As was made clear in the teachings of Jesus and the New Testament writers, those who choose to live as members of the kingdom of God live by a different set of values and priorities than does the world.

Read Matthew 6:25-33. What is the reassurance we are given in these verses, and how should this reassurance impact our priorities?

Priorities

Jesus taught that “life [is] more than food, and the body more than clothes” (Matt. 6:25, NIV). These things are important, of course, but we must see them in light of the kingdom of God, which means we must reprioritize our lives in real and practical ways. When we recognize the call throughout the Bible to lift up and care for others, this call also becomes one of our priorities as we who seek to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Ideally this call should help us focus less on ourselves and more on others.

This different set of priorities also changes our relationship with those in power over us and over the oppressed. While the Bible instructs Christians to respect and obey their governments, as far as possible (see, for example, Rom. 13:1-7), there also comes a point where we need to echo the words of Peter: “We must obey God rather than human beings!” (Acts 5:29, NIV). Jesus put these two principles in balance in His answer to those trying to trick Him on this question: “give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s” (Matt. 22:21, NIV).

Those who have power, whether in government or otherwise, often enforce and maintain that power by threats or force. As we have seen in the life of Jesus, faithful living does not always and in every situation require passivity in the face of evil. For example, dealing with slavery in America, Ellen G. White wrote: “When the laws of men conflict with the word and law of God, we are to obey the latter, whatever the consequences may be. The law of our land requiring us to deliver a slave to his master, we are not to obey; and we must abide the consequences of violating this law. The slave is not the property of any man. God is his rightful master, and man has no right to take God’s workmanship into his hands, and claim him as his own”. – Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, pages 201, 202.

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Read for This Week’s Study: Matt. 6:25-33; James 1:5-8; James 2:15-16; Isa. 52:7; 1 John 3:16-18; Isa. 58:1-10.

Memory Text: “Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness; he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. A good man deals graciously and lends; he will guide his affairs with discretion” (Psalm 112:4-5, NKJV).

As we have seen, the Bible is filled with passionate descriptions of God’s concern for the poor and oppressed, as well as calls for His people to work in their behalf. Despite the attention given to these issues, this biblical mandate has seen just sporadic and partial fulfillment and will be made complete only with the return of Christ and the supernatural events that follow.

Until then evil persists in many forms, fueled by the dark spiritual influences of the devil and his angels. This evil is often made most visible in poverty, violence, oppression, slavery, exploitation, selfishness, and greed. In such a world, our communities, our churches, and our families need to stand up against these evils no matter how hard at times it is to do so. In response to the love and commands of God, living in light of the ministry and sacrifice of Jesus and empowered and guided by the presence of the Holy Spirit, we must be compassionate, creative, and courageous in seeking “to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Mic. 6:8, NIV).

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, September 21.

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TV Draws People

By Andrew McChesney, Adventist Mission

As a child in New Zealand, Coralie Schofield was warned about the potential dangers of television and cautioned to stay away.

Today, she is surprised—and overjoyed—that people are flocking to Seventh-day Adventist churches across the country because of television.

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“It’s the most humbling experience to see. It’s just television”, said Coralie, who has a front row seat as the wife of Neale Schofield, manager of Hope Channel New Zealand, the local affiliate of the Adventist Church’s international channel.

“When I was growing up in the Adventist Church, my television viewing was cautiously monitored”, said Coralie, who oversees correspondence for Hope Channel. “But now viewing choices have expanded. You’ve got an Adventist channel that is witnessing 24/7. Can you get too much of a good thing?”

Viewers approach Coralie and her husband at Sabbath worship services around New Zealand. At one church, an older couple told how an adult daughter had been flipping through the channels and stopped on Hope Channel. Soon she was watching regularly, and she told her parents and sister about the channel. The whole family began to watch.

“Now the four are baptized”, Coralie said.

At another church, Coralie heard about a woman who walked off the street one Sabbath and asked for Bible studies. When the pastor arrived at her home, he found 11 women waiting to study the Bible. The woman had invited 10 friends. Half of them have been baptized now.

Hope Channel began free-to-air broadcasts across New Zealand in 2016 with help from a Thirteenth Sabbath Offering. Today it has a monthly viewership of about 200,000 people, or 5 percent of the population, according to market researcher Nielsen. The Adventist Church has about 12,000 members in New Zealand, a country with a highly secularized society where the church has struggled to make inroads.

Viewers surface in unexpected places. While flying domestically, Neale Schofield was working on his laptop, and a fellow passenger saw the Hope Channel logo on his screen.

“Are you associated with Hope Channel?” the stranger asked.

The man introduced himself as the pastor of another Christian denomination in Auckland and said he and his 15- and 18-year-old daughters only watched Hope Channel.

In another surprise, parents are coming to the Adventist Church’s 16 schools in New Zealand and seeking to enroll their children because of Hope Channel.

“They know Hope Channel is Adventist, and they want their kids to have the morals that are espoused there”, Coralie said.

Coralie is especially touched by a mother with three young daughters who drove around an Adventist church for three weeks on Sabbath morning before gaining the courage to come in. Once inside, she was warmly welcomed, and she was baptized a few months later.

Recently, she was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

“It is tragic”, Coralie said. “But you can see that God led to her to a place where she and her daughters have support”.

Coralie’s voice filled with emotion as she spoke about the ill woman and the many others who have entered Adventist churches because of Hope Channel. No one knows precisely how many people have come.

“I just find it very humbling to be part of the process—to meet these people and see the absolute joy on their faces”, Coralie said. “It is like they’ve come home”.

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

All Rights Reserved. No part of the Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide may be edited, altered, modified, adapted, translated, reproduced, or published by any person or entity without prior written authorization from the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

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Further Thought: 

Read Ellen G. White, “Called to Reach a Higher Standard”, pages 309-322, in The Acts of the Apostles; “Desolation of the Earth”, pages 653-661, in The Great Controversy.

“When the voice of God turns the captivity of His people, there is a terrible awakening of those who have lost all in the great conflict of life. While probation continued they were blinded by Satan’s deceptions, and they justified their course of sin.

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The rich prided themselves upon their superiority to those who were less favored; but they had obtained their riches by violation of the law of God. They had neglected to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to deal justly, and to love mercy … They have sold their souls for earthly riches and enjoyments, and have not sought to become rich toward God. The result is, their lives are a failure; their pleasures are now turned to gall, their treasures to corruption”. – Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 654.

“The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more. The entire universe is clean. One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the vast creation. From Him who created all, flow life and light and gladness, throughout the realms of illimitable space. From the minutest atom to the greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate, in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy, declare that God is love”. – Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 678.

Discussion Questions:

Summary: 

Our God will not allow evil to continue forever. The Bible’s great hope is the return of Jesus to bring an end to evil, to heal injustice and create a new world as it was meant to be. Built on the resurrection of Jesus, this hope transforms today and gives courage to our service for God and others as we wait for His return.

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Read Revelation 21:1-5, Revelation 22:1-5 and spend some time trying to imagine what life will be like as described here. Why is it difficult to imagine life without sin, death, pain, and tears?

The Bible’s descriptions of our life after sin are unquestionably wonderful and glorious and no doubt barely represent what is awaiting us. Even in these verses, the descriptions are almost as much about what won’t be there as what will be.

No More Pain

When this world is all we have known, it can be hard to imagine life without pain and suffering, death and fear, injustice and poverty.

Not only is there no more of these things, but this description adds a personal touch: “He will wipe every tear from their eyes” (Rev. 21:4, NIV). In the context of those who have been saved, God’s compassion for those who have suffered throughout human history reaches a climax in this single sentence. Not only does He bring an end to their suffering, but He personally wipes away their tears.

Battered and scarred by a life of sin and a world of injustice and tragedy, we can see in the book of Revelation hints at a process of healing for all of us who have been victims of sin in many different ways. Describing the tree of life, John explains that “the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations” (Rev. 22:2, NIV). Again, God shows His understanding of, and compassion for, what it has meant to be human, to feel, experience, witness, and even participate in the evil of this world. His plan for re-creating our world includes restoring and healing each of us.

Until then, we seek to be all that we can in Christ, doing our part, as faltering and small as our parts might be, to minister to those around us who need what we have to offer. Whatever it is—kind words, a warm meal, medical help, dental work, clothing, counseling—whatever we can do we should be doing with the kind self-abnegating, self-denying, self-sacrificing love that Jesus manifested when He was here.

Of course, the world is still going to get worse and worse, despite our best efforts. Jesus knew that; yet, this truth didn’t stop Him from ministering to others, and it shouldn’t stop us, either.

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