Month / January 2024

by In Light Of The Cross

The Difference Between Cynicism and Lamentations

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For my days are consumed like smoke,
And my bones are burned like a hearth. My heart is stricken and withered like grass,
So that I forget to eat my bread.
Because of the sound of my groaning
My bones cling to my skin. Psalm 102:3-5 NKJV

Do all our prayers have to be upbeat, cheerful, and positive? No! Do we show a lack of faith when we lament? No! Cynicism doubts God’s existence and love. Lamenting is when we grieve knowing God exists and loves us. There is an entire book in the Bible about lamenting, its called Lamentations. A great portion of the Psalms and other portions of Scripture include prayers of lamentations. As a matter of fact, in the end of the book of Job, God rebukes Job’s friends for not allowing Job to lament.

To me, lamenting is clinging to God like Jacob did to the angel until He blesses us, or until things get better. God wants us to be real with him and pray real prayers. This includes praying prayers of lamentations when our hearts are grieving. Talk to God when you are joyful. Talk to God when you have complaints about the pain and grief He is allowing in your life. Bottom line is talk to God!

“Remember my affliction and roaming,

The wormwood and the gall.

My soul still remembers

And sinks within me.

This I recall to my mind,

Therefore I have hope.

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,

Because His compassions fail not.

They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:19-23 NKJV

You may study this week’s Sabbath School lesson here.

by In Light Of The Cross

5: Singing the Lord’s Song in a Strange Land-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

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Prepared by William Earnhardt for Sabbath School class, Sabbath, February 3, 2024.

Main Theme: The psalmists respond to God’s perceived absence, as well as to God’s presence.

Read in Class: Psalm 102:3-5, 11, 23-24. Define the main idea of these passages.

Study: What experiences do these texts describe? In what can you relate to what is said here?

Apply: Think about Jesus on the cross and what He suffered because of sin. How should that reality, that God in Christ suffered even worse than any of us, help us keep faith even amid times of suffering and trial?

Share: Your friend says it is wrong to express grief or doubt in our prayers, as it shows a lack of faith in God and His love. What do you tell your friend? See The Difference Between Cynicism and Lamentations.

Read in Class: Psalm 42:1-3. Psalm 63:1, and Psalm 69:1-3. Define the common thread of these passages.

Study: What causes great pain to the psalmist?

Apply: Read Psalm 10:12, Psalm 22:1 and Psalm 27:9. What can we learn from the psalmists’ responses to God’s apparent absence? How do you respond to times when God does seem silent? What sustains your faith?

Share: Your friend asks you how you know God is with you when you can’t see, hear or feel His presence? What do you tell your friend? See How I Know God is With me.

Read in Class: Psalm 77:1-20. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What experience is the author going through?

Apply: Think about past times when the Lord worked in your life. How can that truth help you deal with whatever you are facing now?

Share: Your friend tells you that while her teenage son was expressing how terribly depressed he was he used some foul language. She ignored the foul language and just tuned into his feelings. Her husband on the other hand scolded him for using foul language. Your friend asks you which one of them handled the situation properly? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Psalm 73:12-20. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What brings the psalmist through the crisis? What is the end of those who trust in futile things? See also 1 Peter 1:17.

Apply: How does the promise of God’s judgment upon the world, and upon all its evil, give you comfort when so much evil now goes unpunished?

Share: Do you know someone who feels like life has been unfair to them? How can you encourage them this week from the Word of God and your own experiences?

by In Light Of The Cross

4: The Lord Hears and Delivers-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

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Prepared by William Earnhardt, for Sabbath School class, January 27, 2024.

Main Theme: We should remember that the proper response to the Lord’s nearness consists in a life of faith in Him and of obedience to His commandments. Nothing short of this faith and obedience will be acceptable to Him, as the history of Israel often revealed.

Read in Class: Psalm 40:1-3, Psalm 121:1-8. Define the main idea of these passages.

Study:  How is God involved in our daily affairs?

Apply: What are some practical ways that you can better experience the reality of God’s care? How can you better cooperate with God in order to enable Him to work within you and for you?

Share: Tell about a time when God came through for you when all human help failed?

Read in Class: Psalm 17:7-9, Psalm 31:1-3, Psalm 91:2-7. Define the common thread of these passages.

Study: What does the psalmist do in times of trouble?

Apply: How, though, do we deal with the times when calamity strikes, and we can’t seem to see the Lord’s protection? Why do these traumas not mean that the Lord is not there with us?

Share: Your friend asks, if God always hearing our prayers means we always get what we ask for? How do you answer your friend?

Read in Class: Psalm 114:1-8. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: How is the divine deliverance of the people of Israel from Egypt poetically described here?

Apply: What are some of the spiritual dangers we face as believers, and how can we learn to lean on the Lord’s power to protect us from succumbing to these dangers that are as real for us now as they were for the psalmist?

Share: Your friend says that God literally delivered Israel from slavery, but does God literally deliver us from oppression or is it just symbolic of God delivering us from sin and spiritual oppression? How do you reply to your friend?

Read in Class: Psalm 3:4, Psalm 14:7, Psalm 20:1-3. Define the common thread of these passages.

Study:  Where does help come from in these texts?

Apply: Read Hebrews 4:15-16. In what ways does this passage parallel what the psalmist says about the sanctuary?

Share: Can you think of someone who needs to be encouraged by something in this week’s lesson? How can you encourage them this week?

by In Light Of The Cross

Why Lucifer Needed to Destroy God’s Perfect Law to Set up his own Government

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; Psalm 19:7 NKJV
Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. Psalm 119:97 NKJV

It’s amazing to me how people claim God’s law was done away with when it was absolutely perfect. David loved God’s law. Wouldn’t he be heartbroken to see it done away with?

I have a hard time understanding why some say the law was done away with at the cross. They say Jesus did away with the law when He died for our sins. This does not make sense to me, because since when has a law ever been done away with when someone paid the penalty for breaking that law? Paying for speeding tickets does not do away with speed limits. Serving time in prison for a felony does not do away with the laws of the nation. Never in all eternity has anyone ever paid the penalty for breaking a law and done away with the law at the same time, so why would anyone think Jesus did away with God’s law by paying the penalty for breaking His law? Fact is, if God’s law could be done away with, Jesus would not have needed to die. It was because God’s law could not be done away with that there needed to be a sacrifice to keep us from paying the penalty ourselves.

Also, why do people claim promises in the Old Testament while claiming the Old Testament law was done away with? If the Old Testament is no longer valid, wouldn’t that also mean the promises in the Old Testament are no longer valid either? Including the promises about the Messiah? If the promises in the Old Testament that we love to claim are still valid, then so is the law in the Old Testament.

Many preachers who preach the law was done away with preach themselves out of a job. 1 John 3:4 says sin is breaking God’s law. If there is no law, then I can’t break a law that no longer exists. If I am not breaking any laws (because they no longer exist) then I can’t sin. If I can’t sin why do I need grace ? If I don’t need grace, then I don’t need a Savior. If I don’t need a Savior, then I don’t need a preacher to tell me about the Savior. The fact that I still need a Savior to give me grace demonstrates that the law is still in effect.

After all, 2 Thessalonians 2:3-7 warns us that the man of sin creates the mystery of lawlessness. Lawlessness is not the work of Christ. It is the work of Lucifer and those working under his control. Isaiah 14:13-14 tells us Lucifer wants to overthrow God’s government and set up his own government. In order to remove God from the throne you have to do away with His law. God is no longer reigning over us if we are no longer keeping His laws.

Lucifer thinks to strip God of His authority by rendering His laws invalid. Then Lucifer thinks to set up his own government with his own set of laws. Naturally when a new government takes over, they destroy the seal of the previous government and make their own seal. The Sabbath commandment is like a seal to God’s government. It has His name “The Lord.” It has God’s title, “Created” (Creator), and it states His jurisdiction, “the heavens and the earth. the sea and all that is within them.”

Lucifer seeks to replace God’s seal with a man-made Sabbath. By destroying God’s law and God’s seal or authority, Lucifer thinks to destroy God’s government and thinks to set up his own government. Thus he thinks to achieve his goal stated in Isaiah 14:13-14 of being above God and even taking His throne. Through the man of sin in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-7, Lucifer thinks to accomplish on earth what he wanted to accomplish in heaven, and that is to get rid of God and take His place.

Revelation 19:16 tells us that Jesus is still Lord of lords and King of Kings. Our God still reigns. Lucifer’s attempt to take over has failed. God is still God. The Sabbath, God’s seal is still in tact. God’s government has not been over thrown. God still has authority. God still reigns, and His law has never been abolished. And His law is perfect. God’s law is still loved by His loyal subjects just as much as it was loved by David in Psalm 119:97.

Do you love God’s law?

You may study this week’s Sabbath School lesson here.

by In Light Of The Cross

3: The Lord Reigns-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

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Prepared by William Earnhardt, for Sabbath School class, January 20, 2024.

Main Theme: The Lord’s sovereign rule thus renders the world firmly established and secure. The psalmists want the reader to understand this foundational truth. With this worldview as their lighthouse, the psalmists seek to thrive and to serve God with undivided devotion.

Read in Class: Psalm 97:1-12. Define the main point of this Psalm.

Study: What characterizes the Lord’s reign? What is the domain of His reign?

Apply: “You who love the Lord, hate evil!” (Psalms 97:10). Why should our love for God cause us to hate evil? How are these two concepts related?

Share: Your friend says Psalm 97:10 says the Lord delivers his saints out of the hands of the wicked. Yet so many innocent people have died in concentration camps and human trafficking. What good does that promise do them? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Psalm 75:1-10. Define the main idea of this Psalm.

Study:  Why is the boasting of the wicked in vain?

Apply: The Psalms call us to rejoice in anticipation of God’s judgments. (See Psalm 67:4, Psalm, 96:10-14, Psalm 98:4-9) How is God’s judgment good news for those covered by the blood of Christ?

Share: Your friend claims he never gets promoted at work because of all the corruption where he works. Company politics has everything rigged. How might Psalm 75:6-7 help you respond to your friend? What illustrations in the Bible can you find of godly people being promoted even in the most corrupt environments?

Read in Class: Psalm 94:14, Psalm 105:7-10, Daniel 7:22. Define the common thread of these passages.

Study: The theme of God’s judgment prompts a significant question: How can God’s people have peace with God and assurance of salvation at the time of judgment?

Apply: What do we have in Jesus, which shows why these promises made to ancient Israel can now apply to us? See Galatians 3:26-29.

Share: Your friend says that the promises in the Old Testament were only given to the Jews. How do you answer your friend?

Read in Class: Psalm 19:7 and Psalm 119:165. What do these passages have in common?

Study: How is Satan’s attack on the law of God actually an attack on the kingdom of God? Why does Satan have to attack God’s law in order to reach his goal in in Isaiah 14:13-14? How do we know Satan will never reach his goal of reigning over the universe?

Apply: What are practical ways that keeping God’s laws and rules and testimonies have helped you in your life? On the other hand, what have you suffered from violating them?

Share: Your friend tells you the law of God was nailed to the cross and done away with. What do you tell your friend?

by In Light Of The Cross

2: Teach us to Pray-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

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Prepared by William Earnhardt, for Sabbath School class, January 13, 2024.

Main Theme: Praying the Psalms has helped many believers establish and maintain regular and fulfilling prayer lives.

Read in Class: Psalm 105:5, Colossians 3:16, James 5:13. Define the common thread of these passages.

Study: What is the place of the Psalms in the believer’s worship experience?

Apply: What does it mean to “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Colossians 3:16)? Why is reading the Bible the first and most crucial step for that experience?

Share: Your friend complains about their lack of faith. He says that God always provides for him but when new trials come he loses faith all over again and becomes anxious. What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Psalm 44:1-12, 23-26, and Psalm 22:1-11, 21-24. Define the main idea of these Psalms.

Study: What two main moods do we see in these Psalms? Why the change in moods? What does this teach us about trusting God even in times of trouble?

Apply: How can drawing on past times, when God’s presence felt very real, help you deal with the times in which troubles make you think that God is far away?

Share: Your friend suggests that David is way too negative in some of his prayers. Shouldn’t we always praise and thank God in our prayers instead of complaining or being so negative? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Psalm 13:1-6. Define the main idea of this Psalm.

Study: What two main moods can you distinguish in this psalm? What decision do you think brought the radical change in the psalmist’s general outlook?

Apply: How can your trials draw you closer to God? Why, if you’re not careful, can they push you away from Him?

Share: Your friend asks you if you feel like God has always dealt bountifully you even amid your trials? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Psalm 60:1-5. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: For what occasions do you think this psalm would be a suitable prayer? How can we benefit from the psalms of lament even in joyous seasons of life?

Apply: Whom do you know, right now, who needs not only your prayers but your ministering touch, as well?

Share: Have you ever written a poem or “Psalm” about how God has heard your prayers? Can you share your poem with someone this week who may be encouraged by it?

by In Light Of The Cross

A Beautiful Message in a Book of the Bible I Almost Didn’t Read

In my current personal devotions I read through the Psalms, and then kept cruising through Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. When I came to Song of Solomon I asked myself if I really needed to continue. After all some people wonder why such a book as Song of Solomon is even in the Bible. It’s a love story that some think gets a little too personal. Nonetheless, I reminded myself that all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable, so early this morning I prayed for the Holy Spirit to teach this book to me and I dove in. What I found was a beautiful ending to an ugly story I had already read in Revelation 3:14-21.

About 17 years ago I woke up in the middle of the night and could not get back to sleep. Laying there half awake and half asleep I realized if I left the house now I could make it to Daytona Beach to see the sunrise. I jumped in my car and started listening to the book of Revelation as I drove. I listened as the narrator gave Jesus’ account of how wretched, poor, blind, miserable and naked His last day church is. After such a discouraging message Jesus really woke me up when I head Him say,

To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. Revelation 3:21 NKJV

What? Is Jesus talking about the same church He called wretched, poor, blind, miserable and naked one day overcoming just as He overcame? Wow, Jesus just never gives up! I remember years ago when I was working at UPS I made a mistake and my supervisor got really upset and chewed me out. He ended his lecture by saying, “You may think I am making a big deal out of this by being so angry and upset but one day when you become a supervisor you will understand.” I walked away feeling rebuked and encouraged at the same time. My boss just chewed me out and told me I would be promoted one day all in the same breath. This is what Jesus was saying to His last day church. A dire warning that ended with a beautiful promise and hope.

Fast Forward to this morning as I was reading Song of Solomon. Chapter 3 ends with a wedding. Chapter 4 is the groom describing his bride. Further study led me to conclude that this is also symbolic of Jesus describing His bride, the church. The church He once described as wretched, poor, miserable, blind and naked. After being redeemed read how Jesus describes His bride and church now.

You are beautiful, my darling,
    beautiful beyond words.
Your eyes are like doves
    behind your veil.
Your hair falls in waves,
    like a flock of goats winding down the slopes of Gilead.
Your teeth are as white as sheep,
    recently shorn and freshly washed.
Your smile is flawless,
    each tooth matched with its twin.
Your lips are like scarlet ribbon;
    your mouth is inviting.
Your cheeks are like rosy pomegranates
    behind your veil.
Your neck is as beautiful as the tower of David,
    jeweled with the shields of a thousand heroes.
Your breasts are like two fawns,
    twin fawns of a gazelle grazing among the lilies.
 Before the dawn breezes blow
    and the night shadows flee,
I will hurry to the mountain of myrrh
    and to the hill of frankincense. You are altogether beautiful, my darling,
    beautiful in every way. Song of Solomon 4:1-7 NLT

The church Jesus once said was wretched, poor, miserable, blind and naked He has redeemed. Now as He inspects every part of her body He exclaims she is beautiful beyond words and beautiful in every way!

Just as the groom is inspecting every part of his bride’s body so Jesus inspects every aspect or our lives. Some parts of our lives may be downright ugly right now. Just like there are parts of our body we don’t want people looking at there are parts of our lives we really don’t want Jesus to see. We know what sin and ugliness He will find there. Here is the good news. Not just good news, it is beautifully wonderful news. We can turn those ugly parts of our lives over to Jesus. Let Him cleanse us and redeem us. Then the same Jesus who looked at us and said we are wretched, poor, miserable, blind and naked, will inspect every aspect of our being and go on and on about how beautiful we are. Beautiful beyond words. Beautiful in every way!

Jesus is the faithful and True Witness. He is being honest when He tells me how ugly my sins are. Now that He is redeeming me I can’t wait to hear Him say how beautiful I am. And when Jesus raves on and on about how beautiful we are-even too beautiful for words and beautiful in every way-He will still be just as honest, faithful and true as He has ever been!

You may study this week’s Sabbath School lesson here.

by In Light Of The Cross

1: How to Read the Psalms-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan

Prepared by William Earnhardt, for Sabbath School class, January 6, 2024.

Main Theme: The Psalms have been written in Hebrew poetry by different authors from ancient Israel, and so, the Psalms reflect their particular world, however universal their messages. Accepting the Psalms as God’s Word and paying close attention to the Psalms’ poetic features, as well as their historical, theological, and liturgical contexts, is fundamental for understanding their messages, which reach across thousands of years to our time today.

Read in Class: Nehemiah 12:8, Psalm 18:1, Psalm 30:1-2 and James 5:13. Define the common thread of these passages.

Study: What were the occasions that prompted the writing of some psalms? When did God’s people use the Psalms?

Apply: Though we, of course, do not worship God in an earthly sanctuary like the temple, how can we use the Psalms in our own worship, whether in a private or in a corporate setting?

Share: Your friend says that the Psalms were written so long ago, and mostly about the authors own experiences about war and so forth. We are not warriors from ancient times so what do the Psalms have to do with us today? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Psalm 3:5-8, Psalm 33:1-3 and Psalm 109:6-15. Define the common thread in these passages.

Study: What different facets of human experience do these psalms convey?

Apply: What kind of psalms would you most likely be apt to use or write in your references to God in your life? 

Share: One of your friends says, “Why does David write so many psalms that seem to focus on destroying his enemies and bringing judgment on others? Where is Crist’s love for the erring and sinners in his heart?” What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: 2 Samuel 23:1-2 and Romans 8:26-27. What is the main thought of these passages?

Study: What do these texts teach us about prayer?

Apply: Jesus quoted the Psalms like Luke 20:42-43 for example. What should Jesus’ use of the Psalms tell us about the importance that they could play in our own faith experience?

Share: Your friend asks what it means that the Spirit intercedes for us with groanings which cannot be uttered? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Psalm 16:8, Psalm 44:8 and Psalm 46:1. What is the main idea of these passages?

Study: What place does God occupy in the psalmist’s life?

Apply: How can the Psalms help us understand that we cannot limit God to certain aspects of our existence only? What might be parts of your life in which you are seeking to keep the Lord at a distance?

Share: Can you share a time when Psalm 46:1 or one of the other passages in this section was a particular comfort to you?

by In Light Of The Cross

The Mortal Soul in Psalms

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”For in death there is no remembrance of You; In the grave who will give You thanks?“ Psalms‬ ‭6‬:‭5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

I have seen Christian music videos illustrating someone dying and immediately going to heaven and singing in the heavenly choir. But David in the Psalms is quite clear along with the rest of Scripture that the dead know nothing and rest in their graves until Jesus comes.

”You hide Your face, they are troubled; You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.“ Psalms‬ ‭104‬:‭29‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

”The dead do not praise the Lord, Nor any who go down into silence.“

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭115‬:‭17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Furthermore New Testament Scripture resonates David’s theology about resting in the grave instead of going straight to heaven when we die.

”Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand,“ Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭29‬, ‭34‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Scripture is very consistent from beginning to end that the dead know nothing and rest in their graves until Christ returns. David, Jesus, Peter and Paul never once say anyone dies and goes straight to heaven. But you know who does? The lying serpent in Genesis 3:4, who claims we don’t really die.

Let’s believe the Word of God instead of the lying serpent. Some lies may be fun to believe, but they are never safe to believe. The serpent never tells a harmless lie. Every lie from the serpent is intended for deception and destruction. Yet no one who believes in the Word of God will be deceived. God‘s Word which is truth will keep us safe.

You may study this week’s Sabbath School lesson here.