Sabbath Afternoon - April 15, 2023

Reading for the Week

 Revelation 14; Gen. 22:12; Eccles. 12:13, 14; Col. 3:1, 2; Heb. 12:1, 2; 1 Cor. 3:16, 17. 


Prayer Thought

A world lying in wickedness and a cold, worldly church were enough to call into action all his energies and lead him willingly to endure toil, privation, and suffering. Although opposed by professed Christians and the world, and buffeted by Satan and his angels, he ceased not to preach the everlasting gospel to crowds wherever he was invited, sounding far and near the cry, "Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come." {EW 232.1}


Memory Text

Here is the patience of the saints: here [are] they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.  {Rev. 14:12}


This SS week's Lesson will dig deeper into the mine of truth and describe how we fear and give glory to our Creator and Saviour. This also includes the principle of living practically and in harmony with the revealed truth.


Study Outline

How to Fear God?

Sunday - April 16, 2023

What does Fear God Mean?

Rev. 14:7; Gen. 22:12; Ps. 89:7; Prov. 2:5; Eccles. 12:13, 14; Eph. 5:21; Isaiah 14:13, 14; Phil. 2:6, 8 

Monday - April 17, 2023

Fear God in Practical Life

Deut. 6:2; Ps. 119:73, 74; Eccl. 12:13, 14; Eph. 2:8-10; Rom. 1:5; Matt. 10:28

Tuesday - April 18, 2023

Fear God in Everyday Life

Matt. 6:33; Col. 3:1, 2; Heb. 12;1, 2; Phil. 4:8 

Wednesday - April 19, 2023

How can We Glorify God?

1Cor. 3:16, 17; 6:19, 20; 10:31; Rom. 12:1, 2 

Thursday - April 20, 2023

Who are Fearing God and Glorifying Him?

Heb. 4:14-16; 7:25; Rev. 14:12; 21:7


Friday - April 21, 2023

Further Study and Meditation

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

How to Fear God?

Sunday - April 16, 2023

What does Fear God Mean?

Rev. 14:7; Gen. 22:12; Ps. 89:7; Prov. 2:5; Eccles. 12:13, 14; Eph. 5:21; Isaiah 14:13, 14; Phil. 2:6, 8 

“[…] yea, even their servants' bare rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God.   (Nehemiah 5:15)

 

FEAR GOD includes messages such as 

1. HATING AND OVERCOMING SINS (it includes overcoming any defective character)

2. TRUE REPENTANCE (you can't hate sin if you don't repent)

3. KEEPING GOD’S COMMANDMENT (opposite to sinning)

4. GOD’S GRACE OR MERCY - CHRIST’S DEATH - we can't repent and be forgiven without God’s grace or His death (Titus 2:11-12; Rom. 6:1)

5. TRUE FAITH - It is always coupled with obedience to His law (Rom, 3:31; Gal. 5:6, John 14:15)

6. MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT - we can't repent, hate sins and keep His commandments without the aid of the HOLY SPIRIT. (Gal. 5:22-23; Eph. 5:9; Rom. 8:4

The ideal of Christian character is Christlikeness… We have an object to gain, a standard to reach, that includes everything good and pure and noble and elevated. There should be continual striving and constant progress onward and upward toward the perfection of character. {CCh 78.6} read Heb. 6:1


Example of Paul and Barnabas - Perfecting Holiness in the Fear of God

Both Paul and Barnabas had a tender regard for those who had recently accepted the gospel message under their ministry, and they longed to see them once more. This solicitude Paul never lost. Even when in distant mission fields, far from the scene of his earlier labors, he continued to bear upon his heart the burden of urging these converts to remain faithful, "perfecting holiness in the fear of God." 2 Corinthians 7:1. Constantly he tried to help them to become self-reliant, growing Christians, strong in faith, ardent in zeal, and wholehearted in their consecration to God and to the work of advancing His kingdom. {AA 201.2}  


Consider the Following

Fearing God means to revere Him, to respect Him, and to admire Him. It involves being loyal to God and surrendering to His will.

We must know God in order to fear Him. We must understand who He is and what He can do in our lives. Like Abraham, we must put our focus on God instead of on ourselves. God must be first (Genesis 22:12).

We fear God, we respect Him, and we revere Him because of His infinite wisdom, His unbelievable power, and His amazing grace. Fearing God involves submitting to His will and living for Him.


Monday - April 17, 2023

Fear God in Practical Life

Deut. 6:2; Ps. 119:73, 74; Eccl. 12:13, 14; Eph. 2:8-10; Rom. 1:5; Matt. 10:28

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this [is] the whole [duty] of man.  (Ecclesiastes 12:13)


The Will of God - Well-Doing - Honor the King

For so is the will of God, that with well-doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: as free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king."  {AA 522.2}  

Those who were servants were advised to remain subject to their masters "with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is thankworthy," the apostle explained, "if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.


Accept Only Pure, Manly Traits

Let a young woman accept as a life companion only one who possesses pure, manly traits of character, one who is diligent, aspiring, and honest, one who loves and fears God.  {AH 47.3}  

Shun those who are irreverent. Shun one who is a lover of idleness; shun the one who is a scoffer of hallowed things. Avoid the society of one who uses profane language, or is addicted to the use of even one glass of liquor. Listen not to the proposals of a man who has no realization of his responsibility to God. 


Practical Godliness in Daily Life

In his anxiety that the believers at Thessalonica should walk in the fear of God, the apostle pleaded with them to reveal practical godliness in the daily life. "We beseech you, brethren," he wrote, "and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication." "For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness."  {AA 262.1}  


Consider the Following

Moses explained that fearing God is to keep His commandments (Deuteronomy 6:2). Solomon wrote that fearing God and thus keeping His commandments “is man’s all.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

Doesn’t grace exempt us from keeping God’s commandments (Ephesians 2:8-9)?

Jesus didn’t play His Law down. He exalted it and encouraged us to obey it (Matthew 5:17-19). We show that we fear God (we respect Him and revere Him) by keeping His commandments by His grace.


Tuesday - April 18, 2023

Fear God in Everyday Life

Matt. 6:33; Col. 3:1, 2; Heb. 12;1, 2; Phil. 4:8 

“You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name.” (Deuteronomy 6:13)


Pure Truth Sanctifies the Soul - Fearing God Daily

The pure truth which sanctifies the soul will give you the courage to cut yourself loose from the most pleasing acquaintance whom you know does not love and fear God, and knows nothing of the principles of true righteousness. We may always bear with a friend's infirmities and with his ignorance, but never with his vices.  {AH 47.4}  


The Example of Samuel - Teaching the Good and the Right Way - Fearing God

Samuel said nothing of the slight which had been put upon himself; he uttered no reproach for the ingratitude with which Israel had repaid his lifelong devotion; but he assured them of his unceasing interest for them: "God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way: only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things He hath done for you. But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king."  {PP 615.3}  


Connection with Christ - Develops a Blameless Life and a Beauteous Character

In taking up their work in the fear of God, and doing service for the Master, they will secure the most substantial happiness. Connected with Jesus Christ, they will be wise unto salvation. They will be fruit-bearing trees. They will develop a blameless life, a beauteous character. The great work of redemption will be their first consideration. Eating and drinking and dressing, houses and lands, will be secondary matters. The peace of God within will force off the withered or gnarled branches of selfishness, vanity, pride, and indolence. It is faith and practice that makes up the Christian's life. We do not meet the standard of Christianity in merely professing Christ and having our names upon the church book. We should be individual workers for Christ. By personal effort we can show that we are connected with him.  {RH, December 19, 1878 par. 11}  


Consider the Following

Fearing God goes beyond keeping His commandments. If we fear God, we will make Him our only Lord and we will live to serve Him (Deuteronomy 6:13; Matthew 6:33)

Jesus will be the center of our lives. Our eyes (our thoughts, our goals) will be set on Him (Hebrews 12:2).

It’s a matter of will. We must decide to remain faithful to the One we fear.


Wednesday - April 19, 2023

How can We Glorify God?

1Cor. 3:16, 17; 6:19, 20; 10:31; Rom. 12:1, 2 

“Give glory to the Lord your God before He causes darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and while you are looking for light, He turns it into the shadow of death and makes it dense darkness.” (Jeremiah 13:16)


Personal Preservation of Every Power in the Best Condition

The apostle Peter declares, "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people." 1 Peter 2:9. We are required by God to preserve every power in the best possible condition, that we may render acceptable service to our Creator. When intoxicants are used, the same effects will follow as in the case of those priests of Israel. The conscience will lose its sensibility to sin, and a process of hardening to iniquity will most certainly take place, till the common and the sacred will lose all difference of significance. How can we then meet the standard of the divine requirements?" "Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are Gods." 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20. "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31. To the church of Christ in all ages is addressed the solemn and fearful warning, "If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." 1 Corinthians 3:17.  {PP 362.1} 


Bought with a Price - God Owns Us by Creation and Redemption

For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. The health should be as sacredly guarded as the character. {MM 77.2} 

1 Corinthians 9:25 - And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.

The Spirit of God cannot come to our help, and assist us in perfecting Christian characters, while we are indulging our appetites to the injury of health. {FLB 231.9}

True temperance teaches us to dispense entirely with everything hurtful and to use judiciously that which is healthful. {FLB 231.8} 

Transgression of physical law is the transgression of the moral law; for God is as truly the author of physical laws as He is the author of the moral law. {COL 347.1} 

PHYSICAL LAW IS PART OF THE MORAL LAW (Exo.15:26)


REFLECTING THE CHARACTER OF CHRIST

REFORMATION OF EVERY ASPECT OF LIFE - FOOD, DRESS, HABITS, MUSIC, CONVERSATION, LIFESTYLE and etc.


Consider the Following

Giving glory to God is closely related to the judgment, like in Revelation 14:17 (Joshua 7:19; Jeremiah 13:16; Malachi 2:2; Acts 12:23). It’s also an expression of repentance and abandoning sin (Ezra 10:11; Revelation 16:9).

We give glory to God by accepting His forgiveness and by living according to His principles. Paul encouraged us to give glory to God in everything we do (1 Corinthians 10:31).

We respond to God’s love by giving glory to Him with our thoughts and acts.

This liberates us from fearing the judgment (1 John 4:17-19).


Thursday - April 20, 2023

Who are Fearing God and Glorifying Him?

Heb. 4:14-16; 7:25; Rev. 14:12; 21:7

“Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” (Revelation 14:12)


Those Who Proclaim the Messages

The proclamation of the first, second, and third angels’ messages has been located by the Word of Inspiration. Not a peg or pin is to be removed. No human authority has any more right to change the location of these messages than to substitute the New Testament for the Old. 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. {CTr 338.2} 


Those Who Receive the Message of Justification by Faith

The Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders Waggoner and Jones. This message was to bring more prominently before the world the uplifted Saviour, the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. It presented justification through faith in the Surety; it invited the people to receive the righteousness of Christ, which is made manifest in obedience to all the commandments of God. {TM 91.2} 

Genuine faith in Jesus leads to denial of self; but however high the profession may be, if self is exalted and indulged, the faith of Jesus is not in the heart… There is no boasting of holiness from the lips of those who walk in the shadow of Calvary’s cross. {RH March 6, 1888, par. 4}.


Those who are Loyal and True to God

Of the loyal and true who do not bow to the decrees of earthly rulers against the authority of the King of heaven the revelator says, “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” {CTr 315.5} 

These lessons are for our benefit. We need to stay our faith upon God, for there is just before us a time that will try every soul. Christ upon the Mount of Olives rehearsed the fearful judgments that were to precede His second coming. . . . While these prophecies received a partial fulfillment at the destruction of Jerusalem, they have a more direct application in the last days.—Manuscript 100, 1893. {CTr 315.6} 


Consider the Following

Accepting the call of the first angel to “fear God and give Him glory” sanctifies us by the grace of God. The saints keep the commandments of God and the faith (or faithfulness) of Jesus (Revelation 14:12).

Revelation explains that the future glory will be reserved for the victors (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26-28; 3:5, 12, 21; 12:11; 21:7). This is not legalism. It is victory through Jesus Christ, whose perfect life of perfect righteousness, and that alone, is what gives them the promise of eternal life. It is faith in action. It is transforming, life-changing, miraculous grace in the life of the believer.


Friday - April 21, 2023

Further Study and Meditation

 All who shall unite to praise and honor, and glorify those who have lifted the banner of Satan are fighting against God. Our work now is to enlighten the world, in the place of bearing a peace-and-safety message. A banner has been placed in our hands, upon which is inscribed, "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the  faith of Jesus." This is a distinct, separating message,-- a message that is to give no uncertain sound. It is to lead the people away from the broken cisterns that contain no water, to the fountain of living waters.--Letter 60, 1898.  {CW 102.2}  


Questions to Ponder


From the Pen of Inspiration

“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. Through an appreciation of the character of Christ, through communion with God, sin will become hateful to us.” E. G. W. (The Desire of Ages, cp. 73, p. 668)


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