The studies in this quarters pamphlet encourage us to see God’s Love and Justice, just as we may sing in 
Hymn 79 – O Love of God, How Strong and True! which is a beautiful theme hymn for our studies.

 The story of the wheat and tares gives us our first hymn to enjoy: 
Hymn 369 – Bringing In The Sheaves.

It is with wonder that we can believe we have our gracious God, and our angels, to guard us in the Great Controversy on this poor old earth. There is the story of our angels guarding us in
 Hymn 47 – God, Who Made The Earth And Heaven for our study time on Monday.

We may say to God that even with all the evil around us, we can still say 
Thy Love, O God – Hymn 354 (Tuesday).

Wednesday teaches us more about making each choice wisely. I choose today just as these hymns say: 
Hymn 6 – O Worship The Lord and 
Hymn 83 – O Worship The King. The story continues and finalizes with Jesus’ experiences teaching us to use Scripture, as He did: 
Hymn 272 – Give Me The Bible.

 Please continue to search the scriptures this week to be blessed, and to bless others.

To learn unknown hymns, you will find the accompaniment music for each one at: https://sdahymnals.com/Hymnal/

Another great resource is for when there is a hymn you wish to sing but can’t find it in your hymnal. Go to https://www.sdahymnal.org/Search and in the search bar type a special word in that is in the hymn. I am sure you will be amazed at the help you will be given.

 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/9-the-cosmic-conflict-singing-with-inspiration/

Key Thought: The cosmic conflict impacts every human being on a daily basis and the universe at large. Satan attempts to usurp the worship that is due God, but he will be defeated in the end.
March 1, 2025

1. Have a volunteer read Matthew 13:24-27.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. How does this parable help us understand evil in this world?
3. Personal Application: In what ways are you even now experiencing the reality of the conflict between good and evil in your life? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “I don’t think we should be critical or concerned about evil or wrong-doing by anyone, lest we make a mistake and uproot wheat with the tares. We should just ignore wrong-doing in and out of the church, so that we are not condemned as judgmental.” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Ezekiel 28:12-19. Isaiah 14:12-15.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What is the nature of Lucifer’s fall?
3. Personal Application: How does building relationships of trust with others in the church show God’s loving character? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “How can a perfect being fall from heaven? How could God allow this to happen? Why didn’t He stop it before it got out of control?” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Matthew 4:1-11.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. How is the reality of the great controversy between Christ and Satan revealed here?
3. Personal Application: Moral character is vital in loving and trusting someone. What virtues do you need to cultivate in order to reflect God’s character? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states: “How do we live without fear and apprehension here on the earth knowing that there are wicked spirits and evil everywhere we turn because this is the devil’s world?” How would you respond to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read John 8:44,45; Revelation 12:7-9.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What does this reveal about the character of the devil and his strategy?
3. Personal Application: How often do you think about the fact that God is grieved by suffering as well? 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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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/9-the-cosmic-conflict-teaching-plan/

Daily Lesson for Tuesday 25th of February 2025

Genesis 1:1-31; Genesis 2:1-25; Genesis 3:1-24 alone shows that evil existed before the fall of Adam and Eve. Even if evil was not a concrete reality in Eden, conceptually, “evil” has already appeared, in the name of “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:9,17). Then the serpent accuses God of lying when, in fact, he, the serpent, is the one lying. The existence of the serpent (Revelation 12:9), along with his lying, shows the reality of evil there. Thus, even in Eden before the Fall, the presence of evil is manifest.

According to this passage, the origin of evil and the cosmic conflict began in heaven.

Image © Steve Creitz at Goodsalt.com

Before he fell, the being who became known as Satan was a covering cherub. Beyond being identified as this cherub, he was “ ‘the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty’ ” and was “ ‘in Eden, the garden of God’ ” (Ezekiel 28:12-13, NKJV). Neither of these things could be said of the human king of Tyre (or any other human). Hence, we know that we have been given here a glimpse into the fall of Lucifer.

According to Isaiah 14:1-32, Lucifer decided to exalt himself and make himself like God. This verse complements what we saw in Ezekiel 28:1-26, that his “heart was lifted up” because of his “beauty” (Ezekiel 28:17), which should have brought him to glorify the God who made him beautiful. Instead, he became proud. Worse, in this pride, he set out to take God’s place and to slander Him. The Hebrew term for “trading” in Ezekiel 28:16 also means “slander,” an indication of how Satan will operate against God and against us, as well.

<–Monday Wednesday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25a-09-the-origin-of-the-controversy-in-heaven/

Daily Lesson for Monday 24th of February 2025

Parallel to the question in the parable—about why there is bad seed in the field if the owner planted only good seed—is another question: if God created the world entirely good, how did evil arise here?

Image © Jim Howard at Goodsalt.com

According to Genesis 1:31, when God finished creating the world, it was “very good.” In Genesis 1:1-31, there is no hint of evil in God’s creation of this planet. How, then, did evil come into the human experience?

In this narrative, we see lies about God’s character raised by the serpent, identified as the devil himself (that “serpent of old” [NKJV]) in Revelation 12:7-9. The serpent first uses a question to cast doubt on God’s command, nearly reversing what God had commanded in his question. Then, the serpent directly challenges what God had said, saying to Eve, “ ‘You will not surely die’ ” (Genesis 3:4, NKJV).

Someone, either the serpent or God, lied to Eve, who now has a choice to make about whether she will believe what God told her or what the serpent did.

Here and elsewhere in Scripture, the nature of this conflict is primarily over what and whom to believe, which is itself integrally related to love. And that is because your beliefs about someone, the kind of person that he or she is, and whether he or she can be trusted, deeply impact whether you will love and trust that person and, in this case, listen to what that person tells you.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25a-09-the-origin-of-the-controversy-on-earth/

Daily Lesson for Sunday 23rd of February 2025

Jesus tells the story of a landowner who sows only good seeds in his field. However, tares spring up among the wheat. Upon seeing this, the servants of the owner ask him, “ ‘ “Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?” ’ ” (Matthew 13:27, NKJV). This is similar to the question often asked today concerning the problem of evil: If God created the world entirely good, why is there evil in it?

Image © Standard Publishing from GoodSalt.com

The master replies to his servant’s question: “ ‘ “An enemy has done this” ’ ” (Matthew 13:28, NKJV). Jesus later identifies the one “ ‘who sows the good seed’ ” as “ ‘the Son of Man,’ ” who is Jesus Himself (Matthew 13:37, NKJV), and explains that “the field is the world” (Matthew 13:38), and the “ ‘enemy who sowed’ ” the tares is “ ‘the devil’ ” (Matthew 13:39, NKJV), explicitly depicting a cosmic conflict between Christ and Satan. Why is there evil in the world? Evil is the result of the enemy (the devil) who opposes the master. “ ‘An enemy has done this’ ” (Matthew 13:28, NKJV).

This answer, however, provokes the follow-up question, “ ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ ” In other words, why not uproot the evil immediately? “ ‘ “No, ” ’ ” the master replies, “ ‘ “lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest” ’ ” (Matthew 13:29-30, NKJV; compare with Mark 4:29). According to the parable, God will finally put an end to evil, but uprooting it prematurely would result in irreversible collateral damage that harms the good.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25a-09-an-enemy-has-done-this/