Churches of Christ -- Sermons; Sermons, American -- 20th century
“Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath
not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the
Father and the Son” (2 John 9). Then that well-known Scripture in the
last chapter of the Bible, “For I testify unto every man that heareth
the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto these
things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this
book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this
prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out
of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book”
(Rev. 22:18, 19).
Many other Scriptures could be used, but these are enough to show us
that _the Bible should be our guide_. It is sufficient and furnishes the
man of God completely unto every good work. Those who claim to be
following the Bible and the Bible only should be expected to defend that
claim, in the light of the Bible. Frequently, I announce publicly that I
stand ready to put my finger upon the Scripture that furnishes the
authority for everything we do and teach and believe in matters of
religion. I always stand ready to make this claim good. Everybody is
invited to check me on this basis. If you can find something for which I
cannot give scriptural proof, then I will cease to teach, practice, or
believe it. A preacher, who is not willing to make such a statement,
evidently knows that he is not taking the Bible as his one and only
guide, and yet I believe you will agree that most of the preachers in
this city will not make you this proposition.
Not very long ago I heard a man boldly declare that his preacher
preached the Bible and nothing else. I began to name several things
which the Bible teaches and asked him one by one if his preacher taught
those things. In every instance he had to answer in the negative. He had
not fully realized what was comprehended in his statement. Another lady
came to me and said, “I just believe that all of us ought to go back to
the Bible and take it as our guide.” I reminded her that in that case
she would have to give up the unscriptural name which she had been
wearing and make a number of other changes. She said, “Well, now, let’s
don’t get back too far.” The truth was that she didn’t really want to
take the Bible as her only guide! I mention all these facts to show that
you mustn’t be too quick to accept the claim mentioned a moment ago.
You’d better examine it. For, as a matter of fact, if we were all
following the Bible there would be but one church on the earth, because
there is but one in the Bible. There’s just no escaping this conclusion.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account