12/17/06 - “The Sanctuary and the Atonement – Part 2” - 51L - FM
Victory Ministries International presents:
Awesome Truths and Amazing Facts  
Treasures of awesome truths from God’s Word 
and facts that affect you!

Hello!  This is Richard Vaughn

This Week: “The Sanctuary and the Atonement - Part 2”

(Before we begin let us invite God’s presence)
Father, as we continue this most important subject, I pray that your Holy Spirit is working on the hearts and lives of those who are hearing these messages. Help me today to make it crystal clear to your people the truth regarding the Sanctuary, as this is a subject rarely taught in Christianity today. We ask for Your special guidance to help us to understand this important truth; so that we may increase our knowledge, understanding, and live in the center of your revealed will as we ask this in Jesus Name, Amen.”
Right now, I continue to keep my pledge, to cry aloud and spare not, to lift up my voice like a trumpet and to show God’s people where they are transgressing God’s law.

Last week we started to explain about the earthly sanctuary that God had Moses build, based on the pattern of the heavenly sanctuary shown him in the mount. By way of snapshot description, we discussed the distinguishing elements of the courtyard and the two apartment sanctuary.

Satan does not want Christians to understand the Sanctuary, and the reason would be its relevance to the whole plan of salvation. As long as you are in the dark on the Sanctuary, you would be susceptible of believing Satan’s lie that the atonement ended at the cross, and you would therefore be unaware of what Jesus is doing right now in the heavenly Sanctuary. Well why did God call for an earthly sanctuary?

It was to take care of the sin problem. The Bible says in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”  Sin, by Bible definition in 1 John 3:4 is “…the transgression of the law.” The penalty or payment for sin is, according to Romans 6:23 “…the wages of sin is death…”

	Therefore since all have sinned and therefore come under the death penalty, God’s love for man was so great that He devised a plan to save him. Revelation 13:8 says, “…the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Jesus, the Creator, is that Lamb, and until He came to this earth, the innocent animal sacrifice was the substitution method of forgiveness.

	In the earthly sanctuary plan, when a man has sinned and he is truly sorry for his sin, he must take an innocent, spotless lamb; transfer his sin by confession, to the head of the innocent one. Now the innocent one bears the guilt and must die by the hand of the sinner. The Bible says in Hebrews 9:22, “…without shedding of blood is no remission.” So the plan states that the substitute bearer of sin must die by the shedding of blood, and that he must be put to death by the hand of the sinner.
	
	In Exodus 25:8 God said to Moses, “And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.”  Last week we described the main points of that earthly sanctuary and you can get a better understanding of it by reading chapters 25-28 in the book of Exodus.

	Now listen carefully, and this is most important, as the atonement did not end with the sacrifice. This is where most Christians today are in grave error as they say that the atonement ended at the cross with the sacrifice. But the atonement was a process that had several steps in removing the sin altogether. When someone had sinned and came under conviction, it was necessary that they bring a spotless innocent lamb as a sacrifice. Now the guilty sinner would be positioned near the brazen altar. The sinner would place his hands on the head of the sacrifice and confess, thereby transferring the sin to the lamb. Since the penalty for sin is death, Romans 6:23, and without shedding of blood there is no remission, Hebrews 9:22, the confessor must now take a knife and cut the throat of the lamb, thereby shedding its blood. 

	The priest catches some blood in a basin and he proceeds towards the sanctuary. Before entering the first apartment he must wash his hands and feet in the laver, which is between the sanctuary and the altar of burnt offering. He then enters the holy place. In the Holy Place are three articles of furniture. On the North side is the table of showbread, which represents Jesus, the bread of life. On the South side is the seven golden lamp stand, representing Jesus, the light of the world. Separating the two apartments is a veil with the altar of incense in front of the veil. The priest would sprinkle the blood of the sin offering before the veil seven times. He would dip his thumb in the blood and put some on the horns of the altar of sweet incense. Thus the sin was transferred to the sanctuary, and there it remained in the Holy place all year. As the priests would minister in the Holy Place every day throughout the year, there would be a significant accumulation of sin.

	On the tenth day of the seventh month was a very solemn time for the camp of Israel called the Day of Atonement. On this day once a year, the high priest would have to make the very necessary personal preparation before going into the Most Holy Place in the presence of God. In this second apartment of the sanctuary was the Ark and Mercy Seat. Inside the Ark were the two tables of stone, the Ten Commandments. The mercy seat covered the ark and upon it were two cherubim, which faced each other and were looking down. God’s presence was between the cherubim.

	A Lord’s goat and a scapegoat were selected and the Lord’s goat was killed. Its blood was brought into the Most Holy place and, if God had accepted the sacrifice, it was to symbolically cleanse the sanctuary. At that point the sins were carried out of the sanctuary by the high priest and transferred to the head of the scapegoat. The scapegoat was then led into the wilderness by a fit man, there to die, and it was never to be seen again. The camp of Israel had been forgiven and the sanctuary was cleansed. 

	As you can see the process of Atonement had many steps. It is important that we see the entire sanctuary service as a miniature illustration of the plan of salvation.  The sanctuary service was illustrative of Jesus' death and His High Priestly ministry. God used it as a visual aid to help us understand how God has chosen to deal with the sin problem that has entered planet Earth. Now let’s fast forward to our day to catch the relevance of the heavenly sanctuary. You see when Jesus died, He was not and could not be the priest, for He was the sacrifice and was the object of receiving the confessed sins of the repentant ones. He therefore had to die and shed His blood. But the atonement could not end there. Upon His resurrection and ascension in AD 31, He became our High Priest, carrying our sins to the Holy Place of the Heavenly Sanctuary, beginning a ministry in our behalf.

	The Bible talks about a specific time when the Sanctuary was to be cleansed and we find that in Daniel 8:14, “And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”  Now we know from last weeks study, the Day of Atonement was the day the earthly sanctuary was to be cleansed, and that was the one day in the year that the High Priest entered the Most Holy Place. What happened in the earthly was in type. Jesus fulfilled and continues to fulfill everything as the Great Anti-type. He was the Anti-typical Sacrifice as the “…Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world.” John 1:29

	And He became the Anti-typical High Priest when He entered the heavenly Holy Place in AD 31.  And just as the high priest would enter the Most Holy Place on the tenth day of the seventh month, so Jesus would enter the Most Holy Place on the anti-typical Day of Atonement and begin the judgment, or the cleansing of the Heavenly Sanctuary. When did that happen? We know from Daniel 8:14, “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” This is the longest time prophecy in the Bible. We know according to Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6, that one prophetic day equals one literal year. Therefore Daniel 8:14 is saying from one specific date, it would be 2,300 years to the date that Jesus begins the judgment in heaven. What we need to know is when it started, so that we can arrive at the date when Jesus began His work in the Most Holy Place. We will discover that next week when we begin, “The 2300 Year Prophecy – Part 1” 

	When this work of judgment ends, Jesus will lay down His priestly robes and make the declaration in Revelation 22:11, “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.” You see judgment will be over; every case will have been decided. The lost can no longer be saved and the saved retain their state. God’s mercy and grace has been withdrawn from the earth and the God of justice pours out His seven last plagues on the planet in rebellion. 
	But a very important antitypical thing has occurred when judgment ended. The sanctuary has been cleansed and all of the sins of the redeemed that were covered by the blood of the Lamb; are removed from the sanctuary and Jesus places them all on the head of the anti-typical scapegoat, Satan himself. The entire atonement process is concluded when Satan is finally destroyed at the end of the millennium.   

Well the clock says we’re out of time for this week.
Next Week: “The 2300 Year Prophecy - Part 1”

	If you want some more information or even Bible studies, contact me by writing to: Pastor Vaughn that’s V-A-U-G-H-N, at PO Box 727, South Hill, VA 23970. Once again that’s Pastor Vaughn that’s V-A-U-G-H-N, at PO Box 727, South Hill, VA 23970.  

	And remember, you are always welcome to worship with us each seventh day Lord’s Day (that’s Saturday mornings) at the Victory Seventh Day Adventist Church located at 117 W. Danville Street in the center of South Hill, VA. 

	And until next week, Jesus said in John 5:39, “Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me”. Even so, come Lord Jesus.