The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 429

same truths, following Christ by faith as He enters in before God to
perform the last work of mediation, and at its close to receive His
kingdom—all these are represented as going in to the marriage.
In the parable of Matthew 22 the same figure of the marriage is
introduced, and the investigative judgment is clearly represented as
taking place before the marriage. Previous to the wedding the king
comes in to see the guests, to see if all are attired in the wedding garment,
the spotless robe of character washed and made white in the blood of the
Lamb. Matthew 22:11; Revelation 7:14. He who is found wanting is cast
out, but all who upon examination are seen to have the wedding garment
on are accepted of God and accounted worthy of a share in His kingdom
and a seat upon His throne. This work of examination of character, of
determining who are prepared for the kingdom of God, is that of the
investigative judgment, the closing of work in the sanctuary above.
When the work of investigation shall be ended, when the cases of
those who in all ages have professed to be followers of Christ have been
examined and decided, then, and not till then, probation will close, and
the door of mercy will be shut. Thus in the one short sentence, “They
that were ready went in with Him to the marriage: and the door was
shut,” we are carried down through the Saviour’s final ministration, to
the time when the great work for man’s salvation shall be completed.
In the service of the earthly sanctuary, which, as we have seen, is a
figure of the service in the heavenly, when the high priest on the Day
of Atonement entered the most holy place, the ministration in the first
apartment ceased. God commanded: “There shall be no man in the
tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement
in the holy place, until he comes out.” Leviticus 16:17. So when
Christ entered the holy of holies to perform the closing work of the
atonement, He ceased His ministration in the first apartment. But when
the ministration in the first apartment

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