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Light Through the Darkness, October 5
Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great
recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye
have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
Hebrews 10:35, 36
.
The subject of the sanctuary was the key which unlocked the mystery
of the disappointment of 1844. It opened to view a complete system of
truth, connected and harmonious, showing that God’s hand had directed
the great Advent Movement.
Adventists then held that the earth, or some portion of it, was the
sanctuary. They understood that the cleansing of the sanctuary was
the purification of the earth by the fires of the last great day, and that
this would take place at the Second Advent. Hence the conclusion that
Christ would return to the earth in 1844.
But the appointed time had passed, and the Lord had not appeared.
The believers knew that God’s Word could not fail; their interpretation
of the prophecy must be at fault; but where was the mistake? ...
In their investigation they learned that there is no Scripture evidence
sustaining the popular view that the earth is the sanctuary; but they
found in the Bible a full explanation of the subject of the sanctuary, its
nature, location, and services.
Those who followed in the light of the prophetic word saw that,
instead of coming to the earth at the termination of the 2300 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....
Now in the holy of holies they again beheld Him, their compassion-
ate high priest, soon to appear as their king and deliverer.
Following Him by faith, they were led to see also the closing work
of the church. They had a clearer understanding of the first and second
angels’ messages, and were prepared to receive and give to the world
the solemn warning of the third angel of
Revelation 14
.
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