Robert J. Wieland
The 1888 message is especially "precious" because it joins together the true biblical idea of justification by faith with the unique idea of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary. This is a Bible truth that the world is waiting to discover. It forms the essential element of truth that will yet lighten the earth with the glory of a final, fully developed presentation of "the everlasting gospel" of Revelation 14 and 18.
What the Bible Teaches:
(a) The ancient Hebrew sanctuary and its services were a type or pattern of the ministry of the plan of salvation in the heavenly sanctuary (Lev. 25:8, 9).
(b) The priests served "unto the example or shadow of heavenly things" (Heb. 8:5).
(c) Christ is the true High Priest of the plan of salvation (Heb. 3:1; 4:14-16; 5:5-10; 7:24-28, etc.).
(d) The world's final day of judgment was typified by the annual Hebrew day of atonement (Lev. 16:26-32).
(e) For God's repentant people, that day meant a special preparation, a judgment of acquittal, vindication, and a cleansing of heart (Lev. 16:29-31).
(f) Daniel's prophecy pinpointed the commencement of the antitypical (or cosmic) Day of Atonement at the end of 2300 years in 1844 (Dan. 8:14).
(g) We are living today in the grandest era of world history when the plan of salvation is to be concluded with victory for Christ (Heb. 9:11-15, 23-28).
(h) The heart-cleansing preparation for the second coming of Christ is a special ministry of justification by faith in the Day of Atonement (Heb. 10:36-38; 11:22-28; Rev. 14:6, 7, 12).
A. T. Jones:
"If the Lord has brought up sins to us that we never thought of before, that only shows that He is going down to the depths and He will reach the bottom at last and when He finds the last thing that is unclean or impure that is out of harmony with His will and brings that up and shows that to us and we say, ‘I would rather have the Lord than that,' then the work is complete and the seal of the living God can be fixed upon that character. [Congregation: ‘Amen.'] Which would you rather have, a character—[someone in the congregation began praising the Lord and others began to look around]. Never mind. If lots more of you would thank the Lord for what you have got, there would be more joy in this house tonight.