Sabbath Afternoon - April 13, 2024

Scripture Reading for the Week:
John 8:44; Proverbs 23:23; Acts 20:27-32; 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12; Psalms 119:105; Psalms 119:116; Psalms 119:130; Psalms 119:133; Psalms 119:160; Proverbs 16:25; 2 Corinthians 4:3-6. 


Thought for Meditation:
 Satan's Strategy Is to Confuse the Senses.--Satan's work is to lead men to ignore God, to so engross and absorb the mind that God will not be in their thoughts. The education they have received has been of a character to confuse the mind and eclipse the true light. Satan does not wish the people to have a knowledge of God; and if he can set in operation games and theatrical performances that will so confuse the senses of the young that human beings will perish in darkness while light shines all about them, he is well pleased.  {AH 401.6}  


Memory Text:

“Then Jesus said to them, ‘A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going’ ” (John 12:35). 


This week's SSLesson will gaze into the reality of Satanic strategic approaches to deceive God's people throughout the ages of every generation. This includes the battle that is being fought in Christianity, a conflict among the believers and unbelievers alike, truth vs. lies, good vs. evil, etc.


Study Outline:

Battle for the Truth

Sunday - April 14, 2024

Compromise: Satan's Subtle Strategy - The Truth vs. the Lie

John 14:6; John 8:44;  Proverbs 23:23; John 17:17; John 8:32. 


Monday - April 15, 2024

Savage Wolves - The Compromise of the Church

Acts 20:27-32; 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12.   


Battle for the Word of God

Tuesday - April 16, 2024

Safeguard by the Word - Security to the Bible

John 17:15-17; Acts 20:32; 2 Timothy 3:16; Psalms 119:105; Psalms 119:116; Psalms 119:130; Psalms 119:133, and 160.   


Wednesday - April 17, 2024

Human Reasoning Apart from Scripture

Proverbs 16:25; Judges 21:25; Isaiah 53:6;  Daniel 2:1-49,  


Thursday - April 18, 2024

Battle for the Mind 

 2 Corinthians 4:3-6; Romans 7:23; Romans 7:25; Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3:14; 2 Corinthians 11:3; Philippians 2:5; Philippians 4:7-8;  John 5:39; John 1:4-5; John 1:9 and 14.   


Friday - April 19, 2024

Insights and Further Study

From the Pen of Inspiration

Battle for the Truth

Sunday - April 14, 2024

Compromise: Satan's Subtle Strategy - The Truth vs. the Lie

John 14:6; John 8:44;  Proverbs 23:23; John 17:17; John 8:32. 

“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life.     No one comes to the Father except through me’ ”   (John 14:6)


Determination: Christ Never Purchased Peace by Compromise with Evil

Shortly before His crucifixion Christ had bequeathed to His disciples a legacy of peace. "Peace I leave with you," He said, "My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14:27. This peace is not the peace that comes through conformity to the world. Christ never purchased peace by compromise with evil. The peace that Christ left His disciples is internal rather than external and was ever to remain with His witnesses through strife and contention.  {AA 84.1}  


Make No Compromise With Evil

It should be made plain that the government of God knows no compromise with evil. Neither in the home nor in the school should disobedience be tolerated. No parent or teacher who has at heart the well-being of those under his care will compromise with the stubborn self-will that defies authority or resorts to subterfuge or evasion in order to escape obedience. It is not love but sentimentalism that palters with wrongdoing, seeks by coaxing or bribes to secure compliance, and finally accepts some substitute in place of the thing required.  {CG 236.2}  


Living Issue a Vital Importance to the Remnant People of God

It is no time now to relax our efforts, to become dull and spiritless, no time to hide our light under a bushel, to speak smooth things, to prophesy deceit. Every power is to be employed for God. You are to maintain your allegiance, bearing testimony for God and for truth. Do not be turned aside by any suggestion the world may make. We cannot afford to compromise; there is a living issue before us, of vital importance to the remnant people of God to the very close of this earth’s history, for eternal interests are involved. On the very eve of the crisis, it is no time to be found with an evil heart of unbelief, departing from the living God. {CTr 347.3} 


Bear the Same Fruit as the Vine, No Compromises 

We are not compromise principle by yielding to the opinions and prejudices which we may have encouraged before we united with God's commandment-keeping people. We have enlisted in the army of the Lord, and we are not to fight on the enemy's side, but on the side of Christ, where we can be a united whole, in sentiment, in action, in spirit, in fellowship. Those who are Christians indeed will be branches of the true vine, and will bear the same fruit as the vine. They will act in harmony, in Christian fellowship. They will not wear political badges, but the badge of Christ.  {FE 475.3}


Consider the Following

— Jesus is the Truth and therefore the father of all truth (John 14:6). Everything true, everything trustworthy, everything that is true, comes from Him. And His truth produces life in us.

— On the contrary, Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44). All deception, all malicious subtlety, all adulterated truth, comes from him. And their lies produce death in us.

— In his confrontations with the enemy, Jesus used the Bible as a source of all truth: “It is written” (Mt. 4:4; 21:13).

— Therefore, the devil has worked to destroy the Bible, either by hiding it or distorting it.

Monday - April 15, 2024

Savage Wolves - The Compromise /Transigence of the Church

Acts 20:27-32; 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12.   

“I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:29-30).


A Sheep in the Midst of Wolves

Notwithstanding, as Christ's representatives, you are as sheep in the midst of wolves, you have One with you who can help you under all circumstances, and you will not be devoured by these wolves if you keep close to Jesus. How careful you should be to represent Jesus in every word and action! You should feel when you arise in the morning, and when you go out upon the street, and when you come in, that Jesus loves you, that He is by your side, and that you must not cherish a thought that will grieve your Saviour. . . .  {TMK 183.4}  

The evil angels may be all around you to press their darkness upon you, but the will of God is greater than their power. And if you do not in word or action, or in any way, make Christ ashamed of you, the sweet blessing and peace of God will be in your heart every day you live.  {TMK 183.5}  


The Good Shepherd Cares for the Sheep

Christ says, "The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth; and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the Good Shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of Mine." Verses 11-14.  {PP 191.1} 


Need Not Meet the Wolves in the Same Spirit that They Possess

Jesus says, "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves." But you need not meet the wolves in the same spirit that they themselves possess. You are to be "as harmless as doves." In meeting those who are fierce of spirit, you must manifest meekness and love, and the manifestation of this spirit will frequently change the spirit of the wolf, and a wonderful transformation will take place. "But beware of men." Do not open to men all your counsels. Do not put implicit confidence in those who know not God, and open to them the whole of the sacred treasure of the truth. "For they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues." This does not mean simply that you will be scourged in the synagogues with the tongue, as many of you are today in the pulpits of the land, but that men making high professions will treat you with violence. "And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles." The light is to be brought before kings and before the great men of the earth, although they may receive it in the same manner in which Pharaoh received the testimony of the servants of the Lord, and ask, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice?"  {RH, April 26, 1892 par. 7} 


To the Law and to the Testimony

There are many who claim to be sanctified. They are not slow to declare before the people that they have not committed sin for years. But this profession does not constitute proof of their statement. If they were holy, their conversation would be holy, their testimony would be in accordance with the divine will, their prayers would be modeled after the prayers of Christ. They would pray, "Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth." We are living in days when deception is on every hand. We are warned to "beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." We are to know them by their fruits. The Lord said, "To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."  {ST, January 31, 1895 par. 1}  


Consider the Following

— Paul expressed his concern for the external and internal problems that must be faced in the future (Acts 20:29-30).

(1) Predatory wolves. From the year 64 to 311 (Serdica edict of tolerance), the Church suffered fierce persecution from the Roman Empire.

(2) Perverse men. Starting in the 4th century, unconverted men were introduced into the Church who mixed their paganism with the truth.

— Satan used his “internal” strategy to corrupt the truth and introduce idolatry and Sunday observance into the Church.

— As Paul prophesied, these errors were accepted, and will remain to the end among those who do not want to know the truth (2 Thes. 2:7-12). The final battle will be based on compromise with the Sabbath.

Battle for the Word of God

Tuesday - April 16, 2024

Safeguard by the Word - Security to the Bible

John 17:15-17; Acts 20:32; 2 Timothy 3:16; Psalms 119:105; Psalms 119:116; Psalms 119:130; Psalms 119:133, and 160.  

“Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17)


Sanctify God's Followers through the Truth

Christ offers a prayer to the Father, and He uses these words in this prayer, "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth" (John 17:17). I have sent them into the world as thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. (See John 17:17-19.) Mark these words, "I sanctify Myself." Thus He observes a life of perfect obedience, for He is the perfect pattern. Then He goes on and says, "That they may be sanctified"--by what? Through emotion? through feeling? No. Through the truth. We cannot trust to feeling; we must know the truth.  {1SAT 16.2}  

Now, here is Christ praying to His Father that He will sanctify His followers through the truth. Then there is a truth that sanctifies, that has a sanctifying power upon the believer. And it becomes every one of us in this congregation to inquire what is the truth. {1SAT 16.3}  


The Followers of Christ are Become Like Him

True sanctification is a Bible doctrine. The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Thessalonian church, declares: "This is the will of God, even your sanctification." And he prays: "The very God of peace sanctify you wholly" (1 Thessalonians 4:3; 5:23). The Bible clearly teaches what sanctification is and how it is to be attained. The Saviour prayed for His disciples: "Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth" (John 17:17, 19). And Paul teaches that believers are to be "sanctified by the Holy Ghost" (Romans 15:16). What is the work of the Holy Spirit? Jesus told His disciples: "When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13). And the psalmist says: "Thy law is the truth." By the word and the Spirit of God are opened to men the great principles of righteousness embodied in His law. And since the law of God is "holy, and just, and good," a transcript of the divine perfection, it follows that a character formed by obedience to that law will be holy. Christ is a perfect example of such a character. He says: "I have kept My Father's commandments." "I do always those things that please Him" (John 15:10; 8:29). The followers of Christ are to become like Him--by the grace of God to form characters in harmony with the principles of His holy law. This is Bible sanctification. {NL 13.2}  


Confirming Us, Body, Soul, and Spirit, to His Will

The Scriptures are the great agency in this transformation of character. Christ prayed, "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." If studied and obeyed, the word of God works in the heart, subduing every unholy attribute. The Holy Spirit comes to convict of sin, and the faith that springs up in the heart works by love to Christ, conforming us, body, soul, and spirit, to his will.  {RH, July 7, 1904 par. 10}  

A man sees his danger. He sees that he needs a change of character, a change of heart. He is stirred; his fears are aroused. 

For additional insight on how to safeguard us from private interpretation. Please visit the link below!

 Meat In Due Season - 11. The Golden Bowl - Zec 4 (google.com) 

Meat In Due Season - 11.1 The Universal Dairy (google.com) 

Present Truth Lessons 2020 - Lesson 1 When the Spirit Comes: Importance of SOP (google.com) 


Consider the Following

— The Bible is the infallible revelation of God's will. Presents the heavenly plan for the salvation of humanity.

— Therefore, our security is found only in the Bible, and in each of its books, chapters and verses (2Tim. 3:16).

— In it we find the devil's strategy; the creation; the birth, life, death, resurrection and intercession of Jesus; forgiveness of sins; the Second Coming; eternal life on the New Earth…

— If we reject part of it (for example, the Creation account of Genesis 1 and 2), we may come to reject any of the doctrines it teaches. And then... what security could we have to trust the rest of the Bible?

Wednesday - April 17, 2024

Human Reasoning Apart from Scripture

Proverbs 16:25; Judges 21:25; Isaiah 53:6;  Daniel 2:1-49,  

“There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death” (Proverbs 16:25)


The Sandy Foundation - Threads and Fragments of Human Reasoning

When men pour contempt upon Christianity, tell them what you know by experience. The beings of the celestial world are amazed when those whom Christ has purchased with his own blood, whom God has invited with the voice of mercy, turn into a jest the messages of the gospel, and deny the divinity of their Redeemer. They are building upon a sandy foundation, with threads and fragments of human reasoning, but their theories will vanish like dew when the glory of the Lord is revealed. Believers do not claim that every question and objection which Satan can invent and instill into the minds of men can be answered in so many words. Men will be given sufficient evidence on which to found their faith; but if they are determined to doubt, they will stumble on the dark mountains of unbelief. They will show that they have never submitted their proud hearts to Jesus Christ, and make an excuse for not doing so the fact that with their finite minds they cannot solve all the difficulties which they imagine are in the Bible.  {ST, September 3, 1894 par. 5}  


An Infatuation for Human Minds - Specious Error in Human Philosophy 

The great men of earth will then understand that they have surrendered mind and heart to ensnaring philosophy which pleased the carnal heart. Hope and grace and every inducement had been held out by One who loved them, and gave His life for them, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life, but they refused the love of God. Their lofty opinions, their human reasonings, were extolled; they declared themselves sufficient in themselves to understand divine mysteries, and they thought their own powers of discrimination were strong enough to discern truth for themselves. They fell an easy prey to Satan's subtlety, for he presented before them specious errors in human philosophy, which has an infatuation for human minds. They turned from the Source of all wisdom, and worshiped intellect. The message and the messengers of God were criticized and discarded as beneath their human, lofty ideas. The invitations of mercy were made a jest, and they denied the divinity of Jesus Christ and derided the idea of His pre-existence before He assumed human nature. But the tattered shreds of human reasoning will be found to be only as ropes of sand in the great day of God (ST March 7, 1895).  {6BC 1069.5}  


Consider the Following

— Without the help of the Holy Spirit, no human being is capable of correctly interpreting the Bible, because “he who does not have the Spirit does not accept what comes from the Spirit of God, for to him it is foolishness. He cannot understand it, because it must be discerned spiritually” (1Cor. 2:14; 2Pet. 1:20).

— An example of human reasoning: the approach of higher criticism is the denial of miracles and the impossibility of predicting the future. Under this approach, what benefit can we derive from the word of God if we deny its power or its ability to know the future that awaits us?

— Without a doubt, the enemy devises paths that seem right, but their end is death (Prov. 16:25)

Thursday - April 18, 2024

Battle for the Mind 

 2 Corinthians 4:3-6; Romans 7:23; Romans 7:25; Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3:14; 2 Corinthians 11:3; Philippians 2:5; Philippians 4:7-8;  John 5:39; John 1:4-5; John 1:9 and 14.

In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (2 Corinthians 4:4)


Worldly Acquaintances Introduces Subjects that Rob Our Souls of Grace and Power

The way to eternal life is a battle and a march. The great adversary of souls is continually seeking to insinuate himself between you and the Source of your strength. If you allow your mind to be taken up with worldly cares, he will manage to have these cares so varied in character, and press so continually upon you, that you can find no time for the spiritual and the eternal. Worldly acquaintances introduce subjects that are of the greatest importance to them; you listen and are attracted, and these things of minor consequence absorb the mind and affections. You give time and attention, skill and inventive faculties, to outward ornamentation, to the neglect of the inward adorning of the soul. Time is worse than lost which should be devoted to the searching of the Scriptures and to earnest prayer for divine guidance; you rob your own souls of grace and power, and others of the light that should be reflected through you to the world.  {ST, May 8, 1884 par. 10}  


Satan will Make the Mind a Depository for His Insinuations - Man will Lose the Battle

The greatest cause of weakness among those who are looking for the Lord's second coming is lack of love and confidence. This causes suspicion. There is a lack of frankness; the way is hedged up by supposition. Some one discovers a supposed defect in a brother or sister, and he acts on this supposition, as if it were true. When criticism and faultfinding, and a desire for the highest place enter the church, the serpent, disguised, enters with them, leaving a trail of evil wherever he goes. The leaven works, and the men God has appointed to do a certain work are regarded with suspicion and distrust, although there may not be the slightest cause for this. Unless this evil is uprooted, unless the Holy Spirit works to cast out the enemy, the life God designs to be a success will be a failure. Satan will make the mind a depository for his insinuations, and the man will lose the battle, when he might have gone forward to victory.  {RH, October 17, 1899 par. 11}  


Consider the Following

❖ The lack of knowledge on the part of those who are lost is not because they do not have the capacity to know. It's because they don't want to know. The devil has occupied their minds with many things that prevent them from thinking about what is truly important: their salvation.

❖ But no one needs to remain in this state. When the mind is in spiritual darkness, there is a light that can and wants to shine in it: Jesus (John 1:5).

❖ Those of us who accept this light can undo the work of the enemy, and make the light of Jesus shine through the darkness.

Friday - April 19, 2024

Insights and Further Study

God gave His only begotten Son to the human race, that people might become partakers of the divine nature by accepting the remedy for sin and allowing the divine grace of Christ to work in their lives. . . . Fallen humans, by laying hold of the divine power brought within their reach, can become one with God. Everlasting life is the blessing that Christ came to give to the world. {CTr 32.3} 

“The angels which kept not their first estate,” God declares, “. . . he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.” The element of evil introduced into heaven by the first angels that fell will never again be allowed to enter heaven. But just so long as we live on this earth, we shall have to meet evil and battle against it. A battle is being fought with every soul. All who choose their own will and way and refuse to be converted to the Lord’s way, Satan will use in his service. The knowledge they have acquired in divine things is then united with the knowledge that Satan uses to strengthen his side of the controversy. . . . {CTr 32.4} 


Questions to Ponder


From the Pen of Inspiration

“All who are traveling the road to heaven need a safe guide. We must not walk in human wisdom. It is our privilege to listen to the voice of Christ speaking to us as we walk the journey of life, and His words are always words of wisdom. ...

Our only safety lies in following closely after Christ, walking in His wisdom, and practicing His truth. We cannot always readily detect the working of Satan; we do not know where he lays his traps. But Jesus understands the subtle arts of the enemy, and He can keep our feet in safe paths." EGW (Our High Calling, January 10)


SS-Q2-L3-Light Shines in the Darkness - April 13-19, 2024.pdf