Thursday: God’s Final Appeal
Read Revelation 14:8, Revelation 17:3-6, and Revelation 18:1-4. What do we learn about spiritual Babylon from these verses?
In the book of Revelation, the term “Babylon” represents a false system of religion based on human works, man-made traditions, and false doctrines. It exalts human beings and their self-righteousness above Jesus and His sinless life. It places the commands of human religious teachers above the commands of God.
Image © Pacific Press at Goodsalt.com
Babylon was the center of idolatry, sun worship, and the false teaching of the immortality of the soul. This false religious system has subtly integrated many of ancient Babylon’s religious practices into its worship. God’s last-day message to our dying planet is the message of Jesus and His righteousness. It echoes heaven’s appeal, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen … Come out of her, my people” (Revelation 18:2, Revelation 18:4). God has divinely raised up the Seventh-day Adventist Church to exalt the message of Christ in all of its fullness. To exalt Jesus is to lift up everything He taught. It is to proclaim the One who is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). It is to expose the errors of Babylon in contrast to the truths of Jesus.
Read Revelation 14:7, Revelation 14:9-11. What contrasting objects of worship are highlighted in these verses?
Revelation 14 describes two different acts of worship — the worship of the Creator, and the worship of the beast. These two acts of worship center around God’s day of worship, the true Sabbath, and a substitute or counterfeit Sabbath. The Sabbath represents the rest, assurance, and security that we have in Christ our Creator, Redeemer, and coming King. The counterfeit day represents a human and false substitute based on human reasoning and man-made decrees.
| Read Revelation 14:12. What is this text saying, especially in the context of what came before? How are the law and grace both revealed in this text, and what should this teach us about how law and grace are two inseparable aspects of the gospel? |
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In Tasmania behind the city of Hobart stands Mt Wellington. The side that faces Hobart is very steep and in many cases is a cliff-face. If you look carefully from the city you will notice a faint line rising diagonally across the steep slope. It is the road to the summit. We visited Tasmania a few years ago and Carmel insisted that I drive to the top of Mt Wellington. She wasn't willing to drive, saying that the Troopy (our 4WD) was too hard for her to drive up a steep slope like that. The road was very narrow and very steep. On the left-hand side, the cliffs rose above the road for as far as the eye could see, and on the right-hand side you looked out, if you were game, to see just blue sky. I did not see much of the view on this road. There were no places to stop. I just kept my eye on the road in front and the markers that told me where my wheels were. It was a scary drive and the worst part about it was that I knew that I had to drive back down again and this time Carmel would be seated on the side nearest to the drop-off. The view at the top was fantastic, and we made the trip to the top and back successfully.
Our spiritual journey is a bit like the Mt Wellington Road. On the one side, we have the deception that there is no God; that we only have to answer to ourselves and we can do what we like. On the other side is the coercive deception that if you obey the church dictates you will be all right with God. There is a line down the middle of the road and that line is Jesus, and if we keep our eyes on him we will be safe.
Today's lesson is about deception and the beasts that either attract or coerce us away from Jesus. The problem is that we can easily deceive ourselves that we are following Jesus when we are either pleasing ourselves or following the deception of others.
Paul has a pertinent message for us:
The study guide says: God has divinely raised up the Seventh-day Adventist Church to exalt the message of Christ in all of its fullness. To exalt Jesus is to lift up everything He taught. It is to proclaim the One who is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). It is to expose the errors of Babylon in contrast to the truths of Jesus.
What are these errors? I recommend reading William's article on the 3 Angel's message.
Can we summarize our special message?
Jesus did, He said:
Love - worship - the LORD - no one else
Jesus is the Word - who created all things
Keep His words - His teachings - His way - no one else's teachings or way
Believe - trust - worship - eternal life, if not - perish - eternal death
John 14 the gospel - His Way - or if you choose another way - Revelation 14 - His judgement
I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.
Phil 4:13
I read recently that two people perished in a fire. The news stated the two people were packed and ready to go to escape the fire. They changed their minds when the news stated the fire was 51% contained. As a result, the news was false and they perished.
The bible says their is only one day that is designated for worship to God in a special way. Humans says there are several other days that we can worship and there are several other worship styles, it does not matter. If we listen to the false news like the two people, we will surely perish. There is a difference between the day of worship and a day we go to church. The third angel is calling humans to a day of worship and not merely a day to go to church. Any one can go to church on Saturday, but not all who go to church worship on Sabbath.
Now we are having virtual church, are we still worshiping on the Sabbath, or are we caught up with the same things we do on the other six days.
Is it possible that the message of the Sabbath is not necessarily the day, but who we worship?... The creator God who lovingly leads us to the truth and gives us the freedom to choose? Or a God that demands we worship on a specific day? Subsequently do we need to teach that significant and acceptable worship occurs only on the 7th Day?
I believe it is our job to teach people about Jesus. He said in John 17:3 that “this is the way to have eternal life, to know you, the ONLY true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth” NLT
My question would be, if we “worship Him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all that live in them“, Revelation 14:7, how can we leave out the Sabbath? It was a part of that creation; if we leave that out, are we truly worshipping our creator?
I used to think, for a thankfully short time, that the Sabbath didn’t matter that much, it just mattered that we at least worshipped at some time. The more I have come to understand God, and the false claims of satan, the more I believe the Sabbath is significant. The comment I put on Tuesday, I think it was Tuesday, is a simplistic way to look at it, but it helps explain it in a relevant way. Well at least it seems relevant to me.
"The Sabbath represents the rest, assurance, and security that we have in Christ our Creator, Redeemer, and coming King." (from lesson study above).
Amen and amen. But if we don't have this the first 6 days of the week, how can we have it on the 7th day?
Hi Gary - I do not believe that God 'demands' anything from us. We are admonished to love God the Father with *ALL* of our heart, mind and being; if we do, we *DESIRE* to to His Will - HIS Will is becoming our new nature!
In my Sept.15th (Tuesday) comments I spoke about Integrity. Christian's lives ought to reflect the spiritual integrity of a faithful heart, transformed by the Spirit to walk in the newness of the Light of Jesus' Gospel message.
Our life is the reflection of our worship of the God who offered us redemption through the Faith of Jesus - differing only in the degree of the depth of our love for Him. If we truely believe, our whole life will become a testimony to His love and expressed 7 days a week, 24 hours.
The Sabbath is the day set aside for undivided attention for praise and worship of the Father and His Son, our Savior, through the Spirit and Truth.
This is the first time I read such a simple, straight forward, succinct description of "Babylon". No aspect of the deception is left out that anyone could still be in doubt how far the tentacles of its deceptiveness reach. The only area not clearly stated is 'false teachings through 'natural sciences'' regarding aspects of man's beginning; it could be included in doctrine, though.
What are the errors of 'Babylon' in contrast to the truths of Jesus? 'Self'-righteousness vs. Jesus' spiritually based righteousness! Believers are found in both camps - the ones believing in 'Babylon's system of 'evolving, becoming good' through works and those who believe in God's system of spiritual righteousness through the Faith of Jesus.
How are these two groups different since both are doing 'good'? The first group, following the teachings of Babylon, does not recognize the physical and spiritual Authority of God over man, they live by flesh's(mind) authority only and walk in the light of this world.
The second group recognizes and accepts God's physical and spiritual Authority over mankind and this world; engaging in His commandment to love Him with all their heart, mind and being, they become an extension of God's Holy Spirit working His redemptive work in the Soul of mankind as they walk by the Father's Light.
Both groups believe in a 'Gospel' - one addresses the physical(social) only, the other benefits the physical as well as the spiritual aspect of man.
Matt.6:24 - Both groups worship their god - 'worship is the act of attributing reverent honour and homage to god.'
The first group's god is the god of mammon, wealth and status accumulation.
Definition: "Mammon, biblical term for riches, often used to describe the *debasing* influence of material wealth. The term was used by Jesus in his famous Sermon on the Mount and also appears in the Gospel according to Luke." (Britanica - by Melissa Petruzzello. *mine.)
1Tim.6:10 - speaks to the 'love of money' as the *root* of all evil. It is not the wealth in and off itself, it is the 'love', attention, focus placed on gaining wealth, increasing wealth and maintaining the wealth one accumulates - the mark of the beast.
Matt.6:24 - 'No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else, he will hold to the one, and despise the other, YE CANNOT SERVE GOD AND MAMMON.
Rev.3:15-22 - Either we love God with ALL our heart, mind and being or we attempt to divide our dedication between worshiping the Father and worshiping the pursued of woldly 'mammon' - we are yet undecided.
Rev.18:4; Rev.14:12 - Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
The seventh day Sabbath commandment/statute is written in stone by God Himself, but the principle of this(and all other commands) must be etched in the heart/mind and understood as the great blessings they are. Only in such lives will the principles of God's law/will be seen by many who have been led to diminish the will of their Creator/Redeemer, who seeks only the best for those created in His image.
The Sabbath is also the "sign" which reveals that God has sanctified those who observe the day appointed by God for all to "Remember"(Ex 31:12-17). Only the sanctified will receive the inheritance promised to all who "worship Him who created [all things]"(Acts 20:32).