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It Is Written

Sabbath School 2nd Quarter 2024: The Great Controversy

Mark Finley

Eric Flickinger

01 The War Behind All Wars

02 The Central Issue: Love or Selfishness?

03 Light Shines in the Darkness

04 Standing for the Truth

05 Faith Against All Odds

John Bradshaw

Money, Money, Money

06 The Two Witnesses

07 Motivated by Hope

08 Light from the Sanctuary

09 The Foundation of God’s Government

10 Spiritualism Exposed

11 The Impending Conflict

12 Earth’s Closing Events

13 The Triumph of God’s Love

Welcome to Sabbath School brought to you by It Is Written.

We're delighted to have you joining us again this week as we look at lesson number 5.

But before we begin, let's start with prayer.

Father, we want to Thank you for being with us today and giving us an opportunity to delve more deeply into 1 of the greatest themes in the history of the world, the great controversy.

And as we continue our journey, we ask for your blessings, and we thank you in Jesus' name.

With us again this week is Pastor Mark Finley.

He is the author of this quarter Sabbath school lesson and he is also an international speaker, author and international evangelist.

It is always great to be here at It Is Written.

It's a ministry that I love and thank you for inviting me.

All right, so let's delve into this lesson.

We are making our way rapidly through these 13 lessons that we're studying.

Why did you call this lesson faith against the odds?

During the period we know as the Dark Ages or the Middle Ages, the Church of God was persecuted and to stand with biblical faith they had to stand against the odds because church and state had united at that time.

They were oppressed, persecuted, and to see their faithfulness really inspires our faithfulness today.

So it was a very difficult time for people to be Christians.

And we know that there are going to be some times ahead that are also going to be very much like that, if not worse than that.

In the introduction to this week's lesson, you share a term with us called the empty self.

Well, actually, Philip Cushman, a psychologist, coined that term, Eric, the empty self.

And what he meant by that was that people are empty in the sense that they lack purpose, they lack meaning, they lack direction in their life.

In particular, in Western society, they have beautiful homes, they have adequate food to eat, They have electronics and all the luxuries of life in the middle class America.

And I recognize that much of America has experienced some poverty as well, particularly in the inner city.

But Kushba was speaking about the fact that you can have material blessings, but have an empty heart.

This is in contrast to the believers in the Middle Ages.

They may not have had the material possessions.

They may not have had the things that we have, but their faith in Christ, their confidence in the Word of God, their belief in foundational truths of Scripture kept them going in spite of their circumstances.

So they were very full as opposed to empty, which we see in a lot of people today.

We know that faith is going to have to be full again as we get closer and closer to the end of time and the challenges that we're going to face there.

The Reformation time was a significant time.

It was a time when people had the opportunity to figure out what they believed in, what they were living for.

And out of the Reformation came this term, sola scriptura.

By sola scriptura, the reformers meant that the Bible and the Bible alone became the foundation of their faith.

So as the reformers went through scripture, they would read passages, for example, and we have this in Sunday's lesson.

They would read passages like in Psalm 119, verse 103, that says this, How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.

Or Psalm 119, verse 147, I rise before the dawning of the morning and cry for help.

I hope in your word." So the reformers meant by sola scriptura that the Word of God was sweet, that hope was in the Word of God, and that they believed in the bedrock principles of the Word of God rather than tradition.

I think this can be important today because as you look at what's happening in society today, there is the tendency even by Christian churches to have cultural accommodation, to feel pressured by the world around you.

And you know, Scripture says in Romans 12 verse 1, be not transformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

And that renewing of the mind helped the Reformation continue to move forward and to become even bigger and greater.

And today we need that in our lives to help us through difficult times.

At the end of Monday's lesson, you share something about William Tyndale and the significance of his contribution.

Share a little bit more about why you included that in Monday's lesson.

Well, you know, in Revelation 14, verse 13, it says, blessed are the dead that die in the Lord henceforth and their works do follow them.

And the reformers lived not only for their day, but for our day, because the translation of the Bible, particularly that Tyndale made, impacts every 1 of us today as we read the King James Version or the New King James Version of the Bible.

When the King James Version of the Bible celebrated its 400th anniversary, it had already printed 1 billion copies.

Millions of people have been impacted by that.

76% of the King James Version of the Bible is based on Tyndale's translation.

83% in the New Testament is based on Tyndale's translation.

So when we look at the concept in Monday's lesson of passing on God's word, the Reformers lived not only for their generation but for ours.

And every time We pick up the Bible, we pick it up with this sense of sacredness.

When Tyndale was burned at the stake, he prayed, Lord, open the king of England's eyes.

4 years after that, the King James Version of the Bible was translated.

So we're seeing, we're benefiting from what God impressed Tyndale to do back in those days.

And even though he gave his life for it, we are the beneficiaries of that.

And we are able to spread that message and that encouragement and that light throughout the world.

You know, the Bible came at a great cost.

And every time I pick up the Word of God, I think about the fact that this is not only the inspired Word of God, but it was given to us by men who shed their blood for it.

And that I want to treat the Word of God sacredly and allow its inspiration to impact my own heart, my own life.

What was his attitude toward God's word and How does that really apply to our lives today?

You know, when you read the Psalms, particularly Psalm 119, we quoted a little earlier, you find this passion that David had, you find this commitment to the Word of God.

He's writing things like, how sweet are your words?

He's writing things like, I hope in your word.

He's writing things like, the word of God is precious.

And I think this was illustrated in the life of the reformers.

If we are going to get through the last days of verse history, it's going to require a passion for the Word of God because the track of truth and the track of error are going to be so close that unless the mind is worked by the Holy Spirit leading us to the Word of God, it'll be so easy to be deceived.

And I think my appeal to those who are watching our lesson today and studying along with it is anchor your mind in the Word of God.

As it says in Jeremiah 15, verse 16, thy words were found and I did eat them.

We're going through this quarter looking at this great struggle, this great controversy between light and darkness, between truth and error, goodness and evil.

And we're getting a good picture of it through our daily lessons.

But you've also written a companion book to this quarter's Sabbath school lesson.

Share with us a little bit more about that companion book and why it would be worthwhile to pick that up.

Series

Sabbath School 2nd Quarter 2024: The Great Controversy

05 Faith Against All Odds

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

Prophecies of Hope

09 Satan’s Secret Strategy

43m

Talking Points 3rd Quarter 2023: Ephesians

04 How God Rescues Us

29m

Practical Instructions

57m

Talking Points, 1st Quarter 2021: Isaiah

12 The Desire of Nations

33m

Plenary

Shields of Brass

1h 14m

WYC 2007 Plenary Sessions

If You Do These Things

52m

Restoration 2006: Prepare Me

Living it Up for the Lord: It’s Crazy to Cling to Cancer

55m

In Such a Time as This

Why Jesus Waits

1h 4m

The Three Angels' Messages

04 The Third Angel

1h 1m

To Know and Be Known

Nothing to Fear

59m

Emmanuel Core Workout

Sabbath Part 1b

1h 8m

Faith and Works

Faith and Works - Part 3

32m

Sound Doctrine