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 As
the Israelites came into the promised land. God commanded, ‘Take
heed. . . that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How do
these nations serve their gods? that I also may do likewise.”
“What thing soever I command you, that shall ye observe to do:
thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.” (Deut.
l2:29-32 see footnote, A.S.V.
There
were some things they did not need to know — were better off
not knowing, if their curiosity was coupled with a desire to
imitate. God had given them sufficient information concerning
true worship — to look elsewhere was to deny His authority.
And isn’t this the Old Testament equivalent of “Speak Where
the Bible Speaks, Be Silent Where the Bible is Silent”?
Paul
wrote, “that in us ye might learn not to go beyond the things
which are written.” (1 Cor. 4:6) And John wrote, whosoever
goeth onward and abideth not in the teaching of Christ, hath not
God; he that abideth in the teaching, the same hath both the
Father and the Son.” (2 Jn. 9)
One
has not erased this principle by
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applying 2 Jn. 9 to a
particular error concerning Christ; nor by citing cases where
some have sought to bind or loose expedient methods of operation
by misuse of the principle. Human organizations are not “methods”
of either “go” “teach” or “care”: and one does not
sing “with” a piano, one sings with one’s voice. If we
deny the validity of “silent where God is silent’ we bury
the first part (speak where God speaks) beneath the rubbish of
human invention.
Habakkuk
said. “The Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth keep
silence before Him.” (2:20) And we sing this sometime as
though it meant “be quiet in the church building.” It says,
in our vernacular, “SHUT YOUR BIG MOUTH, AND LISTEN TO GOD.”
If
we would spend more time reading and studying Cod’s word. and
learning to be content therewith. we just might learn that God
has adequately provided for us, “all things that pertain unto
life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath
called us to glory and virtue.”
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