THE SANCTUARY by Uriah Smith

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 7, 1876

THE SANCTUARY.

By Uriah Smith

Forty-Third Paper.—The Subject Concluded.

We are now prepared to take a retrospective view of this important subject. The questions with which we started out in the beginning of these articles, are now answered.

To the question, “The Sanctuary—what is it?” the answer has been plainly found. It is not the earth, not the land of Palestine, not the church; but, as revealed to us in the word, it is first the dwelling which the Lord provided for himself here among men, in the tabernacle of Moses, and afterward in the temple of Jerusalem; and finally we behold it as the temple of God in Heaven, his dwelling place on high.

To the question, “When is it?” the answer has come. In all its most important aspects, it is now. Beginning with Moses, fifteen hundred years before Christ, it becomes an object of ever-increasing interest, till, as we reach our own generation, and the work connected with it is about to close, the issues there to be decided make it an all-important centre of consideration and study.

To the question, “Where is it?” the answer is equally plain. During the typical dispensation, it was here upon earth; in the present antitypical dispensation, it is in Heaven.

“What are its uses?” It is the centre around which all the worship of God revolves, and to which every act of devotion points. “And why?” Because it is the habitation of God, and there in the most holy, he placed the transcript of his will, the ten commandments; and there on the mercy-seat, the cover of the ark, is the focal point in the work of redemption, where “mercy and truth meet together and righteousness and peace kiss each other.” There reposes the law which shows transgression; and there is presented the blood which satisfies the law, and, so far as the sinner’s record is concerned, blots out the sin.

“What are its relations and how extensive?” The forty-two previous papers in this series of articles have partially and imperfectly answered this question. It relates to everything in the plan of salvation, and has to do with every individual who comes within the range of Christ’s redeeming work.

“What prominence is given to it on the inspired pages of the book of God’s revelation to men?” Great prominence. The word occurs one hundred and forty-six times, not merely as casual mentions, but often as the theme of the discourse itself.

“What bearing has it upon the interpretation of the prophecies?” A bearing the most intimate. It shows that no prophetic period reaches to the coming of the Lord, but only to the short but indefinite work called the cleansing of the sanctuary which just precedes that coming. It thus saves us from the folly of time-setting. It clears up and explains the mystery of the disappointment in the past Advent movement. Mistaking the sanctuary to mean the earth, it was supposed that the cleansing of the sanctuary meant the purifying of the earth by fire; and as the Lord is to be revealed in flaming fire, it was argued that the Lord must then come. Hence the coming of the Lord was looked for at the end of the 2300 days in 1844. But the prophecy only says, “Then shall the sanctuary be cleansed,” which we now see to be the closing work of our High Priest in the temple above. It explains the parable of the wedding garment, Matt. 22:11–13, shows where that preliminary work of Judgment comes in, which must precede the coming of Christ, and shows how and when that sentence which eternally fixes every man’s condition, whether he be filthy or righteous, unjust or holy, can go forth before the Lord appears. Rev. 22:11.

“How is its past history calculated to interest, or its present work concern, us?” Its past history interests us because it is the text-book from which we learn the nature of the work of our great High Priest above, and the manner of his ministration; and its present work concerns us, because in connection with the declaration of the prophecies concerning it, we learn more definitely than from any other source, our proximity to the end.

“In what way are our dearest interests connected with it?” Our dearest interests are there because there is our only hope of life and salvation. There is to be found the only means that can cleanse our soul from guilt, and there the only Advocate who can plead our cause. If we accept his mediation on the free terms offered, our case will go well; if we reject it, all is lost. The court is now sitting; and its session soon will close, and its eternal decisions be rendered.

These are the claims it now has upon our attention, the strongest and most urgent that can ever be brought to bear upon men.

All through its history are epochs of interest. It was a point of great interest when the tabernacle was first reared in this world of ours, and an outward symbol of the work of salvation was given to men.

It was a point of interest when the tabernacle gave place to the larger and more glorious structure of the temple, and when in the dedication of that temple the most imposing religious ceremony was performed which the world has ever witnessed.

It was a point of still greater interest when the typical dispensation closed, and a transfer was made from the sanctuary below to the sanctuary on high. Henceforward we come directly to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and turn our attention to Jerusalem above.

A point of still deeper interest to us was reached when at the end of the 2300 days in 1844 the time came for the cleansing of the sanctuary, and the ministration was moved from the holy into the most holy place. Then the temple of God was open in Heaven. Then was discerned, by faith, the ark of God’s testament there. Then the position of the moral law was seen, enthroned in the very presence of Jehovah, immutable, eternal. Then was discovered the connection between this subject and the seal of the living God, the sealing work, the last message of mercy, and the closing up of the great Advent movement of the present generation. Then the foretold Judgment hour began, and the church entered upon the great Sabbath reform. With this subject all portions of the message are connected; this is the grand centre and citadel of the present truth.

Then it was seen that the time of probation could last but a little longer; for the final work in the sanctuary must be brief. Should it be otherwise it would destroy the type, and show in the plan and work of God a want of consistency and harmony, which we know does not exist. And already for thirty-two years this work has been going forward. We understand that beginning with the human race at the opening of the world’s history, the examination passes down through successive generations, in consecutive order, till at length the cases of the last generation, the living, are reached, who come latest into this investigative Judgment, and the work closes. And what generation has the work now reached? Has it come down to the age of Noah? of Abraham? of Job? of Moses? of Daniel? Has it reached the age of the apostles and the early Christians? Are their cases now in review before the great tribunal above? Has it come down to the setting up of the papacy, to the dark ages, when the Waldenses and other few faithful witnesses in obscurity and concealment kept the light of God’s truth alive in the world? Has it come down to the great Reformation, to the times of Luther? of the Wesleys? We know not. We only know that it is passing down somewhere through these generations, and rapidly approaching the living, when our cases will come up for decision, and our destiny be decided forever. And here we now stand waiting, may we not also say, preparing?

But with considerations of such thrilling interest even as these, our view of this subject does not end. We go forward a little in the future, and behold the sins of all the righteous loaded upon the head of the antitypical scapegoat to be sent away forever. We see Satan bound, and the saints forever free from his power. This is a point of transcendent interest to all the righteous. Then we take our first draughts from the cup of immortality. Our sins are borne away. They come up to trouble us no more. We cannot recall them; and even God says that he will forget them. He who instigated them will then have received them back again. Here the serpent’s head is effectually bruised by the seed of the woman. Here the strong man armed (Satan), who has been shutting up even the followers of Christ in his prison house, the grave, for six thousand years, will be bound by a stronger than he (Christ), and his house be spoiled of its precious treasures. Then will the tares have been bound in bundles for the burning, and the wheat have been gathered into the heavenly garner. Then our High Priest will have come forth from the sanctuary to pronounce the everlasting blessing upon his waiting people. Then we shall have come, not by faith merely, but in deed and in truth, unto Mount Zion, and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels. Then will the redeemed, placing the foot of triumph upon the world, the flesh, and the devil, raise their glad voices in the song of Moses and the Lamb. Glorious and longed-for day! May the Lord hasten it in his good time.

One more scene remains: the kindling of those final fires prepared for the devil and his angels, at the end of the thousand years. Here is also the perdition of ungodly men. And here all the agents of evil, root and branch, Satan and all his followers, be they angels or men, are destroyed from the universe of God. The deepest taint of the curse is burnt out; the last vestige of disgrace is removed; and nothing remains but the great and solemn lesson of sin and its fearful results, which will tend to confirm in uprightness and holiness all other intelligences in all the universe.

Thus triumphantly God’s controversy with sin will end. Here are finished the results of all Christ’s work as connected with the sanctuary. Redemption is successfully completed. The original purpose in regard to this world, that it should be the beautiful abode of holy beings, is carried out. The requisite number to people it is secured, and the earth is renewed to be their eternal abode. Here the righteous are called to inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world.

And from this height of ineffable bliss, away through the ever-revolving cycles of eternity, there open before us boundless vistas of

EVERLASTING LIFE AND ETERNAL GLORY.

U. S.