1. ESSENTIALS IN THE PLAN OF SALVATION Sunday August 13

a. What basic truths must we understand for our soul’s salvation? Ezekiel 18:4, 20–24. “There is no such thing in the Word of God as unconditional election–once in grace, always in grace. . . . There is truth to be received if souls are saved. The keeping of the commandments of God is life eternal to the receiver. But the Scriptures make it plain that those who once knew the way of life and rejoiced in the truth are in danger of falling through apostasy, and being lost. Therefore there is need of a decided, daily conversion to God. All who seek to sustain the doctrine of election, once in grace, always in grace, do this against a plain, ‘Thus saith the Lord.’”–The SDA Bible Commentary [E. G. White Comments], vol. 6, pp. 1114, 1115. b. What should we realize when tempted to question God’s fairness in dealing with our individual cases? Ezekiel 18:25. “The attitude which many assume in expressing doubts and unbelief as to whether the Lord will save them is a reflection upon the character of God. Those who complain of His severity are virtually saying: ‘The way of the Lord is not equal.’ But He distinctly throws back the imputation upon the sinner: ‘Are not your ways unequal?’ Can I pardon your transgressions when you do not repent and turn from your sins?’ . . . The Lord will receive the sinner when he repents and forsakes his sins so that God can work with his efforts in seeking perfection of character.”–Testimonies, vol. 5, pp. 631, 632.

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2. THE WAY OF ETERNAL LIFE Monday August 14

a. What warning invites sinners to turn to God without delay? Ezekiel 18:26–30. “Let none venture into sin as [Solomon] did, in the hope that they too may recover themselves. Sin can be indulged only at the peril of infinite loss. . . . But none who have fallen need give themselves up to despair. . . . There is still hope for them if they repent, forsake sin, and turn to God.”–The Review and Herald, February 22, 1906.“Satan is ready to steal away the blessed assurances of God. He desires to take every glimmer of hope and every ray of light from the soul; but you must not permit him to do this.”–Steps to Christ, p. 53. b. What is needed in preparing for Heaven? Ezekiel 18:31, 32. “Regeneration is the only path by which we can reach the holy city. It is narrow and the gate by which we enter is strait, but along it we are to lead men and women and children, teaching them that in order to be saved, they must have a new heart and a new spirit. The old hereditary traits of character are to be overcome. The natural desires of the soul must be changed. All deception, all falsifying, all evil-speaking must be put away. The new life, which makes men and women Christlike, is to be lived. We are, as it were, to swim against the current of evil.”–This Day With God, p. 108.

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3. A SERIOUS OFFENCE TO GOD Tuesday August 15

a. For what purpose did God remind the Israelites of their sojourn in Egypt? Ezekiel 20:7–11. “Pharaoh boasted that he would like to see [the Israelites’] God deliver them from his hands. These words destroyed the hopes of many of the children of Israel. It appeared to them very much as the king and his counselors had said. They knew that they were treated as slaves, and that they must endure just that degree of oppression their taskmasters and rulers might put upon them. Their male children had been hunted and slain. Their own lives were a burden, and they were believing in, and worshiping, the God of Heaven. Then they contrasted their condition with that of the Egyptians. They did not believe at all in a living God who had power to save or to destroy. Some of them worshiped idols, images of wood and stone, while others chose to worship the sun, moon, and stars; yet they were prospered and wealthy. And some of the Hebrews thought that if God was above all gods He would not thus leave them as slaves to an idolatrous nation.“The faithful servants of God understood that it was because of their unfaithfulness to God as a people, and their disposition to intermarry with other nations, and thus being led into idolatry, that the Lord suffered them to go into Egypt. And they firmly declared to their brethren that God would soon bring them up from Egypt, and break their oppressive yoke.”–The Story of Redemption, pp. 114, 115. b. How serious of an offense is it to reject God’s law and His holy Sabbath? Ezekiel 20:13, 14, 23, 24. “Those who trample upon God’s authority, and show open contempt to the law given in such grandeur at Sinai, virtually despise the Lawgiver, the great Jehovah. . . . By transgressing the law which God had given in such majesty, and amid glory which was unapproachable, the people showed open contempt of the great Lawgiver, and death was the penalty.”–The SDA Bible Commentary [E. G. White Comments], vol. 4, p. 1162.

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4. A SACRED DAY Wednesday August 16

a. What sign did God give to His people to set them apart as His own peculiar treasure? Ezekiel 20:12. “The Sabbath is a sign of the relationship existing between God and His people, a sign that they are His obedient subjects, that they keep holy His law. The observance of the Sabbath is the means ordained by God of preserving a knowledge of Himself and of distinguishing between His loyal subjects and the transgressors of His law. This is the faith once delivered to the saints, who stand in moral power before the world, firmly maintaining this faith.”–Testimonies, vol. 8, p. 198.“To those who keep holy the Sabbath day it is the sign of sanctification. True sanctification is harmony with God, oneness with Him in character. It is received through obedience to those principles that are the transcript of His character. And the Sabbath is the sign of obedience. He who from the heart obeys the fourth commandment will obey the whole law. He is sanctified through obedience.”–Ibid., vol. 6, p. 350. b. What did the Jews reveal by polluting the Lord’s Sabbath? Ezekiel 20:15, 16. “The Lord designed that by a faithful observance of the Sabbath command, Israel should continually be reminded of their accountability to Him as their Creator and their Redeemer.”–Prophets and Kings, p. 182.“So long as the fact that [God] is our Creator continues to be a reason why we should worship Him, so long the Sabbath will continue as its sign and memorial. Had the Sabbath been universally kept, man’s thoughts and affections would have been led to the Creator as the object of reverence and worship, and there would never have been an idolater, an atheist, or an infidel.”–The Great Controversy, p. 438.

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5. GOD’S PLAN FOR HIS SANCTIFIED REMNANT Thursday August 17

a. What was and still is well understood by God’s faithful remnant in connection with the Sabbath? Ezekiel 20:19, 20. “Though sin has entered the world to mar His perfect work, God still gives to us the Sabbath as a witness that One omnipotent, infinite in goodness and mercy, created all things. Our heavenly Father desires through the observance of the Sabbath to preserve among men a knowledge of Himself. He desires that the Sabbath shall direct our minds to Him as the true and living God, and that through knowing Him we may have life and peace.”–Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 349.“The Sabbath was not for Israel merely, but for the world. It had been made known to man in Eden, and, like the other precepts of the Decalogue, it is of imperishable obligation. Of that law of which the fourth commandment forms a part, Christ declares, ‘Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass from the law.’ So long as the heavens and the earth endure, the Sabbath will continue as a sign of the Creator’s power. And when Eden shall bloom on earth again, God’s holy rest day will be honored by all beneath the sun.”–The Desire of Ages, p. 283. b. What promise was very precious to the faithful remnant in the days of Ezekiel? Ezekiel 20:36–42. What do we read about the remnant of Israel in these last days? Isaiah 10:20–22. “From ‘every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people’ there will be some who will gladly respond to the message, ‘Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come.’ They will turn from every idol that binds them to earth, and will ‘worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.’ They will free themselves from every entanglement and will stand before the world as monuments of God’s mercy. Obedient to the divine requirements, they will be recognized by angels and by men as those that have kept ‘the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus’ (Revelation 14:6, 7, 12).”–Prophets and Kings, pp. 299, 300.

REVIEW AND THOUGHT QUESTIONS Friday August 18

1. How do God’s grace and justice work hand-in-hand in our behalf? 2. Why can the gospel of Christ indeed be known as “good news”? 3. How may we be going into Egypt today? 4. What does it mean to keep the Sabbath day holy? 5. What is the significance of the Sabbath to the remnant, both now and forever?