The Fundamentals: Volume 8, Chapter 8: "Preach the Word"

8/20/2019 The Fundamentals: Volume 8, Chapter 8: "Preach the Word"

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CHAPTER

VIII

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·PREACH THE WORD

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One of the latest · njunctions of the aged

Paul,

just

before

his martyrdom, was that to Timo

1

thy, which constitutes tl1e

text of my address, Preach the Word. Thirty years of

Christian experience, fifteen years of aPostolic survey, and

th

1

e inspiration

of

the Holy Ghost, all spoke in

those words.

It was a command frolll heaven itself, no

1

t to

Timothy only,

but to

all

who fill the

·0

1

ffice of evan ,gelists or preachers in

th ,e

N

e W

Test.ament

Church, The order thus SUCcinctly

given, is a condensation of ,all that Paul had said to

Timothy

or to the Church on the subject ojf preaching .

The sound or h,ealthy doctrine on which he lays so much

StreSS, and

the

avoi

1

dan

1

c,e

0

1

f fables and

t.he

world s

wi,s1dom,

,ar

1

e both included in

this curt command.

There

has

been

a

tend

1

en

1

cy from the very beginning to con£ orm the doctrine

of Christ to the , philosop,hy of man, to fuse the two together,

and to show that all religion,s ha ·ve the . same Divin

1

e element

at th

1

eir roots. T :hi.s was seen in gnosticis ,mt in the Alexi-

andrian school of Clement and Origen, and in a score of

heresies that .sprang up within the later Church.

· The distinctive ,character of Christianity

has

displeased

the philo ,sophic

min

1

d,, and .

men

h,ave

sought :

to ·explain

aw aY

many

of its f eatu·res f ro·m

the standpoint

of

the

human cot1-

sciousness and

by

an appeal to the teachings of nature. These

efforts have certain marks in ·commo

1

n. They diminish the

heinousness of

sin, they exaggerate

the

p,owers

of

man,,

a11d

they suggest a

unif :or·mi.ty

of destiny. Sin

i,s a

d

1

efect,

perhaps

a disease , The defect can be supplied, the dise,ase can be

cured by human applications, the Divine help being

valuable

as encouragement to the human effort. High civilization and

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Preach the Wor

d

101

•

moral ref

1

orm are what man needs, an

1

d t.hes .e can be obtained

by the use of general principles common to our race, of which

Christianity is

only

one of

the for .ms.

It is natural and inevitable ti1at, with this teaching, the

written Wo

1

rd

o·f Go

1

d-should be ne,gl

1

ected, if n

1

ot ign

1

ored. No

one can

s,tudy

that Word and then ttse

it

for so broad and

1

indiscriminati ·ng a p·urpose. No one can study that

Word

an1d the -n be

contented

with ,a s11perficialpo1ish of

society,

and

a universal brotherhood founded upon such a scheme. Paul

s,aw this

tende ·ncy in

his

own day, and

he warns

t,he.

C.hurch

earnestly against it.

Beware,

is l1is, language Beware

lest

an,y

man spoil

you

through

phil ,osophy

and vain deceit,

after the tradjti ,on of

men.,

after

the

rudiments of the world,

and not after Christ ( Col. 2 :8) . The

evil prin

1

ciple is ever

at work. Hu .man , nature is ever

the

same.

The

Church is

a]ways

subject to

the

same ,efforts of human

nature

witl1in

itself to .remove tl1e

f,oundations of

grace and substitute the

inventions

of p·ride.

Whether i t ap·pear in the form of hier

archical assumption, or in the chara

1

cter of rational inquir ,y

and scientific r~search ., the evil principle hides,

mutilates,

or

Contr ,ad:icts the Ho,Jy Scripture. The [Scriptures, as they are,

with th

1

eir Divin

1

e claim and their uncompromising , teachings,

it cann

1

ot endure ,, and the ap,peal

to

1

.S,cripture

it

1

counts

las .

,a

m,ark of credulity and an exhibition of i,g11.orance.

One of the sa

1

dd

1

est sights in the Church of Christ is the

yiel,ding to this spirit of prid .e on the part . of the ordained

preachers of

the

Wo ·rd.

Many modern Timothys

·usii

the

pulpit for

dis,course .s

on

art

an

1

d literature ; ,others take the

opportttnity for the display of r hetoric and oratory; o,tl1ers

procJ,aim

an ethics

of ,expediency ; while Sti11 othe1·s seek

1

only

to tickle the ears

of

an audience that desires to be amused.

In all this you look in vain for the Go,spel.

Plato

or Aris

totle,

and ,

in

some cases Lt1.cian, ,

could have said it a11~

Churches are filled

by

a

1

pp

1

ealing to

1

carnal

1

desires and aesthetic

•

t,astes. Bri11iant oratory, scientific music, s

1

en,sational topics

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102

The Fundamentals

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and

·fas'hionable

pew holders, are the baits

to

lure people

in·to

the

churcl1es

1

and

a church is called

p

1

rosperous

as

these

wretched d

1

e·vices

succe

1

ed.

The

preacher

deligl1ts

to· get

him~

.self int ,o

the

11ewspap

1

er an

1

d he accom ·modates

his

preach ing

to the newspaper level. Sucl1 churches will, o,f course, have

worldly-mi ·nde,d.

0

1

ffi·cers

a·n.d

a. worldly~minded

membership,

while godly sou ls either flee from ' them, or else 1nrourn

in

secret, if the.y are not tl1emselv

1

es chilled by the lack of Go·spel

heat.

It

is

directly again st

all

this

that the holy

apostle utters

his clarion cry

down throug ·h the ages, ''Preach the Wo,rd.,'

What

is the

Woi'd?

It

i.s

n.ot man's philo sophy

n,or

man's

rhetoric. It is the Divine revelation. It is called '

the

Word

.

of

God,I be

1

cause

it is no·t of m.an. As God's , it has

both

authority and povver--g utho

1

rity to demand attention, and

power to

convert

and

save tl1e soul.

It is

not to

be

pounded

in ma11's n1,orta1 . n.or run into

1

man' ,s .mould. It is

not

to be·

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twi sted and fitt

1

ed to n1an's preconceived

ideas. ·

It is not to ·

be filtered thro -ugh man's strainer, nor mixed with man's

conc

1

eits. It ·is.

1

God's and as ·(;-od' 's l

1

et

110

.n1an

d.a.re

add t

it, or take

from it,

or alt,er

it

in any way. The Lor

1

d Jesus

stands b y His cross, where He offered up tl1e sacii--

fice for si,n, ,and poin·ts b.ac.kward to t·he-

1

01d T,estan1ent,

and forward to the New, as alike the Word of God.

0£

t11e forme ,r

He

cries,

''S

1

earch

the Scriptttres'';

o

the latter He tell s }Iis

apost'les

that the · Paraclete

would

come a11d

teach them all things, and

tl1ey

shou ld bear

witness.

Thi s

Old

and N

1

ew Testament is one

reve.lation o·f

God one Bible one uner1·ing· rule of faith. Goc;Ih.as not

given us a

doubtful

and

deceitful

light

for

0

1

ur path.

He

has

not ,given tts a bundle of t.ruth and fabJe tied up

1

together~

He has not left us to our weak and ,discordant reason, and

thus made revelation sup,erfluous. He has given His people a

'"s,ure word d·f pro ,phec.y'' as the only reasonab

1

]e

guide ,for

I

. ou r wealc reason and o·ur sinful natures; and on this

sure

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Preach the Word

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103

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Word is His Church built. The doctrines ,of grace have

. neithe ,r h11man origin

no,r

human support . They are alto

gether Divine,

and are

r

1

ec,eived

only

by

th

1

e

soul

th ,at

becomes.

partaker of

the Divine natute.

To

go:, there£

ore,

to

human

philosophy or to man s inne1· consciousness for · their con

firmation

01·

exp ,lanation, is

to go to the

sentenced criminal

•

to understand

tl1e

exce,llences of criminal law.

Tl1e

error

of e,r,ro

1

·r·s is the see~ing fo

1

r th

1

e

truths

of

religion ·from ma ,n.

It is, but the adaptatio ,n

of

religion to ,

the

carnal heart. It

is t·he essence

0

1

£

pride and

1.

ebellion ag,ainst

God.

Thousands

of tomes have , been Written by men who called themselves

•

Christia .n s,cholars and Chri sti,an p,hilosophers, wl1ich are but

·volumes of C

onf ,t1.ing n1etap,hysics

and . specious rationalizing

,from the

basis of

natural exper ien

1

c,e, ,and ,vl1ich hav

1

e under-

. mined fai ·th in the Wo ,rd o.f God, and utterly perve ·rted ·the

Gospel of

Christ.

Stud

1

ents

of

Christian

theology

waste

pr

1

ecious time

in studying the

works

of these

1

conceited thin k

ers, whose

nam

1

es

are lauded ,as. those of giants in the

Church,

while the y are ,corrupting

the

pulpit

and

secu larizin ,g

th

1

e pew.

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, It is a favo1·ite cl1ar·g,e of

the

advocat es 0

1

f

this lo,osenes \s

that

we are worshipping a

Boal{.

Bibl ·iolatry

is

the

for

mi1dable

word. that

they cast at us.

But

we worship no book.

We

o

wo,rsh .ip, God who sent

the

Book, and

it

is no t.rue

worship,

of

1

G,od th,at sligl1ts

th

1

e

Bo

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104

The Fundament als

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by

the se

learned enemies

of

R,evelation ·

Myth,

roman,ce, the

fiction

of poe

try,

,a

patchwork of tra

1

ditions, contradictory rec

ords,

pious

fraud,

these are

some of the labels -hat the strut

·ting pride of man has affixed to the

books

of the

Bible,

while ·

not

one of

his

sneei:s ha s been sustained in the light , of

honest criticism. No scientific truth has been found op--

•

posed, and no historic truth misstated, in all the sacred writ-

ings, f r0m Moses to

John.

The

most microscopic investiga

tio11s

have been made by the most

eager

and

learn ,ed enemies,

0£

the truth in order

to,

find some inaccuracy, but

not

one

has,

been discovered, except those

necessaril.y

res ,ulting from the

process of transcrip ·tion,

an,d

th

1

ose

imaginar ,y ones whic'h are

perf

e,ct,ly

re solv,able by ordinary common

s,en,se.

Apply thes,e

tes ,ts to the

Veda,s,

the Avesta, or the Koran, and the

c,on,ra ,st

is ove,rwhe1m1ng. These fairly bristle with -error and

f1lse- ·

hood, , but the Bible · comes

o~t fro,m t,he crucibl,e·

Witho~ ,t

spot,

•

as the pur ,e Word of

1

God. Men

just .

a,s learned a,s the

inimical critic ,s, and jus ,t as

thorou ,gh ,i:n

their

iriv,esltigation,

men known and

revered in the

world of

let.ter'S,1

h,ave accep,ted

the Bible ,, the

whole

Bible,

as,

the inerrant truth

0

1

f God,, I'f

the

verdict

of

the

inimical

critic s

,can,

be

tl1us

set

aside

in an

equally learned

1

Court, the 1

1

esult shows

that

their learning

· goes

for

nothing

in

th

1

e matter. ·

But far above all this te stimony to the letter is the wit

ness of millions who have found the joy unutterable , ,and the

· peac

1

e which pas ,se.th all understanding in the sacred Volume,

and who , are drawn to i·t as

a

child is drawn t,o

its

father,

without ques ,tion regarding

l1is

worth

and authority. They

never suppo se ( and the position is a

right

one) that the

fountain

that

refreshes their

soul

is defective or corrupt, but

they value its every drop a s a gift of the

Divine gr,ace.

They

go constantly to its bles sed waters and always derive strength ·

from the dra,u,gh,t. To

s,ucl1

the ca1·plng critics are as

u11-

wo,rthy 0£

regard as tho

1

se, who wou.l,d argue against the: sun

shine.

The

knowledge of the hear·t is a ,prof

ound,er

thinr.

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Preach the

Word 105

than

the ·k.nowled,ge

of

the head, and,

in

the Spirit--led dis

ciple, can

correct and rebuke the errors

of

the latter.

Now,

it

is this

holy

Word, thus spo

1

tless

and

thus

powerful

for

right ie,ousness .and

1

comfort, that t.he Christian preacher is

to pr ,each. The

preacher

is a procl ainie·r, a

herald,

no

t

a col·

legie prof ie,ssor or an

or(ginator of theories.

H

1

e has the Word

g.iven

.h,,.m,.

and

that

he , is to

proclaim. He

isl

not

to draw

from the wells of h·uman philosophy, but from the

stream

th,at

flows ·dir,ec·tly from the throne

1

0£ God. He is to tell the

peo,ple what God has s.ai.d. He is to hide 'himse·tf behind

his message, and to receive it equally with those he addresses. ·

Nor i.s tlie pre

acher ]he mouthpiece of a Church t

0

issite

ecclesiastical decrees a id fitlminate ec,clesiastical cenSt.Wes.

This is as fa·r from

preaching

the Word as the other. As ,a

herald of Chr ,ist, while

tl1,ere is

nothing bef

1

ore him

but

human

hear ,ts

and

consciences

to

appeal

to

1

,.

there ·

is nothing , behind

him but the revealed

W

or

1

d

0

1

f

God to utter and enforce.

All Church commands laid upon him as to his ·preaching are . .

as nothing

except

·as

they

are

1

conformed ·to

that

Wor

1

d.

He

is responsible as a

herald to

God

and not

to the

Churcl1t

He is God's he·rald and not

tl1

e·

Church' ,s.

The

same

rea ,son

that

f

o,rb,ids him . ro,m making th,e pe.ople' 's, approbation the

guide to his preaching wi.11 forbid him from m.a'king Church

authori .ty

the guide ..

He will be happy

to

please

both

peo.ple

and a11thorities,

but

he

cannot ·make that

pleasing a criterion

or standard. His duty is above all that. His allegiance is

higher.

IN THUS LIMITING HIMSELF T

1

0 THE PREACHING OF GOD'S

WORDJ THE , PREACHER IS NOT

1

CIRCUMSCRIBING

HIS POWER,

BUT ENLARGING IT. By the j:ealous

use

of ·

that

Word alone

he will accomplish f'ar more for

the

k·ingdom of Christ and

the salvation of men

than

by

mixing

human

expedients

with

the Word. H ·u·ma·n e·xpedients a·re very specious ,and

at

tractive,

and,

alas

many p,r·eachers

betake

themselve .s

to them.

They think

they

will ~tt ·ract th.e m.ultit .ude and fill up the pews

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106

The Fundamen tals

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f

and prOduce

a

larger rental;

and so they may,

but

these are

not the

objects

for

which the Lord

sent

out

His

heralds.

Success

is not

to

be reckoned

by

full

houses

and popular

applause,

but

by

convicted

and converted

hearts, and

b)f

the ,

strengthening of the

faith

and piety of God's people. A

· holier

life, a more

pronounced

separation

from

the

world,

a

stainless integrity

in

business

pursuits, a

Christly

devotion

to

the

interests

of

others,

a moie

thorough

know edge of the

Word these

are

the true signs

of

success which

the preacher

may justly

seek, even though he

wear

ho1nespttn

and his

people

meet

in

a

barn.

These

are

the

glorious

results

which

tl1e

conse ·crated soul wil,l p

1

ray £0

1

1·,

and in th

1

em .h,l will re-

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''Preach .the W.ord '

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It

is a

lamenta rb,Ie

fact,

that in

too many

of our

seminaries

where preachers are prepared for their work, the _Word of

God

is, not

taught,

but

in its

st

1

ea,d

the

philosophic

schemes [

of so-called

1

fathers

and great

divines,

ar

1

e

given

as the

basis of doctrinal belief. It is t rue, th,at the se sche,m

1

es are

brought to the Scripture for support, and texts are quoted in

their

defence.

It is tru .e also

tha,t ,S0

1

me. of tl1ese sch

1

emes

are consoi:iant with Scripture more or less. But, with thes ,e

admissions ,, the mistake still

exi ,sts, that the Word of God

plays a secondary part in the instruction. It is not ta .ught ;

that is, it is n.ot made th,e authoritative text-book. It is e-ven

sometimes introduc

1

ed as a, .subje

1

ct f,or critici sm,, land men ·

like Reuss and Robertson Smith are brought ·

n

as ·the cri tical

guides o,r, at least, helpers ,. As

if

a school of the prophets

was intended to examine tl1e credentia ls ,of God s Word, , and

not

tor

take it

humbly

and

grateft1lly

for

personal

t1se

a·nd

for

use before

the people.

S

1

ome th~ological schools nlight without

1

exaggeration be

called schools for turning beli

1

ever ,s into doubters. The

excuse, that men wh,o

ar ,e

going to be

prea ,chers sh,ould know

all

that is said

against

the credibility, genuineness ., and au

th1nticity of

the Scriptures, is

a

flimsy one. If th .at were

the object,

tl1ese objec·tions wo·ul

1

d b

1

e

consrdered

only

b1y way

of parenth ,esis, and the overwhelming

evidence

of the

Scrip

tures would b

1

e the ·main current of tho,ught; but this is not

the way it is ,clone,. On

the

c,ontrary,

t·he

obj ,ections are ,

magnified, and their a,uthors are commended to the stud ents

f

o,r their perusal, and ·the hint is of ten thrown out that con- ·

servat ,ive

views

0

1

f

the inspiration

of

God s

Word

a1·e

an

tiquated,

o,bsolete,

and ma rks of ignorance. We have ~hus,

in · he very places where, most of all, Ye should expect to

see the profound ,est rev ,erence

for God s

Word, ,

and

its

faith-

£

ul study

for the understan

1

ding ·0

1

f the Div·ine

will, the

ma

chinery for un

1

dermining the doctrin ,e of Scripture inspiration ,

and

author ,ity,

on

whi ,ch all Chris ,tian truth

rests, an,d that,

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9/10

108

The Fundamentals

too in the young minds which are being prepared to become

Christ s preachers to a sinful and dying world. It is a most

painful thought, and it becomes the Church of Jesus Christ

to arise to a sense of the evil, and to correct it before the ·

whole Church is poisoned by this insidious influence. ·

We wish our young Timothys to go out to their work with

the one controlling desire to put God s Word before the people

and to avoid questions ·and strifes of words which do not

minister to godly edifying, knowing that the power to con~

vert and edify is not the wisdom of man, but the power of

God.

In these days when so much is made of science, let them

leave science alone. All the knowledge of the material world,

which science deals in, has nothing to do with the soul s

salvation. That ·is in a different sphere altogether. While it

is in accordance with propriety that a p~eacher should have

a gene·ral acquaintance with life and things about him, w·hich

would include the main principles of natural science (which

is simply to say that he ought to be an educated man), yet

it

is not through material science that he is to teach heavenly

truths, nor is he to waste his time on protoplasm, bathybius,

and natural selection, into which and like sµbjects Satan

would gladly draw him, that he may not present the sub

jects of sin and the cross of Christ. If a preacher illustrate

Scripture doctrine from facts in the natural world, it is well.

He follows the Master s example. But i he puts the natural

world in its scientific aspects forward as the text of his

discourse, he is using a Bible of a very weak and uncertain

sort, and of which he knows very little, and he is making the

Word of God subordinate to his own inferences and guesses

from nature. Science and religion are too often spoken of

as if they occupied the same plane. Both those who say

they are antagonistic, and those who say they are at one,

equally talk of the two as on a level. You might as well

talk of bread-baking and religion as if they were co-ordinates.


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Preach

tlie

Word .

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Of

1

Course there is a. connection between science and r·eligion.

So the1~e s between bread-baking and religi

1

on. The s·cientiiic

•

man

ought

to be religiou :s.

So

ought

the bread~baker~

Science

can furnish examples of God·,s wo

1

nders in natu ·re. So ca11

bread-baking. But such c,onnec ·tio~s cannot put the subjects

on the .same . levre].,

Sc.ience is m,er,ely· the study of matte ·r, an ex

1

amination

into natural sequence ,s; b,ttt what has that to do witl~ man's

imm.01·tal soul, and the W or ·d of God to that soul ? Who , .

dares ·to bring the latter down to the level

of

the

f

orme .r?

What has th·e: a.nalysis of any body and its division into

carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen to

do

with my eternal relation

t.o God as a responsible and si·nf ul being? Why mingle

things so utterly d·iverse

?

And yet this babble abo

1

ut science

and r,eligion (wh

1

ere science is always ever put fir ,st) is heard

•

•

ad naus.eam

from those

who

are

commissioned

to preach the

Word. Is this

Paul's . w.ay?

Is this

.John's way?

Is this

Christ's way

?

Then w·hy should it be the way o,f our ·modern

Timothys ? Science at its utmost reach can never touch the · ·

sphere of the soul's pressing wants. All its truths together

can make no impr

1

ession on a guilty conscience needing ·the

Divine p,ardon. Nature is as dumb as any of its own stones

in the matter of the soul's

salva ·tion.

Then

why

meddle with

i·t in the p

1

ulpit? Why bow to it. a.s a tea

1

cher? Why be

guilty of the blasphemy of putting it on a level with the Word

of God?

It is as preachers depart from that

Word

that their

preaching becomes barren and fruitless. The Divine Spirit

'Will

only accompany the Divine Word. His , mighty power

will act only in· His own way and

by

His own means. The

Wprd is

su·pernatural,

a.nd woe to the preacher

who leaves

••

the supernatural for the natural; who sets aside the sword

of the Spirit to use in its stead a blade o,f his own tempering

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Documents

The Fundamentals: Volume 8, Chapter 8: "Preach the Word"