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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Jonathan Zirkle

The Last Remnant

Dear Lord, I ask that you'd be with us now.

Please help me to speak the words that you would have me to speak.

Today I'd like to start by opening to a passage in Scripture that is near and dear to the Seventh-day Adventist.

And if you could turn with me to Revelation 14.

You know, I hear different talk, I hear different things and I think it's really important for us to remember who we are.

And there's a number of texts that have defined Adventism in our experience, and I'd like to just highlight and focus on as we begin with 1 of those really, really important passages to us.

If we could read together Revelation chapter 14, and I'll be reading in verse 6.

Every nation and kindred and tongue and people, saying with a loud voice, fear God and give glory to him for the hour of judgment has come, and worship him that made heaven and earth and the sea and the fountains of waters.

And there followed another angel saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all the nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication and the third angel followed followed them saying with a loud voice if any man worshiped the beast in his image and receive his mark on his forehead or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation.

And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever, and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast in his image.

Whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." That's the 3 angels' message.

And that's a really, really important message to us.

And if you know our history, you know that that was 1 of the opening messages that we gave.

And I think it's really important now, I want to focus in on the next verse.

Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

If you look in Revelation, it's got an interesting structure, and I wish I had all the time in the world to just go through Revelation with you this morning, but I don't.

And I'd just like to weave us through a few things in this structure.

If you look, these saints, these saints here, they're the 144, 000.

And they're actually described earlier on in Revelation 14, looking, and I like to look especially at verses 1 and 3 and 5.

And I looked, and lo, a lamb stood on Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand, having their father's name written in their foreheads." This name written in the foreheads is important.

It shows their character, God's character, the Father's character.

And going on to describe this, it says, and they sung, as it were, a new song before the throne and before the 4 beasts and the elders, and no man could learn that song but the 144, 000 which were redeemed from the earth.

This is a special blessing to be a member of the 144, 000.

These are they which were not defiled with women, for they are virgins.

These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.

These were redreamed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb." You know, this passage, just follows the Lamb wherever he goeth.

And I think there's a spiritual lesson in this.

I'll tell you how this has impacted on me.

You know, much of the time, what do they do?

And I believe that there's a spiritual lesson to that.

He's beyond us, He's bigger than us, and we can't know His ways except as revealed through the Scripture.

And we need to keep our eyes upon him, just like our pets may do for us.

And in their mouth was found no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God." Wow, that's heavy.

I'll get to that, I hope, a little later.

The 144, 000 are also described earlier in Revelation.

If you look at this here, you've got the 7 seals.

And in the 7 seals, you've got all kinds of calamity, things happening, right?

And if you understand Revelation, it's really cool.

It kind of goes through and shows us different things that are happening.

But then, it kind of answers the question.

When you look at the sixth seal, just before the 144, 000 are introduced to us, you actually see, towards the end, you see here in the sixth seal that the heavens are departed, the kings of the earth, the rich men, they flee to the mountains, to the dens, and to the rocks, and they say, fall on us.

Well, this sort of creates a question in our mind, who is able to stand?

Who is able to stand when this is happening?

And the answer is found in Revelation 7 with 144, 000.

And I'd like to just go and look at those.

If you look at verse 14, and John is asking the angel about what he has seen and about the 144, 000.

He's asking about, I just got to fill in the space.

John is asking about these people that he's seen, 144, 000.

And he said unto me, these are they which came out of the great tribulation and have washed their robes and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Now, I'm not going to unpack the different tribulations.

We've got really 2 great tribulations in Revelation and the Bible that we see here.

And I don't want to get into the nuances of how we determine what's what on this, but I think we can all agree that we're all looking, hopefully, with dread toward a tribulation that is coming our way.

Dread not because we cannot stand, because we have Jesus with us, but I believe that we are facing a time of trouble like we've never seen.

And you know, some people may complain, oh you read too much of Revelation and Daniel.

But Christ, when He was here, is saying the same thing.

Turn with me with Revelation, excuse me, Matthew 24.

And looking here in Matthew 24, Christ is with His disciples and His disciples are talking to Him.

It says, And as He sat upon the Mount of olives, the disciples came unto Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be?

And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" I believe this next statement that Christ says is really important to us.

Christ and Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you." This is 1 incredibly important warning that Christ gives, and it's given multiple times in the Bible.

Remember, the corollary to that, the opposite of that is Christ.

And then looking to the times that these tribulations, Look at what Christ has to say in verses 21 and 22 of this same chapter.

For then shall be great tribulations such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, nor no, nor ever shall be.

And except those days should be shortened, there should be no flesh saved.

But for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened." He goes on and gives some more warnings about false Christs, and then he goes directly to this language here, verse 27, "...for as lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the West, so shall also be the coming of the Son of Man." So we see this tribulation coming just before.

The remnant that we have seen in Revelation chapter 14, they can stand.

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The Last Remnant

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