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Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers
Preaching Contrary to Established Doctrines
“The angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and
brought them forth, and said, Go, stand and speak in the temple to
the people all the words of this life.” We see here that the men in
authority are not always to be obeyed, even though they may profess
to be teachers of Bible doctrine. There are many today who feel
indignant and aggrieved that any voice should be raised presenting
ideas that differ from their own in regard to points of religious belief.
Have they not long advocated their ideas as truth? So the priests
and rabbis reasoned in apostolic days: What mean these men who
are unlearned, some of them mere fishermen, who are presenting
ideas contrary to the doctrines which the learned priests and rulers
are teaching the people? They have no right to meddle with the
fundamental principles of our faith.
But we see that the God of heaven sometimes commissions
men to teach that which is regarded as contrary to the established
doctrines. Because those who were once the depositaries of truth
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became unfaithful to their sacred trust, the Lord chose others who
would receive the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness, and
would advocate truths that were not in accordance with the ideas
of the religious leaders. And then these leaders, in the blindness
of their minds, give full sway to what is supposed to be righteous
indignation against the ones who have set aside cherished fables.
They act like men who have lost their reason. They do not consider
the possibility that they themselves have not rightly understood the
word. They will not open their eyes to discern the fact that they have
misinterpreted and misapplied the Scriptures, and have built up false
theories, calling them fundamental doctrines of the faith.
But the Holy Spirit will, from time to time, reveal the truth
through its own chosen agencies; and no man, not even a priest or
ruler, has a right to say, You shall not give publicity to your opinions,
because I do not believe them. That wonderful “I” may attempt to
put down the Holy Spirit’s teaching. Men may for a time attempt to
smother it and kill it; but that will not make error truth, or truth error.
The inventive minds of men have advanced speculative opinions in
various lines, and when the Holy Spirit lets light shine into human
minds, it does not respect every point of man’s application of the