Closer To Heaven
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Comments of the Week Aug 9-16 “When the historians write about this era 100 years from now, what will they say?” –Edward Reifsnyder on Adventist Pastor Detained by ICE at Houston Airport Comments on EDITORIAL: Once Right, Always Right; How Do We Talk About Women in Church?; Why Israel Knows No Peace; Is the fourth […] Source: https://atoday.org/comments-of-the-week-aug-9-16/
T / ST / F – Without the resurrection of Jesus, there is no victory. Join the Hit the Mark panel as they discuss Sabbath School Lesson 8 – The Power of Christ’s Resurrection. It’s the fastest hour of the week! Get this week’s Keyword Workbook HERE.
Prepared for Sabbath School Class on August 22.
Photograph by William Earnhardt
Key Text: “And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty, and your faith is also empty. . . . And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” (1 Corinthians 15:14-17, NKJV).
Read in Class: 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Luke 24:44-47, and Romans 1:1-4.
Study: What do these passages have in common?
Apply: What reasons do we have for believing in Christ’s resurrection? Also, what other things, secular or sacred, do we believe even if we haven’t seen them ourselves?
Share: Read Revelation 2:8-10. Share why you believe Jesus tells the church of Smyrna that He was dead and alive again, and why is that important to us as well?
Read in Class: 1 Corinthians 15:9-19.
Study: What do we lose if Christ has not been raised?
Apply: Read John 14:3. What does Jesus say here that helps us understand that we are not in heaven immediately when we die, but must wait until the second coming and resurrection?
Share: How does one make sense of 1 Corinthians 15 if the dead soar off to heaven immediately after they die? Why, then, is understanding that the dead sleep such an important teaching? Share your thoughts.
Read in Class: 1 Corinthians 15:20-23.
Study: What does it mean to say that Jesus is the “firstfruits”?
Apply: How does the certainty of your own resurrection help you face the trials of everyday life?
Share: Your friend says he believes you go straight to heaven when you die. How does 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 help you answer your friend? What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: 1 Corinthians 15:35-41, 51-57.
Study: How do verses 36-41 answer the question in verse 35? What does this passage tell us about our ultimate victory over death?
Apply: Who hasn’t bemoaned how quickly life passes us by? In our own experience, that’s how quickly the second coming of Jesus will seem. Perhaps our first thought at His return will be “Wow, Lord, Your coming really was soon!” How does this idea help us better come to terms with what is seen as “the delay”? See When Prayer Doesn’t Move Mountains.
Share: Share how the assurance that our bodies will be transformed into perfection helps us be resilient regarding our physical limitations today?
Mission: Can you send an inspirational greeting card this week to someone who recently lost a loved one?
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15.
As Christ’s ministry was about to begin, He received baptism at the hands of John. Coming up out of the water, He bowed on the banks of the Jordan and offered to the Father such a prayer as heaven had never before listened to…. The heavens were opened, and a dove, in appearance like burnished gold, rested upon Jesus; and from the lips of the infinite God were heard the words, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
This visible answer to the prayer of God’s Son is of deep significance to us….
All may find rest and peace and assurance in sending their prayers to God in the name of His dear Son. As the heavens were open to Christ’s prayer, so they will be opened to our prayers….
From the Jordan, Jesus was led into the wilderness of temptation. “And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.” …
Adam had failed on the point of appetite, and Christ must conquer here. The power that rested upon Him came directly from the Father, and He must not exercise it in His own behalf…. He met and resisted the enemy in the strength of a “Thus saith the Lord.” “Man shall not live by bread alone,” He said, “but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” …
Christ’s experience is for our benefit. His example in overcoming appetite points out the way for those to overcome who would be His followers.
Christ was suffering as the members of the human family suffer under temptation, but it was not the will of God that He should exercise His divine power in His own behalf. Had He not stood as our representative, Christ’s innocence would have exempted Him from all this anguish; but it was because of His innocence that He felt so keenly the assaults of Satan. All the suffering that is the result of sin was poured into the bosom of the sinless Son of God. Satan was bruising the heel of Christ, but every pang endured by Christ, every grief, every disquietude, was fulfilling the great plan of our redemption. Every blow inflicted by the enemy was rebounding on himself. Christ was bruising the serpent’s head.—Youth’s Instructor, December 21, 1899.
From the Heart p. 239
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for our family as Aunt Billie passed away last Monday. Mike
—-I have a private prayer request. Buck
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Dear Friends,
As I was going through things the other day, I found a book my great-great-aunt, Aletha Phillips Spoor had written. She had been an elementary teacher/composer/poet. I had cherished the songbook that she had written but it was destroyed when our house burned to the ground forty-seven years ago. By searching on the Internet some years ago, I was hoping to find a copy but was able to find a book of poems that she had written and bought it. I’d like to share one of her poems called “Making a Garden” with you today.
Father planted a garden And Mother sowed the seeds,’Twas Johnny’s work to tend it And keep out all the weeds.
Each side the garden path Some white-washed stones were laid; Now Johnny was kept busy With his hoe and rake and spade.
Nearly half the garden Was planted with potatoes, And next to these grew carrots, Cucumbers and tomatoes.
Then peas and beans and radishes Grew up in long, straight rows, Spinach and beets were plentiful, These were favorites, I suppose.
I most forgot the melon patch, A splendid one they had; ‘Twas this part of the garden That made Johnny’s heart so glad.
For when the luscious fruit was ripe, He really felt repaid For tending in the garden That Dad and Mother made.
As I was reading this poem, I thought of the text in 1 Corinthians 3 that puts spiritual planting, tending, and harvesting in perspective. “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.” 1 Cor 3:5-8
Think of it! Our Great Creator has given each of us a work to do in His garden. Some may plant the seed by speaking a word in due season to one hungering and thirsting for righteousness. (Prov 15:23; Matt 5:6) Others are the “tenders” and “waterers.” These keep watch over family, friends, and acquaintances as one who must give account to Him Who died for them. (Heb 13:17) Still others are the reapers bringing many to Christ through evangelism. How often the reapers get all the glory, yet without the seed-sowers, without those who nurture the tender plant, the harvest would be small and would not thrive. To each worker the Master Worker will say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” Matt 25:21
May He pronounce this blessing upon us when He brings every work into judgment is my prayer. (Ecc 12:13, 14)
Rose
Source: https://rosesdevotional.org/overcoming-as-christ-overcame.html
Daily Lesson for Sunday 16th of August 2026
Paul begins 1 Corinthians 15:1-58 by focusing on the gospel. He speaks about the gospel: (1) which he preached to the Corinthians; (2) which they received; (3) in which they stood; and (4) by which they were saved (1 Corinthians 15:1-2, NKJV). This opening prepares the reader for what comes next in the chapter and shows how essential Christ’s resurrection is for our salvation (see also Romans 10:9-10). His resurrection is such a vital part of the gospel message that denying it contradicts one’s faith in Christ.
Image © Jim Howard at Goodsalt.com
In 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, one can find a summary of Paul’s message. Whether the phrase “according to the Scriptures” refers to particular Old Testament passages or to the Old Testament as a whole doesn’t matter. Jesus’ death and resurrection fulfill God’s promises found in the Old Testament.
All who proclaim that Christ is risen must first believe that His resurrection is a historical event. In this case, 1 Corinthians 15:5-8 plays a critical role in the New Testament. This passage provides solid scriptural evidence that Christ was seen by numerous people after His resurrection, many of whom were still alive by the time Paul wrote the letter (1 Corinthians 15:6).
Basically, Paul is saying, Go ask them for yourselves what they saw. That is how confident he was in the reality of Christ’s resurrection.
These people were eyewitnesses. They were what Jesus said they would be, namely, “witnesses of these things” (Luke 24:48).
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What reasons do we have for believing in Christ’s resurrection? Also, what other things, secular or sacred, do we believe even if we haven’t seen them ourselves? |
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