THE LAST WARNING TO THE CHURCH.
By Uriah Smith
THE cleansing of the Sanctuary reveals to us a solemn and important work, the closing events of the plan of salvation. How important have been its events as it has progressed to the present time; but how transcendently important its final scenes! How anxiously have angels watched it from its commencement till now; but with what intense anxiety must they behold it as it draws to its final issue! With what interest must they regard the children of men to ascertain their state of preparation for the momentous and final crisis! It is about to be told how many the Saviour's blood has rescued from the jaws of death! It is about to be known how many have laid hold on the inestimable sacrifice made for rebellious and fallen man! The last transaction connected with the “offering for sin” will soon be finished. No wonder then that a special messenger is sent forth, as the final act commences, to warn mankind of their fearful condition. No wonder that as a new flash of light in the onward development of truth, is thrown upon the world, the third angel's message is heard enforcing upon the mind the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, through obedience to which alone we are to gain an entrance through the gate into the everlasting city. But not to the world alone is a special warning given. It must be apparent to every one from a contemplation of the Sanctuary work, that a period of deepest moment to the living church on earth would eventually come: a time when their cases would come up before the great tribunal of Heaven, and when they must be all prepared, though here in this mortal state, to find acceptance there, and stand without a mediator. It has already been remarked that as Christ shed his blood for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, as well as for those under this, the cases of the dead would naturally first come up for decision, and the living last. As this momentous period approaches, shall the living be warned thereof? We think they are. What is this warning? A counsel to buy of the True Witness gold tried in the fire, white raiment and eye-salve. Rev. 3:14-22. And what if we do not heed this? I will spue thee out of my mouth is his solemn asseveration. The nature of this judgment we think is intimated in verse 5 of the above-named chapter: “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life. Peter speaks of a time of blotting out sins. Acts 3:16. It is evident then that with all mankind the case will finally stand thus; either their sins will be blotted from the book of God's remembrance, or their names will be blotted from the book of life. The closing work of the sanctuary is a work of cleansing from or blotting out sins; hence it is here also that the blotting from the book of life of all those names which are not found worthy, also takes place. How appropriate then, how timely, yea how merciful, the warning, as we approach the time when the cases of the living are to come up for decision, to be zealous and repent, to seek the gold, white raiment, and eye-salve, lest we be spued out of the mouth of the Lord, or, in other words, have our names blotted from the book of life.564Again, we read in the marriage of the king's son, Matt. 22, that when the king came in to see the guests, he found there a man not having on the wedding garment. He was taken by the king's servants, bound hand and foot, and cast into outer darkness. This parable has been already alluded to as signifying the marriage of the Lamb which takes place at the close of his ministry as priest, and to which he went in, when he entered the most holy place in the fall of 1844. How do the guests go in to the marriage? By faith. And what is signified by the king's coming in to see the guests? We answer, the inspection of our individual cases, as they come up for examination before the great tribunal of the heavenly Sanctuary. It appears that some are found therein not having on a wedding garment. Some embrace the truth; but they receive it in theory only. It convinces the judgment, but they do not let it subdue the will. It affects the head, but they do not let it sanctify the affections. They lack holiness of heart; they do not reflect the image of Jesus; they lack a preparation to stand the decision of the Judgment; they are without the wedding garment. How timely, then, as the period approaches when the king shall come in to see the guests, the counsel of the True Witness, to buy of him the white raiment that they may be clothed. What is this white raiment? The righteousness of saints; Rev. 19:8; and what is this but the wedding garment of the guests in the parable of Matt. 22? Thus is the church notified of the approach of the time when the king shall come in to see the guests; thus is she counseled to procure the wedding garment, in preparation for that event. As the third angel's message is the last warning to the world, so we believe the counsel to the Laodiceans to be the last to the church. If fully heeded they will prepare a people to stand upon Mt. Zion with the Lamb; and if these will not rouse men to action in behalf of their eternal welfare, what threats of judgment or promises of reward would be able to do this? To those who have followed us through this series of articles, if any have had patience thus to do, we would briefly say: If the important events which we have shown to be already transpiring and about to transpire in Heaven and on earth; and if the great chains of truth which we have hastily traced, showing that they all center upon this very generation;—if these things will not arrest the attention of the careless, awaken the sinner, and stimulate the church, what more could God do? It is not his purpose to use compulsion. He compels no man to be saint or sinner. But he employs motives. He denounces judgments on the one hand, and promises blessings on the other; and every man is left to his own free choice. Death as a motive has aroused its thousands. Death to be sure is around us and in our midst; and it is well to be prepared for its nearest approach; but a more powerful motive, to lead men to prepare for eternal scenes, is now presented to the world; the end of all things, attested by the Scriptures of truth, and by the signs in the natural, moral, and political worlds, throws its all-absorbing shadow immediately across our pathway. Were we left to the natural course of our lives, we might look forward to twenty, forty, or fifty years; and it is natural to the human heart to put off the unwelcome period of death as far as possible. But the coming end will not allow us so long a prospect. It presses on with a certainty from which there is no appeal. Louder than the claims of death, it calls upon us to prepare to meet our God. But not only do we see the end approaching, but the position of our High Priest in the heavenly Sanctuary is opened before us. We see him performing the last act of his ministration for the sins of men. We see the plan of salvation drawing to its close. We see all things tending rapidly to the time when that fearful sentence shall go forth, “He that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still.” What do we say? We see the judgment already passing upon the human race, decisions which shall be for eternity. And what more need be said? There is no man who can look at these things in the light of God's word, and yet in his right mind expect, or plan for, long time to come in this present life. How much time have we, brethren, in view of these things, to devote to worldly plans and worldly prospects? How much inducement to lay up treasure here? How much room for covetousness and worldly-mindedness? How much time to add land to land, or house to house? How much time to give ourselves up to the cares of this life and yet be safe? Shall we not find a worthier object upon which to place our affections, in that inheritance of which Peter speaks, “incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for us?” We have not written these articles thinking to say anything that has not been said before, but to do it in a better manner, but only to endeavor to heed in a measure the injunction of Peter, “not to be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them and be established in the present truth.” We commend the thoughts offered to the careful and serious attention of the reader, with our fervent desire that the Author of all truth may impress upon the heart its inestimable importance and value, and the necessity of speedily giving heed thereto. U. S.