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Chapter 9
33
the apostles of Christ. The chain of truth, link after link, was given
to those who realized their own ignorance, and were willing to learn
of the great Teacher.
Jesus knew that He could do the scribes and Pharisees no good,
unless they would empty themselves of self-importance. He chose
new bottles for His new wine of doctrine, and made fishermen and
unlearned believers the heralds of His truth to the world. And yet,
though His doctrine seemed new to the people, it was in fact not a
new doctrine, but the revelation of the significance of that which had
been taught from the beginning. It was His design that His disciples
should take the plain, unadulterated truth for the guide of their life.
They were not to add to His words, or give a forced meaning to His
utterances. They were not to put a mystical interpretation upon the
plain teaching of the Scriptures, and draw from theological stores to
build up some man-made theory. It was through putting a mystical
meaning upon the plain words of God, that sacred and vital truths
were made of little significance, while the theories of men were
made prominent. It was in this way that men were led to teach
for doctrines the commandments of men, and that they rejected the
commandment of God, that they might keep their own tradition (
The
Review and Herald, June 2, 1896
).
34
. See
EGW comment on Matthew 12:24-32
.