IN DEFENSE OF THE FAITH
The
Truth About Seventh-day Adventists
A
REPLY TO CANRIGHT
by
William
H. Branson
14. THE CLEANSING OF THE
SANCTUARY
MR. CANRIGHT
strenuously objects, in chapter 7 of his book, to the teaching of the
Seventh-day
Adventists regarding
the judgment and the cleansing of the sanctuary. He brands it as
fanaticism, and
holds it up to public
ridicule. As in his treatment of many other subjects, he freely
misstates the Seventh day
Adventist position, and
confuses the issue in the mind of the reader by making false charges
against
some of the former
leaders of that church. He says in his first paragraph that this is an
important issue, and
urges his readers to
study into it carefully.
In order to aid in the
careful study of this subject, we present in the following pages a brief
statement of the
teachings of the Seventh-day Adventists on the subject of the cleansing
of the sanctuary
and its relation to the
judgment and the law of God.
TWO SANCTUARIES
In the Bible two
sanctuaries of God are spoken of. One is called the earthly tabernacle,
one the heavenly.
One was built by Moses
in the wilderness, and the other was built by God in heaven. One was
only a type;
the other, the
antitype, or true tabernacle. The services of the tabernacle on earth
were performed by the
members of the Aaronic
priesthood; those of the heavenly, by Jesus Christ, who is our High
Priest.
(Hebrews 8:1, 2.) In
the earthly sanctuary the blood of animals was offered daily as a type
of the sacrifice
of Christ, who had
promised to become the sinner's substitute. In the heavenly Jesus
presents His own
blood as the
sacrificial atonement for the sins of His people.
Of the earthly
tabernacle the Lord said to Moses:
Let them make Me a
sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show
thee,
after the pattern of
the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so
shall you make it.
And thou shall put
into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee. And thou shall
put the mercy scat
above upon the ark; and
in the ark thou shall put the testimony that I shall give thee. And
there I will meet
with thee, and I will
commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two
cherubims
which are upon the ark
of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment
unto the
children of Israel.
Exodus 25:8,9,16,21,22.
And after carefully
instructing Moses how to make certain other furnishings, such as altars,
table,
candlestick, etc., he
added: Look that thou make them after their pattern, which was showed
thee in the
mount. Verse 40. Of
the heavenly sanctuary we read:
Now
of the things
which we have spoken , this is the sum: 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. For every high priest is ordained to offer
gifts and
sacrifices: wherefore
it is of necessity that this Man have somewhat also to offer. For if He
were on earth,
He should not be a
priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the
law: who serve unto
the example and shadow
of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to
make
the tabernacle: for,
See, says He, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed
to thee in the
mount. Hebrews
8:1-5.
Thus it is clearly
revealed that there were two sanctuaries: an earthly (or, as rendered in
Hebrews
9:1, A.R.V., a
sanctuary of the world), and a heavenly. The 19 sanctuary of the
world was a type of the
heavenly, and its
services were only the example and shadow of heavenly things. The
heavenly is the
true tabernacle, which
the Lord pitched, and not man. The high priests in the earthly
sanctuary offered
gifts and
sacrifices, and it was necessary that Christ, the Priest of the
heavenly sanctuary, have
somewhat also to
offer.
The sanctuary of this
world, with its typical services, was only a temporary arrangement made
by
God, by which to teach
the people the great fundamental truth of the gospel; i.e., that
remission of sins is
essential to eternal
life, and can be secured only through the shed blood of the Lamb of God,
who would
die as a ransom for
men, and whose death was typified by the blood of animals. This
temporary typical
arrangement was to
continue only until the death of Jesus, after which time it would have
no further
meaning, since it was
simply a shadow of the cross. Thus we read:
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 a 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. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer
sprinkling the
unclean, sanctifieth to
the purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who
through the
eternal Spirit offered
Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to
serve the
living God? Hebrews
9:8-14.
Here we see that Paul
refers to the sanctuary in the wilderness as the first tabernacle.
Hence there must
have been a second. The
first was a figure for the time then present. Its service was
imposed on them
until the time of
reformation - the opening of the gospel dispensation. Christ is
stated to be a High Priest
of . . . a greater and
more perfect tabernacle. He ministers not the blood of goats and
calves, but His own
blood.
Then verily the
first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly
sanctuary (Hebrews
9:1), but Christ is a
minister of a more perfect tabernacle. Verse 11. From the
foregoing scriptures there
can be no question that
the Bible clearly reveals two distinct sanctuaries of God, one of which
is the true,
and of which the other
was a type, or shadow.
THE SANCTUARY IN HEAVEN
Some maintain that all
heaven is the sanctuary, but that teaching clearly contradicts the plain
statements of
Scripture. Paul speaks of the second as a heavenly sanctuary, but that
does not mean that it is
heaven itself. Heaven
is not the sanctuary, but the sanctuary is in heaven. This is very
definitely revealed in
Revelation 11:19, which
says, The temple of God was opened in heaven. John does not say
heaven was
opened, but that the
temple of God was opened in heaven. This temple is the sanctuary, for
there was seen
in it the ark of the
testament, In Hebrews 9:23 it is very definitely stated that the earthly
sanctuary was a
pattern of things in
the heavens not a pattern of heaven, but of things in the heavens.
The heavenly
sanctuary, therefore,
is located in heaven, and is called the true and more perfect
tabernacle, as compared
with the one that was
on earth.
A study of the heavenly
sanctuary shows us that it is furnished in the same way as was the
earthly.
In Revelation 1:12 John
speaks of seeing the candlesticks in the heavenly sanctuary; in
Revelation 11:19 he
sees the ark of the
testimony; and in Revelation 8:3 he sees the altar of incense and the
golden censer. In
Hebrews 8:4,5, we are
told that the earthly sanctuary was built after a pattern, and that it
was a shadow of
heavenly things. If
that is true, then the shadow that was on the earth MUST of necessity
reveal what is in
heaven; in essential
arrangements the two must be the same. Also the typical services
performed in the
earthly must find their
antitype in the heavenly. In this way only could the earthly be a shadow
of the
heavenly.
TWO APARTMENTS
The earthly sanctuary
was divided into two apartments the holy place and the most holy. At the
entrance to
the first apartment, or
room, was a linen veil or curtain. Between the two apartments or rooms
was a second
veil, separating the
first apartment, or holy place, from the second, or most holy place; as
it is written: The
veil shall divide unto
you between the holy place and the most holy. Exodus 26:33.
This division of the
sanctuary into two apartments wag absolutely essential for the
performance of
the typical service.
The respective work performed in the two had a very different meaning.
The service in
the first apartment
typified the bringing of confessed sins into the sanctuary, while that
of the second
apartment had to do
with their removal. Without the service in the first apartment the
service in the second
would have no meaning.
If the sins of the people were not first brought into the sanctuary
through the daily
ministration, there
could of course be no cleansing or removal of sins on the Day of
Atonement.
Now since the earthly
sanctuary was a shadow cast by the heavenly, and since in the earthly
there
were two apartments,
there must necessarily be two apartments in the heavenly. A single
shaft, with one
source of light, cannot
cast a double shadow. Just so a sanctuary in heaven having only one
room, could
never cast a shadow
upon earth with two. And further, a heavenly sanctuary in which the
priestly service
was performed in only
one room, could not be typified by the service of a sanctuary with two
rooms, where
the services of the
respective rooms had an altogether different meaning. If in the heavenly
there be no first
apartment service, then
the entire typical service of the first apartment had no meaning, and
finds no
antitype in the work of
our High Priest in heaven. Such a conclusion is unthinkable. It would
destroy with
one stroke the
significance of the entire typical service.
In Hebrews 9:8 we learn
that there was no priestly service performed in the heavenly sanctuary
until the earthly had
come to its close: 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. Christ
therefore was not
ministering in the
heavenly sanctuary before He came to the earth. The services in the
earthly had to come
to a close, and the
priesthood had to be changed from the sons of Aaron to Christ, before
the way was open
for services to begin
in the sanctuary in heaven.
The offering of animals
in the earthly sanctuary was an expression of faith on the part of the
people that Jesus, the
Lamb of God, would come and die to redeem them from sin. Therefore, the
moment
Jesus died on the cross
the shadow met the substance, and the typical service lost its meaning.
From that
time on, that service
could no longer point forward to the death of Christ.
The death of Jesus took
place at the hour of the evening sacrifice, and in Jerusalem the priest
was
busy with this service.
The lamb for the evening offering had been brought, but just at that
moment Jesus
expired on the cross
and the veil of the temple was rent in twain. Thus God indicated that
the glory of His
presence had departed
from the earthly temple, and that the efficacy of the types and shadows
had suddenly
come to an end.
Blotting out the
handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us,
and
took it out of the way,
nailing it to His cross; and having. spoiled principalities and powers,
He made a
show of them openly,
triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or
in drink, or in
respect of a holy day,
or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: which are a shadow of things
to come;
but the body is of
Christ. Colossians 2:14-17.
Thus the law of the
earthly priesthood, the law of the meat offerings and drink offerings,
the law
concerning yearly
Sabbaths and holy days, with the whole typical service, was nailed to
the cross. When
the nails pierced the
hands and feet of Jesus and His blood flowed, the blood of the
sacrificial lamb had no
further meaning. The
time had come of which Jesus spoke to the woman of Samaria at the well
when He
said, The hour
comes, when you shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem,
worship the Father.
John 4:21. They could
worship God now by going straight to Jesus, their Advocate and High
Priest, for the
way into the heavenly
sanctuary was made manifest. He had taken away the first that He might
establish
the second. (See
Hebrews 10:8, 9.)
CHRIST NOT A PRIEST BEFORE HE CAME TO EARTH
Christ was not a priest
before He came to the earth. Therefore He was not performing a priestly
service in
the heavenly sanctuary
before that time. His priesthood could not begin until the priesthood of
Aaron had
closed. It was this
changing of the priesthood that made necessary the abolition of the
ceremonial law
which governed the
priestly ministry. For the priesthood being changed, there is made of
necessity a
change also of the
law. Hebrews 7:12.
Before Christ could
serve as priest, it was necessary that He should have an offering to
present to
God. Said the apostle:
Every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices:
wherefore it is of
necessity that this Man
have somewhat also to offer. Hebrews 8:1 Christ shed His blood that
He might
have something to
offer. The earthly priest offered the blood of animals, but He came not
to offer the blood
of bulls and goats and
lambs, but to offer His own blood; therefore His priestly service could
not begin
until after His blood
had been shed.
Paul very definitely
tells us that the earthly priests were taken from among the people whom
they
were to serve, in order
that they might have compassion on the people and understand their
infirmities.
Every high priest
taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God,
that he 'May
offer both gifts and
sacrifices for sins: who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on
them that are out
of the way; for that he
himself is compassed with infirmity. Hebrews 5:1, 2.
Thus the priests were
not brought in from some distant part of the world, from some nation
which did not
understand the needs
and sufferings of the people whom they would serve, but they were taken
from among
their brethren. Paul
tells us that this was true also of Christ. Before He could serve as a
priest on man's
behalf, He must Himself
become a man.
Forasmuch then as
the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise
took part of the
same; that through
death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the
devil; and deliver
them who through fear
of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily He took
not on Him
the nature of angels;
but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it
behoved Him to
be made like unto His
brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things
pertaining to
God, to make
reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has
suffered being tempted,
He is able to succour
them that are tempted. Hebrews 2:14-18.
We have not a High
Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our' infirmities; but
was
in all points tempted
like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the
throne of grace,
that we may obtain
mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:15, 16.
Thus in all things He
was made like His brethren. Why? That He might be a merciful and
faithful
High Priest. Therefore,
Christ was not a priest until after He had become man and had suffered
on man's
behalf.
Why do we emphasize
this point? For the reason that this shows conclusively that all the
priestly
work of Christ in the
heavenly sanctuary has had to be performed since the cross. None of it
was done
before He came to
earth. In the earthly sanctuary the priest served in the first apartment
and then in the
second apartment, and
the service was an example, or type, of the service of Christ. Therefore
Christ must
serve in both the first
and second apartments of the heavenly sanctuary, and His service in both
these
apartments must come
after the cross. The priest served first in the first apartment.
Therefore, if the types
mean anything to us,
they show that when Christ went to heaven as a priest, He began His
service in the
first apartment,
whereas His ministry in the second apartment was to come at a subsequent
time.
Now the work in the
first apartment of the earthly sanctuary required a much longer period
than
the work in the second.
Day by day throughout the year the priest ministered in the holy place,
and one day
in the year he
ministered in the most holy. So if we follow that in the antitype in
heaven, we conclude that
it was necessary that
Christ should go first into the first apartment, and that He should
serve a much longer
period there than He
would afterward serve in the most holy place.
TYPES NOT FOUND IN THE MELCHIZEDEC PRIESTHOOD
Some argue that the
types of Christ's priestly ministry are to be found not in the Levitical
priesthood but in the
Melchizedec priesthood. But we inquire, Where is the record of
Melchizedec's priestly
ministry? What kind of
sacrifices did he offer? What was the order of the services performed?
If the types
are to be found in his
priestly service, it is important that we understand them, in order that
we may also
understand the work of
Christ, the antitype. But we find no record of the priestly ministry of
Melchizedec.
We find no shedding of
blood, no offering of sacrifices, no work of atonement. But we do find
all this set
forth in the work of
the Levitical priests. In their ministry every detail of the work of
Christ in the heavenly
sanctuary is clearly
taught. If we reject the Levitical priesthood, we are left entirely
without a typical
ministration. If we
accept it, we have a typical service which teaches every principle
essential to the plan of
redemption.
We are left in no
uncertainty on this important point. In speaking of Christ, Paul
declares: If He
were on earth, He
should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts
according to the law:
who serve unto the
example and shadow of heavenly things. Hebrews 8:4,5. Thus it is the
service of the
priests who served
under the law that is to be taken as an example of the work of Christ in
heaven. These
were the Levites. They
were designated as priests by the law of Moses. Their gifts were offered
according
to the law that
governed the ceremonial service, and here Paul definitely declares their
service to be the
example and shadow of
heavenly things. The types of Christ in His priestly service are
found only in
them.
But in what respect,
then, was Christ a priest after the order of Melchizedec? (Hebrews
7:21.) Just
this: Melchizedec was
not a priest under the law of Moses. He did not become a priest by
inheritance. He
was without father,
without mother, and without descent (margin, pedigree) (Hebrews
7:3) ; that is, he
could not trace his
genealogy to the tribe of Levi, and thus prove that he was a priest by
inheritance. The
sons of Aaron were
priests because their father was priest. It was an inheritance. But
Melchizedec became a
priest in another way.
Just so it was with Christ. He was not of the tribe of Levi but sprang
out of Judah. By
the law He had no
inheritance in the priestly ministry. He was without priestly parentage
or pedigree.
He of whom these
things are spoken pertains to another tribe, of which no man gave
attendance
at the altar. For it is
evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah; of which tribe Moses spoke
nothing
concerning priesthood.
And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of
Melchisedec there
arises another Priest,
who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the
power of an
endless life.
Hebrews 7:13-16.
Jesus was made a priest
by an oath of God, for. the Scripture says, Not without an oath He
was
made priest. Hebrews
7:20. It was this change that made necessary a change of the law which
designated
that the Levites should
be the priests; for the priesthood being changed, there is made of
necessity a
change also of the
law; for the law makes men high priests which have infirmity; but
the word of the
oath, which was since
the law, makes the Son, who is consecrated for evermore. Hebrews
7:12, 28. In this
respect therefore
Christ was a priest after the order of Melchizedec, but the types of
Christ's ministration in
His capacity as High
Priest are found only in the Levitical service.
In view of these
considerations we must therefore urge again that since the earthly
priest
performed his first
service in the first apartment of the sanctuary, which consumed the
greater part of his
time and labor, so must
Christ begin His ministry in the first apartment of the heavenly
sanctuary, and
continue there a much
longer period than that required for His service in the second. And
since the service
of the earthly priests
in the most holy place came at the end of the yearly round, so must
Christ's work in
the second apartment
come at the close of His priestly ministry, and not at the beginning. He
could not
therefore, upon His
ascension to heaven, have entered immediately upon His work in the most
holy place,
for His work in the
first apartment had not yet been performed.
WITHIN THE VEIL
Someone may say, Did
not Christ go immediately within the veil? Certainly He did. This is
clearly stated in
Hebrews 6:19, 20:
Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast,
and which enters
into that within the
veil; whither the Forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made a High
Priest for ever
after the order of
Melchisedec.
But does this prove
that He went immediately into the most holy place? If there were only
one veil
in the sanctuary, then
it might seem to indicate that He did, but there were two veils. In
Hebrews 9:3, Paul
says distinctly that
there is a second veil. After the second veil, the tabernacle which
is called the holiest of
all. The fact that
there were two veils is also clearly set forth in Exodus 26:31-36:
Thou shall make a
vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning
work:
with cherubim shall it
be made: and thou shall hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood
overlaid with gold:
their hooks shall be of
gold, upon the four sockets of silver. And thou shall hang up the vail
under the
taches, that thou may
bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony: and the vail
shall divide unto
you between the holy
place and the most holy. And thou shall put the mercy seat upon the ark
of the
testimony in the most
holy place. And thou shall set the table without the vail, and the
candlestick over
against the table on
the side of the tabernacle toward the south: and thou shall put the
table on the north
side. And thou shall
make a hanging for the door of the tent, of blue, and purple, and
scarlet, and fine
twined linen, wrought
with needlework,
One of these cloth
hangings was at the entrance to the first apartment, and the other
served as a
dividing veil between
the two rooms. When Paul refers to the dividing veil, he calls it the
second veil; but
when he refers to the
first veil, he just says the veil. Therefore, when he declared
that Christ had gone
within the veil, he of
course meant into the first apartment, beyond the first veil. He did not
say He had
gone through two veils,
nor did he say He had gone within the second veil. Therefore, when
Christ went to
heaven and passed
within the veil, it was to begin His ministry in the first apartment of
the heavenly
sanctuary.
John tells us very
definitely in Revelation 1:12,13 that he saw Christ ministering in the
place
where the golden
candlesticks are: I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And
being turned, I saw
seven golden
candlesticks; and in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto
the Son of man, clothed
with a garment down to
the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. The
candlesticks were in the
first apartment and it
is here that John declares that Christ was serving at the time he saw
Him in vision.
THE THRONE OF GOD
In Hebrews 8:1 we are
told that our High Priest is set on the right hand of the throne of
the
Majesty in the
heavens. Some argue that this constitutes evidence that Christ went
immediately into the
most holy place, since
it is presumed that the throne of God is there, and that it corresponds
to the ark of the
earthly sanctuary. But
we do not find that the ark is called God's throne, but find very clear
indications that
the throne of God is
movable, that it moves about from place to place as need requires, being
conveyed by
living creatures who
are capable of moving about with the swiftness of lightning. (See
Ezekiel l.)
We also know that the
throne of God must be movable from what Daniel tells us in chapter 7:9,
10, of his prophecy.
Here he describes the beginning of the work of judgment. He says: I
beheld until the
thrones were placed
[margin], and the Ancient of days did sit. This indicates that God
would move His
throne when the time
should come. for the opening of the judgment. In Revelation 4:2, 5, it
is recorded that
John saw the throne in
the first apartment of the sanctuary, for he says he beheld it in the
place where the
seven lamps were.
Thus it seems that the
throne of God moves about whither God wishes to go, and therefore,
wherever God is, the
throne is present. He is not limited to one little corner. As King
Solomon said in his
prayer to God when he
dedicated the temple in Jerusalem: Behold, the heaven and heaven of
heavens
cannot contain Thee;
how much less this house that I have built. 1 Kings 8:27. When we are
told,
therefore, that Christ
sat down on the throne at the time of His ascension, that should not be
taken to mean
that He went at that
time into the most holy place of the sanctuary; for we learn from a
careful study of the
sure word of prophecy
that God did not occupy the throne in the most holy place of the
sanctuary until the
time came for the
opening of the judgment in 1844.
CHRIST'S MINISTRY IN THE FIRST APARTMENT
What was the work of
Christ in the first apartment of the heavenly sanctuary? Was there
anything
for Him to do there? We
answer: Jesus' ministry in the first apartment was to plead the merits
of His
righteousness and of
His shed blood in behalf of sinners in the earth who had and who should
yet accept
Him. He had extended
the invitation, Look unto Me, and be you saved, all the ends of the
earth, and it
was only through the
ministry of His blood that He was able thus to save.
In 1 John 2:1, Jesus is
said to be our advocate. In Romans 3:34, Paul states that He
makes
intercession for us.
John the revelator sees Him in the holy place before the golden altar,
offering up
incense with the
prayers of the saints; and Jesus Himself declared that He would confess
before His Father
those who confessed Him
before men. (See Matthew 10:32.) This, then, was His work in the first
apartment
of the sanctuary. As
sinners came to God for pardon and would plead the shed blood of Jesus
on their
behalf, Jesus became
their Advocate and made intercession for them before God. He offered up
their
prayers with sweet
incense before the Father, and pleaded that since His blood had been
shed on behalf of
sinners, and since
these had accepted Him as their sacrifice, they might receive pardon.
Yea, more, He
offered to take away
the guilt of their sin, and to impute to them His life of righteousness.
Thus by
accepting Jesus as
their substitute and sacrifice, the sins of the sinners were transferred
from themselves to
the heavenly sanctuary,
where Christ was ministering, and where the sins would remain until
blotted out. in
the investigative
judgment.
Thus Jesus performed a
continual service in the first apartment after His ascension to heaven.
Just
as in the earthly
sanctuary the altar fires were to be kept burning continually, in,
readiness to consume the
sacrifices of sinners
who should seek pardon, so Christ stood ready, day and night
continually, to receive
sinners and offer His
shed blood in their behalf. His standing invitation to sinners is:
Come unto Me, all
you that labor and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest. He gives rest by taking away
their load of sin,
lifting the burden
entirely from their shoulders. He bears away the sins of the world.
Thus did Christ
minister as High Priest in the holy place, receiving there the sins of
the people
who came unto God by
Him. And thus the heavenly sanctuary has become defiled by the sins of
men. From
this defilement it
requires cleansing at the close of His priestly ministry.
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