Do not be Distracted by Matters of Dispute

    I was greatly impressed, while reading Mr. Spurgeon this week, by a statement he made regarding those who spend most of their life trying to resolve the deep and mysterious theological questions. He said, “There is the puzzling problem concerning the origin of evil. I am not so much concerned about how evil came into the world as about helping to get it out! Common sense seems to say ‘If there is a thief in the house, let us catch him, deal with him, and get him out; after that we will try to find out how he got in!’ Our Lord did not come into the world to tell us where sin came from, but by the sacrifice of himself to put it away.”

    It has for centuries been a great temptation to many talented men to spend their time studying, arguing, and quarreling over sovereignty and responsibility, Sabbath days and church government, prophetical speculation and future events, when they would have been better employed and more greatly used of God in preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.

    It certainly does not harm us to sharpen our minds; to consider the mysteries of God, to inquire into that which is written, revealed and unrevealed; but, our powers are limited, our gifts are limited, and our time is limited. Let us sound a clear, positive note concerning that which God has made known without doubt; “He that hath the Son hath life, he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”

    A man can be saved and not know whether he is a pre, post, or a-millennialist, but a man cannot be saved who does not know Christ. A man can be saved without a love for T.U.L.I.P, but he cannot be saved without a love for Christ. A man can be saved who refuses the lordship of elders, but a man cannot be saved who refuses the lordship of Christ. A man can be saved who does not enter into the rest of your Sabbath, but a man cannot be saved who has not ceased from his labors and entered into the rest of Christ.