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299
benefited by the teachings of Jesus. Their opposition to the message
that foretold His coming placed them where they could not readily
receive the strongest evidence that He was the Messiah. Satan led on
those who rejected the message of John to go still farther, to reject
and crucify Christ. In doing this they placed themselves where they
could not receive the blessing on the day of Pentecost, which would
have taught them the way into the heavenly sanctuary.
The rending of the veil of the temple showed that the Jewish
sacrifices and ordinances would no longer be received. The great
Sacrifice had been offered and had been accepted, and the Holy
Spirit which descended on the day of Pentecost carried the minds
of the disciples from the earthly sanctuary to the heavenly, where
Jesus had entered by His own blood, to shed upon His disciples the
benefits of His atonement. But the Jews were left in total darkness.
They lost all the light which they might have had upon the plan
of salvation, and still trusted in their useless sacrifices and offer-
ings. The heavenly sanctuary had taken the place of the earthly, yet
they had no knowledge of the change. Therefore they could not be
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benefited by the the mediation of Christ in the holy place.
Many look with horror at the course of the Jews in rejecting and
crucifying Christ; and as they read the history of His shameful abuse,
they think they love Him, and would not have denied Him as did
Peter, or crucified Him as did the Jews. But God, who reads the
hearts of all, has brought to the test that love for Jesus which they
professed to feel.
All heaven watched with the deepest interest the reception of the
first angel’s message. But many who professed to love Jesus, and
who shed tears as they read the story of the cross, derided the good
news of His coming. Instead of receiving the message with gladness,
they declared it to be a delusion. They hated those who loved His
appearing and shut them out of the churches. Those who rejected
the first message could not be benefited by the second; neither were
they benefited by the midnight cry, which was to prepare them to
enter with Jesus by faith into the most holy place of the heavenly
sanctuary. And by rejecting the two former messages, they have so
darkened their understanding that they can see no light in the third
angel’s message, which shows the way into the most holy place. 388
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