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Usless
Prayers
Those who have rejected
the first message could not be benefited by the
second; neither were they benefited by the
midnight cry, which was to prepare them to enter
with Jesus by faith into the most holy place of
the heavenly sanctuary. Moreover, by
rejecting the two former messages, they have so
darkened their understanding that they can see no
light in the third angel’s message, which
shows the way into the most holy place.
I saw that as the Jews
crucified Jesus, so the nominal churches had
crucified these messages, and therefore they have
no knowledge of the way into the most holy, and
they cannot be benefited by the intercession of
Jesus there. Like the Jews, who offered their
useless sacrifices, they offer up their useless
prayers to the apartment which Jesus was
left.” Early Writings, pages 260,261.
We are particularly
interested in the last statement, “Like the
Jews, who offered their useless sacrifices, they
offer up their useless prayers to the apartment
which Jesus has left.” When Jesus died on
the cross, type met antitype, and the temple
services ceased to be of value or have any
spiritual significance. Yet, the Jews continued
to offer sacrifices, ignorant of the fact that
Christ by His death had abolished them. It is to
this custom of the Jews that the author has
reference in the statement that the Jews offered
useless sacrifices and that in like manner some
now offer useless prayers to the apartment that
Jesus has left. Just what is the meaning of this?
Does anyone ever pray to an apartment?
To obtain an
understanding of this, it is necessary to refer
to the sanctuary built by Moses in the
wilderness.
When God brought Israel
out of Egypt to bring them into the Promised
Land, He commanded them to build Him a sanctuary
that He might dwell among them. Exodus 25:8. At
this time, they were wandering in the wilderness
with no fixed abode, and they erected a temporary
structure, called the “tabernacle” or
“sanctuary,” which they could move from
place to place. When Israel later entered Canaan,
they erected a most magnificent structure that
came to be known as “Solomon’s
temple,” one of the wonders of the ancient
world. While the temple was much larger than the
sanctuary, both were of the same essential
design.
The
Building
The sanctuary was divided
into two apartments: the first, called “the
holy,” and the second, called “the most
holy.” The first apartment contained three
articles of furniture: the alter of incense, the
table of shewbread, and the seven-branched
candlesticks.
The second was called
“the most holy” because this was
God’s dwelling place where He revealed
Himself on special occasions. In it was the Ark
of the Covenant, a wooden chest overlaid with
gold, which contained the two tablets of stone in
which God had engraved with His own finger the
Ten Commandments. The cover of the ark was called
“the mercy seat,” on the top of which
were the figures of two angels made of pure gold;
and over the mercy seat hovered the Shekinah
glory, emblematic of the presence of God.
There were no windows in
the building, and the only light came from the
golden candlestick, some of the seven lamps of
which were always burning. The most holy
apartment was dark, consonant with God’s
desire expressed to Solomon: “The Lord said
that He would dwell in the thick darkness.”
1 Kings 8:12.
None of the priests was
ever permitted in the most holy place; the high
priest could enter one day in the year, while he
performed his service there. As soon as he was
done, the most holy was closed, and not opened
again until the next year. The most holy was
considered so sacred that no one might even be in
the first apartment while the high priest was in
the second.
The
Service
The common priest served
in the first apartment only, where each morning
and evening they offered incense on the golden
altar that stood close to the veil separating the
two apartments. The meaning of the offering of
incense is thus recorded by the revelator. He saw
seven angels that stood before God. “And
another angel came and stood at the altar, having
a golden censer; and there was given unto him
much incense, that he should offer it with the
prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which
was before the throne. And the smoke of the
incense, which came with the prayers of the
saints ascended up before God out of the
angel’s hand.” Revelation 8:3,4.
As the priest offered
incense, he also offered prayer, and his prayer
with the incense came up before God as a
sweet-smelling savor. On certain occasions the
priest also brought with him blood from the
sacrifices offered on the altar of burnt offering
outside in the court, and a small part of this he
put upon the horns of the altar of incense, while
another part of the blood he sprinkled toward the
veil behind which was the ark containing the law.
The symbolism of this is clear: A man had sinned
and had brought the required sacrifice and slain
it. Then the priest had sprinkled of the blood on
the altar of burnt offering. In case the anointed
priest sinned, some of the blood was taken into
the first apartment and there sprinkled toward
the veil, in token of the law of God that the
sinner had broken. This constituted a blood
atonement, and as some of the blood was also
placed on the horns of the altar of incense, the
prayers that ascended to God with the incense
also contained evidence of the man’s
repentance and of his belief in the atoning
blood.
This service of incense
and blood was carried on every day of the year in
the first apartment, and as a result, men
obtained forgiveness. It is repeatedly stated
that “it shall be forgiven them,”
“it shall be forgiven him.” See
Leviticus 4:20, 26, 31, 35; 5:10, 13, 16, 18.
Hence, the first apartment came to be known as
the place where forgiveness was to be had.
On the Day of Atonement,
the high priest officiated in the second
apartment. As stated above, while the high priest
was in the most holy place no one else was
permitted in the sanctuary, not even a priest.
Should a sinner bring his lamb that day, he would
find no priest to minister it for him. The
attention of all was riveted on the high priest
as he entered the sanctuary; and while he was
inside, all Israel lay upon the ground seeking
the Lord and praying that God would accept the
ministration of the chief priest when he was in
the most holy pleading for them.
Israel considered this
day as a day of judgment, when the sins of the
year came in review before God. “Whatsoever
soul it be that shall not be afflicted in the
same day, he shall be cut off from among his
people.” Leviticus 23:29.
The Jewish Encyclopedia,
page 286, article, “Atonement, “quotes
this concerning the Day of Atonement:
‘’ God seated on His throne to judge
the world, at the same time Judge, Pleader,
Expert, and Witness, openeth the Book of Records;
it is read, every man’s signature being
found therein. The great trumpet is sounded; a
still small voice is heard; the angels shudder,
saying, this is the Day of Judgment: for His very
ministers are not pure before God. As a shepherd
mustereth his flock, causing them to pass under
his rod, so doth God cause every living soul to
pass before Him to fix the limit of every
creature’s life and to foreordain its
destiny. On New Year’s Day the decree is
written; on the Day of Atonement it is sealed who
shall live and who are to die, etc. But
penitence, prayer, and charity may avert the evil
decree.’”
The
Meaning for the Christian
These considerations are
of absorbing interest to the Christian as he
realizes that the temple services, including the
services of the Day of Atonement, were symbolic
of a higher service above in the heavenly temple,
and that we have in Christ “such an High
Priest, who is set on the right hand of the
throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister
of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle,
which the Lord pitched, and not man.”
Hebrews 8:1,2.
As our Mediator,
“Christ being come an High Priest of good
things to come, by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say,
not of this building; neither by the blood of
goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained
eternal redemption for us.” Hebrews 9:11,12.
“For Christ is not entered into the holy
places made with hands, which are the figures of
the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear
in the presence of God for us.” Verse 24.
The work of the priests
in the first, apartment of the sanctuary on
earth, was confined solely to the forgiveness of
sin. Forgiveness is good, but it does no go far
enough. It was “a shadow of good things to
come, “ but it was only a shadow” and
not the very image of the things; “ for
never could the “sacrifices which they
offered year by year continually make the comers
thereunto perfect.” Hebrew 10:1. All they
did was to forgive sins after they had
been committed. However, forgiveness is not
enough. Sin must be stopped, not merely
forgiven.
As long as men are
satisfied with forgiveness, they will never reach
the standard God has set. Christ came not merely
to forgive sin, but “to finish the
transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to
make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in
everlasting righteousness.” Daniel 9:24. If
man had finished transgression, made an end of
sin; when he has made for him reconciliation for
iniquity and is in possession of everlasting
righteousness, he stands approved of God. All
this Christ came to do. Forgiveness of sin is
wonderful; to have made an end of sin is
surpassingly wonderful. Such a man God can
present as His finished product. Forgiveness is
solely an act of God. Holiness is a product of
God’s and man’s combined effort.
The
High Priest
The high priest made a
very thorough soul preparation before he dared
present himself before God. He had to attain to a
state of holiness in entering the most holy
place; for without holiness no man shall see the
Lord. See Hebrews 12:14. Priests, as forgiven
men, might enter the first apartment; but only a
holy man could enter the second. This is why the
high priest had upon his miter a plate of gold
inscribed, “Holiness to the Lord.”
Exodus 28:36. This plate he must always bear.
“It shall be always upon his forehead, that
they may be accepted before the Lord.” Verse
38. Even his garments had to be holy. Leviticus
16:4; Exodus 28:2.
This becomes of
importance as we consider Paul’s invitation
“to enter into the holiest by the blood of
Jesus.” Hebrews 10:19. Only a holy man could
enter then; only holy men can enter now. To go
with Christ all the way, an expression we often
hear, means to go with Him into the holiest of
all; not merely into the first apartment, but in
to the second.
The time has come to take
this advance step. Throughout the ages men have
preached the glorious message of forgiveness of
sin, and millions have turned to God and been
converted. That message is still to be preached,
for we will always need the forgiving power of
God; and it is not possible to enter the second
apartment without going through the first.
However, to God’s elect He sends a message
to come with Him by the new and living way that
He had prepared for us. Those who thus enter with
Him, He will keep from falling, while those who
refuse to go further, will sometime find their
prayers to be useless. He, who depends on
God’s promise of forgiveness and expects to
sin and sin again, and keep on sinning and
trusting to God’s forgiveness, is presuming
on the mercy of God. Let him believe that the
Christ who came to make an end of sin, will also
give him power to go and sin no more.
We are ready to consider
the statement quoted at the beginning of this
chapter: “Like the Jews, who offered their
useless sacrifices, they offer up their useless
prayers at the apartment which Jesus has
left.”
A little girl who had
done something wrong was asked if she ought not
to ask Jesus to forgive her. To this she gave an
emphatic No! The perplexed parents asked if she
had not done wrong, which she readily admitted.
Why? She said simply that she did not want to ask
Jesus to forgive her. She had not quite finished
what she was doing. She wanted to do a little
more first and then ask for forgiveness.
While we cannot recommend
such a procedure, the philosophy in itself is not
bad. She had the right idea that she ought to
finish doing wrong before she asked for
forgiveness. It is useless to ask God to forgive
us for stealing, if we intend to keep on being
dishonest. It is useless to ask God to forgive us
for breaking the commandments if we intend to
continue in violation. God wants to do more for
us than forgive our transgressions. He is waiting
for us to claim the power that will keep us from
sinning.
With
God in Our Prayer Life
For us to enter with
Jesus in the holiest of all, does not mean that
we are to enter a room; it means that we are to
enter into an experience comparable to that of
the high priest who was getting ready to meet his
God. To pray to Christ in the first apartment; to
pray for forgiveness, and then sin and sin again
is displeasing to God.
We are to enter with Him
in the holiest of all and there find the help we
need for holy living. Forgiveness in itself is
wonderful; sanctification is still more so. God
wants us to go with Him all the way.
In the parable of the
Pharisee and the publican, one prayer was
effective and the other useless. The Pharisee
began by saying, “God I thank Thee, that I
am not as other men are.” Luke 18:11. He was
not an extortioner; he was not unjust, not an
adulterer, not even as bad as the publican. He
was a good man. He fasted and paid title. The
publican’s prayer was short, “God be
merciful to me a sinner.” He “went down
to his house justified rather than the
other.” Verse 13,14. The prayer of the
Pharisee was unacceptable to God. It was grounded
in pride and conscious superiority. Such prayers
are in vain.
Once when Israel had
sinned, “Joshua rent his clothes, fell to
the earth upon his face before the ark of the
Lord until the eventide, he and the elders of
Israel, and put dust upon their heads.”
Joshua 7:6. Joshua prayed earnestly and got un
unexpected answer. “Get thee up,” said
God, “wherefore liest thou thus upon thy
face? Israel had sinned.” Verses 10,11. As
Joshua hesitated, came the one word,
“Up.” Verse 13.
What was wrong? Was it
not proper for Joshua to pray? God did not think
so, not at that time. There was sin in the camp,
and the first thing was to go vigorously to work
and root out the sin. That was why God rather
roughly told Joshua to get up and not lie there
on his face praying and, when he didn’t move
fast enough, gave that one-word command,
“Up,” which doubtless was teaching
Joshua that prayer is not a substitute for
action. Joshua was praying, but his prayer was
not approved. There was work to be done.
Pharisees
Hypocrisy is one of the
subtlest of sins. Christ might spare a poor
sinful woman and refuse to condemn her, but when
he found that the Pharisees “devour
widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long
prayers,” His wrath was aroused, and He did
not spare. Mark 12:40. Their hypocrisy was their
sin. He called them hypocrites, fools, blind,
children of hell. Matthew 23:15,17. “These
shall receive greater damnation.” Mark
12:40.
Why such language and
such denunciations? It was not because of their
sins as such, serious though they were, and
meriting the rebuke. It was their hypocrisy that
stirred Christ’s soul. He declared to the
Pharisees, “Ye also outwardly appear
righteous unto men, but within ye are full of
hypocrisy and iniquity.” “Ye are like
unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear
beautify outward, but are within full of dead
man’s bones, and of all uncleanness.”
Matthew 23: 27,28.
Never before has Christ
spoken so harshly. These men used religion as a
cloak to hide their wickedness, and dared address
the most high God in prayer. That was blasphemy,
and Christ’s whole being revolted against
them. Their prayers were an insult to God.
Christ’s reaction to
the Pharisees measures His hatred of insincerity
and pretense of any kind. Let all have in mind
that the Pharisees were not the only ones guilty
of this sin. Anything that savors of pretense,
falsehood, lying, guile, fabrication, distortion,
exaggeration, dissimulation, deceit, or
misrepresentation is anathema with God. The
Lord wants His people to tell the truth, live the
truth, believe the truth, and love the truth. In
their mouth must be found no guile. Such people
will do what they promise; the will be true to
the truth though the heavens fall; they will be
honest and fair; and their word will be sacred to
them, the conscience void of offense. In
addition, their prayers God will hear.
Memory Verse:
“And he said unto
them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes,
which love to go in long clothing, and love
salutations in the market places, and the chief
seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms
at feasts: which devour widows’ houses, and
for a pretence make long prayers: thee shall
receive greater damnation. Mark 12: 38-40
Questions:
1. Do you
personally know anyone who acts just like a
modern day Pharisee? Explain.
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2. Do you
think it is possible to tell the truth all the
time in every instance? Explain.
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