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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Restoration 2025: Revelation of Healing

Anthony Baca

O1 Revelation’s Lamb

Father in heaven, thank you for the privilege that we have to come together to study your Word, to think on spiritual things.

To be quite honest, Lord, I don't know much, and the very little I know, I pray that you would remind me of so that I can share something with my friends that would be of benefit.

Allow your spirit to speak to us individually and personally.

Give us the blessing that you intend for us to receive, whatever that blessing may be, we just ask that somehow, some way, that we would be inspired to know you more.

You know, my brain is a little, little exhausted right now, And I pray for strength, and I pray for clarity of thought, and I just pray that you would be present.

So tonight's presentation is entitled Revelation's Lamb.

I wanted to start with this because if you have your Bibles and you open to Revelation chapter 1 verse 1, we're going to be looking at a lot of passages in the book of Revelation over the next week.

We're going to be studying more so Revelations chapter 1, 2, and 3 more specifically, working through the 7 churches.

So if you've never studied the 7 churches, I encourage you to come out to our presentations to study those.

And for those that have had Bible studies on the 7 churches, it may be a little bit different of an approach than you're used to.

So I think you'll still be deeply blessed by restudying the 7 churches again.

But in Revelation chapter 1, beginning in verse 1, it begins this way.

And this is why I like the book of Revelation.

It says here in Revelation 1, verse 1, the revelation of who?

Of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants things which must soon take place.

Now, this is the beauty of the book of Revelation.

It is the revealing, the unveiling of who.

It comes from Jesus, and it's all about Jesus.

Now, to me, that makes this a beautiful book.

I remember I was asked to, I went to a particular church service 1 time, That is to share, to preach.

And he said, we really want you to preach on the gospel.

And I preached on Jesus and Revelation, because I believe Revelation is the fifth gospel.

It's all about Jesus, just in a slightly different role.

And we'll talk about that a little bit this evening.

So that being said, I want us to study the book of Revelation over the next week because I want us to get to know Jesus more.

And I don't know your background, I don't know where you're coming from, I don't know your foundation, a little bit about myself.

I was not born and raised in a religious home.

I was raised in a secular home, a non- spiritual home of any religion or any spirituality whatsoever, and I didn't come to know God until I was an adult.

And so I had a lifetime of walking through this world without the understanding that there might be something more than just the things that I see.

And so for me, when I talk about this, if I seem a bit moved at times, it's because I really do love God.

I've come to find a friend and someone that cares a lot about me and the purpose of this series is to help guide people just to get to know this person that I've come to know.

To get to know Jesus through a very special book in the Bible.

In Revelation chapter 13, there's a very unique chapter in the book of Revelation that talks about the final conflict in Earth's history, this final conflict that's gonna take place on planet Earth.

And when it talks about this this final conflict, it begins with this symbolic imagery.

I know some of you are like, what did he just put a picture of?

The Bible describes this type of creature as this entity being used in the book of Revelation.

Notice what it says in Revelation 13 verse 1.

Then I stood on the sand of the sea and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea having 7 heads and 10 horns and on his horns 10 crowns and on his heads a blasphemous name.

Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard.

His feet were like the feet of a bear, his mouth like the mouth of a lion, and the dragon gave him his power, his throne and great authority.

So when you look at this, first of all, when I see images like this, I'm so glad I'm not a prophet, amen?

Because if I saw this in vision, I don't know if I'd ever recover from that.

He sees this thing coming up from the sea, having 7 heads, 10 horns.

It's leopard-like, it's bear-like, it's lion-like.

It's this entity that's being used in the book of Revelation in a negative way.

Without spending 30, 40 minutes studying this and at any point through any of these presentations over this next week, if you are piqued in interest and have desire to dig deeper into the Bible, please come and see me.

We would love to have personal Bible studies with you.

To dig deeper into some of these concepts that I'll have to go through rather quickly in presentation form.

But if anyone ever wants to get deeper and study, we, we were more than happy to do that with you.

I pulled from this commentary, 1 of my favorite, it's an evangelical commentary called the Bible Knowledge Commentary.

It describes this entity as a very common understanding of this entity.

It says that many believe that this is an anti-God political power that rises from the masses of humanity.

It's a continuation of the culmination of the world empires depicted in Daniel 7.

And while it initially represents the Roman Empire during the time of John.

Its 7 heads and authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation signify its broader meaning as a succession of anti-Christian world powers throughout history empowered by Satan to persecute God's people.

Many scholars and many people who study the Bible have recognized that this is an entity being used by Satan to persecute who?

Now, at this point in the book of Revelation, it's entered into the end of times, and notice what it does.

It says, "...then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God to blaspheme his name his tabernacle And those who dwell in heaven it was granted to him to make war with the Saints and to overcome him and Authority was given him over every tribe tongue and nation So we can see that this is clearly a persecuting power, correct?

It's clearly persecuting the people of God.

This is clearly not something that you want to cuddle with that night, amen?

And so this beast in Revelation, persecuting power being used by Satan.

Verse 8 And all who dwell on the earth will, what's that key phrase?

If There's 1 thing that you will take away, I think, from the seminar over this next couple, over the next few days, the next week that we spend together.

At the end of time, this sea beast, this persecuting power, this thing, this entity, whatever it is that Satan is going to use to persecute and punish God's people, ultimately that entity is trying to receive what?

And the issue in Revelation isn't will you be an atheist or a believer.

I used to be an atheist and when I became a Christian, I thought the final battle will be between atheists and Christians.

But the more I read the book of Revelation, I realized that's not the reality.

It really just comes down to the hearts of people, what and who will you worship?

That's really what Revelation is all about.

And so it says here that all those who dwell on the earth will worship Him whose names have not been written in the book of life.

And here's the key concept that's going to get us into our meeting tonight.

The lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

02 By Their Testimony

Father in heaven, thank you for the privilege and the honor that we have to come to experience you, to worship you, to know you, Lord.

Thank you that you love us so much that we are the apple of your eye and that you desire nothing more than to be present with us right now.

I pray that you would shield our minds from all distractions, that you would give us an ear to hear and a mind to understand.

Whatever it is that you brought us here for, There's a blessing that you have in store for us.

And let our thoughts not distract us from that blessing.

Speak to us, I pray, and speak through me, Lord.

Guide my thoughts, guide my words, that my friends might not be hindered in knowing you.

Have you ever asked yourself, why am I doing this?

Anything in life, have you ever been doing something in life and you just stopped and asked yourself, why am I doing this?

I remember for me, it was when I was in Arizona and my friend said, hey, you want to go for a 6 mile run for the first time?

I was like, yeah, by about mile 3, I literally asked myself within my heart of hearts, why am I doing this to myself?

There was no, Obviously there's health benefits, of course, of course.

But in the moment, I was like, there is no benefit to me dying on the side of the Prescott Road Highway as I'm running with my friends.

Sometimes in life we do things and we don't even know why we do it.

You know, the story of a woman who, she would bake this particular food item, she would always cut it in half and throw part of it away and then bake the food item.

And 1 day her daughter asked, why do you do that?

She said, I don't know, that's how my mom made it.

So then 1 day, you know, she went to grandma and asked grandma, like, hey, grandma, why do you do it that way?

Eventually she saw a great grandma and she said, hey, great grandma, random question.

She says, oh, my oven was so small back in the day it wouldn't fit.

You don't know why you're doing something, you're just what?

And In life, sometimes that's okay, you know?

Some people put the toilet paper going around the top.

Like, why do you do the things you do spiritually?

Or should you read your Bible every day if you're not?

When you ask yourself, what's the main goal?

You can start to get to the root of something, can't you?

And I remember as a young person who came into the church, and most of you know my story, so I won't go into the details, but as I went from like atheism into Christianity, and I had this transition in my personal life, I became a Christian intellectually.

I believe that the evidence was stronger in favor of this intelligent designer than not.

I started giving Bible studies, but I never really stopped and asked why.

First John chapter 5, verse 20, tells us why Jesus came.

And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding that we may what?

And we are in Him who is true in His Son, Jesus Christ.

Jesus came for 1 purpose, 1 primary purpose.

And for those that were here last night, we talked about this idea of knowing God.

It is having that interpersonal relationship, spending time in communion with God, experiencing God in your actual life today.

God wants this to be a very real, tangible experience that you can have with him.

And I can tell you this much, for my first couple of years as a Christian, it was a very intelligent faith.

And 1 day I had this breakthrough and realized that he wanted so much more than just my brain and my thoughts.

He wanted an actual genuine relationship with me.

I think the prophets used these words on purpose, even though I don't think God told them they had to use specific words, I think they used words to express thoughts.

And I believe they paint the picture of a relationship with God for a reason.

When you think of a relationship with somebody, think human relationship, when you think of a relationship with someone, do relationships take work or do they not take work?

It takes work to actually pull off a relationship.

Now, when you have a relationship with someone, let's say it's a romantic relationship and you're in love with somebody.

Are they usually number 10 on your priority for the day?

You know when those butterflies were floating in your bellies that 1 day, making their way to your heart.

You're supposed to be at work, working, and what are you doing?

You're supposed to be studying for that exam, your phone vibrates and boom, you run to the phone, right?

When they call, you don't say, hey, I got 30 seconds and I gotta let you go.

03 Feed My Sheep

Father in heaven, thank you again just for this beautiful Sabbath day.

Thank you for the opportunity that we have to think on your word.

I pray despite myself, Lord, that you would speak this evening.

That your spirit would speak to my friends personally as we think on a few simple texts and examine our hearts tonight and see where it is you would have us to go with it.

All right, if you have your Bibles, go with me to 1 John 5, verse 20.

We saw it earlier today in church, but I'm going to reference it again for us.

If you've heard my sermons over the last year, you know it's probably 1 of my favorite verses, actually.

So I would assume some of you should have it memorized by now.

But when someone repeats something over and over and over again, you know it's important to them, amen?

And this verse is important to me for a lot of reasons.

So 1st John chapter 5 verse 20, toward the back of your Bibles, it says here, And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding so that we may what?

And we talked about that idea this morning, that concept this morning, that Christ came so that we could what?

And we talked about knowing God was more than an intellectual understanding that he exists.

This gnosko or an actual personal relationship and daily encounter with God.

And that is what it's, it is describing here in 1st John 5 20.

And someone may say, but didn't Jesus come to heal the sick?

But in healing the sick, it shows you who God was.

But in setting the captives free, it revealed something about the heart of God.

Everything Jesus did came back to 1 key point.

The character of who God really is, so that you can experience Him too.

So I want to talk just a few minutes about this and then connect it to the thought this evening.

Go to Proverbs chapter 2 if you have your Bibles.

It's another verse that you may have heard me use before if you've, if I've shared with you how to have devotions or something about having a personal walk with God through the Bible, but Proverbs chapter 2 verse 1 through 6 is a beautiful passage.

It's a powerful passage, and it plays on a constant- Maybe in my generation.

And for those that don't know, go geocache.

Okay, Proverbs chapter 2 beginning in verse 1.

The Bible says, My son, if you will continue, so that you incline your ear to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding.

Yes, if you cry out for knowledge and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

That we are called to know God, to have a knowledge of God, an experience with God, a yada with God.

I like the passes because a lot of times I think as a young Christian myself, for some reason I believe that this was a very passive experience.

That somehow, by just going to church and Having Christian friends, I would know God.

Like, that was just the natural course of being a Christian.

But then when I read this passage 1 day in Proverbs chapter 2, it kind of describes how this thing looks.

And I love how it says it—I'll read it again.

It says, "...for understanding, if you seek for her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasure, then you will find it.

You're going to look for that hidden, that hidden item.

Now, for those who've ever been on a treasure hunt, does it take effort?

Yeah, you kind of need a map to figure it out, to find out where the hidden treasure is, right?

I love how it plays on this language that I think as humans we could relate with.

So, I think the prophets here are speaking to human nature in a beautiful way.

It's because I think that we all understand, if there was hidden treasure of monetary value, and we knew the general area where this monetary thing was, we would probably put a lot of effort to acquire it, would we not?

You know, it's like the the parable in the Bible where Jesus talked about a man who wandered an amp field, and he stumbled upon something, and he realized it was a box full of treasure, but legally he couldn't take it, so he like, hit the box, and he went and said, hey, can I buy the field?

He saw the value and gave up everything just for a shot at keeping that treasure.

The prophets say that type of diligence is what it looks like for those who find a knowledge of God.

It's not something that will happen passively.

And the effort isn't the effort you think it is.

The effort is, are you searching the veins of, are you searching the ground for the knowledge of God?

And we're going to talk about what that ground is in 1 second.

For the Lord gives wisdom, and out of his mouth comes the knowledge and understanding.

05 Truth or Fairy Tale

Father in heaven, thank you for the privilege that we have to think on spiritual things.

As we dive into this topic this evening, I just ask that you would guide our thoughts, and that you would maybe answer some of our questions, and that you would help us just to get to know that there is a God who really does love us.

Alright, so for those that were here this afternoon, we have 2 meetings a day.

We have a 12 o'clock in the afternoon meeting and a 7 p.m.

I know some can only come to 1 or the other.

We're glad for whichever 1 you can come to.

But this morning we talked about case for creator.

And I shared a little bit about my personal testimony.

I wasn't born and raised in a Christian or a spiritual home myself.

And this morning I shared my journey to giving faith a shot giving faith a chance in my life Isaiah chapter 1 verse 18 the Bible says come now and let us reason together.

He doesn't want us to blindly just to believe something without an evidence, without a reason for the thing in which we believe.

And that even comes to Him Himself existing.

And so I shared some of the reasons that I found in my study of science and philosophy that led me to the conclusion that it was more logical, it was more rational, it was more intelligent for me to acknowledge and to believe based on these 5 principles, that there is a creator, an intelligent designer, which we commonly refer to as God.

And that experience led me on a journey, because when I was looking at this material and I was thinking it through, I came to the point where I acknowledged that there is a God.

I shared earlier that I used to debate Christians to pull them out of the Christian faith, and then God won me to Him, and Now I do the opposite, trying to help people to see there's a God who loves them and died for them.

So my brain was built to be a skeptical, to analyze, and to question.

And so ultimately, I had to question this idea of the Bible.

And that's what I want to share with you this evening.

The presentation is entitled Truth or Fairy Tales.

What did I learn on my journey about the Bible?

Why do I believe it is truly the Word of God and can be trusted?

So we're gonna look at a few reasons this evening.

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Series

Restoration 2025: Revelation of Healing

03 Feed My Sheep

Transcript

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