Sabbath: The Impending Conflict
Daily Lesson for Sabbath 8th of June 2024
Image © Pacific Press
Read for This Week’s Study
Revelation 14:7,9,12; Revelation 4:11; Revelation 13:1-2; Revelation 12:3-5,17; Revelation 13:11-18.
Memory Text:
“ ‘Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth’ ” (John 17:17, NKJV).
There is a relatively new medical device called a biochip or VeriChip, about the size of a grain of rice, that can be implanted in a patient. The biochip contains information about the patient’s medical history, which can then be obtained by passing an external scanner across the area where the biochip or VeriChip has been inserted. Some Christians see this as part of a conspiracy to enforce the mark of the beast. For others, the mark of the beast has to do with the bar codes on cans of food, or it is a mysterious number on dollar bills that supposedly adds up to 666. For some it has to do with the Masonic order, the Illuminati, black U.N. helicopters, or the United Nations.
The aim of this week’s lesson is to reveal the coming conflict over worship. Satan will challenge God’s authority by attempting to undermine God’s law. Specifically, the Sabbath will become the center of a global conflict over worship. Satan hates the Sabbath because he hates the Creator. He will use coercion, pressure, and force to break our commitment to Christ. There will be a collision of beliefs over the true and false day of worship. God’s final appeal is an appeal to faithfulness to Christ despite persecution, an economic boycott, imprisonment, and a death decree. This week’s study emphasizes Jesus’ strength to take us through earth’s final conflict.
*Study this week’s lesson, based on chapters 35 and 36 of The Great Controversy, to prepare for Sabbath, June 15.
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As the lesson author says, we have been very speculative about the final conflict. I have heard most of them. There are two things that have become clear to me.
Great Message.
Amen Maurice
Why would we fear?
Before the internet there was gossip by unkind neighbours, trying to elevate themselves through belittling others. There was celebrity gossip, fake and irrelevant, to sell music and movies. Concerned brethren gave us tapes promoting some disgruntled member who claimed they were smarter than the church, and would use our tithe money more wisely.
Those wanting our donations inevitably claimed not only failings of the church, but secret knowledge of end times events and politics, using fear to get members to donate to them. Yet Christians have no reason to fear, because Jesus promises to be with us always.
The gossip of our new world is more difficult to ignore, because it is designed for maximum appeal. Gossip is curated as "social" media, driven by algorithms, and manipulated to bring creators maximum engagement and maximum revenue from every post and video. It is highly successful because our base nature is to crave ever more sensational experiences, and to constantly reinforce our place in the in group.
Those who follow the plans laid out in the Bible are blessed with not having to mind the vast conspiracies filling social media. We have no need of the gossip that scares people to believe all manner of lies. It doesn't matter which false christ is preaching "secret knowledge" and dangerous fantasies.
A true Christian is someone who is filled with the love of Jesus, and compelled to share His love. There are those who claim to be Christian, but sensationalise adverse events, advances of science, and reasons to fear out groups. There are some so close that they quote Ellen White and read from the Bible while threatening fear of Masons, Illuminati, Jesuits, New World Order, World Health Organisation, or some other group.
We can have confidence that anyone who promotes fear and division is not preaching "Jesus Christ and Him crucified". Despite their pretence, their actions will confirm there is no light in them.
We have no reason to fear for anything, when Jesus walks with us.
Satan knew how to attack,the conflict start at heaven.so like the sabbath,law, spiritualism.its great time before we die to demolish our behavior an have strong faith on God
When I first became aware of the Adventist’s preference to worship God on Saturday, it was only the aspect of changing Sunday worship to Saturday, or Sabbath worship. Now, I have learned that the seventh day is the Rest Day of our Creator - His Sabbath.
This brings the real issue into focus – which God do we worship? If Sabbath is representative of the Creator, who or what does Sunday worship represent? I do not consider the laity, those who worship the same God as we do on Sabbath, but those in leadership who long ago implemented a system of worship which is an apostacy and contrary to the true worship of the one and only God - Creator of heaven and earth.
If Sabbath and Sunday worship are not just two days set aside to worship the same God, are they then not representative of the God who is being worshiped? The God of the Sabbath spoke to us to worship Him in Spirit and Truth by faith based on His Word; the other god demands worship through allegiance to his system established through rituals, threats, and fear of reprisal.
As I see it, all who worship will be called upon to decide which one is the true God, and which one is representative of the system established by the adversary whose worshipers are called upon to accept the demands of their master - the beast.
Here again, "The Mark of the Beast," will not be such until there are actually "Legal Serious Life Threatening Sentences" that are attached to not complying with Keeping a "Spurious Sabbath" Holy and not work on that day or even have the "Power to Buy or Sell" and be set aside to be "Executed" for not having "The Power to buy or sell because we do not have that (Mark) or (Name) or (Number.)
You wrote about "the Adventist’s preference to worship God on Saturday."
Is that really how you see seventh-day Sabbath worship? The rest of your post seems to indicate that which day we worship is much more than preference, and I agree that which day we choose to worship will testify to the God we worship, once the issues become clear.
You also wrote "If Sabbath and Sunday worship are not just two days set aside to worship ... " I'd like you to think about that a bit more. In contemporary society is Sunday actually a "day" set aside for worship? Or is it a bit of time on Sunday mornings?
The way I see it, the seventh-day Sabbath is a day uniquely set aside at creation for humanity to connect more fully with the Creator. The man-made rule to worship on Sunday seems to apply only to a short time each Sunday morning, not the whole day. (A couple hundred years ago or so, people actually believed it was the Sabbath of the Commandments and tried to keep the whole day reserved for communion with God.)
Inge – the reason for using the word ‘preference’ is to indicate that at the time when I chose to worship God on Saturday instead on Sunday, the spiritual breadth and depth of Sabbath was not yet clear to me, yet. My choice was made based on that the Roman system of worship had changed the day of worship to Sunday instead of the true Sabbath - Saturday.
Like me, as for most of the Sunday worshipers, this day did not include the profound acknowledgement of whose Day the Sabbath actually is. Now I can equate the identification of the God we worship with the day of worship. Sunday worship shifted their focus to the 'Day of His Resurrection - Sunday.
I do not want to judge or disparage those who do not want to change their day of worship. I know believers who earnestly love God with all their heart and still are part of Sunday worship, which the Roman Catholic Church acknowledged as a compromise by the Protestants. I am certain that a time will come when all are called upon to acknowledge who their God is.
The true God asks us to worship Him in Spirit and Truth, through faith-based love of Him. I suppose that there might be still quite a few Seventh Day Adventists who do not yet fully understand this aspect of their denominational fellowship, but the time will come when everyone needs to fully investigate their reasons for having chosen to worship this particular God.
Food for thought:
Word & World Volume 36, Number 3, Summer 2016 - "On Keeping the Sabbath Holy in Martin Luther's Catechisms and Other Writings" - by Hans Wiersma.
Thanks for explaining the context of your wording, Brigitte. Now it makes sense. 😊
Revelation is about Christ victorious , our Saviour wanting to give us opportunity to also be victorious.
Chips, card chips, we are already identified by our beliefs, our profession of faith in Christ, and our living testimony. Yes chips are a control issue. We live in the land of the free and home the brave. We can see the free and the brave slipping away from us. Let us take advantage of all we have been given by Gods word, not to mention Christ testimony, and the Holy Spirit, recognizing his love for us through it all. Even if we have been spared trials, and never may go through the physical conflict in the future, we are given the opportunity to be prepared for the final conflict, testing our loyalty to God.
I'm looking forward to this week's lesson study. I pray we may all be enlighted from the lesson that the Holy Spirit leads us to.
Many things are happening in the world right now but the most of us are still sleeping. As Seventh-day Adventists, we must understand the prophecies by ourselves, because nobody can trust on other's knowledge. This is the day for seeking the Lord, praying continually and studying His word while we can but the most of us still prefer to spend time on social media or watching movies instead of learning the word od God :'(