The Undercover Adventist

  The City We Can Hardly Imagine Revelation 21:9–27.  As John was shown the New Jerusalem, he struggled to describe what he saw. The city gleamed with the glory of God. Its walls were adorned with precious stones, its gates were made of pearl, and its streets were like transparent gold. There was no temple because God Himself was there. There was no need for the sun or moon because the glory of God illuminated everything. It was a place of perfect beauty, peace, holiness, and fellowship with God. Why is this so difficult for us to imagine? Because everything we know has been shaped by a world damaged by sin. Even our most beautiful experiences are temporary. Every earthly city has flaws. Every relationship faces challenges. Every joy eventually encounters sorrow. We simply have no frame of reference for a world without pain, death, fear, or separation from God. John could only describe heaven using things familiar to us—gold, jewels, gates, and light. Yet these descriptions...

  Lessons of Faith from Joshua - Sabbath School Lesson 4 -  Monday The Battle Behind Every Battle Text: Revelation 12:7–9; Isaiah 14:12–14; Ezekiel 28:11–19; Daniel 10:12–14 When Joshua faced the walls of Jericho and the armies of Canaan, he understood that his struggle was not merely against human enemies. He had learned that every earthly battle is a reflection of a greater, unseen conflict—the cosmic battle between good and evil. The conquest of Canaan was part of this larger war in which God Himself was involved, fighting not only for a piece of land but for the hearts and loyalty of His people. Revelation 12:7–9 takes us to the origin of this conflict: “War broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon... but they did not prevail.” This was no ordinary battle—it was a rebellion in the very courts of heaven. Lucifer, the brightest of God’s angels, allowed pride and self-exaltation to lead him to challenge God’s authority. Isaiah 14:12–14 record...

  Perfect Love as Our Father Loves Text: Matthew 5:43–48 When we think of Jesus’ most challenging commands, few strike deeper than His words in Matthew 5:44: “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” And then, as if to sum it all up, He adds in verse 48: “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Why does Jesus link these two ideas—loving those who hate us and being “perfect” like our heavenly Father? What is He teaching us about perfection in the Christian life? God’s Standard of Love When Jesus speaks of loving our enemies, He is showing us that God’s love is not selective. He does not love only the good or the righteous. Jesus points out that the Father “makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt. 5:45). God’s love is abundant, unconditional, and impartial. That’s the standard He calls ...

  "A Vision of the Holy One" Text: Isaiah 6:1–5 & Revelation 4:7–11 Introduction: Throughout Scripture, God occasionally lifts the veil of heaven and gives His servants a glimpse of His glory. Two such moments are found in Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4. Though centuries apart, these visions are strikingly similar—and they reveal a single, overwhelming truth: God is holy, sovereign, and worthy of eternal worship. The Setting: A Throne High and Lifted Up Both visions begin not with the prophet or the apostle—but with God on His throne . Isaiah writes , “I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up…” (Isaiah 6:1). John sees , “a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne…” (Revelation 4:2). The throne is central. The first subject in both passages is not the seer, not the angels, not even the worship—but the sovereignty of God . Before anything else, God is revealed as the King who reigns . The Creatures: Burning Praise Next, we meet the heavenly...

The Origin of the Controversy in Heaven Scripture Readings: Ezekiel 28:12–19; Exodus 25:19, 20; Isaiah 14:12–15 The story of the great controversy between Christ and Satan did not begin on Earth but in the courts of heaven. It is a cosmic struggle that has affected humanity since the fall of Adam and Eve. Today, we will examine the nature of this controversy through the lens of Ezekiel 28, Isaiah 14, and Exodus 25 to understand how sin first entered the universe and what lessons we can learn from it. The Exalted Status of Lucifer (Ezekiel 28:12–15) Ezekiel 28 describes the King of Tyre, but biblical scholars recognize that this passage moves beyond an earthly king to speak of Lucifer, the anointed cherub. This being was created perfect, full of wisdom and beauty, walking among the fiery stones in the presence of God. Comparison with Exodus 25:19, 20: The cherubim over the Ark of the Covenant symbolized the presence of God’s glory. Lucifer was once a guardian of God’s throne, standing i...

  The Thief on the Cross Luke 23:43 (NKJV): "And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” " It appears that Jesus told the thief on the cross who was repentant that he would meet Jesus, today, in Paradise. Is that really what that verse is telling us? Again, as in the previous example, we must study this carefully. We could look at punctuation, but this commentary will not do that. Why? Because there was no modern punctuation in The Bible's original writings. So playing around with punctuation can only lead others to not trust The Bible translations. After all, if we can put a comma in a verse we don't like, what gives us the right to tell another that they cannot do the same thing in return to us? Our best choice is to come to an honest, logical conclusion. In Luke 20:37 (NKJV), Jesus says this: "But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the...

  What does it mean for Christians to have free will? You might be surprised!

Let's get to the heart of the matter. Will your pets be in heaven? You love them. You cherish them. They are part of the family, right? So why would not your pets go to heaven with you? (Now we have to say here that humans say things to make other humans feel better. Nothing wrong with that, in most cases. A lot of bad doctrine gets spewed around in the interest of, "Making people feel better.") Will YOUR dog go to heaven? We here the Undercover Adventist can say 100% surety, that your pets will not be greeting you in heaven. Let's do this quick, and as painless as possible. Birds and fish were created on Day 5. On Day 6 of Creation, God created animals that crawled around on the ground. That would include cats, dogs, and other four legged creatures. Those two days of creation make up virtually anything you would have for a pet. Look at the creation of Man. Gen 1:26-28 "26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them h...

People talk a lot about free will and Christianity. That Christians have free will and that is somehow a special trait that makes everything right. The Undercover Adventist has some bad news. Christians now do not have true free will, and we will ultimately give up virtually all free will as we know it. Let's talk about present tense first. You take the first step using your will to become a Christian. Then it might come as a shock to many of you that we now must rely and trust on The Father's will. Not what I want, but what God wants. So we are in fact giving up our free will. Just like the song....Thou art the Potter, I am the clay. Mold me and Make after Thy will..... That song is not a lie. We choose to follow Christ. In doing so, we are to strive to give our will over to God. Let's look at a part of The Lord's Prayer: "... Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." There's that "will" part again. In fact, w...

The state of the dead is one of the biggest arguments going between Adventists and others. Adventists believe that The Bible, overall, teaches plainly that the dead are sleeping. The saints are sleeping in Christ. So what does one say when they hear things like, "Well, my mother must be looking down and smiling."? It's an awkward situation to say the least. We know it somehow brings comfort to those that say it, and those that believe it. Adventists just can't go charging in at a time like this. Although, many Adventists are quick to put up a fight anywhere, anytime, regardless of feelings or just being "Christian." We will not really debate the state of the dead here. That's for a different time. As The Undercover Adventist likes to do, well will look at this particular situation using The Bible and logic. Smiling down from heaven brings up images of people living, looking down, watching our every move. Perhaps a dead mother watching lovingly and...