December 18, 2004 – December 24, 2004
Memory Verse
“‘Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars Forever and ever.’” Daniel 12:3, 4. (NKJV)
Suggested Reading: Great Controversy, 635-659.
note: At the end of the last lesson it was seen that the time of trouble comes to an end because God intervenes to deliver His people.
1 What does Daniel predict about the second coming of Jesus? Daniel 2:34, 35, 44; 7:26, 27.
2 In the book of Revelation how is Jesus described when He returns to earth the second time? Revelation 19:11-13.
note: We notice that this description shows that Jesus is returning to this world as a conquering Prince to fight a war. Notice the following descriptions: (1) garment dipped in blood; (2) horse (in the Bible a horse is almost always a symbol of warfare); (3) followed by heavenly armies (v. 14); (4) has a sharp sword; (5) in righteousness he judges and makes war (v. 11).
“And I saw a flaming cloud come where Jesus stood. Then Jesus . . . took His place on the cloud which carried Him to the East, where it first appeared to the saints on earth—a small black cloud which was the sign of the Son of man. While the cloud was passing from the Holiest to the East, which took a number of days, the synagogue of Satan worshipped at the saint’s feet.” Maranatha, 287.
“Soon there appears in the east a small black cloud, about half the size of a man’s hand. It is the cloud which surrounds the Saviour and which seems in the distance to be shrouded in darkness. The people of God know this to be the sign of the Son of man. In solemn silence they gaze upon it as it draws nearer the earth, becoming lighter and more glorious, until it is a great white cloud, its base a glory like consuming fire, and above it the rainbow of the covenant. Jesus rides forth as a mighty conqueror. Not now a ‘Man of Sorrows,’ to drink the bitter cup of shame and woe, He comes, victor in heaven and earth, to judge the living and the dead. ‘Faithful and True,’ ‘in righteousness He doth judge and make war.’ . . . No human pen can portray the scene; no mortal mind is adequate to conceive its splendor. ‘His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise. And His brightness was as the light.’ Habakkuk 3:3,4. As the living cloud comes still nearer, every eye beholds the Prince of life. No crown of thorns now mars that sacred head; but a diadem of glory rests on His holy brow. His countenance outshines the dazzling brightness of the noonday sun. ‘ And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords.’ Revelation 19:16.” Great Controversy, 640, 641.
3 Who comes with Jesus when He comes to earth? Matthew 16:27; Luke 9:26; Revelation 19:14.
note: “Soon appeared the great white cloud, upon which sat the Son of man. When it first appeared in the distance, this cloud looked very small. The angel said that it was the sign of the Son of man. As it drew nearer the earth, we could behold the excellent glory and majesty of Jesus as He rode forth to conquer. A retinue of holy angels, with bright, glittering crowns upon their heads, escorted Him on His way.” Early Writings, 286.
“And ‘the armies which were in heaven’ (Revelation 19:11, 14) follow Him. With anthems of celestial melody the holy angels, a vast, unnumbered throng, attend Him on His way. The firmament seems filled with radiant forms—‘ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.’ ” Great Controversy, 641.
4 What does Revelation 19 say that Jesus is going to do when He comes? Revelation 19:15.
note: “Jesus rides forth as a mighty conqueror. Not now a ‘Man of Sorrows,’ to drink the bitter cup of shame and woe, He comes, victor in heaven and earth, to judge the living and the dead. ‘Faithful and True,’ ‘in righteousness He doth judge and make war.’ And ‘the armies which were in heaven’ (Revelation 19:11, 14) follow Him. With anthems of celestial melody the holy angels, a vast, unnumbered throng, attend Him on His way. The firmament seems filled with radiant forms—‘ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.’ No human pen can portray the scene; no mortal mind is adequate to conceive its splendor. ‘His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise. And His brightness was as the light.’ Habakkuk 3:3,4. As the living cloud comes still nearer, every eye beholds the Prince of life. No crown of thorns now mars that sacred head; but a diadem of glory rests on His holy brow. His countenance outshines the dazzling brightness of the noonday sun. ‘And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords.’ Revelation 19:16.
“Before His presence ‘all faces are turned into paleness;’ upon the rejecters of God’s mercy falls the terror of eternal despair. ‘The heart melteth, and the knees smite together, . . . and the faces of them all gather blackness.’ Jeremiah 30:6; Nahum 2:10. The righteous cry with trembling: ‘Who shall be able to stand?’ The angels’ song is hushed, and there is a period of awful silence. Then the voice of Jesus is heard, saying: ‘My grace is sufficient for you.’ The faces of the righteous are lighted up, and joy fills every heart. And the angels strike a note higher and sing again as they draw still nearer to the earth.
“The King of kings descends upon the cloud, wrapped in flaming fire. The heavens are rolled together as a scroll, the earth trembles before Him, and every mountain and island is moved out of its place. ‘Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people.’ Psalm 50:3,4.” Ibid., 641, 642.
5 What four groups of people make up the coalition against Christ and the armies of heaven? Revelation 16:13, 14.
note: “As spiritualism more closely imitates the nominal Christianity of the day, it has greater power to deceive and ensnare. Satan himself is converted, after the modern order of things.” Ibid, 588.
“Papists, who boast of miracles as a certain sign of the true church, will be readily deceived by this wonder-working power; and Protestants, having cast away the shield of truth, will also be deluded. Papists, Protestants, and worldlings will alike accept the form of godliness without the power, and they will see in this union a grand movement for the conversion of the world and the ushering in of the long-expected millennium.” Ibid., 588, 589.
6 What is the name of the battle they engage in? Revelation 16:16; 19:19.
note: “The powers of evil will not yield up the conflict without a struggle. But Providence has a part to act in the battle of Armageddon.” Maranatha, 297.
7 How do the Bible writers and the Spirit of Prophecy describe this battle? Revelation 19:15; 14:10, 11, 14-20; Isaiah 13:3-13; 24:1-23; Jeremiah 4:19-21, 23-26; Joel 2:11; Psalm 50:3, 4; 97:1-7; Zephaniah 1:14-18; Zechariah 14:12.
note: “In the mad strife of their own fierce passions, and by the awful outpouring of God’s unmingled wrath, fall the wicked inhabitants of the earth—priests, rulers, and people, rich and poor, high and low. ‘And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried.’ Jeremiah 25:33.
“At the coming of Christ the wicked are blotted from the face of the whole earth—consumed with the spirit of His mouth and destroyed by the brightness of His glory.” Great Controversy, 657.
8 What will happen to two groups that belong to the coalition that was formed in Revelation 16:13, 14? Revelation 19:19, 20.
9 What happens to the rest of the earth’s inhabitants who were not part of the beast or the false prophet? Revelation 19:17, 18, 21.
note: “In the mad strife of their own fierce passions, and by the awful outpouring of God’s unmingled wrath, fall the wicked inhabitants of the earth—priests, rulers, and people, rich and poor, high and low. ‘And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried.’ Jeremiah 25:33.” Ibid.
10 What happens to the dragon and the fallen angels? Revelation 20:1-3.
note: “When the work of atonement in the heavenly sanctuary has been completed, then in the presence of God and heavenly angels and the hosts of the redeemed the sins of God’s people will be placed upon Satan; he will be declared guilty of all the evil which he has caused them to commit. And as the scapegoat was sent away into a land not inhabited, so Satan will be banished to the desolate earth, an uninhabited and dreary wilderness.” Ibid., 658.
“Even the wicked are now placed beyond the power of Satan, and alone with his evil angels he remains to realize the effect of the curse which sin has brought.” Ibid., 660.
11 What will Jesus establish following the battle of Armageddon? Daniel 7:18, 27; 2:44; Revelation 21:1; 22:14.
note: “With unutterable love, Jesus welcomes His faithful ones to the joy of their Lord. The Saviour’s joy is in seeing, in the kingdom of glory, the souls that have been saved by His agony and humiliation. And the redeemed will be sharers in His joy, as they behold, among the blessed, those who have been won to Christ through their prayers, their labors, and their loving sacrifice. As they gather about the great white throne, gladness unspeakable will fill their hearts, when they behold those whom they have won for Christ, and see that one has gained others, and these still others, all brought into the haven of rest, there to lay their crowns at Jesus’ feet and praise Him through the endless cycles of eternity.” Ibid., 647.
12 Who only will be part of this kingdom that Christ will set up? Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 7:9; 14:12; 21:5-7, 27.
note: “Now is fulfilled the Saviour’s prayer for His disciples: ‘I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am.’ ‘Faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy’ (Jude 24), Christ presents to the Father the purchase of His blood, declaring: ‘Here am I, and the children whom Thou hast given Me.’ ‘Those that Thou gavest Me I have kept.’ Oh, the wonders of redeeming love! the rapture of that hour when the infinite Father, looking upon the ransomed, shall behold His image, sin’s discord banished, its blight removed, and the human once more in harmony with the divine!” Ibid., 646.
“With unutterable love, Jesus welcomes His faithful ones to the joy of their Lord.” Ibid., 647.