Memory Text: Ephesians 4:14-15 NIV “14 Then we will no longer be infants…we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.”

Sunday, June 17 The Need for Growth
Hebrews 5:12-14 NIV “12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”
Hebrews 5:12 COMMENTARY BY ADAM CLARKE Milk is a metaphor by which many authors, both sacred and profane, express the first principles of religion and science; and they apply sucking to learning; and every student in his novitiate, or commencement of his studies, was likened to an infant that derives all its nourishment from the breast of its mother, not being able to digest any other kind of food. On the contrary, those who had well learned all the first principles of religion and science, and knew how to apply them, were considered as adults who were capable of receiving solid food; i.e. the more difficult and sublime doctrines. The rabbins abound with this figure; it occurs frequently in Philo, and in the Greek ethic writers also.

Monday, June 18 Growing in Faith
Hebrews 4:2 Holman “For we also have received the good news just as they did; but the message they heard did not benefit them, since they were not united with those who heard it in faith”
Hebrews 4:2 COMMENTARY BY ALBERT BARNES The idea is, that merely to hear the message of life with the outward ear will be of no advantage. It must be believed, or it will be of no benefit.
Hebrews 3:12 ESV “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.”
Hebrews 3:12 SDA BIBLE COMMENTARY An evil heart of unbelief. This has ever been the root of difficulty in the matter of man’s relation to God. Thus it was with Israel in the wilderness, and later in the land of Canaan. This same difficulty prevents nominal Christians today from entering into the experience of “rest” that is possible through genuine faith in Christ Jesus. Israel’s lack of faith stands in marked contrast with the faithfulness of Moses and Christ.

Tuesday, June 19 Growing in Love
1 Corinthians 13:8 God’s Word to the Nations “Love never comes to an end. There is the gift of speaking what God has revealed, but it will no longer be used. There is the gift of speaking in other languages, but it will stop by itself. There is the gift of knowledge, but it will no longer be used.”
1 Corinthians 13:8 COMMENTARY BY ADAM CLARKE This love never falleth off, because it bears, believes, hopes, and endures all things; and while it does so it cannot fail; it is the means of preserving all other graces; indeed, properly speaking, it includes them all; and all receive their perfection from it.
Illustrations of the importance and power of love:
Matthew 22:37-38 NLT “37 Jesus replied, "‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.”
Matthew 22:37 SDA BIBLE COMMENTARY Obedience without love is as impossible as it is worthless. But where love is present a person will automatically set out to order his life in harmony with the will of God as expressed in His commandments…Christ’s purpose here in enumerating different parts of one’s being is simply another way of saying that love for God, if truly present, will permeate every aspect of the being.
Galatians 5:14 MKJV “For all the Law is fulfilled in one word, [even] in this, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."”
1 John 3:14 NKJV “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love [his] brother abides in death.”
1 John 4:7-8 NRSV “7 ¶ Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
1 John 4:7 COMMENTARY BY BARNES That is, every one who has true love to Christians as such, or true brotherly love, is a true Christian. This cannot mean that every one that loves his wife and children, his classmate, his partner in business, or his friend--his house, or his farms, or his horses, or his hounds, is a child of God; it must be understood as referring to the point under discussion. A man may have a great deal of natural affection towards his kindred; a great deal of benevolence in his character towards the poor and needy, and still he may have none of the love to which John refers. He may have no real love to God, to the Saviour, or to the children of God as such; and it would be absurd for such a one to argue because he loves his wife and children that therefore he loves God, or is born again.
1 John 4:16 KJ21 “And we have known and believed the love that God hath for us. God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”
1 John 4:16 COMMENTARY BY BARNES God is love; he has loved us; we are to love him; we are to love one another; we are to love the whole world. Heaven is filled with love, and there is nothing else there. The earth is filled with love just as far as religion prevails, and would be entirely if it should prevail everywhere. Love would remove all the corrupt passions, the crimes, the jealousies, the wars on the earth, and would diffuse around the globe the bliss of heaven. If a man, therefore, is actuated by this, he has the spirit of the heavenly world reigning in his soul, and lives in an atmosphere of love.

Wednesday, June 20 Growing in Christ
Ephesians 4:14-15 NRSV “14 We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. 15 But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,”
Ephesians 4:15 PEOPLE’S NT COMMENTARY grow up into him in all things. In all their growth there should be a growth of Christ's traits, a growth into his likeness.
Galatians 2:20 NRSV “and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20 COMMENTARY BY MATTHEW HENRY The more simply the believer relies on Christ for every thing, the more devotedly does he walk before Him in all his ordinances and commandments. Christ lives and reigns in him, and he lives here on earth by faith in the Son of God, which works by love, causes obedience, and changes into his holy image. Thus he neither abuses the grace of God, nor makes it in vain.

Thursday, June 21 Growing in the Spirit
Principles Needed for Spiritual Growth:
1. Really Want the Spirit’s Guidance - Matthew 5:6 Holman “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, because they will be filled.”
Matthew 5:6 SDA BIBLE COMMENTARY This metaphor was especially forceful in a country where the average annual rainfall is not more than 26 in. What is true in Palestine is generally true throughout large sections of the Near East. Bordering on large desert areas, even much inhabited land is semi-arid. No doubt many in the audience now listening to Jesus had experienced pangs of thirst. As illustrated in the case of Hagar and Ishmael, a traveler who lost his way or who missed one of the few springs en route could easily find himself in serious straits…But Jesus spoke of the hunger and thirst of the soul. Only those who long for righteousness with the eager anxiety of a man starving for lack of food or famishing for want of water, will find it. No earthly source can satisfy the hunger and thirst of the soul, whether it be material riches, profound philosophies, the satisfaction of physical appetites, or honor and power.
2. Live by believing in the power of the Spirit - Galatians 3:11 Holman “Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because ‘the righteous will live by faith.’”
3. Put God’s principles ahead of wishes - Galatians 5:16 Holman “I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”
4. Search the Bible - 2 Timothy 3:15 MKJV “and that from a babe you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”
2 Timothy 3:15 SDA BIBLE COMMENTARY From a child. Faithful Jewish parents began teaching the truths of the OT to their children at five years of age…The great world religions, such Mohammedanism, Buddhism, and Hinduism, have “holy scriptures,” but these cannot make anyone “wise unto salvation.” Only the Bible reveals how men may break the bonds of sinful habits and find pardon from God. Consequently man’s first duty should be to understand the Bible for himself.
5. Stay away from evil – 1 Peter 3:11 MKJV “Let him turn aside from evil and do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it.”
1 Peter 3:11 COMMENTARY BY BARNES A peaceful spirit--a calm, serene, and equal temper of mind--is favourable to health, avoiding those corroding and distracting passions which do so much to wear out the physical energies of the frame; and such a spirit will preserve us from those contentions and strifes to which so many owe their death. Let any one reflect on the numbers that are killed in duels, in battles, and in brawls, and he will have no difficulty in seeing how a peaceful spirit will contribute to length of days.
6. Confess all sins – 1 John 1:9 MKJV “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:9 COMMENTARY JOHN WESLEY NOTES This may seem strange; but upon the evangelical principle of atonement and redemption, it is undoubtedly true; because, when the debt is paid, or the purchase made, it is the part of equity to cancel the bond, and consign over the purchased possession.

Friday, June 22 Further Study
Ellen White, Steps to Christ, p. 67 – “Many have an idea that they must do some part of the work alone. They have trusted in Christ for the forgiveness of sin, but now they seek by their own efforts to live aright. But every such effort must fail. Jesus says, "Without Me ye can do nothing." Our growth in grace, our joy, our usefulness,--all depend upon our union with Christ. It is by communion with Him, daily, hourly,--by abiding in Him, --that we are to grow in grace. He is not only the Author, but the Finisher of our faith. It is Christ first and last and always.”

Not sure why you skipped the lesson from Sabbath . I thought it was the best.

This quote was very good ....

"It's not that a new Christian has to work to reach salvation, as in other faiths; instead, because he or she already HAS salvation, already stands PERFECT and accepted in God, the Christian begins to live a life that reveals and reflects that salvation."

Thanks for adding it. I usually start with Sunday because that is the place the bulk of the lesson begins.