Participants:
Series Code: IIWSS
Program Code: IIWSS024027S
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00:00 [uplifting music]
00:10 [uplifting music] 00:14 >>Eric Flickinger: Welcome to "Sabbath School," 00:16 brought to you by It Is Written, 00:18 we're glad that you could join us today. 00:20 We are beginning a brand new series 00:22 of studies on the book of Mark, a fascinating book, 00:26 and we're going to be diving into it. 00:28 As we begin our journey, though, I think it's appropriate 00:32 that we begin with prayer. Let's pray together. 00:35 Father, we want to thank You for giving us an opportunity 00:38 to learn more about You through our study 00:40 of the book of Mark. 00:41 We ask that You will guide us on this journey, 00:44 that You'll help us to gain insights into You, 00:46 Your character, Your love for us, 00:49 and how we can be strengthened 00:50 for the journey through Your Spirit, 00:52 and we thank You in Jesus' name, amen. 00:56 Well, we're grateful to have leading us 00:58 along this journey the author of this quarter's 01:01 "Sabbath School" study, Tom Shepherd. 01:04 He is the senior research professor 01:05 of New Testament at the Theological Seminary, 01:07 Andrews University, also pastors a couple of churches 01:10 up in Michigan. 01:12 Tom, welcome, we're glad to have you with us. 01:14 >>Dr. Thomas R. Shepherd: It's good to be with you, Eric, 01:16 and to be with you here on It Is Written. 01:18 >>Eric: Tom, this book of Mark, 01:20 you've been studying the book of Mark 01:21 for a little while. What is it that has made you passionate 01:25 about the book of Mark? 01:27 Why is it something that you have delved into, 01:30 and what is it really that touches your heart 01:33 about the book of Mark? 01:34 >>Tom: Well, 30 years ago when I was doing my PhD studies 01:38 at Andrews University, I studied the Gospel of Mark 01:41 with Robert Johnston; he was one of the professors there. 01:44 I remember, actually, that's where I ended up 01:46 doing my dissertation was in the book of Mark, 01:49 and it all revolves around certain stories, 01:52 and so when I was trying to decide what I would write 01:55 my dissertation on, I ended up focusing 01:57 on Mark, and so I became a Mark scholar. 02:00 I've been involved in the Society of Biblical Literature 02:05 for 25 years working with Mark studies, 02:08 and it's just a great book. 02:09 It's got a--it's a short gospel, 02:11 but it's got a lot of power in it. 02:13 >>Eric: So, what we're looking at here 02:15 over the course of these next 13 weeks 02:17 is the result of 30 years of research and study 02:23 and passion on the book of Mark. 02:24 Now, when you started studying the book of Mark 30 years ago, 02:27 you didn't know that you were going to be writing 02:28 this particular quarter's lesson, 02:30 but how did that come to pass? 02:32 How did you get connected with what we're holding 02:35 in our hands right now? 02:37 >>Tom: Well, since I did my dissertation in Mark 02:39 and I guess there haven't been a lot of Adventists 02:42 who have done so-- I've written a commentary 02:44 on Mark for the new SDA Bible Commentary, 02:48 and so it seemed natural, evidently, for them 02:51 to ask me to write the "Sabbath School" lesson. 02:53 >>Eric: Very good, very good, 02:55 and that was what, four or five years ago, 02:56 something along those lines? >>Tom: Yep, it's about 02:58 like that, and I think it was, like, about two years ago 03:00 when I finished writing it. 03:02 >>Eric: Excellent, well, we're glad to have it. 03:04 Let's dig into it now. 03:06 The book of Mark, lesson one is the beginning of the gospel, 03:11 and we get an introduction to Mark. 03:13 Who was Mark? 03:15 Help us get to know Mark as we're beginning to study 03:19 in the book of Mark. Who was he? 03:21 >>Tom: Yeah, so, none of the authors 03:23 of our gospels list their name in the book, 03:26 so they're all anonymous in that sense, 03:30 but the early church traditions 03:32 have tied them with particular authors, 03:35 and the Gospel of Mark, early on, 03:38 in our early manuscripts say just "according to Mark" 03:43 or "the gospel according to Mark," 03:45 and the Mark that's likely the author 03:48 of this book is a young man named John Mark, 03:51 who is introduced in the book of Acts, chapter 12. 03:56 Peter is in prison, and he's released 03:57 from prison by an angel, and he goes to the house 04:01 of a lady named Mary, and her son was named John Mark. 04:04 He becomes a traveling companion 04:06 with the Apostle Paul and Barnabas 04:09 on their first missionary journey, 04:11 and there's quite a story about him 04:15 where he leaves their mission, he doesn't stay with them, 04:20 and when they're gonna do their second missionary journey, 04:23 Barnabas wants to take him along and Paul says no, 04:26 and the two of them split apart, and Barnabas takes John Mark 04:31 and goes off to Cyprus. 04:34 And so, he is redeemed from failure by Barnabas, his cousin. 04:40 >>Eric: So, we're gonna kind of journey along 04:42 with Mark here and allow him to help us to get to know Jesus 04:47 a little bit better. 04:48 Let's talk for a little bit about some of the experiences 04:51 that he had in his early life that kind of helped 04:54 shape the gospel that we're reading here. 04:58 What were some of those experiences, 05:00 and how does that kind of help us 05:02 understand the picture that he gives us of the gospel? 05:05 >>Tom: Yeah, so I mentioned that he went with Paul and Barnabas 05:09 on their first missionary journey, 05:11 and unfortunately, for some reason-- 05:14 maybe it was just too hard for him-- 05:16 he split away from them, went back home 05:19 to Jerusalem early on in the missionary travels. 05:23 And Barnabas, whose name means "son of encouragement," 05:29 helps redeem this young fellow, takes him on a journey, 05:32 and interestingly enough, later in life he becomes 05:37 useful to the Apostle Paul. 05:39 So, [laughs] Barnabas was right in helping to redeem 05:43 this young fellow. And when you read, 05:46 he eventually ends up in Rome, he ends up linked up with Peter, 05:50 Peter refers to him in chapter 5 05:52 of his first epistle and calls him "my son." 05:55 So, there's also a tradition that the book of Mark 05:58 reflects a lot of Peter's memories 06:01 or Peter's understanding of the gospel. 06:04 So, what's interesting is that, of course, 06:07 Peter failed terribly. 06:09 He denied Jesus three times, and Mark failed as a missionary, 06:14 and you sort of get maybe a sense that, 06:17 well, these two had something in common. 06:19 And so, Mark shows us that, and at the very end 06:22 of his gospel, when Jesus sent a message through the angel 06:26 for the disciples to meet Him in Galilee, He says, 06:28 "Tell the disciples and Peter to come and see me." 06:32 So, Peter and Mark both had failure, 06:37 but eventually both became great leaders 06:40 of the early Christian church. 06:41 >>Eric: And we know much about them 06:43 through the Bible; it's fantastic. 06:46 So, the book of Mark doesn't start like a lot of the other, 06:51 like the other gospels; it starts a little bit differently. 06:57 It talks about Jesus' baptism, 06:59 His temptation in the wilderness. 07:03 How do those events kind of shape the direction 07:07 that the Gospel of Mark goes? 07:09 >>Tom: All right, so I'm gonna open 07:11 to the Gospel of Mark, chapter 1, and-- 07:15 it's really interesting, the Gospel of Mark starts 07:16 with an incomplete sentence, 07:19 "The beginning of the gospel 07:20 "of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 07:22 "As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, 07:24 "'Behold, I send my messenger before Your face, 07:27 "'who will prepare Your way, 07:29 "'the voice of one crying in the wilderness: 07:31 "'"Prepare the way of the Lord, 07:32 make His paths straight."'" 07:34 And of course, this introduces John the Baptist, who points 07:38 to Jesus as being somebody that's gonna, you know, 07:42 be greater than him. Now, what's really interesting is 07:44 you read this carefully-- kind of, like, you go in between 07:47 the lines a little bit-- you find that Jesus 07:50 is this both strong and weak, surprisingly, 07:54 strong and weak character, and people are like, "Weak? 08:00 How could Jesus be weak?" 08:03 Well, when you think about it, who baptizes whom? 08:06 Well, John the Baptist baptizes Jesus, 08:08 and we usually think, well, the person with more authority 08:11 is the baptizer, you know? 08:13 Now, over in Matthew, of course you read that John says, 08:16 "No, you should baptize me," but Mark doesn't present that. 08:22 And then Jesus is baptized, and He goes out 08:25 into the wilderness, where He is fasting, 08:28 and He's tempted by Satan, and He's with wild animals, 08:33 and angels minister to Him. 08:35 Now, so when somebody ministers to you, 08:38 what's that mean? 08:39 It means that, well, you're on the weak side, you see? 08:44 So, what we see is there's all these powerful 08:48 kind of statements about Jesus, that He's the Son of God, 08:52 He's the Messiah, He's greater than John, 08:55 and on the other side, 08:56 we see this side of weakness as well. 08:58 Now, that's kind of-- what should I say?-- 09:02 under the radar a little bit. 09:04 Most people don't sort of catch that 09:06 at the beginning of reading the book, 09:08 but it kind of forecasts where things are headed. 09:12 Jesus is gonna die on the cross, and of course 09:15 that's the ultimate weakness, the ultimate shame 09:18 that you would have in the Roman Empire. 09:21 And so, we have this strong, weak Messiah, 09:25 so that His Messiahship isn't going to be like 09:28 what everybody expected, not the powerful man, 09:31 the strong, you know, macho guy that they wanted 09:34 to free them from the Romans. 09:36 He's gonna be a different kind of Messiah, 09:39 and you get that sort of already from seeing 09:42 what's beginning here. 09:45 >>Eric: So, Mark's giving us some insights that maybe 09:47 some of the other gospel writers don't bring out quite so much, 09:51 that strong, weak motif. 09:57 When we see what John does, the baptism and so forth, 10:02 anything that we can grab, anything additional 10:06 that we can grab from this experience 10:09 that Jesus has with John the Baptist? 10:12 >>Tom: Well, there's a very strong impetus here 10:15 or presentation. 10:16 When you start with the baptism of Jesus, 10:20 that He is baptized, and here in verse-- 10:24 well, let me just read verses 9 through 11. 10:26 It says, "In those days Jesus came from Nazareth 10:29 "of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10:32 "And when He came up out of the water, 10:34 "immediately He saw the heavens 10:35 "being torn open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove. 10:39 "And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my beloved Son; 10:43 with You I am well pleased.'" 10:45 So, we have here the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit 10:49 all present at the baptism of Jesus, and wherever 10:52 the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit appear, 10:55 something important is going on. 10:57 And so, we'll talk a little bit more 11:00 about the meaning of all this 11:01 as we get a little further into this chapter. 11:04 But the concept of the word "trinity" 11:08 of course is never used there, nor anywhere in the Scripture, 11:12 but actually that is the Trinity; 11:14 it's the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, 11:16 and They appear more than 40 times 11:18 in the New Testament in one form or another 11:20 being referred to, and this is the reference here 11:23 in the Gospel of Mark for the baptism that points to us 11:26 that this is an important event, and it's the beginning 11:29 of Jesus' ministry, the commencement 11:31 of His work for us as our Savior. 11:35 >>Eric: Very good. Tom, as we're beginning our journey 11:38 through the Gospel of Mark, we have our quarterly, 11:41 our lesson study in front of us that we're going through 11:44 day by day, but there's also a companion book 11:46 to this study that you have written. 11:49 Why might someone want to pick up that companion book? 11:52 What would be in it that we're not getting 11:55 out of the lesson study each week? 11:57 >>Tom: Okay, so when I wrote my commentary on Mark 12:02 in my Word document-- it'll be a little shorter 12:05 when it gets into print-- but it was about 650 pages, 12:11 250,000 words, and then I was asked 12:15 to write the lesson quarterly, and each lesson is, like, 12:19 2,500 words for one lesson and the next lesson, 12:24 so you couldn't put a lot in there; 12:26 you had to kind of squeeze things. 12:27 So, they asked me to write this companion book 12:30 on the Gospel of Mark-- with the same title-- 12:33 and each chapter is-- there's 13 chapters goes along-- 12:36 chapter one goes with lesson number one, 12:39 and I added extra details. 12:41 It'll be like a little foretaste 12:42 of reading the commentary once it's published. 12:45 But it adds extra details, it gives you more information 12:48 about--well, if you're a teacher, 12:52 it's kind of nice to-- I mean, you have 12:54 the "Sabbath School" lesson; you have the teacher's edition; 12:57 you have how to teach the lesson; 12:59 you have this companion book. 13:01 There's all kinds of things available, 13:03 the Ellen White comments, so it really helps teachers 13:07 in getting, you know, material for giving presentations, 13:12 helps them look smart. 13:14 >>Eric: Very good, so if you want to teach more effectively, 13:17 make sure you pick up that companion book, 13:19 and if you happen to be a student 13:21 in a class and you want to appear more knowledgeable, 13:25 then you can pick that up, too, and you can have access 13:27 to some of the stuff that maybe some of the teachers 13:28 aren't even getting into. 13:30 But there's a lot more in that companion book. 13:32 How do you pick it up? It's very, very easy to do. 13:35 Just go to itiswritten.shop, 13:37 itiswritten.shop, and look for the companion book 13:40 to this quarter's "Sabbath School" study. 13:42 It is of course by Tom Shepherd. 13:44 We're going to be back in just a moment 13:46 as we continue looking at week number one 13:49 of our study in the book of Mark. 13:51 We'll be back in just a moment. 13:52 [uplifting music] 13:56 >>John Bradshaw: Thank you for remembering that 13:58 It Is Written exists because of the kindness 14:00 of people just like you. 14:02 To support this international life-changing ministry, 14:05 please call us now at 800-253-3000. 14:09 You can send your tax-deductible gift 14:11 to the address on your screen, or you can visit us online 14:14 at itiswritten.com. 14:16 Thank you for your prayers and your financial support. 14:18 Our number again is 800-253-3000, 14:22 or you can visit us online at itiswritten.com. 14:27 [uplifting music] 14:31 >>Eric: Welcome back to "Sabbath School," 14:33 brought to you by It Is Written. 14:34 We are looking at lesson number one, 14:37 week number one, the beginning of the gospel, 14:39 and we've kind of looked at where 14:41 this Gospel of Mark begins, with an incomplete sentence, 14:45 and we've got a little bit of a background on who Mark is, 14:50 but Tom, we want to dig into something 14:51 really important now in the context 14:54 of the book of Mark, not that Mark himself 14:56 isn't important, but Mark doesn't want us 14:58 to get to know him as much as he wants us 15:01 to get to know Jesus. 15:03 And the gospel message that Jesus has to share, 15:08 and that Mark helps us to understand in this book, 15:11 is one that we don't want to miss. 15:13 What is Jesus' gospel message, and what do we gain 15:18 from Mark's perspective on this that maybe 15:21 we don't see in quite the same way 15:23 in some of the other gospels? 15:25 >>Tom: Okay, so I want to turn to Mark 1, 15:28 and we've just kind of laid the groundwork here. 15:32 We had John the Baptist presented Jesus; 15:36 he's the forerunner, goes before Him; 15:39 he's an Elijah-like figure, actually. 15:42 Then he baptizes Jesus, and Jesus begins His ministry 15:46 with this baptism where the Holy Spirit 15:49 comes down on Him descending like a dove, 15:52 and the Father speaks to Him interestingly, individually. 15:56 "You are my beloved Son; with You I am well pleased." 15:59 We'll come back to some of that a little later on as we talk 16:02 about the meaning of these kinds of words, 16:05 but then Jesus' very brief statement 16:08 about His temptation in the wilderness, 16:11 and then we come to His beginning 16:13 of His ministry in verse 14 and 15. 16:16 Eric, why don't you read for us Mark 1, verses 14 and 15. 16:20 >>Eric: "Now after John was put in prison, 16:22 "Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel 16:24 "of the kingdom of God, and saying, 16:26 "'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. 16:30 Repent, and believe in the gospel.'" 16:31 >>Tom: Okay, so John is arrested; 16:34 that already foretells what's going to happen to John, 16:38 who we'll find out foretells what's going to happen 16:40 to Jesus, but Jesus comes and proclaims 16:44 His gospel message. 16:45 It has three parts; it's very simple. 16:48 "The time is fulfilled,... the kingdom of God 16:50 is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." 16:53 Now, this three-part message, we can divide it up in this way. 17:00 The reference to "the time is fulfilled" is actually 17:02 a reference to time prophecy. 17:05 Over in Daniel, chapter 9, we have the wonderful prophecy 17:09 about the coming of the Messiah, 17:12 and it says, 17:14 "Seventy weeks [have been] decreed [upon] your people." 17:17 It's prophetic weeks, so these are a day for a year, 17:20 and so 70 weeks will lead us to the Messiah. 17:25 Actually, 69 weeks will bring us to the Messiah. 17:28 It's 483 years "from the going forth 17:31 of the decree to rebuild and restore Jerusalem." 17:34 That starts in 457 B.C. 17:37 And it reaches, if you add up 483 years to it, 17:41 remembering that there's no zero year 17:42 between A.D. and B.C., you end up at A.D. 27. 17:49 Now, people kind of scratch their head 17:50 and say, "Well, wait a minute, 17:51 Jesus wasn't born in A.D. 27, so what's going on?" 17:56 Well, that's when His ministry begins. 17:59 That's when He's anointed with the Holy Spirit, 18:02 and so the time is fulfilled. 18:04 It's a time prophecy that's been fulfilled, 18:06 and that's part of Jesus' gospel message. 18:08 Then he says, "The kingdom of God is at hand." 18:11 The kingdom of God is a big topic, 18:13 but basically we can say it's God's rulership 18:16 over His people and His covenant with them. 18:21 He's going to rescue them. 18:23 So, there's a covenant promise; there's a covenant relationship 18:27 that God establishes with His people. 18:29 And the last part, "Repent, and believe 18:31 in the gospel," is a call to discipleship. 18:36 "Repent" means "to turn." 18:39 It basically means to turn around; 18:40 you're going the wrong way-- you go back, turn back, 18:43 go the right way. 18:44 And that comes through believing in the gospel message of Jesus. 18:47 So, it's three parts, a time prophecy, 18:52 a covenant promise, or covenant relationship 18:55 between God and His people, and a call to discipleship. 18:58 So, it's a very, very simple, basic message, 19:01 and there it is with Jesus. 19:03 Now, this has a fascinating kind of relationship 19:09 with the first angel's message in Revelation 14. 19:13 So, if we turn over there to Revelation 14, 19:16 the three angels' messages has been a key 19:21 to all of Adventist believers for a long, long time, 19:27 and the first angel's message, we should read that, 19:30 verses 6 and 7 of Revelation 14. 19:32 Why don't you read that for us? 19:33 >>Eric: "Then I saw another angel 19:34 "flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel 19:38 "to preach to those who dwell on the earth-- 19:40 "to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people-- 19:42 "saying with a loud voice, 'Fear God and give glory to Him, 19:46 "'for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him 19:50 "'who made heaven and earth, the sea 19:52 and [the] springs of water.'" 19:53 >>Tom: Okay, now, this angel brings 19:57 what's called the "everlasting," or eternal, "gospel." 20:00 It's the only place in the Bible where the gospel here 20:04 is called eternal, everlasting, so it's really 20:07 a cosmic kind of a message that goes all the way back, 20:10 you can say, to creation, where the Lamb is "slain from 20:14 the foundation of the world" and all the way to the end. 20:17 But what surprises people is when you read this, 20:22 it doesn't sound like gospel to most people. 20:26 I've seen or heard preachers when they preach about 20:29 the three angels' message, and they say, 20:30 "This is the everlasting gospel," 20:32 and then they don't talk about the words here; 20:36 they'll go to the Apostle Paul, you know, 20:38 righteousness by faith. 20:39 I ask people, you know, "So, what words 20:42 would you associate with the gospel?" 20:43 Love, Jesus, forgiveness, repentance, you know, salvation, 20:48 the cross, things like that, and then I ask them, 20:51 "Well, how many of those words do you find here 20:52 in Revelation 14, verse 7?" 20:55 And the answer is zero. [laughs] 20:58 None of those words are there, so they're like, 21:00 "Uh...so how is this the gospel?" 21:04 Well, if we kind of take Jesus' words over in Mark, chapter 1 21:09 as the paradigm--remember, there were three steps. 21:12 There was time prophecy, 21:15 there was a covenant relationship with God, 21:18 and then there was a call to discipleship, right? 21:21 So, then I have people--I say, "Well, let's look here and see. 21:24 Is there any reference to time prophecy in verse 7?" 21:29 And sure enough, it says, 21:31 "Because the hour of His judgment has come." 21:35 Now, we referred to Daniel 9 when we read 21:39 Jesus' words in Mark, chapter 1. 21:42 Now, when the first angel, the reference 21:45 to the judgment beginning actually brings us 21:48 back to Daniel, chapter 7 and Daniel, chapter 8. 21:52 Daniel 7 is the judgment scene 21:55 and Daniel 8 has the 2,300-day prophecy. 21:58 So, that goes from-- its starting point 22:01 is actually with the 70-weeks prophecy, 22:03 so it starts in 457 B.C., and it stretches 2,300 years 22:08 to A.D. 1844, so there is a reference 22:12 to time prophecy in the first angel's message. 22:16 "Okay," somebody says, "all right, good enough, 22:18 "what about that covenant promise? 22:21 "I don't see any reference to a covenant promise. 22:23 I don't see any reference to the kingdom of God." 22:26 Well, the word "judgment." 22:29 Now, for most people the word "judgment" 22:31 sounds like, well, that's a very negative word. 22:34 You don't want judgment; you don't want to go to court. 22:36 But if we turn over-- keep your hand here 22:38 in Revelation 14--turn over to Daniel, chapter 7, 22:45 Ezekiel, Daniel, chapter 7, and we want to read-- 22:50 well, first we want to kind of fill in 22:51 what's going on in Daniel. 22:53 All right, so in Daniel 7 is the picture 22:55 of the four beasts, of four kingdoms 22:58 that come along that are trying to destroy 23:00 and persecute God's people. 23:01 And then we see the judgment scene, 23:04 where the Ancient of Days takes His seat. 23:06 Now, in describing or explaining the vision, 23:09 if we turn over to verse 22, Daniel 7, verse 22-- 23:14 maybe, Eric, you could read that for us. 23:17 >>Eric: "Until the Ancient of Days came, 23:19 "and a judgment was made in favor of the saints 23:22 "of the Most High, and the time came 23:24 for the saints to possess the kingdom." 23:26 >>Tom: Now, there you have it, okay? 23:28 The judgment for God's people is not negative; it's positive. 23:32 Judgment is given in favor of the saints. 23:35 Of course it's negative for the beasts, 23:37 they're going down, but God's people are going up, 23:41 and it says the time came when the saints 23:43 possessed the kingdom. 23:46 So, here we have in the judgment 23:48 back in Revelation 14, when it refers 23:51 to the judgment, it's referring to 23:53 that Daniel 7, Daniel 8 kind of a picture. 23:57 And then someone says, "All right, well, 24:00 "I guess I see that, 24:02 but what about this call to discipleship?" 24:06 Is there a call to discipleship in the first angel's message? 24:09 Well, you'll notice in Jesus' words 24:11 in Mark, chapter 1, He said, 24:13 "Repent, and believe the gospel," right? 24:16 Now, those are in English grammar 24:19 what we would call imperatives. 24:21 This is something you're supposed to do, okay? 24:24 Are there any imperatives in the first angel's message? 24:30 Well, actually there are. 24:32 There are three of them. 24:34 Fear God, give glory to Him, 24:38 and worship Him who made heaven and earth. 24:40 So, fear God--it's a very God-centered message. 24:43 Fear God, glorify God, and worship God, right? 24:47 So, the first angel's message, quite parallel 24:51 to the preaching of Jesus, has those three aspects 24:55 of gospel message. It has time prophecy. 24:58 Don't let anybody ever tell you that time prophecy 25:01 has no part to play in the gospel message. 25:05 It does. It has an important part. 25:08 So, the time prophecy tells us that we're at the end of time; 25:11 we have to get ready for Jesus to come. 25:13 Time prophecy is here, the hour of His judgment has come, 25:17 and so is the covenant promise in the judgment. 25:20 God's people will be rescued from the beasts. 25:23 Now, of course if you read Revelation 12:13 and 14, 25:27 you'll see all these beasts trying to destroy God's people, 25:30 you know, trying to persecute them. 25:32 God is not going to leave His people alone. 25:34 God will come to the rescue of His people, 25:37 and in the light of this message in Revelation 14, 25:42 we have God's call to us individually. 25:46 Fear God--don't fear the beast. 25:49 Glorify God--don't glorify the beast. 25:52 Worship God--certainly don't worship the beast-- 25:55 and stay faithful to God. 25:56 It's a beautiful parallel between the two, 25:58 and it ties us all back to the commencement 26:01 of Jesus' ministry and the end of our world 26:04 to those prophecies of Daniel 7, 8, and 9. 26:07 >>Eric: So, the three parts that we see again, 26:10 we have the time prophecy, we have the covenant promise, 26:15 and then we have the call to discipleship, 26:18 and we see that in Mark; we see it in Revelation; 26:20 it all ties back into Daniel as well. 26:23 So, beautiful, everything coming together, 26:25 and this is just the beginning of the gospel. 26:29 Give us an idea--foreshadow where we're going. 26:33 We've got 13 weeks that we're going to be together. 26:36 In just a couple of sentences, 26:38 where are we going on this study? 26:40 Why do we want to push forward week by week? 26:42 >>Tom: Well, I'm glad you said, where are we going? 26:45 The book of Mark is about a journey. 26:47 It's called the way of the Lord, and the way of the Lord 26:50 is headed towards the cross, where our salvation is sealed, 26:56 and that's where we're headed, and we're just at the beginning, 26:59 but there's already forecasting what's coming ahead. 27:03 >>Eric: And so, we are excited to have you on this, well, 27:06 this journey with us. 27:07 We're going to see an action-packed journey 27:10 that leads us to the cross through the book of Mark, 27:14 through the eyes of someone who had a unique perspective, 27:18 tied many things together, and we're going to get to go 27:22 on this journey with Mark together. 27:25 It's something that you don't want to miss. 27:27 So, 13 weeks, 13 episodes, helping us to get 27:31 a better understanding of the gospel, 27:34 who Jesus is, and this journey is going to be something 27:37 that will perhaps change the way that you see Jesus 27:41 in a very positive way. 27:43 We're excited to have you join us on this journey. 27:45 We look forward to seeing you again next week 27:47 here on "Sabbath School," brought to you by It Is Written. 27:51 [uplifting music] 28:23 [uplifting music] 28:26 [Captions provided by Aberdeen Captioning www.abercap.com] |
Revised 2024-06-29