Doctrine
Doctrine
The object of the Christian ministry is to convert sinners and to edify the body of Christ. No faithful minister can possibly rest short of this. Applause, fame, popularity, honour, wealth—all these are vain. If souls are not won, if saints are not matured, our ministry itself is vain. The question, therefore, which each of us has to answer to his own conscience is, “Has it been the end of my ministry, has it been the desire of my heart to save the lost and guide the saved? Is this my aim in every sermon I preach, in every visit I pay?”
There is a danger among some to undervalue doctrine, to exact morality at the expense of theology, and to deny the importance of a sound creed. I do not doubt that a sound creed has often covered an unsound life, and that much creed and little faith, is true of multitudes…The solemnity with which [the Bible] affirms the oneness of truth and the awful severity with which it condemns every departure from the truth as a direct attack on God Himself shows us the danger of saying that a man’s heart may be in its right place though his head contains error or no creed.
It is often said that what the age needs and what the Church needs is religion, not theology. But the whole Bible takes for granted that there can be no true religion without a true theology. The Bible is God’s testimony to Himself and to His Son—the Christ of God. There can be no acceptable religion or worship or service save that which is founded upon that testimony. The belief of that testimony is life everlasting; the belief of any other testimony is death eternal. Let us be true witnesses for the truth. Let us shun and hate error—trying those that propagate it and finding them ‘liars’, as the Ephesian church did. Let the Master’s Word in reference to the errors of the early churches sound in our ears: “Which thing I hate” (Rev 2:15). A church may, no doubt, have a true testimony, and yet be a very unfaithful church. She may have the form of sound words and the form of godliness, and yet be cold like Sardis, or lukewarm like Laodicea. Yet, on the other hand, it is not possible that, with a false testimony, or a testimony to what is untrue, she can represent her Master and Head. A false testimony must make a false church. The belief of a lie will not save a man, nor will the belief of a lie win for a church the favour of the Lord. A true creed is of unspeakable moment, even though at times it has been associated with inconsistency and death.
The object of the Christian ministry is to convert sinners and to edify the body of Christ. No faithful minister can possibly rest short of this. Applause, fame, popularity, honour, wealth—all these are vain. If souls are not won, if saints are not matured, our ministry itself is vain. The question, therefore, which each of us has to answer to his own conscience is, “Has it been the end of my ministry, has it been the desire of my heart to save the lost and guide the saved? Is this my aim in every sermon I preach, in every visit I pay?”
There is a danger among some to undervalue doctrine, to exact morality at the expense of theology, and to deny the importance of a sound creed. I do not doubt that a sound creed has often covered an unsound life, and that much creed and little faith, is true of multitudes…The solemnity with which [the Bible] affirms the oneness of truth and the awful severity with which it condemns every departure from the truth as a direct attack on God Himself shows us the danger of saying that a man’s heart may be in its right place though his head contains error or no creed.
It is often said that what the age needs and what the Church needs is religion, not theology. But the whole Bible takes for granted that there can be no true religion without a true theology. The Bible is God’s testimony to Himself and to His Son—the Christ of God. There can be no acceptable religion or worship or service save that which is founded upon that testimony. The belief of that testimony is life everlasting; the belief of any other testimony is death eternal. Let us be true witnesses for the truth. Let us shun and hate error—trying those that propagate it and finding them ‘liars’, as the Ephesian church did. Let the Master’s Word in reference to the errors of the early churches sound in our ears: “Which thing I hate” (Rev 2:15). A church may, no doubt, have a true testimony, and yet be a very unfaithful church. She may have the form of sound words and the form of godliness, and yet be cold like Sardis, or lukewarm like Laodicea. Yet, on the other hand, it is not possible that, with a false testimony, or a testimony to what is untrue, she can represent her Master and Head. A false testimony must make a false church. The belief of a lie will not save a man, nor will the belief of a lie win for a church the favour of the Lord. A true creed is of unspeakable moment, even though at times it has been associated with inconsistency and death.
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