IIW Sabbath School

The End of God's Mission

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

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Series Code: IIWSS

Program Code: IIWSS023052S


00:01 ♪♪♪
00:13 ♪♪♪
00:16 >>Eric Flickinger: Welcome to "Sabbath School,"
00:17 brought to you by It Is Written.
00:20 Well, this is week 13.
00:23 This is the final presentation of this quarter,
00:25 where we've been looking at "God's Mission My Mission."
00:29 And this week, we are looking at "The End of God's Mission."
00:32 What does that look like?
00:34 We are going to end on a very, very high note this week,
00:38 but let's begin with prayer.
00:40 Father, we thank You for being with us
00:42 through this last quarter
00:44 as we've looked at how You call each of us
00:46 to be active in ministry, sharing our faith with others,
00:51 both near and far.
00:53 And we ask that as we draw everything to a close this week,
00:55 You will give us inspiration and encouragement
00:58 to continue on that mission.
01:00 We thank You, in Jesus' name, amen.
01:03 Well, we're grateful to have back with us again
01:05 Greg Whitsett one final time.
01:07 He's the planning director at Adventist Mission.
01:09 Greg, thanks for joining us again.
01:11 >>Gregory Whitsett: Happy to be here.
01:12 >>Eric: So we're looking now at the very end of things here.
01:16 This is a fascinating title, "The End of God's Mission."
01:19 We don't think of God's mission coming to an end.
01:22 We think of God and His perpetuity.
01:26 He continues, and yet there is a part of this mission
01:29 that comes to an end.
01:31 Talk about the events surrounding
01:34 what this last lesson is all about.
01:38 >>Greg: Well, you know, it is interesting;
01:40 and, of course, we probably have to couch it
01:42 because God always has a mission.
01:43 But the mission we're talking about,
01:45 of course, is the rescue of His cherished children
01:48 on Planet Earth. Peter is amazing in his writing.
01:51 He doesn't write as much as Paul,
01:52 but he has some very powerful things,
01:54 and both his letters, 1 and 2 Peter,
01:57 are filled with so much good exhortation,
02:02 good teaching for us. But in verse 11 it says,
02:05 "Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved,
02:07 "what manner of persons ought you to be
02:10 "in holy conduct and godliness,
02:12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God?"
02:17 It stops there, it continues a little bit,
02:19 but that's the part for the memory verse.
02:21 This responsibility that we have of two things: to look for
02:27 but also to hasten Christ's return,
02:30 and we kind of look at that a little bit this week
02:32 in this lesson.
02:33 >>Eric: And I think looking forward to--
02:36 we all look forward to that; at least we should.
02:38 >>Greg: Yeah, exactly. >>Eric: Looking at the world
02:40 that surrounds us and the mayhem and the problems
02:43 and the challenges, looking forward to that,
02:45 and then this concept, as you say, of hastening,
02:49 that's powerful.
02:51 What about hastening with respect to mission?
02:54 How does that sort of fit in together? How can we do that?
02:58 >>Greg: You know, when I look at that verse,
03:00 "looking for and hastening," the looking for is both
03:04 my eagerness, the condition of my heart,
03:06 but it's also the spending time in God's Word, in prophecy,
03:11 to understand what's about to happen,
03:13 but also what's going on in the world around me,
03:16 the signs of the times that indicate
03:19 that His coming is near,
03:21 based on what we know from Scripture.
03:23 But the hastening part of it is all about mission.
03:26 That's what we are doing in hastening His return.
03:30 And what I'd like to do is
03:33 actually turn to Revelation and look at it,
03:35 because Revelation is a missionary manual.
03:39 It's all about mission and what our mission is
03:45 after the New Testament period.
03:47 So it's what is God doing, and what should we be doing?
03:52 But I don't want you to just take my word for it.
03:54 Let's actually look at Revelation, chapter 1
03:56 and see, well, what evidence do we have for this?
04:00 Look specifically--of course,
04:02 it begins with the beautiful words,
04:03 "The revelation of Jesus Christ."
04:05 It is God's mission.
04:06 It is Jesus Christ that Revelation is pointing to.
04:09 That's the center of everything in this book.
04:11 But let's skip down to verse 6, where it talks about that
04:17 "[God] has made us kings and priests to His God and Father,
04:22 "to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."
04:24 So it's this doxology, but it's focusing on
04:27 that we are made as kings and priests.
04:30 And that should remind us of another passage
04:31 in Peter's writings in the first book
04:35 where he talks about us, that we are
04:36 a chosen generation, a royal priesthood,
04:40 which I think is such a beautiful thing,
04:42 that we're both kings and priests, which, if we're kings,
04:45 that means we're members of God's royal family,
04:47 because He is King of Kings, right?
04:49 And so, the whole idea of that is,
04:51 of course, that we're ruling with Him,
04:53 that we're part of His governance of earth.
04:56 But more importantly, that we are priests,
04:59 and the role of a priest is
05:01 to be the ones to actually bless, right,
05:04 to actually bring God's blessings back in,
05:07 when the sacrificial system, the daily sacrifices would begin,
05:11 in the morning with the sacrifice
05:14 and in the evening. But the priest would take,
05:17 after he had sacrificed the lamb,
05:21 he would then take incense from the altar,
05:23 he'd go in to the holy place, and that would represent
05:27 the prayers of the people, of course,
05:29 ascending up before God.
05:31 But then afterwards, the whole congregation
05:33 in the wilderness tabernacle, they'd all be waiting
05:36 because the priest would come out with a blessing,
05:39 and he would bless the people.
05:41 So, as priests, that's our role.
05:44 Our role is to bless people,
05:47 but also the priests are to educate
05:49 and to draw people to God.
05:52 And so, that's really what I think this,
05:55 a very clear indication, verse 7:
05:58 "Behold, He is coming with clouds,
06:01 "and every eye will see Him, [and everyone] who pierced Him.
06:05 "And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him.
06:09 Even so, Amen." So on the one hand,
06:11 we are kings and priests; but on the other hand,
06:15 His coming is in the clouds.
06:17 So, we have the focus on the Second Coming,
06:19 but we see this role that we have in context
06:21 with His return, which, I believe, this is pointing,
06:25 this is all about mission. We are His missionaries.
06:27 >>Eric: Very, very powerful.
06:29 Now, let me jump to Monday's lesson. In Monday's lesson,
06:31 you summarized the three angels' messages.
06:35 Take us through this. Why is it so important for us
06:37 to understand the three angels' messages,
06:40 and why is it so relevant for us today?
06:42 >>Greg: You know, you can only fit so much into one day.
06:45 So I'm glad for this opportunity to build on this a little bit
06:48 to some of the things I was not able to share in that lesson.
06:52 The whole book of Revelation is dealing with the issue
06:56 of once and for all restoring and correcting the evil,
07:04 the injustice, sin, death, all of this that's in the world.
07:09 So there's this anticipation,
07:11 this desire that, even though Christ has died and rose again,
07:15 that we're not yet receiving
07:17 the full gift of His promise to restore this world.
07:21 So in, actually, Revelation, chapter 5,
07:24 we have this interesting picture.
07:27 Maybe what I could ask you to do
07:29 is just to read verses 1 through 3.
07:32 >>Eric: This is Revelation 5:1-3.
07:35 "And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne
07:38 "a scroll written inside and on the back,
07:40 "sealed with seven seals.
07:42 "Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice,
07:45 "'Who is worthy to open the scroll
07:47 "and to loose its seals?'
07:49 "And no one in heaven or on the earth
07:51 "or under the earth was able to open the scroll,
07:53 "or to look at it.
07:55 "So I wept much, because no one was found worthy
07:57 "to open and read the scroll, or to look at it.
08:00 "But one of the elders said to me, 'Do not weep.
08:03 "'Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah,
08:06 "'the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll
08:09 and to loose its seven seals.'"
08:11 >>Greg: Isn't that something?
08:13 So, let's think about that for a moment.
08:16 We have this scroll with the seven seals,
08:18 which is a very interesting thing by itself.
08:22 But the thing that stands out to me the most--
08:25 I don't know if it does to you-- but it's actually in verse 4,
08:29 where John writes-- he inserts himself into this--
08:33 where he says, "I wept much."
08:37 John, what's wrong with you?
08:39 Why are you weeping?
08:40 I mean, that's kind of absurd, isn't it?
08:42 Why would you--I don't know if you've ever woken up
08:44 from a dream and you realize you're crying; you know,
08:46 it's so real. Well, this isn't a dream. This is a vision.
08:48 This is a supernatural experience
08:50 he's having that God is helping him,
08:53 to understand what Jesus Christ is doing
08:55 to finish the mission.
08:57 But here John is weeping. He understands something
09:01 that I think we don't understand.
09:03 And I think that's important to understand
09:05 the rest of Revelation.
09:08 The scroll actually represents a legal document.
09:12 And it was a tradition in Rome that you would have
09:15 multiple seals like this for a more important document,
09:17 such as a will and testament or this type of thing.
09:21 So, John knows that there's a problem in heaven
09:25 because we have this document, which I think it's a will
09:32 or it's a title or a deed, and it's very important that
09:36 no one has that ability to open, but the One who is able--
09:41 you know, John weeps because he sees the problem--
09:43 but then the One who is able to is Jesus Christ.
09:46 So he is in the process-- you know,
09:48 our planet has been hijacked by Satan,
09:51 and he has tried to claim ownership of this place.
09:55 And now here, after Christ's resurrection,
09:57 He comes back to heaven, and He is able
09:59 to receive that scroll because He is now
10:01 the rightful inheritor of what Adam lost.
10:04 Adam lost and died, but Jesus has now won it back
10:07 through His life, death, and resurrection.
10:10 So that's kind of an important picture.
10:14 So what we see happening is that now we're going to understand
10:17 what are these seven seals, which this lesson
10:19 we don't get into,
10:21 but the fifth seal is what's important.
10:23 Because again, we're trying to understand
10:25 the end-time mission and the theme
10:28 that we're seeing in Revelation, but the fifth--
10:30 in chapter 6, could you read verse 9 and 10?
10:35 >>Eric: "When He opened the fifth seal,
10:37 "I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain
10:40 "for the word of God and for the testimony
10:42 "which they held.
10:44 "And they cried with a loud voice, saying,
10:46 "'How long, O Lord, holy and true,
10:48 "'until You judge and avenge our blood
10:50 on those who dwell on the earth?'"
10:53 >>Greg: Okay, I don't know,
10:55 when we think of blood being avenged and people crying out,
10:59 I immediately think of Genesis with the story of Cain and Abel
11:02 and how Abel, you know, in his--he's having this--
11:06 he's murdered by his brother,
11:08 and God approaches Cain and says,
11:12 "The blood of your brother has cried out to me."
11:16 So this is symbolic.
11:17 It's not that there's souls in heaven
11:19 that are crying out under the altar.
11:21 This is all symbolic language,
11:22 but it's basically God sees the injustice,
11:24 the persecution, this sort of thing.
11:26 And what we didn't read--
11:27 actually, I forgot to mention this,
11:30 but actually, the result of Christ
11:34 being able to take the scroll is that all heaven breaks forth
11:37 in celebration and in praise.
11:40 And it's interesting-- if we can go back to that,
11:42 in chapter 5, verse 9, it says,
11:47 "And they sang a new song,
11:49 "saying: 'You are worthy to take the scroll,
11:51 "'and to open its seals; for You were slain,
11:54 "'and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe
11:58 "'and tongue and people and nation,
12:02 "'and have made us kings and priests to our God;
12:04 and we shall reign on...earth.'" Beautiful picture.
12:07 So, there's this injustice that the Messiah, that the Lamb,
12:12 Jesus, is starting to correct by His own shed blood, right?
12:18 But then here we have in chapter 6,
12:20 where there's still this not yet.
12:23 There's something left. And so there's this question:
12:25 How long is this going to continue?
12:29 And so that's the theme of Revelation,
12:31 which helps us understand when we get to Revelation 14
12:34 what it all means.
12:36 Of course, in Revelation 13, just as we come
12:39 into the three angels' messages in 14, before we get there,
12:42 in chapter 13, we see that for 42 months
12:45 there's this persecution of the sea beast,
12:48 and there's martyrs and things happening.
12:50 Of course, the 42 months refer to symbolic 1,260 days,
12:56 and it takes us all the way to the end of time
12:59 with the three angels' messages, which are focusing on saying,
13:01 okay, now you have the sea beast; you have the land beast;
13:04 they're actually forcing you to obey them.
13:07 They're persecuting those who do not obey them but follow God.
13:11 So then the messages are very straightforward.
13:13 A lot of people think that these messages are somehow negative,
13:17 that they're not relevant.
13:18 But all--they can be easily summarized in this,
13:22 that this is the message
13:23 that anyone who has ever faced injustice
13:26 are grateful to hear; because the hour of judgment,
13:29 God is going to correct the problems.
13:32 So worship Him because He's going to judge.
13:34 That's what angel one is all about.
13:36 Angel two, it's all about "Babylon has fallen."
13:38 This power that's persecuting is fallen,
13:42 and it reminds me of another time when God judged.
13:47 And actually it was Babylon, right?
13:49 Remember Belshazzar's feast
13:50 in Daniel, chapter 5-- >>Eric: Right.
13:52 >>Greg: ...where the handwriting on the wall,
13:55 "Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin."
13:57 "You're weighed in the balances and found wanting."
14:00 That's that moment.
14:01 God is writing on the wall, so to speak,
14:03 through the second angel's message to say,
14:06 "Hey, you know, the judgment says that you are condemned."
14:11 And then the third angel's message is simply,
14:12 separate yourself from anything to do with this earthly power
14:17 that's obviously in rebellion
14:19 and is persecuting the righteous.
14:21 And by faith, keep God's commandments; be loyal to Him.
14:25 Even though you're not sure if it's going to play out,
14:28 have faith in God's Word that everything is going to be fine.
14:31 >>Eric: So, in these three messages,
14:33 these are three messages of good news, of justice,
14:37 of rectifying wrongs, of hope, if you will,
14:41 not anything to fear, a great deal of hope there.
14:45 And we hope that you are finding that these messages
14:47 are a great deal of hope.
14:49 We're pulling the last bits of this quarter together
14:52 as we're looking at "The End of God's Mission."
14:54 And just so I don't leave you without one final opportunity,
15:00 if you really want to understand this quarter's lessons
15:03 so much better, be sure that you pick up
15:06 the companion book to this quarter's lesson.
15:09 It is "God's Mission My Mission."
15:11 You can find it at itiswritten.shop,
15:15 and it adds a great deal of depth and breadth
15:19 and resources to what we've been looking at about God's mission
15:22 being your mission and my mission.
15:25 We're going to come back with the very last few thoughts
15:28 about what it means for God's mission to come to an end
15:32 and the role that you and I have to play in it.
15:34 We'll be right back.
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17:43 >>Eric: Welcome back to "Sabbath School,"
17:45 brought to you by It Is Written.
17:47 We're looking at "The End of God's Mission" here.
17:49 We've been talking about the significance
17:51 of the three angels' message.
17:54 In light of this, of the importance,
17:56 the significance, the hope that we find there,
18:00 what should we really be looking at as our focus
18:03 at the end of time?
18:04 What role do we play in all of this?
18:08 >>Greg: Well, thankfully, even though God is quite capable
18:12 of doing everything, we play such an important role
18:15 because He has put us dead center
18:16 as kings and priests at the center of His mission.
18:19 And it's interesting, you know, there's,
18:23 when we think about mission and we think about success,
18:25 how do we measure success?
18:27 How do we know that we're on the right track
18:29 and that sort of thing?
18:30 I think that we can often focus on the wrong things.
18:33 There's a passage in 1 Corinthians, chapter 3, verse 6,
18:38 where Paul is pointing out to the church of Corinth--
18:40 you know, they're kind of,
18:42 a little bit of conflict they're having there.
18:44 He says, "I planted, Apollos came and he watered,
18:47 but God gave the increase."
18:50 So success ultimately is God's responsibility.
18:53 But both Paul and Apollos had a very important part to play
18:58 in the development of the church
19:00 in the city of Corinth in his time.
19:03 So, clearly, what I think our focus should be is
19:08 on the role we play, leaving those results to God's hands
19:12 because He's the only one that can actually bear fruit.
19:16 He's the one who gives the blessing
19:17 to the work we're doing.
19:19 But there's two things I want to focus on
19:21 to think about the success.
19:23 The first is that God has told us clearly
19:25 in Matthew, chapter 28, verses 18 to 20,
19:29 that we are to "go and make disciples,
19:32 "baptizing them in the name of the Father,
19:33 "Son, and the Holy Spirit, and to teach them
19:36 "all things I have commanded you.
19:37 And lo, I'll be with you even to the end of the age," He talks.
19:39 Well, what's interesting in those verses is that
19:43 there's four things,
19:44 but the heart of it is to make disciples.
19:47 That's the only imperative.
19:48 The others are actually forming more like modifiers,
19:51 to add meaning to what that central command word is.
19:56 But also Paul wrote
19:58 in 1 Corinthians, chapter 4, verse 16, "Imitate me."
20:03 And I remember when I was studying theology in college,
20:09 Atlantic Union College in Massachusetts,
20:13 I came across that verse,
20:15 and I was spending some time studying that.
20:16 I was like, "Boy, that seems kind of conceited,
20:18 'Imitate me.'"
20:20 What does Paul mean with that? And I began to realize
20:22 as I explored and understood more,
20:24 that Paul is saying, "Just as I'm following Christ,
20:27 you also follow Christ in that way."
20:28 So he's wanting them to imitate him in how he follows.
20:31 So, discipleship is at the heart of what mission is all about.
20:38 Therefore, when it comes to identifying success,
20:41 we need to be looking at disciples.
20:44 What qualities do they need to have?
20:47 Because these disciples need to be able to withstand
20:51 the opposition of the world. They need to have a loyalty,
20:55 when many who follow Christ are actually not being loyal.
21:00 So I think that the same place that we were just at
21:04 in Revelation 14 is a great place to look
21:07 to understand what kinds of disciples they should be.
21:11 Maybe you could read for us, just to set the context,
21:15 verse 1 and 2 of chapter 14.
21:17 >>Eric: "Then I looked, and behold,
21:19 "a Lamb standing on Mount Zion,
21:21 "and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand,
21:23 "having His Father's name written on their foreheads.
21:26 "And I heard a voice from heaven,
21:28 "like the voice of many waters,
21:29 "and like the voice of loud thunder.
21:32 And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps."
21:35 >>Greg: Okay, so this is the scene that we're setting.
21:37 Now let's skip down, and let's look at 4 and 5.
21:40 Read those, please.
21:42 >>Eric: "These are the ones who were not defiled with women,
21:44 "for they are virgins.
21:46 "These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes.
21:49 "These were redeemed from among men,
21:51 "being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.
21:54 "And in their mouth was found no deceit,
21:56 for they are without fault before the throne of God."
21:59 >>Greg: Okay, the study guide actually gets in
22:02 and has us look at a number of verses to help us understand
22:05 what some of these are.
22:07 It doesn't have it all connected with this passage,
22:09 but this is where I'm drawing that from in the study guide.
22:14 There's basically four pieces here I'd like to focus on.
22:18 The first one in verse 4 is that
22:20 they are "not defiled with women, for they are virgins."
22:24 Now, of course, this means that this is symbolic.
22:26 And in 2 Corinthians, chapter 11, verse 2,
22:30 Paul is actually exhorting again the church of Corinth.
22:33 We refer back to the church of Corinth,
22:35 where he tells them, "I betroth you to Christ.
22:38 Stay pure and connected to Him."
22:40 So this, the idea here of them being virgins
22:44 and not being defiled, not being impure,
22:45 is the idea that they have one fiancé.
22:48 And, of course, what is the wedding?
22:49 It's the Second Coming of Christ.
22:51 So their first love and their only love is Christ.
22:55 And so, the type of disciples that we should be making
22:59 are people who are thoroughly and completely and absolutely
23:03 in love with Christ, and there's no other gods before them.
23:06 The second is here; these are the ones who do--what?
23:10 They "follow the Lamb wherever He goes."
23:14 Let's take a look at a Bible passage.
23:16 Many of us are familiar with John 10, verse 10:
23:21 "The thief comes to...kill, ...to destroy,
23:25 "but I...come that they might have life.
23:28 and that they might have it more abundantly," Jesus says.
23:32 And He identifies Himself as the Good Shepherd.
23:36 But look, if you could, read verse 27 there.
23:39 >>Eric: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them,
23:43 and they follow me." >>Greg: Ahh.
23:46 So there's something about--here, of course,
23:50 in Revelation, it was, we are following the Lamb,
23:52 but here now He's the Shepherd,
23:53 so both images or metaphors are used for who Christ is.
23:57 But here they have the ability to know,
24:00 to recognize God's voice. And a lot of times we think,
24:04 well, that's just the Word of God.
24:06 And, of course, that is.
24:07 The Word of God is the standard of knowing God's will.
24:11 But the Bible doesn't tell us who to witness to
24:15 or what to say to them.
24:16 The Bible doesn't tell me, you know, if I'm a young person,
24:19 what degree should I study in college,
24:21 or if I'm wanting to get a different job?
24:24 Well, should I take this one or not?
24:27 In Paul's experience, of course,
24:28 the Holy Spirit met him one night.
24:31 His plan was to go to Asia Minor, and the Holy Spirit said,
24:33 "No, I want you to go to Europe,"
24:36 and so he goes in a different direction.
24:38 This is something that I think is
24:39 what it means to hear the voice of God,
24:43 to follow the Lamb wherever He leads us.
24:45 And later, Jesus even refers to the fact that He's going
24:49 to give the disciples the Holy Spirit,
24:51 and He's going to "guide you into all truth."
24:53 Not that it's going to be different
24:55 than everything He had taught,
24:56 but that it was going to continue to open
24:58 and to be revealed to them more and more
25:00 as they were carrying out His mission.
25:02 So I think that this is an important characteristic
25:04 of a disciple, that they are able
25:06 to discern God's will and to follow Him
25:08 in every unique situation.
25:10 The next item there that we see in Revelation 14
25:12 is going down into verse 5,
25:15 is that there's no deceit found in their mouths,
25:17 or maybe "no guile," it says in the old King James,
25:19 or no lies, some of the translations talk about.
25:23 You know, John says that,
25:25 "If anyone says that I have no sin, the truth is not in them."
25:29 The greatest deception, I think, is not just the deception
25:32 of speaking against the Word of God,
25:35 but it's the deception where I think I'm good,
25:38 where I think that, you know, I have no problem.
25:42 But to recognize our own need of correction
25:45 and of growth is so important.
25:47 The last point I want to point out here is in verse 5.
25:51 It says that they have--
25:52 "They are without fault before the throne of God."
25:55 And this picture, also in the study guide,
25:57 you can look at the different verses there,
25:59 but we see that the great multitude
26:02 that come out of the tribulation
26:03 had their robes washed white in the blood of the Lamb.
26:06 So these are important things,
26:08 that this is the qualities of the disciples.
26:10 So if we're thinking about success,
26:11 we need to be thinking these are the kinds of disciples
26:13 that we want to disciple-- not just enough to say,
26:15 "Oh yeah, you have the truth.
26:17 "I'll be baptized, and I'll come to church,"
26:18 but where they're growing and strengthening
26:20 also in their relationship with Christ.
26:22 >>Eric: Greg, we haven't much time left,
26:24 but if somebody was going through this quarter's lesson
26:28 and said, "I want to be more effective in mission,"
26:31 what encouragement would you give them,
26:34 and how would they move forward?
26:36 >>Greg: Well, I'd like to turn our attention
26:38 to Hebrews, chapter 10. Hebrews, chapter 10,
26:41 if we could take a quick look at that,
26:43 I'd like to leave you with this.
26:46 It says in Hebrews, chapter 10, verse 23 to 25,
26:50 "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering,
26:53 "for He who promised is faithful.
26:56 "And let us consider one another
26:58 "in order to stir up love and good works,
27:01 "not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together,
27:03 "as is the manner of some,
27:05 "but exhorting one another, and so much...more
27:07 as [we] see the Day approaching."
27:09 You know, the ability-- we need to come together,
27:13 press together "to stir each other up
27:14 in love and good works."
27:16 Of course, this love is a love to seek and to save the lost.
27:19 The love that God has for this world is the love
27:22 He wants to have in our hearts,
27:23 which will be the means that we have to hasten His soon return.
27:27 >>Eric: Powerful words to leave this quarter off with.
27:30 Greg, thank you so much for joining us,
27:32 and we appreciate you joining us, too.
27:34 Thank you for joining us, and we hope
27:36 that we have inspired and encouraged,
27:38 and perhaps the Lord is impressing you
27:42 to be more fervent in sharing the love of Jesus with others.
27:47 We pray that God will bless you
27:49 as you continue to put into practice
27:51 the things that you have learned this quarter,
27:53 and we look forward to seeing you
27:55 next week for a brand-new quarter of "Sabbath School"
27:57 here on It Is Written.
27:59 ♪♪♪
28:25 ♪♪♪
28:27 [Captioning provided by Aberdeen Broadcast Services]


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Revised 2023-12-26