Light from the Sanctuary.
By R. F. Cottrell
ONE distinguishing doctrine of S. D. Adventists is that of the sanctuary and its cleansing. Though it is clearly taught in the Scriptures, yet no other people teach it. The typical nature of the sanctuary of the "first covenant" is clearly shown in the letter to the Hebrews, and the priesthood of Christ and the sanctuary of the new covenant are shown to be the antitype of the earthly sanctuary and priesthood, so that by a reference to the arrangement and cleansing of that sanctuary, we have the true light on the ministration of our High Priest and the cleansing of the sanctuary of the second covenant at the end of the 2,300 days. The disappointment at the end of those days in 1844, led to the examination of the subject of the sanctuary of which Christ is the minister, which must be the one to be cleansed in the close of this dispensation; and as light on the sanctuary was obtained, light from the sanctuary was also received. In the earthly sanctuary, the law of God, the ten commandments written by the finger of God on tables of stone, and enshrined in the ark of the covenant, was placed in the inner sanctuary, the holy of holies—that law which is now held by the many to be changed or abrogated. But that sanctuary was typical of the true (Heb. 8: 1–5); and if the 2,300 days have expired, the time has come for the closing work in the latter to be performed by Christ, the High Priest, the work of removing the sins of his people from the sanctuary, which is called its cleansing. And if the days are ended, and consequently prophetic time is "no longer" (Rev. 10: 6, 7), the seventh angel must commence his sounding; for it is in the days of his voice, "when he shall BEGIN TO SOUND," that this closing work, which is the finishing of the "mystery of God," should be accomplished. Accordingly we read, "And the seventh angel sounded . . . And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament." Rev. 11: 15–19. It was at the end of the 2,300 days in 1844 that the inner apartment of the temple was opened for the cleansing of the sanctuary—the closing work of our great High Priest—and as the result of the inquiry after the cause of the great disappointment of those who then expected the second advent of Christ, "there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament." Here was indubitable proof of the perpetuity of the entire code of ten commandments, down to the sounding of the seventh trumpet at the close of the dispensation. And from the holy of holies, where the ark was seen, the third angel takes his credentials and goes forth to preach "the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." The commandments are to be kept; they are to be restored to the true Israel of God, while Christ is before the mercy-seat, the covering of the ark, to make reconciliation for his people and blot out their transgressions of that holy law. And thus the mystery of the gospel of God is to be finished by the last work of our High Priest in Heaven and the last message of the gospel on earth. A flood of light pours forth from the sanctuary. We believe in God. We believe in his "sure word of prophecy," and in his providence in its fulfillment. Since 1844 the light from the sanctuary on the perpetuity of the moral law came to me before I ever heard of a Seventh-day Adventist. I was taught the true Sabbath from my infancy, and never kept any other. And knowing that in this we were in advance of first-day keepers, I did not take that interest in the early advent movement, originating as it did with those who were the transgressors of this holy law, as I otherwise should. Consequently I was not disappointed at their disappointment. I expected it, though blind and ignorant as to the truth in the matter. But after those days, as I was reading this chapter in my family, I remarked that there was an evidence of the perpetuity of the ten commandments that I never noticed before. In all my association with S. D. Baptists, hearing preaching and reading their publications, I do not remember of ever meeting with this argument, clear and unanswerable as it is. It might have been used without professing faith in the advent at hand; but it was reserved to the time of the sounding of the seventh trumpet, to be brought out in fulfilling the prediction: "And the seventh angel sounded, . . . and the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament." And now my former brethren cannot use this powerful argument in favor of the Bible Sabbath without incurring the risk of being called Adventists. But they are welcome to the use of it; and it is one of the clearest and most conclusive and unanswerable arguments that can be adduced. Light from the sanctuary—from the place where God sits enthroned between the cherubim, above the mercy-seat, beneath which is the holy law—the fundamental principles of his government. "Justice and judgment are the habitation [foundation] of his throne." Ps. 89: 14. This is the true source of light. "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." 1 John 1: 5.