بول

SOONER OR LATER, the end-time happenings that the Bible
talks about will come. We don’t know when or how everything
will happen. But we know enough to see the big picture. We
know that a law will be made that will force people to worship
on Sunday. This law will reject the fourth commandment. The
book of Revelation shows us the most important things that
will happen in the end times. Everyone whose name isn’t written in the book of life will worship the sea animal and his false
god. Everyone who chooses to follow the Lord Jesus Christ
and obey His law will have their names written in the book of
life. Their names will not be removed. Who cares if we have
honor or fame in this life if we have everlasting life with God?
God started the Seventh-day Adventist Church to preach
His final message of mercy to everyone on this earth. So,
we need to know Bible truth. More than that, we need to
be changed by Bible truth. Our lives need to be made new
by the Good News about Jesus (read Revelation 14:6).
The Good News is a message about Jesus’ death for us,
His forgiveness, and His mercy to save us from our sins.
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SUNDAY—JUNE 18
GETTING READY FOR THE FINAL FIGHT
(1 Thessalonians 5:1–6)
Read 1 Thessalonians 5:1–6. What warning does Paul
give us about the final days of human history?
Paul wrote to church members in Thessalonica (a city in
Greece) about the Second Coming. Paul told the Christians
to “watch and keep your minds awake to what is happening” (1 Thessalonians 5:6, NLV). Paul gave this advice to
Christians in his day. So, what would Paul say to us today?
Paul also told church members that they were “people who belong to the light” (1 Thessalonians 5:5, ERV).
Church members “are not living in darkness. And so that
day [the Second Coming of Christ] will not surprise you
like a thief” (1 Thessalonians 5:4, ERV). Jesus used the
word “watch” when He talked about prayer (Matthew 24:42;
Matthew 26:40, 41, NIrV). “To watch” means to understand
Bible truth. It means we will be wise about the times we are
living in and think about the things that are most important.
Ellen G. White adds: “We know Bible truth about the end
times. So, we should get ready for what is soon to happen.
What will happen will surprise most of the people on this earth.”
—Testimonies for the Church, volume 8, page 28, adapted.
What will happen will surprise most people, but it should
not surprise Seventh-day Adventists. We don’t know when
the final test will come or how it will happen. But we can see
enough to know that the test is coming. Today, now, is the
best time to get ready and to be ready.
Read about the worldwide kingdoms in Daniel 2. Make
a list of the kingdoms that came and went. Everything
happened just as God said it would happen. What
should this list teach us about how we can trust God’s
promises about the future?
Jesus gave us messages about the end times so that we
can get ready for His coming. The special messages about
time in Daniel, Revelation, and from Ellen G. White show us
what will happen in the future.
Paul says not to “sleep” as other people do. What do
you think “sleep” is a word picture for? How do we know
if we are “sleeping” or if we are really “awake”? If we are
“asleep,” what do we need to do to “wake up”?
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MONDAY—JUNE 19
Bible truth is everlasting.
As long as we trust
the Bible and its teachings,
we will not be tricked
by Satan in the final test.
KNOWING BIBLE TRUTH (John 8:32)
Read John 8:32; John 7:17; and John 17:17. What
promises about wisdom and understanding does Jesus
give us in these verses? Where do we find spiritual
truth?
God’s final message to His people warns them to reject
the false teachings of spiritual Babylon. God invites them
to accept Bible truth. Bible truth is everlasting. As long as
we trust the Bible and its teachings, we will not be tricked
by Satan in the final test. We will not be tricked by his lie
about the Sabbath.
The second angel of Revelation 14 invites us to accept
his message. His message tells us to accept Bible truth and
not to believe false teachings and Satan’s lies.
The third angel warns about the sea animal’s mark. As
we have seen, an animal in Revelation is a word picture
for a kingdom or a religious power. The sea animal of
Revelation 13 and 14 grows out of the kingdom of Rome.
Then the sea-animal power gets worldwide control of the
Christian church during the Dark Ages. In the future, this
new religious kingdom of Rome will join with the governments on this earth. This worldwide religious power will try
to bring everyone on earth under its control at a time when
there will be terrible disasters and wars.
The United States will become the leader in this worldwide plan to bring everyone on earth under the control of
the sea-animal power. “Satan will use two false teachings
to get control of people’s minds. The first false teaching is
the lie that the spirit lives forever. The second false teaching is Satan’s lie that Sunday is holy. The first lie causes
people to accept the false teaching that the dead can communicate with us. The second lie causes people to respect
the Roman Catholic Church. The Protestants in the United
States will have an important part in Satan’s work. The
Protestant churches, the Roman Catholic Church, and the
people who believe that the dead can communicate with
us will join together in agreement. This three-part group
will lead the United States government to behave the same
way Rome behaved in the Middle Ages. They will hurt anyone who wants to follow Bible truth.”—Ellen G. White, The
Great Controversy, page 588, adapted.
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TUESDAY—JUNE 20 Lesson 13
THE CHANGE FOR THE BETTER CONTINUES
(Revelation 18:1)
God started the Seventh-day Adventist Church. God
gave this church a special message for the end times. This
message continues to do the work done by other Christians
in the past. These Christians worked to make things better
in the church. They chose Jesus as their Savior. He is the
only One who can save humans. These Christians from the
past also believed the Holy Spirit was the One who gave
them strength against sin and Satan. These Christians also
hoped for Jesus to come back. In the end times, we will
continue the work of these Christians. We will announce
many Bible truths that other Christians have forgotten and
no longer know anything about. One of these Bible truths
is the Sabbath.
The Three Angels’ Messages and the special messages in
Revelation show us our work as a church. We will announce
God’s final message of mercy to the people on a dying planet.
Revelation 14 shows a worldwide church that shares the Good
News about Jesus with everyone on the earth.
In Revelation 14, we see three angels. Then, in Revelation
18, we read about a 4th angel. The 4th angel adds strength
to the announcement of the first three angels. This message will be the same as a bright light that shines on the
whole earth (Revelation 18:1). Revelation 18 talks about the
big things that happen before human history ends. Then
the Good News about Jesus will win against Satan’s lies.
Read about the fourth angel in Revelation 18:1. What
three things does John tell us about the fourth angel?
(Read also Habakkuk 2:14.)
The angel comes down from God’s throne room. God gives
this angel a special message. This angel must announce
God’s final message of mercy again and warn the people on
the earth about what will happen.
The fourth angel has “much power [strength]” (Revelation
18:1, NLV). The New Testament word for “power” is “exousia” in the Greek language. Jesus uses this word. In
Matthew 10:1, Jesus gives His followers “power” when He
sends them to do His work. Jesus gives them strength over
evil. In Matthew 28:18, 19, Jesus sends them out again.
This time, Jesus sends them with “all power” in heaven and
on earth to make more followers for Him
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WEDNESDAY—JUNE 21
In Revelation 18:1, God’s
glory is the same as
a shining light that fills
the whole earth.
GOD FILLS THE WHOLE EARTH WITH HIS LIGHT
(Revelation 4:11)
Read about God’s glory in Revelation 4:11; Revelation
5:12; and Revelation 19:1. In Revelation 18:1, God’s glory
is the same as a shining light that fills the whole earth.
What else do these verses tell us about God’s glory?
The worldwide war between good and evil is about God’s
honor. Satan blamed God for not being fair. Satan says that
God commands us to worship Him but that He doesn’t give
us anything. Satan says that God’s law limits our freedom
and our joy.
Jesus’ life, death, and waking up from the dead show us
that Satan’s words are lies. Jesus came to this planet full
of sin that is the same as a pit filled with snakes. Jesus
came to save us. On the cross, Jesus showed that Satan’s
words against God were lies. Jesus also showed that God
is both loving and fair. As God’s end-time people, we show
His glory. What is His glory? His glory is His love. We show
God’s love to a planet filled with selfish people. In that way,
the whole earth is filled with God’s glory.
How does God show His mercy to Moses? Read
Exodus 33:18, 19 for the answer. How do these verses
show us what God’s glory is?
As we just saw, God’s glory is His love. We must be filled
with God’s love. Our lives must be changed by God’s saving
love. Then the earth will be filled with the glory of God.
When we show God’s love in our personal lives, we show
God’s glory to the people around us. We will announce
God’s final message to a planet that is filled with sin and
evil. We will do the work of the three angels who fly across
the sky. Their message is: “ ‘Fear God and give him praise’ ”
(Revelation 14:7, ERV). This is our message, too. We must
announce this message to everyone on earth.
“God’s people must give His message about His saving
mercy to everyone on earth. . . . This is the Third Angel’s
Message. When we finish giving this message, then the
whole earth will be filled with God’s glory.”—Ellen G. White,
Testimonies for the Church, volume 6, page 19, adapted
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THURSDAY—JUNE 22
THE LAMB THAT WAS KILLED (Revelation 5:6, 8, 12)
The book of Revelation uses many word pictures or symbols. We read about the dragon in heaven (Revelation 12:3,
4, 7). There are angels flying in the sky (Revelation 14:6).
There is a woman who rides a red animal (Revelation 17:3).
We read about these word pictures in the Bible. The Holy
Spirit told John to include these word pictures in the Bible.
These word pictures show us important Bible truth about
the end times.
There is another word picture that we see often in the
book of Revelation. What is this word picture? What does
it show us?
Read Revelation 5:6, 8, 12; Revelation 7:17; Revelation
14:1; Revelation 15:3; Revelation 19:7; Revelation 21:22,
23; and Revelation 22:1, 3. What does the word picture
of the Lamb mean? Why does this word picture appear
so many times in the book of Revelation?
The first verse of the book of Revelation tells us what
this book is about. This book shows us Jesus Christ. Jesus
is the Lamb. He is not just any lamb. He is the Lamb who
was killed (Revelation 5:6, 12; Revelation 13:8). The Lamb
shows us our Savior who died on the cross for us. This
Bible truth is the most important teaching of the Bible, the
Three Angels’ Messages, and the book of Revelation. We
can’t do the work God asks us to do if we don’t make the
Lamb the most important part of our message.
“Jesus is the Lamb who was killed for our sins. We must
make this Bible truth the most important part of our teachings and of our work for God. We also must make this
Bible truth the most important part of our sermons, articles,
prayers, songs, Bible studies, and everything we do. Jesus
showed His love for us on the cross. This love must change
the way we behave. This love must make us more loving to
other people. Then we will care for the people around us on
this earth.”—Ángel Manuel Rodríguez, “The Closing of the
Cosmic Conflict: Role of the Three Angels’ Messages” (from
an unpublished paper), page 70, adapted.
We must make Jesus, the Lamb, the most important
part of our message. How will talking about Jesus help
us lead other people to accept the message? How will
doing this help us?

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FRIDAY—JUNE 23
God’s people will do
miracles. They will heal
the sick. God will show
signs and wonders
as proof.
ADDITIONAL THOUGHT:“God’s servants will go from place to
place. Their faces will shine with light. They will announce God’s
message from heaven. Thousands of people all over the earth
will give the final warning. God’s people will do miracles. They
will heal the sick. God will show signs and wonders as proof.
This proof will help the people on the earth know that the work
God’s people do is from Him. Satan also will do work. He will
show wonders and miracles, too. People will see these works
and think they are from God. But that is a lie. Satan will bring fire
from heaven down to the earth. Revelation 13:13. Everyone on
earth must choose the one they will believe and serve.
“God’s followers will convince people that their message is
from God. But they will not win hearts with their reasons and
smart words. The Holy Spirit Himself will convince people that
the message is from heaven. God’s followers will help Him
share His message. His followers will plant this message the
same as a seed in people’s hearts. The message will grow
in people’s hearts the same as a plant that grows fruit. Bible
workers wrote about this Bible truth. Their small books did
their job. Many people read about the message. But they didn’t
understand everything they read at the time. So, they didn’t
obey right away. Now these people understand Bible truth. They
separate from everything that keeps them from being obedient
to Bible truth. Their family members and church members can’t
stop them from obeying God. Bible truth is more important to
them than anything else. Many people try to stop these new
believers from obeying God. But a large number of people
accept Bible truth and join the Lord.”—Ellen G. White, The Great
Controversy, page 612, adapted.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1 What is the connection between God’s saving mercy and the
Three Angels’ Messages?
2 Read Revelation 14:12 again. This verse talks about obedience. What is different between following the commandments and
trying to earn God’s mercy with your own good behavior?
3 In class talk about things that are happening worldwide that
you learn about on the news. What things have you seen happen
that could help lead to final end-time happenings?