“They (men questioning the testimonies) have a painful consciousness that their life will not abide the test of the Spirit of God, whether speaking through His Word or through the testimonies of His Spirit that would bring them to His Word. Instead of beginning with their own hearts, and coming into harmony with the pure principles of the gospel, they find fault, and condemn the very means that God has chosen to fit up a people to stand in the day of the Lord.

Let some skeptical one come along, who is not willing to square his life by the Bible rule, who is seeking to gain the favor of all, and how soon the class that are not in harmony with the work of God are called out.”—E.G. White Manuscript 1, 1883. (In Selected Messages 1:45)

2. (1888) In the Setting of the Bible Supreme and the Experience of Those Who Hold Views That Supersede It:PBORWEW 25.2

“Luther... suffered great perplexity and distress from the course of fanatical persons who claimed that God had spoken directly through them, and who therefore set in their own ideas and opinions above the testimony of the Scriptures. Many who were lacking in faith and experience, but who had considerable self-sufficiency, and who loved to hear and tell some new thing, were beguiled by the pretensions of the new teachers, and they joined the agents of Satan in their work of tearing down what God had moved Luther to build up.

And the Wesleys, and others who blessed the world by their influence and their faith, encountered at every step the wiles of Satan in pushing over jealous, unbalanced, and unsanctified ones into fanaticism of every grade.

William Miller had no sympathy with those influences that led to fanaticism. He declared, with Luther, that every spirit should be tested by the word of God... [Said Miller] ‘We are commanded to try the spirits. The spirit that does not cause us to live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world, is not the Spirit of Christ. I am more and more convinced that Satan has much to do in these wild movements... Many among us who pretend to be wholly sanctified, are following the traditions of men...

‘If a man judges himself by the word of God, and finds a perfect harmony through the whole word, then he must believe he has the truth; but if he finds the spirit by which he is led does not harmonize with the whole tenor of God’s law or Book, then let him walk carefully, lest he be caught in the snare of the devil.’”—The Great Controversy, 396, 397.

3. (1899) In the Setting of a Sports Program at the Avondale School:PBORWEW 26.1

“It took time and a vast amount of labor and sorrow to wipe out the influence of the proceedings at the Avondale school on that last Wednesday afternoon. But the experience was a lesson that helped those in charge of the school to realize the tendency of such amusements... The effort to regain that which was lost by the proceedings of that afternoon cost the teachers much labor. They were severely tried. With the students there was seen a desire for further pleasure, and less regard for the instruction of God’s word...

Let those who are educating the youth govern themselves according to the high and holy principles that Christ has given in His Word...

Teachers need an intimate acquaintance with the word of God. The Bible, and the Bible alone, should be their counselor.”—Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 351-3

*Note: There are many like statements, but to multiply their duplication would add little to the discussion.—A. L. White.

APPENDIX B—God Through the Holy Spirit Set His Seal Upon the Truth

APPENDIX D—Do We Discard the Bible by Endorsing the Visions