The Assembly of God. Miscellaneous Writings of C. H. Mackintosh, vol. IIIMackintosh, Charles Henry
Religion
The Assembly of God. Miscellaneous Writings of C. H. Mackintosh, vol. III
Mackintosh, Charles Henry
Theology
We call the special attention of the reader to this point. It concerns
the integrity of Holy Scripture. The grand question is this, Is God's
word sufficient or not? Do we really want man's authority to make us
sure that God has spoken? Far be the thought! This would be placing
man's word above God's word, and thus depriving us of the _only_ solid
ground on which our souls can lean. This is precisely what the devil has
been aiming at from the very beginning, and it is what he is aiming at
now. He wants to remove from beneath our feet the solid rock of divine
revelation, and to give us instead the sandy foundation of human
authority. Hence it is that we do so earnestly press upon our readers
the urgent need of keeping close to God's word, in simple unquestioning
faith. It is really the true secret of stability and peace. If God's
word be not enough for us, without man's interference, we are positively
left without any sure basis of our soul's confidence; yea, we are cast
adrift on the wild watery waste of skepticism, we are plunged in doubt
and dark uncertainty: we are most miserable.
But, thanks and praise be to God, it is not so. "_Believe in the Lord
your God, so shall ye be established: believe His prophets, so shall ye
prosper._"
Here is the resting-place of faith in all ages. God's eternal Word,
which is settled forever in heaven, which He has magnified according to
all His name, and which stands forth in its own divine dignity and
sufficiency before the eye of faith. We must utterly reject the idea
that aught in the way of human authority, human evidences, or human
feelings, is needful to make the testimony of God full weight in the
balances of the soul. Grant us but this, that God has spoken, and we
argue with bold decision that nothing more is needed as a foundation for
genuine faith. In a word, if we want to be established and to prosper,
we have simply to "Believe in the Lord our God." It was this that
enabled Jehoshaphat to bow his head in holy worship. It was this that
enabled him to praise God for victory ere a single blow was struck. It
was this that conducted him into "the valley of Berachah" (_blessing_)
and surrounded him with spoil more than he could carry away.
And now we have the soul-stirring record: "And when he had consulted
with the people, he appointed _singers unto the Lord_, and that should
praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to
say, Praise the Lord: for His mercy endureth forever." What a strange
advance guard for an army! A company of singers! Such is faith's way of
ordering the battle.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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