Daily Lesson for Friday 14th of June 2024

Worshiping the beast and its image alludes to Daniel 3:1-30, in which Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were commanded by the king of Babylon to bow down to a golden image or be thrown into a fiery furnace. Ancient Babylon, modern Babylon—the issue is worship. True worship springs from a mind taught by God’s Word, a soul transformed by His love, and a heart filled with His Spirit. Then we will not be “conformed to this world” but live according to God’s will, which is found in His Word. That is our only safety!

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

“God never forces the will or the conscience; but Satan’s constant resort—to gain control of those whom he cannot otherwise seduce—is compulsion by cruelty. Through fear or force he endeavors to rule the conscience and to secure homage to himself. To accomplish this, he works through both religious and secular authorities, moving them to the enforcement of human laws in defiance of the law of God.”—Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 591.

“In order to endure the trial before them, they must understand the will of God as revealed in His word; they can honor Him only as they have a right conception of His character, government, and purposes, and act in accordance with them. None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict.”—The Great Controversy, p. 593.

“But God will have a people upon the earth to maintain the Bible, and the Bible only, as the standard of all doctrines and the basis of all reforms. The opinions of learned men, the deductions of science, the creeds or decisions of ecclesiastical councils, as numerous and discordant as are the churches which they represent, the voice of the majority—not one nor all of these should be regarded as evidence for or against any point of religious faith. Before accepting any doctrine or precept, we should demand a plain ‘Thus saith the Lord’ in its support.”—The Great Controversy, p. 595.

Discussion Questions

1. How can we live in the expectation of the coming of Christ and share that hope without becoming alarmists?
2. Dwell more on the question of worship. What does our daily life, our daily routine, tell us about who or what we worship?
3. How can we help ourselves and others face the future with confidence and not with fear?
4. What practical difference does understanding last-day events make in our lives today?

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Daily Lesson for Thursday 13th of June 2024

The first beast rose out of the sea; the second beast comes “up out of the earth” (Revelation 13:11, NKJV). The sea represents “peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues” (Revelation 17:15, NKJV).

Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com

The earth, then, represents a sparsely populated area of the world. This second beast arises near the close of the prophetic period during which the first beast exercises authority (Revelation 13:5). That is, it rises to prominence around a.d. 1798.

The United States precisely fits this description. It declared its independence in a.d. 1776, adopted its constitution in a.d. 1789, and was recognized as a world power by the late nineteenth century.

John continues, “He had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon” (Revelation 13:11, NKJV). Horns in Bible prophecy symbolize power. Unlike the first beast, this beast has no crowns on its horns, suggesting it is not a monarchy. The two horns represent the two primary governing principles that are the source of the United States’ power and success—political and religious liberty.

This gentle, lamblike nation ultimately speaks like a dragon. It exercises “all the authority of the first beast” (Revelation 13:12, NKJV) and abandons its principles of religious liberty, causing “the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast” (Revelation 13:12, NKJV). The United States will lead out in requiring everyone on earth to worship the first beast by recognizing the Papacy’s spiritual and secular authority. According to this prophecy, the United States forms an image to the beast—a union of church and state—and it will require everyone to worship this image.

What’s fascinating is that at the time when first identified as this beast power, the United States was nowhere near the military and economic behemoth it was to become and remains now.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24b-11-the-beast-from-the-earth/

Join It Is Written Sabbath School host Eric Flickinger and this quarter’s author, Mark Finley, as they provide additional insights into this week’s Sabbath School lesson.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/11-the-impending-conflict-it-is-written-discussions-with-the-author/

View an in-depth discussion of The Impending Conflict in the Hope Sabbath School class led by Pastor Derek Morris.  
Click on the image below to view the video:

With thanks to Hope Channel – Television that will change your life.

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It is time for You to act, O LORD, For they have regarded Your law as void. Psalm 119:126 KJV

The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 NKJV

Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 1 John 3:4 NKJV

A vast majority of the Christian world celebrates the overthrow of God’s law, not realizing that it is not Jesus who did away with the law, but rather Satan, who wants to create the illusion that the law was done away with. Paul makes it clear that the coming of the lawless one is the work of Satan. Meanwhile Jesus says,

“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:17-19 NKJV

….But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments. Matthew 19:17 NKJV

But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’ Matthew 7:23 NLT

For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition. Mark 7:8 NLT

But that doesn’t mean that the law has lost its force. It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the smallest point of God’s law to be overturned. Luke 16:17 NLT

“If you love me, obey my commandments. John 14:15 NKJV

Clearly Jesus did not come to do away with or change the moral law. It is clearly the anti-Christ or the lawless man of sin who “thinks to change times and laws.” See Daniel 7:25.

Isaiah 14:12-14 gives us the crux of the great controversy where Lucifer wants to usurp God’s authority. By voiding out God’s law and changing it, Lucifer hopes to make void God’s authority, so he can overthrow God and set up his own dictatorship. I say dictatorship because while in Genesis 1 we have the Heavenly Trio working as a community using pronouns “us” and “our,” as in let us make man in our own image. Yet Lucifer’s idea of government in Isaiah 14:12-14 gives no hint of community leadership. The only pronoun used is, “I” which exposes Lucifer’s attempt to become a dictator.

The crux of the great controversy centers around Lucifer’s / Satan’s attempt to set up his own government and secure our loyalty and worship. For Satan to secure our loyalty and worship he must overthrow God’s law and substitute his own laws. This is why the mark of the beast offers a day of worship totally contrary to God’s day of worship, just as the tree of knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life tested the loyalty of Adam and Eve. Satan wants us to ignore God’s law, because by ignoring His law we are ignoring His authority, and His right to reign over us. By accepting another day of worship other than the one designated at creation and all of Scripture, we are ignoring God as our Creator and Ruler.

By accepting another law, another day of worship, we would be ignoring God as our Creator and giving our loyalty and worship to Lucifer.

Those who do not fall for a false law,  false day of worship or a false government stay loyal to Jesus and His commandments.

Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Revelation 14:12 NKJV

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