Christian Cooperation and Separation - John R Rice

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Christian Cooperation and Separation saying of modernists. They say the “scandal” of so many denominations. They are wacky. Nobody is home upstairs. They have bats in the belfry, rooms to let in the upper story, unfurnished. Their elevator doesn’t go to the top floor. The Bible does not say it would be wonderful if we all would get in one big worldly church. But they say the Lord Jesus prayed that we might be one. But He didn’t pray that we would be in one big super-catholic church. That is not what God is talking about. He is not talking about an organic unity. The whole business of a big man-made denomination is utterly unknown in the New Testament. Down south years ago Dr. J. B. Gambrell, a very wise, good man, said, “God wants unity, but not necessarily union with everybody.” He said, “You tie two cats’ tails together and hang them over a clothesline and you have union, but you lack a good deal of having unity.” The Bible does not say we all ought to get in one big superchurch. No! Not organic union, but a loving understanding and loving fellowship and loving cooperation with people who are of like mind about Christ and the Bible and soul winning is proper. Minor Differences Should Not Prevent Cooperation of Brotherly Christians “I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts.” That fellowship among Christians is not to be broken by minor differences in doctrine and in methods. 10
Christian Cooperation and Separation Romans 14:1 says, “Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.” Note the Lord is talking about him that is in the faith. The faith. Now faith may mean trust in God, but the faith in the Bible generally means the certain great essentials of doctrine. The faith. And so we should receive a man if he is in the faith but perhaps weak on details, “but not to doubtful disputations.” Somebody says, “This fellow is wrong on baptism.” Now I believe the Scriptures teach that baptism is for believers only, that it is to be by immersion, and that baptism is not essential to salvation. But is that person saved, born again? Does he believe the Bible? Does he love Jesus? If so, then he is a brother, and we are to receive him as one. Here is a pastor who believes in talking in tongues. Well, I differ with him. The gift of tongues is well described in Acts 2. There God gave people who wanted to witness to the lost the power to speak to them “in their own tongue in which they were born”—in natural languages which God helped people use in order to tell them about the Saviour. Any other kind of so-called tongues which are not in some natural language and not given for a gospel purpose, is not from God. (Let me say this: I never heard of a modernist among my Pentecostal brethren. Their loyalty to the Bible, the blood and holy living are a continual joy to me. We do not see eye to eye on some details, but I would far rather one would emphasize the power of the Holy Spirit, as those beloved brethren do, even though I do not see that speaking in tongues is the Bible evidence of the fullness of the Spirit, than to ignore the Holy Spirit, as so many others do.) 11
Page 2 and 3: Copyright 1959 by Sword of the Lord
Page 4 and 5: Contents Preface...................
Page 6 and 7: Christian Cooperation and Separatio
Page 28: For a complete list of books availa

Christian Cooperation and Separation - John R Rice

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?