Key Thought: Error flooded into the Christian church during the fourth and fifth centuries. The church compromised with popular customs and pagan practices with Christian teachings. Yet God had people who stood firm and loyal to God’s revealed will in the Scriptures.
April 20, 2024

1. Have a volunteer read Acts 20:27-32, 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What specific warnings did Paul give the Ephesians regarding the coming apostasy?
3. Personal Application: What kind of compromises do we see entering the church today? What kind of compromises might you be making? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of you relatives states, “What characteristics did Paul describe about the coming apostasy? What should believers look for?” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read John 17:15-17, Acts 20:32.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What insights do Jesus and Paul give us regarding protection from the deceptions of Satan?
3. Personal Application: How is Satan using similar methods today to undermine the authority of Scripture? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “Why must we accept the whole Bible as true? Can’t we accept part of it, or most of it as true? Can’t we reject or not accept parts of it that seem like myths, allegories, or fantasy that we don’t understand or can’t accept as reasonable?” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Proverbs 16:25, Judges 21:25, Isaiah 53:16.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What do these texts reveal about Satan’s strategy of deception?
3. Personal Application: Are we supposed to use human reasoning to help us understand Divine revelation? Does God and the Bible go against human reasoning? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states: “Why aren’t we, as intelligent human beings, able to discover divine truth without the direction of the Holy Spirit?” How would you respond to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read 2 Corinthians 4:3-6…

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What does “the minds of the god of this age has blinded” mean? How are their eyes blinded? How are they opened?
3. Personal Application: How can we be sure we do not distort the meaning of Scripture and blind or deceive ourselves? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

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Daily Lesson for Wednesday 17th of April 2024

The Holy Spirit works through our minds. He invites us to explore the mysteries of the universe. As someone has aptly stated: “As Christians, we do not check our brains at the door of the church.” Nevertheless, the brilliance of human reasoning alone is incapable of discovering the divine truths of Scripture. Truth is not a matter of human opinion. It is a matter of divine revelation.

One of the devil’s most effective deceptions is to lead us to believe that human reasoning, unaided by the Holy Spirit and uninformed by the Word of God, is sufficient to understand God’s will. There may be a way that seems right to us, or even to entire cultures, but it may be totally wrong in the eyes of God.

Image © Lifeway Collection at Goodsalt.com

A few years ago, my wife and I decided to do some hiking in the forest near the hotel we were staying at for the night. Typically, I am fairly good at directions, and after hiking for about an hour or so taking various trails, I was quite confident that I could find our way back with little difficulty. But soon we found ourselves hopelessly lost in the forest. The sun was going down, and I feared the worst. Thankfully, we met some other hikers who knew the way. We had been at least five miles off course but near a main road. Since their car was parked nearby, they offered us a ride back to our hotel. Discovering someone who knew the way and someone who had the ability to get us back to our destination made all the difference for us.

God has not left us alone on our journey from earth to heaven. The Holy Spirit points us to the sacred Scriptures that lead us homeward. Truth and error, right and wrong, good and evil—these can be correctly understood only in light of God’s Word. That which contradicts God and His Word is error, and error is always dangerous; that which is in harmony with God is truth and goodness. How important that we make God’s Word our final arbiter of truth and morality.

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