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TH E K I N G ’ S
B U S I N E S S
January 1925
The Importance of Bible Doctrine By Dr. F . E . Marsh, London, England
We count ourselves indeed fo rtu n a te to be able to offer ou r readers th is splendid series of articles— one each m on th of 1925— from th e pen of Dr. Marsh, ed ito r of “The P rophetic W itness” , au th o r of many books, and one of th e ab lest expositors of S cripture of th e p resen t day. Some of th é aspects of th is subject which w ill be discussed by Dr. Marsh w ill be “Divisions of B ible Doctrine” ; “The Scriptures are Complete in Their S tructu re ; “The Scriptures a re United in Their Testimony” , etc. Bead every article and th u s provide yourself w ith th e necessary ammunition fo r th e fight in defense of th e faith. S MONG the many wise and weighty injunctions of P au l to Timothy are these: “Take heed to thy self” , and “Take heed to thy doctrine” . There is an intim ate and v ital connection between the
feeder such as the pigeon. Holmgren reversed th e experi m ent by feeding pigeons for a lengthened period on a m eat diet, w ith the resu lt th a t th e gizzard b ecam e'tran sfo rm ed into a carnivorous stomach. Mr. A. R. Wallace mentions the case of a Brazilian parro t which changed its color from green to red or yellow when fed upon the fat of certain fishes. I have seen canaries w ith a red hue about th eir yellow feathers, and on asking th e cause of it was informed th a t it was the resu lt of giving cayenne pepper to th e canar ies w ith th e ir food, when they were moulting. W hat is tru e in th e n atu ra l world finds its correspondent in th e sp iritual realm . We become like the thing upon which we feed. An in teresting advertisem ent of a certain cereal was seen a lit tle while since, which announced th e words “Tell me w hat you eat, and I ’ll tell you w hat you are” . The tru th of God is; holy in its contents, powerful in its utterance, living in its constituent, pure in its character, righteous in its stru ctu re, Christ-honoring in its revelation, inspiring in its operation, consecrating in its influence, and God-glorifying in its aim ; and as the Word lives in us and operates through us, we shall be holy in natu re, effective in testimony, living in God’s purpose, pure in h eart, righteous in action, Christ-honoring in life, inspired in service, conse crated to God, and well-pleasing to Him. 2. DOCTRINE IS DIVINE IN ITS ORIGIN. It is called “ th e doctrine of the Lord” (Acts 1 3 :1 2 ), and Christ, in speaking of th e necessary condition to know God’s tru th says: “My doctrine is not Mine, bu t His th a t sent Me. If any man will do His will he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God” (John 7:16 -17 ). Those who practice w hat Christ commands will soon be convinced of th e Divine character of what He teaches. Behind every objection to accept Christ as God’s revelation will be found, like bad blood beneath a fair skin, a moral reason for the unbelief; whereas as Godet says “F a ith is formed in the soul as the conclusion of a moral experience: the man believes because his h e a rt finds in Jesu s the only effectual means of satisfying the most legitim ate of all its w ants, th a t of holiness” . 3. CHRIST IS THE SUBSTANCE OF DOCTRINE “The doctrine of Christ” (2 John 9:10 ) may mean one of two things, or both, namely: th e teach ing -abou t Christ, or Christ’s own teaching. We may use the sentence as indi cating th a t Christ is the substance of th e Word, even as the life in the tree makes it what it is, and is what it is. There was once an a rtist who made a wonderful shield, and worked his own name so cleverly into it, th a t1it could not be removed w ithout destroying th e shield. The Bible is like th a t shield: Christ is so identified w ith it, th a t He can not be taken away w ithout destroying th e whole. The W ritten Word reveals the Living Word, and the Living Word makes known th e Living God. The W ritten Word and the Living Word are both called “ th e Word of God” (Luke 5 :1 ; Rev. 1 9 :1 3 ), “ a F ire ” (Jer. 23:29; Zech. 2 :5 ), and “wonderful” (Psa. 119:129; Isa. 9 :6 ). Both a re said (Continued on page 31)
Christian life and the Word of God. Unless the tabernacle of th e life is formed by th e p attern found in the mount of God’s tru th , th ere will be no glory brought to God’s name. It was afte r th e tabernacle had been bu ilt “ as the Lord com manded Moses” (Ex. 39:42-43; 40:16, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 32) th a t “ the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (Ex. 4 0 :3 5 ). R igh t th ink ing and holy living are the p illars of Christian character; bu t th ere can be no holy living unless th ere is rig h t thinking for, “ as a man th ink eth in his h eart so is he” (Prov. 2 3 :7 ). To th in k righ tly God’s thoughts afte r Him, is to walk in His ways in obedience to Him. When the wick of our being is held by th e lamp of tru th and fed w ith the oil of th e Spirit, then th e ligh t of a Christly character is manifested. Dogma and doctrine are not one and the same thing. Dogma is often th e self-assertive utterance of man’s opinion about tru th , bu t the doctrine which is from God is the S pirit’s teaching and Is tru th . When we approach the burning bush of God’s Word, then we need to take th e shoes off the feet of our own thoughts, if we would see th e flame of Deity, and hear the voice of Him who dwells th erein (Ex. 3:1-6; Deut. 3 3 :16 ). The Greek word “D idaskalia” , rendered “ doctrine” , is derived from the word “Didaskalos” , which means a teacher; hence its significance is teaching or instruction. Doctrine therefore is the sum to tal of what one has been taugh t. The w o rd . “D idaskalia” is rendered “teaching” in Rom. 12:7. The word which indicates th e act of teaching is “Didache” . It is rendered “been ta u g h t” in T itus 1:9. These words are generally rendered “ doctrine” . “The doctrine of God” (T itus 2 :10) is seen in vivid con trast and opposition to the “ doctrine of demons” (1 Tim. 4 :1 ) and th e windy “doc trin e s of men” (Eph. 4 :14 ; Rev. 2:14, 15, 24). We do well to ponder what the .Word says about doctrine as to its importance and use. I. DOCTRINE IS HEALTHFUL IN ITS NATURE The doctrine of God is designated as being “good” and “ sound” . The meaning of th e word “ sound” is health fu l, as th e margin of th e Revised Version gives it in 1 Tim. 1:10; 2 Tim. 4 :2 ; T itus 1 :9 ; 2:1. The word is rendered “whole” and “h ea lth ” in calling atten tion to a state of h ealth in con tra s t to sickness (Luke 5 :31 ; 7 :10 ; 3 John 2 ), and “whole some” in con trast to th a t which is unwholesome (1 Tim. 6 :3 ). It is a scientific fact th a t animals and insects become like o r change th e ir organs according to the food they eat. Sea-, gulls, if confined and fed upon grain, have had th e ir stom ach s entirely changed. H unter, for example, in a classical experiment so changed the environm ent of a sea-gull by keeping it in captivity, th a t it could only secure a grain diet. The effect was to modify the stomach of the bird, norm ally adapted to a fish diet, un til in tim e it came to resemble in stru ctu re the gizzard of an ordinary grain-
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