The Bible Must Be Taught
The Bible Must Be Taught THE BIBLE MUST BE TAiUGHT
G. K. WALLACE
THERE ARE MORE BIBLES sold than any other buok, yet it is almost unknown. Almost every person possesses a Bible, but few really know its true contents. Christians are lukewarm, toward it, and many non-Christians do not read it at all. Even preachers la> it aside for other books. Sermonic literature and religious periodicals make ut> the bulk of the preachers* readmg. The maionty of the people of the world do not criticize fit nor abuse it. They simply ignore it.
It is not enough to possess a Bible. It cannot be absorbed. The Bible must be taught. In older to establish our proposition, we shall proceed after this fashion. The Bible must be taught because:
1. It is the will of God.
2. Religious knowledge is at such a low ebb.
3. Anarchy reigns supreme.
4. It reveals God’s eternal purpose through the church. The Will of God
Even a careless reader will recognize that the Book must be taught. The religion of our Lord is a taught religion. The gospel, God’s power to save is placed in earthen vessels. (2 Corinthians 7:4) Jesus instructed these earthen vessels to “go teach,” baptize, and then“teach.” (Matthew 28:19-20) Again He said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15-16) Repentance and remission of sins were to be taught in the name of Christ among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. (Luke 24:46-47) There is no reason why men should not know God, if they possess a Bible. Our text indicates they shall have proper instructions. (Jno. 6:45) A careful consideration of Paul’s statement of the power to save further shows that it is the will of God to teach the Bible. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. (Romans 1:16) The only way man can be saved is through. God’s power. God’s power is revealed through His word. “It pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” (1 Corinthians 1:21) The curse of God rests upon us if we preach any other message. (Galatians 1:8-9) Our responsibility in this respect is great. Necessity is laid upon us and woe is unto us if we preach not the gospel. (1 Corinthians 9:16) We are strictly charged to preach the word. (2 Timothy 4:1-2) A Spiritual Dearth
It cannot be denied that there is a wide spread spiritual dearth in the earth. The following facts will show that religious knowledge is at a very low ebb.
Recently there appeared an article in the Good Housekeeping magazine by Dr. Frederick K. Stamm, pastor of the Clinton Avenue Community Church, Brooklyn, New York, wherein he reveals some interesting facts. He says, “I read also in one of our Universities the following ten questions were asked in an examination:
(1) Name the three members of the Trinity.
(2) What are the beatitudes?
(3) What is original sin?
(4) What is the transfiguration?
(5) What personage does the dove symbolize and what is the origin of the symbolism?
(6) What is the Epiphany?
(7) What is the first commandment?
(8) Why did the children of Israel go into Egypt?
(9) Who is the legendary author of the book of Proverbs?
(10) Who visited the witch of Endor?
“The class which answered the questionnaire consisted of sixty-three freshmen and twenty-three from other classes and the average grade on the test was 25.5 percent. The freshmen averaged 26.7 percent and the students of other classes 23.3 percent. Two students thought that the apostles, John, Paul and Peter, constituted the Trinity. The Epiphany was a series of devout sayings and some said it was a religious chant. One student suggested that Theodore Dreiser was a legendary author of Proverbs, and one explanation of why the children of Israel went to Egypt was that Joseph had a good position there, and there was a famine outside.”
I recognize that some of the above are not Bible questions, but are questions that real Bible students are acquainted with.
Several weeks ago there appeared an article in the Wichita Eagle, one of our large daily newspapers, wherein it was said that in a certain Northern University a young man in answer to the examination question, “What is a Papal bull?” replied, “A Papal bull is a white cow kept in the Vatican to give milk for the orphans.”
All of us no doubt are acquainted with the story of the two brethren who got into an argument about who knew the most about the Bible. One bet the other five dollars that he could not say the Lord’s prayer. The bet was called and the fellow said,
“Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.” The other fellow then said, “Here is your money, I did not think you could do it.”
These stories of the lack of knowledge pertaining to religious things amuse us. Perhaps it would be best not to laugh lest we laugh at ourselves. Through the kindness of certain Bible teachers in Abilene Christian College, I have had access to some of the answers given by some of you to Bible questions. They are indeed alarming in view of the fact that most of you came from Christian homes. In answering the question in regard to the creation it was said, “The second day God created firmament and vegetation sprang up.” Another said, “The second day God fermented.” As to how man was created one student replied, “God made man by breathing dust into his nostrils and man became known.” Macpelah, a plot of ground bought for a burial place was said to be “an illegal son of Abraham.” This spiritual dearth is further manifested by the sermon topics used today. The press reeks with the announcements of subjects such as the following: “Will Mussolini Drag Us Into Another World War?”; “Regulation of the Moving Pictures.”; “The Blue Eagle;” “The Social Gospel,” etc. The church today is made a play house.
“The sacred edifice heretofore dedicated to worship of Almighty God has now, with its parish house, its club and other auxiliaries, become a center of secular functions. We now go to church to hear a sermon on the minimum wage, adequate housing of the poor, the regulation of moving pictures and the dancehalls, how to vote and the latest vice investigation report. * * * Billiard and pool tables are being installed, dancing classes are organized, and all sorts of amusements offered to entice the youth within her sacred precincts. A child returning home from Sunday school recently was asked by its mother the subject of the lesson. It was how to keep the streets clean. Another Sunday, kindness to dumb animals furnished the subject of the lesson, and this was a graded Sunday school up-to-date. A good woman who suffered greatly with a recent sorrow brought herself to church, longing for some comforting words. She heard a sermon on the Charity Organization and the Visiting Nurse. * * *
“Ministers of the gospel are willing to preach on almost any thing under the sun except the gospel; and when they be¬grudgingly hand it down, they almost tell us it is not divine, but a man made thing.”—From Sermon Outlines on Acts by C. C. Crawford. The recent document issued by the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America indicates the spiritual dearth that exists in the protestant denominations. This article denounced the making of churches mere concert stages. It asserted that the fundamental principle of worship is adoration and listed the following corollaries of the assumed principle:
“1. Worship is degraded when it is made the occasion for the display of talents by preachers and musicans.
2. The minister is insignificant in the presence of God and should not draw attention to himself in dress, behavior or remarks.
3. Worship should not be allowed to fall into a mere self analysis of the feelings of the worshipers.
4. Worship is not entertainment for the purpose of “entertaining” people in religious things.
5. All that is offered to God in worship should be of the best available. “Dust and dirt, doggerel hymns, cheap slang, slack and careless order of services, undignified prayers, frivolity in the choir loft, sibilant gossip in the pews, vulgar exhibitionism in the pulpit cannot co-exist with genuine worship.” This shows the conditions of religious thought and action outside of the true body of Christ. Surely religious knowledge is at a very low ebb. The fact that denominational dogmas are still taught proves that there is a lack of genuine Bible knowledge in the earth. There are some conceited, ignorant members of the church to¬day who will declare there is no use to preach against the doctrine of hereditary total depravity. Denominations no longer know anything about this, they say. Just because they no longer preach this distinctive denominational dogma in their revivals is no proof that they do not teach it. Through their religious periodicals, in their retreats and schools they teach the principles of their faith. The Catholic people do not hold revival meetings. Is this proof that they do not teach their beliefs?
Suppose we travel together over the great plains of Western Kansas. You say to me, “Brother Wallace, the people of Kansas have quit planting wheat.” Then I ask, “If Kansas farmers have quit planting wheat, why so many large wheat fields?” If the doctrine of total depravity is no longer taught, why do the fruits of it still exist? As long as the mourner’s bench system of being saved, infant baptism and direct operation of the Holy Spirit in conversion is taught, then I know that total depravity is taught. These things are the fruits of this heresy first propogated by Calvin. The spirit of compromise, both within and without the church, indicates the spiritual dearth to which we have so often referred. The teachings of the Bible cannot be compro¬mised and at the same time please God. The gospel is dogmat¬ic to the core. There is not a single “maybe,” “I guess so,” “it seems to me,” or “it appears to be true” in the entire Book. If you do not believe the gospel is dogmatic, please note the following expressions: “Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish;” “Except ye be born of the water and the Spirit ye cannot enter the kingdom of God;” “I am the way, the truth and the life;” “Without faith it is impossible to be well pleas¬ing unto God;” “The gospel is the power of God unto salvation.” God speaks to man in the terms of “thou shalt” and “thou shalt not.”
One of the compromising preachers of our day spoke after this fashion. “Brethren, except ye believe, after a fashion, repent in a degree, ye will die probably, and go to hell to a certain extent.” Our preaching should be as Paul expresses it, “in great plainness of speech.” The trumpet should give a certain, sound. (1 Corinthians 14:8) The restoration movement depends upon plain Bible preaching foi its very life. To substitute sweet sermonettes on philosophy, sociology, ethics and literary themes will spell the ruin of the movement. A State of Anarchy
The Bible must be taught because it is the only true stand¬ard. The breaking away from the Bible as a standard creates a state of anarchy in the world.
Among protestant people three things take precedence over all other rules, of faith and practice. They are
(1) Conscience. (2) Creeds; and (3) Direct revelation of the Spirit of God. They do not rely upon the Bible only as a guide.
(1) Conscience offers no assurance as a guide, unless, properly taught, for the following reasons:
(a) It may he defiled. (Titus 1:15) The difference between the idol worshiper and the worshiper
of the true God is not in their sincerity. They are equally sincere. However, the idol worshiper
has a defiled conscience.
(b) The conscience may be mistaken. Galatians 1:13. 2 Timothy 1:12-15) Paul thought he was' doing right
while he was “persecuting the church of God” and “making havoc of it.” Even while he had a
clear conscience he was ‘a blasphemer,” “persecutor” and “the chief of sinners.” (Acts 23:1-2)
(c) The conscience my be seared. (1 Timothy 4:2) The trutn may be r efused so many times that one’s
conscience beomes calloused and steeled against the light of the Gospel of Christ.
(d) He who depends upon conscience as a guide exalts his mind above the word of God. It is an
acceptance of the doctrine of paganism. (Romans 2:14)
(2) Many in so called Christendom place their trust in creeds to guide them. It is an act of rebellion for man, or any set of men, to assume that the law of God is not sufficient for a guide to the Saints, and assume that uninspired men can make a law for that purpose, and undertake to do it. Is man able to do what he claimr God could not do? Yet, this very thing is assumed every time a human creed is imposed on a man to guide or govern him.
“Two men were debating the subiect (creeds) at Dry Run, Kentucky. One, a Calvinisxic Baptist, maintained that his confession of Faith was a better bona of union among Chris¬tians than the Rible alone. His ant5 creed opponent was so sure of his position that he proposed to submit the question to a Frenchman, who listened to the entire debate. The judge, making each disputant take into his hand the creed which he had defended, asked of the man with the New Testament who had made his creed.
“ ‘Jesus Christ,’ was the answer.
“Turning to the other, he said: ‘And who, my friend, made yours?’
“ ‘It was adopted in the City of Philadelphia, in the year 1742.’, came the reply.
“The Frenchman continued. ‘Very well, then, gentlemen, that is enough. If you follow you creed, Mr. Christian, when you die, it will take you to Jesus Christ. Follow yours, Mr. Baptist, and when you die it will take you to Philadelphia.’ ” —Jennings History of the Disciples of Christ.
(3) The theory of the direct revelation of the Spirit cannot be substantiated because all who claim to have it differ. Did God inspire one man to preach a certain doctrine and another man to preach it down? God is not “a God of confusion, but of peace.” (1 Corinthians 14:33) The number who claim to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and to reveal messages from God are legion. However, we inquire, “Who among all those who claim to have the Spirit has it?”
Mr. Mormon gets the Holy Spirit and heals, talks in tongues and practices polygamy.
Mr. Spiritualist declares that through the Spirit he talks with the dead. Mr. Mormon and Mr. Pentecostal deny this.
Mr. Christian Scientist says by the agency of the Spirit that there is no such thing as sickness and death. According to Mr. Scientist the healings of Mr. Mormon and Mr. Holiness are false.
Mr. Nazarene gets the Holy Spirit and jumps and shouts, but does not talk in tongues, but he insists that he has the baptism of the Spirit.
Mr. Quaker get the baptism of the Spirit and neither jumps, shouts nor talks in tongues. When the Spirit moves him, he goes very meekly and quietly.
Now, I repeat, “Which one of all the claimants has it?” If any of the above group has it, Mr. Quaker does, because the Holy Spirit never made anyone act idiotic. The truth is, however, none of them have it. No man today who claims to have the baptismal measure of the Spirit can define it. If he could define it, he would not claim it. The very purpose of the baptism of the Holy Spirit shows beyond a doubt that it is not for today. Its purpose was:
(1) To bear witness to the apostles so they could bear wit¬ness to the world. (Jno. 15:26-27);
(2) Teach you all things (Jno. 14:26);
(3) Cause to remember all Jesus said (Jno. 14:26)
(4) Convict (Jno. 16:18);
(5) Guide to all truth (Jno. 16:13);
(6) Declare things to come (Jno. 16:13);
(7) Endue with power. (Luke 24:49) The man who affirms that he has the baptismal measure of the Spirit is hereby challenged to show what advantage he has over those of us who make no such allegation. The Spirit was to teach all things'. Name something that he has taught you that I do not know or cannot find out by read¬ing the Book. God would curse you should you deliver a new revelation providing you had one. (Galatians 1:8-9) We are not to go beyond the things that are now written. (1 Corinthians 4:6) God has given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. (2 Peter 1:3) Any direct message that man might claim to receive does not pertain to either life or godliness. Any mes¬sage then that does not affect nor pertain to the life I now live, nor to the life to come is not of God.
What power do you have that I do not have? To receive the Baptism of the Spirit is to be clothed with power. Go with me to the hospital and I will heal a person every time you heal one. Then we will go to the cemetery and when you raise one from the dead, I will raise another. You raise the first one. The theory of a direct revelation of the Spirit of God can¬not be relied upon as a guide. The Bible is the complete reve¬lation of the Will of God. Upon the Bible and the Bible alone can we depend for a guide in faith and practice.
God's Eternal Purpose
The Bible must be taught because it reveals God’s eternal purpose through the church. If men only understood the things pertaining to the church, there would not be so much confusion in the world. The church is not an accident, but the executed purpose of God toward men. In it we will be saved, and outside of it there is no salvation for people who are subjects of the great commission. What we need today is to re-emphasize the Bible teaching in regard to the church. The same old story must be taught. The gospel in its entirety must be repeated every generation.
Some one asked a preacher if he preached a new sermon every Sunday. Before the preacher had time to answer, his little boy spoke up and said, “Daddy does not preach a new sermon every Sunday. He preaches the same sermon every Sunday, but just “hollers” in a different place.” We need to preach the same old story about the church and “holler” in the same place. We need to “holler” where Lipscomb, Hard¬ing, McGarvey, Campbell, Peter and Paul “hollered.” The church is the family of God. It is called the house of God. (2 Timothy 3:15) In Hebrews 11:7, it is said that Noah built an ark to the saving of his house. In Acts 16, Luke says that the jailor believed with all his house. It is clearly seen that Noah’s house was his family. Likewise it may be seen that the jailor’s house was his family. If Noah’s house were Noah’s family and the jailor’s house, were the jailor’s family, is not God’s house God’s family? If not, why not? The church is God’s house—His family. God has no children outside of His family. The church of our Lord is His vineyard. God not only tells us what to do, but also where to do it. “Son, go work today in my vineyard.”
Brother E. M. Borden used an illustration, comparing the church to a ship. A large vessel that would go all the way across the ocean was compared to the church. It would take you all the way. A little vessel that would go omly part of the way and then sink was compared to the lodges. The church could take you through death to heaven and the lodge could take you only to death. He would then ask on which boat would you choose to sail. The one that goes all the way, or the one that goes just a part of the way? Let us amend this very fine illustration. Some of us today have one foot in the lodge (ship) and one foot in the church (ship), and when we we get as far as the little boat (lodge) is going, and it sinks, it will be by the mercy of God if we are able to get both feet in the other vessel (church). There is not a single principle that is right, and in harmony with the teachings of the Bible in any fraternal organization th^t the church does not offer. In some cases the fraternal organizations are a detriment to Christianity. Recently I stood by an open grave, where the body of a certain lodge member had been placed. This lodge member had never made any kind of religious pretentions. All of his life he refused to obey the teachings of the Bible. The master of ceremonies claimed to be a Christian. So did most of the other lodge members. Some of them were my own brethren. The leader read a prayer, in which he said, “We belive that some where and some how we shall meet together in that great fraternity over there.” If that is so, and I doubt it not, it will be a hot place. Any institution that will thus teach is not of God. Surely, they do many good deeds, but in the wrong place. We ought to get in the church, stay in the church, and stay out of everything else. “Unto him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all generations forever and ever.