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.