One of the consequences of the fall of man into sin is the persistent tendency, in human nature, to lose sight of Heaven and heavenly things, and to become engrossed with the things of Earth.
So, the people at the time of the flood, were unable to appreciate the message from Heaven telling them to prepare for the end of the world, as they knew it.
Likewise, Nebuchadnezzar the Babylonian king was unable to accept the heavenly revelation that his kingdom would pass away, as would all the kingdoms after him, to be replaced by the kingdom of the Son of man.
In the time of the early church, the Jewish people had a very difficult time seeing beyond their earthly temple, and their earthly kingdom. They would not allow the thought that Jesus the Saviour had come, the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), and instead, continued their offering of lambs, goats, and heifers.
They also did not see that the earthly temple, built according to the plan that Moses received from God, had been superseded. It had been meant as a “pattern of heavenly things” (Hebrews 9:23), to lead the thoughts up from this earth to the true temple in heaven. Now that the true Sacrifice had been offered, and the true Priest revealed, all the eyes of the faithful were to follow Him in His heavenly work, without any earthly representations.
However, as the early church departed from this pure faith, and became entangled with earthly things, their eyes were once again directed down to the earth. Taking elements from the Old Testament priesthood, the church formed an earthly priesthood, with an earthly high priest (the Pope), “holy” water, candles, images and artwork representing heavenly things, the “sacrifice” of the mass, and earthly sanctuaries (magnificent church buildings).
The historian writes:
The bishops now [the later part of the second century] wished to be thought to correspond with the high priest of the Jews; the presbyters were said to come in place of the priests; and the deacons were made parallel with the Levites. In like manner the comparison of the Christian oblations with the Jewish victims and sacrifices produced many unnecessary rites, and by decrees corrupted the very doctrine of the holy Supper; which was converted, sooner, in fact, than one would think, into a sacrifice. –Mosheim’s Ecclesiastical History, Cent. II, part II, chap. II, par. 4; and chap. IV, par. 4.
This falling away was prophesied in the words of Daniel:
Daniel 8
11 …the place of His sanctuary was cast down.
A.T. Jones explains this in more detail in The Consecrated Way to Christian Perfection, p. 97-101:
Daniel 8
11 Yea, he magnified himself even to the Prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.
12 And a host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced and prospered.This plainly points out that which took away the priesthood, the ministry, and the sanctuary of God and of Christianity. Let us read it again:
“Yea, he [the little horn—the man of sin] magnified himself even to the Prince of the host [“against the Prince of princes”—Christ], and by him [the man of sin] the daily sacrifice [the continual service, the ministry, and the priesthood of Christ] was taken away, and the place of His sanctuary [the sanctuary of the prince of the host, of the Prince of princes—Christ] was cast down.
“And a host was given him [the man of sin] against the daily sacrifice [against the continual service, of the ministry of Christ, the Prince of the host] by reason of transgression cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced, and prospered.”
It was “by reason of transgression,” that is, by reason of sin, that this power gained “the host” that was used to cast down the truth to the ground, to shut away from the church and the world Christ’s priesthood, His ministry, and His sanctuary; and to cast it all down to the ground and tread it underfoot.
It was by reason of transgression that this was accomplished. Transgression is sin, and this is the consideration and the revelation upon which the apostle in 2 Thessalonians defines this power as the “man of sin” and the “mystery of iniquity.”
And it is this continual service of Christ, the true High Priest, “who continues ever,” and “who is consecrated forevermore” in “an unchangeable priesthood”—it is this continual service of our great High Priest, which the man of sin, the Papacy, has taken away. It is the sanctuary and the true tabernacle in which this true High Priest exercises His continual ministry that has been cast down by “the transgression of desolation.” It is this ministry and this sanctuary that the “man of sin” has taken away from the church and shut away from the world and has cast down to the ground and stamped upon and in place of which it has set up itself “the abomination that makes desolate.”
What the former Rome did physically to the visible or earthly sanctuary, which was “the figure of the true” (Daniel 9:26-27; Matthew 24:15), that the later Rome has done spiritually to the invisible or heavenly sanctuary that is in itself the true. Daniel 11:31; 12:11; 8:11, 13.
Now by every evidence of the Scriptures, it is certain that, in the order of God it was Christ and His ministry and sanctuary in heaven and this alone, that in truth was the object of the Levitical system and that is truly the Christian succession to that system.
Therefore when in and by the apostasy the system of bishops as high priests, presbyters as priests, deacons as Levites, and the Supper as a sacrifice was insinuated as the Christian succession to the Levitical system, this of itself was nothing else than to put this false system of the apostasy in the place of the true, completely to shut out the true, and finally, to cast it down to the ground and stamp upon it.
And this is how it is that this great Christian truth of the true priesthood, ministry, and sanctuary of Christ is not known to the Christian world today. The “man of sin” has taken it away and cast it down to the ground and stamped upon it. The “mystery of iniquity” has hid this great truth from the church and the world during all these ages in which the man of sin has held place in the world and has passed itself of as God and its iniquitous host as the church of God.
And yet, even the “man of sin,” the “mystery of iniquity,” itself bears witness to the necessity of such a service in the church in behalf of sins. For though the “man of sin,” the “mystery of iniquity,” has taken away the true priesthood, ministry, and sanctuary of Christ and has cast these down to the ground to be stamped upon and has completely hid them from the eyes of the Christian world, yet she did not utterly throw away the idea. No, she threw away the true and cast down the true to the ground but, retaining the idea in the place of the true, she built up in her own realm an utterly false structure.
In the place of Christ, the true and divine High Priest of God’s own appointment in heaven, she has substituted a human, sinful, and sinning priesthood on earth. In the place of the continual, heavenly ministry of Christ in His true priesthood upon His true sacrifice, she has substituted only an interval ministry of a human, earthly, sinful, and sinning priesthood in the once-a-day “daily sacrifice of the mass.”
And in the place of the sanctuary and the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man, she has substituted her own meeting-places of wood and stone, to which she applies the term “sanctuary.”
Thus, instead of the one continual High Priest, the one continual ministry, and the one continual sanctuary in heaven, which God has ordained and which is the only true, she has devised out of her own heart and substituted for the only true, many high priests, many ministries, many sacrifices, and many sanctuaries, on earth, which in every possible relation are only human and utterly false.
And it can never take away sin. No earthly priesthood, no earthly ministry, no earthly sacrifice or service in any earthly sanctuary can ever take away sin. In the book of Hebrews we have seen that even the priesthood, the ministry, the sacrifice, and the service in the earthly sanctuary—the very service which the Lord Himself ordained on earth—never took away sin. The inspired record is that they never did take away sin, and that they never could take away sin.
It is only the priesthood and the ministry of Christ that can ever take away sin. And this is a priesthood and a ministry in heaven and of a sanctuary that is in heaven. For when Christ was on earth he was not a priest and if He had remained on earth until this hour, He would not yet be a priest, as it stands written:
Hebrews 8
4 If he were on earth, He should not be a priest.Thus, by plain word and abundant illustration, God has demonstrated that no earthly priesthood, sacrifice, or ministry can ever take away sin.
If any such could take away sin, then why could not that which God Himself ordained on earth take away sin? If any such could take away sin, then why change the priesthood and the ministry from earth to heaven?
Therefore, by the plain word of the Lord, it is plain that the priesthood, the ministry, the sacrifice, and the sanctuary which the Papacy has set up and operates on earth can never take away sin, but, instead, only perpetuates sin, is a fraud, an imposture, and the very “transgression” and “abomination of desolation” in the most holy place.
When the Reformation took place, the eyes of the faithful were once again directed away from this false human system of earthly priests and temples, to Christ the true High Priest in Heaven, who is able to forgive and cleanse from sin.
The Great Controversy, p. 488-489
All need a knowledge for themselves of the position and work of their great High Priest. Otherwise it will be impossible for them to exercise the faith which is essential at this time or to occupy the position which God designs them to fill.The sanctuary in heaven is the very center of Christ’s work in behalf of men. It concerns every soul living upon the earth. It opens to view the plan of redemption, bringing us down to the very close of time and revealing the triumphant issue of the contest between righteousness and sin. It is of the utmost importance that all should thoroughly investigate these subjects and be able to give an answer to everyone that asks them a reason of the hope that is in them.
The songs in this section (chosen from Protestant hymnbooks) speak of Christ, our High Priest, and His work for us in the Heavenly temple. They witness to the fact that the Reformation was a turning back to the faith of the early church.
- A Good High Priest is Come
- Approach My Soul the Mercy Seat
- Arise, My Soul, Arise
- Awake, Sweet Gratitude, and Sing
- Before the Throne of God Above
- Done is the Sacrifice
- Hail, Thou Once Despised Jesus
- Jesus, in You Our Eyes Behold
- Since Our Great High Priest, Christ Jesus
- The Atoning Work is Done
- The Saviour to Glory is Gone
- The Veil is Rent
- Where High the Heav’nly Temple Stands
- With Joy We Meditate the Grace
Also, the ever-expanding light on the sanctuary in heaven, which started with the Advent movement in the mid-1800’s, is a continuation of this “turning back” to follow Christ wherever He goes. It is impossible to understand the future as revealed in the book of Revelation, without a good grasp on the sanctuary and ministry of Christ in heaven.
Thanks to Barry Gowland for collecting and sending the texts for these songs, and inspiring the idea of this page.
