Lesson 6
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*August 4 - 10 |
Crisis of Loyalty |
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WORSHIPERS. Russian writer Feodor Dostoevski once wrote that "man cannot live without worshiping something." The second and third angels' messages of Revelation 14 (this week's lesson) take his point to an extreme that he probably never dreamed of, for the time is soon coming when each person, everywhere, will have to decide just whom, or what, they do indeed worship.
While the first angel's message calls upon us to worship the Creator, the second and third angels' messages warn about those who worship something else. Their fate is not, as the third angel so clearly depicts (Rev. 14:10, 11), one to be envied.
Yet at the same time, these angels clearly depict those who refuse to succumb to the world's pressure, those who through their faith and obedience show that they do, indeed, worship the One who made heaven and earth.
What makes the crucial difference?
THE WEEK AT A GLANCE: When the second angel's message warns about Babylon, is it talking about this ancient nation that long ago vanished, or about something else? In the last days the world is clearly divided into two conflicting classes. What determines who's in one or the other in this ultimate "class conflict"? If we are saved by faith and not by the law, why does the law become prominent in this final conflict? These and other questions will be looked at during this exciting lesson.
MEMORY TEXT: "Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus" (Revelation 14:12, NASB).
*(Please study this week's lesson to prepare for Sabbath, August 11).
British author Charles Dickens wrote a book called A Tale of Two Cities. Some have said that the Bible itself is the real "tale of two cities"—Jerusalem and Babylon. If Jerusalem is understood as symbolic of those who worship the true God in "spirit and in truth" (John 4:23)—who, or what, is Babylon? That question needs answering, especially when one considers the second angel's message of Revelation 14, which warns about the fall of "that great city."
Compare Revelation 14:8 with Revelation 18:1-10. The latter seems to be repeating what was in the former, only with more information. Using texts from both chapters, write down some characteristics of Babylon that could help us understand what Revelation teaches that this Babylon is.
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In Revelation, Babylon "is symbolic of all apostate religious organizations and their leadership, from antiquity down to the close of time."—The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 7, p. 830.
That symbol is also used because in the Old Testament Babylon was a massive religious and political entity that persecuted God's people, Jerusalem. Though bigger and more powerful than Jerusalem, ultimately Babylon fell and was destroyed, while God's people were rescued-thanks to the Lord's miraculous intervention. Compare the Old Testament descriptions of literal Babylon's fate with the fate of spiritual Babylon to understand why this symbolism is so fitting (see Isa. 47:1; Jer. 25:12; 50:1; Rev. 16:12-21).
Though some people say that "all religions are just different paths leading
to God," the Bible is clear that there are false religions that will one
day face the judgment of God. At the same time, we need to be careful
how we label individuals who are part of these false religions. Read
Revelation
18:4. What does this text tell us about the dangers of judging
those who are "still in Babylon"?
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After the second angel announces that Babylon is fallen, the third angel proclaims divine judgment against those who worship the beast and his image. This is the same beast described in Revelation 13:1-10, and it symbolizes the church-state union that controlled the Christian world for centuries. Read what Paul and Daniel said about this beast in 2 Thessalonians 2:2-4 and Daniel 7:8, 20-25; 8:9-12 (KJV).
What two classes of people does the third angel's message identify? What
religious issue is involved?
Rev.
14:9, 12.
| "One class will advocate a gospel of human devisings and will worship the beast and his image. . . . The final issue involves true and false worship, the true and the false gospel. When this issue is clearly brought before the world, those who reject God's memorial of creatorship-the Bible Sabbath-choosing to worship and honor Sunday in the full knowledge that it is not God's appointed day of worship, will receive the 'mark of the beast.' "—Seventh-day Adventists Believe. . . A Biblical Exposition of 27 Fundamental Doctrines, (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald Pub. Assoc., 1988) p. 167. |
In contrast, the other class of people identified in the third angel's message are characterized as those who "keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus" (Rev. 14:12). Because of their faith in Christ's righteousness as their only hope of salvation, they love God and, because they love Him, they keep His commandments (1 John 5:2, 3).
Miguel left the Adventist Church after his marriage broke up. He
still claims to believe all the teachings but just doesn't want anything
to do with them, at least for now. He has told his parents that whenever
persecution starts, he will rejoin the church and obey the commandments.
What is dangerous about that kind of thinking? How could you
convince someone like Miguel that if he is not going to obey God now, prior
to end-time persecution, he's probably not going to do it then, under much
more trying circumstances?
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Read the following verses and write down the two points that are linked to each other within each verse:
Deut. 11:13 _____________________________________________________________________
Deut. 11:22 _____________________________________________________________________
Deut.19:9 ______________________________________________________________________
John
14:15
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How often we hear people say that the key issue in the new covenant is "love" and that we don't need to keep the old law commandments. Instead, they say, we need to just love God. The above texts show, however, how intimately linked loving God is to keeping His commandments. Anyone can say they love God; obedience proves that love.
In this context of the above texts, what do you think the words "therefore
love is the fulfilling of the law"
(Rom.
13:10) mean? See also
Romans
13:8.
The third angel's message presents a stark contrast between two groups of people, one that seems to allow for no middle ground. No one is neutral in this conflict. There are those who either worship the beast and his image or those who worship the Creator (Rev. 14:6-12). The first group faces eternal destruction; the others, eternal life with Christ. And what helps distinguish the two groups is that one is described as those who keep "the commandments of God." This must mean all of them, because as James wrote: "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law" (James 2:10, 11).
| Why, especially in the context of the final crisis, is it so important
that we love God? What does
Matthew
22:36-38 add to this point? Examine your own life and ask yourself,
Do I really love God? If so, how do you express that love? If
you don't love God, what can change you so you will?
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The third angel's message, as we saw yesterday, presents a stark contrast between the saved and the lost at the end of the world. Two basic characteristics are given specifically in this angel's message to describe the saved: those who "keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." The commandments are clear: it is the moral law, written by the finger of God on stone in the Old Testament and perfectly expressed in the person of Christ in the New.
What, however, is the "faith of Jesus"?
The third angel's message makes it clear that besides obedience to the law, the "faith of Jesus" is also a crucial distinguishing characteristic of God's saints. The expression appears also in Romans 3:21, 22: "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe" (emphasis supplied).
In this context the faith of Jesus could mean more like faith in Jesus. This interpretation is what many prefer also for Revelation 14:12—it is only through our faith in Jesus that we are able to keep the commandments of God. Some, meanwhile, understand the "faith of Jesus" as the doctrines or teaching of Jesus. Finally, others see the "faith of Jesus" as these people reflecting in their lives the faith that Jesus Himself manifested when here in the flesh.
Read prayerfully and carefully again
Revelation
14:12 and see which explanation seems to fit best. Does the "faith
of Jesus" have to be only one of them? Can the term encompass them all?
Explain your answer.
However one ultimately understands the meaning of the "faith of Jesus," it's clear that those who stand in the last days will be faithful followers of Christ, a people who know Jesus, love Jesus, and trust in Jesus—not only for salvation but for power to "keep the commandments of God," even when all the world is arrayed against them.
| "Faith of Jesus. Faith in Jesus." However
one understands the terms, this is something that is exceedingly precious.
Though faith is a gift (Eph. 2:8), what can we do, day by day, to cultivate
it so it grows?
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"Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds
of the law"
(Rom.
3:28).
"Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to
the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city"
(Rev.
22:14).
The first angel's message begins with the "everlasting gospel," the great news of Jesus dying for our sins so that we, having broken God's law, can be saved because Christ, in His flesh, has fulfilled the demands of the law for us. At the same time, the third angel's message depicts God's faithful followers as those who are keeping the law (the commandments)—in stark contrast to those who receive the mark of the beast. Though the issue is certainly deeper than this, one can say, simply, that those who are obeying the law in the last days will be saved, while those who are defying it will be lost.
If we are saved only by the faith of Jesus and not by obedience to the
law
(Rom.
3:28), does our understanding of last-day events teach a form of legalism?
If the Sabbath is to be the deciding factor regarding those who receive the
mark of the beast and those who receive the seal of God, are we teaching
salvation by works?
James 2:18 helps answer this question. Though works can never save, faith is revealed by works. The final generation is saved through the same means that saves anyone else: Jesus as their Savior.
Yet Jesus is not just our Savior. He is also our Lord, and we show His Lordship in our lives by obedience to all His commandments. Those who refuse the mark of the beast are not saved because they keep the Sabbath, or any of the other "commandments of God." They are saved because of what Christ has done for them as their Savior, and in loving response to that salvation they prove before others (Eph. 3:10; Matt. 5:16) that Jesus is their Lord as well. And by obeying Him under extreme persecution, these people will help reveal to the universe what Ellen White calls "the final and full display of the love of God."—The Acts of the Apostles, p. 9.
| Work through your own mind the relationship between faith and works.
Why is it so important to keep them in the proper relationship to each
other?
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FURTHER STUDY: In Daniel 3 and 6, read what happened to Daniel and his friends when they faced a crisis of loyalty. How can their experience help you?
Read chapter 35
of The Great Controversy, "Liberty of Conscience Threatened," and
chapter 38, "The
Final Warning."
The Sabbath will be the great test of loyalty, for it is the point of truth especially controverted. When the final test shall be brought to bear upon men, then the line of distinction will be drawn between those who serve God and those who serve Him not. While the observance of the false sabbath in compliance with the law of the state, contrary to the fourth commandment, will be an avowal of allegiance to a power that is in opposition to God, the keeping of the true Sabbath, in obedience to God's law, is an evidence of loyalty to the Creator. While one class, by accepting the sign of submission to earthly powers, receive the mark of the beast, the other choosing the token of allegiance to divine authority, receive the seal of God."—The Great Controversy, p. 605.
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SUMMARY: There are really only
two classes of people in the world: those who live in spiritual Babylon and
those who live in spiritual Jerusalem. In the last days these two classes
are going to be clearly distinguished, for their "citizenship" will be made
manifest by the one whom they worship. God's people, spiritual Jerusalem,
will worship Him as Creator, and they will express that worship through loving
obedience to all His commandments: "For this is the love of God, that we
keep his commandments"
(1
John 5:3). In contrast, those who refuse God's call to worship Him prove,
by their very refusal to heed the call, that they indeed worship someone
else.
Charlotte lshkanian
Jokapeci (jaw-ka-PEH-thee) wanted to take her Adventurers Club wilderness camping in Fiji. The parents were nervous until they heard why she wanted to go. She planned to take the children to visit a village that had for years refused to allow an Adventist pastor to come and hold meetings.
The adults promised to pray all weekend while the children were gone. The eager group of children set out in a boat for the campsite. They made their way along the coastline of the island until they reached the river where they would camp. There they set up camp and enjoyed a beautiful island sunset vespers.
On Sabbath the children set out for the village. When they arrived at the village landing place, one of the counselors went to the village to get permission for the children to enter and visit the homes. The counselor soon returned with permission for the children to enter the village and share their faith with the people there.
The children split up into groups and went from house to house to talk to the children and their parents. Nearly every family allowed the Adventurers to enter their homes and present the little talks they had learned for this trip. The children also gave the people brochures telling who they were and what they believe.
While the children visited in the homes the leader set up a picture roll on a tree branch near the river and began playing an auto harp. As the village children heard the music, they streamed down to the river to see what was happening. The leader began telling them stories and teaching them songs.
When the Adventurers finished visiting the homes, the villagers came to the river where they found their own children already sitting at the riverside listening to stories. The parents sat down and joined them. When it was time to go, the villagers thanked the children and invited them back again.
A few months later the church's Pathfinder Club went to the village to present a concert. They performed dramas and sang for the people. The people began asking questions about who these children were, and the local elder who had gone with the children both times answered their questions.
This village that would not allow a pastor to enter now has a Branch Sabbath School and five families who have been baptized and are sharing their faith with their neighbors.
Jokapeci Tui lives in Suva, Fiji. Charlotte Ishkanian is editor of Mission.
Produced by the Office of Mission |
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