works:
behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it."(713)

It is those who by faith follow Jesus in the great work of the atonement,
who receive the benefits of His mediation in their behalf; while those who
reject the light which brings to view this work of ministration, are not
benefited thereby. The Jews who rejected the light given at Christ's first
advent, and refused to believe on Him as the Saviour of the world, could
not receive pardon through Him. When Jesus at His ascension entered by His
own blood into the heavenly sanctuary to shed upon His disciples the
blessings of His mediation, the Jews were left in total darkness, to
continue their useless sacrifices and offerings. The ministration of types
and shadows had ceased. That door by which men had formerly found access
to God, was no longer open. The Jews had refused to seek Him in the only
way whereby He could then be found, through the ministration in the
sanctuary in heaven. Therefore they found no communion with God. To them
the door was shut. They had no knowledge of Christ as the true sacrifice
and the only mediator before God; hence they could not receive the
benefits of His mediation.

The condition of the unbelieving Jews illustrates the condition of the
careless and unbelieving among professed Christians, who are willingly
ignorant of the work of our merciful High Priest. In the typical service,
when the high priest entered the most holy place, all Israel were required
to gather about the sanctuary, and in the most solemn manner humble their
souls before God, that they might receive the pardon of their sins, and
not be cut off from the congregation. How much more essential in this
antitypical day of atonement that we understand the work of our High
Priest, and know what duties are required of us.

Men cannot with impunity reject the warnings which God in mercy sends
them. A message was sent from heaven to the world in Noah's day, and their
salvation depended upon the manner in which they treated that message.
Because they rejected the warning, the Spirit of God was withdrawn from
the sinful race, and they perished in the waters of the flood. In the time
of Abraham, mercy ceased to plead with the guilty inhabitants of Sodom,
and all but Lot with his wife and two daughters, were consumed by the fire
sent down from heaven. So in the days of Christ. The Son of God declared
to the unbelieving Jews of that generation, "Your house