Review and Herald, Vol. 3, No. 11.
The Commandments of God, and the Mark of the Beast brought to view by the Third Angel of Rev. xiv, considered in connection with the Angel of Chap. vii, having the Seal of the Living GodPage 1
Earlier text: The Commandments of God, and the Mark of the Beast brought to view by the Third Angel of Rev. xiv, considered in connection with the Angel of Chap. vii, having the Seal of the Living GodBy faith, as wandering pilgrims here,
We sojourn in this vale of tears.
It points us to His coming, near,
That ends our sighs, and groans, and fears.
Though raging hosts of foes assail,
The conqueror's trophies, won, will be,
Through sword and flame we shall prevail
By faith, and gain the victory! Though clouds and tempests, hovering near,
May o'er thy pathway seem to frown,
It bids them quickly disappear,
And brings the promised blessing down.
It breaks the bands that round thee cling—
From sin and bondage sets thee free,
To rise on its triumphant wing,
And shout, by faith, the victory! Faith, living faith, ascends the skies,
To Christ, within the second veil,
"It will be done," still firmly cries,
And trusts his word that ne'er can fail,
Till rays of light shine from above,
And darkness, doubt and terror flee
And glory from the throne of love,
To swell the note of victory! The Promised Land it keeps in view,
The Glorious City of our God.
Soon will bear us safely through,
Up to that bright and blest abode;
Where faith is lost in joyful sight,
And prayer to praises turned shall be,
When all the ransomed will unite,
To sing the song of victory! Rochester, Sept. 26th, 1852. THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST.
We have before seen that atone, reconcile, cleanse, &c., signify the same, hence, at this stage he has made an end of cleansing those places. As the blood of atonements for the forgiveness of sins was not sprinkled in the court, but in the tabernacle only, the entire work of cleansing the Sanctuary was performed within the tabernacle. These were holy things, yet cleansed yearly. The holy place within the vail contained the ark of the covenant, covered with the mercy-seat, over-shadowed by the cherubins, between which the Lord dwelt in the cloud of divine glory. Who would think of calling such a place unclean? Yet the Lord provided at the time, yea, before it was built, that it should be annually cleansed. It was by blood, and not by fire, that this Sanctuary, which was a type of the new covenant Sanctuary was cleansed. The high priest on this day "bore the iniquities of the holy things which the children of Israel hallowed in all their holy gifts." Ex. xxviii, 38. These holy things composed the Sanctuary. Num. xviii, 1. "And the Lord said unto Aaron, thou and thy sons, and thy father's house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the Sanctuary." This "iniquity of the Sanctuary" we have learned, was not its own properly, but the children of Israel's, God's own people's, which it had received from them. And this transfer of iniquity from the people to their Sanctuary was not a mere casualty, incident on scenes of lawless rebellion, bloodshed or idolatry among themselves, nor the devastation of an enemy; but it was according to the original arrangement and regular operation of this typical system. For we must bear in mind that all the instructions were given to Moses and Aaron before the erection of the Sanctuary. Provision was made to make atonement for sins committed in ignorance; but not till after they were known, [Lev. iv, 14; v, 3-6,] then of course they became sins of knowledge. Then the individual bore his iniquity, [Lev. v, 1-17; vii, 1-8,] till he presented his offering to the priest and slew it, the priest made an atonement with the blood, [Lev. xvii, 11,] and he was forgiven, then of course free from his iniquity. Now at what point did he cease to bear his iniquity? Evidently when he had presented his victim slain; he had then done his part—Through what medium was his iniquity conveyed to85 the Sanctuary? Through his victim, or rather its blood when the priest took and sprinkled it before the vail and on the altar. Thus the iniquity was communicated to their Sanctuary. The first thing done for the people on the 10th day of the 7th month was to cleanse it, thence by the same means, the application of blood. This done, the high priest bore the "iniquity of the Sanctuary" for the people "to make atonement for them." Lev. x, 17. "And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place [within the vail, verse 2] and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar [or when he hath cleansed the Sanctuary] he shall bring the live goat: and Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions and all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: and the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities into a land not inhabited [margin, of separation.] Lev. xvi 20-22. This was the only office of the scape-goat, to finally receive and bear away from Israel all their iniquities into an uninhabited wilderness and there retain them, leaving Israel at their Sanctuary, and the priest to complete the atonement of the day by burning the fat of the sin-offerings, and offering the two rams for burnt-offerings on the brazen altar in the court. Verses 24, 25. The burning without the camp of the carcasses of the sin-offerings closed the services of this important day. Verse 27. THE ANTITYPE.—As this legal system which we have been considering was only a "shadow," a "figure" and "patterns," of no value in itself only to teach us the nature of that perfect system of redemption which is its "body," the "things themselves;" which was devised in the councils of heaven, and is being wrought out by "the only Begotten of the Father" let us, guided by the Spirit of truth, learn the solemn realities thus shadowed forth. By these patterns, finite as we are, we may, like Paul, extend our research beyond the limits of our natural vision to the "heavenly things themselves." Here we find the entire ministry of the law fulfilled in Christ, who was anointed with the Holy Ghost and by his own blood entered his Sanctuary, heaven itself, when he ascended to the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, as "a minister of the [Hagion] Holies," &c. Heb. viii, 6, 2. Paul, after speaking of the daily services in the Holy, and the yearly in the Holy of Holies, says, [Chap. ix, 8,] "The Holy Ghost this signifying that the way of the Holies [Hodon Hagion] was not yet made manifest; while as the first tabernacle was yet standing, which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered," &c., "until the time of reformation: but Christ being come, an High Priest of the [ten] good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, "by his own blood he entered on or into the holy things. (eis hagia.) Chap. ix, 8-12. The phrase, eis hagia, in verse 12 is the same as that rendered "holy places." [Verse 24.] Hagia, in these two verses, is in the acc. pl. neuter, and governed by the prep. eis which signifies on, into, upon, or among. Hagia, being a neuter adjective, is properly rendered "holy things;" but Hagia, in verse 2, is in the nom. sin. fem. and properly rendered, Holy place. The definite "the," belonging before "good things" in verse 11 and Chap. x, 1, makes the expression mean things "good in themselves, or abstractly good." This shows the perfect harmony of Chap. ix, 11, 12, 23, 24, and Chap. x, 1. The "things" are "good in themselves," "holy," or "heavenly," and in "heaven itself," where Christ has entered as our High Priest to "minister" for us; and those "holy things" "in heaven" are connected with the "greater and more perfect tabernacle," "which the Lord pitched and not man;" the same as the holy things of the first covenant were connected with their tabernacle, [Chap. ix, 1-5,] and all those holy things together make the Sanctuary. The Holies (two) [verse 8] the way of which was not made manifest till the time of reformation, when Christ shed his own blood, belong to his "greater and more perfect tabernacle," spoken of in the next verse. I translate the names literal, because they are not literal in our common version. The Doway Bible has them as here given. The word in Chap. ix, 8, 10, 19, is Hagion, "of the Holies," instead of the "holiest of all;" and shows that the blood of Christ is the way or means by which he, as our High Priest was to enter both apartments of the heavenly tabernacle.—Now if there be but one place in the heavens, as many say, why were there two in the figure? And why, in applying the figure, does Paul speak of two? Perhaps those who "despise the law," and "corrupt the covenant of Levi" can explain this; if not we advise them to abide by Paul's exposition of the matter.
Chap. vi, 19, 20 is supposed to prove that Christ entered the Holy of Holies at his ascension, because Paul said he had entered within the vail. But the vail which divides between the Holy and the Holy of Holies is "the second vail;" [Chap. ix, 3;] hence there are two vails, and that in Chap. vi, being the first of which he speaks, must be the first vail, which hung before the Holy, and in Ex. was called a curtain. When he entered within the vail, he entered his tabernacle, of course the Holy, as that was the first apartment; and our hope, as an anchor of the soul, enters within the vail, i. e. the atonement of both apartments, including both the forgiveness and the blotting out of sins. Those who hold that Christ entered the Holy of Holies at, and has been ministering therein ever since his ascension, also believe, as of course they must, that the atonement of the gospel dispensation is the antitype of the atonement made in the tenth day of the seventh month under the law. If this is so, the events of the legal tenth day, have had their antitypes during the Gospel Dispensation. The first event in the atonement service of that day, was the cleansing of the Sanctuary, as we have seen from Lev. xvi. Then, upon their theory, the Sanctuary of the new covenant was cleansed in the early part of the Gospel Dispensation. Evidence is not wanting that neither the earth nor Palestine, their Sanctuaries was then cleansed. I call them their Sanctuaries, for they are not the Lord's. But if the Lord's new covenant Sanctuary was then cleansed, the 2300 days ended then; but if they are years, which we all believe, they extend 1810 years beyond the 70 weeks, and the last of those weeks was the first of the new covenant or Gospel Dispensation. The fact that those days reach 1810 beyond the 70 weeks, and that the Sanctuary could not be cleansed till the end of those days, is demonstration that the antitype of the legal tenth day is not the Gospel Dispensation; again, if the atonement of that day is typical of the atonement of the Gospel Dispensation, then the atonement made in the Holy, [Heb. ix, 6,] previous to that day, was finished before the Gospel Dispensation began. It has been shown that that atonement was made for the forgiveness of sins, and I have found no evidence that such an atonement was made on the tenth day of the seventh month. The Gospel Dispensation began with the preaching of Christ, and if it is the antitype of the legal tenth day, one of two things is true; either the Saviour, instead of fulfilling, has destroyed the greater part of the law, the daily service of the Holy which occupied the whole year except one day, the tenth of the seventh month; or else he fulfilled the whole law except one-three-hundred and sixtieth part of it before the Gospel Dispensation began, and before he was anointed as the Messiah to fulfill the law and the prophets. One of these two conclusions is inevitable on the hypothesis that the Gospel Dispensation and the atonement made in it, is the antitype of the legal tenth day, and the atonement made in it. Upon which of these horns will they hang? If on the former, the declaration, "I came not to destroy the law," pierces them; but if they choose the latter, it then becomes them to prove that the law, which had a shadow of good things to come, was fulfilled within itself, that the shadow and substance filled the same place and time; also, they will need to prove that the entire atonement of the forgiveness of sin was made before the Lamb was slain with whose blood the atonement was to be made.—Now it must be clear to every one, that if the antitype of the yearly service [Heb. ix, 7] began at the first Advent, the antitype of the daily [verse 6] had been previously fulfilled; and, as the atonement for forgiveness was a part of that daily service they are involved in the conclusion that there has been no forgiveness of sin under the Gospel Dispensation. Such theory is wholly at war with the entire genius of the Gospel Dispensation, and stands rebuked, not only by Moses and Paul, but by the teaching and works of our Saviour and his commission to his apostles, by their subsequent teaching and the history of the Christian Church. But again, they say the atonement was made and finished on Calvary, when the Lamb of God expired. So men have taught us, and so the churches and world believe; but it is none the more true or sacred on that account, if unsupported by Divine authority. Perhaps few or none who hold that opinion have ever tested the foundation on which it rests. 1. If the atonement was made on Calvary, by whom was it made? The making of the atonement is the work of a Priest. But who officiated on Calvary?—Roman soldiers and wicked Jews.
2. The slaying of the victim was not making the atonement: the sinner slew the victim, [Lev. iv, 1-4, 13-15,] &c., after that, the Priest took the blood and made the atonement. Lev. iv, 5-12, 16-21.
3. Christ was the appointed High Priest to make the atonement, and he certainly could not have acted in that capacity till after his resurrection, and we have no record of his doing any thing on earth after his resurrection, which could be called the atonement.
4. The atonement was made in the Sanctuary, but Calvary was not such a place.
5. He could not, according to Heb. viii, 4, make the atonement while on earth. "If he were on earth, he should not be a Priest." The Levitical was the earthly priesthood, the Divine, the heavenly.
6. Therefore, he did not begin the work of making the atonement, whatever the nature of that work may be, till after his ascension, when by his own blood he entered his Heavenly Sanctuary for us.
Let us now examine a few texts that appear to speak of the atonement as passed. Rom. v, 11. "By whom we have now received the atonement." [Margin, reconciliation.] This passage clearly shows a present possession of the atonement at the time the Apostle wrote; but it by no means proves that the entire atonement was then in the past.
When the Saviour was about to be taken up from his apostles, he "commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father," which came on the day of Pentecost when they were all "baptized with the Holy Ghost." Christ had entered his Father's house, the Sanctuary, as High Priest, and began his intercession for his people by "praying the Father" for "another Comforter," [John xiv, 15,] "and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost," [Acts ii, 33,] he shed it down upon his waiting apostles. Then in compliance with their commission, Peter, at the third hour of the day, began to preach, "Repent, and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins." Acts ii, 38. This word, remission, signifies forgiveness, pardon, or more literally, sending away of sins.
To be continued. Jesus Our Great High Priest
"Seeing then that we have a great High Priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession; for we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Heb. iv, 14-16. DEAR BRO. WHITE:—Will you allow me again to submit to your disposal a few broken thoughts. I am deeply sensible of my incompetence to write for the public eye, but “the love of Christ constraineth me.” “I groan to tell my story.” In the letters of the Brethren and Sisters, I often find my own views and feelings expressed more clearly than I can do it, and not unfrequently my lonely room resounds with the inadvertent response. A retrospect of my past life with regard to the Holy Sabbath, fills me with wonder and astonishment at my own stupidity, and the marvelous loving-kindness of God in giving me the light of truth, even at the eleventh hour. “Why doth He any notice take
Of me, who did his way forsake,
Except it be to bid me go,
From him, to everlasting woe.
Free grace, free grace, my soul doth sing,
Glory to God, my Heavenly King,
Fain would I spend eternal days
In striving to advance his praise.” I have ever been a great lover of poetry, and when in health, a singer. Frequently on Sunday morning I used to sing with great delight, “Welcome sweet day of rest,
That saw the Lord arise,” &c. O, what darkness enshrouded my mind! Where is the proof that Sunday was a day of rest? Alas, I looked not for proof to the light-giving Word, but carelessly relied on the teachings of Parents, Ministers, Poets, Catechisms, &c. Who rested on that day? Not the blessed Jesus; the day previous he rested in the tomb, but “With the dawn of that morning my Saviour was rising,
The chains of mortality bursting, despising,” Not the holy women; with affectionate promptitude they prepared spices and ointments for the body of their departed Lord; but the holy commandment must not be violated. They “rested the Sabbath-day. And upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning they came unto the sepulchre, and certain others with them.” And if the disciples who walked and went into the country, regarded that day as the Sabbath, they were less pious than some few professed disciples of our time, although many think there is no harm in taking a walk after having been to church. Surely there is no account in the “Volume of the Book” of any one resting on that day, or any commandment to that effect. O, what a round-about, dark, laborious way those are obliged to take who would do away the Sabbath of the Lord, forsaking the path which is as a shining light, and becoming more and more luminous as the perfect day draws near. How astonishing, how grievous, that Adventists will pursue such a course! From such as reject, and oppose the coming of Jesus, nothing better can be expected. But will those who look for, and love his appearing, endeavor to shun the cross? Why else will they “darken counsel by words without knowledge?”87 They have ever taught that except we abide in Christ, we cannot be prepared to meet him at his coming, and we cannot abide in him unless we, also, walk even as he walked. He declares that he kept his Father's commandments, and how can we follow his steps unless we do likewise. O, how appropriate at this time the admonition, “Be not deceived, God is not mocked!” Dear Brethren and Sisters, let us who have seen this glorious light, and by grace divine been made willing to receive it, be steadfast immovable, not regarding the charge of “extravagance and folly,” or the cold indifference and desertion of former friends and associates, but rather rejoice in such folly as will make us wise unto salvation, and will secure the everlasting friendship of Him whose favor is life, and whose loving-kindness, better than life. “This is my beloved, and this is my friend; O, daughters of Jerusalem.” ELIZABETH DOW.
Newport, N. H., Sept. 1852. EXPERIENCE OF BRO. MASTEN.
By L. V. Masten
[We are happy to publish the following brief sketch of the experience of Bro. L. V. Masten, and the wonderful manifestation of the kind hand of Providence, in his recovery from sickness, in bringing him to an experimental knowledge of the present truth. It will be read with interest by the brethren and sisters who feel for the welfare of precious souls.] DEAR SCATTERED BRETHREN :—I bless God that there is a way open by which I can make known to you his mercy towards me. Although a stranger to most of you, I trust the time is not far distant when we shall receive the “seal of the living God,” and recognize each other upon the sea of glass, to sing the song of Moses and the Lamb. Most of you, perhaps, are not acquainted with the circumstances by which I became united with the little band who are keeping the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. To such, I will merely state the facts, which, I trust, will increase your faith, and cause you to live humble in the sight of God. About the middle of last April, I entered into the employment of Bro. White, to take charge of the printing department of the REVIEW AND HERALD.—I will not detail the circumstances by which I came here; but it seemed the will of God to place me among his remnant, where I might come to a knowledge of the truth. My Mother (when living) was a member of the Methodist church, and used all the persuasion she could to keep me from Sabbath [Sunday] breaking, and become a follower of Christ. I think you will all agree with me, that a Mother’s teachings have great weight upon our minds in days of youth, and in many instances, the fruit of which is, at some future period, a humble confession before God. Notwithstanding her teachings and persuasions, there was a great query arose in my mind when I was taught the ten commandments, why they did not keep the seventh-day, as God commanded, and would frequently ask the question. The answer I received, was that generally given by those who keep the first day of the week. When I came here, I was obliged, of course, to comply with the request of my employer: that is, to commence work on Sunday, and end it on Friday evening.—This practice went, somewhat, against my conscience; so different was it from my usual practice and early teachings. However, I continued on, quite anxious to learn the reasons of their faith, &c., and if possible, to find out whether or no they had the truth. I attended one or two of their meetings, and heard a lecture, upon one occasion, from Bro. Bates, on the Sabbath and Catholicity. I received considerable light, different from that I had ever thought or even dreamed of. I saw that spirit and power of God made manifest in their meetings which I never saw in any church that I had ever attended. I began to see plainly that they had the truth; and I must confess that I was under deep conviction for some time, but tried to conceal it as much as possible. The light that I had already received, did not seem to be sufficient to subdue my stubborn will, and loose the chains that bound me to worldly pride. I would bring up every argument in my own mind, to convince myself that the Sabbath was not binding. I would say that Christ fulfilled the law; but again, when I read, “till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or tittle shall in no wise pass from the law,” I was lost. I could not find argument that would weigh it down.—Heaven and earth has not passed away, consequently I could not help but believe that the fourth commandment remained, immutable as Him who spoke it from the Mount. This was a burden resting upon my mind which continued from week to week. Sometimes I thought I could hold back no longer; but Satan held me so firm it seemed impossible to break from his grasp. Some of the brethren would occasionally mention the subject to me, and I would have to confess the light that I had already received. I was afraid to have them say much upon the subject, as my heart was so full, it seemed as if it would burst forth and give utterance to my feelings. I could scarcely sleep, for something seemed to whisper, “yield to conviction!” Allow me here to state, that one great and principal reason why I did not become a member of any church, was, that I could not see that spirit, happiness and blessings they talked of; that union and brotherly love, which, in my opinion, ought to be one of their principal emblems. But on the contrary, I saw ill-will and discord, anarchy and confusion among its members. Such scenes as these disgusted me, and led me to conclude that true religion could not exist where such scenes were transpiring; and my mind became fully determined not to join any church, until I found the true church of Christ. Now I have found it! Bless the Lord for his guidance! I know I have found it. The answering of prayer and the blessings of God affirm it. On the 18th of August, ult., I was taken with a very severe attack of the Cholera—the fatality of the disease is too well known by all of you, for me to comment upon. I called a Physician, and his first treatment was to bleed, and after administering a variety of remedies, ended his medical process with doses of calomel. Such treatment is pronounced, by some of the most skillful Physicians, to be sure death! But it seems the Lord wanted to give me another chance for repentance, and gave me strength (through the prayers of the brethren, unknown to me) to be removed from my boarding-place to Bro. White’s, but a few rods distant. The wife of the man I was boarding with, was taken with this fatal disease the day I was, and underwent the same treatment, by the same Physician, and lived but a few hours. On Sunday, the morning after my removal, I was taken again—worse, if any thing, than the first attack. Another Physician was called, and all the medicine he could produce seemed to have no effect. About three o’clock, if I recollect right, the relapse took place, and my Physician pronounced me beyond the reach of medicine. All that he could do for me was of no avail. I was fast sinking into the grave. About six o’clock it seemed as though I was drawing my last breath.—Death seemed to stare me in the face, and visions of Hell and the grave rose up before me. Demons danced before my eyes and seemed to grasp my breath. The history of my past life rose like a skepter to haunt my expiring moments. The scenes of horror, anguish and suffering, no pen is able to portray. I knew I was not prepared to die; I had made no confession whatever, but lay a guilty sinner in the sight of God. Some of the brethren and sisters kneeled by my bed and prayed for me. I appeared to be somewhat relieved, so that I lingered along several days without any apparent change; neither to advance or recede.—Bro. Patten and several others then came to me, and asked if I would give up all to God, and if I recovered, keep his commandments. I replied in the affirmative. They then commenced praying. God, in his infinite mercy, heard and answered prayer. The blessing came upon me like a shower. I soon fell asleep, and when I awoke, the blessing of God was still resting upon me—the relapse had left me, and I felt as if God had again breathed into me the breath of life. I had been in the hands of a Physician until then. I discharged him, and held fast the arm of God and the faith of Jesus. I continued to gain rapidly, and in about two weeks, I was able to walk to the Post-office, about one mile distant. I called on my Physician, and so unexpected was my visit, that he did not, at first, recognize me, not expecting, as he said, to see me out under a week to come; and he pronounced my case a “miracle of the present age.” These, brethren and sisters, are nothing but the simple facts as they occurred in my case—not exaggerated in the least. It is my candid opinion, that, had it not been for my avowal to God, and the prayer of faith, I should, ere this, been slumbering in the tomb. O, what shall I render unto Him for his goodness and mercy! How important that we should fear God, keep his commandments, and live separate from the world. And when we are sick, call in faith upon the Great Physician, who will heal without the use of medicine. Christ is my Physician, my Shepherd and my Guide. In him I have faith, in him I put my trust. I hardly know how to praise him enough. I fear, sometimes, that I do not realize his goodness as much as I ought. My prayer to God is, that he will give me a realizing sense of it; and let light so shine into my soul, that I may be able to out-ride the storm of affliction. I feel determined to continue to the end, let what will come. I mean to try and go with the remnant, and enter the pearly gates of the Holy City. May God bless you all, and fill your souls with his redeeming grace. Yours in love of the present truth,
L. V. MASTEN.
Rochester, N. Y., Sept. 30th, 1852.