Untitled article by M. Larsen

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Dec 26, 1892

STUDY OF THE BIBLE—ITS IMPORTANCE AND BENEFITS. NO. 1.

By M. Larsen

BY ELDER M. LARSEN.

Of all the questions that ever troubled or perplexed the minds of the human family, there never was a more important, and perhaps no more perplexing one than that which concerns the plan of salvation—a proper understanding of the word of God and its teachings; for the very moment an individual begins to feel anxious in regard to his hereafter, the very moment he begins to inquire, "What shall I do to be saved?" that very moment he finds himself surrounded by the difficulty arising from the existence of such a multitude of wrangling sects and of denominations and churches, with their doctrines and their manifold "creeds" and "professions of faith," as contradictory and discordant as the languages spoken at the tower of Babel.

Each claims and endeavors to maintain that theirs is "the church," theirs is "the way," the only way of salvation, and in turn denouncing all others as wrong and unscriptural. This creates such a confusion that not infrequently does the anxious mind become so discouraged and confused as to give up in hopeless despair of ever coming to a proper knowledge or understanding of God's truth.

Not only has this state of things thus troubled and perplexed the minds of the common and unconverted, but even some of our most profound theologians, our brightest intellects, have been so perplexed by it that they have been made to seek for a solution of the difficulty, and to account for and to excuse its existence, in the idea that men's minds were so differently organized by their Creator as to make it utterly impossible for any two persons to see or to believe alike; and, hence, that in order to accommodate these differently organized minds, and to furnish them with a place where they all might find rest and be satisfied, God, in his infinite wisdom and mercy, saw fit to bring into existence all these discordant and different churches, and that their existence therefore is in the order and providence of God. But such an idea, we are fully persuaded by a careful investigation of the Bible, is not only inconsistent with, but diametrically opposed to, its plainest teachings; for over and over again do we read in its sacred pages the solemn injunction to be of "one mind," of "one accord."—

"If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind." Phil. 2: 1, 2.

God would not ask an impossibility; such a thing would be unreasonable and inconsistent. Hence we must conclude that not only is it possible, but that such a state of things can and ought to exist. Again we read:—

"There is one body [i. e., one true body or church], and one spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith [not a thousand threescore and six, but just one faith, i. e., one true faith], one baptism" [not three, four, or half a dozen]. Eph. 4: 4, 5.

God desires his people to be a united people, to walk in "the unity of the faith," and not to be carried about "with every wind of doctrine." Eph. 4: 13, 14. To charge God, or the word of God, with being responsible for the existence of all this jargon, discord, and division in the religious world, is simply to charge God with gross folly and inconsistency. Had the church remained united as God commanded, and as he intended that it should, there would have been such a mighty power attending her testimony as would have been able to shake the very strongholds of doubt and infidelity. John 17: 21. But the very fact of her having yielded to discord and division, weakened her testimony, and has been the cause of more unbelief and infidelity in regard to the truth of God than all the efforts of such men as Voltaire, Thomas Payne, and Ingersoll combined. A divided and discordant church has sown the seed of doubt and unbelief, and these men have simply come in and reaped the harvest.

In union there is strength; in discord and division there is certain weakness and defeat. That this conclusion is just we think is plainly indicated in the words of Christ himself, in that memorable prayer offered in behalf of his disciples just on the eve of his betrayal. In his prayer for them, and for all those who might believe on him through their word, we hear him praying most earnestly:—

"That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us," and then as a reason why they should thus be one, he adds, "That the world may believe that thou hast sent me." John 17: 20-23.

This brings us to the following important consideration, namely, the means of union. As God has never enjoined upon his creatures an impossibility, so we may remark neither has he demanded of them any requirement for which he has not likewise provided all necessary means whereby they might be enabled to comply with the same. Now as men talk alike only when they see alike, so they can see alike only when they believe alike; and true "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Rom. 10: 17. Hence we must conclude that the word of God is designed or intended as one of the means ordained of God whereby we shall be enabled to obey that obligation, and thus be brought into and kept in union. His word constitutes the bread upon which the spiritual man is to subsist (Matt. 4: 4; Job 23: 12); the channel through which God's Holy Spirit flows (John 6: 63); a fountain of life from which we should evermore drink (Ps. 36: 9; John 4: 14). Says the Psalmist, "The entrance of thy word giveth light." Ps. 119: 130. And thus the truth of God is established as a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. Ps. 119: 105.

(To be continued.)