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Series Code: IIWSS
Program Code: IIWSS023014S
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00:00 (uplifting theme music)
00:13 (music ends) 00:16 >>Welcome to "Sabbath School," 00:18 brought to you by It Is Written. 00:20 We're delighted to have you back with us again this week 00:23 as we continue our study of the three angels' message, 00:26 one of the most significant messages 00:28 that you will find in the Bible and certainly one of them 00:31 that most especially applies to our day. 00:33 This is week number two. 00:35 We are going to be looking at "A Moment of Destiny." 00:39 Let's begin with prayer. 00:40 Father, we wanna thank You 00:42 for bringing us together again this week 00:43 as we continue our study 00:45 of this incredible series of messages. 00:48 We ask that You'll bless our time together today, 00:51 that we may understand it better 00:53 and apply it to our lives in a very significant 00:56 and meaningful way. We thank You in Jesus' name. 00:59 Amen. >>Amen. 01:00 >>Well, our guest this week, just like last week 01:02 and for the remainder of the 13 weeks, 01:05 is Pastor Mark Finley. 01:06 He is an international speaker and evangelist. 01:09 Pastor Mark, we're delighted 01:10 that you could join us again this week. 01:12 >>I'm happy to be back with It Is Written. 01:14 You know, I spent 14 happy years here at the ministry 01:18 and have such regard for John, for you, Eric, 01:21 and we are just delighted. Thank you for the privilege. 01:24 >>We've got a big topic we're looking at this week. 01:26 We're looking at "A Moment of Destiny," 01:29 and as I just mentioned, this is part of a 13-week journey 01:32 that we're going on with you, 01:34 learning more about this significant series of messages. 01:38 Now, we mentioned last week that the book of Revelation 01:42 is divided into three major parts. 01:45 Could you review that with us just a little bit? 01:47 >>Sure. If you look at Revelation, 01:50 we have three major parts in the entire book 01:53 and then three major parts in Revelation 14 as well. 01:56 In Revelation, you have an introduction 01:59 in the first chapter that introduces Jesus 02:02 as the divine Son of God. 02:04 Christ is the one who's going to return. 02:07 Jesus is the one who is present 02:09 with us today as our High Priest. 02:11 So you have that introduction in chapter 1. 02:13 Then you have sequences of seven 02:16 from about chapter 2 to chapter 11. 02:19 You have the seven churches, the seven seals, 02:22 the seven trumpets. That would be the second part. 02:24 Then from 12 to 22, you have that third section 02:28 that really deals with end-time events. 02:31 When you come to Revelation, chapter 14, 02:34 it is also divided into three sections. 02:37 Revelation 14 is our special study 02:39 during our "Sabbath School" time. 02:42 Verses 1-5 talk about the 144,000, 02:46 a group of people who stand on the sea of glass. 02:49 Now, this may seem strange 02:51 for modern interpreters of the Bible 02:54 or modern readers of the Bible, 02:56 but it's really not strange at all 02:58 when you come to the ancient times. 03:00 Often the ancients gave you the conclusion 03:03 before they gave you what led up to the conclusion. 03:05 So you have that, Pastor Eric, in Revelation 14. 03:09 The first part is verses 1-5 03:12 where you see this scene 03:13 with the people on the sea of glass, 03:15 the people that are with the Lamb, with Jesus Christ. 03:18 Then you have the message that prepares them for that event, 03:23 Revelation 14:6-12. 03:26 Then you have the event for which they're prepared, 03:28 Revelation, chapter 14, verse 14-20. 03:32 So you have 1-5, Revelation 14:1-5, a people, 03:38 Revelation, chapter 14:6-12, a message, 03:41 Revelation, chapter 14, 03:43 verses 14-20, an event. 03:48 And that kind of summarizes the entire chapter of 14. 03:52 >>So we've got the threes in several different places. 03:58 We've got a summary of chapter 14. 04:01 Why is it here? 04:02 I mean, if we were to look at where we stand 04:04 in the scheme of earth's history, 04:07 we are today living in Revelation, chapter 14. 04:12 We see the people. We see the message. 04:15 What's...why is it there? What's the purpose of it? 04:19 >>Revelation, chapter 14 is to prepare people 04:22 for the coming of Jesus. 04:24 There is no chapter in the Bible 04:28 that is as definitive and as clear 04:31 in a message to prepare people 04:33 for the coming of Jesus as Revelation, chapter 14. 04:36 As we look back through history, 04:38 we see that when God has had a major event 04:42 to impact the world, He has always had a message 04:46 to prepare for that event, 04:49 as it says, for example, in Amos 3:7, 04:52 "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, 04:54 but He [reveals] His secret to His servants the prophets." 04:57 Before the destruction of the world by fire, God sent-- 05:00 rather, by water (laughs)--God sent Noah 05:02 to prepare for the Flood; 120 years he preached. 05:05 Before John the--before Jesus came, 05:08 John the Baptist was raised up by God 05:11 to prepare a message for the first coming of Christ. 05:13 And when the world is going to be destroyed at the end time, 05:16 and God's gonna come to deliver His people, 05:19 He has sent a message to prepare us. 05:21 And Revelation, chapter 14, pastor, is given to us in love. 05:26 It's a message that is saturated in love 05:29 to prepare a people for the return of Jesus Christ. 05:32 >>So Revelation 14, a message of love, 05:34 I think that's significant 05:35 because a lot of times you'll run into people-- 05:37 and I know we'll get into this a little bit later 05:39 in more depth--who say, you know, "Especially 05:41 "the book of Revelation is a book filled with fear, 05:45 and we're worried about this vengeful God," and so forth. 05:48 And we don't wanna jump too far into that, 05:50 but this is a message of love, isn't it? 05:53 >>It really is. 05:54 You know, I had an interesting experience. 05:56 Many years ago, we were living in Hinsdale, Illinois. 06:00 My wife took our son to the barber, 06:02 and he was just a young lad, you know, 5 years old. 06:05 And she came back and said to me, 06:07 "Mark, you gotta go to a haircut." 06:09 I said, "What are you talking about? 06:10 My hair looks pretty good." 06:11 She said, "No, that barber is really interested 06:13 in spiritual things." 06:15 She said, "Just before our son was going 06:17 "to go get his haircut, there was a man sitting 06:20 "in the barber chair reading the paper. 06:22 "And as the man read the paper, he said, 06:24 "'Boy, everything in the paper is scary. 06:26 "Everything in the paper is scary.' 06:27 "He said, 'You read about war. You read about crime. 06:31 "It's scary to read the paper.' 06:33 "And the barber said to him, 'You think that's scary? 06:36 You should read the book of Revelation.'" (chuckles) 06:38 "He said, 'Last night I read the book of Revelation, 06:39 "'all about these beasts and the mark of the beast 06:42 "and war, conflict.' 06:44 And he said, 'I could hardly sleep.'" 06:45 My wife said, "You've gotta go help that barber. 06:47 Go get a haircut." So I went down and sat there, 06:51 and I prayed, "Lord, help me to know what to do." 06:53 And I pick up the newspaper as I sat in the barber's chair, 06:56 and I said, "Boy, you know what, sir? 06:57 Everything you read in the newspaper is scary." (laughs) 07:00 And the barber said, "You think that's scary?" 07:01 He took the bait, you know? 07:02 He said, "You should read Revelation." 07:04 I said, "I read it a little bit." 07:06 We talked about Jesus, the Lamb of God in Revelation. 07:09 We talked about a loving God who wants to prepare people 07:12 for the coming of Christ. 07:13 We talked about the return of Jesus. 07:16 And this barber and I began Bible studies, 07:18 and we eventually baptized him. 07:20 >>Oh, wow. 07:21 >>So, Revelation, you've mentioned scary. It's only scary 07:24 if you don't see the central theme of Revelation. 07:27 And you remember last week we talked 07:30 about the theme of Revelation, chapter 1: 07:32 Jesus wins; Satan loses. 07:35 So the theme of the book of Revelation 07:37 is the all-conquering, triumphant Christ. 07:40 Jesus triumphed over the principalities in hell 07:44 in His life on earth 07:46 as He defeated Satan when Satan tempted Him 07:48 in the wilderness and throughout His life. 07:50 Jesus defeated the principalities and powers of hell 07:52 on the cross when He provided salvation for humanity. 07:56 Jesus is defeating the principalities and powers of hell now 07:59 as His High Priest ministry in the sanctuary. 08:02 And Jesus will defeat the principalities 08:04 and powers of hell when He comes again 08:05 in the clouds of glory. That's the theme of Revelation. 08:08 >>So, less a theme of worry and fear, 08:13 more one of hope and encouragement. 08:15 >>Exactly. >>And that's phenomenal. 08:17 We're in Revelation, chapter 14 this week. 08:19 You mentioned the several portions of it, 08:22 three different portions of it here. 08:24 One section, chapter 14, verses 14-20, 08:28 talks about some harvests. 08:31 Unpack those harvests a little bit for us, if you would. 08:34 >>There are two harvests there. 08:35 And let me just read through Revelation 14, 08:40 and we're gonna take a look at some amazing things. 08:44 You know, when I prepared these Sabbath school lessons, 08:49 you think you know a great deal about something 08:52 until you start studying it in depth. 08:54 I would always talk about the three angels' messages 08:57 in Revelation 14, 08:59 but actually there are six angels in Revelation 14. 09:01 And so let me just read through it. If you have your Bible, 09:05 and you are watching the program, get out your Bible. 09:08 Get out a pen and underline some passages 09:12 and take some notes. So here we go, Revelation 14, verse 14. 09:16 John says, "Then I looked"-- 09:18 well, why do you have "then" there? 09:20 Because it's after the message that prepares, 09:22 and we're gonna go into that message 09:23 in depth in future lessons. 09:25 "Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, 09:28 and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man." 09:32 Why is it that when Jesus is mentioned here 09:36 in Revelation, chapter 14, He's mentioned as the Son of Man? 09:39 It's the favorite title that Jesus had. 09:43 John, who wrote the Gospel of John, is writing Revelation, 09:48 and he wants us to know 09:49 that the One that walked the dusty streets of Galilee, 09:52 the One that walked the cobblestone streets of Jerusalem, 09:55 the One that touched the eyes of the blind, 09:57 and they were opened, 09:58 and the years of the deaf, and they were unstopped, 09:59 the One that touched withered hands, 10:01 the One that healed the sick, 10:03 and the One that ministered love and raised the dead 10:06 and the One that forgave sins 10:08 and delivered the demoniacs with power, the Son of Man, 10:11 the One that identifies with us, 10:13 He is the One that's coming again to redeem us and save us. 10:16 It says He has "on His head a golden crown." 10:19 This crown is "stephanos." 10:22 It is the crown of victory. It's the victor's crown. 10:26 So Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, comes 10:29 with the victor's crown. "In His hand [is] a sharp sickle," 10:32 that is to say that He comes to reap the harvest. 10:36 It says, "And another angel came out of the temple, 10:39 "crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, 10:42 "'Thrust in Your sickle and reap, 10:44 "'for the time has come for You to reap, 10:46 for the harvest of the earth is ripe.'" 10:48 Now, look, when I read this, I just stood back, 10:51 and I hadn't seen it before, Pastor Eric. 10:55 It says, "Another angel came out of the temple, 10:58 crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud." 11:01 So here you have Jesus, He's ready to come, 11:03 and an angel comes from the presence of God 11:07 with the iridescent glory of God, 11:09 and he says, "Jesus, the time is ripe. 11:12 "Jesus, the time is ripe. Go, deliver your people. 11:16 And the harvest is ripe." Those who are righteous 11:20 have made their final, irrevocable decision. 11:23 Nothing can move them. Those that are wicked 11:25 and unrighteous have made their final, irrevocable decision. 11:28 Nothing can move them. Both harvests have come to bear. 11:31 The time is ripe. 11:34 And then it says: "'Thrust in your sickle..., 11:36 "'...the time has come for You to reap, 11:38 "for the harvest of the earth is ripe.' 11:40 "So He who sat on the cloud thrust in 11:43 His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped." 11:46 What does it mean that the harvest of the earth was reaped? 11:50 What is this harvest? 11:51 If you go back to Mark, chapter 4, verse 26-29, 11:57 Mark 4, verse 26-29, 12:00 you notice what the harvest is all about. 12:04 And here it's the parable of the growing seed, 12:08 Mark, chapter 4, verse 26-29. 12:11 Pastor, do you wanna read those for us? 12:12 >>Sure, Mark 4, starting in verse 26: 12:15 "And He said, 'The kingdom of God is 12:16 "as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, 12:18 "and should sleep by night and rise by day, 12:21 "and the seed should sprout and grow, 12:23 "he himself does not know how. 12:25 "For the earth yields crops by itself: 12:27 "first the blade, then the head, 12:29 "after that the full grain in the head. 12:31 "But when the grain ripens, 12:33 "immediately he puts in the sickle, 12:35 because the harvest has come.'" 12:36 >>So the seed, of course, represents the Word of God. 12:39 So since Jesus' death and resurrection and ascension, 12:44 the disciples went out 12:45 and spread the Word of God to the world. 12:47 Jesus says in Matthew 24, verse 14, 12:49 "This gospel of the kingdom [shall] be preached 12:51 "in all the world as a witness to all...nations, 12:54 ...then the end [shall] come." 12:55 So the maturing of the gospel seed takes place 12:59 when every living human being has had an opportunity 13:03 to accept or reject the gospel. 13:05 And we are seeing that today through television, 13:08 through the internet, through social media, 13:10 through the printed page, through preachers. 13:13 We are living in the time of the fulfillment of the harvest. 13:17 >>And that's encouraging. 13:19 If that doesn't encourage you, I don't know what could. 13:22 But we're gonna come back in just a moment 13:23 and continue looking at these two harvests 13:25 and the depth of Revelation, chapter 14. 13:29 But if you're enjoying this study of Revelation 14, 13:31 and you want to get more out of it, 13:33 I want to encourage you to pick up this book 13:36 called "Three Cosmic Messages" by Pastor Mark Finley. 13:40 This book will give you greater depth, 13:43 deeper insight into what we are studying 13:45 and add an immense value to your understanding 13:48 of the three angels' messages. 13:50 To pick that up, you can go to itiswritten.shop. 13:54 Again, that's itiswritten.shop, 13:56 and look for the book "Three Cosmic Messages" 13:59 by Mark Finley. 14:00 We're going to come back in just a moment 14:02 as we continue looking at "A Moment of Destiny." 14:05 We'll be right back. 14:06 (uplifting theme music swells and ends) 14:11 >>[John Bradshaw] It's everywhere, 14:13 adorning churches, adorning people. 14:16 There's a season every year commemorating the cross, 14:20 but beyond eggs and rabbits, there's a power, 14:23 the power of a sacrifice, the power of the love of God. 14:27 Be sure you see "At the Cross" 14:30 and learn about the single event 14:32 that changed the course of history, 14:35 the event that can change your life forever. 14:38 Predicted by prophets and foretold by Jesus Himself, 14:42 what happened at the cross was a demonstration 14:45 of God's love like no other. 14:47 Humanity's fall into sin 14:49 in the Garden of Eden brought upon Adam and Eve 14:51 and their descendants inescapable consequences, 14:55 but into that turmoil stepped Jesus, 14:57 promising the planet a way of escape. 15:01 Don't miss "At the Cross," 15:03 brought to you by It Is Written TV. 15:11 (uplifting theme music) 15:16 >>[Eric] Welcome back to "Sabbath School," 15:17 brought to you by It Is Written. 15:19 We're taking a look at lesson number two, 15:21 "A Moment of Destiny." 15:23 Now, Pastor Mark, a moment ago, you were mentioning 15:26 from Wednesday's lesson the victor's crown. 15:28 That's "stephanos." 15:30 There's an interesting quote in the middle 15:31 of Wednesday's lesson that comes 15:34 from a book called "Christ's Object Lessons" 15:36 on pages 65 and 66. 15:38 It's a powerful quote, and part of it says, 15:40 "The plant must either grow or die. 15:43 "As its growth is silent and imperceptible, but continuous, 15:46 "so is the development of the Christian life. 15:50 "At every stage of development our life may be perfect; 15:53 "yet if God's purpose for us is fulfilled, 15:56 "there will be continual advancement. 15:59 Sanctification is the work of a lifetime." 16:02 That's, it's an interesting statement. 16:03 It's a very profound statement 16:06 and one that I think a lot of people, 16:07 even a lot of Christians, don't quite understand. 16:10 Could you elaborate on that a little bit, open it up for us? 16:13 >>Sure, I'm interested in this particular sentence: 16:17 "At every stage of development, our life may be perfect; 16:20 yet if God's purpose for us is fulfilled, 16:23 there will be continual advancement." 16:25 There are many people that have the idea 16:27 that perfection is a state that we arrive at, 16:30 and that if we arrive at that state, there's no more growth. 16:34 But yet this statement says that 16:38 at every stage we may be perfect, 16:40 and there's continual advancement. 16:41 So how do you harmonize those two? 16:43 It's a definition of perfection. 16:46 In this context and in the Bible, what is perfection? 16:49 Perfection is total commitment. 16:52 Perfection has to do with my commitment to Christ first. 16:56 So, as the Holy Spirit touches my heart, 17:00 and I make a decision to follow Jesus, 17:03 the Holy Spirit then works in my life 17:06 to lead me to a commitment to Christ. 17:09 Now, I can only commit the things that I know. 17:11 So as it says in John, chapter 8, verse 29, 17:15 Jesus said, "I do [all] those things that please Him." 17:18 So what is perfection? 17:20 Perfection is the desire in every aspect 17:23 of my life to please Jesus. But the more I study and grow, 17:28 the more the seed of the Word of God is developed within me, 17:32 the more I see things in my life 17:33 that I've never seen before. 17:35 I may recognize that I've had a critical tongue. 17:38 I may recognize that there's pride. 17:40 I may recognize that there is 17:43 in my life times when I'm not 100% honest 17:47 in the statements that I make. 17:49 As I recognize those and am convicted by the Holy Spirit, 17:52 because all I wanna do is please Jesus, 17:54 I surrender those things. 17:56 So perfection is not a state that we enter into. 18:00 It's rather an attitude of commitment to Christ, 18:04 and in that attitude of commitment, 18:06 there is constant growth as Jesus is revealing to me things 18:09 in my life that are not in harmony with His will. 18:11 >>So this involves a word 18:13 that a lot of times people don't wanna come up against, 18:16 and that's surrender. 18:17 You know, we have to completely surrender our wills to Him. 18:20 And as you mentioned, He continues to reveal things to us 18:23 that we then have the opportunity to either surrender 18:26 or not to surrender. 18:28 I think I had somebody share it with me this way. 18:31 The closer we get to the light that is Jesus, 18:34 the closer we get to know Him, 18:37 the more distinct becomes our own shadow. 18:39 We realize how far we fall from Him. 18:43 But by His grace, we continue to grow 18:47 and make advancement day by day. 18:49 >>And when we come to this final harvest-- 18:51 and that's exactly right--we come to this final harvest-- 18:53 you know, in Philippians 1 it says that 18:56 "He that has begun a good work in you" is gonna finish it. 19:01 In Hebrews 12, it says God is the-- 19:03 Jesus--"the author and finisher of our faith." 19:06 So what we believe is this: 19:09 that right now I'm not everything that God wants me to be, 19:13 but He's working in my life through His Holy Spirit 19:16 because I want my will-- 19:17 I've surrendered my will totally to Him. 19:20 Do I know how God Himself 19:23 is gonna bring me to the state of final harvest 19:26 where He could say it's finished in my life? 19:28 I don't know how that's gonna be accomplished, 19:30 but it's accomplished by faith, 19:32 faith in the Christ that redeemed me, 19:34 faith in the grace that is working in my life now, 19:38 faith in the belief that through the intercession of Jesus, 19:41 He's gonna get me to where He wants me to be. 19:44 And I like this illustration. 19:47 When I was just a young boy, seven years old, 19:53 I went to school; I was in first grade. 19:56 I didn't know that when I was in college, 19:59 I would be taking Greek, for example, 20:02 (chuckles) my theology. 20:03 I didn't know that I would be studying various aspects 20:07 of philosophy. 20:08 I didn't even know how to read back then in the first grade, 20:10 and I was just learning to read. 20:13 But I stayed in school, and my teachers prepared me 20:16 for what I didn't know I could be. 20:19 If a child goes in the first grade, 20:21 and they're learning one and one is two, (laughing) 20:23 and two and two is four, and three and three is six, 20:26 they don't know 20:27 that one day they're gonna take trigonometry. 20:30 They don't know one day they'll take calculus. 20:32 They don't know that one day they'll be a famous scientist. 20:34 But if they stay in school 20:36 and allow the teacher to teach them, 20:38 they're gonna come to that state. 20:40 It's like that in the Christian life. 20:42 We are committed to stay in the school of Christ, 20:45 who will work in our life and finish what He has started 20:49 and bring us to that final harvest 20:51 so that we're ready for His coming. 20:52 >>And that continual advancement is a part of that. 20:55 >>[Mark] Amen, amen. 20:56 >>So this harvest that you mentioned, 20:58 we mentioned that there were two different harvests. 21:00 We've kind of delved into one of the harvests. 21:02 What about that, the other harvest? 21:05 >>The other harvest, let's read about it here. 21:08 The other harvest is called the harvest of grapes, 21:12 the grapes of wrath. 21:14 It's in Revelation 14, verse 17-20. 21:19 It says, "Then another angel came out of the temple 21:21 which is in heaven, he also [had] a sharp sickle." 21:24 So this is another reaping that takes place. 21:27 We had first the reaping of golden grain, 21:30 now the reaping of gory grapes. 21:32 "And another angel came out from the altar, 21:35 "who had power over fire, and he cried with a loud cry 21:39 to him who had the sharp sickle, saying"-- 21:42 so you have another angel coming out-- 21:44 "'Thrust in your sickle and gather the clusters 21:46 of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe.' 21:51 "So the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth 21:53 "and gathered the vine of the earth, 21:55 "and threw it into the winepress of the wrath of God. 21:58 "And the winepress was trampled outside the city, 22:01 "and blood came out of the winepress, 22:03 "up to the horses' bridles, 22:05 [about] one thousand six hundred furlongs." 22:08 So let's try to unpack that. 22:09 First, the purpose of the three angels' messages 22:13 in Revelation 14:6-12 that begins with the statement, 22:18 "I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven 22:20 "having the everlasting gospel to preach 22:23 "to them that dwell on the earth, 22:24 to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people." 22:26 The purpose of the gospel is to provide salvation 22:29 and redemption and freedom 22:31 from the condemnation and guilt of sin 22:33 and the power and dominion of sin for every human being. 22:37 So when you come to the final two harvests 22:39 in Revelation, chapter 14, 22:42 every human being on earth has had a reasonable opportunity 22:46 to accept or reject Christ, 22:48 to accept or reject His last-day message. 22:51 In the last days of earth's history, 22:53 when the final climax comes, 22:58 God Himself will pour out His Holy Spirit 23:02 to give everybody that opportunity. 23:05 Nobody is lost because they didn't know. 23:08 They will only be lost 23:09 because of what they knew and didn't do. 23:11 They didn't take advantage of the opportunity, 23:14 and there was rebellion in the heart. 23:16 There was self-centeredness and egotism and pride, 23:19 which led to Satan's fall, of course. 23:21 So the final harvest of gory grapes 23:24 is the harvest of the lost. It's like Revelation 22 says-- 23:29 and maybe we should turn to that-- 23:32 Jesus is coming with His reward. 23:35 So the final decisions take place 23:39 just before the coming of Jesus. 23:44 And if you can look there 23:45 and maybe read for us Revelation 22, 23:50 and we're going to look there. 23:52 It talks about Christ coming, and He's coming quickly. 23:55 Revelation 22, we're gonna start with verse 10, and read, 24:00 go ahead and read 10-12, pastor. 24:03 >>It says, "And he said to me, 24:04 "'Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, 24:07 "'for the time is at hand. 24:09 "'He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; 24:12 "'he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; 24:14 "'he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; 24:17 "'he who is holy, let him be holy still. 24:20 "'And behold, I am coming quickly, 24:22 "'and my reward is with me, 24:24 to give to every one according to his work.'" 24:27 >>So here we have very clearly two classes 24:30 that are developed: the righteous and the unrighteous, 24:33 the holy and the unholy, 24:36 the filthy and the clean. 24:40 And it says that every human being will make that decision, 24:44 and then Jesus will come to give out His reward. 24:47 Human probation does not close because Christ's love 24:51 or mercy or grace has run out. It only closes 24:55 because everybody has already made their decision. 24:57 And if people would have had further opportunity 25:02 to make a decision for Christ, 25:04 He would've kept the door of mercy open. 25:06 So we never have to worry, Pastor Eric, 25:08 that sometime the door of mercy's gonna be shut, 25:12 and I may wanna be saved, but I can't. 25:14 That's not true at all. God's grace is there. 25:17 God's mercy is there. God's goodness is there. 25:19 But the door of mercy will shut 25:21 because everybody has already made their decision. 25:24 They've made their--they've decided, and keeping the door 25:27 of mercy open wouldn't make any difference at all. 25:29 >>Two significant and very different harvests, 25:32 one that you would want to be a part of 25:34 and one that you absolutely would not want 25:36 to be a part of. >>Exactly. 25:37 >>And the Bible makes that very, very clear. 25:39 Speaking of contrast-- 25:40 we just have a couple of minutes left here-- 25:42 what are other contrasts we see in the book of Revelation? 25:45 Two significantly different harvests, 25:48 what else do we see in the book of Revelation? 25:49 >>In Revelation, we see two leaders: 25:51 the Lamb and the dragon. 25:53 We see two signs: the seal of God and the mark of the beast. 25:57 We see two women: the woman in white, pure, true church; 26:03 the woman in scarlet, the false church system. 26:06 We see the two classes: the righteous and the unrighteous. 26:10 We see two cities: Babylon, the city of confusion; 26:13 Jerusalem, the city of truth. And we see these two harvests. 26:18 And really the appeal of this particular chapter 26:24 is an appeal to your heart and mind. 26:27 The appeal of this lesson is the appeal 26:30 to make daily decisions prompted by the Holy Spirit 26:34 to have Christ's grace fill our hearts and change our lives. 26:40 The appeal is to be in the harvest of golden grain 26:44 and not the harvest of gory grapes. 26:47 The Spirit of God works in our hearts to lead us to Jesus, 26:50 to accept His grace, His forgiveness, 26:52 His mercy, and His power in our lives. 26:55 Grace delivers us from the guilt of the past 26:59 and the power of sin in the present. 27:02 >>The good news is you and I have an opportunity. 27:05 We have an opportunity 27:06 and a privilege to be in the right harvest. 27:09 And that's why the book of Revelation, 27:10 and especially Revelation 14, is given to us, 27:14 to prepare us for the return of Jesus. 27:17 And one of the best ways that you can prepare 27:19 is to get to know Him personally yourself. 27:22 The more time you spend in His Word, 27:24 the more time you spend with Him in prayer, 27:26 the more time you allow His Spirit to work on your heart 27:29 and choose not to resist the moving of the Holy Spirit, 27:33 the closer you are to the return of Jesus, 27:35 being ready for it. 27:36 And that's something we all wanna be ready for. 27:38 Thank you again for joining us this week. 27:40 Pastor Mark, thank you for joining us again 27:41 this week. >>Thank you, Pastor. 27:43 >>And we've got 11 more weeks, 11 more lessons to go. 27:47 So we will look forward to seeing you again next week 27:49 on "Sabbath School," brought to you by It Is Written. 27:52 (uplifting theme music) 28:26 (music ends) |
Revised 2023-03-30