Summary For Lesson 3 - A Matter Of Life And Death My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:1, 2) The Blood of Jesus - https://youtube/watch?v=jU7DSCkEdY0 All throughout this week the Lord reminded us of the deadly effects of sin. Transgressions of God’s law are not a simple manner. Whether we are saved or lost depends on obedience to the commandments of the Lord. It is the strategy of Satan to make us feel that because we are carnal is nature God understands that we will sin. While this statement is true to some extent, it doesn’t reflect the whole store. In 1 John 2:1, 2 the word of God said, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” The other part of the message that Satan doesn’t want us to focus on is the fact that we have an advocate who is the propitiation for our sins. What does the word propitiation mean? The Strong’s Concordance defines the word as “a means whereby sin is covered and remitted. The Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines the word as “The act of pledging, or drinking first and then offering the cup to another.” So here Jesus is reminding us that because He drank the cup of indignation for us and have the keys to death and the grave, we can receive forgiveness for our transgressions from Him. At this very moment, Jesus is pleading our case before the Father and stating that His righteousness covers us. Because of His imputed righteousness we can stand before the Father as one who has never sinned. We must also remember that God can give us the power to say no to the temptations and there resist the devil. This resistance of the devil cannot become a reality until we surrender every area of our lives to the total control of the Holy Spirit. Then God will give us the power to flee the very appearance of evil. A power we cannot develop unless God takes full control of our heart and mind. Transgression of the commandments of God is not a simple manner. The writer of the lesson pointed to something that was very profound. If we consider that every transgression we make would result in immediate death, this would change the way we respond to the temptations of the devil. If we realize that the next time we sin, would be the end of our ability to gain eternal life, some of the thoughts we have right now we would get rid of them immediately. It is because we do not see the immediate effects of our sins, we then to believe that everything will be alright. Throughout this week God reminded us that we are sold to our carnal nature and only God can rescue us from this SINFUL nature. Sis White in Patriarchs and Prophets pages 717, 718 said, “The Bible has little to say in praise of men. Little space is given to recounting the virtues of even the best men who have ever lived. This silence is not without purpose; it is not without a lesson. All the good qualities that men possess are the gift of God; their good deeds are performed by the grace of God through Christ. Since they owe all to God the glory of whatever they are or do belongs to Him alone; they are but instruments in His hands. More than this--as all the lessons of Bible history teach--it is a perilous thing to praise or exalt men; for if one comes to lose sight of his entire dependence on God, and to trust to his own strength, he is sure to fall. Man is contending with foes who are stronger than he. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against wicked spirits in high places. Ephesians 6:12, margin. It is impossible for us in our own strength to maintain the conflict; and whatever diverts the mind from God, whatever leads to self-exaltation or to self-dependence, is surely preparing the way for our overthrow. The tenor of the Bible is to inculcate distrust of human power and to encourage trust in divine power. It was the spirit of self-confidence and self-exaltation that prepared the way for Davids fall. Flattery and the subtle allurements of power and luxury were not without effect upon him. Intercourse with surrounding nations also exerted an influence for evil. According to the customs prevailing among Eastern rulers, crimes not to be tolerated in subjects were uncondemned in the king; the monarch was not under obligation to exercise the same self-restraint as the subject. All this tended to lessen Davids sense of the exceeding sinfulness of sin. And instead of relying in humility upon the power of Jehovah, he began to trust to his own wisdom and might. As soon as Satan can separate the soul from God, the only Source of strength, he will seek to arouse the unholy desires of mans carnal nature. The work of the enemy is not abrupt; it is not, at the outset, sudden and startling; it is a secret undermining of the strongholds of principle. It begins in apparently small things--the neglect to be true to God and to rely upon Him wholly, the disposition to follow the customs and practices of the world.” I pray that we will continue to allow God to help us to trust in Him with all our heart. January 11, 2015 When The Law Penetrates Our Motivations, Secret Intentions And Intimate Self Our Most Delicate Actions Will Please God My son, keep thy fathers commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother: Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart. (Prov. 6:20, 21 & Prov. 7:3) January 12, 2015 Unless We Allow The Law Of God To Illuminate Our Pathway We Will Never See The Track That Leads To Eternal Life For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: (Prov. 6:23) January 13, 2015 We Will Escape The Compromising Situations Of A Flattering Tongue By Using The Law Of God To Resist This Seductive Trap God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. (Ps. 46:1) January 14, 2015 When One Sin Is Fostered And One Vice Indulged Our Lives Will Become The Strongest Bulwark Of Vice In This World Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6) January 15, 2015 Our Actions Would Be Different IF We Think Of Death Instead Of The Gratification And Pleasure Derived From The Transgressions Of God’s Law He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. (Ps. 91:4) January 16, 2015 When We Yield To The Supremacy Of The Kingdom Of Men And Defile Our Soul With Sin Heaven Will Be Lost From Our Sight And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Rom. 12:2)
Posted on: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 11:47:02 +0000
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