Lesson 8 _Christ, Our Priest_November 16 to November 22

Lesson 8 _Christ, Our Priest_November 16 to November 22, 4rd Quarter 2013--The Sanctuary--September 28 to December 27. The lesson in verses, with notes, comes after the outlines sometimes of important Bible passages in their context. 


FROM THE AWAKENING AND THE REFORMATION TO THE SANCTUARY (The Residence of God and the Salvation Process from God), WE ARE APPROACHING THE END, WE'RE GOING HOME, TO THE MANSIONS THAT JESUS HAS PREPARED FOR US IN HEAVEN.

CAN ONE BE IN THE SANCTUARY (The Residence of God and the Salvation from God) WITHOUT AWAKENING AND REFORMATION...AND LIVE?! 

We are quick to sin in many subtle ways, because we are quick to quick pleasure that vanishes quick and leads to death. We need Jesus’ covering to survive after sin, which is atonement by His death; however we need His covering even more before sin to enjoy great, disciplined pleasure that leads to life, Jesus’ life, eternal life. We need to depend on Christ, for everything, in patience and moving faith, we need to be happy always with Him in the many things He has already given us...

May the Holy Spirit lead you to the kingdom of Heaven on earth in dependence on God, enjoy the power and the humility, the serenity and the peace of salvation, and the bliss of eternal life...

Since our sins have been transferred on Jesus' death, let's live in humility and holiness through Jesus' life

Jesus is carrying the guilt for you, let  Him carry it and destroy it by His death and regenerate you by His Life, do not take the guilt back by sinning again.  Feel free to tap into the power of His grace and forgiveness in order to  bear fruits: love , joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control


God took the initiative to get rid of our sins, to forget them, and now that we are forgiven and purified like Isaiah, we are pure and after we cried “Woe is me”, in humility we may cry “Here am I, send me” And we can forgive others the same way and be an example to them and share the Gospel with them...

Friends,

   Revival will happen this time, and this is the way: If we ask God to give us His Holy Spirit and pray for each other, even for people we're not comfortable with in the church, and pray for our enemies. This is one of the things that God won't refuse. We don't have to be worried about asking God if this is His will, as this is always His will. As simple as that...

Share with your friends...

  Visit www.sse6.blogspot.com for easy Sabbath School Lessons Resources in English and www.ese9.blogspot.com in French


SPIRITUAL POWERS

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (NIV)4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have DIVINE POWER to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Ephesians 6:12 (NIV) For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Christ, Our Sacrifice

Humans cannot even imagine how High, Great, Holy and Perfect God is, yet a rich, clean person, wouldn’t even look at unclean and dirty, imagine dirtying oneself by mixing with a dirty environment, and even worst with a dirty person, Yet This One decided not only to mix with those far from His Elevation, but to die for them. WHY? Because Heaven is so Majestic in Its Eternity and so Just and Loving, only Jesus-Christ can bring us to that level of perfection, only God can judge us and find us guilty, and yet pay the guilty price for us, and forgive us, and allow us in under His own merits.

The most wonderful, it’s not just cheap forgiveness, as the price was paid even before the forgiveness, and the forgiveness extended to everyone. You would think that one would forgive and when the forgiveness is accepted, pay the price, The Eternal God paid the price first out of His great love, and then forgave, isn’t Love bigger than Forgiveness, accept the Love, and enjoy the forgiveness, the logic of Love transcends any human logic. Bear fruits in the Love of Jesus and grow in His forgiveness, as you enjoy the fruits that you are bearing together with others by the loving power of His forgiveness. Love bears forgiveness and forgiveness leads to love.

Holy, Holy, Holy is God’s love and Powerful, Wonderful, Fruitful is his forgiveness, fruitful in Holiness. He does it all for you, just don’t refuse, allow His offer of collaboration to change you for the better and collaborate to your salvation and the salvation of others as both depend on each other and go together. Only His Power can clean you up and only the Power of His Sacrifice can bring you into Heaven with His Justice, the Ultimate Loving Justice of God, in the All Knowing Workings of His Holy Spirit.

Joshua 5:13–15

The Commander of the Army of the Lord

13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, oa Man stood opposite him pwith His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?”

14 So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.”

And Joshua qfell on his face to the earth and rworshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?”

15 Then the Commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, s“Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.

 

THIS VIDEO CAN BE SHOWN AT YOUR CHURCHES AS IT IS MORE THAN RELEVANT TO THE LESSONS. BE PATIENT AND WAIT TO UNDERSTAND ALL THE DIFFERENT ASPECTS AND ALL THE CONNECTIONS IN ORDER TO APPRECIATE THE POWER AND THE ATTENTION OF GOD, APART FROM THE EXTRAORDINARY IMAGES.

Click on the video at the bottom right for a totally enlarged screen, and connect the sound to powerful headphones and/or quality speakers. Find a Good Time, Be Amazed and Enjoy the Inspiration...PLEASE SHOW THIS VIDEO AT YOUR CHURCHES ON SABBATH AFTERNOON, BELIEVE ME IT WILL BE A HIT. SURELY IT WILL HAVE A BLESSED EFFECT ON THE SPIRITUALITY OF THE CHURCH.  MAY GOD BLESS YOU EVEN MORE AND KEEP YOU IN A FRUITFUL FAITH IN HIM.

Click on the following links and open another tab for these playlists. Listen to sacred music while studying the lesson.

Heritage Singers sing to give glory to God in order to comfort you and strengthen your faith: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgnbF8BcALg&list=PLA6FC3F51B3D3592A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13U7QmSfmcI&list=PL5362507232EC2F63
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ8IRymyYVo&list=PL0B2EC328B1EBB04F

Wintley Phipps sings and gives glory to God in order to exhort you and encourage you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8HffdyLd0c&list=PL1F72C26656C325A9
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMF_24cQqT0&list=PLF6E0F80C111634BB
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVlAPL901Gk&list=PLA7473A1301242907



FROM THE AWAKENING AND THE REFORMATION TO THE SANCTUARY (The Residence of God and the Salvation Process from God), WE ARE APPROACHING THE END, WE'RE GOING HOME, TO THE MANSIONS THAT JESUS HAS PREPARED FOR US IN HEAVEN.


CAN ONE BE IN THE SANCTUARY (The Residence of God and the Salvation from God) WITHOUT AWAKENING AND REFORMATION...AND LIVE?!

We are quick to sin in many subtle ways, because we are quick to quick pleasure that vanishes quick and leads to death. We need Jesus’ covering to survive after sin, which is atonement by His death; however we need His covering even more before sin to enjoy great, discipline pleasure that leads to life, Jesus’ life, eternal life. We need to depend on Christ, for everything, in patience and moving faith, we need to be happy always with Him in the many things He has given us...

May the Holy Spirit lead you to the kingdom of Heaven in dependence on God on earth, enjoy the power and the humility, the serenity and the peace of salvation, and the bliss of eternal life...

Since our sins have been transferred on Jesus' death, let's live in humility and holiness through Jesus' life

Jesus is carrying the guilt for you, let  Him carry it and destroy it by His death and regenerate you by His Life, do not take the guilt back by sinning again.  Feel free to tap into the power of His grace and forgiveness in order to  bear fruits: love , joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control


And that day of atonement comes and all sins go where they belong on Satan's head, after the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and there go all our sufferings, and there comes our Eternal Life. Live the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth before that day where we go live a thousand years up there, and the rest on a purified earth with God Jesus-Christ Holy Spirit living with us in the New Jerusalem. Let go and let God...


God took the initiative to get rid of our sins, to forget them, and now that we are forgiven and purified like Isaiah, we are pure and after we cried “Woe is me”, in humility we may cry “Here am I, send me” And we can forgive others the same way and be an example to them and share the Gospel with them...

 

Christ, Our Sacrifice

Humans cannot even imagine how High, Great, Holy and Perfect God is, yet a rich, clean person, wouldn’t even look at unclean and dirty, imagine dirtying oneself by mixing with a dirty environment, and even worst with a dirty person, Yet This One decided not only to mix with those far from His Elevation, but to die for them. WHY? Because Heaven is so Majestic in Its Eternity and so Just and Loving, only Jesus-Christ can bring us to that level of perfection, only God can judge us and find us guilty, and yet pay the guilty price for us, and forgive us, and allow us in under His own merits.

The most wonderful, it’s not just cheap forgiveness, as the price was paid even before the forgiveness, and the the forgiveness extended to everyone. You would think that one would forgive and when the forgiveness is accepted, pay the price, The Eternal God paid the price first out of His great love, and then forgave, isn’t Love bigger than Forgiveness, accept the Love, and enjoy the forgiveness, the logic of Love transcends any human logic. Bear fruits in the Love of Jesus and grow in His forgiveness, as you enjoy the fruits that you are bearing together with others by the loving power of His forgiveness. Love bears forgiveness and forgiveness leads to love.

Holy, Holy, Holy is God’s love and Powerful, Wonderful, Fruitful is his forgiveness, fruitful in Holiness. He does it all for you, just don’t refuse, allow His offer of collaboration to change you for the better and collaborate to your salvation and the salvation of others as both depend on each other and go together. Only His Power can clean you up and only the Power of His Sacrifice can bring you into Heaven with His Justice, the Ultimate Loving Justice of God, in the All Knowing Workings of His Holy Spirit.

Joshua 5:13–15

The Commander of the Army of the Lord

13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, oa Man stood opposite him pwith His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?”

14 So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.”

And Joshua qfell on his face to the earth and rworshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?”

15 Then the Commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, s“Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.

 



The Heavenly Sanctuary

 “ ‘Then hear in heaven Your dwelling place their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause’ ” (1 Kings 8:49, NKJV).




Revival and Reformation: Lest we forget!

Sources of Revival

1 Revival: Our Great Need •  Revelation 3:20
2 Prayer: The Heartbeat of Revival •  Matthew 7:11
3 The Word: The Foundation of Revival •  Psalm 119:154 

Fruits of Revival

4 Witness and Service: The Fruit of Revival •  Acts 1:8
5 Obedience: The Fruit of Revival •  2 Corinthians 10:4-5 
6 Confession and Repentance: The Conditions of Revival •  Proverbs 28:13   


UNITY

7 Unity: The Bond of Revival •  Ephesians 4:1-3  


Keeping the Revival Going

8 Discernment: The Safeguard of  Revival •  Psalm 119:159-160
9 Reformation: The Outgrowth of Revival l •  Hebrews 2:11
10 Reformation: The Willingness to Grow and Change   James 4:6


The Miracle of Revival

11 Reformation: Thinking New Thoughts •  Colossians 3:1-2
12 Reformation: Healing Broken Relationships •  Romans 5:10
13 The Promised Revival: God’s Mission Completed  James 5:7-8





The Sanctuary

Purpose of the Sanctuary: Salvation

1 The Heavenly Sanctuary •
2 “Heaven” on Earth •
3 Sacrifices •


The Works of the Sanctuary

4 Lessons From the Sanctuary •
5 Atonement: Purification Offering •
6 The Day of Atonement •


The Central Personality of the Sanctuary
7 Christ, Our Sacrifice •


The Ministry of Jesus-Christ in the Sanctuary

8 Christ, Our Priest •
9 The Pre-Advent Judgment •
10 The Eschatological Day of Atonement •


The Perspective of the Sanctuary and Historical Denouement

11 Our Prophetic Message •
12 The Cosmic Conflict Over God’s Character •
13 Exhortations From the Sanctuary •




Visit the following daily to study the weekly lesson

www.cqbiblestudy.org

www.ssnet.org



http://www.ssnet.org/lessons/13d/helps/lesshp08.html

Lesson& References Index

Lesson 8 – October 16 - 22

Christ, Our Priest

(All Bible texts are in the NKJV Bible unless otherwise indicated)

Sabbath Afternoon

Memory text: Hebrews 8:1,2

1 Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.

Hebrews 2:17

17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

Sunday - Our High Priest

Hebrews 1:3

3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himselfpurged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Hebrews 4:14

14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

Hebrews 7:26

26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens;

Hebrews 8:1

1 Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,

Hebrews 12:2

2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Psalm 110:4

4 The LORD has sworn
And will not relent,
“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”

Hebrews 5:6

6 As He also says in another place:
“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek”;

Genesis 14:18-20

18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. 19 And he blessed him and said:
“Blessed be Abram of God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
20 And blessed be God Most High,
Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”
And he gave him a tithe of all.

Psalm 110:4

4 The LORD has sworn
And will not relent,
“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”

Hebrews 7:1-3

1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,” 3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.

Hebrews 7:4-10

4 Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. 5 And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; 6 but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better. 8 Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives.9 Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak,10 for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.

Hebrews 5:1-4

1 For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness. 3 Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins. 4 And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was.

Monday –  Advocate and Intercessor

Romans 8:31-39

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It isChrist who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 John 2:1,2

1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

Tuesday – Mediator

1 Timothy 2:4-6

4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,

Hebrews 8:6

6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.

Hebrews 9:15

15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

Hebrews 12:24

24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

Ellen G. White, Sermons and Talks, vol. 1, pp. 252-4.

The Lord Jesus made our world. Everything was made by Christ. Here Christ through God created our world, and He engaged before the foundation of the world that if man that was created and in Eden should transgress the law of God, He would take the penalty of their transgression upon Himself. And He did this. Then has He no right to instruct His subjects what to do, that they shall not miss the eternal reward?
Who, I ask you of this congregation, will absorb brain, bone, and muscle for the acquisition of merely temporal advantages? Christ gave His life that we might not perish. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Our precious Saviour has made the world, and when He came into the world He found the great usurper there, and He came into the world that He might contest with him the possession of this earth. Therefore the battle, the conflict, was carried on right here in this world, and here He tells us that it is for our eternal interest to lay up for ourselves a treasure in the heavens. You ask, How can I do it? In Christ. When the Householder went away from His house, He gave to every man talents, to some five, to some two, and to another one. And these talents He gave them direction to employ in His service, He gave to some the property of means, to others ability, intellect—all God’s gifts. We could not have any of it unless it came through Jesus Christ.
Then He tells you to use these talents to His glory. Improve them. How shall we improve them? As God gives me light, as God gives you light, as He has given you His precious Word. It is full of hidden treasures. He wants you to explore, work the field, and you will find the treasures, and you will sell everything that you might buy the field that contains the treasure. There are the jewels of truth that are to be searched for as hidden treasures.
As you find them, what then? Why, you find that there is truth, beautiful truth, jewels of truth, riches of truth, and you accept them. What do they do? They bind you by the golden links to the eternal God, for Jesus Christ came that He might link finite man with the infinite God, and connect earth that has been divorced by sin and transgression from heaven.
“Will you do it? “Ye are,” says Jesus, “the light of the world”—if you become rich in heavenly treasure, in the knowledge of the true God. You are to search for it, search that Book, the Word of God, and then you are to diffuse to others the knowledge that you have obtained. Impart the heavenly gift.
“Oh,” says one “I must attend to my farm; I must attend to the interests of my family. I cannot afford to be here, giving my interest and time and money in order that I may win souls to Jesus Christ.” Well, this shows that you do not appreciate the heavenly Gift. It shows that you do not appreciate and value the human families that Christ has estimated of such cost that He came into the world to suffer and become a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. [He was] wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed.
Only think of it! No one could bear the stroke of God’s justice but His only beloved Son. He came in the express image of His Father’s person, one with God. He thought it not robbery to be equal with God. The plan is laid out. You are not to occupy brain, bone, and muscle to the acquisition of the things of this life, and invest not in the treasures of heaven. He wants all that there is of man. He wants the whole heart.

Wednesday - Great High Priest

Hebrews 2:17,18

17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.

Hebrews 3:6

6 but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.

Hebrews 4:14,15

14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Hebrews 7:24-28

24 But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood.25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; 27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.

Hebrews 8:1-3

1 Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.
3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Thereforeit is necessary that this One also have something to offer.

Hebrews 5:2

2 He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness.

Hebrews 5:7

7 who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear,

Matthew 4:1-11

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:
‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’
and,
‘In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’”
8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”
11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

Hebrews 9:24

24 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which arecopies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;

Thursday – The One Sacrifice

Philippians 2:6

6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,

Hebrews 10:1-14

10 For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. 3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.
5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:
“Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,
But a body You have prepared for Me.
6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin
You had no pleasure.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—
In the volume of the book it is written of Me—
To do Your will, O God.’”
8 Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), 9 then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. 10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

Matthew 27:51

51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,

Friday – Further Study

Ellen G. White, Christian Education, pp. 159-61.

Zechariah’s description of Joshua, the high priest, is a striking representation of the sinner for whom Christ is mediating that he may be brought to repentance. Satan is standing at the right hand of the Advocate, resisting the work of Christ, and pleading against him that man is his property since he has chosen him as his ruler. But the defender of man, the restorer, mightier than the mightiest, hears the demands and claims of Satan, and answers him: “The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and stood before the angel. And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment. And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord stood by.” [Zechariah 3:2-5.]
Bear in mind, every teacher who takes the responsibility of dealing with human minds, that every soul who is inclined to err and is easily tempted, is the special object for whom Christ is solicitor. They that are whole need not a physician, but those that are sick. The compassionate Intercessor is pleading, and will sinful, finite men and women repulse a single soul?
Shall any man or woman be indifferent to the very souls for whom Christ is pleading in the courts of heaven? Shall you in your course of action, imitate the Pharisees, who would be merciless, and Satan, who would accuse and destroy? O will you individually humble your own souls before God, and let that stern nerve and iron will be subdued and broken?
Step away from Satan’s voice and from acting his will, and stand by the side of Jesus, possessing his attributes, the possessor of keen and tender sensibilities, who can make the cause of afflicted, suffering ones his own. The man who has had much forgiven will love much. Jesus is a compassionate intercessor, a merciful and faithful high priest. He, the Majesty of heaven–the King of glory—can look upon finite man, subject to the temptations of Satan, knowing that he has felt the power of Satan’s wiles. “Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren [clothing his divinity with humanity], that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.” [Hebrews 2:17, 18.]
Then I call upon you, my brethren, to practice working in lines in which Christ worked. You must never put on the cloak of severity and condemn and denounce and drive away from the fold, poor, tempted mortals; but as laborers together with God, heal the spiritually diseased. This you will do if you have the mind of Christ. “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” [Hebrews 4:15.] “Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding.” [Isaiah 40:28.]—M.S.

Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 2, pp. 31-33.

A Repetition of Early Fanaticism

[A statement read by Mrs. E. G. White before the ministers at the General Conference, April 17, 1901.]

Instruction has been given me in regard to the late experience of brethren in Indiana and the teaching they have given to the churches. Through this experience and teaching the enemy has been working to lead souls astray.
The teaching given in regard to what is termed “holy flesh” is an error. All may now obtain holy hearts, but it is not correct to claim in this life to have holy flesh. The apostle Paul declares, “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing” (Romans 7:18). To those who have tried so hard to obtain by faith so-called holy flesh, I would say, You cannot obtain it. Not a soul of you has holy flesh now. No human being on the earth has holy flesh. It is an impossibility.
If those who speak so freely of perfection in the flesh, could see things in the true light, they would recoil with horror from their presumptuous ideas. In showing the fallacy of their assumptions in regard to holy flesh, the Lord is seeking to prevent men and women from putting on His words a construction which leads to pollution of body, soul, and spirit. Let this phase of doctrine be carried a little further, and it will lead to the claim that its advocates cannot sin; that since they have holy flesh, their actions are all holy. What a door of temptation would thus be opened!
The Scriptures teach us to seek for the sanctification to God of body, soul, and spirit. In this work we are to be laborers together with God. Much may be done to restore the moral image of God in man, to improve the physical, mental, and moral capabilities. Great changes can be made in the physical system by obeying the laws of God and bringing into the body nothing that defiles. And while we cannot claim perfection of the flesh, we may have Christian perfection of the soul. Through the sacrifice made in our behalf, sins may be perfectly forgiven. Our dependence is not in what man can do; it is in what God can do for man through Christ. When we surrender ourselves wholly to God, and fully believe, the blood of Christ cleanses from all sin. The conscience can be freed from condemnation. Through faith in His blood, all may be made perfect in Christ Jesus. Thank God that we are not dealing with impossibilities. We may claim sanctification. We may enjoy the favor of God. We are not to be anxious about what Christ and God think of us, but about what God thinks of Christ, our Substitute.” Ye are accepted in the Beloved. The Lord shows, to the repenting, believing one, that Christ accepts the surrender of the soul, to be molded and fashioned after His own likeness.
In His life on earth, Christ could have made disclosures which would have eclipsed and assigned to oblivion all human discoveries. He could have opened door after door to mysterious things, and many revelations of eternal realities would have been the sure result. He could have uttered words which would have been as a key to unlock mysteries that would have captivated the minds of generations to the close of time. But Christ does not open the numerous doors at which human curiosity has been striving to obtain entrance. He does not spread for men a feast that would prove deleterious to their highest interests. He came to plant for men, not the tree of knowledge, but the tree of life....
I have been instructed to say to those in Indiana who are advocating strange doctrines, You are giving a wrong mold to the precious and important work of God. Keep within the bounds of the Bible. Take Christ’s lessons, and repeat them over and over again. Remember that “the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace” (James 3:17, 18).
When human beings receive holy flesh, they will not remain on the earth, but will be taken to heaven. While sin is forgiven in this life, its results are not now wholly removed. It is at His coming that Christ is to “change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body” (Philippians 3:21)....
Again and again in the progress of our work, fanatical movements have arisen, and when the matter was presented before me, I have had to bear a message similar to the message I am bearing to my brethren from Indiana. I have been instructed by the Lord that this movement in Indiana is of the same character as have been the movements in years past. In your religious meetings there have been exercises similar to those I have witnessed in connection with those mo