SSLS 2017-01-05
2017 1st Quarter
Lesson 1, December 31-January 6, The Spirit and the Word
Thursday, January 5
The Holy Spirit inspired the writers of the Old Testament. The Holy Spirit inspired the writers of the New Testament. The Holy Spirit will not discard inspired truth in the Old Testament by some saying inspired in the New. We should ever be careful to study the New Testament in a manner that is consistent and balanced by what it already given in the Old.
“There is nothing in the word of God to be thrown aside; there is nothing in the plan of redemption that is unimportant or that may be lightly disregarded. The Bible gives us an account of the dealings of God with man from the creation to the coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven; it carries us even farther in the future, and opens before us the glories of the city of God, and the beauty and perfection of the earth made new, the saints’ secure abode. But although the long line of events extends through so many centuries, and new and important truths are from time to time developed, that which was truth in the beginning is the truth still. The increased light of the present day does not contradict or make of none effect the dimmer light of the past.
“All the truths of revelation are of value to us; and in contemplating things of eternal interest, we shall gain true perceptions of the character of God. The cultivation of reverence for him will affect the daily life. The entire character will be elevated and transformed. The soul will be brought into harmony with Heaven. The believer will become Christ-like, and will finally obtain an abundant entrance into the city of God.” (Ellen White, Signs of the Times, June 3, 1886, emphasis added.)
“If we are the Lord’s appointed messengers, we shall not spring up with new ideas and theories to contradict the message that God has given through His servants since 1844. At that time many sought the Lord with heart and soul and voice. The men whom God raised up were diligent searchers of the Scriptures. And those who today claim to have light, and who contradict the teaching of God’s ordained messengers, who were working under the Holy Spirit’s guidance, those who get up new theories, which remove the pillars of our faith, are not doing the will of God, but are bringing in fallacies of their own invention, which, if received, will cut the church away from the anchorage of truth, and set them drifting, drifting, to where they will receive any sophistries that may arise.” (Ellen White, Manuscript 75, 1905, 2, 3; Vol. 4, Manuscript Releases, 247, emphasis added.)
“The Spirit and the word agree. The Spirit of Christ leads into all truth; but there is in these spirit-taught ones an enmity against the plainest statements of the Bible. The spirit that guides them leads to the believing of lies rather than the truth, showing that their teacher is the great master spirit that ‘worketh in the children of disobedience.’
“Those who have had the light on the law of God, and yet have refused to accept that light, are not under the influence of the Spirit of God, whatever professions they may make or whatever wonderful works may be done through them. They are deceived by the sophistry of Satan. But they love his deceptions; for he exalts self, and leads them to trust in their own goodness; and this is more pleasing than to see themselves as they appear before a just and holy God.” (Ellen White, Signs of the Times, February 26, 1885, emphasis added.)