"That date (1844) came and went, but Christ did not appear as had been predicted. Tens of thousands who had believed in their preaching and who had stood on the heights of hope fell away into the slough of despond. Many became victims of spiritual discouragement and religious apathy. "Those who maintained their belief in Christ’s imminent return soon diverged into two groups [it was actually four], one of whom believed that a mistake had been made in the date. They began to set other dates, and in time split up into several bodies. The other group, out of which the Seventh- day Adventist denomination came, held that the date was correct but that the event predicted for the date was wrong. "They opened their Bibles, and with determination stud ied the prophecies anew. Soon they discovered their mistake. The 'sanctuary’ of Daniel 8:14 was not the earth, as they had supposed, but, instead, was the sanctuary in heaven . . . After diligent study of the sanctuary question, they found that Christ, our great High Priest (see Heb. 8:1, 2 ), upon His ascension to heaven entered the holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, and that in 1844 He entered the most holy place, there to cleanse it by blotting out the sins of all those who have accepted the sacrifice He made on Calvary. They learned that the great antitypical Day of Atonement began at the time they had supposed Christ was to appear. Furthermore, they discovered that when Christ finishes His work in the sanctuary, He will come to visit judgment upon the earth— an event, of course, still future” (ital. are mine). It is too bad that when they thus searched the Scriptures, as they claimed, and especially looked into the book of Hebrews, that they did not read 1:3: ". . . when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” He "sat down” because the work of re demption was finished. The only "work” Christ is said to do at the present time on behalf of His children is to pray for them. ". . . seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7 :25). You would think that the Adventists, and all date-setters, such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, would learn from experi ence that if they made such a glaring mistake in one in stance, some of their other guesses might be wrong too! Will they in the future have to seek for an explanation of their error in adopting this sanctuary theory? Certainly they have the imagination for it; and as they do not go to the Word of God for their views, it is comparatively simple to make a mistake. When Christ ascended, He went straight into the Father’s presence, and has been there ever since, waiting the hour known only to God when He is to return for His church. . . he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:20). "He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all heavens, that he might fill all things” (Eph. 4 :10 ). The visionary Mrs. White stated: "As in the typical service there was a work of atonement at the close o f the year, so before Christ’s work for the redemption of man is completed, there is a work of atonement for the removal of sin from the sanctuary. This is the service which began when the 2,300 days (o f Daniel 8:14) ended. At that time, as foretold by Daniel the prophet, our High Priest entered into the most holy. Instead o f coming to earth at
the termination of the 2,300 days in 1844, Christ then entered the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, to perform the closing work of atonement, preparatory to His coming” (The Great Controversy, pp. 421, 422). Adventists of the present day fully concur in the "visions” of Mrs. White and hold exactly the views she set forth. She continues: "The sanctuary in heaven in which Jesus ministers in our behalf, is the great original, of which the sanctuary built by Moses was a copy. The holy places of the sanctuary in heaven are represented by the two apart ments in the sanctuary on earth” (The Great Controversy, p. 414). In the first place, the 2,300 o f Daniel 8:13, 14 has no reference at all to prophetic years, but has to do with the 2,300 oblations (evening and morning) or 2,300 twice daily sacrifices. It seems to me that only the most credulous could pos sibly accept this as the reason for Miller’s "slight mistake” in saying that Christ was coming to earth when he really meant that He was just moving from one "apartment” in heaven to another! It is completely false, unscriptural, ab surd and blasphemous. But Mrs. White said it and remember the Adventists be lieve that she is the "voice of God” and as truly inspired as any of the Old or New Testament writers, as we have shown by quotations from her writings and other leaders of this cult. R ather than accepting the Word of God that the Lord provided "a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh” (Heb. 10:20), they have created a fabrication. It is entirely foreign to the Word that there should be any such division in heaven, that Christ is still carrying on His atonement there. The Christ of the Bible has been sitting at the Father’s right hand for nearly 2,000 years, but Mrs. White says, "The ministration of the priest throughout the year in the first apartment of the (earthly) sanctuary 'within the veil’ which formed the door and separated the holy place from the outer court, represents the work of ministration upon which Christ entered at His ascension. For 18 centuries this work of ministration con tinued in the first apartment of the (heavenly) sanctuary” (The Great Controversy, pp. 420, 421). It is through the efficacy of that torn veil, the bleeding flesh of the eternal Son of God, that we draw nigh to God, and ". . . come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4 :16). And as for the text in Revelation 11:19 which they quote in connection with this sanctuary theory, it has not been fulfilled as yet but will take place during the great tribula tion upon this earth. Everything in the book of Revelation from the fourth chapter to the end of the book is still future. The Adventists should take warning from Revelation 22:19: "And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out o f the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” END. NEXT MONTH Satan, Soul-sleep and Annihilation
APRIL, 1955
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