God’s Truth For Today
George Burnside
The True Sanctuary and Priesthood in the Heavens
NEARLY nineteen centuries have passed since Jesus ascended to heaven. But the word He spoke before He went away, "If I go I will come again, and receive you unto Myself," are still the hope of His people. Without losing any of their force, they have reached over nineteen hundred years of busy human activity, and are today believed more firmly and more universally than ever before.
During these nineteen centuries Christ has been bodily absent from the earth, engaged in priestly ministration in the courts of the heavenly temple. Before He comes the second time from heaven, He will finish His work as priest, and make final disposition of the sins of His people. Then, too, He will reach a decision regarding the reward He is to bring them at the time of His coming.
HISTORY OUTLINED IN SYMBOLS
What Christ is now doing in heaven, how He will finally dispose of sin, and the basis upon which He will reach a decision regarding the reward of the righteous, will be evident from a study of the prophecy contained in the eighth and ninth chapters of Daniel.
In these chapters is a prophecy outlining in symbols the history of the world from the time of Babylon to the end. The eighth chapter opens with a description of "a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. 1 saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great." Verses 3 and 4.
MEDO-PERSIA
The identity of the power here symbolized is clearly pointed out to Daniel by the angel Gabriel: "The ram which thou saw having two horns and the kings of Media and Persia." Verse 20.
This ram, therefore, is a symbol of the empire of Medo-Persia. The two elements in the Medo Persian Empire, the Medes and the Persians, are represented by the two horns. The fact that the Persian element became the stronger in the later history of the empire, is shown by the statement that "the higher came up last." The direction in which Medo-Persia pushed its conquests over surrounding nations is shown by the ram pushing westward, and northward, and south ward, until there was no power that could "stand before him."
GREECE
Then another symbol is presented to Daniel: "As I was considering, behold, an be-goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power. And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler [anger] against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns. And there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him. And there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand. Therefore the he-goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven." Verses 5-8.
The angel Gabriel also explained this symbol to Daniel, as follows: "The rough goat is the king of Greece: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power." Verses 21, 22.
The empire of Greece, according to this explanation, is represented by the goat. Alexander the Great, the first king of united Greece, is represented by the great horn. The war between Greece and Medo-Persia, by which the latter was completely overthrown, is represented by the struggle between the ram and the goat. The four divisions into which the empire of Greece was divided after the death of Alexander are represented by the four horns. These four divisions were the kingdoms of the west, north, east, and south, ruled over respectively by Cassander, Lysimachus, Seleueus, and Ptolemy.
ROME
Still another empire was shown to the prophet: "Out of one of them [the four horns] came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. Yea, he magnified himself even to the Prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down. And a host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced and prospered." Verses 9-12.
This power that was to succeed Greece is described as becoming "exceeding great” and of it the angel Gabriel gives the following explanation:
"In the latter time of their kingdom [that of the four horns], when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes but he shall be broken without hand." Verses 23-25.
Following, as it does, the kingdom of Greece, the power represented by the symbol of the little horn can be no other than Rome. The little horn is brought to view as a great power in opposition to Cod and His truth, and must therefore include not only pagan but papal Rome. This is further shown by the statement that the little, horn symbol carries on its awful work until it is "broken without hand" at the coming of Christ.
A DARING ASSUMPTION OF DIVINE PREROGATIVES
The marked characteristic of this power is its daring assumption of divine prerogatives. Not content with having "waxed great, even to the host of heaven" (the people of God), and having cast down to the ground and stamped upon some of the host and of the stars” (leaders of God's people), it dares to magnify itself “even to the Prince of the host" (Christ Himself). All this pagan Rome did in its persecution of the followers of Jesus, and, through Pilate, in the crucifixion of the Son of God. And all this papal Rome did through its persecution of the Christians and by its putting forth the claim that the pope of Rome is the vicar of Christ, His representative on earth, endowed with all the power of Jesus Himself.
The very height of daring, however, is foretold in the statement that this power should take away from Christ the "daily sacrifice." It is the special work of Jesus in behalf of fallen men, as their great High Priest, in His relation to the “sacrifice" and the "sanctuary," to minister pardon and grace. As He is their Advocate with the Father, One who "ever lives to make intercession" for them, it is the privilege of every man to “come boldly unto the throne of grace," that he may obtain mercy.
"For we have not an High Priest which can not tie touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin.” Hebrews 4: 15. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1: 9.
ACCESS TO CHRIST CONCEALED
The most precious heritage of Christ's followers is the privilege of a personal, intimate relationship to Christ as their High Priest. 1 John 1:3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that you also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship [is] with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. What greater affront, therefore, could he offered to the Son of God than to conceal from men this great privilege of access to Him, and to lead them to look to their fellow men for pardon and grace? Yet this is what is done by any system that directs its adherents to confess their sins to a fellow mortal, and to receive from a human priest, through a man-made confessional, the words, "Ego te absolvo." Is not this taking away from Christ His mediation in behalf of man, and attacking the very heart of His ministration for sinners?
The sanctuary where Christ ministers in behalf of humanity is in heaven. (Hebrews 4:14; 8:l.) The only Priest of the new covenant is in heaven. To that sanctuary and to that Priest sinners should look for forgiveness. Only that Priest, in that sanctuary, can deal with, and dispose of, and give absolution for the sins of men. Any system of on Earth is the counterfeit system, and it call not provide those it pretends to serve with anything but a false absolution. It places the souls of men in positive jeopardy. It can only deceive and ensnare. It offers the sinner an absolution which it call not supply. It thus interposes itself between the sinner and his only savior. And in doing this, it for the mediatorial work of Christ a purely system, which call take away sin.
The True Mediatorial System and Its Counterfeit
NOT openly does the false priesthood oppose the true. "Through his policy he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand." Daniel 8:25. Opposition to the truth is carried on under the outward forms of Christianity. Professedly Christian, it will set itself against the truth.
God calls the name of such a system, “Mystery" (Revelation 17:5); that is, something which has a false appearance, which does not manifest its true self to the world, which pretends to do what it is not, and which hides its true character under an outward appearance of great sanctity.
These specifications are met in every particular in the history of the development of that system which is known as Papal Rome. During the growth of this power, the pure, unadulterated truth of God nearly disappeared from the earth; and there appeared in its place, to be the very gospel itself, a false and spurious system.
Instead of being the gospel, however, this was but a perpetuation, with Christian nomenclature of the essence of the paganism of ancient Babylon. In substantiation of this statement, we quote the words of a noted writer, John Henry Newman: “We are told in various ways by Esebius, that Constantine, in order to recommend the new religion to the heathen, transferred into it the outward ornaments to which they had been accustomed in their own. The use of temples, and these dedicated to Particular saints, and ornamented on occasions with branches of trees. Incense, lamps, and candles; votive offerings on recovery from illness; holy water, asylums. Holy days and seasons, use of calendars, processions, blessings on the fields; sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure, the ring in marriage, turning to the cast, images at a later date, perhaps of the ecclesiastical chant. The Kyrie eleison, are all of pagan origin, and sanctified by their adoption into the church." - "Development of Christian Doctrine," pages 372, 373. London: Longmans, Green and Company, 1906.
Daniel 8:14 "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the Sanctuary be cleansed." The twenty-three-hundred-day prophecy is one of the most important in the Scriptures. In Daniel 8:14 the statement is made, according to the KJV, that at the end of the twenty-three hundred days the sanctuary would "he cleansed." On the basis of that word the prophecy has been interpreted by many Christians in a way that has had far reaching effects. Other versions, however, render the word quite differently, as the following list shows:
Be cleansed The LXX
Knox Rheims-Douai
Noyes Moulton
Boothroyd French Versions of Osterwald
Spurrell French Versions of Segond
Martin French Versions of Lausanne
The Vulgate KJV
Harkavy ERV
Ray ASV
Be Justified Leeser
ERV margin Sawyer
ASV margin
KJV margin
Be victorious Margolis
The sanctuary be righted Smith-Goodspeed
Be declared right Young
Be restored RSV
Be made righteous Van Ess (German)
Be restored Moffatt
Be sanctified Fenton
Be vindicated Rotherham
Be consecrated Luther (German)
"Problems in Bible Translations." 174-175
A SUBSTITUTION FOR THE TRUE FAITH
The paganism from which all these practices were received into the church was but Satan's counterfeit of the worship of Jehovah, a substitution for true faith in that which would satisfy the instinctive demand of men for an object of worship, without changing their hearts. This, in his warfare upon the church of Christ, Satan has worked through a great system, which, professing to be the representative of Christ, has perpetuated this pagan counterfeit of the true gospel, adapting it to the gospel dispensation. As one writer has said:
“Roman Catholicism is the same perversion of Christianity that paganism was of patriarchal truth; and its false Christ is morally identical with the false Christ of paganism.” The True Christ and the False Christ, J. Garnier, page 104. London: George Allen, 1900.
It Should he noticed that in the doing of this work against Christ, against His people, against His truth, and against His sanctuary, this will "prosper." 'His power shall be mighty, . . . and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people!' Daniel 8:24.
When the Christians of the church of Thessalonica were laboring under the misapprehension that the second coming of Christ would take place in their day, Paul wrote thus to them:
"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a failing away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." 2 Thessalonians 2: 3, 4.
USURPING THE PLACE OF GOD
From a study of this prophecy, it will be clear that its fulfillment will involve the appearance on earth of not only an anti Christian system, a system that would he opposed to Christ, but also a system that would he a complete counterfeit of the whole work and gospel of Christ. This system will present itself to the world, claiming to be the true church and to be proclaiming the true gospel, while at the same time it will be in every part and in every detail nothing but a substitution for, and a counterfeit of, the true church and the true gospel. While it will be "the man of sin" and "the son of perdition," it will claim for itself all the worship that is due to God alone, and will actually usurp the place of God, "so that he as God” will sit "in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God."
Clearly this is the power mentioned in the prophecy of Daniel that would cast down Christ's sanctuary. It is the power that would "cast down the truth to the ground"; and we read: "It practiced, and prospered."
Now, in order for such a system to prosper in the accomplishment of such a work, it would of necessity, be compelled to appear to men as similar in all points to that of which it is a counterfeit; therefore this counterfeit of the gospel must, at least in outward appearance, possess all the features of the gospel.
A MAMMOTH DECEPTION
It will present to men a scheme of salvation that will appear very like the genuine. It will be in every detail an exact counterpart of that which it claims to be; and yet, under this outward appearance, its sole work will be to "cast down the truth to the ground." It will do the work of Satan while professing to do the work of Christ. It will ruin souls while professing to save them. It will cast down the truth while professing to defend and to teach it. It will lead men away from Christ to perdition while professing to lead them to Christ. In short, it will he the very masterpiece of the devil's cunning and deception while claiming to be the only true church of Christ.
And in all this work it will prosper. Millions will be deceived by it. Millions will accept it as the genuine. Millions will live and die in its fold; and dying, will believe it to be the true instead of the false. Millions will give it their allegiance, thinking thereby they are loyal to Christ. They will be so deluded by it as to be led to believe the true gospel to be really a falsehood.
But during all its history among men it always has been, is now, and ever will be solely and altogether a mammoth deception and fraud. This deception is riot a conscious deception on the part of its human leaders and followers, rather, they themselves are the victims of deception by the great arch deceiver and adversary of God.
There is a power in this system that is above the power of man, there is a wisdom behind it that far surpasses human wisdom. One is unable to study it without a profound conviction that such an organization could not be produced by man. It has outlived, through the centuries, every other human organization. It has witnessed the rise and fall of great empires. Its history was centuries old when nearly every nation now existing was born; and still it continues with apparently unabated vigor. The magnificence of its rites and ceremonies is well calculated to impress the masses. There is a solemnity about its worship that grips and holds the worshiper. There is a pomp and a pageantry about its services that appeal irresistibly to the natural human heart. It is wonderful in its workings, and it compels admiration for the perfection of its organization. It is the surpassing product of Satan's genius and ingenuity.
But let it ever he remembered that its sole and only purpose, the one thing for which it was brought into existence and for which it has worked, is working, and ever will work, is the complete destruction of the truth and church of God. It was born in sin, shaped in iniquity, and designed solely to stamp out and to take the place of the gospel of Christ. It is interesting to notice how faithfully Satan has copied all the truths and institutions of the gospel; for there is nothing true in the gospel that does not have its counterfeit, in this false system.
A TRUE AND A FALSE GOD
In the gospel of Christ there is the truth of a true God whom the gospel leads us to worship. This God is King of all the heavenly universe, glorious in power and might, omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. In the false system there appears, a counterfeit God, even “the man of sin" and “son of perdition; who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." But in order that the substitution may not he too apparent, it is claimed that the false God is the "vicar of God” on earth.
A TRUE AND A FALSE SAVIOR
In the gospel of Christ there is a true Saviour, who can save unto the uttermost all who come unto God by Him. This is our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came to this earth, and who laid down His life that sinners might be saved. Through Him, and through Him alone, sinners may find salvation.
In the false system there is a counterfeit Saviour, who, in order that the false may not appear to be departing too far from the genuine, is called "the mother of God." Thus, Mary is put in the place of Christ as the Saviour of the world. In a book called "The Glories of Mary," by Liguori, whose writings two popes declared free from error- and who was made a doctor of the church by Pope Pius IX, Such expressions as the following occur: “All those who are saved, are saved solely by means of this divine mother." - Page 19. "The salvation of all depend, upon preaching Mary, and confidence in her intercession." - Page 20. "Hail, defence of the faithful, and Salvation of the world!" - Page 117. "The salvation of all men is made dependent upon her good pleasure."- Page 181. "Have recourse to Mary, and thou will be saved.” – Page 237. Thus the place of Christ as the Saviour of the world is, by this false system, given to His mother. And as Mary is dead and in her grave and Christ is living and at the right hand of Cod interceding for His people, so a dead Saviour is presented instead of a living Saviour.
A TRUE AND FALSE MEDIATOR
In the gospel of Christ there is a true mediator between God and man, Himself both God and man, the Man Christ Jesus. All the blessings that have ever come to the world have conic through Him. He spoke the world into existence. The only connection between man and God is through Him. He is our Advocate with the Father, offering His blood in our behalf, and making intercession for us.
In the false system there is a counterfeit, mediator. This is also Mary, "the mother of God." In the book, "The Glories of Mary," such expressions as the following occur: "Ordaining that all graces which are dispensed to men should pass through the hands of Mary." - Page 29. "Mary is ordained to be the mediatrix of peace between the sinner and God." - Page 82. “God pardons all sinners who place themselves under her protection."- Page 86. "The great privilege has been granted to Mary to be the mediator of our salvation."-Page 169. "Can she be other wise than full of grace, who has beet, Made the ladder of Paradise, the gate of heaven, the most true mediator between God and man?” – Page 170. "In her He [the Lord] has placed the fullness of all good, that henceforth we may recognize as coming from Mary whatever of hope, grace, or salvation we receive." "All the mercies ever bestowed upon men have come through Mary!” - Page 176. "Mary is called the gate of heaven because no one can enter heaven if he does not pass through Mary, who is the door of it.” - Page 177.
A TRUE AND A FALSE FOUNDATION
In the gospel of Christ there is a true foundation for the faith of the Christian, which is the word of God, as revealed in the Old and the New Testament This is the inspired and authoritative revelation of the will of God to man. This, and this alone, is the religion of the church of Christ. In the false system there is a counterfeit foundation, the Bible and tradition; but tradition is taught to be the safer of the two. The Bible can be used only when it is first interpreted by the priest and the church.
A TRUE AND A FALSE VICEGERENT
In the gospel of Christ there is a true vicegerent, or representative of Christ on earth. This is the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Godhead, who has been sent into the world to lead men into all truth and to convict of sin. While Christ is in heaven, the Holy Spirit takes His place on earth. In the false system there is a counterfeit vicegerent of the Son of God on earth, even he who has assumed the position without any authority at all, and yet who claims to speak with authority for Christ. This is the pope.
A TRUE AND A FALSE SANCTUARY
In the gospel of Christ there is a true sanctuary, "which the Lord pitched, and not man" (Hebrews 8:2), which is in "heaven itself” (Hebrews 9:24), where our great High Priest offers His blood for His people as their Intercessor and Advocate.
In the false system there is a counterfeit sanctuary on earth, which man pitched and not the Lord, which claims all the sanctity and holiness that belong alone to the true. As the true sanctuary is the dwelling place of the true God, so the counterfeit sanctuary is the dwelling place of a false and counterfeit god.
A TRUE AND A FALSE SACRIFICE
In the gospel of Christ there is a true sacrifice, which was made "once for all" (Hebrews 10:10), the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Of Christ as priest it is written, "Who needs not daily, to offer up sacrifice: for this He did once, when He offered up Himself” (Hebrews 7:27); "so Christ was once offered to bear the sins, of many" (Hebrews 9:28); "but this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for Sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God" (Hebrews 10:12). This sacrifice was so complete and so, all-sufficient that, by virtue of it, every human being can secure salvation.
In the false system there is a counterfeit sacrifice, the sacrifice of the mass, which must be offered continually, and which is a purely idolatrous service. In the "Catechism of the Council of Trent" are the words "We, therefore, confess that the sacrifice of the mass is and ought to be considered one and the Same as that of the cross, as the victim is one and the same; namely, Christ our Lord." - Page 226. Dublin: James Duffy, sons & Company.
A TRUE AND A FALSE PRIESTHOOD
In the gospel of Christ there is a true priesthood, of which Christ is the High Priest. In the false system there is a counterfeit priesthood, of which the Bishop of Rome is the head. This false priesthood claims all the honours, prerogatives, and power that are Christ's alone, going so far as to claim power to forgive sins.
A TRUE AND A FALSE CONFESSION
In the gospel of Christ there is a true confession of sin to a true high priest in heaven, who gives true absolution and forgiveness. In the false system there is a counterfeit confession of sin to a counterfeit priesthood on Earth, which bestows a counterfeit absolution and forgiveness.
A TRUE AND A FALSE BAPTISM
In the gospel of Christ there is a true baptism, burial by immersion, a symbolic death and resurrection being the outward testimony to the inward experience of the death and burial of the old nature, and the rising to walk in newness of life of the new nature. (Romans 6:3-6; Colossians 2: 12.) In the false system there is a counterfeit baptism, which is the sprinkling of water on the head of the candidate.
A TRUE AND A FALSE COMMUNION
In the gospel of Christ there is a true communion table, the Lord's Supper, which is, to the Christian, a memorial of the crucified Lord, a communion, a feast of thanksgiving. In the false system there is a counterfeit ceremony for the Lord's Supper, in which the celebrant pretends to offer, both for the living and for the dead, a repetition of the sacrifice on Calvary. And it includes the belief that the priest actually changes the elements of the bread and wine into the real body and blood of Christ.
A TRUE AND A FALSE LAW
In the gospel of Christ there is a true law, the very foundation of the government of God, and which existed from the very, beginning. This law, God spoke to men in the thunders of Sinai (Deuteronomy 4: 12), and wrote with His own finger, on two tables of stone (Exodus 31:18). It is “right," “true," and "good” (Nehemiah 9:13), and "perfect” (Psalm 19:7). Christ did not come to destroy or to abolish this law (Matthew 5:17); but it will endure while heaven and Earth stand (Matthew 5:18; Luke 16:17). It is a "law of liberty" (James 2:12), which is established by faith in Christ (Romans 3:31), and is "spiritual” and "holy, just, and good" (Romans 7:12, 14). This law contains "the whole duty of man." Ecclesiastes 12:13. It is the "royal law!” James 2:8. It is the law which Jesus came to magnify and to make honourable (Isaiah 42:21); and it must be kept as a condition of eternal life (Matthew 19:16-19; Revelation 22:14), for it is the law by which the world will be judged (James 2:12). In the false system there is a counterfeit law, which is, in some parts, similar to the law of God, having Ten Commandments; but it is supported by the authority of the church rather than by the authority of God.
A TRUE AND A FALSE SABBATH
In the gospel of Christ there is a true Sabbath that was made by the Creator, Christ (John 1: 1-3; Colossians 1:13-17; Hebrews 1:1, 2), out of the seventh day (Genesis 2:1-3), by resting upon it, blessing it, and making it holy (Genesis 2:1-3). The day was given to all mankind (Mark 2:27) as a perpetual memorial of the exercise of God's creative power in the making of the world, and He designed it should be kept forever (Psalm 111: 7, 8; Isaiah 66:22, 23). This Sabbath is the seventh (lay of the week, beginning at sunset Friday night, and closing at sunset Saturday night.
In the false system there is a counterfeit Sabbath, which is no Sabbath at all, as it is founded not on any command of God but solely on the authority of the Roman Catholic Church. This counterfeit Sabbath is the first day of the week the day of the sun, Sunday. It is the old heathen festival day of the ancient sun worshipers. Thus in all points there is a complete counterfeit of the work and gospel of Christ. The truth of God has been changed into a lie, and that lie has been handed down and accepted as the truth by many millions of people.
The time has now come when the truth must be restored to its rightful place. Our Lord must be acclaimed as the only Priest, the only Mediator, the only Advocate with the Father. Instead of looking to other human beings, sinful and fallen as themselves, men must be taught to look alone to Jesus for forgiveness. A counterfeit earthly priesthood has placed itself as a mediator in the place of Christ in His ministry for men. The true mediatorial system must be allowed its true place in the church. Jesus alone is "the way, the truth, find the life." In Him alone is salvation.
Cleansing the Heavenly Sanctuary
Finishing the Work of the Gospel
THERE is no escaping the conclusion that the longest time prophecy in the Bible, the 2300 years, of Daniel 8: 14, terminated in the year 1844 AD. The prophecy declares that at the end of this time, "Then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." What this cleansing of the sanctuary in 1844 meant, must now be considered.
At the time when God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt into the wilderness, He gave Moses instruction to build a sanctuary in order that He might have a dwelling place among His people. This instruction was given at the time Moses communed with God forty days on Mount Sinai. The Lord's words were: "Let them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them." Exodus 25: 8.
After describing a number of the articles of furniture that were to be placed in the sanctuary when it was completed, the Lord said to Moses. "According, to all that 1 show you, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall you make it." "All look that you make them after their pattern, which was showed thee in the mount." Exodus 25: 9, 10.
From these passages it is clear that Moses received instruction on Mount Sinai, not only to build the sanctuary, but was also shown a pattern, which he was to take as a model in building it. It is plain, too, that he was shown more than the pattern of the sanctuary as a whole; he must have been shown a pattern of every article of furniture to be placed in this structure.
Obeying this instruction, Moses and the children of Israel built the sanctuary in exact conformity with the pattern which Moses had been shown. Chapters 25 to 40 of the book of Exodus contain a full and detailed description of this sanctuary and the building of it. Briefly described, the sanctuary was built as follows: In the centre of the camp a court was erected, and in this court the sanctuary was raised. The court was oblong in shape, and was composed of hangings of fine-twined linen. There were but two articles of furniture in the court, the brazen altar and the brazen laver.
THE HOLY AND THE MOST HOLY
The sanctuary proper was constructed with two rooms, or apartments, the first of which was called the holy place and the second, the most holy, place. The holy place contained three articles of furniture: the table of show bread, the golden candlestick, and the altar of incense. A veil, embroidered in gold thread with the figures of angels, divided the holy place from the most holy place. In the most holy place, which was the innermost apartment of the sanctuary, there was but one article of furniture, the ark of the covenant. This ark was a hollow chest containing the two tables of stone upon which were written the Ten Commandments. The cover of this ark was called the mercy seat, and was made of one piece of solid gold. On each end of it was the figure of an angel, or cherubim. These angels, with outstretched wings, stood as if in worship of that which they beheld between them. Between them was a bright, shining light, called the Shekinah, which was the manifest presence of God among His people.
It was in this building that the Israelites worshiped for a long time. The book of Leviticus describes in much detail the services which were here performed daily. These services were as follows:
SIN, THE TRANSGRESSION OF LAW
Whenever one of the Israelites committed sin, he broke the law which was in the most holy place. "Sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 3:4. Which law it is that reveals sin, and the transgression of which is sin, the Bible makes clear: "I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shall not covet." Romans 7:7.
The law that reveals sin, and the transgression of which is sin, is plainly the law which declares, "Thou shall not covet." This is the law of Ten Commandments, which was written on stone and placed in the ark of the covenant in the most holy place of the sanctuary. When this law was broken, or when sin was committed, it condemned the sinner to die. It demanded his life. It placed him under the sentence of death, for "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6: 23), "and without shedding of blood is no remission" (Hebrews 9: 22).
Before the sin of the individual could be remitted, the law demanded blood. In response to the command, the man who had sinned brought to the gate of the court his offering as appointed by the law. See Leviticus, chapters 1-6. He then confessed his transgression upon the head of this offering, in type transferring his sin to his substitute. As the sin now rested upon the offering, the condemnation of the law was now directed against it; and it was its blood which the law demanded. After the transgressor had confessed his sin upon the beast, be, slew it; and as the blood gushed forth, it was caught in a basin and taken into the holy place by the priest, and sprinkled before the Lord. All of this was to show that the demands of the law had been met, and that blood had been shed for the remission of the sin that had been committed.
In this way the man was set free, and the lamb suffered in his place. This ceremony prefigured the vicarious atonement of Jesus Christ. It was an object lesson, pointing forward to the coming of "the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world." It was also evidence of the sinner's faith in Christ. Thus throughout the years, blood was flowing constantly at the gate of the sanctuary. Because of the sins of the people, the service of the sacrifice for sin kept the priest busy day by day, offering blood before, the broken law in this way the sins of the entire encampment accumulated in the sanctuary.
THE SANCTUARY CLEANSED
Once each year the time came when it was necessary to cleanse the sanctuary from the sins, of the people. On the day of atonement, the tenth day of the seventh month, a change was made in the services of the sanctuary. The high priest himself on this day took charge of the services, a description of which will be found in the sixteenth chapter of Leviticus. On the morning of the day of atonement, two goats were brought before the high priest at the door of the sanctuary. By casting lots, one was selected as the Lord's goat, and the other as the scapegoat.
The Lord's goat was on that day to die for the sins of the people, which had been accumulating in the sanctuary for the entire year. He was to die for these sins, and his blood was to make an atonement for them once for all. The Lord's goat was killed by the high priest, the blood being taken into the most holy place, before the law itself, and there sprinkled for the remission of the sins that had been confessed -And brought into the sanctuary. Then, bearing these accumulated sins upon his own body, after making atonement for them, the high priest passed out of the most holy place, through the holy place, into the court, and brought these sins to the scapegoat, which stood at the gate of the court. He then confessed all these sins upon the head of the scapegoat.
"And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: and the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness." Leviticus 16:21, 22.
The sins of the people were in this way forever separated from them. The service by which this was done was called the cleansing of the sanctuary. It was performed once every year. These sacrifices, offerings, and services were all typical of the work of Christ. As was true with the old covenant, the new covenant has a sanctuary of its own. It has a priesthood, as well as did the old; it also has a sacrifice for sin. And the new covenant has a service for cleansing the sanctuary as well as did the old. And more, the new covenant has a scapegoat, which is the anti type of that of the old covenant.
THE NEW COVENANT PRIESTHOOD
Dealing with this matter, the writer of the book of Hebrews says: “We have such an High Priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man." Hebrews 8: 1, 2.
And again he writes of this: "Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the show bread; which is called the holy [margin]. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the holiest of all; which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant. And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy seat; of which we can not now speak particularly!” Hebrews 9:1-5.
Speaking of the services which were conducted in this first sanctuary, Paul says: "Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself. and for the errors of the people." Hebrews 9:6-7.
The meaning of all these services is plainly stated:
"The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience. Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." Hebrews 9: 8-12.
The explanation which is given in these pas~ sages makes it plain that there is a sanctuary now in heaven, in which our Lord as the High Priest, offers His own blood for the remission of the sins that are confessed to Him. Such expressions as, "The true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man," "A figure for 'the time then present," "By a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands," and "Is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens," show conclusively that there is a heavenly sanctuary, the services of which are conducted by Jesus Christ. The instruction contained in these passages also makes clear what the work is that Christ has been doing in heaven since His ascension.
When Christ ascended to heaven, forty days after His resurrection, He entered upon His priestly work in the "holy place" of the heavenly sanctuary. (Hebrews 9:12.) Since 31 AD, when He ascended, He has been ministering there. As His people have confessed their sins to Him, He has presented His own blood before the broken law for their remission, and the Father has accepted His sacrifice in our behalf, thus enabling Christ to forgive men their trespasses.
THE FINAL SERVICE OF CHRIST'S MINISTRY
For nineteen centuries, then, the sins of God's people have been accumulating in the heavenly sanctuary above. The time has now come when these sins must be forever blotted out by the final service of Christ's ministry. The time when this great service was to begin is very clearly pointed out by the prophecy of the 2300 hundred years. "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." Daniel 8: 14.
The 2300 years of this prophecy, as has been shown, ended in 1844. In that year there was but one sanctuary, and that was the heavenly sanctuary. The earthly sanctuary, which had been merged into the great temple at Jerusalem, was destroyed nearly eighteen centuries before 1844. This prophecy of the 2300 years, therefore, can have reference only to the heavenly sanctuary. And the prophecy is given for the purpose of directing attention to the exact year for the beginning of the closing work of the gospel,-the blotting out of sins once for all.
The event predicted by the 2300-year prophecy, to take place in 1844, was the transfer of Christ's ministry in the heavenly sanctuary from the holy place to the most holy place. It was in that year that He began the work called in the prophecy the cleansing of the sanctuary. Of this we read In the book of Hebrews:
"Almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens [the earthly sanctuary] should he purified with these [the blood of animals]; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Nor yet that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest entered into the holy place every year with the blood of others; for then must He often have suffered since the foundation of the world. But now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." Hebrews 9: 22-26.
On the day of atonement, the earthly sanctuary was cleansed with the blood of animals. This was typical of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary with the blood of Christ. Christ does not, however,-according to the passage just quoted, engage in the work of cleansing the heavenly sanctuary as often as the earthly sanctuary was cleansed, which was once every year. The heavenly sanctuary is cleansed but once, and the time for the beginning of its cleansing is fixed in the Scriptures by the prophecy in the eighth chapter of Daniel. That cleansing began in 1844. Peter undoubtedly referred to this time when he said:
"Repent you therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord." Acts 3: 19.
The time has actually been reached, then, for the beginning of the work that will end with the final blotting out of sin. This work began in 1844, and has been going forward ever since that time. Without question, this is the most important and solemn period in the history of God's dealings with men. Much more than the cleansing of the sanctuary is involved in this closing work of the gospel. In connection with it, there is also going forward in heaven the work of examining the life and character of every child of God. And upon earth there is being preached to every kindred, tongue, and people, the closing message of the gospel,-a message in which is restored every lost and perverted truth that has been hidden by that system of counterfeits, which Satan, during the Dark Ages, substituted for the gospel.
Completing the Unfinished Reformation
ACCORDING to the prophecy of the eighth chapter of Daniel, the false system that was to oppose the gospel of Christ was to "cast down the truth to the ground," it was to take away from Christ His continual mediation and ministry. It was to "cast down" "the place of His sanctuary," and for the work and gospel and truth of Christ on earth it wits to substitute it false and spurious system, which was to be, in every detail, a counterfeit of the teachings and truths of Christianity.
And this system, doing this work, was to practice and prosper. It was to be successful in hiding from the minds of men the true system of the gospel, and the true priesthood and mediation of Jesus Christ. While it substituted in their place the falsehoods and counterfeits composing its body of teaching, and directed the minds of men to it human priesthood and mediation.
The prophecy, however, indicates that the light of truth is not always to be obscured by the darkness of error. It directs our attention to the end of the 2300 years as the time when truth was to be proclaimed, the time when a great message was to come into the world containing the very fullness of the truth of God, a message which would again set before the whole earth those truths which had been hidden for so long by the error of the false system. The 2300 years ended in 1844, as has been shown. It is to that time that the prophecy directs our attention. At that time, a work was to begin in heaven, called the cleansing of the sanctuary.
At that same time a message of truth was to begin on earth that would restore every lost and perverted truth of the gospel. These two were to go forward together, the work of Christ in heaven in the most holy place, and the work of His church on Earth, that of proclaiming His message of truth. And they are to close together. When the message has reached every nation and has been preached in all the world as a witness, then the work of Christ in heaven will close, and He will lay aside His priestly robes, and prepare to come the second time to this earth.
A twofold work, then, was to begin in 1844, the cleansing of the sanctuary in heaven and the closing message of the gospel on the earth. This message was to incorporate in itself all those doctrines and ordinances that were known and practised in the apostolic church, but that had been perverted and counterfeited in the false system, which was to "cast down the truth to the ground," and take away from Christ His true work and place.
THE PRESENT APPALLING CRISIS IN THE CHURCHES
Such a message, if we believe this prophecy, must be in this world today, for it was to begin in 1844. And there is great need of such a message.
The most appalling crisis in its entire history now confronts the Christian church. The faith of the people in the Bible as the inspired and authoritative word of God is being destroyed, not by attacks from outside the church, but by those who occupy the foremost positions of trust in the church. The poisonous influence of such errors as higher criticism, spiritualism, modernism, and evolution, and the unwillingness of many leaders in the ministry of the various churches to accept the plain teaching of the Bible, is leading the people of God away from the great fundamental truths of the Scriptures.
The drift in the Christian world is away from the simple truths of God's word. This is due to the fact that there have arisen in the church many false theories, all of them of mere human devising. The tendency of these, theories is to lead men to place their trust for salvation in men, in human efforts, in man-made systems, instead of in God and the plan of salvation that He has ordained for the salvation of the human race. Such principles and theories are taking the place, in the minds of the people, of the pure gospel of Christ.
These false teachings are sweeping away the faith of the people in the Bible as the word of God. And, as we have said, this attack upon the fundamental truth of Christianity is not, as in the past, from outside the church. There was a time when the church was compelled to defend itself from outside, antagonists. Infidels, atheists, and agnostics have always found delight in pointing out what they regarded as the errors of the Bible, and in ridiculing what they termed the credulity of the people of God in believing the Bible. But they were avowed enemies of the cross of Christ, and it was never a very difficult matter to meet and defeat their attacks.
A NEW ATTACK AGAINST THE WORD OF GOD
Now the situation has changed. Today the enemies of the truth are inside the church, entrenched in positions of greatest power and influence in the pulpits, in the theological seminaries, in the great Christian publishing houses. And from these points of vantage, they are leading a new attack, a most formidable attack, against the word of God and its inspired teachings.
This is, in reality, a new apostasy. Sapping the very foundations of its power, poisoning all its life springs, these forces are attempting to wreck the church. Professing to be its friends, they prove to be its destroyers. Like its divine Master, the church today is being wounded in the house of its friends.
Hence the call today is for a new proclamation of the ancient truths, a return to the primitive faith of the Bible. The great need of the hour is not only for a Christian faith, but also for it Christian experience, an experience founded on the Bible and the Bible alone; an experience based upon a personal connection with our Priest and Saviour, Jesus Christ Himself.
During the Dark Ages, the truth of the gospel was eclipsed by the darkness and error of false doctrines that were brought into the church from paganism. Superstition and ignorance reigned supreme in the hearts of men, and crowded out the knowledge of many of the Bible's glorious truths.
Martin Luther was most prominent among those who were called of God to lead the world out of the darkness of the medieval and false system of religion into a purer faith. He was devoted, ardent, zealous. He knew no fear but the fear of God, and acknowledged no foundation for religious faith but the Holy Scriptures. He was pre-eminently the man for the time. And through this man and his faithful co workers, God accomplished a great work for the reformation of the church and the enlightenment of the world.
A CREED SPELLS STAGNATION
But God did not reveal all His truth to Luther. He designed that the work of the Reformation should be progressive, and that men should keep their minds open in their study of the Scriptures, and be always ready to accept such new light as, in His providence, He should send them. But when Luther died, those who had been associated with him did not go on to learn the whole truth of God. His followers gathered together what he had believed, and out of it they made a creed. Then they crystallised their belief into a creed as if they had advanced as far as it was possible to go in the knowledge of truth.
God had other truths to reveal to the world; but the forming of a rigid creed and a denomination based upon Luther's belief, made it impossible for God to send more truth to the world through that channel. When a body of people declare that they can accept nothing more than is contained in their creed, then, if God has additional truth to reveal to the world, that body is shut away from this new light by their refusal to go beyond the narrow limits of that creed.
So God called other men to advance the work of the Reformation. He called Knox and Calvin, and, through them, He did a great work for the advancement of the principles of the gospel. And that work should have continued to grow through the constant study of the Bible, and thus His church have come to the knowledge of more and more truth, and the presentation of it to the world. But instead of doing this, the followers of Knox and Calvin made the same mistake that was made before. Another denomination was formed, which constructed a creed out of the teachings of Knox and Calvin, and settled down on that creed as if it were the end of all truth.
THE TRUTH CARRIED FORWARD
God caused still other men to advance, His truth. He purposed to reveal to the world the truth in all its fullness, and sought for men through whom this could be done. Reformers arose in England, but, although they renounced some of the errors of Rome, they retained many of her forms. Thus, while the authority and creed of the Roman Church was rejected, not a few of tier customs and ceremonies became incorporated into the worship of the Church of England.
Then God gave the Puritans more light and truth and they earnestly desired to return to the simplicity and purity of the apostolic church; but they were persecuted and driven out of England. That some among them plainly discerned the attitude that all men should assume toward the truth is evident from the statements contained in the farewell address, of one of their pastors, John Robinson, delivered on the shores of Holland when the Puritan pilgrims were about to depart for America. He said: “Brethren, we are now ere long to part, asunder, and the Lord knows whether 1 shall ever live to see your faces once more. But whether the Lord has appointed that or not, I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no further that I have followed Christ. If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His, he as ready to receive it as you ever were to receive any truth by my ministry; for 1 am very confident that the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His Holy Word.
"For my part, 1 can not sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches, who are come to a period in religion, and will go no further than the instruments of their reformation. The Lutherans can not be drawn to go any further than what Luther saw; and the Calvinists, you see, stick fast where they were left by that great man of God, who yet saw not all things. This is a misery much to be lamented; for though they were burning and shining lights in their time, yet they penetrated not into the whole counsel of God, but were they now living, would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first received.
"Remember your church covenant, in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the Lord, made known and to be made known unto yow. Remember your promise and covenant with God and with one another, to receive whatever light and truth shall he made known to you from His written word. But, withal, take heed, I beseech you, what you receive as truth. Examine it, consider it, compare it with other scriptures of truth before you receive it. For it is not possible that the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick anti Christian darkness, and that perfection of knowledge should break forth at once." A History of the United States, by Bancroft, Volume I, chapter 8.
This certainly was most excellent counsel, and should have been carefully heeded and obeyed. But when kindred Puritans established themselves in the New World, they violated vital principles of Christianity and Protestantism by establishing a theocracy, and going into the business of persecuting dissenters. They themselves would not advance, neither would they permit anyone else to do so.
THE REVELATION OF TRUTH RETARDED
The Wesleys were called of God and did a mighty work for the gospel. New light was still gradually coming to the world; but there was so much truth which God desired to reveal to men that, when creeds were made of that which they already knew and men thus, rejected everything not contained in these creeds, the revelation of the fullness of God's truth was delayed longer than it should have been. Wesley's followers made the same mistake as did those who had preceded them. They selected a few of the many truths which God had for the world, and built upon these few it great denominational structure, thus making it necessary for God to go outside of that organisation to find leaders who would receive advanced light and truth- and take it to the world.
One of the most solemn and yet most glorious truths revealed in the Bible is that, of the Second Coming of Christ to this earth to complete the work of redemption. This truth is the very keynote of the Sacred-Scriptures, for it is the consummation of all the hopes of the Christian church.
The time drew near when this great truth should be preached to the world. God purposed to reveal this doctrine to, and have it preached by, those whom He had offered to be leaders in the work of reformation. But by their course, they had shut themselves away from this new light. Therefore, when the time came to have the message of His coming preached in all the world, He was obliged to go again outside of the established churches, and to institute another movement, which would take to the end of the earth the proclamation of Christ's second coming.
And God designed that all the truths which had been falsified and hidden during the Dark Ages should he connected with the message of His coming, and again, be, made clear to the human family, so that, at His coming, the fullness of the truth might be revealed to the world.
THE FULLNESS OF THE TRUTH
And in 1844, the time for the revelation of the fullness of gospel truth came. If the prophecy of Daniel eight be fulfilled, and-assuredly it must be, then, in 1844, we must confidently look for the beginning of a movement and a message which not only will complete, an arrested Reformation, but also will disclose again to the knowledge of mankind all those truths which have been counterfeited during the centuries of the Middle Ages.
To beat this message to the world, it was necessary that God institute another movement and raise up another people, separate from the established churches that had refused to walk in the advancing light. This great threefold message is given in the fourteenth chapter of the book of Revelation, verses 6 to 12:
"I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him. For the hour of His judgement is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
"And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation. And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends up forever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receives the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. And 1 looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle." Revelation 14: 6-14.
There are these things in this threefold message that are worthy of special attention: It brings back in its purity and power the primitive, eternal good tidings; it bears a message to all the world. It calls men back to the fear (or reverence) of God, which is the beginning of wisdom. It preaches the hour of God's judgement as present; it restores again the worship of the Creator. It notes, the fall of creed bound churches; it warns against the worship of the beast and his image in contrast with the worship of the Creator; it tells what to do as well as what not to do; it tells souls how to get the victory.
A MESSAGE FOR TODAY
This message, then, fits the present situation. It is a message given for this particular time and to meet the special conditions that prevail on the earth to-day.
This final message of the gospel of Christ will so fully prepare those who receive it to meet God that they are said to he without fault before His throne. (Revelation 14:5.) It is therefore evident that the message borne by the third angel will contain all the truth of God. It is through the truth (John 17:17) that the people of God are sanctified; and if those who accept the third angel's message become without fault before the throne of God, it will he because they have the full and complete truth of the gospel.
"This gospel of the kingdom," the message of the coming kingdom, will also "be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations," not that all will be converted, but "for a witness, and then shall the end come" (Matthew 24:14) ; that is, a people will be raised up, as was John the Baptist, who will take the message of the coming Saviour and the fullness of the truth of His gospel to all the world before His second coming. And when they have completed this task, when they have warned the world, and given it the truth, and the world has rejected the message, "then shall the end come."
The Remnant Church and Its Message
ALL lost truths of the gospel are to be recovered. All truths which have been perverted are to be restored. All hidden truths are to be brought to the light. The gospel in its primitive fullness and simplicity is to be preached to the world again. The deceptions, the delusions, the errors, that have gained an entrance into the body of Christian teaching are to be cast out. The truth of the Lord Jesus in all its glory and power is to be presented to the world in the final gospel message.
This message is to have its beginning in 1844, at the close of the 2300 years of Daniel 8: 14. The very heart and centre of it is to be Jesus, our great High Priest. He is to be restored to His rightful place as "the way, the truth, and the life." The attention of the world is to be directed to His expiatory, propitiatory, and mediatorial work.
The movement that God institutes to carry His final message to the world will emphasise the fundamental truths of the gospel. It will turn away from all the perversions of truth, from all the errors which men have brought in, and point alone to Jesus as the author and finisher of faith. It, will maintain the historic faith, the apostolic faith, of the Christian church, and make the person of our Lord the central feature of its teachings.
It will emphasise His pre-existence as the divine Creator. It will uphold the Scriptural record of His virgin birth. It will present the truth of His divine Son-ship. It will insist on His authority as the Teacher sent from God. It will defend His miracle-working power. It will cherish His enduring words. It will maintain the essential truth of His substitutionary death. It will hold to the certainty of His miraculous resurrection and ascension. It will understand and teach His divine intercession and priesthood. And it will confidently look for His literal, bodily, imminent return.
THE LAST CHURCH
This last church, which will be the full fruitage of the Reformation, will have revealed to it all the truths of the gospel, the truths which Satan has so successfully hidden under the great counterfeit system during the centuries of the Dark Ages. It will, therefore, preach not only the message that the Lord is soon to come, but it will also possess and teach the truth concerning the true God, the true Saviour, the true sanctuary, the true priesthood, the true law, the true Sabbath, and those other truths that have been perverted.
The people, then, who will deliver the final message of the gospel to the world will believe in God the Father as the great King of the universe. They will believe in His infinite love for all His creatures, and in His great plan for the salvation of shiners.
They will believe in and preach Christ as the only Saviour from sin. They will present Him to the world as the great sin bearer for the human race, and will show that, whereas He was in the image of God, He emptied Himself and was made in the form of man, and then humble Himself to die the death of the cross, being both human and divine.
They will believe and preach Christ is the only mediator between God and man, that all blessings which have ever come from the hand of God to the human race have come through him, and that through Him the whole creation was brought into existence. (John 1:1-3, 14; Colossians 1:13-17; Hebrews 1:1, 2.) They will believe and preach Christ as the only true Advocate with the Father, offering His blood constantly in our behalf, our Intercessor, who presents for us the merits of His own sacrifice for sin.
They will believe and teach that the Bible is the only true, full, and complete, revelation of the will of God to men; that it is the inspired and authoritative word of the living God. They will believe and teach that the Holy Spirit is the only true vicegerent of the Son of God on earth; and will accept no other.
They will believe and-teach the truth regarding the sanctuary,-the true sanctuary, which the Lord pitched and not man; the heavenly sanctuary, in which the Lord Jesus is our High Priest; the sanctuary which was to be cleansed in 1844, the end of the long prophetic period of 2300 years. (Daniel 8:14; see also the chapter "The 2300 Years.")
They will believe and teach the truth concerning the true sacrifice once offered on Calvary for the sins of the human race; and they will show that this one sacrifice for sins was sufficient, without the idolatrous sacrifice of the mass. They will believe and teach the truth concerning the true priesthood of Christ, who was made a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, a priest who stand, at the head of the new creation, who, by offering Himself, interceding through His own blood in the heavenly sanctuary, is able to save unto the uttermost all who come unto God by Him.
They will believe and teach the truth concerning the necessity of confessing their sins to the High Priest above, and not to any earthly priest. They will believe and teach the truth concerning the fullness of the forgiveness of the sins that are confessed to this High Priest, and the completeness of His cleansing of the sinner from all unrighteousness. They will believe and teach the truth of true baptism; that it is a burial and a resurrection; that it typifies the complete death of the "old man" of sin, "the body of sin," and its burial, and then a resurrection to "walk in newness of life."
They will believe and teach the truth concerning the true Communion, the Lord's Supper. They will believe and teach the truth regarding the true law of God, which existed in the very beginning, was given in thunder tones on Mount, Sinai, and is the perpetual standard of righteousness, the very foundation of the government of God.
They will believe and teach the truth regarding the Sabbath, which was made by the Creator, and given, in Eden, to the human race as a perpetual memorial of the exercise of the creative power of God. They will discard the false and counterfeit Sabbath, as they will also all the counterfeits of the false system; and they will observe only the true Sabbath of Jehovah, the seventh day. This they will present as the sign between Jehovah and His people. (Ezekiel 20:12, 20.)
They will teach also the truth of the nature of man, the state of the dead, the reward of the righteous, and the fate of the wicked, all of which have been perverted in the false system. Instead of preaching a purgatory or a conscious state of existence in death, they will teach the truth of the Bible, that the dead are unconscious (Psalm 146:3, 4); that "they know not anything" (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6); that man is mortal (1 Timothy 6:13-16; 1 Corinthians 15:51-54); and that the time of rewards and punishments will take place, not at death or in death, but at the resurrection from the dead.
A GREAT WARNING AGAINST THE BEAST
Thus this people, through whom God chooses to deliver His final message of truth, will believe and teach every truth that has been perverted in apostate Christianity. The message they will present to the world will obviously, in every part and detail, be the exact opposite of the papacy, and therefore, when it is preached, it will constitute a great warning against "the beast and his image" and against the reception of his mark.
In as much as this last church of Christ is the exact opposite of the system that Satan has designed shall take the place of the gospel, it is not to he wondered at that "the dragon" makes special war against this remnant, which “keep the commandments of God" and deliver the last message of God to the world. (Revelation 12:17.)
That this church which stirs the wrath of the dragon is the same as that which gives the warning message against the beast and his image is evident from the fact that it is described in almost identical terms. (Revelation 14:12; 12:17.) Those who give God's final message will be commandment keepers, and therefore will observe the seventh-day Sabbath.
PREACHED IN ALL THE WORLD
This last message of the gospel, containing the full truth of God, will not be preached in a corner to just a few persons; it will be taken to all the earth, "preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations." When it has been taken to all the earth, Jesus will come the second time, and the great controversy between Christ and Satan will come to a final end.
Just such a people as is described in this chapter as the remnant church, have been raised up, and they are now engaged in the very work called for in the prophecy, that of taking the final and complete message of truth to all the world. A thoughtful study of this movement and its message, with the time of its arising, discloses the following facts:
It followed the churches of the Reformation, and has gone beyond them into advanced light. It is in very truth delivering to the world the message of the coming of Christ.
It meets all the specifications of various prophecies regarding the last movement of the gospel. It teaches the observance of the Ten Commandments, in fulfilment of these same prophecies. It teaches Sabbath keeping.
It is the very opposite of the papacy in every part and detail.
It is preaching the warning message against the beast, and its image.
All the fundamental truths of the gospel of Christ are contained in its message.
The writer has no hesitation, therefore, in expressing his sincere conviction that this movement is in very deed and truth what it purports to be the final work of the gospel among men. Satan has swept all the world into one deception or another. He has turned the truth of God of is in very deed and truth what it purports to be the final work of the gospel among men.
Satan has swept all the world into one deception or another. He has turned the truth of God into a lie, and has succeeded in getting men to believe that lie. His last attempt against the church of Christ will be made with the intention of destroying from among men this remnant, which is carrying the banner of truth to the world. He will bend all the energies of his master mind to the work of bringing these servants of God to destruction, and with them the truth they bear to the world.
He knows that he has but a short time in which to work. The controversy between himself and God, which began in heaven, is fast closing, and he realises that what he does lie must do quickly. He is determined to destroy the truth of God from the earth, and also the people of God. Therefore, "the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Revelation 12: 17.