There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it. Matthew 21:33. (Read Matthew 21:33-41.)

A description of this vineyard is given in Isaiah: “Now will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: and he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein.”

This figure represents the advantages and opportunities given to Israel…. Through Moses they received divine precepts and commandments…. God gave them riches and prosperity. They had every temporal and every spiritual advantage. They were hedged about by the law of ten commandments. This was what distinguished Israel from every other nation on the face of the earth.

The church is God’s peculiar treasure, precious in His sight, and dear to His heart of infinite love…. The householder made every provision that the vineyard should receive the best of attention. Nothing was left undone that could be done to make the vineyard an honor to the one who owned it….

With fire and tempest and death the great I AM redeemed His people, to make them glorious as His special representatives. He took them out of the land of bondage. He bore them as upon eagles’ wings and brought them unto Himself, that they might dwell under the shadow of the Most High. Christ was the invisible leader of the children of Israel in their wilderness wanderings…. They witnessed a most wonderful manifestation of God’s power when they passed through the Red Sea. And day by day they journeyed under the pillar of cloud, the symbol of the divine presence….

With such a Leader, with such manifestations of His greatness and power, the children of Israel should have been inspired with faith and courage to go forward…. Only two of those who crossed the Red Sea lived to go over into the promised land….

We need to beware lest we suffer the same fate as did ancient Israel. The history of their disobedience and downfall has been recorded for our instruction, that we may avoid doing as they did.—The Review and Herald, July 10, 1900.

From From the Heart

When the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. Matthew 22:11. (Read Matthew 22:1-14.)

By the help of the Holy Spirit, men and women can rise from commonness and live pure, holy lives. Those professed believers who do not do this lie against the truth…. They do not show forth in word and deportment the transforming power that attends the truth. How can the Lord be pleased with those who make no effort to rise to a high standard? Do they not claim to have received a high, noble truth? …

God does not ask men and women to surrender anything that is for the health of soul or body, but He does ask them to surrender debasing, enfeebling vices which, if cherished, will exclude them from heaven. He leaves them room for every pleasure that can be enjoyed without compunction of conscience, and remembered without remorse. He asks them, for their present and eternal good, to cultivate those virtues that bring health to the body and strength to the soul. Pure thoughts and correct habits are necessary to our happiness as human beings and as Christians. Everything of a debasing character must be overcome if we would see the King in His beauty….

The Lord can and will help everyone who seeks His help in the effort to become pure and holy…. Have earnest efforts been made to overcome natural inclinations to wrong, to conquer the habits and practices that were a part of the life before the acceptance of the truth? Are those who claim to believe the truth as untidy and disorderly in the home and as un-Christlike in the daily life as before they professed to accept Christ? If so, they are not showing forth the praises of Him who hath called them out of darkness. They have not put on Christ’s righteousness.

Strive to make decided improvement. Cleanse yourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord. Be neat and tidy in your dress, and kind and courteous in your manner. Be pure and refined, for heaven is the very essence of purity and refinement. As God is pure and holy in His sphere, so we are to be in our sphere.

Read carefully and critically the parable of the wedding garment, and make a personal application of the lessons it teaches…. Those who make a profession of faith, and yet remain unchanged in habit and practice, are represented … by the man who came to the feast without a wedding garment.—The Review and Herald, February 26, 1901.

From From the Heart

The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. Matthew 22:2, 3. (Read Matthew 22:1-14.)

The king sent his messengers first to those who were called his chosen people. But these, wholly intent on securing worldly gain, sent in their refusal, saying, “I pray thee have me excused.” …

When the class that were first called refused the invitation, the king sent his messengers into the highways, where were found those who were not so deeply absorbed in the work of buying and selling, planting and building….

“And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: and he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; for there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” …

There are those who come in to enjoy the privileges of the banquet of truth who have not eaten the flesh and drunk the blood of the Son of God. They claim to believe and teach the Word to others, but they work the works of unrighteousness….

The invitation neglected by those who had first been bidden was sent to another class. It was given to the Gentile world. And it was first to be proclaimed in “the highways”—to those who had an active part in the world’s work, to the leaders and teachers among humanity….

Those who give the last message of mercy to a fallen world are not to pass by the ministers. God’s servants are to approach them as those who have a deep interest in their welfare, and then plead for them in prayer….

Lest we should think only of the great and gifted, to the neglect of the poorer classes, those who are in humble circumstances, Christ in the parable of the great supper instructs His messengers to go also to those in the byways and hedges, to the poor and lowly of this earth…. Labor is to be put forth for all classes.—The Review and Herald, May 8, 1900.

From From the Heart

Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” Matthew 18:22. (Read Matthew 18:15-35.)

Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven….

“The kingdom of heaven [is] likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.

“But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not.” …

This parable is designed to show the spirit of tenderness and compassion which we should manifest for others. The pardon of this king represents a pardon that is supernatural—a divine forgiveness of all sin. Christ is represented by the king who, moved with compassion, forgave the debt of his servant….

When the debtor pleaded for delay with the promise, “Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all,” the sentence was revoked; the whole debt was canceled, and he was soon given an opportunity to pattern after the master who had forgiven him…. But he who had been so mercifully treated dealt with his fellow laborer in an altogether different manner….

The lesson to be learned is that we must have the spirit of true forgiveness, even as Christ forgives sinners, who can in no case pay their enormous debt. We are to bear in mind that Christ has paid an infinite price for erring human beings, and we are to treat them as Christ’s purchased possession.—The Review and Herald, January 3, 1899.

From From the Heart

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Matthew 13:45, 46.

By comparing the kingdom of heaven to a pearl, Christ desired to lead every soul to appreciate that pearl above all else. The possession of the pearl, which means the possession of a personal Savior, is the symbol of true riches. It is a treasure above every earthly treasure.

Christ is ready to receive all who come to Him in sincerity. He is our only hope, our Alpha and Omega. He is our sun and shield, our wisdom, our sanctification, our righteousness. Only by His power can our hearts be kept in the love of God….

On one occasion Christ warned His disciples to beware how they cast their pearls before those who had not discernment to appreciate their value…. “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs,” He said, “neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.” …

When people show themselves unimpressionable, unable to appreciate the pearl of great price; when they deal dishonestly with God and with others; when they show that the fruit they bear is the fruit of the forbidden tree, beware lest, by connecting with them, you lose your connection with God….

Truth as it is in Jesus sets us right and keeps us so. The truth is an anchor to the soul, both sure and steadfast. But the truth is no truth to those who do not obey it. When men and women drift away from the principles of truth, they always betray sacred trust. Let every soul, in whatever sphere of action, make sure that the truth is implanted in the heart by the power of the Spirit of God. Unless this is made certain, those who preach the Word will betray holy trusts. Physicians will make shipwreck of the faith. Lawyers, judges, senators, will become corrupted, and yielding to bribery, will allow themselves to be bought and sold. Those who do not walk in the light as Christ is in the light are blind leaders of the blind, “Clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots.”—The Review and Herald, August 1, 1899.

From From the Heart