Sabbath School

Adult Sabbath School Bible study guide.

Read John 17:20–23 and 1 Corinthians 1:10–13. What core appeal is at the heart of these two passages of Scripture?

As Jesus approached the cross, His heart was moved by one overriding desire. He wanted all of His followers to be one, as He and the Father are one in love, purpose, and action. The unity for which Jesus prayed was not some bland uniformity. Jesus prayed a powerful prophecy that will be fulfilled before His return—a rich tapestry of human beings with different backgrounds, ethnicities, and perspectives would all unite in Him and in the Father, through the power of the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul built on this theme when he pleaded with the Corinthian believers to have the same mind, speak the same truth, and harbor no divisions (1 Cor. 1:10). But why is this prophetic unity so important?

Jesus prayed “ ‘that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me’ ” (John 17:21, NKJV).

God desires that all men and women be saved, but before they can be saved, they must believe in Jesus and believe that God sent Him to save the world. When a diverse group of people claim Jesus as their Lord and Savior, loving and serving each other selflessly, then the world will believe that Jesus was who He claimed to be. The unity Jesus craved is both purposeful and powerful. Unfortunately, even from the start, forces threatened that unity. See, for example, Acts 6:1. And Christianity has been radically divided since!

This unity is the work of the Holy Spirit through the gifts that He dispenses. Ephesians 4:11–15 tells us that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to equip believers and edify the body of Christ, “till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13, NKJV). The gift of prophecy, one of the signature gifts of the Spirit, is essential to unify God’s people, especially as they near the second coming of Jesus, so that they might believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved (Acts 16:31).

At a time when the Seventh-day Adventist Church is perhaps the most diverse Protestant religious body in the world, how can we exhibit the kind of unity that helps people believe in Jesus? What forces threaten that unity?

Supplemental EGW Notes

The prophecies which the great I AM has given in His word, uniting link after link in the chain of events, from eternity in the past to eternity in the future, tell us where we are today in the procession of the ages, and what may be expected in the time to come. All that prophecy has foretold as coming to pass, until the present time, has been traced on the pages of history, and we may be assured that all which is yet to come will be fulfilled in its order. Today the signs of the times declare that we are standing on the threshold of great and solemn events. Everything in our world is in agitation. Before our eyes is fulfilling the Saviour’s prophecy of the events to precede His coming: “Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. . . . Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” The present is a time of overwhelming interest to all living. Rulers and statesmen, men who occupy positions of trust and authority, thinking men and women of all classes, have their attention fixed upon the events taking place about us. They are watching the relations that exist among the nations. They observe the intensity that is taking possession of every earthly element, and they recognize that something great and decisive is about to take place—that the world is on the verge of a stupendous crisis. The Bible, and the Bible only, gives a correct view of these things. Here are revealed the great final scenes in the history of our world, . . . the sound of their approach causing the earth to tremble and men’s hearts to fail them for fear. Today men and nations are being tested by the plummet in the hand of Him who makes no mistake. All are by their own choice deciding their destiny, and God is overruling all for the accomplishment of His purposes. Christians should be preparing for what is soon to break upon the world as an overwhelming surprise, and this preparation they should make by diligently studying the word of God and striving to conform their lives to its precepts.—Maranatha, p. 68.

Christ says of His people: “Ye are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). It is not a small matter that the counsels and plans of God have been so clearly opened to us. It is a wonderful privilege to be able to understand the will of God as revealed in the sure word of prophecy. This places on us a heavy responsibility. God expects us to impart to others the knowledge that He has given us. It is His purpose that divine and human instrumentalities shall unite in the proclamation of the warning message. So far as his opportunities extend, everyone who has received the light of truth is under the same responsibility as was the prophet of Israel to whom came the word: “Son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word of my mouth, and warn them from me” (Ezekiel 33:7).—Lift Him Up, p. 357.

The above quotations are taken from Ellen G. White Notes for the Sabbath School Lessons, published by Pacific Press Publishing Association. Used by permission.