Hi Everyone,
I thought this was a great summation of the old and new gospels.
Vinny
----- Original Message -----
From: "ANZAC Prophetic List" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, December 01, 2004 12:41 PM
Subject: [anzac] "OLD CROSS vs. THE NEW" - Tozer
>
> "The OLD CROSS and the NEW"
> -by A.W. Tozer.
>
> All unannounced and mostly undetected there has come in modern
> times a new cross into popular evangelical circles. It is like the old
> cross, but different: the likenesses are superficial; the differences,
> fundamental.
>
> From this new cross has sprung a new philosophy of the Christian
> life, and from that new philosophy has come a new evangelical
> technique - a new type of meeting and a new kind of preaching.
> This new evangelism employs the same language as the old, but
> its content is not the same and its emphasis not as before.
>
> The old cross would have no truck with the world. For Adam's
> proud flesh it meant the end of the journey. It carried into effect
> the sentence imposed by the law of Sinai. The new cross is not
> opposed to the human race; rather, it is a friendly pal and, if
> understood aright, it is the source of oceans of good clean fun and
> innocent enjoyment. It lets Adam live without interference. His life
> motivation is unchanged; he still lives for his own pleasure, only
> now he takes delight in singing choruses and watching religious
> movies instead of singing bawdy songs and drinking hard liquor.
> The accent is still on enjoyment, though the fun is now on a higher
> plane morally if not intellectually.
>
> The new cross encourages a new and entirely different evangelistic
> approach. The evangelist does not demand abnegation of the old
> life before a new life can be received. He preaches not contrasts
> but similarities. He seeks to key into public interest by showing
> that Christianity makes no unpleasant demands; rather, it offers
> the same thing the world does, only on a higher level. Whatever
> the sin-mad world happens to be clamoring after at the moment
> is cleverly shown to be the very thing the gospel offers, only the
> religious product is better.
>
> The new cross does not slay the sinner, it redirects him. It gears
> him into a cleaner and jollier way of living and saves his self-respect.
> To the self-assertive it says, "Come and assert yourself for Christ."
> To the egotist it says, "Come and do your boasting in the Lord."
> To the thrill-seeker it says, "Come and enjoy the thrill of Christian
> fellowship." The Christian message is slanted in the direction of the
> current vogue in order to make it acceptable to the public.
>
> The philosophy back of this kind of thing may be sincere but its
> sincerity does not save it from being false. It is false because it
> is blind. It misses completely the whole meaning of the cross.
>
> The old cross is a symbol of death. It stands for the abrupt, violent
> end of a human being. The man in Roman times who took up his
> cross and started down the road had already said good-by to his
> friends. He was not coming back. He was going out to have it
> ended. The cross made no compromise, modified nothing, spared
> nothing; it slew all of the man, completely and for good. It did not
> try to keep on good terms with its victim. It struck cruel and hard,
> and when it had finished its work, the man was no more.
>
> The race of Adam is under death sentence. There is no commutation
> and no escape. God cannot approve any of the fruits of sin, however
> innocent they may appear or beautiful to the eyes of men. God
> salvages the individual by liquidating him and then raising him
> again to newness of life.
>
> That evangelism which draws friendly parallels between the ways
> of God and the ways of men is false to the Bible and cruel to the
> souls of its hearers. The faith of Christ does not parallel the world,
> it intersects it. In coming to Christ we do not bring our old life up
> onto a higher plane; we leave it at the cross. The corn of wheat
> must fall into the ground and die.
>
> We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public
> relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the
> world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make
> Christ acceptable to big business, the press, the world of sports
> or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and
> our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum.
>
> God offers life, but not an improved old life. The life He offers is life
> out of death. It stands always on the far side of the cross. Whoever
> would possess it must pass under the rod. He must repudiate
> himself and concur in God's just sentence against him. What does
> this mean to the individual, the condemned man who would find life
> in Christ Jesus? How can this theology be translated into life?
> Simply, he must repent and believe. He must forsake his sins and
> then go on to forsake himself. Let him cover nothing, defend nothing,
> excuse nothing. Let him not seek to make terms with God, but let
> him bow his head before the stroke of God's stern displeasure and
> acknowledge himself worthy to die.
>
> Having done this let him gaze with simple trust upon the risen
> Saviour, and from Him will come life and rebirth and cleansing and
> power. The cross that ended the earthly life of Jesus now puts an
> end to the sinner; and the power that raised Christ from the dead
> now raises him to a new life along with Christ.
>
> To any who may object to this or count it merely a narrow and
> private view of truth, let me say God has set His hallmark of
> approval upon this message from Paul's day to the present.
> Whether stated in these exact words or not, this has been the
> content of all preaching that has brought life and power to the world
> through the centuries. The mystics, the reformers, the revivalists
> have put their emphasis here, and signs and wonders and mighty
> operations of the Holy Ghost gave witness to God's approval.
>
> Dare we, the heirs of such a legacy of power, tamper with the
> truth? Dare we with our stubby pencils erase the lines of the
> blueprint or alter the pattern shown us in the Mount? May God
> forbid. Let us preach the old cross and we will know the old power.
>
> --
> To subscribe, send a "subscribe" email to- [log in to unmask]
> OR send *ANY* email to- [log in to unmask]
>
> To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: [log in to unmask]
>
> To send material for consideration for publication, send to-
> [log in to unmask]
>
> VISIT OUR SITES ON THE NET:
>
> REVIVAL SUPERSITE - http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~revival
>
> PROPHETIC SUPERSITE - http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~revival/index2.html
>
> MODERATOR:
> Andrew Strom,
> PO Box 9852,
> Kansas City,
> MO 64134,
> USA.
>
|
