Let me first state:  “The written testimonies are not to give new light, but to impress vividly upon the heart the truths of inspiration already revealed.  Man’s duty to God and to his fellow man has been distinctly specified in God’s Word, yet but few of you are obedient to the light given.  Additional truth is not brought out; but God has through the Testimonies simplified the great truths already given and in His own chosen way brought them before the people to awaken and impress the mind with them, that all may be left without excuse.  The Testimonies are not to belittle the Word of God, but to exalt It and attract minds to It, that the beautiful simplicity of truth may impress all.”  CCh:92.1; FLB 295.5 [last sentence left out]; LS:198-199 [last sentence left out]; 2T:605.2; [last sentence left out]; 5T:665.1(1882-1889) [last sentence left out]. 

 

 

Continuing On:

 

 

“The Bible was forbidden to be read on pain of death, and all the copies of the Holy Book which could be found were burned.  But I saw that God had a special care for His Word.  He protected It.  At different periods there were but a very few copies of the Bible in existence, yet God would not suffer His Word to be lost.  And in the last days, copies of the Bible were to be so multiplied that every family could possess it.”  1SG:109.

 

“Then I saw that God knew that Satan would try every art to destroy man; therefore [117] He had caused His Word to be written out, and had made His designs to man so plain that the weakest need not err.  Then, after He had given His Word to man, He had carefully preserved it, so that Satan and his angels, through any agent or representative, could not destroy it.  While other books might be destroyed, this Holy Book was to be immortal.  And down near the close of time, when the delusions of Satan should increase, the copies of this Book were to be so multiplied, that all who desired It might have a copy of God’s revealed Will to man, and, if they would, might arm themselves against the deceptions and lying wonders of Satan.

 

“[118] I saw that God had especially guarded the Bible, yet learned men, when the copies were few, had changed the words in some instances, thinking that they were making it more plain, when they were mystifying that which was plain, in causing it to lean to their established views, governed by tradition.  But I saw that the Word of God, as a whole, is a perfect chain, one portion of Scripture explaining another.  True seekers for truth need not err; for not only is the Word of God plain and simple in declaring the way to life, but the Holy Spirit is given to guide in understanding the way of life revealed in His Word.”  1SG:117-118; EW:220.2.

 

“You are not familiar with the Scriptures.  If you had made God’s Word your study, with a desire to reach the Bible standard and attain to Christian perfection, you would not have needed the Testimonies.  It is because you have neglected to acquaint yourselves with God’s inspired Book that He has sought to reach you by simple, direct testimonies, calling your attention to the Words of inspiration which you had neglected to obey, and urging you to fashion your lives in accordance with Its pure and elevated teachings.”  2T:605.1; 5T:664.3; CCh:92.5.

 

“How can the Lord bless those who manifest a spirit of ‘I don’t care,’ a spirit which leads them to walk contrary to the light which the Lord has given them?  But I do not ask you to take my words.  Lay Sister White to one side.  Do not quote my words again as long as you live until you can obey the Bible.”  3SM:33.1; 5MR:141.1.

 

“When you make the Bible your food, your meat, and your drink, when you make Its principles the elements of your character, you will know better how to receive counsel from God.  I exalt the precious Word before you today.  Do not repeat what I have said, saying, ‘Sister White said this,’ and ‘Sister White said that.’  Find out what the Lord God of Israel says, and then do what He Commands.”  3SM:33.1; Manuscript 43, 1901.

 

“The language of the Bible should be explained according to its obvious meaning, unless a symbol or figure is employed.  Christ has given the promise:  ‘If any man will do His Will, he shall know of the doctrine.’ {John 7:17}.  If men would but take the Bible as it reads, if there were no false teachers to mislead and confuse their minds, a work would be accomplished that would make angels glad and that would bring into the fold of Christ thousands upon thousands who are now wandering in error.”  4SP:416; GC:598.

 

“Never should the Bible be studied without prayer.  The Holy Spirit alone can cause us to feel the importance of those things easy to be understood, or prevent us from wresting truths difficult of comprehension.”  4SP:418.1.

 

“All will be judged according to the light that has been given.  The Lord sends forth His ambassadors with a message of salvation, and those who hear He will hold responsible for the way in which they treat the words of His servants.  Those who are sincerely seeking for truth will make a careful investigation, in the light of God’s Word, of the doctrines presented to them.”  AA:232.

 

“The Spirit was not given -- nor can it ever be bestowed -- to supersede the Bible; for the Scriptures explicitly state that the Word of God is the standard by which all teaching and experience must be tested.  Says the apostle John, ‘Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God:  because many false prophets are gone out into the world.’  1 John 4:1.  And Isaiah declares, ‘To the Law and to the Testimony:  if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them.’  Isaiah 8:20.”  CCh:92.2.

 

“Never should the Bible be studied without prayer.  Before opening its pages, we should ask for the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, and it will be given.”  CE:59.1; AG:199.5; SC:91.1; Atlantic Union Gleaner, June 9, 1909, par. 8; YRP:115.5; ST, October 3, 1906 paragraph 8.

 

“[125] The central theme of the Bible, the theme about which every other in the whole Book clusters, is the redemption plan, the restoration in the human soul of the image of God.  From the first intimation of hope in the sentence pronounced in Eden to that last glorious promise of the Revelation, ‘They shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads’ (Revelation 22:4), the burden of every Book and every Passage of the Bible is the unfolding of this wondrous theme, -- man’s uplifting, -- the power of [126]

 

“God, ‘which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’  1 Corinthians 15:57.

 

“He who grasps this thought has before him an infinite field for study.  He has the key that will unlock to him the whole treasure house of God’s Word.”  ED:125-126; LHU:56, 126; ST, April 18, 1906 par. 1.

 

“The student of the Bible should be taught to approach It in the spirit of a learner.  We are to search Its pages, not for proof to sustain our opinions, but in order to know what God says.  A true knowledge of the Bible can be gained only through the aid of that Spirit by Whom the Word was given.  And in order to gain this knowledge we must live by it.  All that God’s Word Commands, we are to obey.”  Ed:189.

 

“[521] The Bible was designed to be a guide to all who wish to become acquainted with the Will of their Maker.  God gave to men the sure Word of prophecy; angels and even Christ Himself came to make known to Daniel and John the things that must shortly come to pass.  Those important matters that concern our salvation were not left involved in mystery.  They were not revealed in such a way as to perplex and mislead the honest seeker after truth.  Said the Lord by the prophet Habakkuk:  ‘Write the vision, and make it plain. . . that he may run that readeth it.’  Habakkuk 2:2.  The Word of God is plain to all who study It with a prayerful [522] heart.  Every truly honest soul will come to the light of truth.”  GC:521-522.

 

“Heavenly angels shed their light around him [Moses].  Here, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he wrote the Book of Genesis.  The long years spent amid the desert solitudes were rich in blessing, not alone to Moses and his people, but to the world in all succeeding ages.”  PP:251.

 

“The long years spent amid desert solitudes were not lost.  Not only was Moses gaining a preparation for the great work before him, but during this time, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he wrote the Book of Genesis and also the Book of Job, which would be read with the deepest interest by the people of God until the close of time.”  ST, February 19, 1880.

 

“Here are writings running through different dispensations, and in order to understand their meaning we must become Bible students, and search prayerfully and critically for light upon the revealed Word.  There are inexhaustible streams of light to reward the research of the greatest minds.  The Bible is an expression of God to man, in language simple and easy to be understood. . . The question with all should be, ‘What is truth?’ ”  RH, May 26, 1876.

 

“The religion of the Bible is that development of our moral natures in which the soul holds converse with God, loves that which God Loves, and hates that which God hates.”  RH, October 31, 1878.

 

“The scribes of God wrote as they were dictated by the Holy Spirit, having no control of the work themselves.”  RH, January 22, 1880.

 

“The Bible, and the Bible alone, is to be our creed, the sole bond of union; all who bow to this Holy Word will be in harmony.  Our own views and ideas must not control our efforts.  Man is fallible, but God’s Word is infallible.  Instead of wrangling with one another, let men exalt the Lord.  Let us meet all opposition as did our Master, saying, ‘It is written.’  Let us lift up the banner on which is inscribed, The Bible our rule of faith and discipline.”  RH, December 15, 1885, Article A, paragraph 16; 1SM:416.2.