“Like Jonah, you may lose your gourd, but you cannot lose your God.”
—C.H. Spurgeon
regarding your signature quote, it struck me as ironic you would have this quote and argue the validity of sola scriptura.
This is precisely where the premise of sola scriptura falls apart. I would bet that each of the over 33,000 Protestant branches and each of their member churches would each have their own “private interpretation” (btw which Peter forbids as far as scripture goes, see 2 Peter 1:20) whether C.H.Spurgeon was right about that statement. You know each denomination and their member churches claims to be “inspired” by the Holy Spirit’s teaching. So which is one is correct??? is the Holy Spirit Schizophrenic??
That is why God gave us one, holy, Catholic (universal) and apostolic Church to guide us with Sacred Scripture, Sacred Apostolic tradition and the teaching ministry of the Magisterium to “rightly divide the word of truth”. Jesus prayed that his church be one and the Apostles warned about the evil of schisms and divisions of His church, that includes the so called “Reformation”…
Look at Israel, read its history of corruption and falling away from God, yet you see one Israel. Not many Israels…Francis of Assisi rightly chose to pray and work for reformation within the Church and that is where Luther and Calvin went wrong. Luther lamented at the end of his life that there were already over 500 divisions of the schism he started.
but back to your quote…Scripture’s plain teaching and the Church’s teaching rightly refutes Spurgeon’s statement.
Heb 4:1-11
1 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.
2 For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.
3 Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,
"So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’ "
And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world.
4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words:
“And on the seventh day God rested from all his work.”
5 And again in the passage above he says,
“They shall never enter my rest.”
6 It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience.
7 Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before:
“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day.
9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God;
10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.
11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.
God Bless
