MRS. S. N. HASKELL by Mrs. S. N. Haskell

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Feb 25, 1904

MRS. S. N. HASKELL

By Mrs. S. N. Haskell

The Sanctuary—No. 2

MRS. S. N. HASKELL

Every sacrifice slain pointed two ways. As the priest acted out the great kindergarten lesson of the sanctuary service before the people, God designed that the people should comprehend the work of our great High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary. He also designed that from that service they were to understand what the Lord required of them, that they might become the temple of the Holy Ghost. Like the sword with two edges, every sacrifice pointed two ways, and taught these two great truths.

If in the study of the sanctuary, we see only the work done by Christ for man, and fail to comprehend what God requires of us, we lose much.

Christ is a faithful witness for humanity in the courts of heaven, and the study of the sanctuary reveals this more fully than does any other subject. God designs that we shall be faithful witnesses of divinity in this world of sin, and the study of the sanctuary subject reveals how we may represent him.

For a few moments in imagination we will place ourselves three thousand years ago in the temple court. A sinner enters with a lamb. When he reaches the door of the sanctuary, he lays his hands on the head of the innocent lamb, and confesses his sin, thus acknowledging that he is a sinner worthy of death. The knife is raised, and in the very act of taking innocent life, he accepts Christ as his substitute. This places him in direct connection with the priest, and as the priest passes with the blood from his sight within the veil of the holy place, the sinner believes the blood is presented in his behalf.

There is still an important work to do. The body of the sacrifice is to be carefully dissected, and every particle of fat removed by the sinner’s “own hand,” and given to the priest, who burns it upon the altar. Lev. 4:27-31; 7:29-31. The priest stands waiting until every portion of the body is searched faithfully for the fat, and when it is delivered to the priest, he burns it upon the altar. The psalmist saw in this the type of the destruction of sin and sinners. Ps. 37:20; 73:12-18. It was a sweet savor to the Lord; for it represented the burning of sin without the sinner.

Have any of us who have come to Christ and accepted him as our sacrifice kept him waiting for us to separate from our body every wrong habit and appetite? Is he waiting for us to deliver over our appetite for meat, tea, coffee, etc? If so, why not present our bodies a living sacrifice wholly acceptable unto him?