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"Let us rejoice and exult, and give Him glory; for the marriage of the Lamb is come
and His wife has made herself ready."
And in 21: 2:--
"And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heavens from God,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."
In the second ministry, that of the Acts of the Apostles, the servants who gave the
invitation could indeed lay emphasis upon the fact that all things were ready. "But they
neglected it." The word translated "made light of," is the word which occurs in
Heb. 2: 3:--
"How shall we escape if we have been negligent of so great salvation, which at the
first began to be spoken by the Lord (the first invitation), and was confirmed unto us by
them that heard Him (the second invitation), God also bearing witness both with signs,
and wonders, and divers miracles, and distributions of holy spirit, according to His will?"
This is the second invitation of the parable. That "the signs, wonders, divers miracles,
and distributions of holy spirit" are to be read as equivalent to "All things are ready,"
may be seen by reading Acts 2: 1-14, 22, 23, 43; 3: 12-16; 4: 9-12 (note the reference
to the stone rejected by the builders, and Matt. 21: 42, which immediately precede the
parable of the Marriage Feast), and 5: 30.
What was the result of this added testimony? "They neglected it." The parable says
that "one went to his own field, and one unto his traffic." Readers may remember that in
the Parable of the Sower the third sowing indicated the ministry of the Acts (without
necessarily precluding the thought that, at the end, all these sowings will be true of the
period then). That third sowing "fell among thorns, and the thorns choked them," which
by interpretation means:--
"That which among thorns being sown, this is he who hears the word and the cares of
this age and the delusion of riches, choke the word and it (he) becomes unfruitful"
(Matt. 13: 22).
This same cause is expressed in the words, "his own field," and "his traffic." Here is
the divine statement as to the failure of the second invitation. This is not all, however.
While some "did not care for it," but preferred the things of this age, "the rest" violently
opposed. "They seized the servants, insulted and killed them." The Lord Jesus had told
His disciples that if the world had hated Him, it would hate them, that He sent them forth
as sheep amid wolves. That the days would come when they should be delivered up to be
afflicted, hated and killed. This we find in measure in the Acts. Some were imprisoned
(Acts 4: 3; 5: 18; 8: 3; 9: 1, 13, 21). Stephen was stoned (Acts 7: 59); James was
killed with the sword (Acts 12: 2). At the first rejection, which culminated in the betrayal
and brutal death of the Lord Jesus, the Lord in wondrous mercy withheld the punishment
of which they themselves had thought themselves worthy (Matt. 21: 41), and sent to
those who were guilty of such sins the second ministry of pardon and invitation. The
neglect of this "so great salvation," accompanied by the ill-treatment of His servants, was