May God raise up many thousand witnesses to go forth with the righteous indignation of Josiah, and the thunder-bolts of Heaven’s truth, and take away the high places of pride and idolatry, and abolish the abomination of sectism out of the hearts of the people. Amen.

Having seen the manner in which the sanctuary became defiled, we will now view its cleansing as portrayed by the pen of inspiration.

“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” Eph. 5:25-27.

Christ is to-day gathering his church out of all the sect abominations back to Zion. They return on the highway of holiness; viz., he sanctifies and cleanses them from all sin and traditions, and thus prepares his church, so she may be presented to himself “a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.” A holy church without blemish. True holiness adorned the church in primitive days. Her chief characteristics were purity and unity. These are inseparable. The one cannot exist independently of the other. Unity is the natural result and fruit of heart purity. Had the church but retained this glorious truth and experience, this globe to-day would be girdled with a belt of light and salvation. But instead, an apostasy came. The light of truth was soon extinguished by dark clouds of superstition and false doctrines which arose. Holiness is really the mainspring of all gospel truth. It is a golden thread which runs through the entire New Testament. To retrograde from it would be to throw open the doors to every species of false doctrine and error.

It was in this manner that the way was paved for the great apostasy. At a very early date true holiness was lost sight of, and was hid from the general masses of the people. Had it ever been retained by the church, there would never have been an apostasy. Mark you! By retrograding from true holiness the church went into apostasy, and was defiled. By returning to the true standard of holiness the church is brought out of the apostasy, and cleansed. The fire of holiness and truth cleanses the sanctuary, and restores a pure church. The result is, “The sinner in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprise the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell on high; his place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks; bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.” Isa 33:14-16.

As the judgments of truth are executed, and the fire of holiness accompanies the same, sinners and hypocrites are surprised and made afraid to profess among us. None can dwell in this devouring fire, these burnings, only those who walk righteously and measure to the standard mentioned.

“Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.” Psa. 1:5. “But who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s soap: and he shall sit as a refiner and purifies of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord and offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years. And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearings, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts. For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” Mal. 3:2-6. “And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.” Ver. 17,18.

While Malachi 3:2, 3 was fulfilled when Christ came in his personal advent to this world, yet the same work he then effected, he is now effecting in this evening time; viz., purifying unto himself a holy church. These scriptures beautifully portray the present holiness work. Christ sits, a refining fire. He sits upon “the throne of his holiness.” His throne is “like a fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.” This throne of grace and holiness is “within us.” Thus he suddenly comes to his temple, i.e., “Ye are the temple of the living God: as God hath said, I will dwell in them.” He purges and purifies his sanctuary, church; even as gold and silver our hearts are purified by faith. The result of this cleansing is realized by the people of God offering unto the Lord “an offering in righteousness.” Such offerings are “pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years [apostolic times].”

Glory to God! We have reached its fulfillment. The glorious Lord, the King of heaven, whom the universe can not contain, whose glory fills all heaven, has condescended to dwell in this heart of mine. He has become the lily of the valley, the rose of Sharon, the fairest among ten thousand. Blessed be his name forever! Since he is dwelling in his sanctuary, thus cleansed, he executes judgment against all sin and corrupt religions, and is a swift witness against men who would dare to profess among us and be guilty of the things enumerated in verse 5. Thus sinners cannot stand in the congregation of the righteous. As we return to the apostolic plane, we are enabled to “discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.” Thus “the righteous are taken from among the vile”---a pure church is gathered and cleansed; and of them he says: “They shall be mine, when I make up my jewels.”

We cooperate with Christ in this great work. What his Word adepts we accept; what it rejects we reject. Thus the rebels are purged out from among us.

“And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they sha say, The Lord is my God.” Zech. 13:8, 9.

That which cuts off two parts in all the land is the judgments written. God’s ministers lay “judgment to the line, and righteousness to the plummet.” The whole truth which they preach is “sharper than a two-edged sword,” and cuts off all who will not obey. The third part left is the remnant who walk in the light and obey the whole truth. These are refined by the fire.

We will now turn to Daniel 12. In verse 6 the question is asked, “How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?” From what follows we conclude that the wonders spoken of refer to the great apostasy already considered.

“And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he help up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth forever that it shall be for a time, times, and a half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people all these things shall be finished. And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go they way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” Ver. 7-10. The “time, times, and a half,” equal 1,260 years, and cover the time of the reign of popery. It is also seen that the apostasy did not end with the conclusion of the papal age; for following the “time, times and a half” comes a scattering of the holy people, and age of dispersion. This has been fulfilled during the reign of Protestantism.

Now comes the question, “What shall be the end of these things!” (ver. 8); viz., the end of the entire reign of the apostasy, the end of the dispersion, or scattering? Hear the answer: “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried.” “Many must be tested, [chosen out---Greek] and thoroughly whitened, and tried with fire, and sanctified.”---Septuagint, ver. 10. Here we see that at the end of the apostasy there was to be a great holiness reformation. This is the very work that is now cleansing and purifying the sanctuary, or church. This same cleansing and redeeming of the church is seen in the first chapter of Isaiah. We will give it as rendered in the LXX.

“How has the faithful city Sion, once full of judgment, become a harlot! Wherein righteousness lodged, but now murderers. Your silver is worthless, thy wine-merchants mix the wine with water. Thy princes are rebellious, companions of thieves, loving bribes, seeking after rewards; not pleading for orphans, and not heeding the cause of widows. Therefore thus saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, Woe to the mighty men of Israel; for my wrath shall not cease against mine adversaries, and I will execute judgment on mine enemies. And I will bring my hand upon thee, and purge thee completely, and I will destroy the rebellious, and will take away from thee all transgressors. And I will establish thy judges as before, and they counselors as at the beginning: and afterward thou shalt be called the city of righteousness, the faithful mother city Sion. For her captives shall be saved with judgment, and with mercy.” Isa. 1:21-27.

The faithful city Sion, once full of judgment, wherein righteousness lodged, refers to the pure church of God in her pristine glory. “She became a harlot.” This refers to her apostatized condition. “Her merchants” refers to her ministers. It is said that “they mix the wine with water”; that is, they weaken it and do not deal it out in its full strength. “The wine” signifies the gospel truth.

Oh, how truly is this fulfilled in Babylon! The pure unadulterated truth is not heard there. Their ministers fear to preach it. They weaken it to suit their own theories, and the crooked lives of their members. They “seek after rewards”---preach for the people’s money, rather than their souls---a hireling ministry. But this was not always to continue. God declares that he will execute judgment upon all such. “And I will bring my hand upon thee [viz., his people, his church] and purge thee completely, and I will destroy the rebellious, and will take away from thee all transgressors.”

Here is the cleansing of the sanctuary, now going on, which restores a pure church. “And I will establish thy judges as before;” viz., establish his people and ministry of holiness (1 Thes. 3:13), where they shall be full of judgment by the Spirit of the Lord, to declare unto Jacob his transgressions, and unto Israel his sin. Micah 3:8. “And thy counselors as at the beginning [apostolic days].” “Zion shall be redeemed with judgment and her converts with righteousness.” “And afterwards thou shalt be called the city of righteousness, the faithful mother city Sion.” This represents the glory of the church after being purified and cleansed in this evening time.

This same truth is brought out in other texts. We will here give Isaiah 4:3-5: “And is shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defense.”

Zion and Jerusalem are metaphors, which signify the church. Here is is seen that after she is purged by the spirit of judgment and burning, the Word and Spirit, all that remain shall be called holy, and “upon all the glory shall be a defense:; viz., “The glory that thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be one as we are.” Thank God for a redeemed church. This line of truth could be much drawn out, but we deem the foregoing sufficient.

The house of God in this dispensation “is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” 1 Tim. 3:15. It is his temple. But the apostasy crushed it down under human authority and rule, and a great pile of sectarian rubbish covered it over for centuries from the clear view of the people; but in these last days, with the flaming torch of truth, this great pile of human rubbish is being consumed, and the house of God which was so crushed and scattered during the apostasy, is being built up and cleansed by the burning Spirit of God with the blood of Christ, and thus restored to its primitive glory and power. The glorious truth of the whole gospel of Christ is again shining forth in all its brilliancy and beauty. The clouds and mists of confusion are passing away, and the clear rays of the Sun of righteousness are again being shed forth in these last days.

This was prophesied in Zechariah 14:6, 7. We will give it as rendered in the LXX: “And it shall come to pass in the day [gospel day] that there shall be no light [the dark day of Romanism], and there shall be for one day cold and frost, and that day shall be known to the Lord, and it shall not be day nor night [the cloudy day of Protestantism, Ezek. 34:12, a time of mixture of truth and error, light and darkness], but towards evening it shall be light.”

Thank God! We have reached that time. The sun of time is fast sinking in the western horizon, and the last gleams of the light of God are now shining forth. We are in the evening time. The sanctuary, or church, is now being cleansed. The elect are being gathered. Thus the bride is being prepared for the bridegroom. “ And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.” This is the special sign of Christ’s coming. “When ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is near, even at the door.”

“Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shall call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee en everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it in his time.” Isa. 60: 18-22.