One of the great errors into which people have fallen in reference to religion is that God must accept any mode of worship, any sort of ordinances, and any kind of church that men may establish, so long as they are sincere in their intentions and devout in their desires. God must be worshiped not only in spirit, but in truth. His word is truth. His spirit is the spirit of truth. God's religion, then, will be the truth, and nothing but the truth, and he will accept of nothing short of this. The inventions of men, whatever may be their motives, are not of God, and therefore, are vain. The precepts and opinions and vagaries of man-appointed preachers and teachers, not being authorized or inspired of God, cannot be relied upon and are not acknowledged in Heaven. Christendom as well as heathendom is in a ferment with human conceptions and conflicting theories in relation to God, His will, His purposes, and His requirements. The result is spiritual Babylon, which is confusion. God is not with it, for He is the author of peace, and order and harmony. "Strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it;" so said the great Teacher whom professing Christians regard as the Savior of the world (Matthew VII, 14). He also declared: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." (John X; 1.) Also, "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." (Matt. 15; 9.) And further, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." (Matt. IV; 4.) The nations that are called heathen are, no doubt, as sincere in their idolatrous worship as are the Christian nations in their opposing creeds and devotional exercises. If mere sincerity and devout motives are sufficient for God's acceptance, then heathendom is on a par with Christendom in the sight of Heaven. But the objector will no doubt reply, "Heathen religions lack the one essential feature of acceptance with God, faith in Jesus Christ. Having that, doctrinal differences do {204} not matter; faith alone is sufficient for salvation. Christ is the way, the truth, and the light, and whosoever believeth in him shall have eternal life." That is another of the astonishing errors of modern religious people and teachers. Seizing upon a few isolated texts from the New Testament, relying upon the letter of the word alone, regardless of the spirit and meaning thereof, they altogether ignore numerous other texts in the same volume, which make plain the intent and signification of those which they select. Their eyes are blinded to the pure truth, they stumble in the way, and the blind leading the blind, they are in danger of falling into the ditch together.