Remember your exalted privilege, you have the Bible in your hands, and are not bound to follow books or preachers any farther than what they teach agrees with the Oracles of Truth. We have great reason to be thankful for the instructions and writings of spiritual men but they are all fallible, even as ourselves.
One is our master, even Christ, what He says, we are to receive implicitly but we do not owe implicit subjection to the best of our fellow-worms. The Bereans were commended because they would not implicitly believe even the Apostle Paul but examined the Scriptures every day to see if what he said was true. May the Lord give us a spirit of humility and discernment in all things.
When we eat an apple, we first cut out the blemishes, then eat what is good, and lastly throw the core away. Such a rule I would observe in reading human authors the best may be defective, and the wisest may be mistaken. We are not only permitted, but enjoined, to call no man master.
[John Newton]
Acts 17:11 ... These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
1 Thessalonians 5:21 ... Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
2 Timothy 2:15 ... Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.❤
