Bible Study - Sabbath School Podcast

Look at the powerful insights the Spirit of Prophecy gives us in regard to the state of God’s people in the last days, in the time of judgment and the end of the world.“Their only hope is in the mercy of God; their only defense will be prayer. As Joshua was pleading before the Angel, so the remnant church, with brokenness of heart and earnest faith, will plead for pardon and deliverance through Je...

In Revelation 5:1–3, once again we see a throne. A scroll is introduced with writing on both sides. It is sealed with the divine seal, and no one in heaven or on 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 fro...

In Revelation 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’ ” (Rev. 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 glim...

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, God revealed the history of the world to the prophet. Nations rise and fall. Persecuting powers oppress the people of Go...

The cross and judgment both reveal that God is just and merciful. The broken law demands the death of the sinner. Justice declares, “The wages of sin is death.” Mercy responds, “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23, NKJV). If God’s law could be changed or abolished, it would be totally unnecessary for Jesus to die. Christ’s death establishes the eternal nature of th...

The Bible’s last book, Revelation, focuses on the culmination of the agelong controversy between good and evil. Lucifer, a rebel angel, challenged the justice, fairness, and wisdom of God. He claimed that God was unfair and unjust in the way that He administered the universe. Revelation’s final judgment is at the very center of this conflict over the character of God. Revelation 14:7 reads: “ ‘Fea...

Memory Text: “Saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water’ ” (Revelation 14:7, NKJV). If the Bible was ever clear about anything, it’s clear that God is a God of judgment, and that sooner or later, in one way or another, judgment—the judgment so lacking here and now—is goin...

Think about the amazing words of Paul in Hebrews 7:25, which, describing Jesus as our High Priest, says that “He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him” (NKJV). “Save to the uttermost . . .” The Greek word for “uttermost” means “full, complete, total.” It is Jesus who saves us; our job is to surrender to Him, claiming His victory for us. Our trust must be in Him, n...

“Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Rev. 14:12). This is the depiction of God’s faithful people in the last days. Yet, the only way anyone can keep the commandments of God, then or now, is through the faith of Jesus. Notice our text does not say, “faith in Jesus,” although that is extremely important, but this expression, “the faith of Jesus,” is something mo...

A study of the use of the phrase in the Old Testament to “give glory to” God (Rev. 14:7) shows that it, interestingly enough, often (but not only) appears in the context of divine judgment (Josh. 7:19; 1 Sam. 6:5; Jer. 13:15, 16; Mal. 2:2), just as it does in the first angel’s message, as well (Rev. 14:7). This idea is seen, too, in Revelation 19:1, 2—“ ‘Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and...

In an age of consumerism, when secular values have made self the center, heaven’s appeal is to turn from the tyranny of self-centeredness and the bondage of self-inflated importance to place God at the center of our lives. For some, money is the center of their lives. For others, it is pleasure or power. For some, it may be sports, music, or entertainment. Revelation’s message is a clarion call to...

What else does the Bible teach us about what it means to fear God? Read Deuteronomy 6:2; Psalm 119:73, 74; and Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14. What do these texts reveal is the result of “fearing God”?These passages reveal a linkage between fearing God and keeping His commandments. Fearing God is an attitude of reverential respect that leads us to obedience. Heaven’s urgent appeal is for those saved by gr...

Fear God The purpose of the book of Revelation for our generation is to pre- pare a people to be ready for Jesus’ soon return and to unite with Him in giving His last-day message to the world. Revelation reveals the plans of God and unmasks the plans of Satan. It presents God’s final appeal, His urgent, eternal, universal message for all humanity. Read the apostle John’s urgent end-time appeal in...

Memory Text: “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). Danish author Søren Kierkegaard told a parable about the end time. It went something like this: A fire broke out backstage in a big theater. A clown, who had been part of the performance, came out to warn the audience: “Get out; the place is on fire!”...

Dwell more on the idea of Wednesday’s study about our need to be part of something bigger than ourselves and our meager, short-lived, often corrupt, damaged, and disappointing lives (who doesn’t have some of those things in their existence?). This desire makes so much sense, too. Physically, what are we but small packets of flesh carrying around our own brains—a couple of pounds of carbon-based or...

Through a perceptive, deep study of the Bible, the early Adventists had a growing understanding of the significance of these messages. They sensed that God had a message tailor-made for this ­generation—an urgent, end-time message that must be proclaimed to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people, in order to prepare the world for Christ’s return. The messages of the three angels have been the mot...

Read Revelation 14:6 again. What is the extent of the proclamation of the everlasting gospel, and why is the answer important to us and our mission and calling as a church? According to the urgent, end-time message of the first of these three angels, the “everlasting gospel” is to be proclaimed to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people. Here is a mission so grand, so large, so great, and so compr...

The three angels’ messages are a story of grace. They are the story of a Savior’s love beyond measure—a story of Jesus who loves us so much that He would rather experience hell itself than have one of us lost. They are the story of a boundless, unfathomable, incomprehensible, undying, unending, infinite love. God is never caught by surprise. He is not subject to the changing winds of humanity’s ch...

The “Everlasting” Gospel (page 24 of Standard Edition) Notice what Revelation 14:6, the beginning of the three angels’ messages, starts with: the “eternal” or “everlasting” gospel. If we fail to understand the depth of the gospel, we will miss the entire point of the three angels’ messages. We can never fully understand the issues in God’s judgment-hour message or the fall of Babylon or the mark o...

A Grace-Filled Book of Hope When most people think about the Bible’s last book, Revelation, they do not think about God’s grace. When they consider God’s last-day message, their thoughts often turn immediately to frightening beasts, mystic symbols, and strange images. The book of Revelation scares as many people as it reassures, which is unfortunate because it is, indeed, saturated with grace and...

Memory Text:“Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people” (Revelation 14:6, NKJV).In ancient Israel, when the heathen around them were polytheists, worshiping multiple “gods” of wood and stone, Israel’s clear, identifiable, powerful statement of faith was found in Deuteron...

The three angels’ messages are a story of grace. They are the story of a Savior’s love beyond measure—a story of Jesus who loves us so much that He would rather experience hell itself than have one of us lost. They are the story of a boundless, unfathomable, incomprehensible, undying, unending, infinite love. God is never caught by surprise. He is not subject to the changing winds of humanity’s ch...

“It is a law both of the intellectual and the spiritual nature that by beholding we become changed. The mind gradually adapts itself to the subjects upon which it is allowed to dwell. It becomes assimilated to that which it is accustomed to love and reverence. Man will never rise higher than his standard of purity or goodness or truth. If self is his loftiest ideal, he will never attain to anythin...

In Revelation 14 there are two harvests. The harvest of golden grain represents the righteous, and the harvest of gory grapes represents the unrighteous or the lost. Both harvests are fully ripe. Every seed sown is fully mature. Read Revelation 14:17–20. What does the expression “the great winepress of the wrath of God” mean? See also Revelation 14:10, Revelation 15:1, and Revelation 16:1.“Another...

John describes Jesus as the “Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle” (Rev. 14:14, NKJV). The word for “crown” is stephanos. It is a victor’s crown. When an athlete won an important contest, he was given a stephanos, a crown of honor, of glory, of victory. Jesus once wore a crown of thorns, symbolizing shame and mockery. He once was despised and rejected of me...