HOW TO STUDY THE SCRIPTURES

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Second Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 11-25-84

E.G.WHITE

1. "Every word must have its proper bearing on the subject presented in the Bible;

2. All Scripture is necessary, and may be understood by diligent application and study;

3. Nothing revealed in Scripture can or will be hid from those who ask in faith, not wavering;

4. To understand doctrine, bring all the scriptures together on the subject you wish to know, then let every word have its proper influence; and if you can form your theory without a contradiction, you cannot be in error;

5. Scripture must be its own expositor, since it is a rule of itself. If I depend on a teacher to expound to me, and he should guess at its meaning, or desire to have it so on account of his sectarian creed, or to be thought wise, then his guessing, desire, creed, or wisdom is my rule, and not the Bible."

How to Study the Bible

The Signs of the Times 10-03-06

Do not read the Word in the light of former opinions. Do not try to make everything agree with your creed. With a mind free from prejudice, search the Word carefully. If, as you read, conviction comes, and you see that your cherished opinions are not in harmony with the Word, do not try to make the Word fit these opinions. Do not allow what you have believed or practised in the past to control your understanding. Open the eyes of your mind to behold wondrous things out of the Word. -

The Laodicean Church

Testimonies for the Church Vol. Three 255

I have been shown that the greatest reason why the people of God are now found in this state of spiritual blindness is that they will not receive correction. Many have despised the reproofs and warnings given them.

The True Witness condemns the lukewarm condition of the people of God, which gives Satan great power over them in this waiting, watching time. The selfish, the proud, and the lovers of sin are ever assailed with doubts.

Satan has ability to suggest doubts and to devise objections to the pointed testimony that God sends, and many think it a virtue, a mark of intelligence in them, to be unbelieving and to question and quibble. Those who desire to doubt will have plenty of room. God does not propose to remove all occasion for unbelief. He gives evidence, which must be carefully investigated with a humble mind and a teachable spirit, and all should decide from the weight of evidence. -

GC598-9 RH062806 The language of the Bible should be explained according to its obvious meaning, unless a symbol or figure is employed. ....

John 7:17. If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine.

4T499 When you search the Scriptures with an earnest desire to learn the truth, God will breathe His Spirit into your heart and impress your mind with the light of His word.

4T499 The Bible is its own interpreter, one passage explaining another.

By comparing scriptures referring to the same subjects, you will see beauty and harmony of which you have never dreamed.

There is no other book whose perusal strengthens and enlarges, elevates and ennobles the mind, as does the perusal of this Book of books. Its study imparts new vigor to the mind, which is thus brought in contact with subjects requiring earnest thought, and is drawn out in prayer to God for power to comprehend the truths revealed. If the mind is left to deal with common place subjects, instead of deep and difficult problems, it will become narrowed down to the standard of the matter which it contemplates and will finally lose its power of expansion.

The Essential Knowledge

Testimonies for the Church Vol. Eight 291

Already there are coming in among our people spiritualistic teachings that will undermine the faith of those who give heed to them. The theory that God is an essence pervading all nature is one of Satan's most subtle devices. It misrepresents God and is a dishonor to His greatness and majesty.

Pantheistic theories are not sustained by the word of God. The light of His truth shows that these theories are soul-destroying agencies. Darkness is their element, sensuality their sphere. They gratify the natural heart and give license to inclination. Separation from God is the result of accepting them. Our condition through sin has become preternatural, and the power that restores us must be supernatural, else it has no value.

There is but one power that can break the hold of evil from the hearts of men, and that is the power of God in Jesus Christ. Only through the blood of the Crucified One is there cleansing from sin. His grace alone can enable us to resist and subdue the tendencies of our fallen nature. This power the spiritualistic theories concerning God make of no effect. If God is an essence pervading all nature, then He dwells in all men; and in order to attain holiness, man has only to develop the power that is within him.

These theories, followed to their logical conclusions sweep away the whole Christian economy. They do away with the necessity for the atonement and make man his own savior. These theories regarding God make His word of no effect, and those who accept them are in great danger of being led finally to look upon the whole Bible as a fiction. They may regard virtue as better than vice; but God being removed from His position of sovereignty, they place their dependence upon human power, which, without God, is worthless.

The unaided human will has no real power to resist and overcome evil. The defenses of the soul are broken down. Man has no barrier against sin. When once the restraints of God's word and His Spirit are rejected, we know not to what depths one may sink.

Testimonies for the Church Vol. Five 331

The Bible with its precious gems of truth was not written for the scholar alone. On the contrary, it was designed for the common people; and the interpretation given by the common people, when aided by the Holy Spirit, accords best with the truth as it is in Jesus. The great truths necessary for salvation are made clear as the noonday, and none will mistake and lose their way except those who follow their own judgment instead of the plainly revealed will of God.

Maranatha 23

God can teach you more in one moment by His Holy Spirit than you could learn from the great men of the earth.

II Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Evangelism 695. It should be remembered that the promises and the threatenings of God are alike conditional.

Selected Messages 57. Regarding the testimonies, nothing is ignored; nothing is cast aside; but Time and Place must be considered.

DEFINITION OF GOD’S CHURCH

Acts of the Apostles 11. Faithful souls constitute God's church.

7A165 The alliances made by the Israelites with their heathen neighbors resulted in the loss of their identity as God's peculiar people.

UL315 God has a church. It is not the great cathedral, neither is it the national establishment, neither is it the various denominations; it is the people who love God and keep His commandments. "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matt. 18:20).

Where Christ is even among the humble few, this is Christ's church, for the presence of the High and Holy One who inhabiteth eternity can alone constitute a church.