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SSL 2022 (1st half) – Heaven and the New Earth

Our new Sabbath school lessons are available! Print yours now, as we prepare ourselves to be launched into these new meditations for the coming year! God bless you all, brethren and sisters. Home is near, for the faithful pilgrims of earth.

Please click here for the printable Sabbath School Lessons:
ssl 2022 first half – heaven and the new earth
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4. The Harmony of Heaven

By John Thiel, Learning the Lessons of Unity in Christ Conference, Study 4, mp3

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 6:1-3 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, [is] the LORD of hosts: the whole earth [is] full of his glory. Read the rest of this entry

The Biblical Description of the Heavenly Country

By John Thiel, mp3

We are here to seek encouragement from the Lord, we seek His Word for therein lies the encouragement. Human beings in their learning of the Lord often fall short but the Word of God is sure, we can place our total dependence on that and we want to build our faith upon that which is written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, not that which is interpreted by fanciful theories of the scriptures. There are some wonderful fanciful things that people do become absorbed in and the subject we want to study here is this wonderful picture of the heavenly country. But we want to get it straight; we don’t want to live in a false hope, so we rely on the word of God once again. Read the rest of this entry

The Longing of Your Heart

Jesus tells us of things that receive blessings. One of those things is recorded in Matthew 5.

Matthew 5:6 Blessed [are] they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Do we hunger and thirst after righteousness? To be hungry you have to be empty. What do children do when they are hungry? Cry. Blessed are they which do hunger. It’s a good position to be in, to be in need; hungering and thirsting after righteousness. David longed and was hungry and thirsted after righteousness.

Psalm 107:3 And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. 4 They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. 5 Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. 6 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, [and] he delivered them out of their distresses. 7 And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation. 8 Oh that [men] would praise the LORD [for] his goodness, and [for] his wonderful works to the children of men! 9 For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. Read the rest of this entry

In Anticipation of Heaven’s Victory Parade

By John Thiel

Scripture Reading: 24:7 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. 8 Who [is] this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift [them] up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. 10 Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he [is] the King of glory.  

Read the rest of this entry

Do You Faint for the Courts of the Lord?

By John Thiel

Psalms 84:1 To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. How amiable [are] thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! 2 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.

Who is the person that speaks like that? What kind of person utters such words?

Psalms 84:3 Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, [even] thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God. 4 Blessed [are] they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.  5 Blessed [is] the man whose strength [is] in thee; in whose heart [are] the ways [of them].

In whose hearts are thy ways. Who are the people who speak the words of verse 2? Who says things like that? The man whose strength is in the court. It is only a true spiritual person who expresses these kinds of sentiments. That he longs to be in the courts of the Lord. He cries out in agony, he faints even. Is this the case with you? I am spending this year in this meditation in the preparation to be in those courts. As we delve deeper into these things it’s going to test us whether we want to be there or not with all the preparation we require. If our strength is in the Lord and our hearts are after his ways then we will do everything that is needed to be in those courts.

Psalms 27:1 The LORD [is] my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD [is] the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Psalms 27:4 One [thing] have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple. Read the rest of this entry

Practising the Attitudes of Heavenly Society

By John Thiel

Psalm 103:20 Bless the LORD, ye angels, that excel in strength, that do commandments, hearkening unto the voice of word. 21 Bless ye the LORD, all [ye] his hosts; [ye] ministers of his, that do his pleasure.

To be in the Holy City living in the society of heaven is for us to consider so that we might know what to prepare for it.  We are to be preparing to be in that society and the attitudes that society has. We had established in our last study that the foremost principle in preparation is to embrace the attitude that the society of heaven has towards sinners. Read the rest of this entry

Life in the Society of Heaven

By John Thiel

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 11:14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.

Hebrews 11:16 But now they desire a better [country], that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

Will you go to that blessed land above? The place of pure and holy angels, the society of heaven. Will you be there? The society of heaven is also depicted as the promised land Canaan that the children of Israel travelled towards. In the Hebrew journey as they came from Egypt to the Promised Land we learnt that this is figurative of us traveling on this planet to the heavenly Canaan. I’m sure you can see we are now at the figurative Jordan. As they came to the Jordan ready to cross into the promised land. Are we there are we not? We are soon as a church to cross over. What does a figure of the children of Israel crossing over the Jordan river teach us regarding the Israel of God today? Read the rest of this entry

13. Events of the Seventh Millennium

By John Thiel, Third Angel’s Message, study 13, mp3

2 Peter 3:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. 8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day [is] with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Can you see the painstaking work of the three angels’ messages that bring us to the point of the final coming of Christ? It is all comprehended in this summary, and this is what the three angels convey to us in details. Ultimately, after all the patient work of the first angel’s message, and the second angel’s message, the third angel’s message comes into function, and the ultimate coming of Jesus does take place. Read the rest of this entry

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