What New Duties Are Revealed In the Heavenly Sanctuary?

[John317]

In chapter 24 of the book Great Controversy, Ellen White speaks of new duties that are revealed by studying the heavenly sanctuary, and she also writes that those who reject the light which bring to view Christ's work of ministration are not benefited by His mediation.

What "new duties" is she talking about, and in what way are we benefited by Christ's mediation when we accept the light that brings to view Christ's work of ministration in the heavenly sanctuary?

Part of Chapter 24 follows:

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 and revealing present duty as it brought to light the position and work of His people.....

Both the prophecy of Daniel 8:14, "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed," and the first angel's message, "Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come," pointed to Christ's ministration in the most holy place, to the investigative judgment, and not to the coming of Christ for the redemption of His people and the destruction of the wicked. The mistake had not been in the reckoning of the prophetic periods, but in the event to take place at the end of the 2300 days.....

But the people were not yet ready to meet their Lord. There was still a work of preparation to be accomplished for them. Light was to be given, directing their minds to the temple of God in heaven; and as they should by faith follow their High Priest in His ministration there, new duties would be revealed. Another message of warning and instruction was to be given to the church.....

Those who are living upon the earth when the intercession of Christ shall cease in the sanctuary above are to stand in the sight of a holy God without a mediator. Their robes must be spotless, their characters must be purified from sin by the blood of sprinkling. Through the grace of God and their own diligent effort they must be conquerors in the battle with evil. While the investigative judgment is going forward in heaven, while the sins of penitent believers are being removed from the sanctuary, there is to be a special work of purification, of putting away of sin, among God's people upon earth. This work is more clearly presented in the messages of Revelation 14.

When this work shall have been accomplished, the followers of Christ will be ready for His appearing. "Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years." Malachi 3:4. Then the church which our Lord at His coming is to receive to Himself will be a "glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." Ephesians 5:27. Then she will look "forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners." Song of Solomon 6:10....

In the parable of Matthew 22 the same figure of the marriage is introduced, and the investigative judgment is clearly represented as taking place before the marriage. Previous to the wedding the king comes in to see the guests, to see if all are attired in the wedding garment, the spotless robe of character washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb. Matthew 22:11; Revelation 7:14. He who is found wanting is cast out, but all who upon examination are seen to have the wedding garment on are accepted of God and accounted worthy of a share in His kingdom and a seat upon His throne. This work of examination of character, of determining who are prepared for the kingdom of God, is that of the investigative judgment, the closing of work in the sanctuary above.

When the work of investigation shall be ended, when the cases of those who in all ages have professed to be followers of Christ have been examined and decided, then, and not till then, probation will close, and the door of mercy will be shut. Thus in the one short sentence, "They that were ready went in with Him to the marriage: and the door was shut," we are carried down through the Saviour's final ministration, to the time when the great work for man's salvation shall be completed.

In the service of the earthly sanctuary, which, as we have seen, is a figure of the service in the heavenly, when the high priest on the Day of Atonement entered the most holy place, the ministration in the first apartment ceased. God commanded: "There shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he comes out." Leviticus 16:17. So when Christ entered the holy of holies to perform the closing work of the atonement, He ceased His ministration in the first apartment. But when the ministration in the first apartment ended, the ministration in the second apartment began. When in the typical service the high priest left the holy on the Day of Atonement, he went in before God to present the blood of the sin offering in behalf of all Israel who truly repented of their sins. So Christ had only completed one part of His work as our intercessor, to enter upon another portion of the work, and He still pleaded His blood before the Father in behalf of sinners.....

It is those who by faith follow Jesus in the great work of the atonement who receive the benefits of His mediation in their behalf, while those who reject the light which 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 on 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 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 congregation. How much more essential in this antitypical Day of Atonement that we understand the work of our High Priest and know what duties are required of us.

[John317]

What new duties are revealed by studying the sanctuary truth of what Jesus is doing in heaven now? Ellen White wrote that these duties are "required of us." These are in addition to the duties that Christians had always known, such as repentance and faith toward God. I think 3 of them are

Overcoming all known sin by God's power;

Sabbath reform;

Health reform.

What are others?

[Woody]

"Required of us"

What are the consequences of failure to meet the standard? And what IS the standard?

[John317]

I'd really like to hear what you think based on your study and reflection about these things.

[Woody]

I'm nobody so I'd be more interested in what Ellen White thought. What do you think she thought?

[fccool]

I think as Christians we overemphasize atonement factor and forget the example factor. What is the esssense of the atonement? Do you think that Jesus really had to die to satisfy the Father's wrath? Come on! If we are a dark reflection of God and we would not unleash wrath on our children because we are thirsty for some wrath... do you think that God would do that for that purpose.

The purpose of Jesus' death is to be a symbol. A symbol of selfless sacrifice, the ultimate love... love in spite of persecution... the love which would inspire us to transform our minds and to love each other likewise. Instead it is turned up side on its head to become a symbol of wrath of God on his Son so we could get off free.

The same with sanctuary... those are symbols... simbols that make difference in lives of people if these are made living. There is no need for Jesus to perform rituals anymore than for God to sacrifice his Son so that he might be punished in our place. Rituals are symbols... they are not duties! Just like ring on your finger if a symbol of unity (assuming that you wear one). If the marriage was all about the ring, it would be ludicrous. It's a symbol that serves as a reminder!

With that being said... there is no need for the "deeper digging" into the commentaries of others to reveal some kind of isoteric "truths". The only truth is that the world is broken and God's way is the best way of fixing it. Yes, respecting His laws is a part of it, but it's much more than that. It's about living the symbols giving to us. Yes, we was each others feet, but it's only a symbol of the way our lives should be! If we wash each others feet and don't serve each other in the same manner... the symbol is dead! The ideas behind the symbols are more important than the symbols. Paul calls these the shadow of the perfect. These are of lesser importance than what these stand for.

Just like the country is more important thant the flag representing it... the same goes for the Sanctuary. I don't think that God would be so bored that he would make up all of these Sanctuary rules that had to go on for ages. These are to teach us a lesson. Once lesson is grasped... these will go away. We need to pay attention to the greater issues exemplified in Jesus' life and death. I think that the other ones are of the lesser importance. If we love our brother and we love God... we would not take the Mark, no matter what it may be.

[Beryl]

Quote:

The purpose of Jesus' death is to be a symbol. A symbol of selfless sacrifice, the ultimate love... love in spite of persecution... the love which would inspire us to transform our minds and to love each other likewise. Instead it is turned up side on its head to become a symbol of wrath of God on his Son so we could get off free.

Christ's death was far more than a symbol. "The wages of sin are death." Why? Because when we sin (deliberately or otherwise) we are choosing to follow Satan, the rebel.

The ten commandments are the eternal law of God. They existed in heaven before Satan led in sin -- but that was not a burden to the angels, it was their natural way of living. However, Satan was in rebellion against God -- he took on the leading role as an enemy of God. Those angels who chose to follow him also became enemies of God -- and what a mess they have made of this world??

God could have just destroyed Satan and his angels, but He didn't. Everyone throughout the universe had to have the chance to make their own choice. But God knew that we could now no longer live the sinless life of heaven, and so Jesus came TO TAKE OUR PLACE. He lived the sinless life that we cannot live, and He died on Calvary in my place -- and yours -- and gave everybody in this world the opportunity to accept the wonderful gift that He has given freely to us. If we accept that death in our place, and allow the Holy Spirit to lead in our lives, He has promised that the victory that He had over Satan can be counted as my victory -- and yours, too. He has promised us the power to overcome sin, and the forgiveness of sins.

I once belonged to the forum that teaches what you are teaching, and I was disgusted with their teaching. You see, when a person tries to tell me that the Law of God is only a "suggestion" as to how we should live -- then it is not surprising that members of that forum could see nothing wrong or damaging in watching X rated movies, and also where the whole of the Old Testament was described as just "a metaphor"!

"The Holy Spirit will give you life that comes from Christ Jesus and will set you free from sin and death. The Law of Moses can't do this because our selfish desires make the Law weak. But God set you free when He sent His own Son to be like us sinners and to be a sacrifice for our sin. God used Christ's body to condemn sin. He did this so that we would do what the Law commands by obeying the Spirit instead of our own desires." Romans 8:3,4 CIV. Romans 5:6, 8, 10, 11 "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly...But God demonstrates His own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." He took my place -- and yours. He died so that our sins could be forgiven, and to give to us the right to heaven.

Beryl

[melvin mccarty]

Seems to me Beryl that while the principles of the two great commandments are universal and timeless the ten are earth specific. Is that not correct?

mel

[John317]

... I don't think that God would be so bored that he would make up all of these Sanctuary rules that had to go on for ages. These are to teach us a lesson. Once lesson is grasped... these will go away. ....

Yes, they are indeed to teach us a lesson. But what is the lesson, or rather what are the lessons-- and have those lessons been truly grasped? Do they teach anything about how we should live?

Do you think God is trying to teach us anything in those lessons that we are resisting?

A major theme in the book of Leviticus is, "You must be holy, for I am holy." What did He mean? Have we fully gasped this?

How do we learn the lesson they were to teach if we don't know what the illustrations were? The sanctuary might be compared to a picture, or visual aid, that God gave us. It fills up a good part of the Bible. Did He give us these things to be looked at superficially and then discarded or forgotten? What about the millions upon millions of those who know absolutely nothing about them? Is it important to communicate these things to them?

The NT-- from Hebrews, 1 Tim. 2, and Revelation-- portray Christ as our continuing High Priest. The Bible teaches that there is a literal sanctuary in heaven. These things are more than mere symbol, aren't they?

What is Jesus doing now? What is actually going on in the heavenly sanctuary? Is it important to know any of this?

[Beryl]

Quote:

the principles of the two great commandments are universal and timeless the ten are earth specific.

I believe that the two great commandments really summarise the 10 commandments which God refers to as His Law which is eternal. The two great commandments are really a summing up of the principles contained in the Ten Commandments.

Are they the same in other inhabited planets? I believe that, in principle they are, however -- that is just my thought.

Beryl

[melvin mccarty]

Hmmmm like did Lucifer know about fathers and mothers before he sinned? mel