Mark Finley

GYC 2025: Seeing the Invisible

Last Day Events, The Remnant, and Church Organization

Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

01 Revelation’s Remnant

Father in heaven, thank you so much for the opportunity to work here in this seminar together, to study together really, to sense your spirit working among us, clearly outline the events that are coming so that we can be prepared for them.

Lead us to a deep abiding experience with Jesus.

Enable us to know your will and Father prepare us for what's coming in Christ's name.

Now let's suppose you are attending a concert in Carnegie Hall.

All right, Let's suppose you're attending a concert in Carnegie Hall.

And you have looked forward to this concert.

It's a special event that you've saved for, you've purchased tickets for.

And about in the middle of the concert, some guy jumps up and cries, fire, fire, fire.

First, the guy is an absolute lunatic, and you're hoping that some New York security guards will come and carry the guy out.

Second choice is the guy's a terrorist, and he wants people to jump up so he can pull out his guns and start shooting people.

The third possibility is that there is really a fire.

Would your attitude toward the guy who stands up be any different if it's 1 of those 3 scenes?

If the guy's a lunatic, you're thinking to yourself, this guy's absolutely crazy, he's interrupting my concert.

If the guy's a terrorist, your heart is filled with fear.

But if this is really a fire, at the end of that, when people are evacuated, everybody's safe, you're gonna throw your arms around the guy and say, thank you for saving my life.

When you look at coming events or last-day events, We are looking at something that comes to us from the heart of a loving God because there is a genuine crisis that's coming.

It's not some wild-eyed fanaticism, but it's rather a loving God shares with us a message in the last days to prepare people for the coming crisis.

Now when you study coming events there are 3 things to keep in mind.

First, Jesus makes clear what's most important.

There is no area that I know of that has greater speculation than the area of last day events.

You get all kind of speculation that takes place, but Jesus makes clear what is it, what's most important.

So if something is not real clear, It obviously is not real important.

So we're not going to look at speculation in this class.

We're not going to look at what might happen and because somebody's theory of 7 popes from Revelation 17 or all this kind of stuff.

We're not gonna look at these purported time periods that from this national Sunday law to the close of probation, it has to be.

We are gonna look at clear, lucid statements in the Bible and the spirit of prophecy.

That's where we are going to land in this class.

Secondly, there are 3 principles we're going to look at.

Second principle, Jesus is the center of all prophecy.

If you present prophecy without presenting a Christocentric Jesus center of prophecy, wherever you end up you're not going to end up right because what is the purpose of prophecy?

The purpose of prophecy is to prepare a people for the coming of whom?

And so Jesus must be the center of all prophecy.

The third thing is Jesus has given us last-day events not to scare us, not to frighten us, but to prepare us.

If you study last-day events and you come away frightened and scared, if you come away trembling, think, oh, I can never make it through that time, there's something wrong with that approach, because Jesus does not give us last day events to frighten us.

He doesn't give us last day events to scare us.

He gives us last day events to prepare us and to encourage us.

Now, I want you to take your Bible and turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5.

Of course, to get the most out of this seminar, you're going to want to be bringing your Bibles.

Now, you'll remember in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, the Apostle Paul talks about the coming of Jesus.

He talks about Jesus coming in power and glory.

He talks about the reality of the resurrection, the resurrection of the righteous, the resurrection of the translation of the righteous.

Paul says, the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trump of God and the dead in Christ who rise first, and we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air.

The Thessalonian Christians then need to understand something about the day of the Lord.

And if you look at First Thessalonians, chapter 5, verse 5, 6 and 7, it says, but you, brethren, are not in darkness that that that this day, what's this day?

The second coming of Jesus should overtake you as a thief.

You are sons of light and not sons of day and our sons of the day.

Therefore, let us not sleep as others, but let us watch and be sober.

So Paul is saying, look, we can have clarity about the coming of Jesus.

We're not sons of the night, we are sons and daughters of the day.

God has given to us light on the road ahead.

In the eighth volume of the Testimonies, page 28, I read this important statement, transgression has almost reached its limit.

So here Ellen White says transgression has almost reached its limit.

We can see that in the world today, can't we?

Next sentence, confusion fills the world.

And then it says, and a great terror is soon to come upon human beings.

That's what we're going to be studying about.

That Great Terror has to do with famine, fire, flood, conflict, war, Great Terror.

Then this important sentence, God's people should be preparing for what is to come upon our world, to break upon the world, as an overwhelming surprise.

God's people should be preparing for what is to come upon the world as an overwhelming surprise.

Does the average person in the world today have any idea what's coming?

But we who know the truth should be doing what?

Preparing for what's to come upon the world as an overwhelming surprise.

When we study coming events, all of those coming or last day events, are pointing forward to the glorious event of Christ's second coming.

In Scripture, Jesus' second coming, you're going to want to note this, is mentioned 1, 500 times.

For every prophecy in the Old Testament speaking about the first coming of Jesus, there are 8 that speak about the second coming of Jesus.

In the New Testament, the second coming of Christ is mentioned once in every 25 verses.

So the second coming of Christ is mentioned once in every 25 verses.

So the second coming of Christ is the great mountain peak of the Bible.

Sabbath School 1st Quarter 2026: Uniting Heaven and Earth: Christ in Philippians and Colossians

HopeLives365

04 Unity Through Humility

Our Sabbath School lessons this quarter, from the books of Philippians and Colossians, have deep spiritual insights for the Church and for our lives personally.

Our lesson this week, lesson number 4, is unity through humility.

So let's ask God to give us a humble spirit, a teachable spirit, a spirit of a learner as we study together.

Dear Father in heaven, we're thankful for your love and grace.

Give us a teachable spirit and a humble heart as we study together today.

May spiritual insights leap off the pages of this lesson in scripture to move our hearts closer to you.

A number of years ago, when I was a younger pastor, a senior pastor, a real good friend of mine, great theologian, 1 of the leaders in the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, was discussing with me about a meeting that he and a number of other theologians had with a particular person, a particular theologian, who was getting off rails a little bit, teaching things that were not in harmony with the Adventist message.

And he made this statement, my friend made this statement.

He said, you know Mark, the problem with this gentleman is that he's never wrong.

And I've thought about that a great deal.

The problem with this gentleman is that he's never wrong.

That in theological things he has to be right.

1 of the things that creates dissension in a marriage, in the home, in a Sabbath school class, in the church, is if we feel that we are always right and can never make a mistake.

Humility is the opposite of arrogance and pride.

It's a humble spirit that takes the spirit of a learner.

It's a selfish, selfless, self-sacrificing spirit.

In our lesson this week, the memory text, Philippians 2, verse 2, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love being of 1 accord and of 1 mind.

When a family is of 1 accord and 1 mind in unity and love, that is reflected to the people that come into the home and the people they come in contact with.

When a church is of 1 mind, has the atmosphere of unity and joy, you walk into that church and you sense that there's a oneness here, a commitment to Christ and a commitment to Bible truth, a commitment to the Adventist message.

I like the way our author puts it in the first paragraph.

First paragraph on Sabbath afternoon's lesson.

But knowing what is true is not the same as doing it.

We fail sometimes despite our best efforts at unity.

But that's not the same as deliberately undermining unity.

In our humanness we certainly make mistakes, we certainly can fail, we certainly have to say I'm sorry.

But then there is this concept of intentionally undermining unity.

Can you think of a time in scripture where a being, a heavenly being, an angelic being, consciously attempted to undermine the unity of heaven?

Certainly, Lucifer's fall was done because Lucifer did not take a humble spirit, a listening spirit, an obedient spirit.

He rather was filled with pride and arrogance and therefore undermined the unity of heaven.

And through that chaos, the angels in heaven rebelled.

1 third of the angels were cast out of heaven, came to earth.

And again, when you look at Adam and Eve, what was the fundamental sin?

The fundamental sin was not trusting in God, not having a humble spirit to obey God.

We look at Philippi, And we look at the subject of disunity in the book of Philippians.

Throughout the book of Philippians there is this emphasis on the unity of the church.

We want to look at some of these bigger issues.

Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, what does that mean, consolation in Christ?

It means if we can follow the example of Jesus, if there's any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of 1 accord, of 1 mind.

What is it then that brings disunity and what is it that brings unity?

Arrogance, pride, conceit, self-inflated importance brings disunity.

Unity comes as we attempt to follow the example of Jesus.

Unity comes as the love of Christ comforts our hearts, as Paul says in Philippians 2.

Unity comes as the Holy Spirit brings us in fellowship with 1 another.

Unity comes when our hearts are filled with compassion or affection.

Unity comes when we have tolerance or mercy for others' mistakes.

Unity comes when our attempt is to be like-minded.

Now in Monday's lesson we focus on the source of unity.

Jesus looked beyond actions to our thoughts and feelings.

You see, you're not going to have unity in a home or in the church unless the thoughts are changed, unless the feelings are changed.

If we have thoughts of bitterness, anger, resentment, we may try to achieve an outward unity, but that unity is going to fall apart pretty soon.

If we have feelings of disenfranchisement for another person, that is to say if we have barriers between us, we may talk about unity, we may smile, but if we have those bitter, angry feelings in our heart, and those thoughts in our heart, that's gonna create disunity.

He said, for out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, "'murders, adulteries, fornications, "'thefts, false witness, blasphemies, ' out of the heart." And then in Matthew 12, 34, Jesus says, "'Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.'" So what practical steps can we take to achieve unity in the church and unity in our families and our homes?

Philippians 2, verse 3 and 4 gives us some help.

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition.

In other words, don't try to dominate others with your own agenda or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than themselves.

Let each of you look out, not for your own interests, but also the interests of others." It reminds me of a story, a husband and wife were talking about the vacation, And they're gonna go on this vacation, they're looking forward to it, they've worked hard through the year, they wanna take their children on vacation.

But he wants to go to the mountains where he can hike.

She's not much of a hiker, doesn't like camping, and she sure doesn't like those mosquitoes.

She would rather go to the beach and smell the salt breezes and lounge in the sun and rest with the kids and he could go swimming.

They begin to talk about mountains or beach, and they get in a pretty heated argument and are pretty tense before the vacation even starts.

Well, here, the Apostle Paul solves it, helps us to solve it in Philippians chapter 2.

He says, here, let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than themselves.

Let each look out not for their own interests, but the interests of others.

That could be solved pretty easily if the husband says to the wife, look, you know, maybe on another occasion we can go to the mountains And you know, I'm happy to go to the beach.

Sometime you have to sacrifice your own opinion, or maybe you come up to a compromise.

Maybe you say, hey, you want to go to the mountains, I want to go to the beach.

In other words, compromise is not always bad if compromise does not compromise biblical values, doesn't compromise the truth of God's word.

And the idea is recognizing that my way may not always be best and it's necessary to look to others, look at what they desire.

As Paul says here, It's selfishness that destroys our unity.

It's considering our own desires that brings disunity.

It is considering others that brings unity.

It's self-denial that helps to bring disunity, but not self-denial in the sense of, I'm going to grit my teeth and I'll do this.

It is rather Jesus' love filling our hearts that brings to us a willingness to humbly sacrifice our own desires rather than create disunity.

I love what it says here in the lesson, Monday's lesson, last paragraph.

Paul speaks of the unity produced by the Spirit, Ephesians 4.3, which creates the peace that joins us together.

If there is strife in the church, the Holy Spirit can calm the waters and bring us into unity, creating harmony.

In the same chapter, Paul speaks of the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, Ephesians 4.13.

Having the same faith, the same understanding of Scripture that springs from knowing Christ and his teachings is vital for unity to prevail among us.

When we talk about unity, we are not talking about 1 of 2 things.

03 Life and Death

Welcome back to lesson number 3 in our series, Uniting Heaven and Earth.

We're studying the epistles of Philippians and Colossians.

This is an incredibly exciting series to study.

Every lesson speaks to our hearts, gives us practical spiritual encouragement to live the Christian life.

We're jumping right into Philippians 1, but before we do that, let's pray.

Father in heaven, grant to us divine insight and divine wisdom as we study this lesson.

May our eyes be opened to see glorious truths in your word.

The title of our lesson is Life and Death.

I was a little bit shocked when I read the first paragraph and it really resonated with me.

It was very direct, and I thought, you know, that is so true.

Death, we're often told, is just part of life.

Death is the opposite of life, the enemy of life.

Death was no more built into life than wreckage was built into a car.

Paul emphatically says that Christ died to destroy him that had power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." As I reflected on that paragraph, I thought there are many people that say, you know, we live, we die, it's all part of life.

But when you actually reflect upon it from a theological standpoint, that is not true.

God created Adam and Eve to live forever.

God never had death as part of his plan of life.

His great desire was all humanity would live in joy and love and peace and in fellowship with him through the ceaseless ages of all eternity.

That's why the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 51 and onward, death, where is your sting?

Christ has conquered the grave, and Paul says, this mortal shall put on immortality.

This corruptible will put on incorrupted.

For in a moment, a twinking of an eye at the last trump, the trumpet shall sound, and the dead in Christ, of course, are gonna rise to put on immortality.

So death is something that Jesus Christ conquered on the cross.

Death will be the last foe and it will be defeated and Christ will reign forever and ever and we can reign with him through the ceaseless ages of eternity.

So Paul's in prison in Philippi and he's concerned that the Philippians understand that Christ will be magnified in his life in life or death.

So we jump right into the lesson, Sunday's lesson, Philippians chapter 1, verse 19.

"'For I know that this, " well, what's this?

This suffering, this trial, this difficulty, this imprisonment.

"'I know that This will turn out for my salvation through your prayer and the supply of the spirit of Jesus Christ.

What is Paul talking about that this imprisonment would turn out for his salvation?

Wasn't Paul saved when he came to Christ on Damascus Road?

Wasn't he a saved person as he experienced the joy of knowing forgiveness of his sin and Jesus' death on the cross, in Christ's intercession for him, certainly.

So what does it mean when he says, I know this is gonna work out for my salvation?

The word for salvation is sotria there, and it's a word that can also mean healing.

So Paul is saying that my heart will be healed in this difficult circumstance because you're praying for me.

When we pray for others who are going through a hard time and we pray that God will heal their brokenness and heal their hurt and heal their pain and heal their suffering.

So Paul says, I know that all that I'm going through is gonna turn out for my spiritual healing, because you're praying for me through your prayer in the supply of the spirit of Jesus Christ.

As we pray for others who are going through difficult times, Jesus supplies his spirit and healing takes place in their life.

As others pray for us as we're going through difficult times, healing comes into our spiritual lives as well.

But then Paul says, verse 20, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that which all boldness as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or death." It seems that Paul has this sense, this expectation that things are not going to go well for him.

Why else would he pray that Christ be magnified in my body either in life or death?

He has this sense that life may be coming to an end, that things are not going to be well when he goes before the court of Caesar, that he is a condemned man and he has that sense.

It says, although Paul, this is Sunday's lesson, first paragraph, under the question, although Paul was no criminal, this was not the first time that he had been imprisoned and He was no stranger to persecution.

To the Corinthians, he detailed his sufferings in prisons more frequently, in deaths often.

In, from the Jews 5 times, I received 40 stripes minus 1.

Back to Menu

Presenter

Mark Finley

All Recordings

01 Revelation’s Remnant

54m

04 Unity Through Humility

26m

03 Life and Death

23m

The Sabbath vs. Sunday: The Coming Global Conflict

33m

02 Reasons for Thanksgiving and Prayer

24m

Pr. Mark Finley Analyzes Charlie Kirk’s Sabbath Book

1h 2m

01 Persecuted but Not Forsaken

26m

13 Choose this Day!

23m

12 God is Faithful!

23m

The Final Generation Must Speak this Language

33m

11 Living in the Land

26m

Why the Sabbath is More Than a Day (It’s a Divine Rhythm)

44m

Sound Doctrine