THE MAINLINE
One of our men is a
superintendent with the railroad. He tells me that the railroad has a mainline
which runs from one destination to another, and that mainline has many spurs
which run from the mainline to other minor points. In the Word of God the
mainline is the gospel of Christ, the message of substitutionary redemption.
All other doctrines are so many spurs. They originate in the mainline; and
without the mainline they would be as meaningless as an isolated stretch of
railroad track in the dessert. When they are set forth as spurs, connected to
the mainline, then they have purpose and meaning. This is what I am saying - CHRIST
IS THE ESSENCE OF ALL DIVINE TRUTH. We believe and rejoice in every
doctrinal truth and every divine precept laid down in the Word of God. But we
recognize that the life, the substance, the root of all truths, principles, and
precepts is the gospel of Christ. If we fail to see all things in connection
with SUBSTITUTION we cannot properly understand them. We must devote our
time and attention to the mainline. Take one of the spurs now and then to this
place or that, but be sure that you start and finish with the mainline, or you
will soon be off the track altogether.