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The Great Controversy 1888
glory has not yet been ushered in. Not until his work as a mediator shall
be ended, will God “give unto him the throne of his father David,” a
kingdom of which “there shall be no end.” [
Luke 1:32, 33
.] As a priest,
Christ is now set down with the Father in his throne. [
Revelation 3:21
.]
Upon the throne with the eternal, self-existent One, is he who “hath
borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows,” who “was in all points
tempted like as we are, yet without sin,” that he might be “able to
succor them that are tempted.” “If any man sin, we have an Advocate
with the Father.” [
Isaiah 53:4
;
Hebrews 4:15
;
2:18
;
1 John 2:1
] His
intercession is that of a pierced and broken body, of a spotless life.
The wounded hands, the pierced side, the marred feet, plead for fallen
man, whose redemption was purchased at such infinite cost.
“And the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” The love
of the Father, no less than of the Son, is the fountain of salvation for
the lost race. Said Jesus to his disciples, before he went away, “I say
not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you; for the Father himself
[417]
loveth you.” [
John 16:26, 27
.] God was “in Christ, reconciling the
world unto himself.” [
2 Corinthians 5:19
.] And in the ministration
in the sanctuary above, “the counsel of peace shall be between them
both.” “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life.” [
John 3:16
.]
The question, What is the sanctuary? is clearly answered in the
Scriptures. The term sanctuary, as used in the Bible, refers, first, to
the tabernacle built by Moses, as a pattern of heavenly things; and,
secondly, to the “true tabernacle” in Heaven, to which the earthly
sanctuary pointed. At the death of Christ the typical service ended.
The “true tabernacle” in Heaven is the sanctuary of the new covenant.
And as the prophecy of
Daniel 8:14
is fulfilled in this dispensation,
the sanctuary to which it refers must be the sanctuary of the new
covenant. At the termination of the 2300 days, in 1844, there had
been no sanctuary on earth for many centuries. Thus the prophecy,
“Unto two thousand three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be
cleansed,” unquestionably points to the sanctuary in Heaven.
But the most important question remains to be answered: What
is the cleansing of the sanctuary? That there was such a service in
connection with the earthly sanctuary, is stated in the Old-Testament
Scriptures. But can there be anything in Heaven to be cleansed? In