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Following—

is the first lesson of the Glad Tidings Bible Study Guides. The lessons cover essential Bible doctrines as understood by Seventh-day Adventists, and include the Good News  concepts of the "most precious message."
The printed Glad Tidings Bible Study Guides consist of thirty-four lessons, conveniently packaged in one envelope. The lessons are divided into three sections:
  • Section One—Heart-Lifting Good News
  • Section Two—Good News About the Future
  • Section Three—Finding God's Place of Safety

Click here for a printable version of this study (in PDF format).

Study Guide One

 

 

How to Proceed

Read each question, using the references given to look up the texts in your Bible. If you don't have a Bible follow the link to the text. Find the answer in the text; then write it in the blanks provided. The notes will help to clarify parts that you may not understand.

Each one will become easier, each step clearer. We are using the King James Version, but please use whatever version you have.

You will sometimes see Happiness Digest quoted.

This helpful book is available from the publishers of these lessons (see address below).

Pause a moment before each study and pray:

"Father in heaven, thank You for Your Book. Thank You for sending the Holy Spirit to make it clear to me. I want to know You better and I choose to do Your will. In Jesus' precious name, Amen."

That prayer will be answered.


Jesus: Come and Meet Him!

Bewildered! That's how we are. We have not only missed our way, we have lost the address. We are like the sad and lonely dog sitting bewildered in his cage on a London porter's baggage cart. A stranger passing by asked, "What's wrong with that dog?" "Let me tell you," the porter confided. "That dog has chewed off his destination label and now doesn't know where he came from or where he is going."

Do you know where you are going? Is your life empty and meaningless? Do you find yourself staring into the TV screen with your mind locked in neutral gear, bored with yourself and with all that the glitzy world can do to amuse you? Does your future seem like a gray and cloudy sky? You are not alone. Most of the world's five billion-plus people feel as though they are riding a bus in a dreary fog, destination unknown; most, but not all. All can read ordinary maps and find where they are, but some have discovered an inspired Map telling them what lies ahead for this world.

The Map they have found is a book called the Bible. They have discovered in it a key that unlocks its pages and displays its treasures of hope and joy. There is a light in their eyes because a heavenly light has shone in their hearts. They found it in the Bible.

This Book is different from any other in the world because it says, "Thus saith the Lord," not "thus man thinks or supposes." Sometimes the Bible message soothes like a caress, sometimes it stings like a sharp sword. It is hard as steel when it comes to telling the difference between right and wrong, soft as velvet when it assures you that wrong can be forgiven and you will be a new person.

This Book will reveal Christ to you as he truly is. If you will do the looking, the Holy Spirit will do the showing.

The Book That Reveals a Person

1. What is the only true way to happiness? John 14:6.

ANSWER: Jesus says, "I am the ______ , the __________ , and the _________ . . . ."

2. Does Jesus hide Himself from anyone? John 1:4, 9.
ANSWER: "In Him was ________ ; and the life was the 
__________ of men. That was the true Light, which lighteth __________ ______ that cometh into the world."


3. No matter who you are or what your past mistakes may have been, if you come to Him what can you know He will not do? John 6:37.
ANSWER: "Him that cometh to Me I will ____ ____ ________ ________ ______ ."

Nobody has fallen so low, but he/she can find deliverance in Christ. "If you see your sinfulness, do not wait to make yourself better. How many there are who think they are not good enough to come to Christ. Do you expect to become better through your own efforts? 'Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.' Jeremiah 13:23. There is help for us only in God. We must not wait for stronger persuasions, for better opportunities, or for holier tempers. We can do nothing of ourselves. We must come to Christ just as we are" (Happiness Digest, p. 13). God has promised, "I will never turn away anyone who comes to Me" (John 6:37, 
last part, TEV).

4. What does Jesus promise to give to everyone who comes? Matthew 11:28, 29.
ANSWER: He gives ________ . He says, "__________ of Me."

This rest is the actual peace of heart everyone longs for, but never finds in the world. The fact that you are willing to study this lesson is evidence that you indeed have chosen to come to Him. Now, He says, "Learn of Me." Be a student in His "school." He is a good Teacher, so good that every student who will learn of Him will get an "A" in the course—eternal life.

What Jesus Says About These Troubled Times

5. What does Jesus say our present days are like? Matthew 24:37.
ANSWER: ". . . As the days of ________ were, so shall also the 
____________ ____ ______ ______ ____ ______ ____ ."

6. Turning to the Genesis story of the people in the "days of Noah," what population problem did they have that is similar to ours today? Genesis 6:1.
ANSWER: ". . . When men began to _____________ on the face of the earth. . . ."

This century began with 1.6 billion people and will probably end with nearly 7 billion, unless Christ returns sooner. Feeding them will be more difficult than landing men on the moon. A mere 200 years from now there will be 150 billion scrambling for standing room. Alfred M. Rehwinkel, in his book, The Flood, estimates that the population in Noah's day could have been equal to ours today.

7. What moral problem corrupted the world in Noah's day? Genesis 6:2.
ANSWER: ". . . Took them __________ of ______ which ________ _________ ."

It was OK for them to marry. Marriage was God's plan, one of the first institutions which He established. He gave special directions about it, clothing it with sanctity and beauty. But these directions were forgotten, and marriage was perverted and made to minister to selfish, lustful passion. The Lord gave to Adam one wife. But after the Fall, people followed their own sinful desires; and as the result, crime and wretchedness rapidly increased. Neither marriage nor the rights of property were respected. Whoever coveted the wives or the possessions of his neighbor, took them by force, and men exulted in their deeds of violence. Our modern world is fast becoming like that ancient world.

8. What kind of thinking filled their minds in Noah's day? Genesis 6:5.
ANSWER: ". . . Every imagination of the thoughts . . . was only __________ _____________________ ."

God gave these people before the flood many rich gifts; but they used them for selfish purposes. They turned them into a curse by worshipping the gifts instead of the Giver. They used gold and silver, precious stones, choice wood, in building palaces for themselves, and tried to outdo one another in beautifying their dwellings with the most skillful workmanship. They reveled in scenes of pleasure and wickedness. Not desiring to retain God in their knowledge, they soon denied His existence. They adored nature in place of the God of nature. They glorified human genius, worshipped the works of their own hands, and taught their children to bow down to graven images. Jesus says our days are like those before the Flood.

9. Do you think the people in Noah's day had a pollution problem? Genesis 6:11.
ANSWER: "The earth also was ____________ before God, and the earth was filled with ________________ ."

Every year, North Americans throw away millions of tons of precious paper and plastic at a cost of billions of dollars for garbage collection. Frightened scientists warn of the possible death of this planet. Some ask, "Will this be our last decade?" And this has been the most bloody  century in world history. Over 90 million people have died in wars. Over 1000 people, too bewildered to live, commit suicide every day. Many more attempt it. In recent years the rates of criminal homicide, forcible rape, aggravated assault, and robbery have increased frighteningly.

10. What are God's feelings today about man polluting His once beautiful earth? Revelation 11:18.
ANSWER: While nations are " __________ ", God sees that at last it will be necessary to "destroy them which ______________ ______ __________ ."

11. Let us take another look at what Jesus said about the people in Noah's day. What was missing in their lives? Matthew 24:37-39.
ANSWER: "Before the flood they were ____________ and ________________ , ________________ and giving in _____________ , . . . And ________ ______ until the flood came, and took them all away. . . ."

What they lacked was knowledge of the truth. The truth for today is that Jesus is coming back soon, and He is preparing a people for that event.

12. How did God prove His love for Noah's generation in those tragic days before the Flood? Genesis 6:3.
ANSWER: His Spirit strove with man for ________ years.

Methuselah, Noah, and many others worked to keep alive the knowledge of the true God and to hold back the moral evil. A hundred and twenty years before the Flood, the Lord told Noah His purpose, and directed him to build an ark. He was to preach that God would bring a flood of water on the earth to destroy the wicked. Those who would believe, and prepare by repentance and reformation, would be saved.

13. How does the Lord prove His love to you and me today? John 12:32.
ANSWER: Christ, by His Spirit, is drawing ______ ______ to Him.

"Jesus has said, 'I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.' John 12:32. Christ must be revealed to the sinner as the Saviour dying for the sin of the world; and as we behold the Lamb of God upon the cross of Calvary, the mystery of redemption begins to unfold to our minds and the goodness of God leads us to repentance. In dying for sinners, Christ manifested a love that is incomprehensible; and as the sinner beholds this love, it softens the heart, impresses the mind, and inspires contrition in the soul. . . . "The sinner may resist this love, may refuse to be drawn to Christ; but if he does not resist he will be drawn to Jesus; a knowledge of the plan of salvation will lead him to the foot of the cross in repentance for his sins, which have caused the sufferings of God's dear Son.

"You who in heart long for something better than this world can give, recognize this longing as the voice of God to your soul. Ask Him to give you repentance, to reveal Christ to you in His infinite love, in His perfect purity." Happiness Digest, p. 11.

14. Did you find this lesson helpful and informative? ________________ .

"Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you" (1 Peter 5:7).

"Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

You may click here for a printable version of this study (in PDF format).

Ordering Information:

Glad Tidings Bible Study Guides (34 Lessons):
       Only $4.75/set + s/h.

Also available:
Good News for Laodicea Bible Study Guides
.

This ten-lesson set covers key concepts of the 1888 message and the history of Minneapolis and thereafter. Titles include:

  • "The Heart-Thrilling Beauty of the 1888 Message,"
  • "Christ is Closer Than You Think," and
  • "The Glorious Truth of the New Covenant."
    $2.50/set + s/h.

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