Manuscript Releases, vol. 4 [Nos. 210-259]

MR No. 226—Materials on the Sanctuary

When Jesus began His public ministry, He cleansed the Temple from its sacrilegious profanation. Almost the last act of His ministry was to cleanse the Temple again. So in the last work for the warning of the world, two distinct calls are made. The second angel's message, and the voice heard from heaven, “Come out of her, My people, ... for her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.”—Letter 1f, 1890, p. 6. (To “Brethren in Responsible Positions,” November 1890.) 4MR 242.1

The end is near. Every soul will have, in the judgment, exactly the tone of character and morals which they cultivated in this life. Every soul will have in the judgment just that spirit and character they cherished and indulged in their home life, in association with their neighbors, in connection with the members of their own family. And according as they have appreciated the words of Christ, and obeyed them, will be the judgment pronounced upon them by that Man Jesus, who came into the world to give His life a sacrifice for them.—Letter 16e, 1892, p. 10. (To Elder S. N. Haskell, February 6, 1892.) 4MR 242.2

When Belshazzar had his great sacrificial feast, there was a witness present which he did not discern. They were drinking their wine and having their luxurious feast, and praising the gods of silver and gold, extolling their own wisdom, but right over against the wall facing the king a bloodless hand traced the terrible characters testifying of his true condition. The message came, “Thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting.” Now the Lord is weighing characters in the sanctuary, and the deeds of those who are careless and indifferent, rushing on in the paths of sin and iniquity, are being registered in the books of heaven.—Manuscript 6a, 1886, p. 3. (“Preparation for the Judgment,” June 27, 1886.) 4MR 242.3

By offering Himself to make intercession for the transgression of the human race, Christ executed the office of priest.—Manuscript 9, 1896, 9. (Untitled, March, 1896.) 4MR 243.1

Who can approach unto a conception of what Christ has endured when standing in the place of surety for His church in the solemn hour of atonement, when Christ yielded up His life as a sacrificial offering. Never, never, can it be that God again shall so manifest His holiness, His spotless purity.... His utter hatred of sin, His solemn purpose to punish it—and [all] that in the only One who could bear the strokes in behalf of the sinner, and because of His innocence not be consumed. How did the glory of God magnify itself in glorious perfection on that day when Christ's life was yielded up as a sacrifice for the world! When He cried out, “It is finished,” there was a mighty earthquake, the rocks rent, the graves flew open, and Christ bowed His head and died.—Manuscript 6, 1897, 2, 3. (“Parable of Invitation to the Marriage Feast,” January 1, 1897.) 4MR 243.2

Christ fulfilled still another feature of the type. “His visage was so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men; so shall He sprinkle many nations.” In the Temple service, when the animal brought as a sacrifice was slain, the high priest, clothed in white robes, caught in his hand the blood that gushed forth, and cast it in the direction of the tabernacle or Temple. This was done seven times, as an expression of perfection. So Christ, the great antitype, Himself both high priest and victim, clothed with His own spotless robes of righteousness, after giving His life for the world, cast the virtue of His offering, a crimson current, in the direction of the Holy Place, reconciling man to God through the blood of the cross.—Manuscript 101, 1897, 11, 12. (“The True High Priest,” September, 1897.) 4MR 243.3

There is a work to be done [in our institutions in 1898], that has not yet been done. The temple courts are not yet cleansed as they must be before the work which Christ did, after the cleansing of the Temple, can be done. Then all the sick were brought to Him, and He laid His hands upon them and healed them all. Here was revealed true godliness, true righteousness, a true use of the Temple for a practical purpose which brought no defilement.—Manuscript 105, 1898, 12. (“The Education Our School Should Give,” typed August 26, 1898.) 4MR 244.1

Each morning at six o'clock [at the Avondale School], Brother Haskell speaks from the Scriptures, giving a Bible lesson. This is free to all, and there is a goodly company out each morning; for it is a blessing to all. This study lasts for one hour. These meetings are intensely interesting. The subject thus far has been the sanctuary question, and we are highly gratified to see the interest manifested. All are much interested in the way he presents the subject. He speaks in a clear, simple style, and brings in much scripture to sustain every point. He feels that altogether too little has been said upon this subject; for it is the central pillar that sustains the structure of our position at the present time.—Letter 126, 1897, p. 4. (To Brother and Sister John Wessels, May 18, 1897.) 4MR 244.2

Let us as a people who have had great light remember that Christ sits among His people as a refiner and purifier of silver. He is continually cleansing the hearts of those who engage in His service as workers together with God. He will work through every soul. He is continually cleansing the hearts of those who are willing to be cleansed, separating the pure from the impure.—Letter 195, 1899, p. 5. (To “Dear Brethren Colcord, Starr, and Hickox,” November 29, 1899.) 4MR 245.1

Like Aaron, who symbolized Christ, the Saviour bears the names of all His people upon His heart in the holy place. Our great High Priest remembers all the words by which He has encouraged them to trust; for He is ever mindful of His covenant.—Manuscript 92, 1899, 11. (“The Importance of Christ's Lessons to His Church in the Wilderness,” typed July 12, 1899.) 4MR 245.2

I believe in Jesus. I know my Saviour loves me, and I love my Jesus. I rest in His love, notwithstanding my imperfections. God has accepted His perfection in my behalf. He is my righteousness and I trust in His merits. I am His repenting, believing child. He has taken away my sin-stained garments and covered me with the robe of His righteousness. Clothed in this garment, I stand before the Father justified. I am of that number who are addressed as the “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit.” And what constitutes them the “elect”? “Obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.”—Letter 24, 1895, p. 3. (To “Dear Sister Ekman,” May 19, 1895.) 4MR 245.3

I am instructed to say to those who endeavor to tear down the foundation that has made us Seventh-day Adventists: We are God's commandment-keeping people. For the past fifty years every phase of heresy has been brought to bear upon us, to becloud our minds regarding the teaching of the Word—especially concerning the ministration of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, and the message of heaven for these last days, as given by the angels of the fourteenth chapter of Revelation. Messages of every order and kind have been urged upon Seventh-day Adventists, to take the place of the truth which, point by point, has been sought out by prayerful study and testified to by the miracle-working power of the Lord. But the waymarks which have made us what we are, are to be preserved, and they will be preserved, as God has signified through His word and the testimonies of His Spirit. He calls upon us to hold firmly with the grip of faith, to the fundamental principles that are based upon unquestionable authority. 4MR 246.1

God has placed in our hands a banner on which is inscribed the words “The commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ,” he declares. At all times and in all places we are to hold the banner firmly aloft. God's denominated people are to take a firm stand under the banner of truth. The truths that we have been proclaiming for more than half a century have been contested again and again. Again and again the facts of faith have been disputed; but every time the Lord has established the truth by the working of His Holy Spirit. Those who have arisen to question and overthrow the principles of present truth, have been sternly rebuked.—Letter 95, 1905, pp. 2, 3. (To Dr. and Mrs. D. H. Kress, March 14, 1905.) 4MR 246.2

The Lord would have us at this time bring in the testimony written by those who are now dead, to speak in behalf of heavenly things. The Holy Spirit has given instruction for us in these last days. We are to repeat the testimonies that God has given His people, the testimonies that present clear conceptions of the truths of the sanctuary, and that show the relation of Christ to the truths of the sanctuary so clearly brought to view. 4MR 247.1

If we are the Lord's appointed messengers, we shall not spring up with new ideas and theories to contradict the message that God has given through His servants since 1844. At that time many sought the Lord with heart and soul and voice. The men whom God raised up were diligent searchers of the Scriptures. And those who today claim to have light, and who contradict the teaching of God's ordained messengers, who were working under the Holy Spirit's guidance, those who get up new theories, which remove the pillars of our faith, are not doing the will of God, but are bringing in fallacies of their own invention, which, if received, will cut the church away from the anchorage of truth, and set them drifting, drifting, to where they will receive any sophistries that may arise.—Manuscript 75, 1905, 2, 3. (“Building the Waste Places.” May, 1905.) 4MR 247.2

Those who have been feeding their minds on the supposedly excellent but spiritualistic theories of Living Temple are in a very dangerous place. For the past fifty years I have been receiving intelligence regarding heavenly things. But the instruction given me has now been used by others to justify and endorse theories in Living Temple that are of character to mislead. May the Lord teach me how to meet such things. If necessary I can charge all such work as coming directly from Satan to make the words God has given me testify to a lie. 4MR 248.1

Nashville, July 4—We are very sorry to read the article written by Elder Tenney in the Medical Missionary on the sanctuary question. The enemy has obtained the victory over one minister. If this minister had remained away from the seducing influences that Satan is exerting at the present time in Battle Creek, he might yet be standing on vantage ground. 4MR 248.2

We are very sorry to see the result of gathering a large number to Battle Creek. Ministers who have been believers in the foundation truths that have made us what we are—Seventh-day Adventists; ministers who went to Battle Creek to teach and strengthen the truths of the Bible, are now, when old and gray-headed, turning from the grand truths of the Bible, and accepting infidel sentiments. This means that the next step will be a denial of a personal God, pulling down the bulwarks of the faith that is plainly revealed in the Scriptures. The sanctuary question is the foundation of our faith.—Manuscript 20, 1906, 4, 5. (“Preach the Word,” typed February 7, 1906.) 4MR 248.3

In the early days of the message, I have passed through most trying ordeals in refuting false doctrines, and especially such doctrines as Pantheism [which] we are meeting now. We are passing over the same ground.—Letter 30, 1906, p. 2. (To “Dear Brethren and Sisters in Battle Creek,” January 12, 1906.) 4MR 248.4

For more than a half a century the different points of present truth have been questioned and opposed. New theories have been advanced as truth, which were not truth, and the Spirit of God revealed their error. As the great pillars of our faith have been presented, the Holy Spirit has borne witness to them, and especially is this so regarding the truths of the sanctuary question. Over and over again the Holy Spirit has in a marked manner endorsed the preaching of this doctrine. But today, as in the past, some will be led to form new theories and to deny the truths upon which the Spirit of God has placed His approval. 4MR 249.1

Any man who seeks to present theories which would lead us from the light that has come to us on the ministration in the heavenly sanctuary, should not be accepted as a teacher. A true understanding of the sanctuary question means much to us as a people. When we were earnestly seeking the Lord for light on that question, light came. In vision I was given such a view of the heavenly sanctuary and the ministration connected with the holy place, that for many days I could not speak of it.—Manuscript 125, 1907, 6. (“Lessons From the Visions of Ezekiel,” July 4, 1905.) 4MR 249.2

“And He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hast chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee; is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and stood before the angel” (Zechariah 3:1-3). Joshua here represents the people of God; and Satan pointing to their filthy garments claims them as his property over which he has a right to exercise his cruel power. But these very ones have improved the hours of probation to confess their sins with contrition of soul and put them away, and Jesus has written pardon against their names. 4MR 249.3

Those who have not ceased to sin and who have not repented and sought pardon for their transgressions are not represented in this company; for this company vex their souls over the corruptions and iniquity abounding around them, and God will recognize those who are sighing and crying because of the abominations done in the land. They were not mixed up in these abominations. They had not corrupted their ways before God, but had washed their robes of character and had made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Satan pointed to their sins which had not yet been blotted out, and which he had tempted them to commit, and then reviled them as being sinners clad with filthy garments. But Jesus changes their appearance. He says, “Take away his filthy garments from him.” “Behold I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment, and I said, let him set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments.”—Letter 51, 1886, pp. 8, 9. (To “Dear Brother G. I. Butler,” September 6, 1886.) 4MR 250.1