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TRUTH IS HARMONIOUS WITH ITS SELF
Introduction:
John 17:17-21
It
is an acknowledged fact 'Truth IS Harmonious With Its Self.
Truth never contradicts its self.
I am sure that some will not agree with
all the thoughts in this lesson. I only ask that you give it serious
thought before rejecting I ask that you be both logical and reasonable
in trying to disprove the conclusion (argument) I will draw in this
lesson. Especially do we need to give this fact “Truth Is Harmonious
With Its Self” serious thought
in the realm of religion.
BODY:
The religious division in the
world today exists
solely because of contradictory and conflicting faiths and doctrines.
Though most preachers
(teachers) of denominational churches will say that doctrine isn't
important, still these differences of doctrine divide the religious and
denominational worlds. ALL (listen
closely) these conflicting and contradicting religious faiths and
doctrines CLAIM to be based on/thus authorized by the same book-the
Bible! Let me give you just two examples of the most widely accepted and
taught of many many that could be given. (1) One group teaches
man can fall from grace and be lost eternally--Another group teaches man
once saved can never fall from grace to be lost, A Direct contradiction.
(2) One group teaches baptism is by immersion for believers
only--another teaches baptism can be sprinkling; and that of infants
(non-believers) another direct contradiction!! An on and on we could go!
REMEMBER-Truth Is Harmonious With
Itself!
This being a fact-then it is true
in all fields-of all books – of all religions etc. This fact being true
of books it is surely true of the book of Books-The Bible. Yet
these (and untold other) doctrines (ex. 1 & 2 Above) contradict each
other- They both claim to be authorized by the same book-the Bible
Thus, by this claim, the Bible would have to contradict itself!
Therefore, only one (1) conclusion can
be drawn based on the fact: "Truth Is Harmonious With Itself". It is:
(I) The Bible Is Not A True And.
Trustworthy Book-.Because It Contradicts Itself.
OR,
(II) The Bible IS NOT The Base Or
Authority For These Conflicting Religious Faiths and Doctrines!
Friends, I take the firm stand that the
BIBLE IS TRUE – that it is the inspired WORD Of GOD. That truth
comes from the Bible-God’s word and that it is harmonious with
itself. THUS the Bible is not/CAN NOT be the bases or authority for
these conflicting doctrines. John
Someone then asks-"If the Bible is Not
The Authority for these Contrary Doctrines-What Is"? My friends, I in
all love and kindness suggest that the ideals and opinions of men
(though sincere) that have been brought into the religious world
(including Protestant Denominations) called creeds, manuals,
prayer books, disciplines, etc. are where these contrary doctrines and
faiths come from! If you were to take away all the specific creeds and
doctrines from every denomination then denominationalism would
disappear. Jesus says in Matthew 15:9, “In vain do they worship me,
teaching for doctrine the, commandments of men.” I contend that is what
many are doing today.
Someone says, "Preacher, you know we can
not all see the Bible alike.” I know this is the argument that many
make for the claim that the Bible is the base for these conflicting
doctrines. But I deny that we can not see it alike. I ask, “why can we
not see the Bible alike?” Is it because we read the Bible it
through “tinted Eyes”, preconceived opinions”.
This also takes us back to the original
conclusion we drew. If the Bible permits you to see one, verse/or
subject one way and for me to see it another way, and yet someone else
to see it still another way; etc., etc. and all these views contradict
each other then the Bible becomes in contradiction with itself and is
an untruthful and untrustworthy book! IF' NOT; WHY NOT? Again I
affirm the Bible is NOT the authority for these different doctrines and
God does not give us the liberty to see and interpret the scriptures as
we see fit. If so then the Bible would be no authority at all;
and we might as well not have it. What if we took a rule book of
softball to a game, gave the same rule book to all the teams, and one
team read the rules and saw them one way; then another team read them
another way--and so on through all the teams--what kind of authority
would you have for the
ball game?
Let us now look at a few scriptures that teach unity and/or
oneness of faith and doctrine.
John 17:17-21 Sanctify them through thy
truth: thy word is truth. 18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even
so have I also sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I
sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified
through the truth. 20 Neither
pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me
through their word; 2 That they all may be one; as thou, Father,
art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the
world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Note: vs. 17 The word is truth. We are
sanctified by the Truth
Note: .vs. 20 Jesus prayed not only for
the unity of the apostles but for “them also, which shall believe on me
through their word” That is he prayed for the UNITY of ALL
who would BE HIS
DISCIPLES --For All Christians.
.
Note: vs. 21 Here we see the unity
for which Jesus prayed. That all those who believe on him BE one
even as HE AND GOD ARE ONE! Can
you even begin to imagine-Jesus on one corner in a town teaching that
the scripture teach one doctrine; God on another corner in the same town
teaching another doctrine (one in direct contradiction with what Jesus
was teaching),
the Holy Spirit on another corner with still another doctrine and the
twelve apostles in twelve other locations teaching twelve more contrary
and conflicting doctrines? Blasphemy!! YET THIS WOULD HAVE TO BE TRUE
AND/OR ACCEPTABLE if the present contrary denominational doctrines are
to be in harmony with Jesus’ prayer here in John 17 or for the Bible to
be the authority for them.
Also can you imagine Jesus in one church
this Sunday teaching one doctrine and the next week in another church
teaching another doctrine conflicting the first and telling the people
of both churches both of these doctrines are mine-chose which ever you
please-NONSENSE: Can you see your preacher teaching one doctrine on
Sunday morning, then a different doctrine Sunday night. The next week he
teaches 2 more entirely different doctrines and claiming that they
1 Corinthians 1:10 "Now I beseech you,
brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak
the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be
perfectly joined together in the same mind and
in the same
judgment.”
NOTE:
By the name (authority) of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul
admonishes them to "speak the SAME thing"; "that there be no divisions
among them And that they be perfectly joined TOGETHER in the same
MIND and in the SAME JUDGMENT.”
NOW I ask
you honestly does that even begin to sound like the modern
denominational argument-- You see it your way--:- I '11 see
it mine?” To
meet this modern thinking Paul would have to have written something like
this—“I beseech you, brethren, in your different denominational
churches, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak your
different creeds, and let there be as many different divisions among you
as there are different views or opinions, And don't worry about being
joined together -but each have its own particular mind and its separate
judgment.” UNTHINKABLE! I
TOTALLY AGREE.
Romans 12:1-5; 1 Cor. 12:12-27. In these
scriptures the apostles Paul teaches the body-the church is to have the
same unity and oneness of the human body. Some make the argument that
the different human body parts of these scriptures represent the
different denominational churches!! Let's look at that thought for a
moment. Following that line of thinking-what if I took 20. human body
parts from 20 different human bodies and put them together--would I have
a living human body? Enough said! Paul goes on to tell us in the later
part of the verses in 1 Cor. 12 what these individual human body parts
(eye, hand, foot etc.) represent- that is that they make up the one New
Testament church church-not different denominational bodies-such did not
even exist for several hundred years!
Eph. 4:11-16 Paul here teaches we
are to be in one body, not tossed around By every wind of
doctrine", a whole body “fitly joined together under the head – Jesus
Christ.
Phil
In what other field or in what other
subject do we (or would we even dare) to make such an argument as we
make in the religious realm? We would not tolerate a math book in our
school class rooms that taught 2+2=4 on one page, and then 2+2=5 on
another page and on another 2+2=7 and say, it all just depends on how
you look at it.
Are we
going to say that God gave us
a book to guide us spiritually that is divided or one that we can
not understand!? Is God incapable of giving us a book to guide us to
heaven that we cannot see or understand ALIKE? I say he is capable and
has given us such a book-the, Bible.
I challenge you to think soberly and
seriously about this very vital subject. I believe that God has given us
a book we can see and understand ALIKE-the BIBLE! I am convinced that
God has given us a book that teaches EACH AND EVERYONE OF US THE SAME
THING, EVERY TIME WE STUDY IT, The BIBLE. If we will just sit
down and study that book without looking at it through denominational
eyes-doctrines; it will say the same to each and everyone who
reads it.
My friend, if you and I are divided over
what the Bible says we BOTH can not BE RIGHT, WE MAY BOTH BE WRONG; but
we CANNOT both. Be right. I know where the truth is to be
found-in God's word!! Truth
being harmonious will not allow us both to be right.
I am
willing privately or publicly to
sit down with anyone
and to open God's book and let it speak for itself that we
may have unity. I’m willing to take what ever time is necessary to do
so. For I am firmly convinced that that is the only way we can have
spiritual unity.
I plead with you-as Isaiah of old,
“Come, let us reason together.”
Let us have the unity for which Jesus prayed and died and died
for which Paul and the other apostles plead. |