Our Greatest Need Ron Spear - The Eternal Gospel Church

78 OUR GREATEST NEEDboth the sanctuary and the people were typically cleansed by the specialservices of the Day of Atonement. Numerous other Bible passagesshow that the cleansing performed in the heavenly sanctuaryincludes a cleansing of the saints.Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall preparethe way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenlycome to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant,whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith theLORD of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming?and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like arefiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: And he shall sit as a refinerand purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi,and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer untothe LORD an offering in righteousness. Malachi 3:1–3.The Great Controversy 424–426, states that this passage refersto the same event as Daniel 8:14. The prophet Malachi here declares,“The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple . . . andhe shall purify the sons of Levi” (God’s people).Consider these statements:Christ is cleansing the temple in heaven from the sins ofthe people, and we must work in harmony with him upon theearth, cleansing the soul temple from its moral defilement.Review and Herald, February 11, 1890.We are in the day of atonement, and we are to work inharmony with Christ’s work of cleansing the sanctuary from thesins of the people. Let no man who desires to be found with thewedding garment on, resist our Lord in His office work. As Heis, so will His followers be in this world. We must now set beforethe people the work which by faith we see our great High-priestaccomplishing in the heavenly sanctuary. Those who do not sympathizewith Jesus in His work in the heavenly courts, who donot cleanse the soul temple of every defilement, but who engagein some enterprise not in harmony with this work, are joiningwith the enemy of God and man in leading minds away from thetruth and work for this time. Ibid., January 21, 1890.