Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 13
March 1, 1962
NUMBER 42, PAGE 2,14

Faith Of Our Fathers

Jesse M. Kelley

Qualifications And Authority Of Inspired Preachers F. D. Srygley (Gospel Advocate, February 6, 1896) I. Qualification Of Inspired Preachers

"And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high." (Luke 24:49)

The promise of the Father and the power from on high, referred to in this text, is the gift of miraculous inspiration. The fact that Jesus commanded his apostles not to preach till they receive this promise and power, argues that he was unwilling for the people to hear and follow the preaching of uninspired men till they had a standard of inspired doctrine by which to measure it. If the preaching of uninspired men can be safely trusted to lead souls to salvation, why were the apostles not permitted to preach without inspiration? This marks a distinction between inspired and uninspired preachers and preaching which no one can ignore except at his own peril. All preachers and preaching must be measured by the standard of inspiration. This is a logical and necessary conclusion from the premise of the Lord's command to the apostles not to preach till they were miraculously inspired by power from on high. To depart from this fundamental principle of Christianity is to introduce confusion in religion. To enforce it is to exclude schisms and promote harmony in the church. All inspired preaching is necessarily consistent and harmonious, because it proceeds from the same infallible source. Uninspired preaching, if not made to conform to an inspired standard, is inconsistent and contradictory. "It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe," and the gospel of Christ is "the power of God unto salvation"; but the power to save was "from on high" by miraculous inspiration. The apostles had many advantages over uninspired preachers of modern times even before they received the gift of miraculous inspiration. They had been constantly with Jesus for more than three years covering the whole period of his public ministry. They must have learned much from him during this time. No preacher of modern times has enjoyed such excellent advantages, no matter what theological institution he has attended. The weighty point in this is that God has ordained that people shall not be led in the way of salvation by uninspired preachers except in so far as they agree with the standard of inspiration. The reason for this is clearly suggested by Jesus himself in the following words: "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." (John 14:26) Human memory is treacherous, and human understanding is imperfect at best, and often dull of comprehension. In a matter so important as the salvation of souls they were not to be trusted without miraculous inspiration to guarantee their accuracy. No one can afford to risk his salvation on the preaching of an uninspired man without carefully comparing it with the doctrine of inspired preachers. Jesus further emphasizes this point in these words: "Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth." (John 16:13) This is enough to know about inspiration. The point of practical value is that the inspiration of the New Testament guarantees the accuracy of the doctrine. It may be accepted and followed with full assurance of faith unto salvation by those who have not so much as heard whether there be any controversy among learned men about the theory of inspiration. "For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you." (Matt. 10:20) The gift of miraculous inspiration qualified those who received it to speak with authority on religious questions. It constituted their utterances a standard by which all questions are to be settled. The world must believe it and walk by it, or be damned. The supreme authority of inspiration as a doctrinal standard is a fundamental principle of Christianity. Any theory of religion, or of conversion and salvation, which does not harmonize with this principle is a rejection of Christianity itself. No preachers since the apostles have had this gift of miraculous inspiration. The doctrine of all preachers outside of the New Testament must therefore by measured by the inspired standard of New Testament teaching. No one has any authority to preach or receive anything that does not plainly harmonize with the New Testament; and the man who does either takes the risk against the warning of God.

II. Authority Of Inspired Preachers

"He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me." (Luke 10:17)

To hear and accept the preaching of inspired men is to hear and accept Christ. To reject the preaching of inspired men is to reject Christ. Nothing is more clearly taught than this in the New Testament. The plain meaning of Matt. 16:18, 19, where Jesus promised the "keys of the kingdom" to the apostles is that the gift of miraculous inspiration in the apostles is supreme authority on earth on all questions of religion. There is no appeal from it to a higher tribunal even in heaven with any promise of a reversal, for notice is served in plain language that the dictum of inspiration on earth is confirmed in heaven. Those who have no promise of salvation from inspiration on earth will labor under embarrassing disadvantages if they undertake to make out a case in heaven. "He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whosoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained." (John 20:22, 23) This text plainly emphasizes the authority of inspiration in the matter of the remission of sins. There, is no appeal from the dictum of inspiration on earth to the judgment of God in heaven. Why should there be? "It is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you." Such an appeal would therefore be nothing else than the farce of appealing from God on earth to God in heaven. "If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord." (1 Cor. 14:37) The man who does not acknowledge the supreme authority of inspiration on earth in the settlement of all religious questions is neither spiritual nor a prophet. Any theory of conversion and salvation which does not include the preaching of inspired men as an essential part in the process is contrary to the whole spirit and genius of Christianity. It appears to a rejection of inspiration entirely. If inspired preaching is not an essential part of the process of conversion and salvation, it is nothing of any importance. To say souls can be converted and saved without inspired preaching is to say inspiration can be dispensed with entirely without any serious loss or disadvantage to the human race. Therefore the whole idea of inspiration and the very Bible itself must stand or fall with the proposition argued previously, to the effect that "it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." If souls can be converted and saved without the preaching of inspired men, the apostles and the Bible are of no practical value to the world.