Graham guardian., 1916-03-03

ySSS4sSS.Ss.S&2 :: S@eIS{ After demon
'l2ASIQ2 RUSSElO strnting that the
Bible shows un
mistakubly that God never designed
that there should be more than Twelve
Apostles of the Lamb-St. Paul taking
the place Of .IudaS-the Pastor declar
ed that it Is evidently through some
serious misunderstanding of Gods
Word that our Roman Catholic. Greek
Catholic and Church of England
friends claim to have Apostolic Bish.
ops. He sympathized with those gen.
tlcmen who have dropped into certain
positions and who have been taught
for centuries that they are Apostles,
speaking with the same authority as
The Twelve whom our Lord appointed.
But he could not permit their delusion
to hinder him from remembering what
our Lord Jesus said and taking the
right viewpoint. Whoever holds back
Gods Truth for fear of man IS shar.
ing in the sin and wrOng.-Jer 23:2S
Origin of the Nicsne Creed.
Then the Pastor reviewed the history
Of the Church. Early In the Second
Century the Bishops began ito lord it
over Gods heritage" Gradually the
Church separated into clergy and laity
Then, later on, the declaration was
made that the Church was composed
only Of the clergy, and that the people
1.h ~ hn
this occurred centuries before the In.
ventiOn of printing. when very few
had Bibles or could read. Thus the
people were dependent upon the Bish-
ops When these began to claim to be
APOSTOLIC, they gave the people to un-
dcrstand that they alone were author
izcd to read and interpret Scripture.
But these Apostolic Bishops did not
agree amongst themselves, as did The
Twelve whom Jesus appointed. In the
Fourth Century the Emperor Constan-
tine professed Christianity for policy's
sake. Perceiving the need Of unity Of
belief, he called all the Bishops to con.
vene at Nicca, 325 A. D. About 3S4 re.
spOnded-far from the entire number.
There the First Ecumenical Council OF
the Church was held, aside from that
held in Jerusalem by the real Apostles
IActS l5:G-29,l SuppOsing that the
Bishops were fully authorized to be
Apostles. the Emperor proposed that
they draw up creed setting forth
what they considered correct doctrines
That creed he offered to enforce II
they would support him.
Thus the Nicene Creed, the first great
reed, was formulated by self-appoint
ed Apostolic Bishops. So an end was
put to all Bible study; for the Apostolic
Bishops could teach all that the people
needed TO know Thereafter all teach
ings that differed from the creeds were
pronounced herGsy.
For twelve hundred years the Bible
was unknown to the people. In 1926
Professor Tyndale translated the New
Testament into English, but was COM
PEELED to go TO Germany to get 1t print
ed. so strong was the adverse infiu.
ence Of the English Bishops. The
books were imported to London, where
the people eagerly purchased them.
But the Bishops bought up the entire
edition and burned them.
The speaker traced the matter down
10 our day. and showed that in course
of time both Protestant and Catholic
Bishops were forced by public opinion
to give the people the Bible But In
so doing. they warned the people that
eternal torment awaited any who
would interpret Gods Word otherwise
than did the Bishops. Thus the infiu.
encc Of the Bible was largely nulli.
fed. After the beginning Of the Nine,
tcentb Century education became more
general Bible Societies sprang into
existence Superstition is gradually
down, and people dare to
think for themselves. The creeds of
The DARK Ages are manifestly SO alb.
5Urd that no intelligent orthodox min
Ster thinks of defending that Of bis
pwn denomination.
Making Way For Gods Kingdom.
The Pastor urged his hearers to
study the Bible for themselves and to
break away from the errors and su.
DcrStitiOnS of the past. He showed
hat the Scriptures teach that Satan,
lot our forcfathers, Is responsible for
hcse errors We are living in a time
when more light than ever before Is
luc upon Gods Word. The great Eu-
'opean war is the beginning Of the
Of the Scriptures, Ac.
'orlng to Gods Word. the trouble
upon the nations will increase until all
he world is engulfed In anarchy. But
IpOn the ruins Of the Present Order
iod will erect the Messianlc Kingdom.
which will assume full control Of the
world and It's affairs