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Looking Unto Jesus

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Jul 14, 1904

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 81, No. 28.

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Looking Unto Jesus

By L. A. S.

“LOOKING unto Jesus,” is the Christian’s watchword as he runs the race set before him here below.
Where is he to look? Where is Jesus?—Jesus is in heaven. But revelation gives us a more definite answer to the question. Jesus is in the sanctuary in heaven.
A knowledge of the subject of the heavenly sanctuary and of the service pertaining to it, is fundamental therefore to a proper knowledge of, and co-operation with, the work of God for man’s salvation.
This is especially so at this time, when that work is about to be finished, and the generation now living are to behold the revelation of the Son of man in his kingly glory, and meet him descending in the clouds of heaven.
The work of salvation is a work of co-operation between God and man. We are to co-operate with Jesus; and to do this we must have a knowledge of the work Jesus is doing for us. We must therefore understand the nature of his work in the heavenly sanctuary.
To be prepared for the second coming of Christ in glory, to gather his saints and execute judgment upon sinners, we must be looking for him, expecting his return. Many and solemn are the admonitions given us against being taken by surprise by that event. Those upon whom the day of God comes as a thief—the sleepers who are taken unawares—will suffer eternal loss. But we can not be expecting him without knowing why his coming is near. We must know the nature of the work he is doing, and why we may expect it to be soon finished.
We have reached the generation when an end is to be made of sin, and the sins of God’s people are to be blotted out, so that they can receive the refreshing from the presence of God. This is a part of the service of the heavenly sanctuary. How essential that we should understand this work, that we should confess our sins in view of it, and be seeking daily a preparation for its future realization. This means that we must understand the nature of the sanctuary service in heaven.
We have a hope set before us, which is “as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” To obtain the blessing of this hope, we must by faith enter within the veil and behold our great High Priest in his atoning work for us.
We are exhorted to “come boldly unto the throne of grace,” where we may “obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need,” because we have an High Priest who has been tempted like as we are, and is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities.” This again involves an understanding on our part of the heavenly sanctuary and its service.
And without this knowledge, we would to-day be in darkness, not knowing whither we were going. We would be drifting on a shoreless sea, like other denominations that have not this light. The meaning of the prophecies of Revelation 14 and of the world-wide work done in fulfilment of them, would be a mystery to us. It is the knowledge of the sanctuary service in heaven that explains the passing of the time in 1844 and the disappointment that came with it, and shows us that the pathway of those who gave the advent message to the world at that time was not a false pathway leading into darkness and defeat, but was the right pathway, leading to greater light and to the same glorious consummation to which the Christians of all ages have looked forward.
It is not strange, in view of these facts, that the enemy of God’s work and truth should especially seek to obscure the subject of the heavenly sanctuary and its service. But now, more than ever before, the people of God must keep that work in view. Now, in the final climax of the battle, our eyes must be fixed steadfastly on our great High Priest, who is the Captain of our salvation.
L. A. S.