Distance

 Read John 7:17, John 8:32, and John 17:17. What promises does Jesus give regarding knowing truth, and where is it found? God’s final appeal to His people is to flee the errors of Babylon and walk in the light of eternal truth found in His Word. The key to everything is the Bible. As long as people stick to the Bible and follow what it teaches, they will not be deceived in the final crisis, particularly regarding the Sabbath. The message of the second angel appeals to us to accept truth rather than error, Scripture rather than tradition, and the teachings of God’s Word rather than the errors of false doctrine. The third angel’s message, which follows the first two angels’, presents a warning against the mark of the beast. Throughout the prophecies of the Bible, a beast represents a political or religious power. The sea beast of Revelation 13 and 14 arises out of Rome as a worldwide system of worship. Eventually this Roman power extends its influence over the whole world and will le...

 Read 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6. What admonition does the apostle Paul give us regarding the last days of human history? The apostle Paul urged the believers at Thessaloniki to “watch” and “be sober” in the context of the second coming of Christ. And if Paul would say that to believers then, what would he say to us today? He also declared that they were “children of light” (1 Thess. 5:5, NIV) and that they were not in “darkness, so that this day [the return of Christ]” (1 Thess. 5:4, NIV) should overtake them “as a thief ” (1 Thess. 5:4, NKJV). Jesus used the expression to “watch” in connection with earnest, heartfelt prayer (Matt. 24:42, Matt. 26:40, 41). To watch is to be spiritually alert. To be sober minded is to be serious about the times that we are living in and focused on the things that really matter. Ellen G. White adds: “We who know the truth should be preparing for what is soon to break upon the world as an overwhelming  surprise.”—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8, p...

 Read for This Week’s Study: 1 Thess. 5:1-6; John 8:32; Rev. 18:1; Rev. 4:11; Exod. 33:18, 19; Rev. 5:6, 12; Rev. 13:8. Memory Text: “After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory” (Revelation 18:1, NKJV). Sooner or later, final events will unfold. Exactly when, exactly ready.how—we have not been told. But we have been told enough. Some kind of legislation enforcing Sunday-keeping, in contrast to Sabbath-keeping, will occur. Revelation has revealed to us the crucial issues at stake, the crucial players involved, and in broad sweeps, it has told us what will happen when, in contrast to the worship of the One “who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water” (Rev.  14:7, NKJV), people—all “whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev.  13:8, NKJV)—will worship the beast and his image. In other words, all those who h...

 I choose to live by choice, not by chance. (God created and blessed you to live remember). To be motivated and not manipulated; To be useful and not used; To make changes and not excuses;  To excel, not to compete;  I listened to my inner voice, not to other opinions from people around.

 Even now, perhaps, the stage is being set for this impending persecu-tion. On June 6, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI made an urgent appeal to more than 15,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square in Rome that Sunday must be a day of rest for everyone, so people can be free to be with their families and with God. “By defending Sunday, one defends human freedom.” This isn’t, of course, the same thing as demanding that others keep this day, as opposed to the biblical Sabbath, but it does show that the idea of Sunday as the “day of rest” is, definitely, a real issue. Sooner or later, laws will be passed, and those who conscientiously follow the Word of God and keep the true Sabbath will be labeled as opposing society’s best interests. In this time of crisis, God’s faithful people will, by His grace and through His power, stand firm in their convictions to follow Him. They will not yield to the pressure. In contrast to the mark of the beast, they will receive the seal of God. Seals were used...

 Read Revelation 14:9 and compare it to Revelation 14:12. Where is the mark of the beast placed? (See Deut. 6:8, Deut. 11:18.) What two characteristics distinguish God’s people from those who receive the mark of the beast? One group worships the beast, and one keeps the commandments of God (which includes the fourth, the one commandment the beast power thought to change) and has the faith of Jesus. That’s the contrast. Working through the sea and land beasts, the devil attempts to undermine God’s authority by attacking the heart of worship; namely, the Sabbath. The mark of the beast is placed either in the forehead or the hand. The forehead is a symbol of the mind, where conscience, reason, and judgment are located; the hand, in contrast, is a symbol of actions and deeds. The day is coming, and possibly sooner than we think, that laws will be passed restricting our religious liberty. Those who conscientiously follow the Word of God and keep the true Sabbath of the Lord will be labe...

 Surveys reveal a deep lack of trust in institutions and governments. Millions wonder, “Where is there someone who is morally fit to lead the world?” Revelation’s prophecies identify the beast power as the one who, under the auspices of a religious/political union, will be the power believed fit to fill this role. Read Revelation 17:12-14. How does John describe these final scenes of earth’s history? What powerful contrast is seen here? There are three significant points John makes in this passage. First, the political powers have “one mind” and “give their power and authority” to the beast. Second, this conglomerate of error makes war against Jesus the Lamb. Third, in earth’s last war, Christ and His followers are triumphant. The beast does not win; Jesus does. Have you ever wondered what strategy the devil might use to unite the nations? History often repeats itself. We discover valuable lessons from the collapse of the Roman Empire. When the Germanic invasions from the north rav...

 Read 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4, 9-12. What does Paul predict about the last days? What identifying marks does he give for the beast, the antichrist power? The apostle Paul warns the Christian community of a “falling away” from the truth of God’s Word. He is concerned about the seeds of apostasy already present in the New Testament church, which would flourish in the coming centuries before the second coming of Christ. A counterfeit gospel would come into the church, distorting the Word of God. Satan is one who is behind this apostasy. He is the true “man of sin” who desires to exalt “himself above all that is called God” and sits in the “temple of God” (2 Thess. 2:4). But the “great deceiver” works through human agencies to accomplish his purposes. The identifying characteristics in Daniel and Revelation reveal that the little horn of Daniel 7, the beast of Revelation 13 and 14, and the “lawless one” of 2 Thessalonians 2 represent the same entity. The SDA Bible Commentary states it t...

 As we have already studied, the beast powers of Revelation 13 and 14 represent a worldwide system of false worship. But there’s more. Read Revelation 13:5; Revelation 12:6, 14; and Daniel 7:25. How long would this power dominate the religious landscape in the previous centuries? The beast would continue for a specific duration of time in history. In symbolic time prophecies, a prophetic day equals a literal year. In Numbers 14:34, we read: “for every day a year”—applying the Bible principle of counting a day for a year. Again, God says, “I have appointed thee each day for a year” (Ezek. 4:6). This principle has repeatedly proven itself accurate in interpreting biblical time prophecies, such as the 70 weeks of Daniel 9:24-27. Calculating the time period mentioned in Revelation 13:5 of 42 months, with 30 days in a month, we come up with 1,260 prophetic days or literal years. The ancient calendars regularly had 360 days per year. In the fourth century, the Roman emperor Constantine l...

 Read for This Week’s Study: Rev. 12:6, 14; Dan. 7:25; 2 Thess. 2:3, 4; Deut. 6:8; Deut. 11:18; Exod. 20:8-11. Memory Text: “He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints” (Revelation 13:10, NKJV). In the fifteenth century, the Piedmont valleys, high in the Alps of northern Italy, were home to the Waldenses, a people determined to stay faithful to their understanding of the Bible. As a result of their steadfast loyalty to Christ, they were fiercely persecuted. In A.D. 1488, the Waldenses in the Valley of Loyse were brutally murdered by the Roman Church for their faith. Another wave of persecution came in the seventeenth century, when the duke of Savoy sent an army of 8,000 into their territory and demanded that the local populace quarter his troops in their homes. They did as he requested, but this was a strategy to give the soldiers easy access to their victims. On Ap...