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holy to the most holy place. When, in the ministration of the earthly
sanctuary, the high priest on the day of atonement entered the most
holy place, the door of the holy place was closed, and the door of
the most holy was opened. So, when Christ passed from the holy to
the most holy of the heavenly sanctuary, the door, or ministration,
of the former apartment was closed, and the door, or ministration, of
the latter was opened. Christ had ended one part of his work as our
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intercessor, to enter upon another portion of the work; and he still
presented his blood before the Father in behalf of si
he declares, “I have set before thee an open door, and no man can
shut it.”
Those who by faith follow Jesus in the great work of the atone-
ment, receive the benefits of his mediation in their behalf; but those
who reject the light that brings to view this work of ministration,
are not benefited thereby. The Jews who rejected the light given at
Christ’s first advent, and refused to believe in him as the Saviour
of the world, could not receive pardon through him. When Jesus at
his ascension entered by his own blood into the heavenly sanctuary
to shed upon his disciples the blessings of his mediation, the Jews
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were left in total darkness, to continue their useless sacrifices and
offerings. The ministration of types and shadows had ceased. That
door by which men had formerly found access to God, was no longer
open. The Jews had refused to seek him in the only way whereby
he could then be found, through the ministration in the sanctuary in
Heaven. Therefore they found no communion with God. To them
the door was shut. They had no knowledge of Christ as the true
sacrifice and the only mediator before God; hence they could not
receive the benefits of his mediation.
The condition of the unbelieving Jews illustrates the condition
of the careless and unbelieving among professed Christians, who
are willingly ignorant of the work of our merciful High Priest. In
the typical service, when the high priest entered the most holy place,
all Israel were required to gather about the sanctuary, and in the
most solemn ma
receive the pardon of their sins, and not be cut off from the congrega-
tion. How much more essential in this anti-typical day of atonement
that we understand the work of our High Priest, and know what
duties are required of us.
Men ca
mercy sends them. A message was sent from Heaven to the world in
Noah’s day, and their salvation depended upon the ma
they treated that message. Because they rejected the warning, the
Spirit of God was withdrawn from that sinful race, and they perished
in the waters of the flood. In the time of Abraham, mercy ceased to
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plead with the guilty inhabitants of Sodom, and all but Lot with his
Open and a Shut Door
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wife and two daughters were consumed by the fire sent down from
heaven. So in the days of Christ. The Son of God declared to the
unbelieving Jews of that generation, “Your house is left unto you
desolate.” [Matthew 23:38.] Looking down to the last days, the same infinite power declares, concerning those who “received not the love
of the truth, that they might be saved,” “For this cause God shall
send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; that they
all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure
in unrighteousness.” [2 Thessalonians 2:10-12.] As they reject the teachings of his word, God withdraws his Spirit, and leaves them to
the deceptions which they love.
But Christ still intercedes in man’s behalf, and light will be given
to those who seek it. Though this was not at first understood by
Adventists, it was afterward made plain as the scriptures which
define their true position began to open before them.
The passing of the time in 1844 was followed by a period of
great trial to those who still held the Advent faith. Their only relief,
so far as ascertaining their true position was concerned, was the
light which directed their minds to the sanctuary above. As has
been stated, Adventists were for a short time united in the belief
that the door of mercy was shut. This position was soon abandoned.
Some renounced their faith in their former reckoning of the prophetic
periods, and ascribed to human or Satanic agencies the powerful
influence of the Holy Spirit which had attended the Advent move-
ment. Another class firmly held that the Lord had led them in their
past experience; and as they waited and watched and prayed to know
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the will of God, they saw that their great High Priest had entered
upon another work of ministration, and, following him by faith, they
were led to understand also the closing work of the church, and were
prepared to receive and give to the world the warning of the third
angel of Revelation 14.
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Chapter 20—The Third Angel’s Message
When Christ entered the most holy place of the heavenly sanc-
tuary to perform the closing work of the atonement, he committed
to his servants the last message of mercy to be given to the world.
Such is the warning of the third angel of Revelation 14. Immediately following its proclamation, the Son of man is seen by the prophet
coming in glory to reap the harvest of the earth.
As foretold in the Scriptures, the ministration of Christ in the
most holy place began at the termination of the prophetic days in
1844. To this time apply the words of the Revelator, “The temple of
God was opened in Heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark
of his testament.” [Revelation 11:19] The ark of God’s testament is in the second apartment of the sanctuary. As Christ entered there, to
minister in the si
ark of God was brought to view. To those who by faith beheld the
Saviour in his work of intercession, God’s majesty and power were
revealed. As the train of his glory filled the temple, light from the
holy of holies was shed upon his waiting people on the earth.
They had by faith followed their High Priest from the holy to
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the most holy, and they saw him pleading his blood before the ark
of God. Within that sacred ark is the Father’s law, the same that
was spoken by God himself amid the thunders of Sinai, and written
with his own finger on the tables of stone. Not one command has
been a
to Moses a copy of his law, he preserved the great original in the
sanctuary above. Tracing down its holy precepts, the seekers for truth