Rest in Christ
Rest for the Restless
The flight had been uneventful until the moment the captain announced from the flight deck that the plane would have to cross a major storm. “Please tighten your seat belts. We will be in for quite a ride,” the voice from the cockpit said in ending the announcement.
Soon after, the plane began to shake violently as it fought its way through the storm. Overhead bins opened; people sat tense in their seats. After a particularly violent shudder of the plane, someone shrieked in the back of the plane. Images of a wing breaking off and the plane careening to the earth flashed through a few minds. All passengers looked tense and fearful. All, except a little girl seated in the front row of economy. She was busy drawing a picture on the open tray table before her. Now and again she would look out the small window at a particularly impressive lightning strike, but then she would calmly resume her drawing.
After what seemed half an eternity, the plane finally landed at its destination. Passengers cheered and clapped, so grateful and relieved to be back on the ground. The little girl had packed her bag and was waiting for people to leave the plane when one of the travelers asked her if she hadn’t been afraid. How could she be that calm during such a major storm and with the plane shaking so much?
“I wasn’t scared,” the little girl said to the surprised man. “My dad is the pilot, and I knew he was taking me home.”
Restlessness and fear often go hand in hand. Living in a world that keeps most people busy 24/7 can result in restlessness and fear in our lives. Who doesn’t, at times, struggle with fear, with worry, with dread of what the future holds? The past is done, the present is now, but the future is full of questions, and in this unstable world the answers might not be what we want to hear. We wonder if we will be able to make a looming deadline, to cover the next rent or school payment, to make our struggling marriages survive another storm. We wonder if God can continue to love us, even though we “disappoint” Him again and again.
In this quarter, we will tackle some of those fears head on. Rest in Christ is not just a title for a study guide or a captivating logo of an evangelistic campaign or camp meeting. Resting in Christ is the key to the promise of the type of life that Jesus promises to His followers: “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 10:10, NKJV).
As the authors worked on this study guide, they suddenly realized the all-pervasiveness of the concept of rest in the texture of biblical theology. Rest connects to salvation, to grace, to creation, to the Sabbath, to our understanding of the state of the dead, to the soon coming of Jesus — and to so much more.
When Jesus invited us to come and find rest in Him (Matt. 11:28), He addressed not only His disciples or the early Christian church. He saw future generations of sin-sick, weary, worn-out, struggling human beings who needed access to the source of rest. As you study the weekly lessons during this quarter, remember to come, and rest in Him. After all, our heavenly Father is in control and is ready to bring us home safely.
Chantal and Gerald Klingbeil enjoy a cross-cultural marriage and working as a team. Chantal, an associate director of the Ellen G. White Estate, hails from South Africa, while Gerald, an associate editor of Adventist Review Ministries and research professor of Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Andrews University, was born and raised in Germany.
Memory Text: “My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God” (Ps. 84:2, NKJV).
Video of the lesson presented by Pastor Doug Batchelor:
http://www.amazingfacts.org/media-library/media-archives/t/central-study-hour/sq/8/o/4/th/c.aspx
Video of the lesson presented by Dr Derek Norris:
http://hopess.hopetv.org/
The Teachers' Editions
https://www.absg.adventist.org/Teachers.htm
http://www.amazingfacts.org/media-library/media-archives/t/central-study-hour/sq/8/o/4/th/c.aspx
Video of the lesson presented by Dr Derek Norris:
http://hopess.hopetv.org/
The Teachers' Editions
https://www.absg.adventist.
An Experiential approach to the lesson
https://www.inversebible.org/
Click on References below after the links to the lessons and before the cell phone signs for the verses of the week
Videos summarizing the lesson of the week
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Click on the square after the dates for the weekly lessons in the following schedule for the verses and elaborate Ellen White quotes
September 24, 2021
During His ministry, Jesus had raised the dead to life. He had raised the son of the widow of Nain, and the ruler’s daughter and Lazarus. But these were not clothed with immortality. After they were raised, they were still subject to death. But those who came forth from the grave at Christ’s resurrection were raised to everlasting life. They ascended with Him as trophies of His victory over death and the grave. These, said Christ, are no longer the captives of Satan; I have redeemed them. I have brought them from the grave as the first fruits of My power, to be with Me where I am, nevermore to see death or experience sorrow.
These went into the city, and appeared unto many, declaring, Christ has risen from the dead, and we be risen with Him. Thus was immortalized the sacred truth of the resurrection. The risen saints bore witness to the truth of the words, “Thy dead men shall live, together with My dead body shall they arise.” Their resurrection was an illustration of the fulfillment of the prophecy, “Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.” Isaiah 26:19.
Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 785-787.
To the believer, Christ is the resurrection and the life. In our Saviour the life that was lost through sin is restored; for He has life in Himself to quicken whom He will. He is invested with the right to give immortality. The life that He laid down in humanity, He takes up again, and gives to humanity. “I am come,” He said, “that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” “Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 10:10; 4:14; John 6:54...
The voice that cried from the cross, “It is finished,” was heard among the dead. It pierced the walls of sepulchers, and summoned the sleepers to arise. Thus will it be when the voice of Christ shall be heard from heaven. That voice will penetrate the graves and unbar the tombs, and the dead in Christ shall arise. At the Saviour’s resurrection a few graves were opened, but at His second coming all the precious dead shall hear His voice, and shall come forth to glorious, immortal life. The same power that raised Christ from the dead will raise His church, and glorify it with Him, above all principalities, above all powers, above every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in the world to come.
Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 785-787.
September 23, 2021
O how privileged we are that we may come to Jesus just as we are and cast ourselves upon His love! We have no hope but in Jesus. He alone can reach us with His hand to lift us up out of the depths of discouragement and hopelessness and place our feet upon the Rock. Although the human soul may cling to Jesus with all the desperate sense of his great need, Jesus will cling to the souls bought by His own blood with a firmer grasp than the sinner clings to Him. …
What a Saviour we have—a risen Saviour, One who can save all who come unto Him!—That I May Know Him, p. 80.
It may seem difficult to rejoice in the Lord when in trouble, but we lose a great deal by giving way to a spirit of complaint. It is our privilege to have in our hearts, at all times, the peace of Christ. We should not allow ourselves to be easily disturbed. It is to test us that God brings us through trials and difficulties, and if we are patient and trustful under His proving, He will purify us from all dross, and at last bring us forth with triumph and rejoicing. Great blessings are reserved for those who uncomplainingly submit to the yoke that God wishes them to bear. …
“In everything give thanks” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) for the keeping power of God through Jesus Christ. … At the moment when you are offering your prayer for help you may not feel all the joy and blessing that you would like to feel, but if you believe that Christ will hear and answer your petition, the peace of Christ will come.—Our High Calling, p. 326.
September 22, 2021
September 21, 2021
The soul-saving message, the third angel’s message, is the message to be given to the world. The commandments of God and the faith of Jesus are both important, immensely important, and must be given with equal force and power. The first part of the message has been dwelt upon mostly, the last part casually. The faith of Jesus is not comprehended. …
Why are our lips so silent upon the subject of Christ’s righteousness and His love for the world? Why do we not give to the people that which will revive and quicken them into a new life? …
The character of Christ is an infinitely perfect character, and He must be lifted up, He must be brought prominently into view, for He is the power, the might, the sanctification and righteousness of all who believe in Him.—Reflecting Christ, p. 82.
In the prophecy this warning of the judgment, with its connected messages, is followed by the coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven. The proclamation of the judgment is an announcement of Christ’s second coming as at hand. And this proclamation is called the everlasting gospel. Thus the preaching of Christ’s second coming, the announcement of its nearness, is shown to be an essential part of the gospel message.—Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 227.
September 20, 2021
Hundreds, yea, thousands, who have heard the message of salvation are still idlers in the market place, when they might be engaged in some line of active service. To these Christ is saying, “Why stand ye here all the day idle?” and He adds, “Go ye also into the vineyard.” Matthew 20:6, 7. Why is it that many more do not respond to the call? Is it because they think themselves excused in that they do not stand in the pulpit? Let them understand that there is a large work to be done outside the pulpit by thousands of consecrated lay members.
Long has God waited for the spirit of service to take possession of the whole church so that everyone shall be working for Him according to his ability. When the members of the church of God do their appointed work in the needy fields at home and abroad, in fulfillment of the gospel commission, the whole world will soon be warned and the Lord Jesus will return to this earth with power and great glory. “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matthew 24:14.—The Acts of the Apostles, pp. 110, 111.
September 19, 2021
“Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, … lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” Here is our power, our comfort. Of ourselves we have no strength. But He says, “I am with you alway,” helping you to perform your duty, guiding, comforting, sanctifying, and sustaining you, giving you success in speaking words that will draw the attention of others to Christ and awaken in their minds the desire to understand the hope and meaning of the truth, turning them from darkness to light. …
… The lapse of time has wrought no change in His parting promise. He is with us today as truly as He was with the disciples, and He will be with us “even unto the end.”—In Heavenly Places, p. 188.
September 18, 2021
Satan is a vigilant, untiring foe, and he sleeps not. He knows that his time is short, and he will work until the end with every species of deception to draw souls into his snare and ruin them. I have a message for you—“Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.” Give no place to the devil to stand between you and Christ, lest you savor of the things that be of men and not of God. If your faith is genuine, it must and will produce obedience. God commands us to do nothing which we cannot do. He will give strength to every believing, trusting soul.
Cherish the love of Jesus in the heart, respect each other, for Christ has given His life for you. Every soul is precious in the sight of God. It is a wonderful thing to be remembered and cared for every hour by God.—The Upward Look, p. 20.
September 17, 2021
Confused, humiliated, and unable to understand God’s purpose in sparing Nineveh, Jonah nevertheless had fulfilled the commission given him to warn that great city; and though the event predicted did not come to pass, yet the message of warning was nonetheless from God. And it accomplished the purpose God designed it should. The glory of His grace was revealed among the heathen. Those who had long been sitting “in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron,” “cried unto the Lord in their trouble,” and “He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.” “He sent His word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.” Psalm 107:10, 13, 14, 20.
Christ during His earthly ministry referred to the good wrought by the preaching of Jonah in Nineveh, and compared the inhabitants of that heathen center with the professed people of God in His day. “The men of Nineveh,” He declared, “shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.” Matthew 12:40, 41. Into the busy world, filled with the din of commerce and the altercation of trade, where men were trying to get all they could for self, Christ had come; and above the confusion His voice, like the trump of God, was heard: “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Mark 8:36, 37.
As the preaching of Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so Christ’s preaching was a sign to His generation. But what a contrast in the reception of the word! Yet in the face of indifference and scorn the Saviour labored on and on, until He had accomplished His mission.
The lesson is for God’s messengers today, when the cities of the nations are as verily in need of a knowledge of the attributes and purposes of the true God as were the Ninevites of old. Christ’s ambassadors are to point men to the nobler world, which has largely been lost sight of. According to the teaching of the Holy Scriptures, the only city that will endure is the city whose builder and maker is God. With the eye of faith man may behold the threshold of heaven, flushed with God’s living glory. Through His ministering servants the Lord Jesus is calling upon men to strive with sanctified ambition to secure the immortal inheritance. He urges them to lay up treasure beside the throne of God.
Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, pp. 269-274.
Let the Lord’s messengers bear this in mind. To the shepherds of the flock, the teachers divinely appointed, it should come as a word to be heeded. Those who belong to the higher ranks of society are to be sought out with tender affection and brotherly regard. Men in business life, in high positions of trust, men with large inventive faculties and scientific insight, men of genius, teachers of the gospel whose minds have not been called to the special truths for this time—these should be the first to hear the call. To them the invitation must be given.
There is a work to be done for the wealthy. They need to be awakened to their responsibility as those entrusted with the gifts of heaven. They need to be reminded that they must give an account to Him who shall judge the living and the dead. The wealthy man needs your labor in the love and fear of God. Too often he trusts in his riches, and feels not his danger. The eyes of his mind need to be attracted to things of enduring value. He needs to recognize the authority of true goodness, which says, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls; for My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30...
But we are not to think only of great and gifted men, to the neglect of the poorer classes. Christ instructs His messengers to go also to those in the byways and hedges, to the poor and lowly of the earth. In the courts and lanes of the great cities, in the lonely byways of the country, are families and individuals—perhaps strangers in a strange land—who are without church relations, and who, in their loneliness, come to feel that God has forgotten them. They do not understand what they must do to be saved. Many are sunken in sin. Many are in distress. They are pressed with suffering, want, unbelief, despondency. Disease of every type afflicts them, both in body and in soul. They long to find a solace for their troubles, and Satan tempts them to seek it in lusts and pleasures that lead to ruin and death. He is offering them the apples of Sodom, that will turn to ashes upon their lips. They are spending their money for that which is not bread and their labor for that which satisfieth not.
Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, pp. 230-234.
September 16, 2021
This scripture brings to view the fact that there is most earnest work to be done, and we need divine intuition that we may know how to work for souls ready to perish. There are souls to be plucked out of the fire, there are souls who are to be treated with the tenderest compassion. Workers are needed who have learned in the school of Christ His method of saving souls.—Letter 7, 1895.
Christ will impart to His messengers the same yearning love that He Himself has in seeking for the lost. We are not merely to say, “Come.” There are those who hear the call, but their ears are too dull to take in its meaning. Their eyes are too blind to see anything good in store for them. Many realize their great degradation. They say, I am not fit to be helped; leave me alone. But the workers must not desist. In tender, pitying love, lay hold of the discouraged and helpless ones. Give them your courage, your hope, your strength. By kindness compel them to come. “Of some have compassion, making a difference; and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire.” Jude 22, 23.—Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 235.
September 15, 2021
It is no part of Christ’s mission to compel men to receive Him. It is Satan, and men actuated by his spirit, that seek to compel the conscience. … but Christ is ever showing mercy, ever seeking to win by the revealing of His love. He can admit no rival in the soul, nor accept of partial service; but He desires only voluntary service, the willing surrender of the heart under the constraint of love.—The Desire of Ages, pp. 486, 487.
Satan was seeking to shut out from men a knowledge of God, to turn their attention from the temple of God, and to establish his own kingdom. His strife for supremacy had seemed to be almost wholly successful. It is true that in every generation God had His agencies. Even among the heathen there were men through whom Christ was working to uplift the people from their sin and degradation. But these men were despised and hated. Many of them suffered a violent death. The dark shadow that Satan had cast over the world grew deeper and deeper.--
The Desire of Ages, p. 34, 35.
September 14, 2021
As Jonah entered the city, he began at once to “cry against” it the message, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” Verse 4. From street to street he went, sounding the note of warning.
The message was not in vain. The cry that rang through the streets of the godless city was passed from lip to lip until all the inhabitants had heard the startling announcement. The Spirit of God pressed the message home to every heart and caused multitudes to tremble because of their sins and to repent in deep humiliation. …
As king and nobles, with the common people, the high and the low, “repented at the preaching of Jonas” (Matthew 12:41) and united in crying to the God of heaven, His mercy was granted them. He “saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that He had said that He would do unto them; and He did it not.” Jonah 3:10. Their doom was averted, the God of Israel was exalted and honored throughout the heathen world, and His law was revered.—Prophets and Kings, p. 270.
When sin has deadened the moral perceptions, the wrongdoer does not discern the defects of his character nor realize the enormity of the evil he has committed; and unless he yields to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit he remains in partial blindness to his sin. His confessions are not sincere and in earnest. To every acknowledgment of his guilt he adds an apology in excuse of his course, declaring that if it had not been for certain circumstances he would not have done this or that for which he is reproved.—Steps to Christ, p. 40.
We cannot afford to neglect one ray of light God has given. To be sluggish in our practice of those things which require diligence is to commit sin. The human agent is to cooperate with God, and keep under those passions which should be in subjection. To do this he must be unwearied in his prayers to God, ever obtaining grace to control his spirit, temper, and actions. Through the imparted grace of Christ, he may be enabled to overcome. To be an overcomer means more than many suppose it means.
The Spirit of God will answer the cry of every penitent heart; for repentance is the gift of God, and an evidence that Christ is drawing the soul to Himself. We can no more repent of sin without Christ, than we can be pardoned without Christ, and yet it is a humiliation to man with his human passion and pride to go to Jesus straightway, believing and trusting Him for everything which he needs.
Let no man present the idea that man has little or nothing to do in the great work of overcoming; for God does nothing for man without his cooperation. … Man’s efforts alone are nothing but worthlessness; but cooperation with Christ means a victory. Of ourselves we have no power to repent of sin. Unless we accept divine aid we cannot take the first step toward the Saviour.—Selected Messages, book 1, pp. 380, 381.
September 13, 2021
You need not go to the ends of the earth for wisdom, for God is near. It is not the capabilities you now possess or ever will have that will give you success. It is that which the Lord can do for you. We need to have far less confidence in what man can do and far more confidence in what God can do for every believing soul. He longs to have you reach after Him by faith. He longs to have you expect great things from Him. He longs to give you understanding in temporal as well as in spiritual matters. He can sharpen the intellect. He can give tact and skill. Put your talents into the work, ask God for wisdom, and it will be given you.
Take the word of Christ as your assurance. Has He not invited you to come unto Him? Never allow yourself to talk in a hopeless, discouraged way. If you do you will lose much. By looking at appearances and complaining when difficulties and pressure come, you give evidence of a sickly, enfeebled faith. Talk and act as if your faith was invincible. The Lord is rich in resources; He owns the world. Look heavenward in faith. Look to Him who has light and power and efficiency.—Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 146.
All true obedience comes from the heart. It was heart work with Christ. And if we consent, He will so identify Himself with our thoughts and aims, so blend our hearts and minds into conformity to His will, that when obeying Him we shall be but carrying out our own impulses. The will, refined and sanctified, will find its highest delight in doing His service. When we know God as it is our privilege to know Him, our life will be a life of continual obedience.—The Desire of Ages, p. 668.
September 12, 2021
Satan had been working to make the gulf deep and impassable between earth and heaven. By his falsehoods he had emboldened men in sin. It was his purpose to wear out the forbearance of God, and to extinguish His love for man, so that He would abandon the world to satanic jurisdiction.
Through heathenism, Satan had for ages turned men away from God; but he won his great triumph in perverting the faith of Israel. By contemplating and worshiping their own conceptions, the heathen had lost a knowledge of God, and had become more and more corrupt. So it was with Israel. The principle that man can save himself by his own works lay at the foundation of every heathen religion. … Satan had implanted this principle. Wherever it is held, men have no barrier against sin.—The Desire of Ages, p. 34, 35.
A lost sheep never finds its way back to the fold of itself. If it is not sought for and saved by the watchful shepherd, it wanders until it perishes. What a representation of the Saviour is this! Unless Jesus, the Good Shepherd, had come to seek and to save the wandering, we should have perished. The Pharisees had taught that none but the Jewish nation would be saved, and they treated all other nationalities with contempt.—Lift Him Up, p. 212.
September 11, 2021
Just let me rest in Thee, O Lord,
Nor strive, nor fret, nor strain
Against the burden of the days
That bring me tears and pain.
Let me remember that Thy Hand
Can lighten every load.
And in Thy presence, I shall be
Safe on life’s darkest road.
For Thou hast said that Thou art near
To all who need Thine aid.
Then, foolish mortal that I am,
Why should I be afraid?
Our God is a God of mercy. With long-sufferance and tender compassion He deals with the transgressors of His law. And yet, in this our day, when men and women have so many opportunities for becoming familiar with the divine law as revealed in Holy Writ, the great Ruler of the universe cannot behold with any satisfaction the wicked cities, where reign violence and crime. The end of God’s forbearance with those who persist in disobedience is approaching rapidly.—Prophets and Kings, pp. 274, 275.
September 10, 2021
Our entire life is God’s, and must be used to his glory. His grace will consecrate and improve every faculty. Let no one say, I cannot remedy my defects of character; for if you come to this decision, you will certainly fail to obtain everlasting life. The impossibility lies in your own will. If you will not, then you cannot overcome. The real difficulty arises from the corruption of unsanctified hearts, and an unwillingness to submit to the control of God...
Our God is a God of order, and he desires that his children shall will to bring themselves into order, and under his discipline. Would it not be better, therefore, to break up this habit of turning night into day, and the fresh hours of the morning into night. If the youth would form habits of regularity and order, they would improve in health, in spirits, in memory, and in disposition...
Ellen G. White, Our High Calling, p. 368, quoting The Youth Instructor, January 28, 1897.
Faithfulness in Little Things
The Lord is not pleased to have his children disorderly; to have their lives marred with defects, their religious experience crippled, and their growth in grace dwarfed by hereditary and cultivated deficiencies. These defects will be copied by others, and thus be reproduced and multiplied. Listen to the words of God, spoken through his servant John, coming down through the ages to our own time: “Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” Great truth can be brought into little things; practical religion must be carried into the lowly duties of daily life. And in the performance of these duties, you are forming characters that will stand the test of the Judgment. Then, in whatever position you may be placed, whatever your duties may be, do them nobly and faithfully, realizing that all heaven is beholding your work.
Ellen G. White, Our High Calling, p. 368, quoting The Youth Instructor, January 28, 1897.
Faithfulness in Little Things
It is our privilege to have daily a calm, close, happy walk with Jesus. We need not be alarmed if the path lies through conflicts and sufferings. We may have the peace which passeth understanding; but it will cost us battles with the powers of darkness, struggles severe against selfishness and inbred sin. The victories gained daily through persevering, untiring effort in well-doing will be precious through Christ who has loved us, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a “peculiar people, zealous of good works.” We should seek to obtain the excellence of Christ. In the face of temptation we should school ourselves to firm endurance, nor should we allow one murmuring thought to arise, although we may be weary with toil and pressed with care.
Ellen G. White, The Signs of the Times, March 17, 1887, p. 161.
Rest in Christ
September 9, 2021
Rest is found when all self-justification, all reasoning from a selfish standpoint, is put away. Entire self-surrender, an acceptance of His ways, is the secret of perfect rest in His love. Do just what He has told you to do, and be assured that God will do all that He has said He would do. Have you come to Him, renouncing all your makeshifts, all your unbelief, all your self-righteousness? Come just as you are, weak, helpless, and ready to die.
Our High Calling, p. 97.
It is impossible for us, of ourselves, to escape from the pit of sin in which we are sunken. Our hearts are evil, and we cannot change them. “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.” “The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Job 14:4; Romans 8:7. Education, culture, the exercise of the will, human effort, all have their proper sphere, but here they are powerless. They may produce an outward correctness of behavior, but they cannot change the heart; they cannot purify the springs of life. There must be a power working from within, a new life from above, before men can be changed from sin to holiness. That power is Christ. His grace alone can quicken the lifeless faculties of the soul, and attract it to God, to holiness.—Steps to Christ, p. 18.
Those who look within for comfort will become weary and disappointed. A sense of our weakness and unworthiness should lead us with humility of heart to plead the atoning sacrifice of Christ. As we rely upon His merits we shall find rest and peace and joy. He saves to the uttermost all who come unto God by Him.—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, pp. 199, 200.
September 8, 2021
Christ says: “I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain” (John 15:16). As Christ’s ambassador, I would entreat of all who read these lines to take heed while it is called today. “If ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts” (Hebrews 3:15; 4:7). Without waiting a moment, inquire, What am I to Christ? and what is Christ to me? What is my work? What is the character of the fruit I bear?—This Day With God, p. 51.
God requires prompt and unquestioning obedience of His law; but men are asleep or paralyzed by the deceptions of Satan, who suggests excuses and subterfuges, and conquers their scruples, saying as he said to Eve in the garden: “Ye shall not surely die.” Disobedience not only hardens the heart and conscience of the guilty one, but it tends to corrupt the faith of others. That which looked very wrong to them at first, gradually loses this appearance by being constantly before them, till finally they question whether it is really sin and unconsciously fall into the same error. …
Many are the hindrances that lie in the path of those who would walk in obedience to the commandments of God. There are strong and subtle influences that bind them to the ways of the world, but the power of the Lord can break these chains. He will remove every obstacle from before the feet of His faithful ones or give them strength and courage to conquer every difficulty, if they earnestly beseech His help. All hindrances will vanish before an earnest desire and persistent effort to do the will of God at any cost to self, even if life itself is sacrificed. Light from heaven will illuminate the darkness of those, who, in trial and perplexity, go forward, looking unto Jesus as the Author and Finisher of their faith.—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, pp. 146, 147.
September 7, 2021
Hebrews 3:7-19
7 Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, "today if you hear his voice,8 do not harden your hearts as when they provoked me, as in the day of trial in the wilderness,9 where your fathers tried Me by testing Me, and saw my works for forty years.10 "therefore I was angry with this generation, and said, 'they always go astray in their heart, and they did not know my ways';11 as I swore in my wrath, 'they shall not enter my rest.'"12 Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end,15 while it is said, "today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked me."16 For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses?17 And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient?19 So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.
Hebrews 4:1-11
1 Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.2 For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.3 For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, "as I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest," although His works were finished from the foundation of the world.4 For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: "and God rested on the seventh day from all his works";5 and again in this passage, "they shall not enter my rest."6 Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience,7 He again fixes a certain day, "Today," saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, "today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts."8 For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that.9 So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.11 Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.
September 6, 2021
This great purpose had been shadowed forth in types and symbols. The burning bush, in which Christ appeared to Moses, revealed God. The symbol chosen for the representation of the Deity was a lowly shrub, that seemingly had no attractions. This enshrined the Infinite. The all-merciful God shrouded His glory in a most humble type, that Moses could look upon it and live. So in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, God communicated with Israel, revealing to men His will, and imparting to them His grace. God’s glory was subdued, and His majesty veiled, that the weak vision of finite men might behold it. … His glory was veiled, His greatness and majesty were hidden, that He might draw near to sorrowful, tempted men.—The Desire of Ages, p. 23.
Every morning and evening a lamb of a year old was burned upon the altar, with its appropriate meat offering, thus symbolizing the daily consecration of the nation to Jehovah, and their constant dependence upon the atoning blood of Christ. … The priests were to examine all animals brought as a sacrifice, and were to reject every one in which a defect was discovered. Only an offering “without blemish” could be a symbol of His perfect purity who was to offer Himself as “a lamb without blemish and without spot.” 1 Peter 1:19.
The example of ancient Israel is given as a warning to the people of God, that they may avoid unbelief and escape His wrath. If the iniquities of the Hebrews had been omitted from the Sacred Record, and only their virtues recounted, their history would fail to teach us the lesson that it does. …
Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, pp. 11, 12.
The Old Testament is the gospel in figures and symbols. The New Testament is the substance. One is as essential as the other. The Old Testament presents lessons from the lips of Christ, and these lessons have not lost their force in any particular.—Selected Messages, book 2, p. 104.
God commanded Moses for Israel, “Let them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8), and He abode in the sanctuary, in the midst of His people. Through all their weary wandering in the desert, the symbol of His presence was with them. So Christ set up His tabernacle in the midst of our human encampment. He pitched His tent by the side of the tents of men, that He might dwell among us, and make us familiar with His divine character and life. “The Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth.” John 1:14, R. V., margin.—The Desire of Ages, p. 23.
September 4, 2021
At Creation, God spoke, and our world came into existence. God’s Word is an all-powerful, creative, life-changing Word. The Sabbath is a weekly reminder that there is nothing impossible for God. Since He created the world with His Word, He can re-create our hearts. Since He brought light out of darkness, He can lighten our darkened minds. Since He spoke, and fruit trees appeared with their ripe, delicious fruits, He can produce the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. Since He breathed life into Adam, He can breathe new life into our lives. Romans 6:1–7 speaks of the new life that Christ gives us as we voluntarily die to the old life as manifested in the ceremony of baptism. There is a direct linkage between the original life God created in Eden and the newness of life that occurs when God re-creates our hearts. In the beginning, God created life, and once again He makes our lives new. The Sabbath is a symbol of Creation and God’s new creation.
Sabbath School Lesson 10, Teachers Comments
September 3, 2021
Happy Preparation day to Sabbath Sunset!
And Christ has linked His teaching, not only with the day of rest, but with the week of toil. He has WISDOM for him who drives the plow and sows the seed. In the plowing and sowing, the tilling and reaping, He teaches us to see an illustration of His work of GRACE in the heart. So in every line of useful labor and every association of life, He desires us to find a lesson of DIVINE TRUTH. Then our daily toil will no longer absorb our attention and lead us to forget God; it will continually remind us of our CREATOR and REDEEMER. The THOUGHT OF GOD will run like a thread of gold through all our homely cares and occupations. For us the GLORY OF HIS FACE will again rest upon the face of NATURE. We shall ever be learning new lessons of HEAVENLY TRUTH, and growing into the image of His PURITY. Thus shall we “be taught of the Lord”; and in the lot wherein we are called, we shall “abide with God.” Isaiah 54:13; 1 Corinthians 7:24.
Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, pp. 22-26.
The Sabbath is a sign of the relationship existing between God and His people, a sign that they are His obedient subjects, that they keep holy His law. The observance of the Sabbath is the means ordained by God of preserving a knowledge of Himself and of distinguishing between His loyal subjects and the transgressors of His law. This is the faith once delivered to the saints, who stand in moral power before the world, firmly maintaining this faith.—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8, p. 198.
All men are of one family by creation, and all are one through redemption. Christ came to demolish every wall of partition, to throw open every compartment of the temple courts, that every soul may have free access to God. His love is so broad, so deep, so full, that it penetrates everywhere. It lifts out of Satan’s influence those who have been deluded by his deceptions, and places them within reach of the throne of God, the throne encircled by the rainbow of promise. In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free.—Prophets and Kings, p. 369.
September 1, 2021
Jesus stated … that the work of relieving the afflicted was in harmony with the Sabbath law. It was in harmony with the work of God’s angels, who are ever descending and ascending between heaven and earth to minister to suffering humanity. Jesus declared, “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.” All days are God’s, in which to carry out His plans for the human race. …
The Desire of Ages, pp. 206, 207.
Labor to relieve the suffering was pronounced by our Saviour a work of mercy and no violation of the Sabbath. The needs of suffering humanity are never to be neglected. The Saviour, by His example, has shown us that it is right to relieve suffering on the Sabbath.—My Life Today, p. 231.
August 31, 2021
It was in order that the Israelites might be a BLESSING to the nations, and that GOD'S NAME might be made known “throughout all the earth” (Exodus 9:16), that they were delivered from Egyptian bondage. If OBEDIENT to His requirements, they were to be placed far in advance of other peoples in WISDOM and UNDERSTANDING; but this supremacy was to be reached and maintained only in order that through them the PURPOSE of GOD for “all nations of the earth” might be fulfilled.
The marvelous PROVIDENCES connected with Israel’s DELIVERANCE from Egyptian bondage and with their occupancy of the Promised Land led many of the heathen to recognize the GOD OF ISRAEL as the SUPREME RULER. “The Egyptians shall know,” had been the PROMISE, “that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth Mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.” Exodus 7:5. Even proud Pharaoh was constrained to acknowledge JEHOVAH'S POWER. “Go, serve the Lord,” he urged Moses and Aaron, “and bless me also.” Exodus 12:31, 32.—Prophets and Kings pp. 368, 369
August 30, 2021
To be SANCTIFIED is to become a PARTAKER of the DIVINE nature, catching the SPIRIT and MIND of JESUS, ever learning in the school of Christ. … [But] it is impossible for any of us by our own power or our own efforts to work this change in ourselves. It is the HOLY SPIRIT, the COMFORTER, which Jesus said He would send into the world, that changes our CHARACTER into the image of Christ; and when this is accomplished, we reflect, as in a mirror, the GLORY OF THE LORD. That is, the character of the one who thus beholds Christ is so like His, that one looking at him sees Christ’s own character shining out as from a mirror. Imperceptibly to ourselves, we are changed day by day from our ways and will into the ways and will of Christ, into the LOVELINESS of His character.—Reflecting Christ, p. 20.
August 29, 2021
At his creation ADAM was placed in DOMINION over the earth. But by yielding to temptation, he was brought under the power of Satan. “Of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.” 2 Peter 2:19. When man became Satan’s captive, the dominion which he held, passed to his conqueror. Thus Satan became “the god of this world.” 2 Corinthians 4:4. He had usurped that dominion over the earth which had been originally given to Adam. But CHRIST by His SACRIFICE paying the penalty of sin, would not only REDEEM man, but recover the DOMINION which he had forfeited. All that was lost by the FIRST ADAM will be RESTORED BY THE SECOND.—Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 67.
August 28, 2021
Happy is the FAMILY who can go to the place of WORSHIP on the SABBATH as Jesus and His disciples went to the synagogue—across the FIELDS, along the shores of the LAKE, or through the GROVES.—My Life Today, p. 140.
The Sabbath is a sign of CREATIVE and REDEEMING power; it points to GOD as the SOURCE OF LIFE AND KNOWLEDGE; it recalls man’s primeval glory, and thus witnesses to God’s purpose to re-create us in His own image.
The SABBATH AND THE FAMILY were alike instituted in Eden, and in God’s purpose they are indissolubly linked together. On this day more than on any other, it is possible for us to live the LIFE OF EDEN...
...Over the Sabbath He places His merciful hand. In His own day He preserves for the FAMILY opportunity for COMMUNION with HIM, with NATURE, and with ONE ANOTHER.—Education, p. 250.
This Quarter’s Study Contents: “Rest in Christ”
| 1. Living in a 24/7 Society | June 26 – July 2 |  |  |
| 2. Restless and Rebellious | July 3-9 | | |
| 3. The Root of Restlessness | July 10-16 | | |
| 4. The Cost of Rest | July 17-23 | | |
| 5. “Come to Me . . .” | July 24-30 | | |
| 6. Finding Rest in Family Ties | July 31 – August 6 | | |
| 7. Rest, Relationships, and Healing | August 7-13 | | |
| 8. Free to Rest | August 14-20 | | |
| 9. The Rhythms of Rest | August 21-27 | | |
| 10. Sabbath Rest | August 28 – September 3 | | |
| 11. Longing for More | September 4-10 | | |
| 12. The Restless Prophet | September 11-17 | | |
| 13. The Ultimate Rest | September 18-24 | | |
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