As we have seen in Revelation 14:7-8, God calls all people to worship the Creator. This is the first angel’s message. In , God warns people about “Babylon,” a false religious system with roots back to ancient Babylon. This is the second angel’s message.
In Revelation 14:9-10, the third angel warns against worshiping the beast. The angel declares in a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God“ (NKJV).
Read Revelation 14:12. What two characteristics do we discover in this passage about God’s last-day people? Why are both important?
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The Greek word for “patience” is hupomone, which is better translated “steadfast endurance.” God will have an end-time people who are loyal to Him in the face of opposition and fierce persecution. Through His grace, they stand with steadfast endurance, living God-centered, grace-filled, obedient lives.
Worshiping the Creator (Revelation 14:7) stands in direct opposition to worshiping the beast (Revelation 14:9) and finds its expression in a people who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus (Revelation 14:12). This final conflict over allegiance to Christ or allegiance to the beast power revolves around worship, and at the heart of this great controversy between good and evil is going to be the Sabbath.
Read Romans 8:1-4, Ephesians 2:8-10, and Colossians 1:29. What do these passages teach us about the result of living by faith?
Living by faith, we receive His grace, and our lives are changed. The committed followers of the Savior will not only have faith “in” Jesus, they will have the faith “of” Jesus. Jesus’ quality of end-time faith will be theirs, and they will remain faithful, even unto death, as Jesus did.
How faithful are you in the little things? What might that tell you about how you will be when the real trial comes? (See Luke 16:10.)
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