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A -- I am satisfied with the words of Christ.
B -- Friend, believe me, we are one in that blessed fact, for He is the
truth, His words are spirit and life, He came to reveal the Father, and the
heart of every believer still says, `Show us the Father and it sufficeth us'.
We are both satisfied with the words of Christ.
A -- You interrupted me, I was going to say that I am satisfied with
the words of Christ and do not need the opinions of Paul or any other man.
B -- By the `words of Christ',
then, I understand you to mean the four
Gospels, and by the opinions of Paul
I take it that you mean the epistles
written by that servant of God. Let
me just ask you a question. Am I right
in assuming that the words of Christ
with which you are satisfied are those
of the four Gospels?
A -- Certainly.
B -- I see.
You have not therefore any words of Christ written by
Himself?
A -- Of course not!
B -- What words of Christ you have therefore were written by other men,
and not by Himself?
A -- They were written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
B -- Pardon me if I appear too persistent, but supposing I were to take
your line and say, `I do not want the opinions of Matthew, Mark, Luke or
John, I want the actual words of Christ Himself', what would you say?
A -- I should say that in these four Gospels we have the words of
Christ, written by these men as they were guided and inspired by the Spirit
of truth. Look at this passage in John 14:26:
`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 `.
Here you see my warrant for believing that, although the record may
have been made by Matthew or Luke, yet the record is inspired, and in these
Gospels I have the words of Christ which are enough for me.
B -- I am glad that we both agree on this next point, namely, the full
inspiration of the four Gospels, but do you not see that if Matthew could be
inspired to write the Gospel that bears his name, Peter, John, James, Jude
and Paul could equally have been inspired to record the words of Christ
spoken since His Resurrection? Your reference to John 14:26 was most apt and
it reminds me of another statement in chapter 16. Let us turn to verses 12 -
14:
`I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into
all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall
hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come.