THE SANCTUARY MESSAGE

The following sanctuary message study you are about to read is not only a truly amazing study, but also a journey. A journey through the plan of salvation, and an attempt by the antichrist to cast down and destroy this amazing Bible truth. But God is triumphant in all things and He has now restored His sanctuary message.

You will not hear the sanctuary message in the majority of churches today, because Satan, through that 'mother of harlots', the Papal Church of Rome, has cast it down and trampled upon it and turned the masses away from this amazing Bible truth. But God has now restored this message through His remnant church. This study is of great importance and I humbly ask that you come before God in prayer before reading through this page and ask God to guide you in His truth.

Psalm 77:13 ...'Thy way O God is in the sanctuary.'

The great battle between good and evil started in heaven with Satan (originaly known as Lucifer). Lucifer wasn't satisfied with his already lofty position in God's kingdom and wanted to 'be like the most High' (Ezekiel 28:13-19). Part of the origin of this controversy was the fact that Lucifer was Jealous of God's Son Jesus, and would not accept the authority of Christ over him. You can read more about this on our page THE ORIGIN OF SIN. Because of this great sin against God, Lucifer (Satan) was cast out of the kingdom of God. (From here we will refer to Lucifer as Satan). Satan then succeeds in deceiving Adam and Eve into disobeying God by eating of the tree that God told them not to eat from. So God in His mercy gives man a second chance and reveals His great plan of salvation to lead man back to Him.

That plan of salvation is amazingly revealed through the Old Testament sanctuary, which as Hebrews 8:4-5 and Hebrews 9:24 says, is a copy of the original sanctuary in heaven itself, where God dwells ... "I believe the Sanctuary, to be cleansed at the end of the 2300 days, is the New Jerusalem Temple, of which Christ is a minister." (E.White, A Word to the Little Flock, p. 13). The purpose of the 'copy', the sanctuary on earth was to teach man what Christ was to do for the sinner, and through it, lead man back into the presence of God ... Exodus 25:8 ...'And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.' ... God wants to dwell with us, and the sanctuary message reveals the way back to God's presence, through Christ.

Exodus chapters 25-30 lays out the earthly sanctuary, which consists of the outer court with the altar of burnt offering and the laver of water. Then the first room is the holy place with the table of shewbread, the seven branch candlestick and the altar of incense. And the second room is the most holy place with the ark of the covenant, which contains the ten commandments.

Now many Christians just see the sanctuary and it's furniture as a part of Old Testament law that is no longer relevant to us. And yet they are missing the great spiritual aspect of the sanctuary and the great salvational plan that God has revealed through it. The sanctuary and it's furniture represents much more than just pieces of furniture used in the Old Testament. God has given us a message through it and has revealed His great plan to draw man back to Him.

The outer court around the sanctuary represents this earth where Christ Jesus came to take the penalty for our sin and be our sacrifice. The altar of burnt offering (sacrifice) where the animal sacrifice for sin would be slain, represents Christ on the cross. He is the "Lamb", our sacrifice. The laver of water where the priest would need to be "washed" represents baptism (by full emersion - Matt. 3:16). Then we move from the courtyard which represents the earth, into the sanctuary building which represents God's Kingdom. In the first room, the holy place, the table of shewbread represents the Word of God, the true bread of life (Matthew 4:4; John 6:35). The seven branch candlestick represents the light of Christ shining through His people, witnessing (Matthew 5:16), and the altar of incense representing the prayers of believers that are offered through Christ Jesus (Rev. 8:3-4). Finally, we have the most holy place with the ark of the covenant, which contains the great moral law of God, the ten commandments.

Note: If you draw a plan of the sanctuary and draw a line connecting the furniture, you will end up with the shape of a cross! The reason being that Christ Jesus is at the center of the sanctuary message. As He is the only One who can lead us back to God the Father.

Can you see the plan of salvation and the Christian walk in the sanctuary? It's such a beautiful picture! First, as sinners we need to confess our sins over the 'lamb' that was to be slain, which points to Christ and accept His sacrifice for our sins (altar of sacrifice), which then leads to baptism by full emersion (laver of water), as a symbol of being 'washed' clean. Then, as a truly converted Christian we will study (eat) the Word of God (bread of life) in the Bible each day (table of shewbread). Our prayers will rise everyday to God (altar of incense), and the light of the gospel of Christ will shine to the world through our witness (candlestick). This leads us to God and He writes His law upon our hearts and we become a commandment keeping people (most holy place with the ark of the covenant containing the ten commandments).

These types and symbols in the Old Testament sanctuary service was to teach the world the seriousness of sin (sacrifice of the lamb) and the work that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was to do for us, as our sacrifice and then High Priest in the 'true tabernacle' that 'the Lord pitched' in heaven (Hebrews 8:2). Jesus said .. "I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6). The types and symbols laid out in the earthly sanctuary was 'the way' to the Father. But they were types and symbols that pointed to Christ. He is our sacrifice, our life giving water, our bread of life, our light and our Mediator with the Father. This is the amazing plan of salvation that the sanctuary message reveals. It is God's plan of bringing lost man back to Him, through His Son.

Psalm 77:13 ...'Thy way O God is in the sanctuary.'

God even reveals this plan of salvation through Israel's exodus and journey through the desert. First, while they were still in Egypt, they were told by God to sacrifice a lamb and put the blood on the doorposts at the passover in Exodus 12 (Altar of sacrifice - Christ on the cross). Then after they came out of Egypt, they passed through the Red Sea in Exodus 14 (Laver of Water - Baptism). Then in the desert in Exodus 16, God sent down "manna" from heaven for them to eat (Table of Shewbread - Word of God). Then in Exodus 19, God told the Jews that if they obeyed His commands, they would be a "holy nation" and would be a light to the rest of the world, witnessing for God to other nations (Seven Branch Candlestick - witnessing). God also tells the Jews in Exodus 19 they must prepare themselves for three days, for He was about to descend upon the Mount Sinai (Altar of Incense - Prayer). THEN WHAT HAPPENS? THEY RECEIVE THE LAW OF GOD in Exodus 20 (Ark of the Covenant - Ten Commandments). And the order of events is in line with the order of the sanctuary furniture. God's great plan of salvation!

Note: All this happened BEFORE the Jews entered the promised land, which is a lesson for us today.

So what does the sanctuary message reveal for us today? It reveals that as Christians we CANNOT just stop at the altar of sacrifice (the cross of Jesus Christ). Coming to the cross is just the beginning of the journey for us, which is why the apostle Paul said ... 'Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God.' (Hebrews 6:1) ... In other words, let us leave the basic principle of turning to the cross and turning away from sin, and move on in our faith. The journey through the sanctuary is the journey we MUST take as Christians. From the altar of sacrifice (Jesus on the cross), to the laver of water (baptism), to studying the Word of God (shewbread), to prayer (incense), to witnessing and shining the light of Jesus to the world (candlestick), to the law of God, the ten commandments (into God's presence in the most holy place with the Ark of the Covenant). And yet there are so many Christians who say, "I just need to believe in Jesus." And they stop right there. So what have they done? They have stopped at the Altar of Sacrifice and rejected the rest of God's plan of salvation. EVEN THE DEMONS BELIEVE AND TREMBLE!! (James 2:19). Coming to the cross of Jesus is just the beginning of our Christian faith. It is here that the journey has just begun!

Before the fall, Adam and Eve enjoyed walking with Jesus in the Garden, but sin caused a separation between man and God ... Isaiah 59:2 ...'But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.' ... So ultimately God is leading us back into His presence, and it is through His Son that He leads us back to Him.

Now can you have Jesus and NOT study the Word of God (if it is available to you)? No. Can you have Jesus and NOT be a light to the world? No. Can you have Jesus and NOT communicate to the Father through prayer? No. Can you have Jesus and not strive to keep ALL ten commandments (including the 7th day Sabbath)? No. And this is the point. If you truly believe in Jesus, and surrender your life to Him, then He will lead you through the sanctuary plan and reunite you with God.

Satan is obviously opposed to this sanctuary message and God's plan of salvation, and in the New Testament we see that Satan had deceived the Jews, God's own people, into rejecting this plan by rejecting Christ Jesus who is at the very center of the plan of salvation. Therefore God raises up a "new people" called Christians (spiritual Jews) to take this plan of salvation (the gospel) to the world. Now, when Jesus died on the cross, the veil in the earthly temple was torn in two (Matthew 27:51) to show that type had met antitype and the type (earthly sanctuary) was no longer needed. Hebrews chapters 8 and 9 reveal there is now only the original sanctuary in heaven, on which the earthly sanctuary was based, where Christ Jesus is now our High Priest. But please note: this does not mean the PLAN is no longer needed. The plan will continue until the new heaven and new earth.

After using the various nations to suppress God's plan of salvation, Satan now uses another even more clever tactic to cast down the truth of the sanctuary message. What does Satan do? He takes on a 'Christian' guise and raises up his own church - THE PAPAL CHURCH OF ROME. Through the Papacy, Satan distorts the truth and mixes it with much error and deceives the world through it. Daniel 7 tells us of a 'little horn' power that was to rise up to deceive the world. This little horn power of Daniel 7 later becomes the 7 headed beast of Revelation 13. That little horn and 7 headed beast is the Papacy, which arose from the Old Roman Empire, which takes us into the "dark ages" of Papal rule.

As we continue with this amazing study of the sanctuary message, we will see how the antichrist little horn of Daniel 7 (Papal Church of Rome) attempts to cast down the sanctuary to the ground. In other words, the Papacy attempts to cast down the work that Christ does for us in the heavenly sanctuary to the earth, and replace Christ's work on our behalf, with their own. The Papal Church of Rome ultimately tries to REPLACE Christ. But we will see how God restored the sanctuary message through His remnant church.

Daniel 7 reveals that the little horn who makes war with God's people, "thinks to change times and laws" and reigns for 1260 years. This is the Papacy, known as the Roman Catholic Church. The Papal Church of Rome reigned over the world from 538 - 1798 A.D. A total of 1260 years just as Daniel 7 prophesied. During this time, the Papal church had tens of millions of Christians persecuted, tortured and killed just because they wouldn't bow down to the so called "authority" of the Papacy. The Papal church "thought" to change the commandments of God by doing away with the second commandment to do with idols and changed the sabbath commandment to do with "time" from the 7th day to the first. Basically, Satan used the Roman Catholic Church to cast the truth of God's Word to the ground and trample upon it, in a bid to keep the people from the truth.

They cast down the altar of sacrifice, where we go to Jesus alone for forgiveness, by saying, "You need to come to us and ask our priests for forgiveness and you need to eat the eucharist" (the eucharist represents a CONTINUAL sacrifice of Christ - opposing the Bible truth about Christ being sacrificed ONCE ONLY).

They cast down the laver of water, representing Bible baptism by full emersion by saying, "We will "sprinkle" you as a child with "holy" water to be saved.

They cast down the table of showbread, which represents the Word of God by trying to destroy the Bible during the dark ages, and said, "come to us and we will teach you, the church is ABOVE the Word of God".

They cast down the seven branch candlestick, which represents God's people shining the light of Jesus to the world, by chasing God's people into the wilderness, persecuting them and killing them. Satan, through the Roman Catholic Church, during her 1260 year reign was trying to put out the light of God, by persecuting and killing God's people or forcing them to reject Bible truth and bow down to Papal authority.

They cast down the altar of incense, which represents the prayers of God's people through Christ Jesus ALONE, by saying, "pray to the dead "saints" and pray to Mary, the "mother of God".

Finally, they cast down the ark of the covenant in the most holy place where God dwells, which has God's law, the ten commandments inside, with their own altered "version" of that law. They changed the Sabbath commandment from the 7th day to the first day, Sunday, and took away the second commandment to do with idols. Also interestingly, the most holy place is where our Heavenly Father dwells, and yet the Roman Catholic Church also has a man at the head of the church called, "holy father".

The Altar of Sacrifice (Justification by Faith) - Cast Down
The Laver of Water (Baptism by Full Emersion) - Cast Down
The Candlestick (True Gospel Witnessing) - Cast Down
The Table of Shewbread (Studying the Word of God) - Cast Down
The Altar of Incense (Praying only through Christ Jesus) - Cast Down
The Ark of the Covenant (Keeping the Ten Commandments) - Cast Down

So you can clearly see what Satan, through the Roman Catholic Church did to the heavenly sanctuary and the ministration of Christ Jesus on our behalf in heaven. He has cast down the sanctuary in the minds of the people, and trampled upon it. Through the Papal church, Satan tried to destroy God's plan of salvation for mankind and replaced it with his own false version through the Roman Church. Christ Jesus is our only Priest, our High Priest, and it is only through Christ that God the Father will accept our prayers and repentance (John 14:6).

The Bible shows us that the earthly sanctuary became null and void when Jesus laid down His life on the cross. And Hebrews 8 and 9 shows us that Jesus became our High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary, the ORIGINAL sanctuary that the earthly one was based on. Which is why God tells us to seek those things which are above (Colossians 3:1). But what did the Roman Catholic Church do? They diverted the people from looking to the heavenly sanctuary, and deceived them into looking to the church for salvation. Over 1 BILLION deceived souls are members of the Roman Catholic Church today. And many more who have taken on her false doctrines.

Now Daniel tells us that the little horn (Papal Church of Rome) would continue for a "time, times and half a time". This equates to 1260 days. But in Bible prophecy a day equals a literal year, see day for a year principle. So the antichrist little horn would continue for 1260 years. And it just so happens that the Roman Catholic church ruled for 1260 years from 538 to 1798 AD.

God had a plan to restore His sanctuary and His truth over a period of time, so that in the end before Jesus returns, He would have a church (remnant church) with the FULL gospel truth and the FULL plan of salvation.

Matthew 24:14 ...'And THIS gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world as a witness unto all nations and then the end will come.'

Revelation 14:6 ...'And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the EVERLASTING gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth.'

So before God started the restoration of His sanctuary message and the great plan of salvation, we can see that the antichrist little horn (Roman Catholic Church) had cast down the important truths found in the sanctuary:

The Altar of Sacrifice (Justification by Faith) - Cast Down
The Laver of Water (Baptism by Full Emersion) - Cast Down
The Candlestick (True Gospel Witnessing) - Cast Down
The Table of Shewbread (Studying the Word of God) - Cast Down
The Altar of Incense (Praying only through Christ Jesus) - Cast Down
The Ark of the Covenant (Keeping the Ten Commandments) - Cast Down

Now God had to restore His truth gradually over time through many different people, because if He revealed His FULL truth through one person or one group of people, then it would have been too much to take and they would have turned away from it. Imagine being in a dark room for, let's say 7 days. What would happen if you came out into the bright light straight away? You would have to turn away from it, because you would not be able to cope with it. Instead, you would have to gradually let the light in to get accustomed to it. The same goes for those who were darkened by Roman Catholic doctrines. People were under the "darkness" of Rome for so long, that they would not be able to cope with receiving the FULL truth straight away, so God revealed it gradually as we will now see:

God has always had His true people throughout the ages. Many of whom had to hid in the wilderness during the 1260 year Papal rule. But as this time was coming to and end, God started the job of restoring the gospel truth. John Wycliffe was known as the "morning star" of the Protestant reformation and he is famed for translating the Bible into the common language so that the masses could read it for themselves and find the great truths that the Roman Catholic Church had been covering up. So lets apply this to the sanctuary. What article of furniture did God restore through Wycliffe? The table of shewbread (Word of God).

The Table of Shewbread (Studying the Word of God) - RESTORED!

PLEASE NOTE: Each of these people we are about to discuss, held onto some kind of error from Rome. But what we are showing, is that God was gradually restoring individual truths that was lost through the Papal Church of Rome.

Then during the early 1500's, God raised up a man named Martin Luther who saw the light about justification by faith, not works which the Roman Catholic Church taught, and he preached this truth to the masses. So giving the truth to the people about having faith in the sacrifice of Christ Jesus for our sins, restored the altar of sacrifice.

The Altar of Sacrifice (Justification by Faith) - RESTORED!

A man named John Calvin joined the Protestant reformation in the 1530's and he focused on the truth of the importance of prayer through Christ Jesus. This truth that John Calvin greatly preached and wrote about restored the altar of incense.

The Altar of Incense (Praying only through Christ Jesus) - RESTORED!

Then in 1609 a man named John Smith founded the Baptist Church which spread the truth about baptism in Christ Jesus by full immersion. Through this man, God restored the truth about baptism and the laver of water in the sanctuary.

The Laver of Water (Baptism by Full Immersion) - RESTORED!

Then in the 1700's God raised up a man named John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church. Wesley had a strong emphasis on evangelism, witnessing and being a "light" to the world. This restored the seven branch candlestick.

The Candlestick (True Gospel Witnessing) - RESTORED!

There was a problem with the Protestant reformation though. Instead of embracing ALL these precious truths that God was restoring, many of the people embraced only certain aspects, and failed to move forward in this reformation. This is why we have so many different Protestant churches. But God was not finished yet!

One more piece of sanctuary furniture was to be restored for God to restore the FULL gospel truth and the FULL plan of salvation. Once this last piece of furniture is restored, God could have a church with the FULL Bible truth to take to the world in these end times before Christ Jesus returns ... Matthew 24:14 ...'And THIS gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world as a witness unto all nations and then the end will come.' ... So what church is this. Well, Bible prophecy actually tells us of an event that took place which started God's end time church with the full, "everlasting" gospel truth. That prophecy is the 2300 day prophecy of Daniel 8.

Daniel 8:14 ...' And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.'

You will see from the 2300 day prophecy study that from 457 BC, there would be 2300 years which brings us to 1844, and then God would "cleanse the sanctuary". Now a group of believers coming out from different denominations, came together after a man named William Miller preached that Jesus would return in 1844. This was based on the 2300 day prophecy of the 'sanctuary being cleansed'. And because the common belief was that this earth was the "sanctuary", and Daniel 8:14 says that the sanctuary would be cleansed, then they believed this was the second coming.

God had already cleansed the earth with the flood, and the next cleansing will be with fire after Jesus returns. Now William Miller had the correct date in 1844 for the end of the 2300 day prophecy, but the common belief of the sanctuary being the earth was wrong. The sanctuary in Daniel 8 is the heavenly sanctuary where God dwells and where Jesus is our High Priest (Hebrews 8+9). So after the great disappointment of 1844, expecting Jesus to return, these "Advent" group of believers returned to the Bible and re-studied the scriptures to find out where they went wrong. That is when God revealed to them that the verse in Daniel 8:14 is talking about the heavenly sanctuary and that Jesus was going to perform the anti-typical "day of atonement" where He, as the High Priest would move into the most holy place and cleanse the sanctuary of sin, just as the earthly high priest would do on the day of atonement in the earthly type. This means Jesus was going to move into the most holy place in the heavenly sanctuary in 1844 to begin judgment!

Now what piece of furniture is in the most holy place? The ark of the covenant, with the ten commandments. So this group of Advent believers now understood the importance of God's law, the ten commandments and that we were now about to be judged according to that law, which is the great moral law of God's government. So they started preaching the importance of keeping the ten commandments (all ten, including the seventh day sabbath commandment, which the majority of churches had rejected through Rome's deception) and that judgment had begun ...

2 Corinthians 5:10 ...'For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.'

1 Peter 4:17 ...'For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?'

Revelation 14:7 ...'Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.'

Revelation 14:12 ...'Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.'

God restored the ark of the covenant with the ten commandments through these Advent believers, who went on to become the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He showed that the way into His presence is to follow Christ Jesus into the most holy place where the law of God is revealed ... Revelation 11:19 ...'And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.'

So God now has a church that can take the three angels messages of Revelation 14 to the world. God has a church that can take the FULL gospel message to the world, not half the gospel like so many preach. No, God has a church with the full plan of salvation shown through the sanctuary.

The Ark of the Covenant (Keeping the Ten Commandments) - RESTORED!

The truths once lost during the dark reign of the Roman Catholic Church have now been restored, one by one, through men who God raised up for this very reason. Great men like Wycliffe, Luther, Wesley, etc. Culminating in a church with the sanctuary message and the plan of salvation fully restored and preached. The antichrist little horn may have cast down the truth to the ground, but God has lifted His truth up to heaven again through His remnant church.

Where are you in your Christian walk and the plan of salvation? Are you still waiting at the altar of sacrifice? Or are you moving, through faith in Jesus Christ through the sanctuary into God's presence? In Revelation 3:9, Jesus says that those who "say" they are Jews (Spiritual Jews, ie, Christians) but are not, are of the Synagogue of Satan. In other words, if you say you are a Christian, but you are not living as a Christian, seeking to be in the presence of God Almighty, then you belong to the enemy, Satan.

Friend, Jesus is standing at the door waiting! Please give your all to Him by accepting His sacrifice for your sins, being baptised, studying the Word of God, praying, being a witness to the world and keeping the commandments of God, including the seventh day sabbath. Please study this important subject for yourself and make your journey through the sanctuary into God's presence.

Please now read our page CHRIST OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS