Both before and after Christ’s sacrificial death He sought to impress His disciples with the importance of their work to witness for Him. To qualify them for the task He would pour out the gift of the Holy Spirit. His parting words “commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father...For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence” (Acts 1:4, 5).
But the disciples still had their minds on a kingdom to be established in Jerusalem. “They asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” (verse 6).
Long had the Jewish people looked for the Deliverer, Messiah the Prince. At the hour appointed in Daniel’s prophecy, “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, e time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:14, 15). Multitudes thrilled with the bright prospect, although the announcement of the kingdom impressed them more than did the preparatory experience. But Christ linked the two. When He said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand,” He also exhorted, “repent ye, and believe the gospel.” He knew that the kingdom could never be restored to Israel until the plowshare of repentance went deep into human hearts.
During Jesus’ three years of public ministry and His training of the Twelve, He laboured earnestly to lead His disciples to appreciate the need of righteousness in the personal life. He wanted them to understand that this could not be accomplished without the sacrifice of the cross as an atonement for sin. He longed that they should enter into His purpose “to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and bring in everlasting righteousness” (Daniel 9:24).
Because of their failure to comprehend His plans, Calvary greatly disappointed the disciples. After His resurrection Jesus opened to them the Scriptures. “Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations” (Luke 24:46, 47). But as we have seen in Acts 1, their hearts were still set on an earthly kingdom. Doubtless they thought, “Yes, Lord, we were mistaken at Passover. It is clear that You had to die. But now that You have made the sacrifice, isn’t it time to set up the kingdom?” Just as they had not understood the necessity for the cross, so now they failed to understand the need for Christ to enter upon His mediatorial work in the temple above and pour out the gift of the Spirit.
Could it be that we, too, are in danger of fixing our minds on times and seasons, wondering when the kingdom will be set up, and failing to sense our need of the Spirit? Might Jesus say to us as He did to the apostles, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me...unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:7, 8). Only when sin has been eradicated can the kingdom in all its glorious fullness be established. The Master taught us to pray, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). The plan of salvation, which contemplates restoring man to harmony with God’s will, includes Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and His priestly ministry in both apartments of the heavenly sanctuary. In connection with the judgment scene in the most holy place, Daniel saw “one like the Son of man” come “to the Ancient of days...And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom” (Daniel 7:13, 14). This “kingdom...will be given Him at the close of His work as a mediator” (GC 480). The kingdom waits for the blotting out of sin in the sanctuary above and in the church below. Until Jesus can accomplish this, the announcement of the kingdom must always focus on the call to repentance, for “repentance includes sorrow for sin and a turning away from it” (SC 23).
For this reason Christ sought to impress the hearts of His disciples with the importance of their mission to preach in His name “repentance and remission of sins” among all nations (Luke 24:47). But He knew that mere preaching would be ineffectual. Infinite power was waiting— waiting for the intercession of the church on earth—and for an event in heaven of supreme importance. “Christ’s ascension to heaven was the signal that His followers were to receive the promised blessing. For this they were to wait before they entered upon their work. When Christ passed within the heavenly gates, He was enthroned amidst the adoration of the angels. As soon as this ceremony was completed, the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples in rich currents, and Christ was indeed glorified, even with the glory which He has with the Father from all eternity. e pentecostal outpouring was Heaven’s communication that the Redeemer’s inauguration was accomplished. According to His promise He had sent the Holy Spirit from heaven to His followers as a token that He had, as priest and king, received all authority in heaven and on earth, and was the Anointed One over His people” (AA 38, 39).
Under the Spirit’s mighty influence, the apostles’ preaching brought such conviction that thousands cried out, “What shall we do?” The answer came clear, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38). The apostle directed the minds of the new converts to the temple above where the Crucified One, exalted as Priest and King, poured in nite blessings upon His church. “The Holy Spirit which descended on the day of Pentecost carried the minds of the disciples from the earthly sanctuary to the heavenly, where Jesus had entered by His own blood, to shed upon His disciples the bene ts of His atonement” (EW 260).
The church on the earth was one with the church in heaven, linked by the marvellous gift of the Spirit which Jesus’ intercession in the holy place made possible. Under divine leadership “the gospel...was preached to every creature...under heaven” in one generation (Colossians 1:23). Now let us look again at Daniel’s great prophecy. As in AD 27 to 31 the disciples expected the inauguration of the kingdom because of their understanding of Daniel’s prediction that Messiah the Prince would come, so at the end of the 2300 days the Adventists believed that Christ would set up His kingdom on October 22, 1844. After their disappointment they learned that there still remained an essential part of Christ’s ministry in the temple above and in His church below. He must complete His mission “to put away sin” (Hebrews 9:26). As Jesus led the minds of His disappointed disciples from the earthly sanctuary to the heavenly, so in 1844 He directed the attention of His people to the most holy place and the work He had entered upon within the second veil. He intended it to be a short one. If all His people had entered in with Him, He could have accomplished it quickly.
Turning to Acts 3:19, let us focus on the work that must be done here on earth before Jesus can finish His work in the heavenly sanctuary. Notice also the promise of the great outpouring of the Spirit in connection with the blotting out of sins in the most holy place: “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus” (Acts 3:19, 20). Before Jesus can come, the blotting out of sins must be completed. And in order for this to be done, a deep work of repentance must take place. “Repent ye therefore, and be converted.” Repent? Yes. is was John the Baptist’s message. is was Jesus’ message in Galilee at the beginning of His ministry. is was Peter’s message at Pentecost as Christ began His work in the holy place. And still the message comes, Repent. We must be sorry for sin—sorry enough to quit it. Whenever my repentance is so shallow that I go back the next day or the next week and do the same thing over again, I need a deeper repentance. Jesus can never blot out my sins from the records in heaven until they are blotted out of my life and practice here below.
Now what will happen when we enter this experience of deep, lasting repentance? Christ sends from the most holy place the same Holy Spirit He sent from the holy place on the day of Pentecost. As the outpouring of the early rain on the day of Pentecost signalled that Christ had entered upon His priestly work, so the outpouring of the latter rain from the most holy place will show that Christ is closing His mediatorial ministry.
“The great work of the gospel is not to close with less manifestation of the power of God than marked its opening. The prophecies which were fulfilled in the outpouring of the former rain at the opening of the gospel are again to be fulfilled in the latter rain at its close. Here are ‘the times of refreshing’ to which the apostle Peter looked forward when he said: ‘Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus’”(GC 611).
Yes, right here at the time of the loud cry; here during Jesus’ closing work in the most holy place—here are the times of refreshing. And what holds all this back? Just one thing. Christ can’t blot out sins in heaven as long as we keep doing them here on earth. The law enshrined in the ark above must be enshrined in the hearts of His people.
Those who “with strong faith and agonising cries” plead for victory, obtain it. They “exalt the standard and pour forth the straight truth” (EW 269, 270). Some in the church cannot endure the straight testimony. They continue in their lukewarm condition and finally are shaken out. But as the latter rain falls upon those who are heart to heart with Jesus a multitude join God’s people to take the places of those who apostatise.
Thank God for the trumpet call coming at this time from the leaders of God’s church. They know, and you and I know, that there can be no latter-rain power in its fullness until we enter a deeper experience of repentance and revival and reformation. Where shall it begin? It must begin in the church here below. Closer yet, it must begin in your heart and mine. “Are we awake to the work that is going on in the heavenly sanctuary, or are we waiting for some compelling power to come upon the church before we shall arouse? Are we hoping to see the whole church revived? at time will never come...We must enter upon the work individually. We must pray more, and talk less” (1SM 122).
The Saviour is longing His Spirit to show,
As mighty in power as in days long ago.
But hearts must be opened and emptied of sin;
Revival is needed within.
Lord, send a revival, And let it begin with me.
Fill me, I pray; take all self away
That others Thy beauty may see.
Cleanse me now, blessed Saviour,
O Lord, hear my heartfelt plea.
Send a revival from heaven,
And let it begin with me.
—Eulene Owens Borton.
R&R WDF
