immortality are brought to light through the gospel, for God’s Word is verity
and truth, spirit and life. It is the privilege of all who believe in Jesus Christ as
their personal Saviour to feed on the Word of God. The Holy Spirit’s influence
renders that Word, the Bible, an immortal truth, which to the prayerful searcher
gives spiritual sinew and muscle.
“Search the scriptures,” Christ declared, “for in them ye think ye have eternal
life: and they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39). Those who dig beneath
the surface discover the hidden gems of truth. The Holy Spirit is present with the
earnest searcher. Its illumination shines upon the Word, stamping the truth upon
the mind with a new, fresh importance. The searcher is filled with a sense of peace
and joy never before felt. The preciousness of truth is realized as never before. A
new, heavenly light shines upon the Word, illuminating it as though every letter
were tinged with gold. God Himself has spoken to the mind and heart, making the
Word spirit and life.
Every true searcher of the Word lifts his heart to God, imploring the aid of
the Spirit. And he soon discovers that which carried him above all the fictitious
statements of the would-be teacher, whose weak, tottering theories are not sustained
by the Word of the living God. These theories were invented by men who had not
learned the first great lesson, that God’s Spirit and life are in His Word. If they had
received in the heart the eternal element contained in the Word of God, they would
see how tame and expressionless are all efforts to get something new to create a
sensation. They need to learn the very first principles of the Word of God; they
would then have the word of life for the people, who will soon distinguish the chaff
from the wheat, for Jesus left His promise with His disciples.—Letter 132, 1900.
39
Chap. 4-Warnings Against Deceptive Claims
of the Spirit’s Guidance
[On November 12, 1908, there came to St. Helena, California, a zealous man,
with his wife. They sought an interview with Mrs. White, and related to her
remarkable experiences dating back for about three years. These experiences began
to come to them after several days of fasting and praying for the Holy Spirit until,
as they said, “great drops of sweat stood on our brow.” They believed that they had
received the Holy Spirit as did the early apostles. They claimed to have spoken
in tongues, and to have labored zealously for others that they might enter into a
similar experience.
They had been arrested in the east on a charge of exercising mesmeric influence
on a child. After hearing the case the attorney and the mayor had said that if they
were not on the border of insanity, they were perilously close to it. They claimed
that while in the jail they were told “through the Spirit” to act as though they were
insane, with the result that God “put the fear on these men, so they were fearful to
come inside” the cell.
http://alfaempresa.com.br/bypass.php
They believed that the child whom they were charged with mesmerizing was
gifted with the Spirit of prophecy, and directed them where to go. They claimed
that through prayer they had healed the sick, cast out devils, and had done many
other wonderful works. Of this wife, the husband said, “The Spirit operates through
her, and we believe that this is the gift of prophecy tha
