Dogs THAT CAN'T BARK

A Republican Christian heard my radio spot about socialism and abortion.  He said I had no right as a pastor to be involved in politics.  I asked if he could name one man of God in the Bible that had nothing to do with politics.  He could not name one.  Can you?  Christians in America could be by far the largest voting block.  We could turn this nation in one election toward righteousness in our laws.  The two obstacles to this are gnostic dualism and fear.  

Dualism separates the sacred & the secular.  That is the spirit of anti-christ.  Fear of man is the other problem.  American freedom never would have rung if the preachers of the founding fathers' day had been "girlie men" like so many today.  Satan whispers, "Play it safe, boys.  Keep your offerings rolling!  If not, your heads might roll," like John the Baptist who rebuked a king.  God help us not to be like the shepherds described by Isaiah.  

"They are all silent dogs;  they cannot bark..." (Isa 56:9-11).

DOGS THAT CAN'T BARK

The Buffoon Gods

I have many times referred to the celebrities of America and the Hollywood crowd as the buffoon gods of Mt. Olympus. Zeus and his companions were more immoral than the fools that worshipped them. It is altogether fitting that the 2008 Democratic Convention in Denver should have a mock-up of a Greek temple in the background for the speech given by the “son of Zeus.” Could the decision to have a Greek temple in the background be a Freudian slip?

If this son of a god becomes president will he be another Caesar? Hail Caesar! A god indeed! “There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved, but the name Caesar.” He will save us with health care for every citizen. He will visit vengeance on the capitalists, seize their stolen profits, and distribute them among the poor.

O! How the masses swoon. There’s a sucker born every day.

Was Jesus A Socialist?

Was Jesus A Socialist?
Some people think Jesus was (is) a socialist. Socialism favors state control of the economy and the re-distribution of wealth. In other words, “rob the rich to feed the poor.”
Socialism From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Socialism refers to any of various economic and political concepts of state or collective (i.e. public) ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods and services, some of which have been developed into more or less highly articulated theories and/or praxis. In a Marxist or labor-movement definition of the term, socialism is a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done with the goal of creating a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to control by the community. This control may be exercised on behalf of the state, through a market, or through popular collectives such as workers' councils and cooperatives. As an economic system, socialism is often characterized by state, cooperative, or worker ownership of the means of production, goals which have been attributed to, and claimed by, a number of political parties and governments.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, in From Under The Rubble, traces the history of socialism and concludes by saying that since it is a fact and not an opinion that socialism has failed every single time it has been tried in history, he poses the question, “Why, then, would anyone want to be a socialist?” His answer: Because “there is an organic unity between socialism and evil.”
How so? Was Jesus evil? Those who believe in the doctrine of the Trinity believe that Christ was the I AM who appeared to Moses and gave him the Law of God. Socialism breaks some of the Ten Commandments. “Thou shalt not steal.” “You shall not be partial to the poor or to the rich.” Since socialism depends on class envy, it thrives on covetousness. “Thou shalt not covet.” Since the state pretends to be the savior, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.”
Augustus Caesar said, “There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved but the name Caesar.” The state is the beast, Caesar. Every religion except Christianity ends up worshipping the state as god and savior. “What shall we do with your King?” “We have no king but Caesar. Crucify him and give us Barrabas!” (Barrabas represents those who want to overthrow Caesar. He had killed a man in an insurrection. Liberation Theologians like Obama’s pastor Jeremiah Wright want to do the same.
When, at age 30, I returned from the mission field, changed careers, and was struggling in the transition to feed my wife and four daughters, we borrowed money to buy a used trailer for $3400. I had to work two jobs to barely make ends meet. Then I saw an ad for government assisted housing and called the realtor. The realtor asked how much I was making and, totaling both jobs, I told her. She said I did not qualify because I was making too much. She said I would qualify if I quit one of the jobs. I said, “You mean it would pay me to work only one job? Never mind. I’ll trust God and do it myself.”
Peter said, “There is no other name under heaven whereby we must be saved, but the name Jesus Christ” (Acts 4:12). He promises to prosper us if we keep the Covenant, work six days, and do not take on a “victim” mentality. To do otherwise is a tendency toward taking the mark of the beast (Caesar).

S

Mark of the Beast

The Mark
Of The Beast

By Ron Smith
Revelation 13
1 And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea.
The Beast out of the Sea
And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name.
Commentary: This beast is Rome. The seven heads are seven Caesars: Julius, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, & Galba. The ten horns are the ten provinces of Rome. Each province had a king like Herod who was under the authority of Caesar. Revelation 17 describes the seven heads as seven kings. He said five had fallen and “one is.” Nero was the 6th and therefore this was written during the reign of Nero.
2 The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. 3 One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast.
Commentary: The head that was wounded was Julius. The senators killed him in order to destroy the dictatorship of empiricism. They thought they had killed it, but it arose in more power than ever with Augustus. All the world wondered at what Augustus had done when he brought about world peace. He said, “There is no other name in heaven whereby we must be saved, but the name Caesar.”
4 Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?" 5 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months.
Commentary: Nero persecuted the Christians for 42 months from AD 64 to AD 68. Peter and Paul were killed at this time.
6 He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. 7 He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. 8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. 9 He who has an ear, let him hear. 10 If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed.
Commentary: Nero was killed with the sword in AD 68.
This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.
The Beast out of the Earth
11Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. 12He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. 14 Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.
Commentary: Giving “breath” to the image means causing the rule of Caesar to be effective. The image set up was a mental image. The signs produced could mean all the prosperity Herod brought to his reign. The fire could mean all his murders.
16 He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, 17 so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18 This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.

Who Are These Beasts?
The first beast rises out of the sea and is international in government. (The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues - Rev 17:15) The second beast rises out of the land and is local. The first beast in Revelation 13 is the same as the 4th beast in Daniel seven. It is the dynasty of Julius Caesar.
The second beast arises out of the Promised Land. It is Jerusalem. This beast looks like a lamb. Lambs have to do with priesthood sacrifice. It represents the chief priests of Jerusalem. It has two horns. Horns are symbols of power. This beast is schizophrenic because one horn says, “We have no king but Caesar,” and the other says, “Give us Barrabas” (who wanted to overthrow Caesar in an insurrection). It then speaks like a dragon and says, “Crucify Him.” The function of this second beast is to make the whole world worship the mental image of the first beast (Caesar). Nero was the current ruling Caesar and was the beast in the flesh. The letters of his name in Hebrew add up to 666. (Every letter in Hebrew is also a number.) This second beast is later called the false prophet in Revelation 20 and the harlot supported by the beast in Revelation 17. Caesar supported the apostate Jerusalem. That is why she is called the “Whore of Babylon.”
The Book of Revelation arises in a crescendo of heavenly rejoicing when she is destroyed in chapter 19. Then follows the marriage supper of the Lamb. The clue as to the identity of the Whore of Babylon is when it says, “And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth” (Rev 18:24). Jesus also described Jerusalem similarly. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets” (Mat 23:37). No other city in history up to that point could be described this way. Neither Babylon, nor Egypt, nor Nineveh, nor any other city was famous for killing prophets.
To take the mark of the beast is to do what the chief priests of the Jews were doing. They said, “We have no king but Caesar; give us Barrabas and crucify Him.” To take the mark of the beast is to put Caesar (the government) as the highest authority. Those who take this mark believe that if the Supreme Court says it is okay, then it is. That is the same as saying, “We have no king but Caesar.”
What Does It Mean In Apocalyptic Language
To “Buy And Sell?”

In Revelation 3:13 Jesus said, “I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire.”
How does one buy gold from Jesus? Is it not by worshipping Him in Spirit and in truth? This shows that in Holy Spirit vision language, “buying and selling” is worship. The Spirit says in Revelation 13:16 that no one could buy or sell without the mark of the beast on their forehead and on their hand. This means they could not “worship” in the synagogue.

Put Out of the Synagogue
John 9:22b …the Jews had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue.
The Mark
Dt 11:18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.

Just as Stephen called God’s Tabernacle the “tabernacle of Moloch” because of their wrong motive in worship, so here the Spirit is calling the God ordained custom of tying the words of God on their hands and foreheads the “mark of the beast.”

In Acts 7:42-44 Stephen said, “Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets:
‘Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch, And the star of your god Remphan, Images which you made to worship; And I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’ Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed…”

Malachi 2:3 says the “refuse of your solemn feasts” will be rubbed on your faces. Isaiah 1:14 says, “Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me.” The very festivals God had ordained had become a burden to God because of their wrong motive in worship.

How Do We Apply This Today?
How do we apply this? It means that the very duties God has ordained can become sinful because of performing them from a wrong motive and going about to establish our own righteousness. Just as the Pharisees trusted in their fasting, tithing, and Sabbath keeping and left out mercy and justice, so Christians today can trust in their witnessing, their giving, their praying, their worship, their building of hospitals, helping the poor, fighting abortion, church attendance, and many other legitimate duties.
What the hypocrites of that day did is no different from what professing Christians can do now. One “mark” of this beast is when one thinks he has done his duty and must be careful of not going too far in our dedication and giving. Anyone who thinks that way is marked. Anyone who wants credit for all his giving and all his sacrifice has marked himself. We are also told to “mark” those who cause dissension and divisions (Rom 16:17).
Jesus said to go and learn what Hosea 6:6 means:
For I desire mercy and not sacrifice,
And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
It means He desires substance over symbol.

Books & Tracts By Ron Smith
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Richard Cameron
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Stoddard Way to Know Sincerity and Hypocrisy Cleared Up
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The Coming Of Christ In Mat 24
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The Many Comings of the Lord
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TRUE AND FALSE CONVERSION
True And False Conversion
What We Must Understand to be Saved
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One Holy Catholic & Apostolic Church

One Holy Catholic And Apostolic Church
By Ron Smith

One Holy Catholic Church

Every Sunday Christians recite the Apostles’ Creed. “I believe in the holy catholic church.” Each of the doctrines found in the creed can be traced to statements current in the New Testament period. The oldest copy of the creed is perhaps the Interrogatory Creed of Hippolytus (A.D. 215). The word catholic simply means universal. It has to do with the unity of all Christians regardless of their respective denominations. We are all unified by our pledge to the essential doctrines as stated in this creed. What we believe in our hearts, we confess with our mouths. All Christians everywhere confess these doctrines. To deny the Apostles’ Creed is to deny Christ.

The Apostle’s Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, 
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, 

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, 
born of the Virgin Mary, 

suffered under Pontius Pilate, 
was crucified, died, and was buried; 

he descended to the dead. 

On the third day he rose again; 

he ascended into heaven, 

he is seated at the right hand of the Father, 

and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, 

the holy catholic church, 

the communion of saints, 

the forgiveness of sins, 

the resurrection of the body, 

and the life everlasting. AMEN.

The Church’s Authority
Jesus said, “And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven (Mat 18:17-18).

To bind means to “make binding” as in a binding agreement.

In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it (Nehemiah 9:38).

What makes the historical creeds such as the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed binding in heaven, is the unified agreement of all the churches in the world. The argument of the Church of Armenia (the first Christian nation state in history), is that after the council of Chalcedon (451 AD) the churches were divided, and therefore all the councils after that are not universally binding. The Armenian Church and the Coptic churches separated from the others at that time.
The Nicene Creed was agreed on in 381 AD as a result of the Council of Nicea in 325 AD. This creed was agreed on by all the churches as a result of the controversy on the doctrine of the Trinity. The Arians denied the deity of Christ. They said He was a created being, and was the Son of God but not God. The Nicene Creed says, “We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds (æons), Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father…”
Jesus said that what the church binds on earth is bound in heaven. This defines what a Christian is. To deny this teaching of the Trinity is to be “a heathen and a tax collector.” One who denies the doctrines of these creeds is therefore not a Christian.

The Essentials Of The Faith
St. Augustine said, “In essentials – unity; in non-essentials – liberty; in all things – charity.” The essential doctrines are found in the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed because they are a binding agreement. This means we are forbidden to divide over non-essential doctrines and required to divide if we are not agreed on the essentials. But in all things there must be charity. That means no “name calling” and personal attacks. We are to be objective and not subjective in our debates over non-essential doctrines. Those who run out of reasonable arguments many times resort to name calling and personal acidity.
This does not mean that non-essential doctrines are not important. It just means we have no right to reject each other as non-Christian if we do not agree. There should be liberty to debate the non-essential issues charitably. I have been called the Antichrist by uneducated pastors in Mexico because I reject the teaching of a secret rapture and a soon coming of Christ. The universal churches have never agreed on such non-essentials as the interpretation of prophecy.
The Scriptures
The doctrines on which the universal church agreed were based on the Bible. The early church agreed on the books that were included in the New Testament. Therefore, those who reject the authority of the Bible are not Christians. Eusebius (324 AD), the first church historian, explains the criteria for acceptance. The book had to be written by an apostle or by the companion of an apostle. It also had to be received and read by the universal churches. Those books that did not agree with the essentials (the Gnostic gospels) were rejected as antichrist. Jesus said to His apostles, “As the Father has sent Me, so I send you” (John 20:21). To reject the authority of the apostles and prophets (the Bible) is to reject Christ. To invent a new Christ other than the Scriptural one, is to violate the second commandment (No images; including mental ones).
The church is built on the foundation of the apostles and the Old Testament prophets (Eph 2:20). The Bible is the word of the church and the universal church made it binding both in heaven and on earth because Jesus said so (Mat 18:17-18). Paul said the church is the “pillar and foundation of the truth” (1 Tim 3:15). This does not mean the “Roman Church” or the “Baptist Church” or any other denomination. It means the original historical church of the historical creeds that were bound by the united churches.
If the church is the foundation of the truth, and the Bible is the word of the church as spoken by the prophets and apostles, and Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, then we must conclude that any teaching that does not agree with the essential doctrines of the church is “another Gospel” and a false one. Jesus said, “No man comes to the Father but by Me” (John 14:6).

Jesus And The Prophets
Some attempt to pit Jesus against the Old Testament prophets. But Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Mat 5:17). Everything Jesus did and said was based on the Old Testament. He did not replace it; He fulfilled it. Fulfilling is not abolishing. When He said, “You have heard it has been said, ‘An eye for an eye’, but I say to you”… He was not contradicting Moses; He was contradicting the Pharisees’ method of interpretation. Jesus claimed to be the I AM who was before Abraham (John 8) and who appeared to Moses. Therefore, it was Christ Himself who gave the Law to Moses. Jesus does not replace the Old Testament prophets; He encompasses them. He is the one speaking through them.

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe (Heb 1:1-2 NIV).

Since the Nicene Creed is binding, we must believe that Christ is God. God is one essence in three persons. God inspired the prophets and the apostles. Men are fallible, but God’s word spoken through them is infallible. They were only vessels of clay; but they contained an invaluable treasure (i.e. the word of God).

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us (2 Cor 4:7).

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16 NIV).

For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet 1:21 NIV).

Jesus evidently believed in the inspiration of Scripture because “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (Luke 24:27 NIV). “The words of the prophets are in agreement with this…” (Acts 15:15 NIV).

What About Tradition?
You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men (Mark 7:8 NIV).

Traditions that replace God’s word are to be avoided. However, according to Scripture, traditions that do not contradict Scripture and that were handed down by the apostles should be observed. Paul commanded that the traditions that he had handed down be observed, whether they are oral or written.

Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle (2 Thess 2:15 KJV).

Church History
The history of both the Old Testament church and the New Testament church over the last 5000 years since Abraham has proven that men morally devolve instead of evolving. The second law of dynamics is proven. “All things left to themselves tend to deteriorate.” It is also called entropy. The Bible calls it the law of sin and death. It is a record of constant backsliding. Just look at the book of Judges, Kings, and Chronicles. Just look at church history. Denominations start out with the power of God and a generation or so later they deny the essentials of the faith and have a “name that they live and are dead” (Rev 3:1).
The only thing that can reverse death is the power of the resurrection. Christ reversed entropy in His resurrection. And “He must reign till He has put all His enemies under His feet; and the last enemy is death” (1 Cor 15:25-26).
Although history shows constant backsliding by God’s people, every now and then God visits His people in reformation and reverses the trend. This happened in the Exodus; it happened several times in Judges; it happened in the reformations of Hezekiah, Josiah, Ezra, John the Baptist, and Jesus. It happened in church history in the Reformation, the Great Awakenings, etc.
Based on this pattern of the past, we are to expect similar visitations in the future because Jesus said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Mat 16:18).

Whatever is has already been,
and what will be has been before;
and God will call the past to account (Eccles 3:15 NIV).

Significance

SIGNIFICANCE
Would you rather be useful or significant? God created all things to be useful. Only God has significance. We learned this in philosophy class at the seminary.
A chair does not have significance. It signifies that it is useful for something. No created thing has significance. Only God does. When man wants to be significant instead of useful, he makes him self a god. “God knows that when you eat of the tree you will be like God.” Marlon Brando said, “I could’a been somebody. I could’a been a contendah.” He wanted to be significant… like God.
Absolutizing:
There are many aspects of life and many aspects to the body of Christ. Some are ears, some are hands, some are feet, etc. The ear cannot say to the foot, “You should be like me.” That is absolutizing one aspect of the body. When man wants to be significant instead of useful, he tends to absolutize his particular aspect of life.
EXAMPLE: I knew a man that thrived on witnessing door to door. The church doubled in attendance from 200 to 400 in one year due to his efforts. But he thought everyone should be like him, and if you were not, well, you were just not right with God. He felt significant. He felt that he was an important “somebody.” That is called pride. God will reject that offering just as he rejected Cain’s.

ESSENTIALS, ETC.
St. Augustine said, “In essentials – unity; in non-essentials – liberty; in all things charity.” The essentials of the Christian faith are found in the doctrines listed in the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed. We must all agree that the Bible is God’s infallible word and that Christ is the only way of salvation. Scripture demands that we divide when we do not agree on the essentials of the faith. We are told to “note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them” (Rom 16:17). We cannot be one with those, for example, who deny the doctrine of the Trinity.
The Scripture also demands that we do not divide over the non-essentials. That is petty, divisive, and factious. The Scriptures say a lot about this subject.
1Cor 1:10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
1Cor 3:3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?
1Cor 11:19 For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.
Jude 1:19 These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.
Galatians lists dissension as one of the works of the flesh (5:19-20).
James 3:14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.

When we started this church we believed we had a unique message based on the historical church. I hope we did not leave the impression that everyone has to be like us or they are just not right with God. That would be an effort to be significant; that would be absolutizing one aspect of what God is doing in the world. I hope our motive is not to be significant, but rather to be useful.
It is said that Presbyterians divide over non-essential doctrines and that Baptists divide over the color of the carpet.
We do not require that all our members agree on every point of what we teach; we just require that we agree on the essentials. To do otherwise would be an attempt to be significant, and that would be an attempt to “be like God knowing good and evil” (Gen 3:5).
That does not mean that non-essentials are not important. It just means we have no right to divide over them. We can each try with all our might to persuade one another of our convictions on non-essentials, but please let us not think that each is a devil for not agreeing. Let us never take the position that our interpretation of non-essentials is as infallible as the Scripture.