Is this True, Somewhat True, or False? Getting to ALL is a gradual process. Join the Hit the Mark panel as they discuss Sabbath School Lesson 5 – All to the Glory of God. It’s the fastest hour of the week! Get this week’s keyword workbook HERE.
Monday: Selfless Love
Daily Lesson for Monday 27th of July 2026
Read 1 Corinthians 9:1-6. How does this passage provide a practical example of what it means to practice self-denial motivated by love?
At first sight, it looks as though Paul’s defense of his apostleship, in 1 Corinthians 9:1-27, has nothing to do with the previous discussion on knowledge versus love. One cannot forget, though, that the Bible was not originally written in chapters. What Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 9:1-27 is not disconnected from the preceding material. Indeed, 1 Corinthians 9:1-27 offers a practical example of selfless love for Christ and for the brethren. For the sake of love, Paul relinquishes a few rights.
Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com
“To eat and drink” (1 Corinthians 9:4, NKJV). Here food and drink represent financial assistance in general. As an apostle, Paul had the right to receive material support from those to whom he ministered. Other religious leaders in his time used to do just that. But he didn’t; instead, he supported himself by making tents (Acts 18:3).
“To take along a believing wife” (1 Corinthians 9:5, NKJV). A married apostle was allowed to make a missionary journey with his wife at the church’s expense. Examples of missionary couples include Priscilla and Aquila (Romans 16:3) and Andronicus and Junia (Romans 16:7). But Paul was unmarried (1 Corinthians 7:8). He could get married and then benefit from the right of being accompanied by a wife, with financial support for both.
“To refrain from working” for a living (1 Corinthians 9:6, NKJV). Paul and Barnabas had the right to earn wages for their missionary work (1 Corinthians 9:4-6). Paul made tents for a living (Acts 18:3), but we don’t know what Barnabas’s occupation was. We know that he was very generous (Acts 4:36-37), and thus, he was willing to support himself.
In 1 Corinthians 9:7-11, Paul develops the idea of 1 Corinthians 9:6 in order to show that it is fair for him and Barnabas to earn a living from the church (1 Corinthians 9:11-12). The Lord Himself commanded, “Those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:14, NKJV; compare with 1 Timothy 5:18). Nevertheless, Paul says, “We have not made use of this right” (1 Corinthians 9:12, ESV). Thus, Paul presents himself as an example of self-denial (1 Corinthians 9:1-18) and argues that this benefits the preaching of the gospel in Corinth (1 Corinthians 9:19-23).
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What are things that, though they perhaps are due you, you might still be better off relinquishing in order to be a more effective witness for the Lord? |
5: All to the Glory of God-Sabbath School Lesson Teaching Plan
Prepared for Sabbath School Class on August 1.
Photograph by William Earnhardt
Key Text: “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31, NKJV).
Read in Class: 1 Corinthians 8:-13.
Study: Why does Paul contrast knowledge with love, and what is the context here? What point is he making?
Apply: Paul argues that, without love, knowledge may become a bad thing (1 Corinthians 8). In what situations can knowledge without love indeed be bad?
Share: Your friend asks if Paul says we were not to make an issue of eating food sacrificed to idols, then why is it condemned in Revelation 2:20 in the message to Thyatira? What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: 1 Corinthians 9:1-6.
Study: How does this passage provide a practical example of what it means to practice self-denial motivated by love?
Apply: What are things that, though they perhaps are due you, you might still be better off relinquishing in order to be a more effective witness for the Lord?
Share: Your friend says it is not fair for the pastor to expect her husband, who is a local elder, to preach for no charge, while the pastor gets paid to preach. What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: 1 Corinthians 10:5-22
Study: What sins did Israel commit in the wilderness, and why do the privileges granted to them make their sins even worse? Why must we flee from idolatry?
Apply: An idol doesn’t have to be a stone statue. We can make an idol out of just about anything. What idols, if any, do you need to flee from in your own life?
Share: Your friend says it’s hard to believe 1 Corinthians 10:13 when he keeps trying and trying to overcome his addiction and always failing. What do you tell your friend?
Read in Class: Mark 1-:17-22, Mark 12:38-31, and 1 Corinthians 10:31.
Study: How can 1 Corinthians 10:31 help us have the proper motivation in keeping the Spirit of the law? How can it also help us guard against legalism?
Apply: As you examine your actions and activities over the last week, how many of those actions and activities glorified God? How can we make sure we are glorifying God in all we do?
Share: Your friend says that when we break the commandments, we put ourselves first rather than God and others. and thus making idols of ourselves. What do you tell your friend?
Mission: How can you show and encourage your friends and family to glorify God in their weekly activities?
A False Confession and Promise
I have sinned this time. The Lord is righteous, and my people and I are wicked. Exodus 9:27.
“My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.” …
The only true safety of nations and individuals is to be obedient to the voice of God and to ever stand on the side of truth and righteousness. Pharaoh now humbled himself and said, “I have sinned this time: the Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.” He entreated the servants of God to intercede with Him, that the terrific thunder and lightning might cease.
Moses knew that the contest was not ended, for he understood the workings of the human heart that is set in proud defiance against God. Pharaoh’s confessions and promises were not made because there was any change in his mind or heart; but terror and anguish compelled him, for the time being, to yield the controversy with God. Moses, however, promised to grant his request as though his confession was genuine and his repentance sincere, for he would not give him any occasion for future exhibitions of stubbornness….
On going out of the city he “spread abroad his hands unto the Lord: and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth.” But as soon as the awful exhibitions of divine power had passed, the heart of the king returned to its stubbornness and rebellion.
The Lord was manifesting His power to confirm the faith of His people Israel in Him as the only true and living God. He would give them unmistakable evidences of the difference He placed between the Egyptians and His people. He would cause all nations to know that although they had been bound down by hard labor and had been despised, yet He had chosen them as His peculiar people, and that He would work for their deliverance in a wonderful manner.
By long association with the Egyptians and continually beholding the imposing worship of idols, the Hebrews’ idea of the true and living God had become degraded…. They saw the idolatrous Egyptians enjoying an abundant prosperity, while they were continually taunted with the remark, “Your God has forsaken you.” But by His mighty works, the Lord would now teach His people in regard to His character and divine authority and show them the utter worthlessness of false gods.—Signs of the Times, March 18, 1880.
From the Heart p. 218
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for God to heal a situation that is hurting me. For God to bring healing, restoration, to all parties involved. For God to bring wisdom how to handle it. Jennifer
—-I have an unspoken prayer request for a dear friend’s brother who is very ill. Please pray for him and his doctors and the direction of the Lord in his care plan. Also, please pray for his sister and his daughters.
Thank you all so very much. Jeri
—-Please pray for our family. We were in a head-on collision and have injuries. Mary
—-Please pray for my cousin Angela who had a kidney removed due to a tumor. Brenda
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Dear Friends,
Some years ago, we went on a little vacation to the Oklahoma panhandle within a few miles of the New Mexico border. We saw and photographed many of the animals we were hoping to see. That Sunday morning, we got up early and headed for home. Ronnie Jay and I decided that we would stop at Beaver Sand Dunes as Ron had always wanted to go there. Ron and Ronnie Jay decided to take the mile long nature hike.
With some misgivings, I decided to join them. Big mistake! The first half of the hike was fine. The path was wide and even though it had some “hills” they were not steep. I was enjoying it as much as they were. Ronnie Jay noticed a horned lizard on the path, so he and I took several photos of the little creature. It was such an enjoyable walk that I hardly noticed that the path was getting narrower and a little steeper.
About halfway around, we came upon a grassy area with a wooden bench. We sat down and talked for a few minutes trying to decide what to do. The path for the rest of the hike was quite narrow and overgrown with weeds and sandburs. In my usual “press on regardless” mindset, I decided that I could make it despite the fact that it was obvious that most people had turned around and gone back the way they had come.
Soon it became apparent why few people came on this half of the walk. The narrow path became steeper and steeper, and the sand became deeper and deeper. Ron and I found ourselves getting hot and tired. Up one dune and down the other over and over again left me exhausted. I was puffing like a steam engine and sweating profusely. The path was not as firm as it had been and my shoes filled with scaldingly hot sand.
I reached the point where I felt like I couldn’t go any farther but I had no alternative but to keep going. By this time, Ron was very worried about his overweight and out of shape wife. I was worried about me too! I almost passed out. About the last fourth mile, Ron pushed and Ronnie Jay pulled me up the dunes. After what seemed like an eternity, we came to the point where the two paths joined to go back to the parking lot. What a relief!
As I reflect upon that long-ago dune hike, I feel gratitude to my husband and son for all their effort to get me over those miserable piles of sand. They were both sore and tired from the exertion.
Each of us need someone to help us at one time or another. Indeed, there are struggling ones all around us who are as ready to give up as I was on the last half of the trail.
The Apostle Paul speaks of the necessity and privilege we have of helping our brethren in Christ. To do so, is to follow the example of Jesus. “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.” “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Rom 15:1; Phil 2:4-8
May we bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. Gal 6:2
Rose
Source: https://rosesdevotional.org/a-false-confession-and-promise.html
Sunday: Knowledge Versus Love
Daily Lesson for Sunday 26th of July 2026
Read 1 Corinthians 8:1-13. Why does Paul contrast knowledge with love, and what is the context here? What point is he making?
Paul uses the theme of food offered to idols in order to address a deeper issue: the lack of love for others (1 Corinthians 8:1-13). The matter of food offered to idols split the church of Corinth into two groups. Some believed that their knowledge about the nonexistence of other gods gave them the right to eat anything (1 Corinthians 8:4). These are referred to as the “strong” (1 Corinthians 4:10). Those who opposed this behavior are called the “weak” (1 Corinthians 8:9-12). Paul uses such a label because they did not overcome some superstitious beliefs that marked their previous pagan experience. When seeing the “strong” eating food offered to idols, they might conclude that Christianity and idolatry were compatible. So, Paul did not want the “strong” to become a stumbling block to the weak.
Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com
The Bible sees the act of eating food offered to idols very negatively (Acts 15:20,29; Acts 21:25; compare with Revelation 2:14,20). However, Paul does not utter as radical statements as one sees in these passages. This is because his primary concern regards the lack of unity that the misuse of knowledge could cause. Paul is not criticizing knowledge as evil in itself; instead, he’s against the kind of knowledge that leads to arrogance and division in the church. Knowledge without love is not true knowledge at all (1 Corinthians 8:2). True knowledge arises only when one loves God and is known by Him (1 Corinthians 8:3).
Quoting Deuteronomy 6:4, Paul shows that believers must know that there is only one God (1 Corinthians 8:4-6). Interestingly, he follows the same idea one sees in Deuteronomy 6:4-5, where the statement that our God is one is followed by the command “You shall love the Lord your God” (NKJV). For both Paul and Moses, knowledge without love is worthless.
Confident in their knowledge, the “strong” believed that eating food sacrificed to idols was harmless. As we will see on Wednesday and Thursday, Paul conceded to them that right under certain conditions. However, if that became a stumbling block for the “weak” (1 Corinthians 8:9), it should be avoided. Christians are supposed to practice self-denial out of love for Christ and others.
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Paul argues that, without love, knowledge may become a bad thing (1 Corinthians 8:1-13). In what situations can knowledge without love indeed be bad? |
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