He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. Revelation 13:13-14 NKJV

Photograph by William Earnhardt

Many believe this passage is referring to the United States using the atomic bomb in World War 2, by the fire coming down from heaven to the earth. However, the atomic bomb did not deceive anyone. This passage clearly describes fire coming down from heaven as a deception. Remember when Elijah called fire down from heaven to expose the Baal worshippers? In the last days, Satan will work through the beast and the false prophet (See Revelation 16:13) to perform miracles very similar to the ones in the Bible to deceive many. 

These deceptions will look like such genuine godly miracles that only by carefully studying the Scriptures will we be kept from being deceived. 

So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures. By their testimony every statement and every miracle must be tested.-Ellen White, Great Controversy, Page 593. 

Remember when Jesus met two men on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:13-35? Their eyes were made so that they could not recognize Him. He asked them why they were sad, and they told Him about Jesus being crucified, and instead of Jesus just saying, “Hey! Look, it’s me,” Their eyes still did not recognize Him as He explained to them all the things in Scripture concerning Himself. He showed them from the Scriptures that the Messiah was to be crucified and rise again, instead of just saying, “Look, it’s me.” Why? Because Jesus did not want them to go by what they felt, saw, or heard. He only wanted them to go by what God’s Word said. Jesus knew Satan could appeal to our senses of sight and sound as well as tempt our emotions. This is why Jesus relied on nothing but the Word of God, rather than on signs and wonders. After all, Satan himself can use signs and wonders. 

In Genesis 3:1-5, Satan used the senses to deceive Eve. Based on these signs and wonders, like a talking serpent, Eve decided that she could not believe God’s Word that said if you taste the forbidden fruit, you will die. In Matthew 4:1-4, Satan appears to Jesus and uses the senses and the temptation to signs and wonders to try to deceive Jesus. After several days of fasting, I am sure Jesus did not look or feel like the Son of God. Satan uses these feelings and emotions and tried to tempt Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, turn these stones to bread.” However, in Matthew 3:17, Jesus had already heard the Word of God say that He was His Son. Jesus did not allow his feelings or senses to deceive Him when He already had a clear “Thus saith the Word of God.” Jesus overcame being deceived by simply trusting the plain Word of God. 

In the last days, Satan will use more and more clever deceptions. He will use family ties. We cannot trust our own family to interpret the Scriptures for us. This is why Jesus said, 

“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. Matthew 10:34-37 NKJV

In the last days, Satan will use more and more false teachers to deceive others. This is why Jesus warned us, 

“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” Matthew 24:23-24 NKJV.

If we can’t trust family and friends, who can we trust?

However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.John 16:13 NKJV.

for prophecy never came by the will of man, but [a]holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:21 NKJV

The Holy Spirit and not our pastor or grandma will lead us into all truth. The Holy Spiirt is the One who moved those who wrote the Scriptures, and is our only safe teacher in helping us understand Scripture, while gaurding us from being deveived by ideas or even feelings that contraidct ideas that the Sprit has already inspired. 

Avoding deception is reliant upon us asking for the Holy Spirit to give us understanding instead of trusting our own understanding. 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV

Satan’s deceptions in the last days will be so clever and appear to be so genuine that a casual reading of the Bible will not protect us from being deceived. Notice, the Bereans found the truth about Jeuss, by searching instead of casually reading, and by doing it daily instead of just from time to time. 

These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. Acts 17:11 NKJV

In the last days, family, pastors, and  miracles, will prove to be no defense against Satan’s genious and well planned deceptive signs and wonders. The Bible is all we need and all we can trust to guard us from Satan’s clever last day deceptions. 

The last great delusion is soon to open before us. Antichrist is to perform his marvelous works in our sight. So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures. By their testimony every statement and every miracle must be tested. Those who endeavor to obey all the commandments of God will be opposed and derided. They can stand only in God. In order to endure the trial before them, they must understand the will of God as revealed in His word; they can honor Him only as they have a right conception of His character, government, and purposes, and act in accordance with them. None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict. To every soul will come the searching test: Shall I obey God rather than men? The decisive hour is even now at hand. Are our feet planted on the rock of God’s immutable word? Are we prepared to stand firm in defense of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus? –Ellen White, The Great Controversy, Pages 593-594. 

But God will have a people upon the earth to maintain the Bible, and the Bible only, as the standard of all doctrines and the basis of all reforms. The opinions of learned men, the deductions of science, the creeds or decisions of ecclesiastical councils, as numerous and discordant as are the churches which they represent, the voice of the majority—not one nor all of these should be regarded as evidence for or against any point of religious faith. Before accepting any doctrine or precept, we should demand a plain “Thus saith the Lord” in its support.-Ellen White, The Great Controversy, Page 595

Jesus gave us the perfect example of overcoming Satan’s decetpions, when instead of giving the people the signs and wonders they were asking for, He gave them a simple, “It is Written.” 

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/the-role-of-the-bible-in-the-last-days/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-role-of-the-bible-in-the-last-days

Daily Lesson for Monday 20th of April 2026

When it comes to personal Bible study, we must be careful not to expect the Bible to serve our purposes or perspectives, which are not always the same as God’s. For example, we shouldn’t use the “close my eyes and point to a text” method, because this isn’t how God wants to communicate with us through His Word. God is not a puppet on a string, waiting to serve our needs and will. His ways and thoughts are so much higher than ours (Isaiah 55:9), and so we should never try to control His words to us. Neither should we pick and choose only the parts of the Bible that feel comfortable to us. Instead, we should see the Bible as a whole package rather than reading the easy, familiar passages and leaving out the confronting or challenging ones. If we truly want God to speak into our lives, we must take the Bible as a whole and use sound methods when we engage in careful Bible study, trusting that God will reveal what we need to hear when we need to hear it.

Image © Review & Herald Publishing from GoodSalt.com

Also, Jesus Himself tells us: “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind’ ” (Matthew 22:37, NKJV). That is, God doesn’t want us to ignore our minds; rather, He wants to inform our minds with His vast reaches of knowledge and understanding, which are revealed, in part, through His Word. We can read many biblical narratives in which God had discussions with such people as Enoch, Abraham, Moses, and Job, in addition to many conversations that Jesus had with people. God doesn’t bypass human reason but invites us to submit it to His Word and wisdom when “working out” our salvation.

Human reason, however, is still human—capable of error and deception. It’s never infallible. It’s possible for human reason to push God aside to try to work things out on our own, which places self as equal to, or above, God when it comes to thinking. People can approach Scripture with an arrogant and critical spirit, thinking they’ve heard it all before and that there is nothing new. It’s when we feel important, confident, self-sufficient, and in need of nothing that we neglect our relationship with God and rely on our own limited knowledge and faulty reasoning.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/26b-04-scripture-the-authority/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=26b-04-scripture-the-authority

Prepared by William Earnhardt for you to use in Sabbath School class on April 25, 2026.

Central Theme: The Bible is not just a collection of proof texts. It is a love story about God’s love for you.

Photograph by William Earnhardt

Read in Class: 2 Timothy 3:15-17. Ask the class to identify the main point of this passage.

Study: How much of the Old and New Testaments are inspired, and where do we get our doctrines from?

Apply: When applying Bible teachings to our daily lives, how can we be sure that we are really following our conscience and not just our own preferences, in the way we interpret Scripture?

Share: Your friend says that the Adventist church stresses going by the Bible and not traditions. See Matthew 15:9. However, do we have some traditions that we are actually more cultural than Biblical? What do you tell your friend? See Cultural Influence and the Bible.

Read in Class: John 20:31. Ask the class to identify the main idea of this passage.

Study: How should we study not only the book of John but the entire Bible? Do we read the Bible like a dictionary, which is just a collection of facts and definitions? Or do we read it like a love story? See The Bible is a Love Story, Not a Collection of Proof Texts.

Apply: How does reading the Bible as a love story instead of just a collection of proof texts helpt your relationship with God to grow?

Share: When sharing the Bible with others, how can we ensure each Bible study is a love story rather than simply giving them a list of proof texts on a given topic? See the In Light of the Cross Bible Study Guides.

Read in Class: Psalm 119:11, 105, and Hebrews 4:12. Ask the class to identify the common threads in these passages.

Study: What advice is given in these passages and how can we follow it?

Apply: How much time do you spend daily in the Bible, and how do you spend that time? What can you do to make that time the most spiritually profitable?

Share: Your friend asks you if remembering a certain Scripture has ever kepts you away from sin, What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Job 22:22, Proverbs 3:5-6, and 1 Corinthians 2:14. Ask the class to identify the common threads in these passages.

Study: What kind of attitude do these Scriptures teach us to have while studying the Bible?

Apply: How open-minded are you while studying God’s Word? See Acts 17:11, Do you read the Bible ready to learn, or to “prove” what you think you already know?

Share: Your friend asks you why you need to pray before studying the Bible. What do you tell your friend? See Proverbs 3:5-6 and John 16:13.

Mission: Can you share a Bible study in the light of the cross with someone this week, and help them discover the love story in the Bible?

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/4-the-role-of-the-bible-sabbath-school-lesson-teaching-plan/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=4-the-role-of-the-bible-sabbath-school-lesson-teaching-plan

Daily Lesson for Sunday 19th of April 2026

Before we explore why the Bible is so valuable and how to dig deeper in our personal Bible study, we must understand something: one of the most significant attacks Satan can make on you is to stop you from spending time with God in His Word. Keeping people away from their Bibles through business, apathy, tiredness, or doubt is his number-one strategy. He knows that when we spend time with God in His Word, it revives our lives and nourishes our souls; so, of course, he would do everything to prevent this!

We are told that “Satan employs every possible device to prevent [people] from obtaining a knowledge of the Bible; for its plain ut­terances reveal his deceptions.”—Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 593. Satan knows that God’s powerful Word makes him powerless. Satan knows that prayer and Bible study are the most powerful weapons humanity can use against him (Ephesians 6:17-18; Hebrews 4:12), so he does everything he can to stop us from reading and praying. He knows that God’s words are powerful and that they not only spoke this world into existence (Psalms 33:6), but they can raise the dead (John 11:41-44) and give us strength to overcome (Matthew 4:1-11).

Image © Kevin Carden at Goodsalt.com

By keeping God’s people away from their Bibles, Satan affects not only our relationship with God but our relationships with others. Our marriages become strained, we yell at our kids, and we don’t have patience with our friends or coworkers. Life seems too busy; we feel stressed and burdened, with no escape route. And surprisingly, we don’t often pause long enough to realize what’s happening. We might think we’re close to God, but in reality, when days and weeks pass by without our ever opening God’s Word, we’re weakened more every day.

As the covering cherub before he fell (Ezekiel 28:14-17), Lucifer heard God’s words and knew their incredible power. He now hates this truth, so it’s clear why our minds grow numb and our hearts grow dull when we don’t choose to hear and bring God’s words into our daily lives.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/26b-04-the-most-powerful-weapon/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=26b-04-the-most-powerful-weapon

The Servant by Darrel Tank

Can you easily spot whether someone is proud? Or whether someone is humble?

“We’ve all known people with big egos … ” our lesson author writes. It might be worthwhile to remember that we most frequently see our own faults in others. So if we often spot the sin of pride in others, that might well be an indicator of the state of our own hearts. 

Since my teen years, I’ve been attracted to people who seem humble. One of my college profs seemed so humble that I was sure he was very close to God. I was excited when he offered me the job of working under him to run the college bookstore. What a blessing! I determined to be worthy of his confidence in me. 

After my senior year in academy, I was working full days during the summer to earn part of my college tuition. We were getting ready for the school year, and this morning Dr. I. laid out the day’s work. I worked hard and was done by about 1:30 pm. What to do? There was no way to contact my boss. But then I had a lightbulb moment: Elder F. in the business office across the hall had been in charge of the bookstore for years. Perhaps he could help me. And he did, by suggesting helpful things I could do.

When Dr. I returned at the end of the day, I was quite proud of myself for having completed the assigned tasks and then some! But Dr. I. was not pleased. He gave me what I still consider to be the worst dressing-down of my life, warning me against the sin of pride and telling me what a terrible sin it was for me to try to take his job from him! It was doubly traumatic because I had looked up to him so much. To this day, I can feel the utter devastation I experienced – that this man of virtue and humility could be so cruel to a 17-year-old student.

I went to my dorm room, threw myself on my bed and had a long cry over the wreckage of my idol, missing supper in the process.

I don’t know if anyone else found out about this incident, because I didn’t tell anyone. I worked for this same prof for a couple of years in different capacities, including personal secretary. And I saw conscious humility up close. It was not pretty. Note

Trying to be humble might not be a good idea. 

So how do we recognize humility? Or pride, for that matter? 

Should we even try to recognize humility or pride in others? If we had been among the Israelites in the desert, would we have recognized humility in our stern leader? Or might we have thought him to be proud, like Miriam and Aaron did?

I know I’m easily fooled by apparent humility – not just once. (I’m a slow learner.)  I’ve also known some obnoxious folks who seemed full of themselves, but I suspect pride is much subtler. It sometimes masquerades as humility or spirituality – as in the parable of the Pharisee and the publican. 

Perhaps we should stop for a moment and consider the situations in which we use the word “proud.” Do they all refer to the same quality? 

1. Pride in doing a job well.
2. Pride in being in the wealthy class.
3. Pride in being a member of a respected church. 
4. Pride in being better than a drug addict.
5. Pride in being gay OR pride in being straight.
6. Pride in being a son or daughter of the King of heaven.

Can you add to this list? (Let me know in the comments.)

We probably should not be looking for humility or for pride in others, because I believe these are symptoms of something deeper. They are heart issues, and we cannot read the heart. The first place to look is my own heart. 

Our lesson author assumes that “We’ve all battled with pride.” Is this true? A battle means an active fight. How do we fight pride, if we know we are better than others, as the author suggests?

The way I see it, looking to Jesus is the only cure for the pride we all have. And I believe a continuing focus cannot help but make us humble, as we realize that Jesus values the drunk in the gutter as much as He values the preacher in the pulpit. In fact, the drunk who realizes he’s a sinner and pleads with God for help is likely closer to heaven than the preacher who is conscious of his humility. Our need is our greatest argument for salvation.

We probably all know the story of the mighty angel, Lucifer, who became proud enough to covet the position of the Son of God in heaven. But how did this pride arise? If Lucifer had not first focused on his own beauty and goodness, would he have become proud? So was the very first sin not a focus on self?

To undo the damage of sin and to save us, Jesus Christ came to this sin-damaged planet and modeled the “law of self-renouncing love, the law of life for earth and heaven.” 

it will be seen that the law of self-renouncing love is the law of life for earth and heaven; that the love which “seeketh not her own” has its source in the heart of God. (See context in Desire of Ages, p. 19)

To “know God,” we need to understand the fundamental principle of God’s Kingdom which Christ came to demonstrate. He modeled not looking out for self, but renouncing self. What does that look like? (Check Phil 2:6-8 ESV) In Christ’s Kingdom, greatness is not measured by being over others, but by serving God and others. (Matt. 23:11)

Jesus emptied Himself, and in all that He did, self did not appear. He subordinated all things to the will of His Father.  (Check context in Thoughts from the Mount of Blessings, p. 14)

Perhaps we could all learn to be more humble by following the counsel to “spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. We should take it point by point, and let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones.” (Read more at Desire of Ages, p. 835)

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/can-you-spot-humility-or-pride/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=can-you-spot-humility-or-pride