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The Spirit of Prophecy Volume 4
intercessor, to enter upon another portion of the work; and he still
presented his blood before the Father in behalf of sinners. “Behold,”
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
were left in total darkness, to continue their useless sacrifices and
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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 manner humble their souls before God, that they might
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 cannot with impunity reject the warnings which God in
mercy sends them. A message was sent from Heaven to the world in
Noah’s day, and their salvation depended upon the manner in which
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Spirit of God was withdrawn from that sinful race, and they perished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
plead with the guilty inhabitants of Sodom, and all but Lot with his
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