p. 10 | The Sanctuary by Stephen Nelson Haskell

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Dec 15, 1904

The Sanctuary

By Stephen Nelson Haskell

THE Scriptures plainly state several things respecting the work of our High Priest in heaven which it would be well for us all to remember. First, Christ is on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister of holy things, and of the tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not man. Heb. 8:1-3, margin. If he is a minister of holy things, how many holy things do we receive that he does not minister to us? He is a minister of holy things at the right hand of God in heaven. David says that the sanctuary is in the heights of heaven, and “from heaven did the Lord behold the earth.” Ps. 102:19.

“The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.” Ps. 33:13, 14. “Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling-place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee. Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.” 2 Chron. 6:39, 40.

In these quotations there are several statements which I will notice. One is that the words “tabernacle” and “sanctuary” and “habitation” and “dwelling-place” all refer to the place from which Christ ministers. It is the place where God dwells in heaven.

In each instance where these words occur, the location is in heaven, and the truth is taught that forgiveness comes from God's dwelling-place. I call your attention to these expressions because some have questioned me about my statement in my last sermon, that “a genuine Christian experience in connection with the work of God comes from the sanctuary question.”

You will notice that Christ is on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister of every holy thing that ever comes to this earth. To Israel the condition of God's hearing up in heaven was that they make prayer and supplication toward the house that Solomon built. This is stated seven times in Solomon's prayer. They must recognize that which God recognizes on earth as a representation of that which is in heaven. Then, does not forgiveness come from God's throne in heaven? Does not every blessing that men receive day by day come from the courts above?

The genuineness of our Christian experience will largely depend upon the knowledge we have of the work of Christ in heaven in our behalf, because every ray of light comes from our Lord Jesus Christ. It comes from the throne of God in heaven.

I will mention a few expressions that speak of God's throne. It is the throne of the Majesty in heaven. Heb. 8:1, 2. It is called the throne of grace (Heb. 4:16), and that throne is said to be in the temple of God (Ps. 11:4), between the two cherubim. Ps. 80:1. David plainly states that the Lord prepared that throne for judgment. Ps. 9:7. When do you think he prepared it for judgment? Jeremiah gives a key to this in the seventeenth chapter and the twelfth verse. “A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.” When is the beginning? Let the Gospel of John answer in the first two verses: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.”

The beginning is before the creation. At a general meeting I was asked when the beginning was, and for a full hour they discussed that first text in John; and when they finished, they concluded they were right where they were at the beginning—they did not know. Now let this book (holding up a book) represent seven thousand years measured out of eternity. I go back seven thousand years, and I step into eternity. Is there any measurement back there?—No. There is where God was. I go over the seven thousand years, I step again into eternity. Any measurement there?—No. All I know of time is the seven thousand years measured out from eternity. Then where was the beginning?—Back there where God was. What was back there?—A glorious high throne. And that was the place of God's sanctuary. Then the sanctuary was from the beginning, and it will continue forever and ever,—there will be no end to it. It will be on the earth made new. Eze. 37:25-27; Rev. 21:1-4. But what that ministration would have been if man had never sinned is not revealed. All I know is this, that man did sin, and the service of the sanctuary was for the salvation of the human family, and was made manifest after man sinned. In the Levitical law God has given us light about Christ's work in heaven for the salvation of man; and when I think of it in that light, it seems to me that if there ever was a people that should be interested in this question, it is Seventh-day Adventists. Here is a representative people, the last generation, which is supposed to live when the Lord will come. This is the work that God inaugurated before man sinned. He prepared a throne for judgment; he prepared a sanctuary, and when man sinned, he turned all its services to accomplish the redemption of man.

(To be concluded)