| Lesson 13 | *June 23 - 29 |
The Word of God Endures
Memory Text: 1 Peter 1:24-25 NIV 24 For, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord stands forever." And this is the word that was preached to you.
“Scripture taken from the NEW KING JAMES VERSION”. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson Publishers. Used by Permission.
Sabbath Afternoon
Sunday
The Word of God Today
Micah 6:8 NKJV 8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
John 10:10 NKJV 10 "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
John 17:3 NKJV 3 "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
Acts 17:31 NKJV 31 "because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead."
Philippians 4:7 NKJV 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Monday
God’s Everlasting Plan
Psalms 33:11 NIV 11 But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.
Psalms 33:11 NKJV 11 The counsel of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart to all generations.
John 3:14-17 NKJV 14 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 "that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
1 Timothy 2:4 NKJV 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
2 Peter 3:9 NKJV 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
Proverbs 19:21 NIV 21 Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.
Proverbs 19:21 NKJV 21 There are many plans in a man's heart, Nevertheless the LORD'S counsel-that will stand.
Deuteronomy 33:27 NKJV 27 The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, And will say, 'Destroy!'
Daniel 2:44 NKJV 44 "And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
Hebrews 13:8 NIV 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Hebrews 13:8 NKJV 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Hebrews 1:12 NIV 12 You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end."
Hebrews 1:12 NKJV 12 Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail."
Tuesday
The Eternal Cross
Isaiah 65:17 NKJV 17 "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.
Matthew 24:30 NKJV 30 "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
1 Corinthians 6:3 NKJV 3 Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?
2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Ephesians 2:8 NKJV 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
1 Thessalonians 4:16 NKJV 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
1 Timothy 1:15 NKJV 15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
Titus 1:2 NKJV 2 in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began,
Hebrews 2:14 NKJV 14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
Revelation 20:14 NKJV 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Revelation 21:4 NKJV 4 "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."
Wednesday
Unbroken Promises
1 Kings 8:56 NIV 56 "Praise be to the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses.
1 Kings 8:56 NKJV 56 "Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses.
Romans 4:21 NKJV 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.
John 16:33 NKJV 33 "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
Matthew 28:20 NKJV 20 "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.
John 3:15 NKJV 15 "that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
Matthew 7:7 NKJV 7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Mark 9:23 NKJV 23 Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."
Luke 17:6 NKJV 6 So the Lord said, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.
John 6:35 NKJV 35 And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
Romans 1:16 NKJV 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
Hebrews 2:18 NKJV 18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
James 4:7 NKJV 7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Revelation 22:2 NKJV 2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing, p. 122
The same power that Christ exercised when He walked visibly among men is in His word. It was by His word that Jesus healed disease and cast out demons; by His word He stilled the sea and raised the dead, and the people bore witness that His word was with power. He spoke the word of God, as He had spoken to all the prophets and teachers of the Old Testament. The whole Bible is a manifestation of Christ. {MH 122.1}
The Scriptures are to be received as God's word to us, not written merely, but spoken. When the afflicted ones came to Christ, He beheld not only those who asked for help, but all who throughout the ages should come to Him in like need and with like faith. When He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee;" when He said to the woman of Capernaum, "Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace," He spoke to other afflicted, sin-burdened ones who should seek His help. Matthew 9:2; Luke 8:48. {MH 122.2}
So with all the promises of God's word. In them He is speaking to us individually, speaking as directly as if we could listen to His voice. It is in these promises that Christ communicates to us His grace and power. They are leaves from that tree which is "for the healing of the nations." Rev. 22:2. Received, assimilated, they are to be the strength of the character, the inspiration and sustenance of the life. Nothing else can have such healing power. Nothing besides can impart the courage and faith which give vital energy to the whole being. {MH 122.3}
To one who stands trembling with fear on the brink of the grave, to the soul weary of the burden of suffering and sin, let the physician as he has opportunity repeat the words of the Saviour--for all the words of Holy Writ are His: {MH 122.4}
"Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by (p. 123) thy name; thou art Mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour. . . . Since thou wast precious in My sight, thou hast been honorable, and I have loved thee." "I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins." "Fear not: for I am with thee." Isaiah 43:1-4, 25, 5. {MH 122.5}
Thursday
The Bible Endures...
Matthew 24:35 NKJV 35 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
Isaiah 40:8 NKJV 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever."
1 Peter 1:24-25 NKJV 24 because "All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, 25 But the word of the LORD endures forever." Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.
Friday
But God will have a people upon the earth to maintain the Bible, and the Bible only, as the standard of all doctrines and the basis of all reforms. The opinions of learned men, the deductions of science, the creeds or decisions of ecclesiastical councils, as numerous and discordant as are the churches which they represent, the voice of the majority--not one nor all of these should be regarded as evidence for or against any point of religious faith. Before accepting any doctrine or precept, we should demand a plain "Thus saith the Lord" in its support. {GC 595.1}
Satan is constantly endeavoring to attract attention to man in the place of God. He leads the people to look to bishops, to pastors, to professors of theology, as their guides, instead of searching the Scriptures to learn their duty for themselves. Then, by controlling the minds of these leaders, he can influence the multitudes according to his will. {GC 595.2}
When Christ came to speak the words of life, the common people heard Him gladly; and many, even of the priests and rulers, believed on Him. But the chief of the priesthood and the leading men of the nation were determined to condemn and repudiate His teachings. Though they were baffled in all their efforts to find accusations against Him, though they could not but feel the influence of the divine power and wisdom attending His words, yet they incased themselves in prejudice; they rejected the clearest evidence of His Messiahship, lest they should be forced to become His disciples. These opponents of Jesus were men whom the people had been taught from infancy to reverence, to whose authority they had been accustomed implicitly to bow. "How is it," they asked, "that our rulers and learned scribes do not believe on Jesus? Would not these pious men receive Him if He were (p. 596) the Christ?" It was the influence of such teachers that led the Jewish nation to reject their Redeemer. {GC 595.3}
In this life we can only begin to understand the wonderful theme of redemption. With our finite comprehension we may consider most earnestly the shame and the glory, the life and the death, the justice and the mercy, that meet in the cross; yet with the utmost stretch of our mental powers we fail to grasp its full significance. The length and the breadth, the depth and the height, of redeeming love are but dimly comprehended. The plan of redemption will not be fully understood, even when the ransomed see as they are seen and know as they are known; but through the eternal ages new truth will continually unfold to the wondering and delighted mind. Though the griefs and pains and temptations of earth are ended and the cause removed, the people of God will ever have a distinct, intelligent knowledge of what their salvation has cost. {GC 651.1}
The cross of Christ will be the science and the song of the redeemed through all eternity. In Christ glorified they will behold Christ crucified. Never will it be forgotten that He whose power created and upheld the unnumbered worlds through the vast realms of space, the Beloved of God, the Majesty of heaven, He whom cherub and shining seraph delighted to adore--humbled Himself to uplift fallen man; that He bore the guilt and shame of sin, and the hiding of His Father's face, till the woes of a lost world broke His heart and crushed out His life on Calvary's cross. That the Maker of all worlds, the Arbiter of all destinies, should lay aside His glory and humiliate Himself from love to man will ever excite the wonder and adoration of the universe. As the nations of the saved look upon their Redeemer and behold the eternal glory of the Father shining in His countenance; as they behold His throne, which is from everlasting to everlasting, and know that His kingdom is to have no end, they break forth in rapturous song: "Worthy, worthy is the Lamb (p. 652) that was slain, and hath redeemed us to God by His own most precious blood!" {GC 651.2}