Revelation 14 contains God's last special message. It is a message for people living during the final, climactic, hours of earth's history.
This supremely important message announces,"The hour of God's judgment has come." It is an urgent appeal for men and women everywhere to prepare for the soon return of Christ to planet earth.
Only in Christ are men and women capable of meeting the claims of the law in the judgment. So God's message is an earnest appeal for surrender and commitment.
Revelation 14:7 directs our attention to a neglected facet of the law. This is a materialistic age. A time evolution is being accepted as a
fact by millions. So it is not surprising to find God sounding a clarion call to worship Christ as Creator.
1. What is the basis of all worship? Revelation 4:11.
MY BIBLE SAYS: "You are worthy, 0 Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist
and were created."
2. Who was the active agent in Creation? Ephesians 3:8, 9.
MY BIBLE SAYS: "To me, who am less than the least of all saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the
unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; . ."
3. How do we worship Christ as the Creator? Has He left a memorial of His creative activity? Exodus 20:8-11.
MY BIBLE SAYS: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: . . . For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it."
4. Wasn't the Sabbath given only for the Jew? Mark 2:27, 28.
MY BIBLE SAYS: "And He said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath."
5. What did God do to set aside and distinguish the seventh day from all other days of the week? Genesis 2:1-3.
MY BIBLE SAYS: "Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made."
6. What is the Sabbath called in the Old Testament? Ezekiel 20:20.
MY BIBLE SAYS: "Hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God."
7. Did Jesus and His disciples keep the Sabbath? A. Jesus kept the Sabbath. Luke 4:16.
MY BIBLE SAYS: "So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read."
B. Jesus declared the Sabbath would be kept after the cross. Matthew 24:20.
MY BIBLE SAYS: "And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath."
C. Paul preached to both Jews and Gentiles on the Sabbath. Acts 13:27, 42, 44.
MY BIBLE SAYS: "For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they did not know Him, nor even the voices of the
Prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning Him. . . . So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. . . On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God."
8. What day is the Lord's Day of Revelation 1:10? Compare Matthew 12:8.
MY BIBLE SAYS: "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet."
For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."
9. Does the Bible actually reveal which day is the seventh day? Luke 23:54-56; 24:1.
MY BIBLE SAYS: "That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near."—PREPARATION DAY--SIXTH DAY—FRIDAY
"And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment." —SABBATH—SEVENTH DAY—SATURDAY
"Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared."—RESURRECTION DAY—FIRST DAY—SUNDAY
"Seventh day, Saturday, the seventh day of the week."—Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary, Unabridged Second Edition, 1973.
"We have had occasion to investigate the results of the works of specialists in Chronology and we have never found one of them that has had the slightest doubt about the continuity of the weekly cycle since long before the Christian era."—U.S. Naval Observatory, James Robertson, Director, quoted in March 12, 1932 letter to F. D. Nichol.
In more than 106 languages of the world, the word used for Saturday, the seventh day on our calendar, is translated into English as "Sabbath."
10. What is the relationship between love for Jesus and obedience? If an individual really loves Jesus, how will it be revealed? What did Jesus Himself say regarding love? John 14:15; 15:10.
MY BIBLE SAYS: "If you love Me, keep My commandments. . . . If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love."
The Sabbath is Christ's great sign of loyalty. It is a sign of His creative and redemptive power. On this day in a special sense Christians have an invitation to enter into a closer union with the Master. The seventh-day Sabbath is disregarded by many Christians who have never understood its significance.
Jesus invites us to love Him with all of our hearts and follow truth regardless of what others do. The book of Revelation calls us to worship Him as our Creator.
The Sabbath message is part of God's urgent effort to prepare a people for earth's last hour.
Pray that Jesus will fill your heart with His love. Follow His example in worshipping Him on the Bible Sabbath.
MY DECISION: Since Jesus is my Saviour, my Lord and Master, I lovingly choose to obey Him by keeping His Sabbath holy.
