SSLS 2017-01-09
2017 1st Quarter
Lesson 2, January 7-13, The Holy Spirit: Working Behind the Scenes
Monday, January 9
Creation was a cooperative work involving all the fulness of the Godhead. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” KJV, Genesis 1:1, 2.
“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead…”. KJV, Romans 1:20.
“By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.” KJV, Job 26:13.
“The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.” KJV, Job 33:4.
“Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.” KJV, Psalm 104:29, 30, emphasis added.
“‘When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth.’ John 16:13. Only by the aid of that Spirit who in the beginning ‘was brooding upon the face of the waters;’ of that Word by whom ‘all things were made;’ of that ‘true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world,’ can the testimony of science be rightly interpreted. Only by their guidance can its deepest truths be discerned.
“Only under the direction of the Omniscient One shall we, in the study of His works, be enabled to think His thoughts after Him.” (Ellen White, Education, 134.)
“The world was in its infancy; yet iniquity had become so deep and widespread that God could no longer bear with it; and He said, ‘I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth.’ He declared that His Spirit should not always strive with the guilty race. If they did not cease to pollute with their sins the world and its rich treasures, He would blot them from His creation, and would destroy the things with which He had delighted to bless them; He would sweep away the beasts of the field, and the vegetation which furnished such an abundant supply of food, and would transform the fair earth into one vast scene of desolation and ruin.” (Ellen White, Patriarchs and Prophets, 92, emphasis added.)
“Revelation is not the creation or invention of something new, but the manifestation of what was, until revealed, unknown to human beings. The great and eternal truths contained in the gospel are revealed through diligent searching and humbling of ourselves before God. The divine Teacher leads the mind of the humble seeker for truth; and by the Holy Spirit’s guidance, the truths of the Word are made known to him. And there can be no more certain and efficient way of knowledge than in being thus guided. The promise of the Saviour was, ‘When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth.’ It is through the impartation of the Holy Spirit that we are made to understand the Word of God.” (Ellen White, Sabbath School Worker, December 1, 1909, emphasis added.)