Main Theme: While are all different members, together we all contribute different talents and gifts in forming one church.
Read Together: Ephesians 4:1-16. Discuss the main idea of this passage.
Study: How does Paul encourage believers to nurture the unity of the church?
Apply:Humility, gentleness, patience. Think about how these attributes would help unify us as a people. How do we learn to cultivate these virtues?
Share: Your friend asks you, if there is only one church does that mean the Adventist church is the only church there is, or does it mean that all the different denominations all make up one Christian church? What do you tell your friend?
Study: Drawing on Psalm 68:18, Paul has just described the risen, exalted, conquering Jesus as giving gifts to His people from on high. What “gifts” does the exalted Jesus give, and for what purpose?
Apply: What gifts do you recognize that God has given you for building up His church? What gifts do you recognize in others, and how do you appreciate their contributions to the church?
Share: Your friend says he does not believe in the gift of prophecy because all we need is in the Bible. We don’t need modern day prophets or even Ellen White. How might Ephesians 4:11-13 help you answer your friend? See also The Gift of Prophecy in Light of the Cross.
Read in Class: Ephesians 4:14. Define the main theme of this passage.
Study: What danger threatens the Christlike maturity of the church?
Apply: In what ways might you feel like you are still a child? In what ways do you feel like you have matured as a Christian?
Share: Your friend says that Jesus tells us we must enter the kingdom of heaven as a child. So why is Paul telling us not to be children anymore? What do you tell your friend? See also Grace Helps us Grow up.
Read in Class: Ephesians 4:15-16. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: In what ways does a healthy church function like a healthy body?
Apply: How can we get every member to use their gifts and talents to increase the body and make it healthier?
Share: Can you think of someone who has been working hard helping out at the church lately? Can you speak a word of appreciation and encouragement to them or even send them a nice card this week?
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
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
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.
Study: What admonition does the apostle Paul give us regarding the last days of human history?
Apply: Paul says not “to sleep” as others do. What does that mean, and how can we know if we are, indeed, sleeping and, if we are, what will it take to wake us?
Share: Your friend asks you where you see things in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6 being fulfilled? What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class:Revelation 18:1-4. Discuss the main idea of this passage.
Study: What three things does John tell us about this angel? (See also Hab. 2:14).
Apply: Ultimately, how do the issues in the last days (as they really do every day) come down to authority? Whose authority do we follow: God’s, our own, the beast power’s, or someone else’s? Whose authority are you following now?
Share: Your friend asks, if God’s people are being called out of the churches they are in where are they supposed to go? Does the Bible tell us? What do you tell your friend?
Study: What words are associated with the glory of God that fills the earth as described in Revelation 18:1?
Apply: How does God’s church bring glory to God? What are some practical ways we give light to this dark world?
Share: Your friend complains that it seems like his Adventist father-in-law is always bashing other churches. Your friend asks if its really necessary to bash other churches in order to share truth? What do you tell your friend?
Main Theme: God’s people will be loyal to Jesus because they love Him because He first loved them.
Read in Class: Revelation 14:12. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: What two characteristics do we discover in this passage about God’s last-day people? Why are both important?
Apply: How faithful are you in the little things? What might that tell you about how you will be when the real trial comes? (See Luke 16:10).
Share: Your friend tells you the church focuses too much on commandment keeping instead of faith. How would Revelation 14:12 help you answer your friend?
Study: Where does the beast come from, and who gives the beast his authority? What contrast do you see in these verses?
Apply: “And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved“ (Matt. 10:22, NKJV). How ready are you to endure to the end?
Share: Your friend asks you what the Biblical meaning of “blasphemy” is? What do you tell your friend?
Study: What identifying marks of the beast power do we discover in these verses? What will God’s end-time people face in the final crisis?
Apply: Read Galatians 6:7-9. Though this is not written in the context of last-day events, why is the principle there so relevant to issues over the mark of the beast, and how we can stand faithful?
Share: Your friend asks if the mark on the hand or forehead is literal or symbolic? What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: Matthew 27:45-50. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: What does this teach us about what Christ had experienced on the cross? What did Jesus mean by asking God why He had forsaken Him, and how does this scene help us understand what it means to have “the faith of Jesus”?
Apply and share: Your friend asks how you have shown the faith of Jesus in your own life? How has the faith of Jesus helped you get by even in the worst of times? What do you tell your friend? See When the Faithfulness of Jesus carried me Through.
Study: What solemn announcement does the angel make, and what did Babylon do to warrant such an announcement?
Apply: Both leaders and the common people alike have been negatively influenced by this power. What’s our only protection? (Read Eph. 6:10-18).
Share: Your friend points out that Isaiah 21:9 mentions that Babylon has fallen, and asks what are the parallels of ancient and modern spiritual Babylon? What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class:Revelation 18:1-4. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: How extensive is Babylon’s influence?
Apply: What role do those who proclaim the three angels’ messages have in being used by God to call “my people,” His people, out of Babylon?
Share: You friend asks, when people come out of Babylon where do they go? What do you tell your friend?
Study: What do these verses teach us about the nature of this evil system?
Apply: How can we protect ourselves from the subtle influences of Babylon, such as the tendency, easy as it is, to depend upon ourselves and not wholly upon God?
Share: Your friend asks, If God is calling His people out of Babylon who do we warn them about the system of Babylon without condemning God’s people who are still in Babylon? What do you tell your friend?
Study: What does judgment imply about issues such as accountability and responsibility? How are the judgment, the commandments of God, and worship linked?
Apply: How does our understanding of Creation influence our behavior? What relationship does heredity and environment have to the choices we make daily? How can we, by God’s grace, overcome character defects that we didn’t choose to have in the first place?
Share: Your friend says that all religions are made up by man as a way to manipulate and control others. The Bible is not real. Religious leaders just made it all up as a way to use guilt and some make believe heaven as a way to manipulate and control people. What do you tell your friend?
Study: Why would you connect Sabbath worship with this call in Revelation 14:6,7 to worship Him who made the heavens, earth, and everything in them? Also how is the Sabbath linked to both creation and redemption? See Twice Mine.
Apply: How is the Sabbath commandment hinted at in Revelation 14:6, 7, and why is it important to our end-time message? (See Exod. 20:8-11).
Share: Your friend asks why Seventh-day Adventists make such a big deal about the Sabbath? And what’s the big deal if we keep Saturday or Sunday? What do you tell your friend? See Why Does it Matter Which Day we Keep.
Study:What do these clear Bible passages tell us about how God created the world?
Apply: What significance would the Sabbath have if God did not create the world in six twenty-four hour periods of time? Can one be an evolutionary Creationist and a Seventh-day Adventist?
Share: Your friend asks if the world was created in six literal days or if it could have been a thousand years for each day? What do you tell your friend?
Study: How does keeping the Sabbath point us forward to eternity?
Apply: How can you personally make the Sabbath a foretaste of heaven in your own life and your family?
Share: Can you think of someone you know who you could invite to church next week and spend the entire Sabbath with so you can share the joy of Sabbath keeping?
Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God’s mercies. Jonah 2:8 NLT
Over the last 30 years of studying the Bible with people I have had a few conversations that have have gone like this.
Friend: I am so bored right now I wish there was something to do, anything! I am just tired of being bored.
Me: Hey would this be a good time for a Bible study?
Friend: Maybe when things settle down a little bit. My life is a whirlwind right now.
Granted the last time this happened was during the COVID quarantine but it has happened other times also. It is sad people will do everything they can to avoid worshipping God, while He is the only One who can bring true purpose and satisfaction. In John 4:1-42, Jesus tells the woman at the well that He is the Living Water which will never make her thirsty again. After 5 failed relationships she needed to know that a relationship with Jesus is the only relationship that brings true satisfaction. So today, many worship immoral sex, and other addictive vices such as drugs that never quench their thirst and never satisfy. You have heard the definition for insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result each time. I believe the reason many of us have addictive vices is not because the addictions satisfy but rather because the addictive behavior does not satisfy, but we keep expectingit to satisfy each time we repeat the behavior even though it never does. So we keep repeating the addiction over and over expecting it to bring us satisfaction that we can only obtain by worshiping God. This is insanity. I had a pastor back home in Oklahoma who would often say, “sin is insanity.” I believe he is right. When I get thirsty my body needs water, but sometimes I may try to tell myself what I really need is a cold glass of iced sweet tea or a soda. Reality is those other drinks dehydrate me and leave me even more thirsty. Thinking that tea and colas will quench my thirst is insanity. Only water will quench my thirst. My taste and cravings may make me think I need a cola but my tastes and cravings are a lie. They are insanity. Logic tells me what my body needs is water.
Many worship immoral sex and drugs and such thinking that it will bring satisfaction but it never does, and thus the repeated addictive behavior, expecting drugs and sex to do for us what it has never done before. By the way, later in the story in John 4:1-42 Jesus tells His disciples that His food is to do the will of His Father. I think what Jesus meant was that His satisfaction does not come from food, or drugs or immoral sex for that matter. His satisfaction comes from worshiping the Father and doing His will. Sure Jesus repeats this behavior of worship, but not as an addiction but rather because it is truly satisfying and exactly what He needs. After all God always gives us free will and free choice when it comes to worship. Worshiping God is a choice we make every day, and not an addiction. This is why Jesus tells us in Luke 9:23 to take up the cross every day, because every day we have to make that choice. It will never become an addiction. Only Satan uses addictions. Jesus died to free us from all addictions and only accepts worship done every day by free choice, as we choose every day to take up our cross and follow and worship Him.
God knows worshiping Him really does bring true satisfaction and purpose so there is no reason for Him to make it addictive. God knows if we taste and see that the Lord is good we will freely choose to worship Him every day. He does not have to trick us by making it addictive. Satan on the other hand knows sin does not satisfy or give us purpose. Murder, lying, stealing, lust, coveting and so forth have never been a logical solution for any problem. Thus Satan has to make these behaviors addictive in order to make us repeat them, because the fact is they do not bring satisfaction or purpose. Sin and sinful addictions are insanity like my pastor said. If that sounds too harsh, then lets just say sinful addictions are not a logical solution for any craving. Only Jesus satisfies.
We worship because we are created to worship by nature. The only question is what or who do we worship? Like in my illustration at the beginning of this article, many people will do all they can to avoid worshiping God-even when they are bored and feel a void. I’ve had people tell me they don’t have time to study their Bible or worship God because they are too busy making money, or practicing other hobbies or just too busy watching sports and TV. Fact is they have plenty of time to worship. Its just that they are so busy worshiping everything else that they don’t have time to worship God. By the way do you know how I know that worshiping God truly satisfies? Sometimes I will plan on watching a ball game and will tell myself that I can do my Bible study before the game, but I often fall so in love with what and Who I am studying that by the time the game comes on I don’t desire to watch the game anymore. I want to keep studying, because I chooseto because worshiping God is truly quenching my thirst, and giving me satisfaction so that I feel no need to watch the ball game. I am not addicted to the Bible. I keep studying because I want to and not because I am addicted. Again God does not want us to worship Him because we are addicted. We can stop worshiping Him anytime we want. He is not an addiction. He only accepts worship that comes by choice and not by addiction. But when I find how satisfying God is and how unsatisfying my addictions are, I then choose to worship God instead of my addictions, and God gives me the freedom to choose Him instead of my addictions when it is my sincere choice.
In closing, I believe in my heart the reason many make themselves drunk with the cares of this life or with literal drugs and alcohol is so they can ignore the sobriety of life. They use drugs and alcohol which leads to death as a way to escape this world. Oh how I pray they find out soon there is a better way to escape the pains of this world and life. Jesus, offers us a way out of this world of misery, but His way out is not drinking yourself to death. His way out is the opposite of death, it is eternal life. A more fulfilling and satisfying life that will remove us from this world of misery and sin and give us eternal life in paradise with Him. Satan wants us to get so drunk with our addictions that we no longer think about life. He wants us to be numb to the realities of life and just drift away to a peaceful death. Let’s all wake up! instead of being drunk and numb to the realities of life and drifting off into a peaceful death, let’s be sober and worship God and accept the everlasting Gospel which will help us drift into a peaceful eternal life.
PS Earlier I mentioned that our sinful addictive cravings are a lie. I want to help make this idea practical. Many times I have walked into a convenience store thinking I needed a cola, but walked out with a bottled water instead, after praying and telling myself that my desire for soda was a lie. When I think I need a soda, I have found myself drinking water instead by praying and then telling myself I was lying to myself when I told myself I needed a cola. I tell myself the truth is I want water. It also helps to stop and ask myself, did drinking cola really satisfy anything last time I drank it? No. Did water satisfy my thirst last time I drank it? Yes! Now I am free to make a sane and logical choice.
You may study this week’s Sabbath School lesson here.
Study: What’s the message here for all who seek to follow Jesus in this world?
Apply: Have you ever been persecuted or inconvenienced because of your beliefs? If faithful servants of God, like John, face suffering and tribulation, what makes us think we, ourselves, won’t face trouble either? (See 1 Pet. 4:12-15).
Share: Your friend says, the reason the church does not see more persecution is because the church fits right in with the rest of the world. Is your friend right? Why, or why not?
Study: What do these verses teach us about the closeness of God?
Apply: How can we learn to draw hope and comfort from understanding the immanence of God? Or does it scare you, because God knows your darkest secrets? How should the gospel give you peace in that context?
Share: Your friend asks you how you know God is real? Have you seen Him actually work in your won life where you knew without a doubt it was God? What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: Revelation 14:6-7. What is the main idea of this passage?
Study: What does worship have to do with the everlasting Gospel? What reason does the angel give for worshipping God and what commandment do these words remind us of? How is that commandment linked with the everlasting Gospel?
Apply: Earlier we talked about being persecuted for our beliefs, but is it always just beliefs we are persecuted for? How do your actions and acts of worship set you apart from the rest of the world?
Share: How can you share the everlasting Gospel with your actions as well as words this week?
And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Revelation 12:17 KJV
Years ago, I was having Bible studies with a Protestant family who believed the Ten Commandments were abolished in the New Testament. One evening, their Protestant pastor came to our Bible study. I showed them that God’s people will still be keeping the commandments in the last days. The pastor told me that the commandments in Revelation 12:17 are not the Ten Commandments. I asked him what commandments they were then. He told me, “I don’t know, but they are not the Ten Commandments. Those were done away with.” I believe the Bible will not leave us to guess what the law and commandments are in the New Testament. I believe the New Testament will tell us what commandments the New Testament is talking about. Let’s take a look at the New Testament and let the Bible explain itself.
And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Matthew 19:16-19 KJV
When asked point-blank which commandments He was talking about, Jesus referred to the Ten Commandments. Yes, Jesus says this before the cross, but does He give any indication they will be done away with? As a matter of fact, earlier Jesus said,
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Matthew 5:17-18 KJV
Of course I am sure that, like me, you have heard people try to say that once Jesus fulfilled the commandments, He then abolished them. But if that were the case, then it would make no sense to say “not to destroy, but to fulfill.” Does fulfill mean to eventually destroy or abolish? Let’s see how Jesus uses the world fulfill. When Jesus went to be baptized, John the Baptist was hesitant at first, until Jesus told him,
Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. Matthew 3:15 KJV
After Jesus fulfilled the rite of baptism, did He then abolish baptism? Of course not. He told the disciples right before his accension to go and baptize. Fulfill does not mean to abolish. Fulfill means to continue. Now, I have also heard people tell me that the law was only valid till everything was fulfilled. Again we just talked about the word “fulfill,” but let’s also see how the word “till” is used in the Bible. Paul tells Timothy,
Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. 1 Timothy 4:13 KJV
Now Paul only said, “Till I come.” Does that mean that Paul wanted Timothy to stop attending to doctrine after he came? Of course not! When you tell some one, “I’m on my way to help! Hang on till I get there!” You don’t mean for them to give up when you arrive. In the same way, Paul did not mean for Timothy to stop attending to doctrine when he arrived. Likewise, Jesus did not mean for everyone to stop keeping the law of Ten Commandments once everything was fulfilled. Again, fulfill does not mean to abolish. It means to continue to carry out.
Let’s keep looking at the commandments in the New Testament.
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. Romans 7:7 KJV
Paul is speaking about his life after the cross when he says he knows sin by the law, and then quotes the tenth commandment. Did Paul ever say the law was was abolished or made void?
Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law. Romans 3:31 KJV
Does Paul talk about the Ten Commandments elsewhere in the New Testament?
For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Romans 13:9-10 KJV
Again, Paul is referring to the Ten Commandments in the New Testament. Some say that the commandment to love each other replaces the Ten Commandments, but Paul tells us that loving our neighbor fulfills, or continues to carry out, the Ten Commandments. This will also help us to understand in a moment what James means by saying that when we break one commandment we have broken them all. The principle of every commandment is consideration for others. Whenever we put self first, it does not matter which commandment we broke. If we break one commandment, we break the principle of the entire law. Before we go to James, let’s take a look at the how Paul refers to the Ten Commandments in Ephesians.
Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. Ephesians 6:1-3 KJV
Paul is telling us in the New Testament that there is a promise for us by keeping the 5th commandment. If the promise is still valid, the commandments must still be valid. Paul writes as though the Ten Commandments are very much still in effect. Sure, in Galatians 2:16 Paul tells us we can’t be justified by the law, but the same was true in the Old Testament. No one in the Old or New Testament was ever saved by the law. In both Old and New Testaments we are saved by grace, and in both Old and New Testaments we have the Ten Commandments. Now let’s go to James.
For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. James 2:10-12 KJV
Here in the New Testament, James is clearly referring to the Ten Commandments from Exodus 20 as the commandments. He also refers to them in the present tense, meaning that, if we break one today, we are breaking all of them today. He also explains we will be judged by them! So we see when Jesus, Paul and James refer to the commandments in the New Testament, they are referring to the Ten Commandments. So we understand that the commandments God’s remnant people will be keeping, in the last days, are the Ten Commandments.
God’s remnant people will be keeping His Ten Commandments, not in order to be saved. In both Old and New Testaments we are saved by grace. God’s people will be keeping the Ten Commandments because they love Jesus. And they will not be keeping them in their own power. The Holy Spirit will be helping us keep the commandments out of love. We can’t keep the law to be saved, but we can keep the law with the Holy Spirit’s help because we love Jesus.
“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. John 14:15-17 NKJV
You may study this week’s Sabbath School lesson here,
Study: How could these things happen in heaven? What does this tell us about the reality of free will and free choice?
Apply: Think about how sacred free will and free choice must be to Jesus, who, though knowing that it would lead Him to the cross (see 2 Tim. 1:9), gave us free will anyway. What should this tell us about how carefully we should use this sacred, but costly, gift?
Share: Your friend asks you how this war was fought in heaven? Was it with machine guns and battle tanks or bows and arrows? What kind of weapons did Satan use? What weapons is Satan using in the war here on earth? What do you tell your friend?
Study: How do these passages help us define the dragon, the woman, the male child and the rod of iron?
Share: Why is the assurance of salvation, because of Christ’s victory over Satan, so crucial to us? How can what Paul wrote in Philippians 3:9 be our own experience?
Share: Your friend says that we never actually, literally overcome sin and temptation here on earth. It is just by faith. What do you tell your friend? See Justification: Just Declared Right or Made Right?
Study: What encouragement should you get from the fact that your accuser “has been cast down” (NKJV) ? What assurance of victory does Christ give us in this passage?
Apply: How does the blood of the Lamb, the sacrifice of Christ help you to overcome and to love Jesus more than life itself?
Share: Your friend says that her pastor preached last week that those who gossip are the accusers of the brethren just like Satan. Is your friend’s pastor right? What do you tell your friend?
Study: Notice carefully the time period, Satan’s attack on the “woman” (God’s church), and God’s provision for His people. What are these verses talking about? What characteristics of God’s remnant, His last-day church, are found in this verse?
Apply: How do you see the reality of Revelation 12:17 played out in your own life, in your own Christian experience? That is, in what ways do you find the great controversy being played out in your own life?
Share: Your friend asks why Seventh-day Adventists believe they are the remnant church of Bible prophecy? What do you tell your friend?
In Light of The Cross 
