Main Theme: The second coming of Christ has filled the hearts of believers with joy through the centuries and how we can be ready for that great event.
Study: Why did these Bible passages give such hope to Christians through the centuries?
Apply: Why is the Second Coming so important to our faith? Especially because we know that the dead sleep (see lesson 10), why does this teaching take on such importance? Without it, why would we be, as Paul said, in an utterly hopeless situation. See 1 Corinthians 15:15-18.
Share: Your friend says she grew up in an Adventist church and school, where she kept hearing that Jesus is surely coming in the next 5 years. She is now 70 years old and says she is tired of hearing the church cry “wolf.” She doubts Jesus is ever really coming again. What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: Daniel 9:24-27. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: When would this entire prophetic period begin? What major events do these verses predict? How would the 70-week prophecy end?
Apply: Seeing the fulfillment of the prophecy of the 70 weeks, what hope does this give you regarding the surety of the second coming?
Share: Your friend asks you, if the Bible told us when Christ would come the first time, why doesn’t it tell us when He will come the second time? What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: Daniel 8:14. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: What event was to occur at the end of the 2,300 days?
Apply: How does the 2,300- day prophecy help us understand where we are it in the history of the great controversy and why Christ has not returned yet? What we are to be doing now?
Share: Can you think of a friend who would be encouraged by the hope of the second coming? What can you do to share it with them this week?
Occasionally when I am studying Daniel and Revelation with someone, they will question how we get 360 days to a prophetic year instead of 365.First of all, the Cambridge University Press confirms for us that ancient Israel had a 360-day year with each month having 30 days.
The story of Noah also confirms that in Bible times each month had exactly 30 days, thus giving us 360 years in a Biblical year. 1
First, where do we get a-day -for-a-year in Bible prophecy?
The first time we find a day for a specific year in prophecy is in the book of Numbers.
According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know My rejection. Numbers 14:34
Later, in Ezekiel repeats this idea of a day for a year.
For I have laid on you the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days; so you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. And when you have completed them, lie again on your right side; then you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days. I have laid on you a day for each year. Ezekiel 4:5-6
So now, how does the story of Noah and the flood help us establish one year equaling 360 days to a year in Bible prophecy?
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. Genesis 7:11NKJV And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days. Genesis 7:24 NKJV And the waters receded continually from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters decreased. Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat. Genesis 8:3-4 NKJV
Here we clearly see that from the 17th day of the second month to the 17th day of the seventh month is exactly 150 days. Every month had 30 days equaling 360 days for a year. The 42 months of Revelation 13:5 would be 1260 prophetic days or 1260 years. 2 and “Appendix Two: The day-for-a-year principle,” accessed May 5, 2024.]
The Jewish 360-day luni-solar calendar was adjusted by adding a leap month of 30-days every six years to coordinate with the solar year. See “Bible Prophecy Year of 360 Days,” accessed May 6, 2024 ↩
Share: Your friend says that he is a New Testament Christian and does not bother reading the Old Testament because it is now obsolete. What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class:Revelation 11:7-9. Discuss the main idea of this passage.
Study: Remembering that the language is symbolic, what do these verses predict would happen to God’s two witnesses, the Old and New Testaments?
Apply: Revelation 11:9 says that the bodies of God’s two witnesses would lie unburied for “three-and-a-half days” (NKJV), i.e., prophetic “days” representing three and a half literal years. Atheism was at its height in the French Revolution, at least for about three and a half years. This period extended from November 26, 1793, when a decree issued in Paris abolished religion, to June 17, 1797, when the French government removed its restrictive religious laws. In what other periods of earth’s history has atheism tried to silence the Bible? How are people today trying to silence God’s Word? Is even the church trying to silence certain parts of God’s Word today?
Share: Your friend tells you that so many people do not believe in the Bible anymore. Brilliant phillosephers think its all just made up. Your friend asks you why you still believe in the Bible? What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: Revelation 11:11. Discuss the main idea of this passage.
Study: What prediction does this text make about the Word of God?
Study: According to these verses, what events take place at the close of time when the seventh trumpet sounds? What did John see opened in heaven? And what did he see as he looked up into heaven?
Apply: How does the striking contrast between the godlessness of the French Revolution and the glorious climax pictured in Revelation 11:1-19 speak to us today?
Share: Who can you share God’s Word with this week? How can you share it with them?
I had the privilege of studying with Luther and in a small group Bible study, when he made his decision to give his life to Jesus. As we studied the Seventh-day Adventist fundamental Bible teachings, I learned about the wonderful influence our first elder, Michael has been to Luther, so I invited Michael to make Luther’s baptism more meaningful by doing the honors.
Luther is more than a new church member, he is a disciple who is becoming a disciple maker. Luther often runs the audio system for our worship service, and encourages our younger members to be a part of our church family, by befriending and including them in activities.
Don’t let the sun go down on you before making the most important decision you will ever make in your life. If you would like to give your life to Jesus and be baptized, I would love to meet with you. You can contact me at william.earnhardt@floridaconference.com.
Main Theme: The Reformers saturated their minds with Scripture. They lived by the Word, and many of them died because of the Word. They were not casual, complacent, careless Christians with a superficial devotional life. They knew that without the power of God’s Word, they would not withstand the forces of evil arrayed against them.
Study: What was David’s attitude toward God’s Word? How did this impact the Reformers, and how does it influence our lives today?
Apply: In what ways have the Scriptures comforted you in times of trial?
Share: Your friend says it must have been hard for the reformers to stand alone, just like it must have been hard for Elijah to stand alone. Sure God is with us, but why does God often let us feel alone as if we have no human support? It would be a lot easier to stand alone on the Word of God if we had more human support and encouragement. What do you tell your friend?
Study: What do these passages tell us about the confidence Paul had, despite the challenges he faced in proclaiming the truth of God’s Word?
Apply: Read Daniel 12:3 and Revelation 14:13. How do these texts relate to the lives of the reformers? Now think about your own life and your impact on others. What encouragement do these texts give regarding the opportunity you have to influence others for eternity?
Share: Your friend feels discouraged and laments that they have never given a Bible study where anyone got baptized, and has never been able to lead anyone to Christ. Even in their family no one seems to listen when they talk about Jesus. What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: John 16:13-15. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: What principles can we take from this text regarding how we should interpret the Bible?
Apply: How often do you pray as you read Scripture? How much do you depend on Bible commentaries as opposed to doing your own searching and comparing Scripture with Scripture?
Share: Your friend says, I told my sister about the Sabbath and even showed her right there in the Bible. But she died without ever accepting it, so I guess she will be lost. What do you tell your friend?
Study: How are we saved? What vital truths do these passages reveal about the Christian life? What do faith and grace produce in our lives?
Apply: When you look at yourself what hope do you have for salvation from both sin and death? How has God’s grace changed both your way of thinking, and your behavior?
Share: Can you think of a friend who may benefit from an encouraging passage from Scripture? How can you share it with them this week?
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. Isaiah 53:10-11 NKJV
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2 NKJV
Last Sabbath morning, I was having my own personal devotion time before meeting with God’s people. As always my favorite devotional book is the Bible itself. I am not opposed to devotional books, It’s just that I love reading the Bible. I have been reading through the New Testament lately, and last Sabbath I came to Mark 15.
In Mark 15:1-5, I read how the justice system failed Jesus. Yet Jesus never opened His mouth to deliver Himself. Jesus knew, be it ever so wrong that these things were supposed to take place. It has me wondering, if I should ever be wrongly imprisoned would I be protesting or using my injustice as an opportunity to be a missionary to those in prison? Remember when we were studying Ephesians a while back in Sabbath School? Paul referred to himself as a prisoner of the Lord instead of being a prisoner of Rome. Would you be willing to serve a life sentence in prison for a crime you did not commit if it led to just one other prisoner receiving eternal life?
In Mark 15:6-15 I read about how the people preferred the release of a hardened criminal over the loving and gentle healer. Even today we see the basest of men exalted over those who are righteous and humble. And I am talking about the church as much as the world. When this sort of thing happens today, my friend calls it “the Barrabas syndrome.”
In Mark 15:16-20 I read about the soldiers mocking and making fun of Jesus. Why such humiliating treatment for the least deserving Person in the whole universe! When a man becomes president of the United States, they have a huge inauguration parade and inauguration ball to honor him. Instead, Jesus got stripped, beaten and mocked. People have gone to prison for doing lesser things to dogs and yet God allowed this happen to His Son! Why?
In Mark 15:21-37 I read about how Jesus experienced the death of the wicked on the cross. Jesus took the punishment for our sins and died the death that was ours. so we could have the reward of His righteousness and have the life that was His. He took the death we deserve so we could have the life He deserves. Jesus was treated the way we deserve so we may be treated as He deserves. While Jesus was going through all of this the verbal abuse continued from those witnessing the crucifixion, those doing the crucifying, and even those being crucified with Him. Why would God allow His Son to suffer so much? Why would Jesus submit to such suffering? Then I read verse 39.
So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!” Mark 15:39 NKJV
Then I paused. Could it be that the way Jesus handled all of this persecution convinced the centurion that He was the Son of God? Satan meant to cast so much mockery and persecution on Jesus so as to convince the world that Jesus definitely was not the Son of God, and yet Jesus used the same evidence Satan provided to convince a witness that He was indeed the Son of God. Though Satan cast so much darkness upon the Savior, the centurion could still see the righteousness of Christ shinning with the blazing glory of the noonday sun.
Years ago a Bible worker was in a home where he was answering Bible questions from a young college student. Her father kept making fun of the Bible worker’s answers and the Bible. The Bible worker was afraid the father’s mockery was going to make the daughter not believe the Bible worker or even the Bible. However, the Bible worker noticed the young woman was frustrated with her father and was doing her best to tune him out as she kept asking the Bible worker more questions. The Bible Worker noticed the young woman was not even paying any attention to her mocking father and kept talking to him like her father not even there. She was hanging on to every word the Bible worker shared from the Bible, while pretending her mocking father was not even there. While rhe Bible worker was annoyed by the mocking father, he realized in the end it was a very productive Bible study. A study he could have easily ruined had he retaliated against the father. Instead, the Holy Spirit took over the Bible worker and the entire Bible study. The young woman saw through all the darkness her father was spreading and saw the light of the Bible shinning with the blazing glory of the noonday sun.
Of course we know more than just the centurion believed. One thief repented and I am sure many others did as well that day. Since then, millions and millions have been saved and are being saved. Are you willing to suffer the way Jesus did if it will lead someone to be eternally saved?
You may study this week’s Sabbath School lesson here.
Study: What’s the warning here and how did it apply to the later Christian church? What promise does God give those who are faithful to Him in the face of death itself?
Apply: What encourages you in challenging times? What frightens you? What promises can you claim for those times?
Share: Your friend says, I thought the whole reason for serving Jesus is so that I am always protected and have everlasting life? So how is Jesus protecting me if He lets me die because I serve Him? What do you tell your friend?
Study: What basic principle is found in these texts?
Apply: How can we, reflecting the light of Christ, shine in our own community? Do we?
Share: Your friend is a public school teacher. She says she wants to share Jesus with her students but it is against the law. She asks you if she should go ahead and share Jesus even though its against the law and she may lose her job? What do you tell your friend?
Study: What similar attitudes did David and Jeremiah have toward the Word of God that were, really, the cornerstone of the Reformation?
Apply: What advice did Paul give Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:1-3 and how should we apply that advice to our own situations?
Share: Your friend says he is not one for preaching and teaching like Paul and Timothy. He would rather not have to talk about the Bible. What do you tell your friend?
Study: How did believers in the Middle Ages experience the reality of the great controversy? What assurances do these promises give you personally? How do they help us in the trials of life?
Apply: What might it mean to lose everything for Christ? What, in the end, do you really lose? (See Mark 8:36 .) What lessons can we learn from the Waldenses and the Reformers that can sustain us in earth’s final conflict?
Share: A friend asks if your suffering for the Gospel has ever led someone to accept Jesus as their Savior? What do you tell your friend? See Winning Souls While Suffering.
And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast. Revelation 13:8 NLT
Sadly many put their confidence in popular opinion, while the Bible tells us the vast majority of the world will worship the beast.
Interestingly while Jesus claimed to be God, the majority accused Him of blasphemy and had Him crucified for making such a claim. Later the beast claims to be God, but, instead of accusing him of blasphemy, the majority worships him. Truth is clearly not a popularity contest.
Occasionally, at church or the Adventist school where I teach Bible and evangelism, someone will ask me, “What do we believe about such and such?” My response has always been, “I don’t know what you believe, but here is what I and many Seventh-day Adventists believe,” and I show them in the Bible what I believe and why. I am not going to tell someone what they believe. That is not teaching. That’s brainwashing. Besides truth is not truth just because everyone in the Adventist church believes it. Truth is not a popularity contest in the church or the world. Truth is truth only if the Bible supports it.
During the Dark Ages, when people did not have access to the Bible, people trusted their priests to tell them what they believed, and because of that there was a lot of brainwashing going on.
Even before the Dark Ages, priests abused their authority, and tried to brainwash people into believing whatever they believed. This happened in Jesus’ day when those in “authority” were trying to capture Jesus.
When the Temple guards returned without having arrested Jesus, the leading priests and Pharisees demanded, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”
“We have never heard anyone speak like this!” the guards responded.
“Have you been led astray, too?” the Pharisees mocked. “Is there a single one of us rulers or Pharisees who believes in him? John 7:45-48 NLT
The guards experienced and heard the Word of God speaking to them and believed. Since the Pharisees did not want to believe, they mocked at this. In John 7 the Pharisees misconstrued Scripture to try and prove their point, but amazingly, instead of hanging their hat on Scripture, they hung it on the fact that none of the rulers or leaders believed. Is truth a popularity contest? If everyone else believes something is it right, and if no one else believes it, then is it wrong? Is that how it works?
The number of people who believe something simply because everyone else believes it is staggering. Take the state of the dead for example. Years ago I attended the funeral of a dear Adventist saint. Her family believed in the immortality of the soul and asked the Adventist preacher doing her funeral to “put her in heaven now.” The pastor replied that he could not do that since it simply is not true. However he told them he believed in liberty of conscience and freedom of speech so if one of them wanted to stand up and say she was in heaven, they could. So one of the family members stood up and talked about how her grandmother was now in heaven. I remember she kept saying “we cling to this!” Very emphatically, yet she gave no Scriptural reference other than that is what everyone believes. So I am not sure exactly what it was she was clinging to other than popular belief. In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Paul tells us to “comfort each other with these words” about the resurrection. Sadly instead of comforting each other with the words Paul told us to use to comfort each other, many people use phrases about going straight to heaven when you die that are nowhere in the Bible and Paul nor anyone else ever suggested that we use. Sadly those phrases have been used so often that people believe it because they have heard it so many times.
When it comes to Sabbath keeping, I have heard so many people say that Sunday must be the true day because the whole world can’t be wrong. They forget that at the time of the flood only 8 people were right! Truth is not a popularity contest.
And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth. Acts 17:11 NLT
Like the temple guards, the Bereans were interested in new ideas as long as they were found in Scripture. They didn’t believe something because Paul and Silas believed it or because a ruler did. On their own they searched the Scriptures daily to find truth.
I have heard Seventh-day Adventists telling their Baptist and Methodist friends to search the Bible for themselves because their pastors could be wrong. I have watched some of the same Seventh-day Adventists listening to their own favorite Adventist preachers, without bothering to search the Scriptures, because, after all, their pastor is Adventist, so he is automatically right, right? Wrong! We all make mistakes, as we all continue to learn and grow.
Let’s not be like the foolish Pharisees in John 7, who hung their hats on how many people believed or did not believe something. Truth is not a popularity contest. Let’s search the Scriptures ourselves to find truth.
You may study this week’s Sabbath School lesson here.
Main Theme: God’s grace and the Holy Spirit empower us to stay faithful amidst the most difficult situations.
Read in Class:John 8:44 and John 17:17. Define what these passages are contrasting.
Study: Where do we find truth? Where do lies come from?
Apply: In what ways has Satan tried to make you doubt God’s Word? How did you overcome these illusions and temptations to doubt God’s Word?
Share: Your friend says her dead husband visited her last night and talked about things only the two of them knew about. She was able to hug and hold him, so she knew it was really him because she both saw him and felt him. What do you tell your friend? See Every Word of God Proves True.
Read in Class:Acts 20:27-32. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: What specific warnings did the apostle Paul give to the church leaders from Ephesus regarding the coming apostasy?
Share: Your friend asks, “What kind of compromises do we see entering the church today? More importantly, what compromises might you be making? Is it sometimes by blending truth and error?” What do you tell your friend?
Share: Your friend argues that” the Bible is just the writings of kings, shepherds, fishermen, priests, poets, and others who shared their understandings and conceptions of God, of nature, and of reality the best that they, in their time and place, understood them. So why should we, living today in the twenty-first century, really care about what these people thought, much less make what they thought the foundation for our hope of eternity?” What do you tell your friend?
Study: How do these passages warn us against Satan’s schemes and our own human reasoning?
Apply: Why is the human mind without the aid of the Holy Spirit incapable of discovering divine truth? Discuss the relationship between human reason and divine revelation. How does reason actually help us understand divine revelation? For example, look at Daniel 2:1-49, a prophecy that covers world history from the time of Babylon to the Second Coming. How does a prophecy like this powerfully appeal to human reason?
Share: Do you know someone who has questions about the authenticity of the Bible? Can you give them a Bible study on how to know if God’s Word is true or not? See The Scriptures in Light of the Cross.
In Light of The Cross 
