When we study Daniel and Revelation, we find some important references to the sanctuary or temple of God.  And people are telling me that there is so much they don’t understand or even know  about the sanctuary. Don’t be discouraged. Remember the sanctuary is a model of the plan of salvation, and this is something we will be studying and looking into for all eternity.

 You may study that love for ages; yet you can never fully comprehend the length and the breadth, the depth and the height, of the love of God in giving His Son to die for the world. Eternity itself can never fully reveal it. Yet as we study the Bible and meditate upon the life of Christ and the plan of redemption, these great themes will open to our understanding more and more. –Ellen White, The Faith I Live By, Page 43.

I have to admit, I grew up Adventist and never really understood a lot of the themes of the sanctuary or “cleansing of the sanctuary. ” Instead of my teachers teaching it to me, they just told me I knew it. Interesting teaching method there! So, in my early twenties I still had lots of questions but did not dare ask because I was already supposed to know it all. When I realized I was not going to learn any younger, I started asking questions anyway and reading and studying the sanctuary and the plan of redemption. I would like to share some books that have really helped me. Just click on the title  to purchase the book online.

1844 Made Simple

Click on image to buy at Amazon.com

Clifford Goldstein, a converted Jew and current editor of the Adult Bible Study Guide, once came close to leaving the Seventh-day Adventist Church because of the Investigative Judgment teaching. However, he spent the time to study it out for himself. In his book 1844 Made Simple, he does a remarkable job of making the judgement and cleansing of the sanctuary so….well…simple! He also makes it very clear that, although this teaching is unique to  Seventh-day Adventists, it is very biblical. 

The Cross and Its Shadow

In The Cross and Its Shadow, Stephen N. Haskell, an early Seventh-day Adventist pioneer and a contemporary of Ellen White, brings alive all of the imagery of the sanctuary and brings understanding to their applications. His approach is devotional.

He clearly explains the feast days as well. While some wonder why many Seventh-day Adventists do not celebrate the feast days, Elder Haskell helps us see that we are observing the literal feast days. For example, ever since 1844 we have been in the literal day of atonement.

The Sanctuary Service

Click on image to buy book on Amazon.com

In The Sanctuary Service, M.L. Andreasen, who was a young man in Ellen White’s old age, illustrates how the sanctuary service illuminates Christ as our High Priest, Sacrifice and Intercessor. 

This is probably the best source for a detailed summary of all the sanctuary offerings and various services. 

Then Shall the Sanctuary be Cleansed 

When I was in my early 20′s and began studying the sanctuary, Then Shall the Sanctuary Be Cleansed by Donald Short, brought many things to life for me. It also helped me understand the work our High Priest is doing in the sanctuary of my heart. The original version I read is no longer available, but you can now buy an updated version of Then Shall the Sanctuary Be Cleansed. 

Happy studying!

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The Mission program of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is an opportunity for us to understand the needs of others and share in supporting them. Please click on the image below to watch the Mission Spotlight presentation for this week:

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/mission-spotlight-for-june-15/

Daily Lesson for Sabbath 15th of June 2024

Image © Pacific Press

Read for This Week’s Study

John 8:32; Ezekiel 20:12,20; Revelation 7:1-2; Revelation 14:1; Joel 2:21-24; Hosea 6:3; James 5:7-8; Revelation 18:1-4.

Memory Text:

“Buy the truth, and do not sell it, also wisdom and instruction and understanding” (Proverbs 23:23, NKJV).

Suppose you had a daughter driving home from college for summer vacation. As you wait for her to arrive, you anxiously monitor the weather reports. You become worried as the weather rapidly deteriorates. Storm clouds loom on the horizon. Winds blow fiercely. The heavens open and rain pours down. Trees are blown over. Soon the main road home is impassable. Then you hear from one of your neighbors that it is possible to get through on a secondary road. Cars can navigate around some downed tree limbs. Although communication is difficult, you are able to get a text message to your daughter, carefully detailing how she can get home safely.

More than anything else, Jesus wants to take us through the storms of life and get us home. Ellen G. White writes, “A storm is coming, relentless in its fury. Are we prepared to meet it?”— Testimonies for the Church, vol, 8, p. 315. The purpose of Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and ministry in heaven’s sanctuary is to ensure that we get home. The prophetic messages of Daniel and Revelation are divine instructions, especially for an end-time people, to help us through life’s storms so that one day we can feel the warm embrace of a loving Savior.

The aim of this week’s lesson is to reveal what the prophetic Word says about the closing events and discover anew Christ’s strength to take us through earth’s final conflict and get us home.

*Study this week’s lesson, based on chapters 37 and 38 of The Great Controversy, to prepare for Sabbath, June 22.

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Join the Hit the Mark panel as they discuss Lesson 11 – The Impending Conflict. It’s the fastest hour of the week!

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Inside Story for Friday 14th of June 2024

By Andrew McChesney

Sara thought about the Seventh-day Adventist Church as she helped her mother sell pork and beer in Mozambique in southeast Africa.

Why do Adventists go to church on Saturday? she wondered.

As a small girl, Sara had gone to the Adventist Church several times with her big brother, who was an Adventist. But then he had moved to another town, and she had gone back to the church of her mother.

As she worked with her mother, memories about the Adventist Church returned. She thought about Adventist neighbors who had moved next door. Sara decided to ask them why they went to church on Saturday.

The neighbors welcomed Sara’s question, and they opened the Bible to the fourth commandment in Exodus 20:8-10. Sara read, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work” (NKJV). She also read other verses about the holiness of the seventh-day Sabbath. She saw that Jesus worshiped on the seventh day when He lived on earth. She decided to keep the seventh-day Sabbath.

Mother was furious when Sara told her that she would no longer sell pork and beer on Saturdays. She forbade Sara from going to the Adventist Church. Sara went anyway. She wanted to honor her mother as God commands in the fifth commandment (Exodus 20:12). But she also realized that it was more important “to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

Tensions escalated further when Sara stopped selling pork and beer altogether. She explained to Mother that God does not condone the eating of unclean meat, such as pork (Leviticus 11:7), or the drinking of alcohol (Proverbs 20:1). Furthermore, she said, the Bible teaches that “whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31), and selling products unapproved by God would not glorify Him.

Mother threw Sara out of the house. With nowhere to go, Sara left town and moved in with her Adventist brother and his wife and their sons. Her heart was heavy. Is this the cost of following Jesus? she wondered.

Sara’s brother presented her case to leaders at his church. Through their efforts, an Adventist pastor met with Mother. She listened carefully to what he said. She didn’t agree with him on everything. But her face softened as they spoke. She said Sara could return home.

Today, Mother still does not share Sara’s convictions. Sara is praying for the Holy Spirit to touch her heart. She knows that the God who gave her a fuller understanding of His love can do the same for her mother.

Thank you for your Sabbath School mission offerings that help spread the good news of Jesus’ soon coming in Africa and around the world.

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