Key Thought: The central issues between Christ and Satan are loyalty, authority, and worship. Love is the great motivating force in the kingdom of God.
June 10, 2023

1. Have a volunteer read Revelation 14:12.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What two characteristics do we discover in this passage about God’s last-day people? Why are both important
3. Personal Application: How faithful are you in little things? What does that tell you about how you might be when the real trials come? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “We live by faith and not by works or sight. You people focus too much on obedience instead of faith. Can you give me an example in your life when faith got you through tough times?” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Revelation 13:13-17.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. How does the second beast cause everyone to worship the first beast?
3. Personal Application: How does one receive the mark of the beast in the forehead or the hand? Is this literal or spiritual? Share your thoughts
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “What is this fire that the second beast makes come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men? ” How would you respond to your friend?
   (Note: Spiritually, fire is the presence of God. Moses and the burning bush, fire for Elijah on the mount, fire of tongues on Pentecost. But this is a false fire by the second beast – making people think that God is with them.)

3. Have a volunteer read Revelation 13:1,2.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. Where does this beast come from, and who gives this beast his authority?
   (Note: the sea is a populated area –Rev. 17:15 – Europe. The dragon, Pagan Rome, gave the Holy See (seat of government) to the Vatican by Constantine)
3. Personal Application: How can we call people out of Babylon – fallen Catholicism and fallen Protestantism – when we are accused of sheep stealing and separation rather than unifying with the Christian communities? What might these compromises be? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states: “Who do these animals represent and what is the Biblical definition of blasphemy? ” How would you respond to your relative?
   Note: Daniel 7 tells us the lion is Babylon, the leopard is Greece, the bear is Medio-Persia. The dragon is pagan Rome and spiritually the devil. Blasphemy is claiming to be God and claiming to forgive sins.)

4. Have a volunteer read Revelation 13:4,5.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. How do you respond to people who deny that Satan is real? They claim he is just the representation of the evil in mankind’s own minds, that there is no real devil.
3. Personal Application: How can we not worship this beast and the devil behind the beast when the whole world is taken in? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study : Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

Amen!(0)

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“Three Cosmic Messages” encourages us to 
Watch, Ye Saints – Hymn 598 as we near the end of this old world’s history to witness the Second Coming of our Lord, and Saviour, Jesus Christ. This is a wonderful hymn to give courage, dear people, and is our theme for this quarter.

 We will be noting at times throughout the quarter that 
“Tis Almost Time For The Lord To Come – Hymn 212 and we should be proclaiming the message that
Jesus Is Coming Again – Hymn 213.

Sabbath afternoon’s study reminds us that it is wonderful to sing 
Hymn 6 – O Worship The Lord and 
Hymn 83 – O Worship The King and then to 
Come, All Christians, Be Committed – Hymn 634.

 It follows then that we will ultimately say 
My Faith Looks Up To Thee – Hymn 517 and 
O For A Faith – Hymn 533 (Sunday).

The Cosmic Struggle (Monday) shows that 
Faith Is The Victory – Hymn 608 as our preparation now stands us in good stead for 
In The Hour Of Trial – Hymn 491. Tuesday confirms this latter hymn, and states for us: 
Don’t Forget The Sabbath – Hymn 388 because 
We Love Thy Sabbath, Lord – Hymn 390.

 “God will have a people who will “follow the Lamb” “ states Wednesday’s study: 
Hymn 623 – I Will Follow Thee.

The culmination of all aspects of our study this week results in us looking back to creation: 
Lord of Creation – Hymn 320.

So, dear people, be encouraged to go forward and
“Lift up the trumpet and loud let it ring, Jesus IS coming again” – Hymn 213.

To learn unknown hymns, you will find the accompaniment music for each one at: https://sdahymnals.com/Hymnal/

Another great resource is for when there is a hymn you wish to sing but can’t find it in your hymnal. Go to https://www.sdahymnal.org/Search and in the search bar type a special word in that is in the hymn. I am sure you will be amazed at the help you will be given.

 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Amen!(0)

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Read Matthew 27:45-50. What does this teach us about what Christ had experienced on the cross? What did Jesus mean by asking God why He had forsaken Him, and how does this scene help us understand what it means to have “the faith of Jesus”?

Hanging on the cross, enshrouded in darkness, bearing the guilt, shame, and condemnation of the sins of the world, and shut off from the sense of His Father’s love, Jesus depended on the relationship that He had with the Father throughout His life. That is, through a life of complete dependence upon the Father, even in good times, Jesus had been prepared for the worst times, even the cross.

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The Savior trusted, even when all around Him the circumstances cried out for Him to doubt. Even when it seemed that God had forsaken Him, Jesus didn’t give up.

“Amid the awful darkness, apparently forsaken of God, Christ had drained the last dregs in the cup of human woe. In those dreadful hours He had relied upon the evidence of His Father’s acceptance heretofore given Him. … By faith, Christ was victor.” — Ellen G. White, Christ Triumphant, p. 277.

The faith of Jesus is a faith so deep, so trusting, so committed, that all the demons in the cosmos and all the trials on earth cannot shake it. It is a faith that trusts when it cannot see, believes when it cannot understand, hangs on when there is little to hang on to. This “faith of Jesus” is itself a gift we receive by faith and will carry us through the crisis ahead. It is “the faith of Jesus” dwelling in our hearts that enables us to worship Christ as supreme and steadfastly endure when Revelation’s mark of the beast is enforced.

And yet, it is not something that out of nowhere suddenly appears. God’s people have been learning to live by faith, day by day, now. In good times, in bad times, when God feels close, when God seems far away — it doesn’t matter. “The just shall live by faith” (Galatians 3:11; see also Habakkuk 2:4). The time for preparation is now. Every trial now, if endured in faith, can bear precious fruit in our lives.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

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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?

Image © Steven Creitz Goodsalt.com

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.)

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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Image © Pacific Press

Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Revelation 14:12, Ephesians 2:8-10, Matthew 27:45-50, Revelation 13:15-17, Revelation 14:4, Luke 5:18-26.

Memory Text: “Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, ’Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads’”(Revelation 7:2-3, NKJV).

As we study end-time events in regard to the mark of the beast, one crucial point that comes through is the difference between how God operates and how the enemy of souls does.

As we have been studying, the central issues in the great controversy between Christ and Satan focus on loyalty, authority, and worship. The prophecies describing the beast power in Revelation 13:1-18, the little horn in Daniel 7:1-28, and the “son of perdition” in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17 all speak of a power that usurps God’s authority, commands loyalty, and introduces a counterfeit system of worship. And they do so through the use of force, coercion, and at times bribes and rewards — all in order to compel worship.

In contrast, love is the great motivating force of the kingdom of God. Rather than worshiping the beast, God’s people find their greatest joy and highest delight in worshiping Him. They are committed to Him because they know how committed He is to them. There is only one thing that will keep any of us from receiving the mark of the beast in the end time &mdash a love for Jesus so deep that nothing can break our hold upon Him.

In this lesson, we will explore these themes further.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, June 10.

Sunday–>

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