THE CLEANSING OF THE SANCTUARY

[Gus Foster]

The studying of the reformation is indeed interesting and informative. It basically ended in the 19th century when all of Scripture was revealed with the formation of the Adventist church with all the foundations firm and in place. The rediscovery of righteousness by faith was the last building block put in place to complete the structure. In finalizing the church reformation, the sanctuary was again introduced with all of its shadows of the Messiah.

In Ex 25:8 Jesus told Moses; "make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them". Five names in Scripture describe the Tabernacle: a sanctuary (Ex 24:8), denotes set apart for a Holy God; Tabernacle (Ex 35:9), reveals that it was the dwelling place of God among His people; Tent (Ex 26:36), designating it as a temporary dwelling place; the tabernacle of the congregation (Ex 29:42), God to meet with His people; and, the tabernacle of the testimony Ex (38:21), the law was to be kept in the ark in the holy of holies.

Since Israel had a propensity to idolatry, this was a constant reminder to serve and worship the true and living God. This was to show a sinful people how they could come before a holy God in worship and service (Ex 29:42-45) and offer a sacrifice for sin (Lev 1-7 &,16, 17), and to receive instruction and counsel from His word. It was a graphic

portrayal of God's redemptive program for Israel. It was also a complete illustration of the work of Christ in every form. As a result, it showed God's plan to do His work through His redemptive people, who willingly supplied materials and lives. As we go through each article of the sancturary we see Christ prefigured in every aspect.

In Eph 2:21, 22, Paul states that the 'church' "is a holy temple in the Lord---a habitation for the Holy Spirit", temple representing the holy of holies. The nation Israel never experienced this priviledge, where only the high priest could visit once every year. This declares the 'walk' that each true member of the true church must tread, and his condition of holiness with a cleansed soul. And in 1 Cor 6:19 Paul declares that each body of the church is the temple (sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit who is in you, asserting the dwelling place of the new covenant God. Heb 9:11,12 shows Christ in heaven's sanctuary at the same time the Spirit dwells in the sanctuary here on earth.

In the middle of the 19th century when God called out for the cleansing of the sanctuary, it was designated for both.

Now, all of heaven is working to cleanse the earthly sanctuary, as described in Rev 21 as God's people forming the new Jerusalem. Christ will return to a cleansed, purified, sacrificial sanctuary, His people

[Gus Foster]

> John Rayner with an query

>

> I hope Gus is using hyperbole as a literary device

> with some of the statements he makes.

>

> "The reformation basically ended in the 19th century

> when *all of scripture was revealed ..."?

> "The recovery of Righteousness by faith was the last

> building block put in place to Complete (?) the

> structure"?

> "It was a *complete* illustration of the *work of

> Christ* in every form"? And in the very next sentence,

> "God's plan to do *His work* through His redemptive

> people."

>

> Is this really the emphasis of the sanctuary teaching

> because if the emphasis is really like this I have

> some thinking to do. Now it may simply be that Gus

> had difficulty with his expression so I'd like him to

> clarify. Is the way you've expressed things really

> what we must believe or would you want to change some

> expressions before we make a judgment - excuse the

> pun.

>

> Sincerely your brother in the Beloved

>

> John Rayner

> Gus Foster wrote:

>

>>The studying of the reformation is indeed interesting and informative. It

>>basically ended in the 19th century when all of Scripture was revealed

>>with the formation of the Adventist church with all the foundations firm

>>and in place. The rediscovery of righteousness by faith was the last

>>building block put in place to complete the structure. In finalizing the

>>church reformation, the sanctuary was again introduced with all of its

>>shadows of the Messiah.

I am a little bit hazy about your exact question John; but I shall try to be specific. Leslie Hardinge "With Jsus in His Sanctuary " teaches that the cleansing of the sanctuary in heaven coincides with the cleansing of God's people on earth. No one teaches the sanctuary better than he. There is a new book by a non-Adventist, David M Levy, "The Tabernacle: Shadows of the Messiah", which is also amazing dealing with this subject. Allow me to quote from W. D. Frazee; Ransom and Reunion Through the Sanctuary:

pg 80---"We need to awaken from sin's stupor, because until we have sorrowed for our sin and have sensed that it has murdered the Son of Man, we are not ready for the word of peace and reconcilliation. Conviction and repentance come before pardon. As the message of the sprinkled blood changes my thoughts sin no longer seems funny. It murdered my best friend".

pg 94---The King of the universe has asked you to look after a building of immense value to Him. "Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost" (1 Cor 6:19). The more you ponder what He paid for its redeption, the more you appreciate the high honor He has placed upon caretakers of the temple. This concepts lifts the study and practice of health habits to a holy level. The temple in heaven and the temple of our bodies closely parellel each other."

pg 96---"5. Only the blood of Jesus can truly cleanse both temples. Heb 9: 22-26 -- earthly cleansed with blood of animals while heavenly with the blood of Jesus. So it is with our minds ond bodies. We all come face-to-face with habits the anaided human will cannot break. In addition, the effects of our past sins hinder us. What shall we do? We must come to Christ and ask Him to forgive our past sins and to write His law in our hearts so that in His power we can live as He would. (1 John 1:7), 'The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin'. There is no other way".

pg 102---(From Dan 7:13, 14 & GC 480 and a partial quote from SC 23): "This kingdom ...will be given Him at the close of his work as a mediator". "The kingdom waits for the blotting out of sin in the santuary above and in the church below. Until Jesus can accomplish this, the announcement of the kingdom must always focus on the call to repentance, for "repentance includes sorrow for sin and turning away from it". pg 103--His mission-"to put away sin" (Heb 9:26).

Pg 104/5---"Jesus can never blot out my sins from the records in heaven until they are blotted out of my life and practice here below. Christ will send the same Holy Spirit He sent from the holy place on the day of Pentecost, (Rev 5 & Acts 2; my insertion). (Early rain will show Christ ministry as well as later rain show close of ministry). (EW 269), Those who 'with strong faith and agonizing cries' plead for victory, obtain it. Some in the church cannot endure the straight testimony. They continue in their lukewarm condition and finally are shaken out. But as sthe latter rain falls upon those who are heart to heart with Jesus a multitude join God's people to take the place of those who apostatize.

---all this must start in the church below, in your heart and my heart. Are we to awake to the work that is going on in the heavenly sanctuary, or are we waiting for the compelling power to come upon the church before we shall arouse? Are we waiting for the whole church to revive? That time will never come....We must enter the work individually. We must pray more, and talk less! (ISM 122)."

There is much more, but I'm sure you get the picture. I have two whole shelves in my library containing books on the sanctuary, some by non-Adventist. Most include cleansing of God's people as prerequisite to any further action from heaven--if that is what you are asking? Man on earth does perform a redemptive role in end-time happenings.

Judge on!

[Gus Foster]

Pastor----just by putting on the cleansing message on some Adventist forums, I have received comments from all over the world. It is becoming more and more apparent that we do not want to commit ourselves totally to our Savior, but to live our own lives in our own way and fully expect glorification.

A reply:

<I just need to be clear on this. You write, "Man on earth does perform a

<redemptive role in end-time happenings." Are you saying that there are

<things we must do in order to forge our salvation in the here and now?

<Does this "redemptive role" mean living by faith, which would be trusting

<and believing Christ; or is there a quality of and in our lives that we must

<produce in order to be worthy of salvation? Can we use Zech 3 of Joshua the

<High Priest and Matt. 22 of the wedding garment as examples of how we win in

<the judgment, or are you proposing another model?

<Blessings,

<Karl Wagner

Karl--Every couple of years or so I bring up the subject on this forum of the cleansing of God's people here on earth; and it always finds much opposition. I am not qualified as to the reasons why, but I have many suspicions. My redemptive role in salvation is the surrender and giving up of myself, and yes, in striving to obtain a greater degree of faith and to live in the Father's love as Jesus prayed (Jn 17:26). When I attended AUC in the 1950's no one would question this cleansing question, and all Adventist writers stressed our efforts to cooperate with heaven in this endeavor.

My grandchildren know that John empasizes overcoming sin as "intentional practice", and not human mistakes or errors; but even here, a dedicated relationship with Jesus will try and cry for victory in this life. (David recognizes 4 types of sin in Ps 32:1, 2)

The issue is separation: separation from the world and separation unto Jesus. The amount of effort and acheivement will always be debated, with those that cling to this life clawing and scratching for reasons to do so. In my case, it is simply a matter of accepting and not rejecting the work from heaven in my life. I have long been a proponent of Revelation 1 thru 7 as an explanation of this process. Eze 1 and Zech 1 adhere to this conclusion. Leslie Hardinge in the new book; "The Lamb, God's Greatest Gift, Meditations on the Book of Revelation", puts it this way on pg 11; "Gabriel commanded John, 'Write these things' (Rev 1:19). Here we have the five links in God's chain of command. The father authorized a revelation that was sent by Christ, supervised by the spirit, through His angel Gabriel to John who described it in a Book and presented it to the churches in God's sign language". (The four living creatures and the horses in Rev 4-6 are explained as to identity and duty of this process in Eze 1 and Zech 1).

Quite frankly, any Adventist that has not studied Hans LaRondelle's, End Time Prophecies of the Bible; Ranko Stefanovic's, Revelation of Jesus Christ, or Leslie Hardinge's, The Lamb, is not familiar with letting the Bible prophecy interperate itself by looking up the word and phrase meaning in prior Scripture. Thus we have all sorts of conjectures and theories as to meaning and application of texts. After studying these and other modern attempts to validate meanings, I have found none that disagree with Ellen White in any way.

A result of the study of the sanctuary and the feast days totally spells out the need of cleansing and purification. It is the old arguement about being saved in sin, and of perpetuating a holy character, and of being cleansed at glorification and not in the sanctification process. So. I continue to warn you, as I do myself, that our Lord will not accept less in me than He offers and that I accept. Rejection of purging, cleansing and purification disqualifies me from the wedding banquet. All of you that read this must adhere to the set standards of heaven individually, and His soon appearance will reveal your adherance to that standard.

[Gus Foster]

Dan--I'm sorry for your short-sightness-----although repentance and forgiveness is personal and private, it is still consumated in the saanctuary, just as it has always been since its inception. Obviously, there is no need for me to reply to your statement, since it will be stone walled. Once again, the present effort is not just to justify, but also to sanctify---the extent seems to be question in your mind--but not to Scripture----it is the victory that Christ won for us--to cleanse us of our sin and to keep us from it--------Gus---I did forward this to some of my study group around the world********

----- Original Message -----

Subject: Re: The Cleansing of the Sanctuary

> Gus,

>

> While I appreciate what you're trying to say, there seems to be a

> problem with HOW it's being said. Yes, there is a need to surrender

> self and to trust in the providence and government of God. Yes, there

> is a need to repent and turn from one's sins (which is not always

> successful in the beginning and must be accomplished with the help of

> the Holy Spirit).

>

> Add to this, though, the need to put this into words without coming off

> like an advocate for works-righteousness. This may be where you've run

> aground in the past.

>

> Also, I have to reiterate my own stance that the Sanctuary was designed

> with forgiveness of sin as its primary aim. Any kind of purification

> and separation from the world happened at home, not within the precincts

> of the Sanctuary. In that respect, the Sanctuary is analogous to the

> church. The Church is where we're baptized and where we hear the Word

> preached, but it's once we leave that the real work of living out the

> word commences. We may need to be separated from the world, but we're

> still very much IN the world no matter how hard we try (with the

> Spirit's assistance) not to be OF it.

>

> Hope this helps.

>

> D D