Bible Study - Sabbath School Podcast

Read Revelation 14:14 and Acts 1:9–11. What similarities do you discover? John states that “I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man” (Rev. 14:14, NKJV). When Jesus ascended to heaven, Luke records in Acts 1:9 that as the disciples stood gazing up into heaven, “while they watched, He [Jesus] was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight” (NKJV)....

Revelation 14 contains the key texts in regard to the Lord’s last-day message to His people and to the world. Central to it all is the return of Jesus, the fulfillment of His promise that “ ‘you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven’ ” (Mark 14:62, NKJV).Read Revelation 14:14. What title is used to describe Jesus as He returns to earth...

Eternal Choices Revelation 14 is Jesus’ final message of mercy to a fallen and rebel- lious world, one that has, for about six thousand years, been steeped in sin and evil. There will come a day when every human being on planet Earth will make a final, irrevocable decision, either for or against Jesus. Revelation’s message of Christ’s righteousness delivering us from the condemnation of sin, as we...

Memory Text: Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, ‘Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe’ ” (Revelation 14:14, 15, N...

Further Thought: In a sense, we could argue that God had no choice: if He wanted beings who could love Him and love others, He had to create them free. If they were not free, they could not love, and what would our universe be without love? It would be what some people have claimed: nothing but a mindless machine that works according to strict laws of cause and effect and in which we have no free...

God’s End-time Remnant The devil has been at war with Christ since his rebellion in heaven (Rev. 12:7). Satan’s purpose then and his purpose now is to seize control of the universe (see Isa. 14:12–14). The focus of his attention in the last days of earth’s history is upon God’s people. Revelation 12:17 emphatically declares that the dragon (Satan) was wroth (angry) with the woman (the church) and...

The Woman in the Wilderness Read Revelation 12:6 and compare it to Revelation 12:14–16. Notice carefully the time period, Satan’s attack on the “woman” (God’s church), and God’s provision for His people. What are these verses talking about? ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________...

Accepting Jesus’ Victory As depicted in the Bible, Jesus has never lost a battle with Satan. He is the mighty Conqueror. He is the Victor over the powers of evil. It is one thing to believe that Jesus was victorious over the temptations of Satan; it is quite another thing to believe that Christ’s victory is our victory, as well. Read Revelation 12:10. What encouragement should you get from the fac...

The Battle in Heaven Revelation 12 presents a stream of dramatic episodes, snapshots of the agelong conflict between good and evil that began in heaven but will end here on earth. These episodes take us down the stream of time, from the opening scene of Satan’s rebellion in heaven to his vicious attacks on God’s people in the last days. Read Revelation 12:7–9, which describes this cosmic conflict...

Memory Text: “Andthedragonwasenragedwiththewoman,and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 12:17, NKJV). In Outnumbered: Incredible Stories of History’s Most Surprising Battlefield Upsets, Cormac O’Brien recounts the stories of armies that, though seriously outnumbered, still won. It tells of Hanniba...

Further Thought: Here is a word picture of a church family who are financially faithful managers of God’s business on earth. The Stewardship Vision for Seventh-day Adventist Churches Around the World It’s sometime in the future; and pastors and local church leaders have been successful at creating a stewardship environment in the church. They have taught, trained, supported, and encouraged the chu...

Eyes on the Prize After Paul’s conversion, he dove fully into the cause of Christ. Because of his education and sharp mind, he could have been very successful from a worldly perspective. Like Moses, Paul chose to suffer with God’s faithful children and for the sake of Christ. He suf- fered beatings, stoning, prison, shipwreck, hunger, cold, and more as recorded in 2 Corinthians 11:24–33. How was h...

The Settling of Accounts Near the close of Jesus’ ministry, His disciples came to Him privately and asked, “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (Matt. 24:3). Jesus then takes two chapters to answer their questions. Matthew 24 tells of signs in the world around us, such as wars, disasters, and so on. Then Matthew 25 talks abou...

The New Jerusalem The biblical description of the New Jerusalem is what Abraham saw by faith. “For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Heb. 11:10). The New Jerusalem is God’s master- piece, built for those who love Him and keep His commandments. The New Jerusalem will be the home of God’s faithful children in heaven during the millennium and, afterward, on...

Reward for Faithfulness Read Hebrews 11:6. What should this verse mean to us? How should we respond to what it says? Also read Revelation 22:12, Isaiah 40:10, and Isaiah 62:11. What do all these texts teach us? ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ The reward from God to His faithful children is unique and, like many spiri...

Read for This Week’s Study: Heb. 11:6, Isa. 62:11, Rom. 6:23, John 14:1–3, Revelation 21, Matt. 25:20–23, Rom. 8:16–18. Memory Text: “ ‘His lord said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord” ’ ” (Matthew 25:21, NKJV). Though we can never earn salvation, the Bible uses the hope of rew...

Everlasting Life As human beings (and whether we like it or not), an eternity awaits us. And according to the Bible, this eternity will come in one of two manifestations, at least for each of us individually: either eternal life or eternal death. That’s it. No middle ground. No straddling, a bit of one side or another. Instead, it is one (life) or the other (death). This truly is a case of all or...

Further Thought: Though nothing in the Bible warns against wealth, nothing in the Bible talks about wealth as increasing one’s spiritual com- mitment either. In fact, the opposite danger is true. “The love of money, the desire for wealth, is the golden chain that binds them [people] to Satan.” —Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 44. In fact, since the founding of Christianity, no church has ever...

When No One Can Buy or Sell The Bible paints a painful picture of the world before the second coming of Jesus. Daniel writes about “ ‘a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time’ ” (Dan. 12:1, NKJV). Considering some of the troublous times in the past, what he is referring to here must be pretty bad. The book of Revelation also points to troubling times before...

The parables and teachings of Jesus, the stories of Bible characters, and the counsel of Ellen G. White all indicate clearly that there is no halfway commitment to Christ. Either we are or we are not on the Lord’s side. When asked by a scribe which commandment was the greatest, Jesus answered, “ ‘ “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and wi...

Further Thought: Ellen G. White wrote two chapters on this important topic of distribution of our assets. See “To (Aged and) Wealthy Parents,” in Testimonies for the Church, vol. 3, pp. 116–130, and “Wills and Legacies,” in Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, pp. 476–485. There also is a section that discusses estate planning in Counsels on Stewardship, pp. 323–335. Ellen G. White also wrote: “Tha...

Spiritual Legacy Though it’s hard to know what life would have been like on earth had humans not sinned, one thing we can know for sure: there would have been no hoarding, no greed, no poverty—things that have plagued our world since recorded history. Our sense of ownership, of what we have worked for and, if we did it honestly, is rightfully ours, is nevertheless a manifestation of life in a fall...

What principles can we take from the following texts regarding how we should deal with money? 1 Tim. 6:17 2 Cor. 4:18 Prov. 30:8 Eccles. 5:10 Money can have a powerful hold on human beings, a hold that has led to the ruin of many. Who has not heard of people who have done terrible things because of money—even when they already had a lot of it to begin with? It doesn’t have to be that way, though....

Begin With Personal Needs In Old Testament times, many of the children of Israel were farmers and shepherds. Thus, some of God’s promised blessings were couched in farm language. For example, in Proverbs 3:9, 10, God says that if we are financially faithful to Him, our “barns will be filled with plenty” (NKJV). It is likely that many Christians don’t have a barn today. So, we understand that God w...

Someone once asked famous evangelist Billy Graham what surprised him most about life, now that he was old (Graham was in his 60s at the time). Graham’s answer? “The brevity of it.” No question, life goes by quickly. What do the following texts teach about human life here? Ps. 49:17; 1 Tim. 6:6, 7; Ps. 39:11; James 4:14; Eccles. 2:18–22. Not only does life go by quickly, but also when you die, you...