Closer To Heaven
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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
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqagSTjXCig&w=560&h=315]
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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/5-the-good-news-of-the-judgment-it-is-written-discussions-with-the-author/
You can view an in-depth discussion of The Good News of the Judgement in the Hope Sabbath School class led by Pastor Derek Morris. Click on the image to view: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY7lO_VLe04&w=560&h=315]
With thanks to
Hope Channel – Television that will change your life.
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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/5-the-good-news-of-the-judgment-hopess-video-discussion/
In Revelation 5:1-5, once again we see a throne. A scroll is introduced written on both sides. It is sealed with the divine seal, and no one in heaven or earth can open the scroll. Heavenly beings tremble. The issue is serious. No angelic being can represent humanity in earth’s final judgment. John weeps because no one can open the scroll. Then one of the elders, one of those redeemed from the earth, speaks words of encouragement to John’s heart. Jesus, the Lamb of God, is worthy to open the scroll.
Image © Steve Creitz Goodsalt.com
John beholds the ultimate answer to the sin problem in Revelation 5:5-6. Here the aged prophet beholds the only way anyone can pass the final judgment at the throne of God.
“But one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll.’ … And I looked, and behold, … a Lamb as though it had been slain” (, Revelation 5:6, NKJV).
Jesus, the Lamb of God who has sacrificed His life for the salvation of all humanity, takes the scroll of judgment and opens it. All of heaven bursts forth in rapturous praise. His victory over Satan’s temptations, His death on Calvary’s cross, His resurrection, His high priestly ministry, provides salvation for all who choose by faith to respond to His grace. The judgment is incredibly good news for the people of God. It speaks of the end of the reign of sin and the deliverance of God’s people.
Can anything be more encouraging? Jesus stands for us in the judgment. His perfect righteous life covers us. His righteousness works within us to make us new. His grace pardons us, transforms us, and empowers us to live godly lives.
We need not fear. Jesus stands for us in the judgment, and the powers of evil are defeated. Judgment is passed in “favor” of the people of God (Daniel 7:22). The purpose of the judgment is not to find out how bad we are but to reveal how good God is.
| Again, dwell on the great hope that we have in the judgment: Jesus as our substitute. Why is that our only hope? |
(1)The post Thursday: Jesus Is Worthy appeared first on Sabbath School Net.
In Revelation chapter 4, John beholds an open door in heaven and receives the invitation to “come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this“ (Revelation 4:1, NKJV). Jesus invited the apostle to look through the open door in heaven’s sanctuary to view eternal scenes in the great controversy between good and evil. We, too, can look through that open door with John and receive a glimpse of the eternal plan of salvation. We are witnesses of issues that are being decided in heaven’s celestial court. Fundamental issues in the great controversy between good and evil develop before our eyes.
Image © Steve Creitz at Goodsalt.com
This is obviously a throne room scene. God the Father sits upon the throne surrounded by heavenly beings. There is thunder and lightning symbolizing God’s judgments. We also notice in Revelation 4:4 that 24 elders are present around God’s throne.
Who are these 24 elders? In ancient Israel there were 24 divisions in the Levitical priesthood. These priests represented the people before God. In 1 Peter 2:9, the apostle declares that New Testament believers are a “chosen generation,” “a royal priesthood.” These 24 elders could, perhaps, represent all the redeemed that one day will rejoice around the throne of God; or, perhaps, they represent the people resurrected at Christ’s resurrection and who ascended to heaven with Him (Matthew 27:52, Ephesians 4:7-8).
Either way, this is good news. There are some of the redeemed from the earth around the throne of God. They faced temptations just as we face them. Through the grace of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, they overcame. They are clothed in “white robes,” signifying the righteousness of Christ that covers and cleanses their sins. They have a golden crown upon their heads, signifying they are victorious in the battle with evil and are part of heaven’s royal line of faith-filled believers.
We see a throne set in heaven with God sitting upon it. There are heavenly beings around the throne, and soon all of heaven begins to sing, and the crescendo of praise builds higher and still higher: “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created“ (Revelation 4:11, NKJV).
(1)The post Wednesday: A Glimpse of Heaven appeared first on Sabbath School Net.
The prophetic books of Daniel and Revelation are companion volumes pointing us to the unfolding events in the last days of earth’s history. The book of Revelation announces that the hour of God’s judgment has come. The book of Daniel reveals when the judgment began.
In Daniel 7:1-28, God revealed the history of the world to the prophet. Nations rise and fall. Persecuting powers oppress the people of God. After describing Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece, Rome, the breakup of the Roman Empire, and the persecution of the church for the 1,260 years depicted in the text (Daniel 7:25; see also Revelation 12:6, Revelation 12:14),
Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com
God focuses Daniel’s mind on a glorious celestial event that will set all things right. The prophet’s attention is directed from the rise and fall of nations and the oppressive powers of earth to the throne room of the universe and God’s final judgment, when He will right every wrong and establish His everlasting kingdom of righteousness.
God took Daniel in prophetic vision from the chaos and conflict of the earth to the glories of heaven’s sanctuary and the sitting of the supreme court of the universe, where Christ, the Rightful Ruler of this world, would receive from His Father the kingdom that was rightfully His.
The destiny of all humanity is decided in heaven’s courtroom. Right prevails. Truth triumphs. Justice reigns. This is one of the most amazing, most marvelous, most spectacular scenes in all of Scripture. And the good news is that it ends very well for God’s faithful people, those clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
Jesus approaches His heavenly Father in the presence of the entire universe. Heavenly beings crowd in around the throne of God. The entire universe of unfallen beings stands in awe of this judgment scene. The long conflict that has waged for millenniums is soon to be over. The battle for the throne of the universe is fully, completely decided.
| Daniel was right about the empires that came and went, just as predicted. Why, then, does it make so much sense to trust the Word of God about what it says regarding the final one, “an everlasting kingdom” that shall never “pass away”? |
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