167
April 1929
T h e
K i n g ' s
B u s i n e s s
The Four Essential Controlling Doctrines of the Christian Church By D r . M ark A. M atthews Ex-Moderator Presbyterian General Assembly, Pastor First Presbyterian Church, Seattle, Washington.
may ask “What are the four essential, controlling doctrines ?” First: The Virgin Birth. It is the essen tial doctrine. On it rests the plan of sal vation. Upon it the whole superstructure of Christianity is builded. The infallibil
there are four great facts because it is impossible to have a . doctrine that does not rest upon a fact. When you study within the realm of pure science or the ology, you find that both rest upon a fact. When you step outside the realm of sci
(Address Delivered at the Twenty- Second Anniversary Service of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, on Sunday Afternoon, February 17, 1929.) M Y precious friends, it is a great privilege to me to visit the Insti
tute, and to have the honor of delivering the Anniversary ser mon. I have entitled the ser mon, The Four Essential Con trolling D o c t r i n e s of the Christian Church. 1 Timothy 4:16: " Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doc trine; continue in them; for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” 2 John 9 :25: ‘‘He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.” Acts 2:42: “And they contin ued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Christianity is essentially doctrinal. You cannot conceive of Christianity without think ing of its great doctrines. The propagation of Christianity must be through the presenta tion of its doctrines. The church g r o w s and becomes powerful when thoroughly in doctrinated. These statements are, in a sense, an epitome of the explanations or the expo sitions of the texts. Any Chris tian or any congregation is im potent if not indoctrinated. The Christian or the church who is not grounded in the great fundamental doctrines of Christianity is susceptible to all
ity of the Bible rests upon that fact. The whole plan of re demption is sustained because of that great fact. “In the be ginning was the Word.” The pre-existence of Christ made possible the Incarnation. If you could blot out the fact that Jesus Christ was pre-existent, then you could blot out the doctrine and the fact of the Incarnation. The pre-existence made possible the Incarnation. Not a new Christ, or a sepa rate God was born, but,, the eternal Son of God, coeval with and coequal to the Fa ther, was incarnated. The Holy Ghost conceived the body in the womb of the Virgin. There has been but one Incarnation. There can be no other Incar nation. That great fundamental fact makes all the “isms” and cults impossible in their state ments. Jesus could not have been born the son of Joseph and Mary. There was no other way by which He could have been incarnated except through the act of the Holy Ghost in con ceiving the body in order that He might be born of a virgin. If you want to stop a moment when you return to your study, begin and think of any con ceivable way by which He could have been otherwise in carnated. If this be true these
ence you step into that of pure conjec ture. But in the realm of theology, as in pure science, every statement rests upon a fact. These facts and doctrines are re vealed only in God’s infallible Word. Therefore it is essential to know the Bible. When you are asked _to study the Bible it is with a view of presenting to you the fact that you cannot know the great doc trines on which Christianity rests if you do not know the Bible. The texts quoted make it.imperative to know the doctrines and to continue steadfast in them. You
facts are essential. They establish the Trinity. If you destroy the fact of the In carnation you have to establish the fact of the Trinity. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit in one. being. Not three beings in three persons, but three persons in one being. The second member of the Trinity, co eval with and coequal to the Father, laid aside His robes of invisibility and took upon Himself our robes of visibility. The same Christ, coming through the body conceived by the Holy Ghost, made Him-
the seductive teachings and influences of the anti-Christian propagandists. The last sentence uttered, if you understand it and believe it, gives you a clear explanation of why so many in Christianity are falling away from the great principles of evan gelical Christianity. The only answer to their falling away and the only answer to their status when fallen away, is that they are not' indoctrinated. There are four great facts on which the controlling doctrines of Christianity rest and out of which they are evolved. I say
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