth the strife, however long.
"The heaven of glory is worth all thy life,
Worth all thy praying, longing, all thy strife.
No disappointment in that realm can live,
The crown is worth all longing thou canst give.
Therefore wake up, and sharply look around,
Make ready for the judgment's trumpet sound;
For wedding garment, pure and white and whole,
Will be required of every suppliant soul
Who seeks an entrance to that city fair;
Therefore awaken, and thyself prepare.
"You cannot anchor on that heavenly shore,
Nor enter in that land 'prepared before,'
Unless you have the offered life of faith;
For this the Scripture very plainly saith.
'Tis faith alone that can the sinner save,
And ransom you from out the cruel grave.
"Then listen, dear, and rise from thy sad fall;
God's grace abundant is, and free for all.
Believe, repent, and hear the Saviour say,
In words of beauty, 'This, this is the way.'
The world is all invited, let all come,
And take by force a crown within that home.
"The Lord is willing, anxious to bestow
This gift on all who in his way will go.
Spare not thyself the struggle, but press on,
And soon, full soon, the victory will be won.
God's hand doth seek thy soul; he'll give thee rest;
Jesus is knocking, seeking for thy best.
Wake! 'tis God's Spirit that disturbs thy sleep;
They only will be saved who vigils keep."