must deliver all, who receive and hold it from God, from every system of man, call it by what name you please.”
Let us, then, examine these pillars, for if these are strong and well-grounded, then the superstructure raised upon them is safe; otherwise it must fall to the ground. The first, then, is hewn out of the passage we have already commented on—“Where two or three are gathered together in My name there am I in the midst of them.” Is this to take the presidency of their proceedings? After the resurrection this promise was fulfilled, and Jesus did come into the midst of His disciples, and manifested Himself to them; but there is no word about the presidency of the Holy Ghost.
There is not a trace of it in any of the assemblies recorded, nor is the idea so much as hinted at in any part of God’s Word. Let us examine the second: “God is the author.” We turn to the passage (1 Cor. xiv. 33), and—would you believe it? the word “author” is only found in italics, the indication of insertion by the translators. It reads exactly as follows:—“God is not of confusion, but of peace;” and the Apostle makes that statement to urge the prophets to keep their spirits in subjection—not to Christ, but to themselves. For he says, “The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.” As far, therefore, as these pillars are concerned, instead of being granite they are clay, and crumble beneath the touch, and thus the whole superstructure is destroyed. We may concede, however, that a man’s cause may be better than his argument. Let us, then, suppose that there is a Divine presidency. If there is such a thing, I want to ask a few questions.
First, if there is this Divine presidency—and, therefore, there should be no human presidents—how is it we find Paul carefully directing Titus to appoint elders in every city? That he tells the elders of Ephesus
