"Seventh-day Adventists have a unique understanding of the heavenly sanctuary.
---We believe that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was full and complete. The atonement He provided on the cross, however, is applied to individual lives through His intercession in the heavenly sanctuary.
earthly sacrifice of the mass can never substitute for the atonement provided by Christ.
By faith we see the heavenly sanctuary where Jesus ministers. All of this is the vital background to understanding Revelation 13.
Adventists are on solid biblical ground when they identify the beast power as the papacy and stand with many of the Protestant reformers.
When we describe how the beast power
--would rise out of the Roman Empire;
--that it would be a worldwide religious power that would persecute the people of God down through the ages—the Middle Ages—by the uniting of church and state;
--that it would reign, according to Revelation 12:6 and onward, for 42 months, or 1260 years, we’re underlining what Scripture underlines.
-*-When you look at those biblical markers, those identifications, you can clearly see what power did those things.
Q: Is prophecy really so mystical?
Q: Is it so elusive that you can’t identify its central characters? There’s no question in my mind at all that Revelation 13 identifies the Roman Catholic papacy, and that the little horn in Daniel 7 is the same power.
It’s interesting that Ellen White defines the antithesis, or the opposite, of the mark of the beast as the seal of God. And she defines the seal of God as “a settling into the truth, both intellectually and spiritually, so they cannot be moved.”
The Sabbath, as God’s identifiable day of worship, becomes the visible symbol of that seal. Ephesians 4:30 says, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
The Holy Spirit becomes the sealing agency that settles us into a commitment to Christ and a commitment to His truth so that we cannot be moved.
We dare not slip into an acceptance of human teachings or theories substituted for the Word of God. Sabbath and Sunday become the visible points of a climactic struggle at the end time between good and evil over worship."
Mark Finley
---We believe that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was full and complete. The atonement He provided on the cross, however, is applied to individual lives through His intercession in the heavenly sanctuary.
We need a sacrifice—Jesus.
We need a priest—Jesus.
Earthly priests can never substitute for the divine Priest. The 
By faith we see the heavenly sanctuary where Jesus ministers. All of this is the vital background to understanding Revelation 13.
Adventists are on solid biblical ground when they identify the beast power as the papacy and stand with many of the Protestant reformers.
When we describe how the beast power
--would rise out of the Roman Empire;
--that it would be a worldwide religious power that would persecute the people of God down through the ages—the Middle Ages—by the uniting of church and state;
--that it would reign, according to Revelation 12:6 and onward, for 42 months, or 1260 years, we’re underlining what Scripture underlines.
-*-When you look at those biblical markers, those identifications, you can clearly see what power did those things.
Q: Is prophecy really so mystical?
Q: Is it so elusive that you can’t identify its central characters? There’s no question in my mind at all that Revelation 13 identifies the Roman Catholic papacy, and that the little horn in Daniel 7 is the same power.
It’s interesting that Ellen White defines the antithesis, or the opposite, of the mark of the beast as the seal of God. And she defines the seal of God as “a settling into the truth, both intellectually and spiritually, so they cannot be moved.”
The Sabbath, as God’s identifiable day of worship, becomes the visible symbol of that seal. Ephesians 4:30 says, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
The Holy Spirit becomes the sealing agency that settles us into a commitment to Christ and a commitment to His truth so that we cannot be moved.
We dare not slip into an acceptance of human teachings or theories substituted for the Word of God. Sabbath and Sunday become the visible points of a climactic struggle at the end time between good and evil over worship."
Mark Finley
