4.08 - ESSENTIALS AND NON-ESSENTIALS

ESSENTIALS AND NON-ESSENTIALS

I read to you two verses from the book of Acts 3:22-23. Just after Peter had delivered that second sermon on Solomon’s porch to a great throng of people assembled, having announced to them that Christ, whom they crucified, had been raised from the dead, he then quotes from Moses: "Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people."

Friends, that’s a most solemn statement. It is fraught with so much meaning. The consequences connected with it are terrible. Hear it again: Moses said to the fathers 1500 years before the Christ, "A prophet shall the Lord God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall you hear in all things whatsoever he shall command you. And it shall come to pass that every soul that will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people." No wonder the Bible says: "It’s a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

Based upon this reading tonight, I want to talk about a rather unique thing, namely; Essentials and Non-essentials, in connection with man’s duty toward God. Those words are quite common among many professed Christians. Some things are Essentials, some things Non-essentials. The fact is, I came up under expressions of that kind. The implication was that God had commanded lots of things, some of them were important and obligatory upon man; others, while in the Bible, and plainly taught, were just commands. The idea was that we can be saved as well without them as with them. Hence, they are Non-essentials. I think that is the idea of the world in general now. Of course, say they, there are things mentioned in the Bible, but you don’t have to respect all of them. Therefore, there are Essentials and Non-essentials. Now when I am talking about it tonight, I have no such idea in mind as that.

I believe the Bible, and what Moses said: "A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me," now watch it—"and him shall you hear in all things whatsoever he saith unto you." Now if there were nothing else at all, I’d get the idea that whatever God has said is fraught with such significance that if I will not hear it, I’ll be destroyed from among the people. I hope this statement may register in our minds. There are no idle expressions nor vain commands in the book of God. There’s not a syllable in the Bible applicable to man, but there is meaning attached to it, and upon our acceptance or rejection, depends our eternal destiny. So, I want to present some matters for study along those lines, and if there be any beauty in it at all, it will be in its absolute simplicity.

I am commencing, friends, with the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ, the last statement ever delivered by him to the disciples, wherein he says: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded, and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Now, are there any Non-essentials about those statements? Well, think of it after this fashion: God said first, "Go." That must be done. Why? Because Moses said that "Him shall you hear in all things commanded,’ and that’s one of them. Now it isn’t optional with me as t whether I go or stay. If I have the Spirit of the Master and the Spirit of obedience, I must "Go." This means transition, moving about, change of status, locomotion that’s the idea in it. Now any church or any Christian that does not have that idea of "Go" ought to take an introspective view and examine himself, "whether or not he b in the faith." To go is the very spirit of the gospel Christ. That must be done; that’s positive.

Note another thing about it: there are two ways by which I can execute that command. I can either walk or ride, and in either way, I have fulfilled the word of the Lord. Now get this: Is it Essential to the carrying out of the will of God that I "walk" into the different parts of the earth? No sir! That’s not Essential, but what is Essential? That I "go." Well, why isn’t to walk then Essential? Because I can do what God said by riding, and thus the alternative and the choice is left with me. Now think on those things: two methods by which I may carry out God’s commands in the first word "go." I can either walk and preach the gospel, or I can ride. Well, that’s subdivided. The reason that my attention was first directed to try to get up a sermon along this line is that a good old brother once said to me, "Hardeman, you are such a contender for the Bible, why don’t you ride a donkey like the apostles did when you go to preach?" I got to thinking about it. Perchance they did, and I want to do exactly what the word of the Lord says, so why don’t I do that? I must go. That’s what God said, but he never told me to ride; he never told me to walk. Then it’s optional with me which way I carry out His command. If I ride, on what must it be? May I ride a mule? Yes. Would that be carrying out the Lord’s will? Yes. Well, may I ride in the buggy? Yes. May I get in an automobile? Yes. On a train? Yes. On a steamboat? Yes. In a ferry boat of some kind? Yes. What about an aeroplane? Yes. Now I have done nothing more nor nothing less than what God said, when I get from one place to the other, be that method of transition as it may. Friends, I think we need to analyze matters and study things of that kind. Now, may I just add this? Of all people on earth that are anxious and particular about going according to what they think the Book teaches, I believe the church of Christ is in a class by itself. But sometimes we get cranky and become hobbyists and exceeding peculiar, when a little thought on our part would relieve us of all such. So then, I can carry out God’s will either by walking or by riding, but watch this: there are the two co-ordinate ways of travel. I can’t make one of those ways subordinate or an aid to the other. I can’t use walking as an aid to riding. Why ? They are co-ordinate. I can’t use riding as an aid to walking. Why? They stand equally related and one of them is not sub-ordinate to the other. Therefore, I have to do it either one way or the other, and if God had said walk into all the world and preach the gospel, it would have been a willful violation of His word for me to ride. Why? That’s not what he said. But since he used the generic term "Go," I can carry it out by either walking or riding; I’m at liberty to do either and still be within the realm of God’s authority.

Think again, "Go ye therefore, and teach." Now what must be done? I must hear that prophet in all things, one of which was "Teach." Now that must be done. What does that mean? To instruct, to clarify, to let the light on, to banish darkness, and to impart intelligence; that has to be done. The gospel is a thing to be taught unto man. That’s all Essential. Is it essential for me to carry that out before a public audience and speak orally? No sir! If I were a "slinger of ink and a maker of phrases," I could write God’s word and be carrying out exactly what he said, when he declared "teach" all nations. I could also stand before my fellows, and orally do just what the Lord required. Therefore, in either case, I would be doing God’s will. That’s what I’m trying to get before you. The essential thing is, teach God’s word. Someone said, "I object to a blackboard." Well, why? "God never said anything about a blackboard." I know he didn’t, but what did he say? He said "Teach." If that and only that is done by use of a blackboard or a chart, you have done just what God said. The sole idea is to transmit intelligence and impart instruction.

There are brethren before whom I can go and discuss a topic to their delight. They will gladly accept what I have to say about it, but if I write out a discussion of the matter they raise an objection and candidly think such is unscriptural. Soon after I had returned from Palestine I went to Texas for a meeting. I reached the town on Saturday night and one of the brethren came to see me with a request that, since I had been to that sacred land, I might help him prepare to teach his class on Sunday morning. After telling me what the subject was, he said: "Now we don’t use literature, we just use the Bible." Of course, I had heard of his kind. I tried to give the setting for his chapter, the time, place, persons etc. Then I commented on the different items mentioned. When I had finished he said: "That’s fine, I’ll be better prepared tomorrow to appear before my class." Then I said: "You say you’re opposed to the literature?" "Oh, yes, I think it unscriptural." And I said, "Suppose I just write out what I have told you, word for word, and give each fellow in the class the same comments. Why not let them have the advantage of what I have said? If it is good for you, it might help them. He left me still opposed to written help but perfectly willing to receive oral assistance. Friends, such a disposition makes cranks, and hobbyists all over the land. They try to make a difference where there is no distinction. God said, "preach." If I can do that by oral demonstration, all right. If I can write it, still all right. If I can diagram it or picture it, or illustrate it, what have I done? Exactly what God said, no more, no less. Now we ought to think on these things.

Look at the next item. Go, teach, baptize. Who said that? The Lord did. What’s the text? "A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me, him shall you hear in all things whatsoever he commands." What did he command? He commanded the going; he commanded the teaching; he commanded the baptizing, and he said, "It shall come to pass that every soul that will not hear, shall be cut off from the people." God said "baptize"; that’s the thing that must be done. Well, what does that mean? Without going away around and coming up from some foreign angle, let me get right to the point. God said that "baptize" means to bury, and bury means to cover up. If there is anybody in this country that hasn’t yet learned what "bury" means, that fellow isn’t ready to be baptized. He needs to learn a lot of things, preparatory to that act. Certainly so. Now God said "go baptize." What do you mean by it ? I mean buried with the Lord in baptism. All right, that’s settled. Now, let’s talk about some other affairs. Water is the element. The Bible says that. Had you ever thought about just what temperature the water has to be to make it scriptural? What do you think about that? Is it essential that it be 98 degrees or would it do at 106? Or suppose it’s down to 50 degrees— don’t you see it is not Essential for the water to be at a certain temperature? That is a Non-essential in connection with the doing of God’s word. Of course, I never thought of that until we got to putting furnaces in our meeting houses and running pipes through the baptistry. We used to take it straight. So, baptize in water. That’s what God said. The temperature doesn’t have anything to do with it. I have baptized when we broke the ice, and I have baptized when we needed ice.

Now then, I want to talk about another matter. When we baptize a man, do we have to stand him up erect and say, "now fold your arms," and baptize him backward? Does it have to be that way to make it valid? What about the posture of the character in being baptized? Someone said, "I never did see anybody baptized any way except backward." How would it do to baptize the fellow face foremost ? How would it do to baptize him sidewise ? I was baptizing a man in Forked Deer River once, an old gentleman, rather lottery, and just as I raised my hand to say that ceremony, he said, "Brother Hardeman, suppose I just squat." I said, "Oh no, stand up, it’ll be all right," but I got to thinking about it afterward. Suppose he had squatted until he was buried? What have you brethren got to say about it? I have baptized people sitting in a chair. Was that scriptural? The Bible does not declare in what position the person to be baptized shall be, and if you baptize him face foremost, or backward, or sidewise—hear it—if you bury the man who has faith in God and who has repented of his sins, and do it in the right name, that’s doing what the Bible says.

Well, now let’s see again. If I baptize people in the Atlantic Ocean, what should I do ? Well, here’s exactly it. We would go down into the water and there I would bury him, and after that we would come up out of the water and go on our way. That’s what the Bible says; I would neither add to God’s word nor take from it nor substitute for it. That’s it. Well, I have baptized people in the Mississippi river. Someone asks: "What’d you do there ?" We went down into the water and there I buried them and then we came up out of the water. And then I have baptized people in old mill ponds. Do you know what we did ? We went down into the water, there I buried them, and after that, we came up out of the water. Any objections ? No. Suppose you dam up a branch and dig out a place of sufficient size and baptize a man in it. What have you done? Only that which the Bible demands. Exactly what one would do in the Atlantic Ocean or in any river. Well then, I have some kind of an artificial work to contain a sufficient amount of water that I may go down into it, bury a man and raise him up, what about it? Someone says: "I object; that’s a baptistry." Friends and brethren, a failure to see that, just so long as we do only what God says, all is well, is responsible for many cranks and hobbyists among us. Let us do exactly what God said and with that be content. Now, to my way of thinking there just isn’t any sense in anything other than that. Whenever I fail to carry out God’s will and only that, I am subject to criticisms, but otherwise, they ought to be withheld.

Let us take some other item, for instance, the Lord’s supper; there are things about that worthy of study in the light of our subject: "Essentials and Non-essentials." First, God commands the eating and by approved example, I learn the time, the first day of the week, that I must eat of the bread and drink of the fruit of the vine. I must not take cheese and substitute for the loaf; I must not add Log Cabin Syrup to the loaf. I must do just what God said, and when. That’s Essential. Now let’s talk about the Non-essential. Shall we pass it among the brethren and sisters or let them come up around the table and break of it there? Now do you know that the Bible doesn’t say. There is one scripture governing all that, and here it is: "Let all things be done decently and in order." Now whatever good sense may suggest will fulfill that text and meet with heaven’s approval. I have to observe the supper of the Lord on the first day of the week. Now, I want to raise another point. At what hour on the first day of the week? Someone says: "Ten minutes past twelve, or else it’s not scriptural." Now brethren, you know that won’t do. How about observing it at seven o’clock in the morning of the first day of the week? Perfectly all right. How about 10:30? Absolutely, it would meet God’s requirements. What about 3:30 in the afternoon? It would do just as well. I know of one place where they wouldn’t have the Lord’s supper except at night. One old brother was responsible for it. And upon investigation, I found they had it at night because he said, "supper didn’t mean dinner." Back where I used to live we had breakfast, dinner, and supper, and we still have it that way at our house, but I can say it the other way just as well. We become slaves to custom and find it hard to break away and admit something else. I heard of a lady who was going to have a formal 6 o’clock dinner and having invited her guests, she began coaching the black mammy who Divas preparing the good things to eat. She said: "Now, here’s what I want you to do. After the ladies are all in the living-room and dinner is prepared, you come to the door, open it and gracefully say, ’dinner is served."’ The cook knew it was nearly night and such talk didn’t sound right, but she wanted to do as told. So she fixed everything in order and opened the door. With a happy smile she said to the ladies, "Dinner is served; all of you come out to supper." She was just determined to have supper in it no matter what about the dinner business. When John Sharpe Williams retired from the United States Senate he said he was glad to get back down in Mississippi where he could have dinner at 12 o’clock. So this old brother, said, "It is the Lord’s supper; it isn’t the Lord’s dinner." He had been told time and again by men who knew, that the word for supper did not of necessity imply the time it was eaten. But he had a theory and intended to have things go according to it, regardless of how ridiculous it made him appear. Such is our trouble by brethren who have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

I have been asked about holding the supper until the night service, so that those absent in the morning might be served. Let’s see about that. When I go to church at the usual time, I have five items in mind, viz: To teach or have part in it; To pray with and for the brethren; To eat the Lord’s Supper; To contribute of my means, and to sing His praise. I return for the night with only three items before me as regards the worship. Those who were absent in the morning have the same purpose at night as I had in the forenoon. Why object to their worship then ?

Some say they should not miss the morning service. This may be so, but the argument, in that case, would turn to another matter. Men will also argue over when the first day of the week should begin and end. With our change of calendars and our methods of counting time, it is next to impossible to be sure of the day counted the first in New Testament time. If one insists that the first day begins at 6:00 P.M. Saturday and goes to 6 :00 P.M. Sunday, he would find that while we are eating the Lord’s Supper in Nashville at 12:15 P.M. it has passed into Monday in Jerusalem. The sensible thing is to recognize the first day as determined in the country where you chance to be.

Again, when it comes to the contributing of our means, God said, on the first day of the week for every one of you to give according to ability. There you have God’s word. That must be done. Now shall we put it in a hat, or in a basket, or walk around and lay it on the table? Do you know that the Bible doesn’t say a word on earth about that? Now that’s the Non-essential part, but the thing that God commands must be done. I trust a little outline of this kind, on this Saturday night, will provoke you to study that you may analyze and distinguish between things Essential and things Non-essential with reference to obedience to the word of God. What about obeying God? That must be done. Well, must it be done tonight? This is the best time on the face of God’s earth, and may be the only time, but possibly tomorrow would do; maybe next week might do, but of that you know there is no certainty. The essential thing is to obey the Lord. If a man, therefore, will hear the word of the Lord; believe in Jesus Christ as God’s son and his Saviour; genuinely and truly repent of every sin; publically confess faith in Christ; walk down into the water and there, in the name of the Sacred Three, be buried, and rise to walk a new life, he will become a Christian. If he will then live as be ought to live and remain faithful unto death, God will give him a blissful crown in that land of unclouded day. My friends, don’t let the opportunity pass but come while you can. Let us stand, while we sing.