Sabbath Afternoon - August 12, 2023

Reading for the Week

 Eph. 4:17-32; Col. 3:1-17; Zech. 3:3-5; Zech. 8:16; Isa. 63:10; Rom. 8:16, 26, 27. 

Prayer Thought

 Christ came from heaven to give to John the great, wonderful truths that are to shape our lives and that by us are to be proclaimed to the world. We are to keep abreast of the times, bearing a clear, intelligent testimony, guided by the unction of the Holy Spirit. --Review and Herald, April 19, 1906.  {Ev 151.2} 


Memory Text

That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;  And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;  And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.  {Ephesians 4:22-24}


This week's SS Lesson will describe how human became new creature - the ultimate makeover. Lives will be shaped in the image of Him who is the man that makes everything possible. This includes the process by which the Holy Spirit works and inspired people, they will be transformed completely (identity, lifestyle, conversation, attitudes and relationships).


Study Outline
Life Without Christ

Sunday - August 13, 2023

The Downward Spiral of Sin - From Sin to Sin (Eph. 4:17-19)

Ephesians 4:1-16, 17-24; 2:11-22, 3:1-13 

Life in Christ

Monday - August 14, 2023

A Dramatic Change of Clothing - A New Garment (Eph. 4:20-24)

Eph. 4:20-24;  Ps. 73:6; Zech. 3:3, 4; Mal. 2:16; Isa. 61:10; Ezek. 16:8; Zech. 3:4, 5

The Transformation

Tuesday - August 15, 2023

Unity-Building, Grace-Filled Speech - A New Way of Living (Eph. 4:25-29)

Eph. 4:25-29;  Zechariah 8:16;  1 Cor. 4:12, 1 Thess. 4:11;  Acts 5:1-11  

Wednesday - August 16, 2023

The Holy Spirit in the Believer's Life - The Work of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30)

 Eph. 4:30;  Eph. 4:25-27, 29, 31, 32; 1:13, 14; Rom. 8:16, 26, 27; 1 Cor. 2:10, 13; 1 Cor. 12:11; Gal. 5:17, 18.

Thursday - August 17, 2023

Kindness (Not Bitterness) - What to Leave Behind and What to Do (Eph. 4:31-32)

Ephesians 4:17-32;  Col. 3:13; Matt. 6:12, 14, 15.


Friday - August 18, 2023

Further Study and Meditation

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Life Without Christ

Sunday - August 13, 2023

The Downward Spiral of Sin - From Sin to Sin (Eph. 4:17-19)

 Ephesians 4:1-16, 17-24; 2:11-22, 3:1-13 

This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,  

Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:  

Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.  {Eph. 4:17-19}


Christ Laid His Life for the Lifeless - Solution to the Mystery of Sin

Christ's life was one of constant self-sacrifice. He came to this world to live, in our behalf, the life of the poorest, to walk and work among the needy and the suffering. Unrecognized and unhonored, He walked in and out among the people for whom He had done so much. On the hillsides of Galilee, in the great thoroughfares of travel, by the seashore, in every place where there were those who needed help, Jesus healed the people, and pointed them to their heavenly Father. His life laid the foundation for a religion in which there is no caste, where Jew and Gentile, free and bond, are linked in a common brotherhood, equal before God.  {ST, April 26, 1905 par. 4}  

From Our Sins, We'll be Saved through the Priceless Gift of Christ

The love of God is expressed to man in the priceless gift of his Son; but Christ was given to a lost world, that we might be saved, not in our sins, but from our sins.  {RH, February 10, 1891 par. 2}  

Sinners cannot be saved by their good works; for all the powers of man belong to God, and in whatever we offer to God, we must say with David, "Of thine own have we given thee." The language of the truly repentant heart is,-- 

                       "In my hand no price I bring. 

                        Simply to Thy cross I cling."  {RH, February 10, 1891 par. 3}  

     Jesus alone has power to save from sin, to free from the power of evil; and to doubt him who has laid down his life for us, is to grieve and insult the Father, who has in one gift poured out all heaven to a lost world.

Salvation is Not Confined in Denominational Name but in Christ

We are not saved as a sect; no denominational name has any virtue to bring us into favor with God. We are saved individually as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. And "by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God." We may have our names recorded on the books of the most spiritual of the churches, and yet we may not belong to Christ, and our names may not be written on the Lamb's book of life. Christ said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." If we could reach heaven through our own merits and efforts, then Christ need not have come to the world, to endure suffering, reproach, and shame, to be subjected to humiliation, mockery, insult, and death. He made an infinite sacrifice, because it was the only way whereby man could be saved. Those who believe in Christ will reveal it in their life and character. By beholding Christ they will be changed into his image, and Christ will be represented to the world by his followers. If we are branches of the True Vine, precious clusters of rich fruit will appear in the life as the natural result. Practical faith in Christ will result in the doing of his words; the believer in Jesus will work the works of God. "We are laborers together with God." "Without me," says Christ, "ye can do nothing." In and through the grace of Christ we can do all things.  {RH, February 10, 1891 par. 5}  

Consider the Following

How do pagans live (4:17-19), and by extension, all those who do not know or accept God?

(1) Futile thinking

(2) Darkened in their understanding

(3) Hardened in heart

(4) Ignorant and separated from the life of God

(5) Having lost all sensitivity

(6) Given themselves over to sensuality

(7) Indulging in every kind of impurity

When people do not follow God, they and society fall into a downward spiral of sin. What similarities do

you see between Paul's description and the society around you?


Life in Christ

Monday - August 14, 2023

A Dramatic Change of Clothing - A New Garment (Eph. 4:20-24)

Eph. 4:20-24;  Ps. 73:6; Zech. 3:3, 4; Mal. 2:16; Isa. 61:10; Ezek. 16:8; Zech. 3:4, 5

But ye have not so learned Christ;  If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:  

That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;  

And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;  

And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. {Eph. 4:20-24}


The Divine Presence is Hovering Near - Jesus Abides in the Soul

God has endowed men with reason and with intellectual faculties, but if these are untrained, left uncultivated, men will become like the savage heathen. The mind must be cultivated, and it is necessary that teachers present line upon line and precept upon precept, guiding and training the free-will moral agent so that he shall understand what it is to cooperate with God. God works in the human agent by the light of truth, and the mind, enlightened by truth, is capable of seeing truth in distinction from error. Open to the light of truth, free from prejudice, unbound by the opinions and traditions of men, the enlightened mind clearly sees the evidences of the truth, and believes it as from God. The man enlightened by truth will not call falsehood truth, and light darkness. The Spirit reveals to the mind the things of God, and to him who cooperates with God is the realization that a Divine Presence is hovering near. When the heart is open to Jesus and the mind responds to the truth, Jesus abides in the soul. The Spirit's energy works in the heart, and leads the inclinations toward Jesus. By living faith, the Christian places entire dependence on divine power, expecting that God will and do that which is according to his good pleasure. As fast as the soul resolves and acts in accordance with the light that is revealed, the Spirit takes the things of God and gives more light to the soul.  {ST, February 12, 1894 par. 4} 

We're Hewed, Squared, Chiseled and Fitted for the Kingdom of Christ

 If we are to enter heaven at last, we must bring all of heaven into this life that we can. The religion of Christ never degrades the receivers; it never brings them down upon a low level. Truth is ever elevating in its influence, lifting them up on the high platform of truth. The religion of Jesus Christ has a refining influence upon men and women. When the truth of God finds access to the heart, it commences its refining process upon the character. Men who are coarse and rough become humble, teachable, learning, ever learning, in the school of Christ. The mighty cleaver of truth has taken them out of the world. Then there is the work to be done for them to fit them for God's temple. They are hewed and squared and chiseled and fitted for the mansions in heaven. Those who are naturally full of self-esteem become meek and lowly; they have a change in character. In the beginning, God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." But sin has almost obliterated the moral image of God in man. Jesus came down to our world that He might give man a living example, that he might know how to live and how to keep the way of the Lord. He was the image of the Father. His beautiful and spotless character is before man as an example for him to imitate. We must study the copy and follow Jesus Christ, then we shall bring His loveliness and beauty into our character. In doing this we are standing before God through faith, winning back by conflict with the powers of darkness the power of self-control, the love of God that Adam lost. We are through Jesus Christ living and keeping the laws of God.  {1SAT 33.1}  


Consider the Following

After showing life without Christ, Paul reminded us that we have a different experience. Christ has taught us, we have learned from Him, and His truth has transformed us (Ephesians 4:20-21).

This implies a change of life. It's like a person who takes off their dirty clothes, cleanses themselves, and puts on new clothes (4:22-24):

(1) Put off the old self. We stop living under the dominion of the sinful life we had before accepting Christ.

(2) Renew your mind. The teachings of Jesus and His example shape our minds, and we remain loyal to Him as our Lord.

(3) Put on the new self. With God's help, we live a life of righteousness and holiness.

Peace  with God Through Jesus Christ

In the epistle of Paul to the Romans he says: "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." In him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. We are without excuse if we fail to avail ourselves of the ample provisions made for us that we may be wanting in nothing. The shrinking from hardships, the complaints while suffering under tribulation, make the servants of God weak and inefficient in bearing responsibilities and burdens.  {RH, August 17, 1886 par. 9}  

The Transformation

Tuesday - August 15, 2023

Unity-Building, Grace-Filled Speech - A New Way of Living (Eph. 4:25-29)

Eph. 4:25-29;  Zechariah 8:16;  1 Cor. 4:12, 1 Thess. 4:11;  Acts 5:1-11;   

Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.  

Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:  

Neither give place to the devil.  

Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with [his] hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.  

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.  {Eph. 4:24-29}


The Way is Laid Open for All - Walk in the Way

Thus God said, "I can no longer reveal My presence in the Most Holy Place." Type had met antitype in the death of God's Son. The Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world, is dead. The way into the Holiest of all is laid open. A new and living way, which has no veil between, is offered to all. From henceforth all may walk in this way. No longer need sinful, sorrowing humanity await the coming of the high priest. It was as if a living voice had spoken to the worshipers: There is now an end to all sacrifices and offerings. The Son of God has come according to His word, "Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of Me, I delight to do thy will, O My God" [Psalms 40:8]. "Behold the lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" [John 1:29].  {12MR 416.3}  

Learn of His Meekness and Lowliness -Without Him We're Nothing

God is our only sure defense. The new and living way is opened before every one who cheerfully submits to the yoke of Christ. The strength of the Lord is made perfect in the weakness of His followers, whether they be as renowned as Paul or as obscure as the least of the disciples. Those who suppose that they are perfect need to take Christ's yoke upon them, and learn of Him His meekness and lowliness. Thus they will find out how weak and inefficient they really are. Those who think themselves to be pure in spirit and strong in faith need to learn daily the meaning of the words, "Without Me ye can do nothing."  {ST, October 24, 1900 par. 7} 

A New Way Opened to Fallen Man

When Christ on the cross cried out, "It is finished," the veil of the temple was rent in twain. This veil was significant to the Jewish nation. It was of most costly material, of purple and gold, and was of great length and breadth. At the moment when Christ breathed His last, there were witnesses in the temple who beheld the strong, heavy material rent by unseen hands from top to bottom. This act signified to the heavenly universe, and to a world corrupted by sin, that a new and living way had been opened to the fallen race, that all sacrificial offerings terminated in the one great offering of the Son of God. He who had hitherto dwelt in the temple made with hands, had gone forth never again to grace it with His presence (ST Dec. 8, 1898).  {5BC 1109.6}  

Consider the Following

Paul provided a series of instructions on how those who have put on Christ should live, using a curious pattern:

[A] what to leave behind 

[B] what to do 

[C] the reason for change

v. 25 Put away falsehood Speak truthfully We are members of one another

v. 26-27 (*) Do not sin in your anger Be angry (at injustice) If you stay angry you give the devil a foothold

v. 28 Steal no longer Do honest work Share with those in need

v. 29 Avoid unwholesome talk Speak words to build others up So that it may benefit those who listen


Wednesday - August 16, 2023

The Holy Spirit in the Believer's Life - The Work of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30)

 Eph. 4:30;  Eph. 4:25-27, 29, 31, 32; 1:13, 14; Rom. 8:16, 26, 27; 1 Cor. 2:10, 13; 1 Cor. 12:11; Gal. 5:17, 18.

And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.  {Eph. 4:30}


Unexpected Ways It Works - To Reprove the World of Sin, of Righteousness, and of Judgment

When the Holy Spirit works the human agent, it does not ask us in what way it shall operate. Often it moves in unexpected ways. Christ did not come as the Jews expected. He did not come in a manner to glorify them as a nation. His forerunner came to prepare the way for him by calling upon the people to repent of their sins and be converted, and be baptized. Christ's message was, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand; repent ye and believe the gospel." The Jews refused to receive Christ, because he did not come in accordance with their expectations. The ideas of finite men were held as infallible, because hoary with age. This is the danger to which the church is now exposed,--that the inventions of finite men shall mark out the precise way for the Holy Spirit to come. Though they would not care to acknowledge it, some have already done this. And because the Spirit is to come, not to praise men or to build up their erroneous theories, but to reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment, many turn away from it. They are not willing to be deprived of the garments of their own self-righteousness. They are not willing to exchange their own righteousness, which is unrighteousness, for the righteousness of Christ, which is pure, unadulterated truth. The Holy Spirit flatters no man, neither does it work according to the devising of any man. Finite, sinful men are not to work the Holy Spirit. When it shall come as a reprover, through any human agent whom God shall choose, it is man's place to hear and obey its voice.  {1888 1540.1} 

The Ever-Ready, Complete Efficiency of the Holy Spirit

When apparent impossibilities arise in your path, present the ever-ready, complete efficiency of the Holy Spirit before your unbelieving heart, that it may shame away your over-cautious spirit. When your faith is weak, your efforts feeble, talk of the great Comforter, the Strength of heaven. When you are inclined to doubt that God is working by his Holy Spirit through human agents, remember that God has used the church and is using it to the glory of his own name. If men will not obstruct the way, God will move upon the minds of many more to engage in active service for him.  {RH, July 16, 1895 par. 4}  


Assurance, We Can Do as He Has Done through His Spirit

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father." John 14:12. By this, Christ did not mean that the disciples would make more exalted exertions than He had made, but that their work would have greater magnitude. He did not refer merely to miracle working, but to all that would take place under the agency of the Holy Spirit. "When the Comforter is come," He said, "whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of Me: and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with Me from the beginning." John 15:26, 27.  {AA 22.1}  

Wonderfully were these words fulfilled. After the descent of the Holy Spirit, the disciples were so filled with love for Him and for those for whom He died, that hearts were melted by the words they spoke and the prayers they offered. They spoke in the power of the Spirit; and under the influence of that power, thousands were converted.  {AA 22.2}  

Consider the Following

Paul gives a particularly important reason to abandon them: They grieve the Holy Spirit with whom we have been sealed.

We were sealed with the Holy Spirit at our conversion (Ephesians 1:13), and He remains with us until "the day of redemption" (4:30). He does not abandon us when we do wrong things... but He is grieved.

This attitude of the Holy Spirit shows us that He is not merely a force emanating from God, but a Person.

A divine Person with feelings, like the Father and the Son, but distinct from them.


Thursday - August 17, 2023

Kindness (Not Bitterness) - What to Leave Behind and What to Do (Eph. 4:31-32)

Ephesians 4:17-32;  Col. 3:13; Matt. 6:12, 14, 15.

Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:  

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.  {Eph. 4:30}


Criticism, All Envy, All Jealousy, All Evil Speaking, and All Unbelief must be Put Away 

Keep yourselves off the judgment seat. All judgment is committed unto the Son of God. . . . Satan works zealously to cause men to offend on this point. Those whose tongues are so free to utter words of criticism, the adroit questioner who draws out expressions and opinions which have been put into minds by sowing seeds of alienation, are his missionaries. They may repeat the expressions they draw from others as originating with the ones they so slyly led on to forbidden ground. These persons seem always to see something to criticize and condemn. . . . Their tongues are ready to exaggerate everything evil. What a great matter a little fire kindleth!  {HP 178.3}  

"Love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous" (1 Peter 3:8). True moral worth does not seek to have a place for itself by evil thinking and evil speaking, by demeriting others. All envy, all jealousy, all evil speaking, with all unbelief, must be put away from God's children.  {HP 178.5}  

People of God Have a Sense of their Sin, Feel Humbled and Ashamed

God's people, rescued from the fire by Jesus Christ, have a sense of their sin, feel humbled and ashamed. God sees and recognizes their repentance, and notes their sorrow for sin, which they cannot remove or cancel themselves. But as they pray their prayers are heard, and this is the reason that Satan stands by to resist Christ; because He hears their prayers, He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. He regenerates the sinner, and pardon is written off against his name. This stirs Satan up to resistance. He steps in between the repenting, believing soul and Christ. He seeks to cast his hellish shadow before that soul, to dampen faith, and to make of none effect the words of God. . . .  {UL 20.3}  

The Quick, Powerful, and Sharp Working of God to Every Soul

And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."  {1888 1148.2}  

"The work of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight; but all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."  {1888 1149.1}  

Consider the Following

Using the same previous pattern, we have six attitudes to abandon, three attitudes to replace them, and a reason for making the change (4:31-32).

(1) What to leave behind? Bitterness, rage , anger, brawling, slander, malice

(2) What to do? Be kind, be compassionate, forgive,

(3) Why? Because God has forgiven us in Christ

Our conversations and actions among the family of Christ—and beyond it, as well—are to be motivated by kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiveness based on the highest standard of all, the forgiveness that God has extended to us in Christ.


Friday - June 23, 2023

Further Study, and Meditation

Human agents are not able to read our hearts, but they can observe our lives, watch our actions, scrutinize our manners, and weigh us in the scales of human judgment. "We are made a spectacle unto the world, to angels, and to men." It may seem that we are to study our own hearts, and square our own actions by some standard of our own; but this is not the case. This would but work deform instead of reform. The work must begin in the heart and then the spirit, the words, the expression of the countenance, and the actions of the life, will make manifest that a change has taken place. In knowing Christ through the grace that he has shed forth abundantly, we become changed, and the character is sanctified through belief of the truth. The inward life grows strong, and the entire conduct will be in conformity to the will of God. Humility will be cultivated, because we shall feel our nothingness, and realize our dependence upon God. We shall remember that we have been bought with the price of the blood of the Son of God, and that every faculty of our being must be brought into captivity to Christ, that we may glorify him. In humility we shall correct every fault and defect of character; because Christ is abiding in the heart, we shall be fitted up for the heavenly family above. "For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this. To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." "The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace."  Mrs E. G. White.  {YI, August 31, 1893 par. 7}  

Questions to Ponder


From the Pen of Inspiration

“Through the power of Christ, men and women have broken the chains of sinful habit. They have renounced selfishness. The profane have become reverent, the drunken sober, the profligate pure. Souls that have borne the likeness of Satan have become transformed into the image of God. This change is in itself the miracle of miracles. A change wrought by the Word, it is one of the deepest mysteries of the Word. We cannot understand it; we can only believe.” E. G. W. (The Acts of the Apostles, Ch. 45, p. 476)


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