The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 424

Chap. 24 - In the Holy of Holies
The subject of the sanctuary was the key which unlocked the mystery
of the disappointment of 1844. It opened to view a complete system of
truth, connected and harmonious, showing that God’s hand had directed
the great advent movement and revealing present duty as it brought to
light the position and work of His people. As the disciples of Jesus after
the terrible night of their anguish and disappointment were “glad when
they saw the Lord,” so did those now rejoice who had looked in faith
for His second coming. They had expected Him to appear in glory to
give reward to His servants. As their hopes were disappointed, they had
lost sight of Jesus, and with Mary at the sepulcher they cried: “They
have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him.”
Now in the holy of holies they again beheld Him, their compassionate
High Priest, soon to appear as their king and deliverer. Light from the
sanctuary illumined the past, the present, and the future. They knew that
God had led them by His unerring providence. Though, like the first
disciples, they themselves had failed to understand the message which
they bore, yet it had been in every respect correct. In proclaiming it they
had fulfilled the purpose of God, and their labor had not been in vain in
the Lord. Begotten “again unto a lively hope,” they rejoiced “with joy
unspeakable and full of glory.”

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