THE SANCTUARY by C. W. Sperry

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Feb 7, 1856

THE SANCTUARY.

By C. W. Sperry

"Then shall the Sanctuary be cleansed." The time for the fulfillment of this work is clear. For it is evident that the time to precede this is measured by days. And if the work was not to commence within the next day, (or year,) the angel would have added more days to the 2300. To confirm this we refer to the 62 weeks of Dan. ix, 26. "After threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off." Here time was measured by weeks instead of days, clearly showing that another week would not pass, before the event would take place. "In the midst of the next week," &c. So another day (or year) would not pass, before the work specified would commence.

"The Hebrew words rendered 'then shall be cleansed' is (tzah-dak) and occurs in forty other places in the Old Testament. In the margin it is rendered justified, which is the general signification of the word. . . . It thus refers not to a physical cleansing, or purification, but to moral rectitude. That to which it is applied is thenceforth to be held innocent. It is no longer to be held guilty or abominable. Its uprightness is vindicated. Its past guilt is all cancelled. Its sentence is then to be revoked, and its punishment is remitted. That period, therefore, extends not to the termination of the physical restoration of the sanctuary, but to the commencement of that process."—Advent Herald, April 15, 1854.

And while we are pointed back to the typical sanctuary and services in the law, for instructions of the heavenly, yet the type cannot be carried out in every particular. There was an earthly sanctuary, and there is an heavenly; there were two apartments in the earthly, and two in the heavenly; an earthly priest, and also an heavenly one; a sacrifice for the earthly, and also for the heavenly; a time for the earthly sanctuary to be cleansed, and a time for the heavenly to be cleansed; the earthly was cleansed with blood, so is the heavenly.

But "the law was a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image." Heb. x, 1. The sacrifice for the earthly was of beasts, but not of the heavenly. The typical sacrifice was daily, but not so with the heavenly. The earthly sanctuary was cleansed yearly, but not so with the heavenly. The earthly priest had to make an atonement for himself; [Lev. xvi, 11-14.] but not so with the heavenly. An additional sacrifice had to be made on the day of atonement in the type, but not so in the antitype.

Some say that because there was a preparatory work on the day of atonement (which was their offerings) that there must be in the antitype; but where are the offerings, or the work that should answer to the type. Let those who thus think, show in what that work consists. Again we are accused of sin because of bringing our sacrifice to some other place than the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; but man's accusation and our doing this are two things. The sin of Israel was in sacrificing to other gods, and not because their faith carried them into both apartments. Their sacrifice was made at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; so was ours. That blood availed for them in the Most Holy, so does Christ's for us. Their offering answered for the entire day, so does ours; for they had to afflict their souls or they would be cut off. Lev. xxiii, 29. Their faith in that blood shed at the door had to reach into the second apartment, and so does our faith in that blood shed without the gate reach into the Most Holy place. Probation continued until the work was completed in the sanctuary, so in the antitype. Israel were not justified until their sins were borne from the Sanctuary, which was when the priest came out, and not when he went in, so in the antitype. The mandate cannot go forth, "He that is holy let him be, and he that is filthy so remain," so long as the sins of Israel are in the Sanctuary, which cannot be justified while the sins of the people are in it. Mercy does not cease until God says so; and he does not say so until the work is completed.

If there was no mercy in the time of cleansing the Sanctuary, then when the Priest went in it would have been said, "He that is holy let him be," &c.; but this was not so; for except they continued during the day they were cut off. The filthy are not left filthy until the holy remain holy. And while the holy may be cut off, the filthy may find pardon.

Now if we admit that the 2300 days have ended, we must admit that the work of cleansing the Sanctuary is going on, or he is at war with the angel. Parallel with this is the patience of the saints, the commandments of God, and the opening of the temple in heaven in which was seen the ark of the testament, as seen by John. Rev. xi, 19.

Here is the last work of that lovely Jesus who has been pleading so many hundred years. While he is cleansing the Sanctuary we must live without sin or he must still intercede for us, and while he intercedes for sin he does for sinners. We should not have known the extent of sin without God's law which was placed in the Most Holy Place. How solemn is this last work for faith in man. O may we continue in the patience of the saints, and soon all our guilt will be canceled, or sins blotted out and we receive the promised blessing and all Israel will be free for ever and ever. C. W. SPERRY.