Sanctuary and Synagogues.
By R. F. Cottrill
WHILE sweeping the Wesleyan chapel in Olcott, after our last monthly meeting, I was thinking of the idea that seems to be in the minds of the people, when we speak of the cleansing of the Sanctuary, as the work of our High Priest in Heaven. The first thought, almost invariably, is, There is nothing in Heaven that needs cleansing. In modern, popular pulpit language, a sanctuary is a meeting-house; and hence, being altogether uninstructed in respect to the important and deeply interesting subject of the Sanctuary of the Christian dispensation, the scriptural idea of cleansing the Sanctuary suggests nothing to their minds but washing and scrubbing, sweeping and dusting. All ought to know that there was but one Sanctuary in the Jewish age, and that the Christian has one, and only one, answering to the former as the antitype to the type. The tabernacle, and afterward the temple,—the place where God recorded his name, and where he dwelt among men by his visible glory—was the Sanctuary of that age; and whoever will read Heb. viii and ix with care, will find that that was a type or shadow of the Sanctuary of this dispensation, and that the latter is in Heaven, where our merciful High Priest, Jesus Christ, now intercedes for those who come to God through him. Everything connected with the intercessions of Christ in behalf of his people should be of deep and thrilling interest to Christians. Yet the mass of Christians of the present day have no interest in the subject of the Christian Sanctuary; because they are wholly ignorant of its existence. How can this ignorance be accounted for? Perhaps no better answer can be given than this: The beast of Rev. xiii, opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme “his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in Heaven.” The name of God has been applied to the pope; the Tabernacle or Sanctuary of God, the only place from which pardon can come, has been supplanted by sanctuaries on earth, where the pope, the bishops and the priests, professedly absolve from sin; and the dead saints have been considered ministering spirits to the living, instead of the angels, who “dwell in Heaven,” and do always behold the face of the Father. And so it has come to this, that the heavenly Sanctuary has been lost sight of, and every meeting-house is called a sanctuary. I have said that there was but one sanctuary for God’s people of the former dispensation; but there were many synagogues, which were places of religious instruction and exhortation. Our places of worship may be considered as answering to these. In the German Bible, for synagogue we have schule, which in English is school. These were built by the people, as conveniences might dictate, and sometimes by wealthy individuals. Of a friendly Gentile, it was said, “He loveth our nation, and hath built us a synagogue.” Luke vii, 5. There was a vast difference between the Sanctuary and the synagogues; yet these doubtless were esteemed sacred to divine service. In Ps. lxxiv, they are called “synagogues of God.” Verses 7, 8. They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground. They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together; they have burned all the synagogues of God in the land.” From the fact that the synagogue was esteemed the Lord’s, I infer that it is perfectly right to build houses for public worship and religious instruction, and dedicate them to the service of God; and consider them to be sacred for festivals, parties of pleasure, and places of amusement. But let us never forget the difference between the synagogue and the Sanctuary. And while we worship in the place which we have chosen, let our worship be directed to the place that God has chosen as his dwelling place, to the Sanctuary where Jesus our High Priest pleads before his Father’s throne. Some have attempted to justify the practice of highly ornamenting church buildings, by referring to the temple of Solomon, beautified and adorned by God’s direction. Such do not seem to know that the temple was the “pattern of the things in the Heavens,” Heb. ix, 23, and was intended to give a faint representation of the “glorious Sanctuary” in Heaven, which is called, “The beauty of holiness.” Ps. xcvi, 6. “Strength and beauty are in his Sanctuary.” Verse 9. “O, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” Marginal reading, “O, worship the Lord in the glorious Sanctuary.” See also Ps. xxix, 2. If you wish to build something to represent God’s dwelling place—the temple of God in Heaven—make it beautiful, splendid, glorious, as possible; but do not undertake it without special direction from Heaven, lest you aid in the work of blaspheming his tabernacle. The cleansing of the Sanctuary is the work of a priest, in blotting out the sins of the people. It was performed in figure once a year under the law. It is done once for all, by our great High Priest in Heaven. The solemn moments for the performance of this work are now passing; and when it is finished, he that is filthy must remain filthy still. Oh, that all were interested in the subject of the Sanctuary! But though the cleansing of a synagogue is not the cleansing of the Sanctuary, the place where God’s people meet to worship him, should be an orderly, a neat and cleanly place. And, to the honor of the usual occupants of the house first above mentioned, and those who attended our monthly meeting, I found no pomace of tobacco, or pools of the juice in any part of the house; a thing, which though common in some places, never ought to be once named as becoming the saints of God.