Earth's Closing Events

Lesson 12

Earth’s Closing Events

(Ephesians 4, Joel 2, Acts 2, Revelation 18)

Copr. 2024, Bruce N. Cameron, J.D. Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Suggested answers are found within parentheses. If you normally receive this lesson by e-mail, but it is lost one week, you can find it by clicking on this link: http://www.GoBible.org. Pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit as you study.

Introduction: Last week we studied what the bad guys are doing as part of the closing events on earth. They are faking Jesus’ Second Coming and demanding the worship due only to Him. The point from last week’s lesson was “Don’t do that directly or indirectly.” This week we turn to what the good guys are doing as part of the final events. What should we expect to be doing? James 5:7 compares the Second Coming to farming. He says the farmer “waits” for “the early and late rains.” Let’s dive into our study of the Bible to see what we are waiting to see and what we, the good guys, will be doing!

1. The Holy Spirit and the Seal
   
   1. Read Ephesians 4:30. Chapter 4 of Ephesians first describes the bad guys and what they are like. The chapter then turns to the good guys and essentially lists a group of things they should stop doing. One of the things to “stop doing” is to grieve the Holy Spirit of God. What do you think it means to grieve the Holy Spirit?
   2. Read Isaiah 63:10. How does this describe grieving the Holy Spirit? (Rebellion. Disobedience.)
   3. Read Psalms 78:40-41. What does this tell us grieving God means? (Rebellion. Provoking. Testing God.)
      1. Think about how grieving God is described. What is the core problem? (It is an attitude. An attitude that rejects God’s plan for living. An attitude of rebellion.)
   4. Let’s get back to Ephesians 4:30. In light of what it means to grieve the Holy Spirit, what do you think it means to be “sealed” by the Holy Spirit “for the day of redemption?”
   5. Read Ephesians 1:13. How does this explain what it means to be sealed by the Holy Spirit? (It is the last step on the road to salvation. First we hear the gospel, then we believe the gospel, then we invite the Holy Spirit into our life to help us live in accord with God’s will. The sealed person is someone who has made the decision to cooperate with the Holy Spirit. They are not rebels.)
   6. Read Revelation 7:1-3. This sealing sounds a bit different. Do you think it is? (The common element is that sealing on the forehead logically represents the thinking of the person. Their thinking is guided by the Holy Spirit.)
      1. All my life I’ve been taught that the final seal is Sabbath observance. Is that wrong? (I don’t think it is wrong, it is more like emphasizing the wrong syllable in a word. The Sabbath is not the active agent for sealing, the Holy Spirit is the active agent. As we learned last week, the Sabbath is central to worshiping our Creator God. Thus, Sabbath observance would be one major result of the sealing of the Holy Spirit. Let’s turn next to another powerful final sign of being sealed.)
2. Latter Pouring
   
   1. Read Joel 2:28-29. Who is entitled to be a mouthpiece for the Holy Spirit? (Everyone. There is no distinction based on gender, no distinction based on age, no distinction based on social standing.)
      1. What does the manifestation of the Holy Spirit look like? (It is manifest in prophecies, dreams, and visions.)
         
         1. Think about this a minute. If a person in your congregation claimed to have a prophecy, dream, or vision from God, how would you react?
         2. If you reacted negatively, does that mean that you are a rebel, one not sealed by the Holy Spirit?
   2. Read Acts 2:1-4. What are the disciples doing?
      1. What is the Holy Spirit doing?
   3. Read Acts 2:14-16. How does Peter explain this? (He says that this is a fulfillment of Joel 2!)
   4. Read Acts 2:17. In what day are we living? (If Peter says the events of Acts 2 were a fulfillment of the “last days” statement of Joel 2, then we are clearly living in the last days.)
   5. Peter helps us to understand the full nature of this sealing by the Holy Spirit. Let’s continue by reading Acts 2:19-21. What else should a sealed Christian expect to do?(Notice that Peter continues to quote Joel 2:30-32. Peter reinforces the idea that the power of the Holy Spirit is shown through wonders in the heavens and on earth, and signs on the earth of blood, fire, and smoke.)
      1. What do you think “blood, fire, and smoke” mean? (Read Revelation 8:7-8. This describes some terrible last day events that are part of the judgments of God.)
         
         1. What should we conclude about the positive fire of Pentecost and the negative fire of Revelation 8?(We will see extraordinary signs of the power of the Holy Spirit working through us, and we will see some extraordinarily terrible judgments that take place.)
      2. Let’s look back to last week’s lesson. Read Matthew 24:23-24. How does this complicate our work? (The Bible says that the fake Christ will also do “great signs and wonders.”)
         
         1. How can we tell the true from the false? (What we saw last week is that the false Christ sets up a worship center on earth. When Jesus comes a second time He will take us to heaven. He is not spending time on earth. That is one way to distinguish the two.)
   6. Read again Acts 2:2-4. Are you ready for loud sounds and fire to be part of your witness?
   7. Read Acts 2:19. Are you ready to be part of “signs and wonders?”
3. Latter Speaking
   
   1. Read Revelation 18:1. What do you think the words “the earth was made bright” mean as a practical matter? (The angel is sharing the truth. The world is lit by truth.)
      1. Is this the work of the angel alone, or is this part of our work as sealed agents of God?
   2. Read Revelation 18:2-4. Is this condemning immoral sexual practices? (I don’t think that is the main point. Instead, this is the same warning made in Revelation 14:8. This kind of sexual immorality is unfaithfulness to God. It is an allegiance to a spiritual or “moral” authority which opposes God. This brings us back to what we studied last week - worshiping the true God and rejecting the false.)
      1. What practical instruction is this giving us for our work as “sealed” agents of God? (We should look forward not simply to great signs and power, but those signs and power are accompanied by a message of worshiping the true God and rejected Satan’s alternative. We have a message to give!)
   3. Read Revelation 13:14-17. What are the bad guys doing while we are sharing the gospel? (They are coercing (mark on the hand), or convincing (mark on the forehead), the world to follow the false spiritual power.)
   4. Friend, will you be sealed by the Holy Spirit? Will you join the fight for Christ and against the Anti-Christ? The time to decide for Jesus is now!
4. Next week: The Triumph of God’s Love.