Category / Sabbath School Lessons

by In Light Of The Cross

Ephesians 5: Walking in Grace

Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.  And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. Ephesians 4:31-5:2 NKJV 

God’s grace allows us to be filled with all the fulness of God (Ephesians 3:19) and helps us to imitate God. What better way to imitate God than to be merciful and forgiving towards others! While Paul wrote to the Ephesians about both Jews and Gentiles now making up one church, Paul also shares some words of wisdom with the Colossians about coming together to form one church. I think this advice would also be good for the Ephesians as well as for us. 

Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.  Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.  And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. Colossians 3:12-15 NLT 

Imagine that! While Paul told the Romans in Romans 13:14 not to give in to the temptations of the flesh, he tells the Colossians to make allowances for each other’s faults. It reminds me of the words of a pastor friend with whom I worked years ago. His motto was, conservative towards ourselves and liberal towards others. I believe this is also the attitude of Paul. We must hold ourselves to a higher standard, while being forgiving of others. Of course that in no way is saying we are higher than others just because we hold ourselves to a higher standard. Paul always considered himself the chief of sinners, and we must always realize how sinful we are and feel our need of Christ. That is what should help us be so forgiving of others. Also, while we hold ourselves to a higher standard, we also need to forgive ourselves instead of beating ourselves up. No one ever became more holy by tormenting themselves and beating themselves up. In Matthew 10:8 Jesus tells us to freely give as we freely receive. I believe that goes for forgiveness as well. In fact, not accepting  God’s forgiveness actually is demonstrating a lack of faith. 

Jesus gave us an example of being conservative towards himself when he fasted 40 days in the wilderness, and then He also gave us an example of being liberal towards others when He fed the multitude. He refused to work a miracle to feed himself in Matthew 4, but in Matthew 14, He works a miracle to feed others. That is being conservative towards yourself and liberal towards others. 

As we continue to walk in this grace and forgiveness we depart form sin.

But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints ;neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Ephesians 5:3-5 NKJV 

While Paul tells us in Ephesians 1:1-11 that God’s grace gives us an inheritance to God’s kingdom, Paul also tells us that those who inherit the kingdom by grace are given victory over their past life of sin. 

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord…..See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,  redeeming the time, because the days are evil.  Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.  And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, Ephesians 5:8-10, 15-18 NKJV 

While the book of Ephesians tells us in Ephesians 2:8-9 that we are saved by grace and not by works, the same book of Ephesians tells us what being saved by grace looks like, as we become forgiving of others (and ourselves) and walk in the light of God’s love as we leave the deeds of darkness. 

Martin Luther, who was the champion of salvation by grace and not by works also knew that grace and faith helps us depart from sin. He was grieved when he visited Rome and saw religious leaders living in open sin.

Everywhere he looked upon scenes that filled him with astonishment and horror. He saw that iniquity existed among all classes of the clergy. He heard indecent jokes from prelates, and was filled with horror at their awful profanity, even during mass. As he mingled with the monks and citizens he met dissipation, debauchery. Turn where he would, in the place of sanctity he found profanation. “No one can imagine,” he wrote, “what sins and infamous actions are committed in Rome; they must be seen and heard to be believed. Thus they are in the habit of saying, ‘If there is a hell, Rome is built over it: it is an abyss whence issues every kind of sin.’”-Ellen White, Great Controversy, Page 125. 

Martin Luther was grieved the leaders were not experiencing God’s grace that gives us obedience (Romans 1:5), and good works (Ephesians 2:8-10) and allows us to live godly, righteous lives right here in this sinful world (Titus 2:11-12). Martin Luther realized Jesus did not die so we can continue in open sin. He realized Jesus died so we can leave our life of sin and darkness and walk in the light of God’s love and righteousness. 

who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. 1 Peter 2:24 NKJV

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV 

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13-14 NKJV 

Ephesians teaches us that while being forgiving of ourselves and others we can be more and more like Jesus every day, 

till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; Ephesians 4:13 NKJV 

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

by In Light Of The Cross

Ephesians 4: Grace Helps Us Grow Up

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that we should no longer be children….. Ephesians 4:14 NKJV

Jesus tells us we need to be born again. He tells us we must enter His kingdom as a little child. We must die to self and be born again, as we have things we need to unlearn and relearn. We must come as little children trusting God and wanting to learn and grow. Yes grow. While Jesus tells us to come as children, He does not expect us to remain as children. He expects us to grow up. 

Years ago I helped a family in my church with their neighborhood youth Bible study group. Several of the kids were already into their teens, but one young girl was in kindergarten. Unable to read, she has a picture Bible. The other kids would help her find the right picture to go along with the passages we were studying in our regular Bibles. The parents and youth were very eager to participate in this study and it was successful for several years. Before we knew it the girl in kindergarten had grown into a very smart and talented young lady. One day I asked her to read, and when she started fluently reading from the regular Bible she now possessed, my mind went back to her younger days with the picture Bible. I asked the class if they remembered her picture Bible. Several of the other kids were amazed how they had totally forgotten her picture Bible. She had grown slowly day by day, year by year until she was reading just as good as any of the rest of the kids. Still it was so gradual, the other kids confessed they had not noticed, and over time had just forgotten about the picture Bible she once brought to the study. 

While Paul encourages us in Philippians 3:13-14 to keep moving forward, in Ephesians He also takes time to remind the Ephesians that at one time  you lived in darkness, but not now, You once were dead in sin but not now. Look how you have grown! 

The pen of inspiration encourages us, 

As God is perfect in His sphere, so man is to be perfect in his sphere. –Ellen White, Maranatha, Page 227. 

When my young friend was in kindergarten looking  up pictures in her picture Bible was perfect for her in her sphere of kindergarten. However she kept growing and as a young lady the picture Bible was no longer perfect for her. She grew into a new sphere where an adult Bible became perfect for her. Still the class, as well as the young lady herself were very intrigued when I pointed out how much her reading skills had improved over time. While we keep moving forward, and growing so that we are no longer children, it is also important to look back occasionally just to see how far we have come and encourage ourselves that actual progress is being made. By God’s grace we can be perfect it our own sphere as we grow from sphere to sphere. 

While we once walked in darkness and were dead in sins, we are no longer in darkness and dead in sins. We are growing day by day, year by year, and we will keep growing by grace,

till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; Ephesians 4:13 NKJV

While we all still see plenty of room for growth, it may still be a good idea to pause for a moment and give God some credit and thanks for helping us to grow to become the men and women we are today. What are some areas of your life where you would like to thank God for helping you mature? 

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

by In Light Of The Cross

Ephesians 3: A Shattered Relationship Perfectly Restored

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In Ephesians 1-2 we saw ourselves in Christ. We saw ourselves accepted in Christ in Ephesians 1:6, and then saw ourselves sitting in heavenly places in Christ in Ephesians 2:6. This idea of being in Christ is our justification. Justification is our deliverance from the penalty of sin and is our title to heaven. But justification is way more than a legal procedure allowing us to have eternal life. Justification is restoring our relationship with God in the here and now. Being accepted in the Beloved means our relationship with God is restored and we are all friends again. The Father is at peace with us now as much as He is at peace with His own son.

Therefore, since we have been justified [that is, acquitted of sin, declared blameless before God] by faith, [let us grasp the fact that] we have peace with God [and the joy of reconciliation with Him] through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed). Through Him we also have access by faith into this [remarkable state of] grace in which we [firmly and safely and securely] stand. Let us rejoice in our hope and the confident assurance of [experiencing and enjoying] the glory of [our great] God [the manifestation of His excellence and power]. Romans 5:1-2 AMP

Now we turn to Ephesians 3 where we begin to see Christ in us. While us in Christ is our justification, Christ in us is our sanctification. Our sanctification is our deliverance from the power of sin and is our fitness for heaven. But just like justification, sanctification is way more than a legal procedure allowing us to have eternal life. Sanctification means we belong to God. In Genesis 2:1-3 God sanctified the Sabbath and it became the Lord’s day. See Mark2:28.  In Numbers 3:13 God sanctified the firstborn by calling them His own. Sanctification makes us God’s very own intimate friends.

Look at how Jesus uses the terms of us in Him and Him in us to describe a very intimate relationship.

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 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. John 15:4-10 NKJV Emphases supplied. 

Justification and sanctification are way more than legal terms. They are relational terms describing our relationship of how we are in Christ and Christ is in us. In previous weeks we have seen how Ephesians 1-2 portrays us being in Christ. Now we will look at how Ephesians, beginning in chapter 3 portrays Christ in us. 

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,  from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,  may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—  to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:14-21 NKJV Emphases supplied. 

I find this amazingly awesome! We can be filled with all the fulness of God. Let that sink in. Here on earth, in our sin torn fallen natures we can be filled with all the fulness of God. Our own works could never make such a grand  theme possible, but yet the impossible is possible by the Power that works in us.

My mother used to collect plates. One day while dusting she accidently knocked a plate off the mantle and it shattered into pieces on the floor. She was upset as it was one of her favorite plates. She watched as dad swept all the pieces into a dustpan and took them to the garage. My mother was sure he was just going to throw the pieces away in the garbage can in the garage. My mother never thought it was possible to ask or think that the plate could ever be restored, but instead of throwing the pieces in the trash he placed them on his work bench. A few weeks later my dad presented the plate back to my mother, with every single piece glued back together with invisible glue. As far as my mother was concerned, the plate she thought was hopelessly shattered to smithereens  had been perfectly restored.

This was something she never asked or thought possible. Have you ever thought that you had ruined your relationship with God and blown it to smithereens? Have you ever felt hopelessly lost in sin, and thought you and God could never be friends again? Well God the Father has taken those shattered pieces of your relationship, and instead of throwing them in the garbage can, through Christ He has perfectly restored your friendship with Him. At one time you may have felt  “you were without Christ, …..having no hope and without God in the world.” Ephesians 2:12 ” But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” Ephesians 2:13. While sin blew your relationship with God to smithereens and you thought the only solution was to throw all the pieces in the trash, God did what you never asked or thought possible. Christ’s blood was the glue that perfectly restored your relationship with the Father. Now, instead of being alienated from God and without hope, you have been brought very near. So near He is now filling you with all the fulness of God! The relationship with God that you thought impossible to restore has been perfectly restored. While you once thought you were without God and without hope, Christ did the unthinkable and unimaginable. He is filling you with all the fulness of God. A Shattered relationship has been restored to a higher level of intimacy than we ever thought possible, not by our works, but by the Power working in us. 

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

by In Light Of The Cross

Ephesians 2: Sitting With Jesus in Heavenly Places

Practically all Christians understand we are saved by grace, but what exactly does grace save us from? 

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),  and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:1-10 NKJV 

Grace saves us from death. This is our justification. Last week we saw that justification is “me in Jesus.” I was in Jesus when He lived a perfect life and I am saved by His life (Romans5:10) as well as by his death. This is my title to heaven. In Ephesians 2:1-10 we see that grace also saves us from the power of sin and gives us good works. This is our sanctification, which is “Jesus in me.” This my deliverance from the power of sin and my fitness for heaven. 

Last week we talked about being in Christ when He was crucified. See Galatians 2:20. We were in Christ when He lived a perfect life. See Romans 5:10. Now in Ephesians 2:6 we see we are already sitting in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. 

and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, Ephesians 2:6 NKJV

The story goes of a pastor who was changing trains at a station near Washington D.C. While between trains he met a man who tried to hand him some religious literature. The pastor smelled alcohol on the man’s breath and asked him about it. The man conceded that he was an active alcoholic, but that it was okay because Jesus had already gotten the victory over sin so he did not have to. The pastor asked the man, “So Jesus died so you don’t have to?” “Right!” The man replied. “And Jesus overcame so you don’t have to overcome?” the pastor asked. “Right!” The man replied. To which the pastor also said, “Then do you know what else Jesus did for you? He went up to heaven so you don’t have to.” The pastor was sharing with the man that if Jesus died and overcame so we don’t have to die to self and overcome, then Jesus also went to heaven so we don’t have to go to heaven. The pastor was sharing that the reality of grace is, Jesus died so that we can also die to self. See Romans 6:3-7 and Galatians 2:20. Jesus also overcame sin so we also may overcome. See Revelation 3:21. Jesus also went to heaven so we can also go to heaven. See John 14:1-3. Everything Jesus did He did it so by His grace we can do it too. 

Grace does way more than just save us from death. 

Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, Romans 1:5 NKJV

In Romans 1:5 grace gives us obedience. 

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8-10 NKJV

In Ephesians 2:8-10 grace gives us good works. 

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, Titus 2:11-12 NKJV

In Titus 2:11-12 grace helps us live righteous and godly lives right here and now. 

Jude warned us,

I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Jude 1:4 NLT

In the very same book where Paul tells us we are saved by grace Paul also tells us,

For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Ephesians 5:5 NKJV

Sometimes when people have a hard time believing that victory over sinful addictions is possible, they get accused of wanting cheap grace, and wanting to continue in sin. I don’t believe this is the case. I believe these fallen ones (and that would be all of us!) feel awful about breaking their Father’s heart by giving in to sinful addictions. To such a  one I would say,

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise. Psalm 51:17 NKJV

God does not and never will despise a broken and contrite heart, no matter how many times sin has broken that heart before. But while Jesus continues to forgive us every time our hearts are broken because we have broken our Father’s heart, His grace also gives us the power to stop breaking hearts. In Genesis 44:18-34, Judah explains to Joseph that he had already broken his father’s heart before, and he was now prepared to die a slave in a foreign land before he would break his father’s heart again. Grace gave Judah the victory over breaking his father’s heart, and grace can give us the victory over breaking our Father’s heart. 

Even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus Ephesians 2:5-6 NKJV

Grace gives us all the forgiveness we will ever need. Grace gives us all the power we will ever need to overcome sin. Don’t give up. by grace you are already sitting in heavenly places with Jesus. 

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

by In Light Of The Cross

Ephesians 1: In Christ

When I first became a Bible Worker I began studying with a young woman who went to a Methodist AME Church. She invited me to her church one Sunday so I could hear her sing in the choir. After the choir sang, a lady guest speaker stood up to preach and to this day, that Methodist woman gave the best ever “Adventist” sermon I have heard on the book of Ephesians. She spoke about how the first part of Ephesians begins with us “in Christ.” In Christ is where we find our justification, which is our deliverance from the penalty of sin and is our title to heaven. She then explained how the second part of Ephesians talks about “Christ in us” which is where we find our sanctification, which is our deliverance from the power of sin and is out fitness for heaven. 

Let’s take a look at us “in Christ” and see why that is so powerfully important.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,  just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,  having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,  that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. Ephesians 1:3-14 NKJV Emphases supplied. 

Why is this idea of in “in Christ” so important? Because again our justification is in Christ. We can only be accepted in the Beloved. We can only be saved in Christ. This is why it is so important to appreciate the humanity of Christ. 

For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:3-4 NKJV

Jesus took on my flesh so that He could not only die for me, but so He could also die as me. God only has one solution for human flesh. It must be crucified. I have now been crucified in Christ and with Christ. See Romans 6:3-6 and Galatians 2:20. What else has Christ accomplished by taking my humanity? 

When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:16-17 NKJV

When Jesus went into the water He had taken upon Himself all humanity, and was thus being baptized and repenting for and on behalf of the entire human race. When the Father said “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.” Jesus was representing the entire human race. Therefore when the Father accepted His Son the Beloved, He was accepting all humanity in the Beloved. See Ephesians 1:6. Jesus repented on behalf of the entire human race and the Father has accepted the entire human race on behalf of Jesus. 

For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. Romans 5:10,12,19 NKJV 

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV

Let’s summarize what we have learned so far.

All humanity sinned in Adam. Romans 5:12

All humanity was crucified in Christ. Romans 6:3-6, Romans 8:3-4 and Galatians 2:20.

All humanity repented in Christ. Matthew 3:15-16,

All humanity has lived a perfect life in Christ. Romans 5:10.

All humanity is accepted in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:6. 

This is how all humanity is  predestined to become adopted as God’s children in Ephesians 1:4. However God never turns any of His children into robots and so everyone is free to reject this plan if they choose. Unless they resist or reject this plan they will be  saved,

And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” John 12:32 NKJV 

The sinner may resist this love, may refuse to be drawn to Christ; but if he does not resist he will be drawn to Jesus; a knowledge of the plan of salvation will lead him to the foot of the cross in repentance for his sins, which have caused the sufferings of God’s dear Son.-Ellen White, Steps to Christ, Page 28. 

In Ephesians 1 we see that we have been accepted in Christ. Next week in Ephesians 2 we will see how we all sit in heavenly places right now-in Christ Jesus. See Ephesians 2:6. 

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

by In Light Of The Cross

The Book of Ephesians Challenge

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, Ephesians 6:17 NKJV

I am so happy we will be studying Ephesians, one of my favorite books of the Bible this quarter. There are many things I love about the book. I love how Paul teaches in Ephesians 1:1-6 that we are accepted in the Beloved and destined by God’s grace to be formed in His image. I love how Ephesians 1:6 and Ephesians 2:6  brings out that we are justified in Christ and how Ephesians 3:14-21 teaches how we are sanctified by Christ being in us. I love how Ephesians 2:1-10 shows how grace saves us from the penalty of sin and the power of sin. I love how Ephesians Chapters 4-6 shows us the obedient lifestyle of a grace filled Christian. I could go on and on but you probably have your own favorite passages in Ephesians as well which brings me to my challenge for all of us this quarter.

Our weekly Sabbath School lessons are designed to explore different ideas in the book of Ephesians as well as covering those same ideas elsewhere in Scripture. This approach is very beneficial. I also believe since Paul wrote this book as a letter, He intended for it to be read verse by verse as a whole and complete message within itself, just like we read a letter today. Therefore I would like to encourage all my friends and fellow Bible students around the world to take some time to read the book of Ephesians from beginning to end just like when you receive a letter today or a personal e-mail. The book or letter is only six chapters and could be read in one sitting but I do not want to encourage you to rush through. Take your time and let Paul’s ideas soak into your mind and heart. I appreciate how our lesson authors have divided the lesson topics, but I also believe a rich blessing is in store for those who read Ephesians verse by verse as a whole passage, just the way it was written.

Will you join me in reading the entire book of Ephesians verse by verse from beginning to end this week? 

by In Light Of The Cross

True, But…..

A few years ago I was visiting family and friends in an Adventist community. Various friends and family members attend various Adventist churches in the area. On Sabbath, I decided to join a particular friend at his church. The sermon was on how we are not to judge others. As I sat and listened to the sermon, I could not help, but in my mind think of texts that say we are to judge, Like 1 Corinthians 5- 6. I thought the sermon was very much one-sided. Then I believe the Holy Spirit spoke to me. William there are about 20 Adventist churches in the area God could have sent you to this morning, but I sent you to this church so you could hear this particular message. This is the side of the topic that you need to hear.

Often instead of bringing up opposing views, we need to just hear what the other person has to say. We don’t have to exhaust both sides of the topic in one conversation. Often the person has a single valid point, and we take away from that point by bringing up “the other side.”

For example, suppose I have a friend in New Zealand who has been battling depression, because she misses her home in South Africa. One morning she gets up and is trying to look at the bright side of the situation, so she posts a picture of a beautiful New Zealand sunrise on Facebook, with the message, “New Zealand sure has some beautiful scenery.” Then suppose all of her friends in America and South Africa start commenting back about how beautiful their land is too. No doubt South Africa and America are beautiful too, but wouldn’t that distract from the point that is relevant to my friend in New Zealand? My friend in New Zealand is already aware that America and South Africa are beautiful. But that is not the point. Instead of commenting back with, “True, but…..America is beautiful too!” maybe I should just agree, “Yes! That is a very beautiful sunrise. You live in a wonderful land” and just leave it at that. It is not going to help my NZ friend battle depression by totally exhausting the subject of beautiful places to live on her post. She needs affirmation, not competition. I have an older friend, who told me when she was younger and would get carried away thinking about all the different ways people might be interpreting her actions, her mother would tell her, “stop trying to play every instrument in the band.” Occasionally I will finish a sermon and some “helpful” saint will try to remind me of all the points on the topic that I left out. Fact is I left them out on purpose. Its not that I did not consider them to be true or even important, its just that in a 20 minute, wait who am I kidding? In a 40 minute sermon I can’t play every instrument in the band. I can’t cover every single point of truth in one presentation. Remember we will be studying the Gospel throughout all eternity and will be learning the entire time, so please do not expect me to cover every point of truth in a 30 or 40 minute sermon. 

Believe it or not Jesus Himself did not exhaust every subject in every discourse. He spoke words that needed to be heard in that particular situation. Over time and by cross-examining Scripture we get the big picture. Jesus’ sermon in Luke 4 is an example of how Jesus purposely left out certain points because they were not relevant to the specific group He was addressing.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come. Luke 4:18-19 NLT

Jesus was quoting from Isaiah 61:1-2 which went on to read, “and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies.” But Jesus left that part out!. Jesus knew the crowd He was talking to would become a little too happy about God’s anger on their enemies, so He left that out. It was totally true but not a truth that they needed to hear. So when we accuse a preacher or Sabbath school teacher of not preaching truth, because they leave out the morsel of truth we enjoy feasting on, we are making an unwarranted judgment of “heresy.” We can have unity by listening to what others have to say without constantly bickering and arguing, even with a “true….but.” Sometimes those “true….buts” are a distraction from what God wants us to see. Often times the point in the “true….but” has already been well established, and the other person is not trying to disagree, but just give the topic a proper balance, and if we reply back with a “true…but,” we throw the topic off balance again.

For example we all know the emphases the church has placed on marriage over the years. Considering that my congregation already knew full well how sanctified and blessed marriage is, I decided to encourage some of my widowed, single and divorced friends by sharing the encouraging things Jesus said in Matthew 19, and Paul said in 1 Corinthians 7 regarding the blessings of being single. I affirmed our married members and our single members. After my sermon an elderly lady came up to me and complained that I did not talk about the blessings of being married as much as I did the blessings of being single. The reason I spent 25 minutes on the blessings of being single and only 15 minutes on the blessings of being married is because over the years pastors have preached thousands of sermons on the blessings of being married while rarely if ever preaching about the blessings of being single. I was simply trying to share the teachings of Jesus and Paul that are rarely if ever shared behind the pulpit. Like my illustration with my friend in New Zealand, I did not need a rebuttal. I did not need to hear the other side of the story I have already heard a trillion times. I just needed my single friends to hear an encouraging word from Scripture without everyone protesting about the parts I left out. The goal of my sermon was not to play every instrument in the band. 

We can encourage oneness and promote unity by listening to understand instead of just listening to reply with our opinion. We don’t always have to bring up the other side of the topic. Maybe God knows you are already grounded on one side and now need a more balanced understanding of the topic by hearing some other truths on the topic. That is what I realized God was telling me while listening to the sermon in my friend’s church that Sabbath.

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

by In Light Of The Cross

How are There Many Antichrists?

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As Adventists we understand from the book of Revelation that  the anti-Christ is the papacy putting itself in the place of God. Of course any system putting itself in the place of God is an anti-Christ. In 1 John 2:18, John writes,  “even now are there many anti-Christs; whereby we know that it is the last time.” So was John implying their were more anti-Christs besides just the papacy? If so could you or I have anti-Christ characteristics? 

To answer this question, let’s back up a little. In studying the Three Angels Message, we see that a so-called religious system, Babylon, falls. Again we know from studying Revelation that this is a specific system. However, we also see that this system has an attitude. That attitude is legalism. Man-made laws and a man-made day of worship combine to make a man-made way of salvation, outside of trusting in the merits of Jesus. While Revelation pinpoints this system, it is clear that this attitude can be found in other systems as well, and history has demonstrated it. Were not the Sadducees and Pharisees making their own laws and trusting their own works for salvation? Yet they were not Babylon. So could it be that if I am not careful to crucify self and die daily, that this same attitude of Babylon could be found in my heart too?

So, if it is possible for me to have the attitude of Babylon, would it also be possible for me to have the same attitude as the anti-Christ, thus making me one of many anti-Christs? An anti-Christ is someone who sets himself up as Christ, just as the man of sin mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4: “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” Here we see that the man of sin, or anti-Christ sits in the place of God. So how could I possibly be an anti-Christ, sitting in the place of God? Isaiah 33:22 tells us; “For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver.” Our Lord God is our lawgiver and judge. So, when I set myself up as judge of other people’s motives, or think that I can interpret the law for everybody, I am usurping the seat of God and setting myself up as God, and thus becoming an anti-Christ!

Like Babylon, Anti-Christ is more than a system. It is an attitude. Ellen White explains, that while the pilgrims came to the new world, to escape the anti-Christ, that they carried the attitude of anti-Christ with them to the New World:

“It was the desire for liberty of conscience that inspired the Pilgrims to brave the perils of the long journey across the sea, to endure the hardships and dangers of the wilderness, and with God’s blessing to lay, on the shores of America, the foundation of a mighty nation. Yet honest and God-fearing as they were, the Pilgrims did not yet comprehend the great principle of religious liberty. The freedom which they sacrificed so much to secure for themselves, they were not equally ready to grant to others. “Very few, even of the foremost thinkers and moralists of the seventeenth century, had any just conception of that grand principle, the outgrowth of the New Testament, which acknowledges God as the sole judge of human faith.” (W. Carlos Martyn, The Life and Times of Luther, Vol. 5, p. 297.) The doctrine that God has committed to the church the right to control the conscience and to define and punish heresy, is one of the most deeply rooted of papal errors.-Ellen White, The Great Controversy, pp. 292-3

2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that the Scriptures are profitable for doctrine and correction. I can only define God’s law by what is in the Scriptures , but not by my personal opinions or traditions, like the Pharisees in Christ’s time and religious leaders in the Dark Ages did. I am not the interpreter of the Law for the whole world, nor, can I think to change times and laws to meet with my own opinions or inclinations. Since I am not the Lawgiver, I cannot judge people by my own standards.

While open sin must be dealt with by the community of believers, according to 1 Corinthians 6, I as an individual cannot judge inward motives. In judging outward actions we must still be careful. Joseph almost put poor Mary away thinking he had all the evidence of an affair. Even with his overwhelming evidence, he was wrong! Even with all his evidence, he tried to put her away privately, without any public embarrassment. What a great example for us to imitate. Even with his incontrovertible evidence, Joseph was not going to judge Mary’s heart.

In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul teaches that churches, not individuals, to judge open and outward actions very carefully. He teaches no one to judge the heart and inward motives. 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us God and the Scriptures alone tell us what is right and wrong. I am not the Lawgiver or the interpreter of the law for the rest of the world.

Only the Lord our God is our Lawgiver and Judge, and when we judge people according to our own standards, opinions and understanding, we usurp the throne of God and become an anti-Christ.

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

by In Light Of The Cross

When the Faithfulness of Jesus Carried me Through

Monday’s section of this week’s Sabbath School lesson asks the question, 

Think about a time when life seemed to crumble around you and all that you had was your faith. How did you get by? What lessons did you learn? What did you experience that could help others who might be going through something similar?

When I saw this question I thought of a story I just shared with some friends yesterday. 25 years ago I was engaged to be married. While I was engaged I was working as a full time Bible Worker in a three church district in the  Fort Worth, Texas area. However I was a local hire with no benefits. Wanting to provide health insurance for my bride to be I went to UPS, where I got a part time job working from 3 AM to 7:30Am, which provided me and my family to be with health insurance. This was still in addition to my full time job as a Bible Worker. 

While being a Bible Worker sitting around in people’s living rooms talking about the Gospel all the time, I was not used to strenuous physical labor. I found it very hard to get up at 2am every morning, and even harder to do strenuous labor while I should have been sleeping in the middle of the night. It made my whole daily routine very difficult especially at first. There was no time for me to waste. Every moment of my day had to be carefully planned in order to make things work out. One of the hardest parts was having to go to bed around the time all my friends were getting off work. And of course being a Bible Worker and giving Bible studies in the evenings, sometimes I had to get by on 3 hours sleep. I remember being at work when the sun rose and when it sat, and thinking to myself, I am constantly working, I will never be able to just sit and watch a sunset ever again. 

After a few weeks my fiancée broke up with me. Why is another story, but I had a lot of growing up to do still.  Anyway I was devastated. I was stressed with a crazy work schedule between two jobs, and my motivation was gone. The night after she broke up with me my alarm sounded as usual at 2AM. I rolled over in bed to turn off the alarm feeling totally emotionally and physically drained. I realized I was not getting married. I got this middle of the night job to provide insurance for my bride to be, which was now not to be. I told myself I did not need my UPS job anymore and to just roll over and go back to sleep, and forget about UPS. It was a hard thankless job in the middle of the night which I no longer needed. While all of that made perfect sense I found myself going in to work. Friends, I want this to sink in because this is where God’s grace totally took over. This is not about my faith, it is about the faithfulness of Jesus. I told myself to go back to bed and forget about UPS. I decided to quit UPS, but I still found myself going in to work regardless. I had no clue what I was doing. My heart and mind were in a blind fog, while I kept a job I did not think I needed nor wanted. I kept going to a job that I had decided to quit and had no idea why I was still going to work at 3am but I was. 

While I was totally mystified and confused by my actions, just a few weeks later it all made sense. The three church district I served as a Bible Worker for several years decided to let me go. They wanted to start a church school and could not afford that and a Bible Worker. Suddenly UPS, the job I thought I did not need became my only source of income. I look back now and realize why I got up and went to work that night, even though I actually decided to quit. I had no idea I would soon be losing my Bible Worker job. That night when I told myself to roll over and go back to sleep and forget about UPS, God’s grace and faithfulness yanked me up and said, “Nope! You are going to work. You don’t know why but God knows why.” 

I kept my job at UPS and even became a part time supervisor before it was all over. I found another day job as well, and kept giving Bible studies when I could as well as preaching every Sabbath as a lay person. I learned to organize every moment of my day, even my Bible study and prayer time. A few times over the years I would wake up after I was already supposed to be at work, but would still pray and study my Bible before going to work. I told myself, if life gets too busy for me to spend time with God then life has just defeated its purpose. I was not going to defeat the purpose of life just for the sake of mere “survival.”  I learned to keep my Bible with me and to listen to Bible tapes in the car. While both jobs combined kept me away from home for 16 hours a day I hired a housekeeper.  Little by little even while working 16 hours a day my life became normal, purposeful and enjoyable. I was no longer stressed. I was happy and my heart and mind where no longer in a blind fog. 

By the way, you know how I said I felt like I would never get to watch another sunset for the rest of my life?  Well as insignificant as that may sound, God was even working on that small aspect of my life. Years later God totally uprooted me from my life in Texas and gave me a ministry in Florida, where I have watched countless beautifully magnificent sunsets on the Gulf. God is so graceful and faithful in every aspect of our lives. Even the little things we think don’t matter in the grand scheme of the Great Controversy are still important to a graceful and faithful God. He cares so much about us! 

Still, I look back to that night when I woke up with my heart and mind in a fog and decided to quit my UPS job. God’s grace and faithfulness took me to work that night. God knew something I didn’t. That night God picked me up and carried me through the fog and into beautiful sunny days.

Seems like I have been in Florida forever now. I will find myself walking along the beach with one or a few of my Floridian friends, and as we pause to watch another beautiful sunset for the umpteenth time I will sometimes laugh to myself and think, “Back in Texas I could not see through the fog and thought I would never watch another sunset. Fool! You watch them all the time now. Great is His faithfulness!” 

by In Light Of The Cross

How Spiritualism Leads to idol Worship

Shortly after my mother died, I went to a restaurant alone, to write in my journal about my thoughts about my recent loss. My mother’s name was “Sara,” so I thought it interesting when the waitress came to my table and told me her name was “Sara.” I ordered my usual favorite beverage, but the waitress brought my mother’s favorite beverage instead, by mistake. Even in my grief I could not help but see the humor. I told a friend who I used to go to church with, about the irony of the waitress having my mother’s name and bringing me my mother’s  soda.  I was surprised when my friend assured me it was my mother who caused all those ironies, to let me know she was still with me. I had to remind my friend what we learned in the Bible about what happens when a person dies. 

For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, And they have no more reward, For the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; Nevermore will they have a share In anything done under the sun. Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 NKJV. 

By things my Adventist friends are telling me, and things they share on their Facebook pages, like wishing their dead loved ones a “happy heavenly birthday” and so on, is showing me that even many Adventists are falling for the deception of spiritualism. It gives them a false sense of comfort to think that their dead loved one is still watching over them. Does God not do a good job of watching over us? Can we not trust God so we trust our dead loved ones to care for us instead? They want to believe in signs letting them know their dead loved one still loves them.  This would not be a temptation if they realized how much God loves them. When my mother died there were so many miracles letting me know that God cared. A friend sent me a substantial amount of money, totally unsolicited, which was greatly needed. When I pleaded with God He woke my mother up from unconsciousness one last time so I could tell her I loved her before she fell asleep in Jesus. Shortly after my mother died I was suddenly hit with an overwhelming sense of loneliness and cried out to God that I was all alone in the world. At that same moment when I cried out to God, I received a text message from a friend from out of state, with whom I had not spoken in ages. He texted me to remind me that God loves me, and so do my friends. These were not miracles from my mother letting me know she cared. These were greater and more wonderful miracles from God showing me God cares. 

When people are more comforted by a supposed miracle from a dead loved one than from God Himself, it shows that they love their dead loved one more than God. That is making an idol of their dead loved one. Why should it mean more to get a “heavenly message” from a dead loved one than from God Himself? God is constantly showering us with love and miracles. When we credit those miracles to our dead loved ones we are now putting our dead loved ones in the place of God. A gentle breeze brushing my face means a lot more to me, coming from God, than it would even if it could come from a dead loved one. Why should a dead loved one, or even a living being, mean more to me than God? 

I knew an elderly Adventist woman who lived in a small Adventist community. Her husband died and was buried in a cemetery just a block or so from her house. About every day, she would visit his grave and “talk” to him. One day she looked out her front window and perceived him walking up the sidewalk. He stopped at the window and stared at her through the glass. Being an Adventist and knowing the state of the dead, she knew it was not her husband, but a demon. This scared her into realizing she had been putting herself on the devil’s playground by her excessive visits, talking to her dead husband at his grave. After this experience she never returned to his grave. After all, she did not need to talk to her dead husband. She needed to be talking to Jesus, who could hear what she was saying, just like Saul did not need to be talking to dead Samuel. He should have been talking to God. I don’t know if a demon really personified itself as this woman’s husband, or if it was just her imagination. She claimed it was real and not just her imagination. Either way, it was a direct result of her acting like she was talking to the dead – which spiritualism teaches to be a real possibility, but the Bible teaches is an impossibility. 

Years ago, a friend came back from vacation with a terrible story. While he was visiting his in-laws, his wife’s sister’s toddler drowned in the pool. On the way to the hospital, the wife’s sister was pleading with the virgin Mary to save her son. Mary is dead. There was nothing Mary could do anyway. The elderly Adventist woman, and my friend’s sister-in-law should not have been talking to dead people. That is a waste of time. They know nothing. We need to be talking to Jesus who can hear us, and does love us and constantly provides miracles, showering us with love. 

I attended a wedding where the groom had lost his father a couple of years before the wedding. All through the wedding and reception it was repeated over and over that the groom’s father was dead and could not be at the wedding. So much emphasis was placed on the father not being there that it was almost like all the living people there did not matter. I am not one to tell people how to grieve, and forgive me, I am not trying to sound cold, but this seems like another form of idol worship. What was to be a joyous and sacred service turned out to be all about the groom’s dead loved one. What about his new bride? What about all the family and friends who were there? Did they mean nothing? Did our heavenly Father’s presence mean nothing? When we spend all our time grieving those who are gone, we fail to appreciate our loved ones who are still with us. We fail to appreciate God’s love. 

Of course we all grieve, and that is healthy and natural. But excessive grief, which does not allow us to be in the moment and appreciate God and those still living, could be a form of idolatry. Feeling the need to credit dead loved ones for miracles and answered prayers is idolatry. Even thinking that we need a dead family member’s love more than we need God’s love is idolatry. As much as my family loves me, God loves me more. As much as I need my family, I need God more. As much as I love my family, I love God more. I can’t allow any loved one, living or dead, to take God’s place in my life. Spiritualism teaches us to put dead loved ones in the place of God. By giving dead loved ones excessive attention and adoration it becomes worship and idolatry. Only God Himself deserves that much attention and adoration. By wishing to pray or communicate with dead loved ones supposedly in heaven is to put them in God’s place. God is in heaven and I can pray and communicate with Him. We don’t need to talk to our dead loved ones when we can talk to God Himself. We don’t need spiritualism or idolatry which puts dead loved ones in God’s place in heaven. We have a God in heaven who loves and cares for us more than any loved one can. We have a God in heaven who can take care of us better than any family member. Let’s give our sleeping loved ones the rest they deserve and worship God who is Worthy of our trust and worship. 

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