From the earliest of times man has been instructed by God to be true to His word. In Deuteronomy 4:2, the Lord commanded, "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you." That command was plain and simple, and men knew exactly what God meant. Yet, they disobeyed God and found themselves in sin. "But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness" (1 Corinthians10:5).

In the New Testament we find the same instruction from God. As a matter of fact, being moved by the Holy Spirit of God, Paul, the apostle of Jesus Christ, told the church there that they were not to go beyond that which was written (1 Corinthians 4:6).

Today, we have men throughout the brotherhood who are calling for change - change in worship, change in duty, change in fellowship, and even change in the plan of salvation. Evidently, such brethren have not studied and rightly divided the word of God. It was the Hebrew writer who wrote, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever" (Hebrews 13:8).

Everything we do is to be by the authority of Christ - as Paul states in Colossians 3:17. Yet, Christ has not changed. His word has not changed; the worship of the church has not changed. Neither has its fellowship, its service, nor its plan of salvation!

As the Bible comes to a close, we find the word of Jesus Christ, Himself, as he - for one last time - gives mankind instructions as to the importance of following the word without compromise. "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book" (Revelation 22:18-19).

Those who seek such changes need to repent and once again be true to the word, for they pervert the gospel (Galatians 1:6-9). There is a standard; there is a guide; there is an absolute; and that absolute is the WORD OF GOD.

Let each of us be true to His word that we all might be saved in the end. "He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day" (John 12:48). P.O. Box 23, Bucyrus, OH 44820.

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