SDA Sabbath School Lessons
Friday August 30, 1996


Further Study

FURTHER STUDY: Revelation 14:5 may be translated: "And in their mouth no lie was found, for they are spotless" (RSV). The word translated "spotless" or "without fault" (KJV) is used in the following texts. How does the teaching of these passages support that of Revelation 14:5? Eph. 1:4, Eph. 5:27; Col. 1:22; Jude 24.

"None but those who have been overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony will be found with the loyal and true, without spot or stain of sin, without guile in their mouths. We must be divested of our self-righteousness and arrayed in the righteousness of Christ....

"That which God required of Adam before his fall was perfect obedience to His law, God requires now what He required of Adam, perfect obedience, righteousness without a flaw, without shortcoming in His sight. God help us to render to Him all His law requires. We cannot do this without that faith that brings Christ's righteousness into daily practice." -Selected Messages, bk. 2, pp. 380, 381.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

  1. Why is it vitally important that we do not assume that Sunday keepers at the present time have the mark of the beast?
  2. Because the sealing of believers is the work of the Holy Spirit, what part should we play in seeking the Spirit's outpouring upon the church and upon ourselves individually?
  3. Why is it dangerous to postpone total commitment to Christ until the image to the beast is set up?
  4. How would you explain to a questioner the spiritual meaning of the Sabbath for you?

SUMMARY: The seal of God is the gift of the character of Christ to thoroughly committed believers. Because the Sabbath is the sign, or seal, of God's creative and redemptive authority, those who are sealed are faithful Sabbath keepers. They will be the righteous living on the earth when Jesus comes. The mark of the beast is the sign of papal authority, the counterfeit Sabbath, Sunday observance. Those who accept the image to the beast, obeying the government's decree enforcing Sunday keeping, will receive the mark of the beast.