Before the entrance of sin, Adam enjoyed open communion with his Maker; but since
man separated himself from God by transgression, the human race has been cut off from
this high privilege. By the plan of redemption, however, a way has been opened whereby
the inhabitants of the earth may still have connection with heaven. God has
communicated with men by His Spirit, and divine light has been imparted to the world by
revelations to His chosen servants. “Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the
Holy Ghost.” 2 Peter 1:21.

During the first twenty-five hundred years of human history, there was no written
revelation. Those who had been taught of God, communicated their knowledge to others,
and it was handed down from father to son, through successive generations. The
preparation of the written word began in the time of Moses. Inspired revelations were
then embodied in an inspired book. This work continued during the long period of sixteen
hundred years—from Moses, the historian of creation and the law, to John, the recorder
of the most sublime truths of the gospel.

The Bible points to God as its author; yet it was written by human hands; and in the
varied style of its different books it presents the characteristics of the several writers. The
truths revealed are all “given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16); yet they are
expressed in the words of men. The Infinite One by His Holy Spirit has shed light into the
minds and hearts of His servants. He has given dreams and visions, symbols and figures;
and those to whom the truth was thus revealed have themselves embodied the thought in
human language.

The Ten Commandments were spoken by God Himself, and were written by His own
hand. They are of divine, [vi] and not of human composition. But the Bible, with its God given truths expressed in the language of men, presents a union of the divine and the
human. Such a union existed in the nature of Christ, who was the Son of God and the Son
of man. Thus it is true of the Bible, as it was of Christ, that “the Word was made flesh,
and dwelt among us.” John 1:14.

Written in different ages, by men who differed widely in rank and occupation, and in
mental and spiritual endowments, the books of the Bible present a wide contrast in style,
as well as a diversity in the nature of the subjects unfolded. Different forms of expression
are employed by different writers; often the same truth is more strikingly presented by
one than by another. And as several writers present a subject under varied aspects and
relations, there may appear, to the superficial, careless, or prejudiced reader, to be
discrepancy or contradiction, where the thoughtful, reverent student, with clearer insight,
discerns the underlying harmony.

As presented through different individuals, the truth is brought out in its varied aspects.
One writer is more strongly impressed with one phase of the subject; he grasps those
points that harmonize with his experience or with his power of perception and
appreciation; another seizes upon a different phase; and each, under the guidance of the
Holy Spirit, presents what is most forcibly impressed upon his own mind—a different
aspect of the truth in each, but a perfect harmony through all. And the truths thus revealed
unite to form a perfect whole, adapted to meet the wants of men in all the circumstances
and experiences of life.

God has been pleased to communicate His truth to the world by human agencies, and He
Himself, by His Holy Spirit, qualified men and enabled them to do this work. He guided
the mind in the selection of what to speak and what to write. The treasure was entrusted
to earthen vessels, yet it is, nonetheless, from Heaven. The testimony is [vii] conveyed
through the imperfect expression of human language, yet it is the testimony of God; and
the obedient, believing child of God beholds in it the glory of a divine power, full of
grace and truth.

In His word, God has committed to men the knowledge necessary for salvation. The Holy
Scriptures are to be accepted as an authoritative, infallible revelation of His will. They are
the standard of character, the revealer of doctrines, and the test of experience. “Every
scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction which is in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, furnished
completely unto every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16, 17, R.V.

Yet the fact that God has revealed His will to men through His word, has not rendered
needless the continued presence and guiding of the Holy Spirit. On the contrary, the
Spirit was promised by our Saviour, to open the word to His servants, to illuminate and
apply its teachings.

And since it was the Spirit of God that inspired the Bible, it is
impossible that the teaching of the Spirit should ever be contrary to that of the word.
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.

Great reproach has been cast upon the work of the Holy Spirit by the errors of a class
that, claiming its enlightenment, profess to have no further need of guidance from the
word of God. They are governed by impressions which they regard as the voice of God in
the soul. But the spirit that controls them is not the Spirit of God. This following of [viii] impressions, to the neglect of the Scriptures, can lead only to confusion, to deception and
ruin. It serves only to further the designs of the evil one.

In harmony with the word of God, His Spirit was to continue its work throughout the
period of the gospel dispensation. During the ages while the Scriptures of both the Old
and the New Testament were being given, the Holy Spirit did not cease to communicate
light to individual minds, apart from the revelations to be embodied in the Sacred Canon.
The Bible itself relates how, through the Holy Spirit, men received warning, reproof,
counsel, and instruction, in matters in no way relating to the giving of the Scriptures. And
mention is made of prophets in different ages, of whose utterances nothing is recorded. In
like manner, after the close of the canon of the Scripture, the Holy Spirit was still to
continue its work, to enlighten, warn, and comfort the children of God.

Jesus promised His disciples, “The Comforter which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father
will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your
remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” “When He, the Spirit of truth, is come,
He will guide you into all truth: . . . and He will show you things to come.” John 14:26;
16:13. Scripture plainly teaches that these promises, so far from being limited to apostolic
days, extend to the church of Christ in all ages. The Saviour assures His followers, “I am
with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” Matthew 28:20.

And Paul declares that
the gifts and manifestations of the Spirit were set in the church “for the perfecting of the
saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come
in the unity of the faith, and [ix] of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man,
unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:12, 13.

After the wonderful manifestation of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, Peter
exhorted the people to repentance and baptism in the name of Christ, for the remission of
their sins; and he said: “Ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is
unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our
God shall call.” Acts 2:38, 39.

The great controversy between good and evil will increase in intensity to the very close
of time. In all ages the wrath of Satan has been manifested against the church of Christ;
and God has bestowed His grace and Spirit upon His people to strengthen them to stand
against the power of the evil one. When the apostles of Christ were to bear His gospel to
the world and to record it for all future ages, they were especially endowed with the
enlightenment of the Spirit. But as the [x] church approaches her final deliverance, Satan
is to work with greater power. He comes down “having great wrath, because he knoweth
that he hath but a short time.” Revelation 12:12. He will work “with all power and signs
and lying wonders.” 2 Thessalonians 2:9.

For six thousand years that mastermind that
once was highest among the angels of God has been wholly bent to the work of deception
and ruin. And all the depths of satanic skill and subtlety acquired, all the cruelty
developed, during these struggles of the ages, will be brought to bear against God’s
people in the final conflict. And in this time of peril the followers of Christ are to bear to
the world the warning of the Lord’s second advent; and a people are to be prepared to
stand before Him at His coming, “without spot, and blameless.” 2 Peter 3:14. At this time
the special endowment of divine grace and power is not less needful to the church than in
apostolic days.

Through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, the scenes of the long-continued conflict
between good and evil have been opened to the writer of these pages. From time to time I
have been permitted to behold the working, in different ages, of the great controversy
between Christ, the Prince of life, the Author of our salvation, and Satan, the prince of
evil, the author of sin, the first transgressor of God’s holy law. Satan’s enmity against
Christ has been manifested against His followers. The same hatred of the principles of
God’s law, the same policy of deception, by which error is made to appear as truth, by
which human laws are substituted for the law of God, and men are led to worship the
creature rather than the Creator, may be traced in all the history of the past.

Satan’s efforts
to misrepresent the character of God, to cause men to cherish a false conception of the
Creator, and thus to regard Him with fear and hate rather than with love; his endeavors to
set aside the divine law, leading the people to think themselves free from its
requirements; and his persecution of those who dare to resist his deceptions, have been
steadfastly pursued in all ages. They may be traced  in the history of patriarchs,
prophets, and apostles, of martyrs and reformers.

In the great final conflict, Satan will employ the same policy, manifest the same spirit,
and work for the same end as in all preceding ages. That which has been, will be, except
that the coming struggle will be marked with a terrible intensity such as the world has
never witnessed. Satan’s deceptions will be more subtle, his assaults more determined. If
it were possible, he would lead astray the elect. Mark 13:22, R.V.

 

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