Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 8
June 14, 1956
NUMBER 7, PAGE 2,5b

Methodists Missing The Mark

Warren Rainwater, Nashville, Tennessee

It Is Considered Bold Indeed To Single Out Some Sect Today And Make A Frontal Attack On The Doctrine That They Hold Dear To Their Hearts. However Any Position That Is Held Religiously Must Be Able To Stand The Test Of A "Thus Saith The Lord." Anything That Any Group Might Hold As Doctrine Must Be Able To Stand The Test Of The Scriptures. All Religious Teaching Must Be Able To Stand The Test Or Be Discarded And Cast Aside.

We Expect To Apply Then The Time Tested Method Of Determining The Genuineness Of The Methodist's Teaching And Doctrine In This Article. The Honest Person That Is Searching For The Truth Will Be Able To See The Logic Of The Points Given. The Lord Defeated The Devil On Every Hand With A "Thus Saith The Lord." The Word Of God Will Always Win And Error Will Be Stamped Out When We Allow God To Have His Way.

Any Church Today That Cannot Stand A Bold Interrogation By The Word Of God Will Be Proven To Be False And An Imposter. The Lord Said In The Holy Writ "That Upon This Rock I Will Build My Church." (Matt. 16:18.) The Word Of God Makes No Mention Of Any Promise To Build Several Churches And Fit Them To The Desires Of Man. If We Expect To Go To Heaven When We Die We Must Be Willing To Accept God's Way And Not Try To Adjure God Into Permitting Us To Change His Will. Many Persons Have Tried To Make The Word Of God Conform To Their Thinking.

In This Great Land Of Ours There Are So Many "Religious Bodies" That Claim To House The Saints Of God That We Must Apply The Scriptural Test To See If They Are What They Claim To Be. Any Church That Claims To Be The Church Of The New Testament Must Be Able To Pass The Following Tests: When And Where Did The Church Begin? Who Was Its Founder? What Is The Teaching Regarding Faith, Baptism, The Name, And Worship.

The Church That Jesus Purchased With His Precious Blood Was Founded In A.D. 33 On The First Pentecost After The Resurrection Of Our Lord. (Acts 2.) It Had Its Beginning In Jerusalem. The Lord Said "And That Repentance And Remission Of Sins Should Be Preached In His Name Among All Nations Beginning At Jerusalem." (Luke 24.) On That Day The Fulfillment Of The Commands Given By The Lord In Mark 16:15, 16 Had Its Beginning. Men And Women Were Added To The Lord Daily. We See The Church Of Christ Operating In Its Fulness As The Apostles Went From City To City Preaching The Gospel Of Christ.

History Declares That The Methodist Church Had Its Beginning About The Year 1735. It Was Established By John Wesley (1703-1791). It Had Its Beginning Too Late To Qualify As The Lord's Church And Started In The Wrong Place. It Was Founded Upon The Ideas Of Mr. Wesley And Not Upon The "Rock Of Ages."

Proof Of The Human Arrangement Of The Methodist Church Is Contained In The Doctrine Of The Discipline. Declared Therein Is The Doctrine Of Salvation By Faith Only. This Is A Glowing Example Of What Frail Human Beings Will Declare To Be A Most Wholesome Doctrine And Full Of Comfort. The Word Of God Does Not Assign To Faith The Task Of Saving The Human Race Without The Help Of Obedience. The God Of Heaven Seems To Foresee The Clumsy Attempt Of Man To Install Some Method Different From That Ordained By The Lord. In James 2:17 We See The Result Of Assigning To Faith A Task That It Is Incapable Of Performing, "Even So Faith, If It Hath Not Works, Is Dead Being Alone."

The Idea Of A Mental Acquiesce To The Fact That Jesus Christ Is The Son Of God And That He Will Save Us If We Put Our Trust In Him, Falls Short Of The Pattern Or Blueprint Given By The Lord For The Salvation Of Lost Souls. We Are Saved By Faith, By Grace, By Works, Yea By Obedience. A Complete Subjection To The Will Of God Will Lead Us Into Obedience To The Faith That Was Once Delivered To The Saints.

How Is The Grace Of God Made Manifest Unto Us? Through His Commandments. It Is By Grace Through Faith That We Have Access Into The Kingdom Of God's Dear Son. Faith Only As A Means Of Salvation Forces Us To Disregard The Command To Be Baptized For The Remission Of Sins. In Giving The Order To "Go Into All The World And Preach The Gospel To Every Creature," Jesus Assigned Baptism As A Condition Of Pardon From Committed Sins. The Honest Seeker Of The Truth Of God Will Not Disregard That Regardless Of What The High And Mighty In Theology Say.

We May See No Reason Why God Demanded That We Be Baptized For The Remission Of Sins. Noah Perhaps Could See No Reason For The Command To Build The Ark. There Had Never Been A Flood Before, Why Now. Abraham Could See No Reason For Offering His Son Upon The Altar. Why Did They Obey God? They Had True Faith. A Command From God Was Enough. That Is Enough For The Honest Seeker Of The Truth. When God Speaks We Will Listen. It Is Not For Us To Question But To Hearken.

It Is Plain To See Then That The Methodists Miss The Mark. They Kill The Effectiveness Of The Faith Of Man By Assigning To It A Task That It Cannot Perform. By So Doing They Make All Of God's Will Null And Void And Pervert The Gospel Of Christ. They Declare Boldly The Non- Essentiality Of Some Of The Commands Of The Gospel.

The Result Of Perverting The 'Gospel Is A Perverted Worship That Fails Completely. The Instruments Of Music Are Brought Into The Worship By The Desires Of Men And Not By The Authority Of The Scriptures. Methods Of Raising Money Are Contrary To The Methods Used By New Testament Churches. We See That It Is Hard Indeed To Get Men Of Religious Error To Abide By The Written Word. Their Peremptory Attitude Displays The Phantasmagorical Position That They Assume Regarding The Word Of God. They Add, They Praise, They Retrench And Pity The Simplicity Of The Will Of God. They Declare The Conscience To Be A Safe Guide In Religion Rather Than The Holy Scriptures.

The Methodists Are Unscriptural In Name As Well As In Performance. We Must Remember That There Is No Other Name Under Heaven Whereby We Might Be 'Saved Save The Name Of Jesus 'Christ. Any Attempt To Give The Glory That Is Due God To Some Human Creation Is Appalling Indeed. God Will Not Bless Any With Spiritual Blessings That Are Out Of Christ. All Spiritual Blessings Are In The Lord. To Receive Them We Must Be In The Lord. To Get Into Christ We Must Be Baptized Into Him. (Gal. 3:27.) When Our Sins Are Forgiven We Are In Christ Because We Have Been Baptized For Remission Of Sins And Into The Body Of Christ. Then We Can Receive Spiritual Blessings Because We Are In Covenant Relationship With The Lord. The Idea Of Declaring Baptism Non-Essential And Of No Importance Is The Final Act That Proves That The Methodist Church Is A Human Organization.

They Therefore Fail In Our Interrogation On All Counts. The New Testament Church Was Built By Christ. The Methodist Was Organized By Wesley. Second: The Church Of The Lord Was Founded In Jerusalem, A.D. 33. The Methodist In England In 1735. Third: The Bible Teaches That We Are Saved By Faith Plus Obedience. Methodist Doctrine Declares That We Are Saved By Faith Only. Fourth: All Spiritual Blessings Are In Christ And We Get Into Christ By Baptism. Methodists Do Not Baptize Therefore They Cannot Be In Christ. Sins Are Blotted Out By Baptism. No Baptism, No Remission And No Remission Of Sins, No Hope Of Eternal Life. Fifth: The Church Of Christ Revealed In The Bible Worships God According To The Divine Pattern, Lord's Supper On The Lord's Day. The Methodists Pass That By. The Church Conforms To The Pattern In The Song Service, Namely Singing. Methodists Conform To The Pattern Of The World. They Use The Instruments Of Music And Thus Defile The Praise Service To God.

In Fact We Can Go On And On But Never Be Able To Conform The Doctrine Of The Methodist Denomination To The Divine Blueprint. Therefore We Must Conclude That They Are Missing The Mark Completely When The Book Is Opened And They Are Judged According To The Divine Pattern.