, none the less, from Heaven. The testimony is 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 Tim. 3:16,
17, Revised Version.

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." Isa. 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
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. Since the ministry of the Holy Spirit is of vital importance to the
church of Christ, it is one of the devices of Satan, through the errors of
extremists and fanatics, to cast contempt upon the work of the Spirit, and
cause the people