To My Dear Friends Podcast

Three texts this morning: Daniel 8:14; Leviticus 16:30; Acts 3:19–20. I wonder if you will repeat that first text with me, Daniel 8:14?
"And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed" (Daniel 8:14).
Notice two things about our text: a time and a work. The time is "unto 2,300 days." Next week, we'll be passing 130 years since October 22, 1844, when those 2,300 days came to an end. The time is clear. And what is the work? "Then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."
Surely this must be of great importance to Heaven. This marks the end of the longest prophetic period in all the Bible. The servant of the Lord has called our attention to the fact that this scripture was both the foundation and central pillar of the Advent movement:
"Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed" (Daniel 8:14).
Now turning to the type, Leviticus 16:30. The Lord's statement concerning the work of the priest, Aaron, as he goes in beyond the second veil on this typical Day of Atonement:
"For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD" (Leviticus 16:30).
Again, notice a time, a work. And what is the time on that day? The Day of Atonement. That was the type; we are in the antitype. And what is the work? Again, it is a work of cleansing:
"For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD" (Leviticus 16:30).
Notice, then, that it is not only the sanctuary that is cleansed in this Day of Atonement. The people are clean as the sun sets on this Day of Judgment.
Now, Acts 3:19. And again, notice the time, the work of cleansing:
"Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you" (Acts 3:19–20).
Then, just before Jesus comes, come the times of refreshing. And at that time, what is to be accomplished? Your sins are to be blotted out.
Now, what is involved in all this work of cleansing since 1844? May I suggest, brothers and sisters, that this is the climax of the whole plan of salvation? This is the focal point of the sanctuary service. This cleansing of the Most Holy Place means the close of the sanctuary as it relates to the ministry dealing with sin. This has tremendous implications for the Advent movement. If all this is so, then soon, very soon, the sanctuary is to close.
You know, I was thinking of it, this great university hospital here. Suppose next week, when we enter it, we see a sign up there: "This hospital will close December 31." I can fancy that people would be saying, "What are we going to do?" Suppose it was the only hospital around. Is the sanctuary the only place where the sin problem can be dealt with, friends? Oh, yes. Is it going to close? Yes, it's going to close.
And so we see that sign, "This hospital will close December 31." What are we going to do when we get sick? What are we going to do when there are accidents? Wouldn't it be something to contemplate?
This world is going along on the basis that these hospitals all around are going to stay in business. Am I correct? That's what the federal government is planning. That's what everybody is planning. But the emergency hospital that has been dealing with the sin problem for centuries and millenniums, that hospital is going to close, dear friends, it's going to close.
Suppose we would see another sign, beneath that first sign on the hospital, reading like this: "Classes are now being held daily in how to keep well so you won't need a hospital." Would you attend? Would you? I think we would if we believed the sign.
And I'm so glad that classes are now being held daily at the Heavenly Sanctuary in how to get cured of this sin business. You see, dear friends, very soon this sanctuary is going to close, may I put it very simply, for lack of business. Most of the people of this world are going to go on in law-breaking and reach the point of no return. Paul tells us plainly in Hebrews 10:26:
"If we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins" (Hebrews 10:26).
There is no need in keeping the sanctuary open for the wicked past the close of probation for not a single one of them, even during the time of trouble and the falling of the plagues, repents. Revelation 16 pictures an unrepentant, rebel world, insane in their rebellion—no need keeping the sanctuary open for them.
And what about the righteous? Thank God, in that same 10th chapter of Hebrews, the apostle pictures a people in whose hearts and minds the law of God has been written. That same law that Jesus wrote on the tables of stone is written fully in the hearts of the remnant. They love this law as Jesus loves it. And Paul says that as the result, their sins are remitted (or 'blotted out' in the language of Acts 3). As the result, there is no more need for an offering for sin.
Now, in Selected Messages, Book 1, we have an interesting statement concerning what is going on in Heaven now:
"Christ Jesus is represented as continually standing at the altar, momentarily offering up the sacrifice for the sins of the world" (Selected Messages, Book 1, page 343).
"But oh, I thought that was all done on Calvary."
Let me remind you, dear friends, that there is only one offering for sin, and that is the offering of the cross. Every lamb that died in the Old Testament times, every bullock that was sacrificed, represented that one offering complete and all-sufficient on the cross of Calvary. But through the sanctuary, God seeks to teach us that that blood, that all-sufficient blood, must be presented in the temple above, first to cover sins and then to blot out sins.
This is why there are two rooms in that sanctuary. It's no mere bit of geography or chronology. There are two definite mediations of the Savior's blood, and both are essential. The first work is to get the sins in; the second is to get them out. The first work is to get them covered; the second work is to get them blotted out. And nothing in this universe can accomplish that but the blood of Jesus.
That blood was shed once for all on Calvary. But Christ is not only the Lamb that dies for us; He is the Priest that lives for us. You see, in the ancient type, it took the two symbols to represent this complete work of the Savior. There must be somebody who dies, somebody who lives. The lamb, the bullock, represented the One who dies; the priest, Aaron, the One who lives, who ever lives to make intercession for us.
Day by day, the sacrifice was slain. Day by day, the blood was shed, all pointing to that one sufficient offering on the cross. But also day by day, the priest went within the veil, and then at last, within the second veil on the Day of Atonement. What for? To minister the blood.
Now back to our quotation:
"Christ Jesus is represented as continually standing at the altar, momentarily offering up the sacrifice for the sins of the world. A daily and yearly typical atonement is no longer to be made, but the atoning sacrifice through a mediator is essential because of the constant commission of sin" (Selected Messages, Book 1, page 343).
Let me read that last sentence again, and let us meditate on it:
"A daily and yearly typical atonement is no longer to be made, but the atoning sacrifice through a mediator is essential because of the constant commission of sin."
Why must Jesus stand there in the sanctuary with uplifted hands and present the sacrifice of Himself? Because of the constant commission of sin. This, His blood, His mediation, is what stands between a guilty world and a broken law. Justice demands the immediate execution of every lawbreaker. But through Jesus, mercy pleads for respite, for reprieve. And so, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and the presentation of that sacrifice in the Heavenly Sanctuary make possible another chance and another chance and another chance.
How long must that continue? As long as sin continues. But the close of probation brings us to this wonderful fact: that as surely as the wicked have reached the point of no return, so the righteous have passed the point of no return. When the High Priest steps forth from the inner room and lays the sins which have been blotted out upon the antitypical scapegoat, He makes that solemn announcement:
"He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still" (Revelation 22:11).
You see, then, that just as the wicked have become marked in rebellion, the righteous have been sealed in their love for and loyalty to the law of God. For sin, dear friends, is not so much an act; sin is an attitude. Sin is rebellion. So it was in its inception in Heaven. So it has been these 6,000 years. And when rebellion reaches the point where the wicked of this world can no longer have even the capacity to return, thank God, Jesus will have a ripened harvest, a mature people.
"Well," somebody says, "Brother Frazee, do you really believe that will happen in this world?"
Well, if it can't, the sanctuary will have to stay open unless you have found some other way to deal with this sin problem. This is the only way that Heaven has found, a very expensive program, for the sacrifice that Jesus presents in the Heavenly Sanctuary, the sacrifice of Himself, is no staged play. It's no act. The cross is a revelation to our dull senses of the pain that began when sin began and can never stop until sin stops.
This is not just some legal transaction. This is an experience that is very real with God. Sin breaks His heart. The first sin broke His heart. The second one did it all over again. And the third one repeated it, and He has never gotten used to it. Why? Because this is the way love is. Sin brought separation between man and God. Man is very dear to God. He was made in His image, and when sin brought that separation in the garden, the heart of God was broken.
See the dear Lord as He comes there in the cool of the day to visit Adam and Eve. Always before, they have run to meet Him. Now, He can't find them; they're hiding. He walks through that garden looking. "Adam! Oh, Adam, where are you?"
Finally, no longer able to conceal themselves, they come shrinking. "I was afraid and hid myself." Oh, how the heart of God was saddened! Sin had brought separation.
Back in the ancient sanctuary service, if a man wanted to have his sin forgiven, he came to the sanctuary and put his hands on the head of the substitute and transferred his sin to the lamb or bullock. Then he slew the sacrifice, and the blood was ministered by the priest, either at the altar in the court or the altar in the Holy Place.
My friends, do you see that God was seeking to teach them that the way of pardon was the way of penitence? It is the repentant rebel who finds mercy at the cross. Think of those two thieves who died, one on either side of the Savior. One, continuing in rebellion, died cursing God; the other, thank God, in a dying Savior, found help for his dying soul and received the assurance of pardon. There is welcome for the sinner who comes penitent.
You know, I was thinking of it the other day. Suppose that here's a man in the United States… (We might think of our new vice president. I think his funds would make it possible.) Suppose he were to become sorry for all these people who speed on the highway and get fined and that he should set up a multimillion-dollar fund. And the next time one of us speeds on the highway, all we have to do is get in touch with the one who is administering that fund, and our fine is paid.
Suppose you are riding with me, and you notice the speedometer go up and up. And you think, "Brother Frazee is liable to get a ticket." And sure enough, presently that little light appears, a siren sounds, and I'm pulled over. But you notice that I'm not too worried about the ticket. And you go with me while I get that ticket paid off.
Tell me, friends, has the law been enforced? Yes. Has the penalty been paid? Yes. But is this contributing to a proper respect for the law? Is it? Would you recommend that program? I am sorry to say that multitudes of Christians out in Babylon (and it seeps into the remnant church) have this idea of the sacrifice of Christ—not that blunt, to be sure, not that crude, a bit more subtle. But what it amounts to is this, friends: "Jesus died on the cross for me. He knows that I can't keep the law. He knows that I lose my temper and have lustful thoughts, and so on and on and on. And someday He's going to come and snatch His bride away. And when the rapture comes, then I'll be all right. But I've been to the altar. I've been saved. Jesus is my Redeemer. And, of course, it would be nice if out of gratitude I would do His commandments the best I can. But God knows I can't do too much about it. And so, thank God, Jesus on the cross paid it all."
Is that the Gospel? Is it? It's a Gospel. Paul would call it another Gospel. But do you know, friends, it is the sanctuary that has given Seventh-day Adventists a distinctive view of what is involved in the total plan of salvation, including bringing people back to law-keeping—not by works of righteousness which we have done, or ever could do without Him. But if God has undertaken to develop a church of whom He can say, in honesty:
"Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus" (Revelation 14:12).
If God has undertaken to do that, let us believe Him and give Him a chance. What do you say?
Now, let me be very frank, friends. It's too bad that again and again in the history of this movement, and more particularly in recent years, there have been extreme ideas taught as to just what is involved in the blotting out of sins and the perfection of the saints. And I have no such views to advocate. I prefer to leave the inspired words just as we find them in the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy.
Honestly friends, I believe that God has experiences ahead for us that we have no way to define, for they are beyond anything that you and I have yet entered into. But I leave that with God. I know, for Philippians 1:6 tells me so, that "He which hath begun a good work in me will finish it until the day of Jesus Christ." It will take all that time, friends. And I'm willing for Him to finish what He has started in me. What do you say?
But listen: if all the time that has been devoted in the last 15 years to trying to study out some mysterious explanation of just how it is that the saints are perfected, if all that time could have been saved and, on the other hand, if all the time that has been devoted to rationalizing these statements calling for the high standard, these statements calling for a mature harvest, a perfected people, if all the time that had been lost in rationalizing those and seeking, in effect, to bring God's standard down to where we can handle it, if all the time in both directions that had been lost had been focused on a simple study, day by day, of Great Controversy and Early Writings, finding out what Christ intends to accomplish through the sanctuary service, and letting Him do it, friends, I believe we could be in the Latter Rain time right now. I believe it.
What do we see when we gather at the sanctuary? For you know, you and I are called on this antitypical Day of Atonement to do what Israel did on the Yom Kippur of the ancient times. God told the Jews to stop everything when the 10th day of the 7th month comes. No more business as usual. Everything else stops, for the Day of Judgment is come.
Oh, may I suggest, friends, that we shall find the solution for hundreds of problems that are now facing us educationally, medically, financially, organizationally, and every other way, we shall find the solution at the mercy seat in the Most Holy Place? But that man that had brought his lamb at Passover time, that man that had brought his bullock at Pentecost, he had to come back on the Day of Atonement and enter into a deeper experience of repentance than he had ever known before.
This is what it will take to get you and me ready for the closing of the sanctuary. From the servant of the Lord, I read:
"Repentance is a daily, continued exercise" (The Signs of the Times, November 26, 1894).
And must be so until mortality is swallowed up of immortality. And so, today, I invite you, for Jesus invites us all to join with Him in looking through that open door into the Most Holy Place. There we shall see the Ark of Revelation 11:19. There we shall see the holy law, the standard of judgment. And there we shall see One bearing our humanity with wounded hands, ready to sprinkle the blood in the blotting out of sins. Oh, let us let that blood be sprinkled not only in the sanctuary but upon our hearts. Let us sense the deadly nature of sin and flee from it. Let us sense the wonderful love of our God and tell Him that we appreciate what He has done to take us home.
Will you join with me in singing, "I Will Go with Him All the Way"?
I can hear my Savior calling,
I can hear my Savior calling,
I can hear my Savior calling,
Take thy cross and follow, follow Me.
Where He leads me I will follow,
Where He leads me I will follow,
Where He leads me I will follow,
I go with Him, with Him all the way.