Untitled article by R. F. Cottrell

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, Cal. · Sep 9, 1875

The Closing Message of the Gospel.—No. 2.

By R. F. Cottrell

THE period of the Judgment had not come in the apostles' days; for Paul reasoned before Felix of a "judgment to come." Acts 24:25. Again, he taught that God "hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness" by Jesus, who had already been raised from the dead. Acts 17:31.

We have seen that after Jesus arose he ascended to the throne of God where he became a High Priest, a minister of the sanctuary of God in Heaven. See Heb. 8:1-5; 9:1, &c. The priest-hood of Aaron and his successors was a type of the priesthood of Christ. The ministration of the priesthood under the law, in its yearly rounds, concluded with a type of the Judgment. On the appointed day, the tenth day of the seventh month, the high priest entered the most holy apartment of the sanctuary to "cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel;" in other words, to make an atonement for the whole house of Israel, removing all their sins, which had been, in a figure, conveyed from the sinner to the sanctuary in the blood of the sin-offering, away from that sacred place. Those who were duly interested in this work of the high priest had, in the figure, their sins blotted out, or forever removed from them, being borne away upon the head of the scape-goat; but those who did not afflict their souls in that day were cut off from Israel. See Lev. 16, entire. This shows that the cleansing of the sanctuary was a representation of the judgment of the Lord's people. The final disposal or blotting out of their sins by our great High Priest is equivalent to their acquittal in the Judgment; hence this part of the judgment must transpire while Jesus is priest in the sanctuary above, before the day of wrath in which he is "revealed from heaven in flaming fire, taking vengeance" on his incorrigible enemies, or, as represented in Rev. 19, as heading the armies of heaven in his descent to earth as "King of kings and Lord of lords," as he comes to the battle of the great day of God Almighty. In the sanctuary characters are weighed in "balances of justice." Job 31:6, margin. The prosperity of the wicked in the present world was a cause of stumbling to David, until he "went into the sanctuary of God." Then he understood their end. Ps. 73. The decisions of the judgment made at the close of the ministration in the sanctuary, vindicate the justice of God in his dealings with the righteous and the wicked in this life, which, without taking into the account final retributions and rewards, could not be vindicated. All apparent departures from equal justice will be set right. The decisions of the judgment will prove to all that God is just.

It seems a self-evident proposition that when a person's sins are all blotted out, no more to be remembered against him, his cause is fully decided. This blotting out of sins is the work of a priest. It must be therefore the last work of our High Priest, Jesus, and must be performed just before his second coming. The testimony of an apostle agrees with this: "Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you; whom the heavens must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began."

We have cited the testimony of the apostle that God hath appointed a day, i. e., a day of indefinite length, a period of time, in which he will judge the world by Jesus Christ. Had the appointed time been revealed in prophecy? We have seen, and we might give more evidence from the Scriptures to show that the decisions of the cases of all for life or death are made before the second coming of Christ. That he rewards his people with a resurrection, or, a change to immortality, "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" at his coming, and consigns the rest of mankind to the second resurrection and the second death, is positive evidence that their cases have already been decided. We have seen that the blotting out of sins is decisive of the destiny of the people of God; and that, according to the type of the priesthood and sanctuary under the law, this must be the closing work of the priesthood of Christ in heaven, which when finished, his blood will no longer be offered in atonement for sin, but he will come "the second time without sin," an offering for sin, "unto salvation." Again we ask, Had the appointed time for the commencement of this closing work of the priesthood of Christ been revealed in ancient prophecy? We think it had, and in proof refer to Dan. 8:14:— "And he said unto me, unto two thousand and three hundred days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."

These days are ended. They cannot by any possibility extend to the present time. They were to commence with the restoration and re-building of Jerusalem after the captivity in Babylon. This work was begun under Ezra, 457 B. C.; and reckoning each day in the prophecy a year in the fulfillment, they ended in A. D. 1844. I shall not enter into the proof of this position on time, but refer the reader to our published works on the sanctuary and 2300 days.

Now we ask, Did anything occur in 1844 to justify our faith that the time then expired? We appeal to history for facts; for facts of history attest the fulfillment of prophecy. In 1844, a message of the "everlasting gospel," was sounding through the world, expressed in these words: "Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come." See Rev. 14:6, 7. The foundation for this message on the time for the commencement of the judgment, was confessedly the ending of the 2300 days in that year, the time appointed for our High Priest to enter upon the closing work of his priesthood, which will end with the removal of all the sins of the saved from the presence of God, being blotted from the book of his remembrance.

Can it be possible that we have come to this solemn time in the fulfillment of the revealed plan of redemption and salvation? The promises of God and the facts of history attest it. It is much more than possible; for "the Scriptures cannot be broken."

We have come now, in our investigation, to the first of a series of three consecutive messages, which are evidently the closing messages of the gospel. This message which is expressly called an "everlasting gospel," has actually been announced to the world. This may be denied, but it cannot be disproved. Objections may be raised, but facts are facts, and the word of God is sure; though but few realize that, to successfully oppose this position, they must either impeach the veracity of God in his word, or his providence in its fulfillment. It will be interesting to the believer in the Scriptures as a revelation from God, to investigate further the closing messages of the gospel, as long ago given in prophecy, and trace them in their fulfillment in our own times.

R. F. COTTRELL.