Sabbath School

Adult Sabbath School Bible study guide.

God always has communicated with people through His prophets. This was particularly true at crucial moments in history. Is it not reasonable to expect, then, that God would speak to His people at the end of time?

When Millerite Adventists experienced the “Great Disappointment” on October 22, 1844, God called Ellen Harmon (White) to prophetic ministry and gave her a message for the disappointed believers. Her first vision was to comfort them in their despair.

Another critical juncture was the beginning of Adventist publications and the official organization of Sabbath-keeping Adventists into a denomination. Through their publications and evangelism, these Sabbatarians, by the 1860s, had grown to several thousand members. They needed to organize to proclaim the three angels’ messages (Rev. 14:6–12) more effectively. While some objected to the idea of organization, God used Ellen G. White to encourage this step. On May 21, 1863, the Seventh-day Adventist Church was officially born.

That same year, God used the gift of prophecy to encourage health reform among believers. Most Seventh-day Adventists did not possess good health or live healthy lives. Through Ellen G. White’s two comprehensive health visions in 1863 and 1865, this trajectory was changed. Seventh-day Adventists became promoters of health and healthful living.

From the 1870s to 1890s, Ellen G. White was instrumental in develop­ing the Adventist educational system. Her philosophy of wholistic education (academic, practical, and spiritual) was gradually adopted and implemented. As she would point out: “True education means more than the pursual of a certain course of study. It means more than a preparation for the life that now is. It has to do with the whole being, and with the whole period of existence possible to man. It is the harmonious development of the physical, the mental, and the spiritual powers.”—Education, p. 13.

In the 1880s, she played a critical role in bringing balance to Seventh-day Adventist theology on salvation. She emphasized the centrality of God’s grace and righteousness by faith within the framework of Adventists’ unique emphasis on the law. From 1901 to 1903, she helped reorganize the denominational structure so that the church’s mission to the world would be better accomplished.

In short, there would be no Seventh-day Adventist denomination as we know it today without Ellen G. White’s ministry. She was God’s messenger in critical moments.

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Supplemental EGW Notes

Christ Triumphant, “Beware of Those Who Contradict God’s Commands,” June 3, p. 161. Christ Triumphant, “The Value of Souls Versus One’s Reputation,” June 14, p. 172.\

The above quotations are taken from Ellen G. White Notes for the Sabbath School Lessons, published by Pacific Press Publishing Association. Used by permission.