Weekly Meditations: Is. 9 (1): Messianic Prophecy

But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

(Is. 9:1-7)

The prophet Isaiah, after pronouncing severe judgment against Judah and those within her who disbelief God, carries on here to prophesy about the Messiah who will save Israel from her enemies. He has already prophesied that the Messiah is to come to bring peace to His people, and the sign of the Messiah is that he comes from a virgin (Is. 7:14). Such peace is the true peace which only He can give, and in this passage, we can see Isaiah proclaiming much more regarding this great Messiah who will bring peace to Israel.

In verses 1, we can see the prophecy being proclaimed of the place where the Messiah is to come from (not his birthplace but his place of residence and hometown so to speak). Galilee is situated at the Northeastern region of Israel in the land given to the tribe of Naphtali, and it is from this place where hope would shine forth. God starts off by promising that "there will be no gloom for those who are in anguish", thus showing forth that God is here offering consolation for those who are in deep sorrow over sin and the judgment because of sin. This area has not featured as an important area at all in God's plan previously, and as such is described as being "brought into contempt", yet this will change as God will use this backward area as the hometown for the coming Messiah. Galilee the backward, uncouth and rustic area, the place at the edge of the land of Israel where Gentiles are very much present, will be the place which God decides to honor as the place where the Messiah would grow up and hail from.

Verses 2 to 7 proclaims the exceeding wonders and glories of the coming of the Messiah, of which we can meditate on its fullness just by itself. The Messiah here is the Light that comes into the world (Jn. 1:9; 8:12). To a dark and dreary land full of darkness and hopelessness, He came to give joy (v. 3) and light, as He is the One who can give them peace. The Messiah will come to release His people from bondage from the oppresor (v. 4), though such a delivery was most definitely not what the Jews of Jesus' time expected as they were too carnal to understand true spiritual truths. The garments of war would be burned up and destroyed in the fire at His coming, thus signifying the ceassation of war and the coming of peace as the Kingdom of God breaks into the lives of people as they submit to Christ. Truly, the Messiah would bring peace and joy to His people, which is certainly great news to those who are in the midst of war and/or oppression.

Verse 6 is the mighty proclamation not only of the lofty titles of the Messiah, but also of His identification with Divinity itself! This child the Messiah is born and is given for us, and He shall be the ruler and sovereign over His people, finally shattering the kingdoms of the world when He comes again and takes His rightful Kingship over the whole world. He is called Wonderful Counselor, showing His tender-hearted care of His people and binding up their wounds. He is also the Prince of Peace who will bring peace over our souls and our lives and, when He comes again, over the whole world. And He is called Mighty God and the Everlasting Father, which are titles of divinity and thus identifying the Messiah as being God Himself; God incarnate since He would come in the flesh, being born of a virgin (Is. 7:14), as a child and a son! What an astounding revelation God made to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear this astounding prophecy uttered by the prophet Isaiah, which was canonized in the Old Testament before Christ even came on the scene historically? Yet, the Jews in Jesus' time (including the religious leaders) were so blind to their own scriptues which prophesied about their own Messiah that they think it is blasphemy for Jesus who claim to be the Messiah to claim to be God (Jn. 8:58; 10:30-33)! How tragic!

Verse 7 carries on with the proclamation of the victorious, ever-growing and everlasting nature of the reign, rule and peace of the Messiah's Kingdom, which will be established in perfect justice and righteousness. The Messiah is prophesied to sit on the throne of David and is thus the eternal heir of David's throne. We can see here the phrase that "there will be no end" applied to his kingdom and of peace, thus showing that no mere earthly reality and Kingdom is meant here, nor is this ruling Messiah a mere mortal since all human beings must die and "lose" their kingdoms to either their heirs, usurpers or conquerors (And no, they cannot bring their kingdom to heaven either unless he is God). From this, we can immediately see that the Messiah must be more than human if such a prophecy is to come true, so this should immediately put to rest all Jewish speculations about an earthly Messiah, which sadly it didn't.

This entire prophetic utterance is concluded by the sure word of the Lord promising the fulfilment of this prophecy, because God Himself as it were places His Name and honor on the line for its fulfilment. "For the zeal of the LORD of host will do this", and therefore it will be done, and absolutely nobody can stop it.

Truly, what a powerful Messianic prophecy of encouragement to the remnant during Isaiah's time, and to us too as we look back to the Cross. For God so loved us that He promised and placed His honor on the line to fulfil His promise for our deliverance and hope. Absolutely nothing can stop God from sending the Messiah our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to come and save us from our sins, to liberate us from darkness in the power of sin into His glorious light, and thus bringing us into His Kingdom where he reigns in our hearts and brings peace to our troubled souls. Let us therefore come now and spend some time in awe of this God who has done all this for us, and worship Him who is worthy of all our praises and honor and glory! May the Lamb who was slain receive all glory, honor, power and praise now and forever, world without end, Amen!

More on the PD paradigm: The PD Church

Well, with the dust settling on the recent controversy, I would like to serve up my review of Warren's first book The Purpose Driven Church here. After hearing Pastor Bob DeWaay's latest clarification on his visit to Saddleback and meeting Rick Warren, I decided to do a review of this book since it forms the basis of Warren's Ministry philosophy, which as it will be seen is totally antithetical to true Christian ministry, being influnced by the heretic Charles Grandison Finney and the founder of Church Growth Theory Donald McGraven.

And here is an excellent article by my friend Mike Ratliff as he looks at the situation in which Warren tries to play diaprax on his critics: Can A Leopard Change Its Spots?

Persecution in Canada

Question: How do you persecute a Christian in a "christian" country?

Answer: Prosecute them under "hate-crimes" law.

Look at the ridiculous stupidity of the Canadian government here. The "Alberta Human Rights Commission" have ruled against pastor Stephen Boissoin and The Concerned Christian Coalition Inc, and all because he [gasps] protested against the promotion of homosexuality to five year olds.

One wonders what manner of pea-brained bigots are ruling Canada right now. As it is written,

When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan. (Prov. 29:2. Bold added)

And here is an interesting video (on another subject) related to the immoral fascist behavior of the Alberta "human rights commission".

[HT: Aomin.org]

Anyway, please pray for the growing persecution that will be coming on the Church in the Western world. Pray for Pastor Boissoin that he will continue to stand for God even as he prepares to appeal to a real, non-kangaroo court of law. Pray that the peace of God will be with him and that, regardless of the final ruling, he will not recant but will be able to joyfully stand with the apostles in saying

Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard (Acts 2:19b-20)

Amen. May our Lord get the glory through the suffering of His saints.

No weekly meditations today

There wouldn't be a weekly meditations today, as I am preparing and packing for my church camp in Malaysia which will be from Monday to Thursday. Lord willing, I will be back on Thursday. In the meantime, all comments will switched to being moderated since I am most probably not available to monitor them.

These prayers make Satan rejoice, not tremble

Have you noticed how much praying for revival has been going on of late – and how little revival has resulted? I believe the problem is that we have been trying to substitute praying for obeying, and it simply will not work. To pray for revival while ignoring the plain precept laid down in Scripture is to waste a lot of words and get nothing for our trouble. Prayer will become effective when we stop using it as a substitute for obedience.”

- A. W. Tozer

[HT: Justin Nale]

Tood Bentley: A minister of "the spirit" of?

Well, here are some more videos compiled by Lane Chaplin on the Todd Bentley "revival" over at Lakeland, Florida, using the audio from the Way of the Master episode on this very topic.

Part 1:

Part 2

[HT: Lane's blog]

And here is a Crosstalk program on this issue:

Claims of revival must always be made in the light of Scripture so that we can determine whether this is a true movement of the Holy Spirit that points to Christ, or if it’s a counterfeit.

With this thought in mind, Ingrid Schlueter welcomed Pastor Ken Silva of Apprising Ministries. Joining him was Pastor John Sharp, the pastor of The Way Christian Fellowship in McCarney, Texas. These pastors joined Ingrid to discuss the alleged revival in Lakeland, Florida.

There are numerous theological and doctrinal problems with this alleged “revival” that are discussed by the pastors, problems that are highlighted by audio clips presented by Ingrid. One clip has Todd Bentley claiming that gold teeth are appearing in his followers. Another mentions how he was ordered by Holy Spirit to kick an “elderly worshiper” in the face! One makes contradictory statements about the source of the “anointing,” while other clip exposes the overemphasis on angels.

[HT: Christian Research Net]

Well, to this we must conclude: Todd Bentley is most definitely influenced by a spirit, but it most definitely is not the Holy Spirit.

Beware of Todd Bentley!

Repentance steps for Rick Warren

Defending the faith is not just about tearing down heresy but also about building up in sound doctrine. It is thus not only negative but positive. Recently, a question was put to me as to what actions Rick Warren should take which would show forth whether he is repentant over his sins. Of course, the basic answer is that given by Pastor Bob DeWaay, which is to preach the Gospel and go back to Sola Scriptura in ALL of life and ministry. I have however decided to unpack that a bit and show forth some concrete steps Warren should take. Feel free to add in any legitimate points you may have on this subject.

1. Stop allowing Roman Catholics to take part as churches in the 40DOP or DOC or whatever program Warren wishes to start, without them first becoming Christians and renouncing their false religion.
2. Publicly call on the Pope to repent of denying the Gospel, to repudiate the Council of Trent with its attendent anathemas against Bible believers
3. Do not preach “how to grow your synagogue” messages to unrepentent Jews but call on them to believe in their Messiah Jesus Christ
4. Publicly repudiate what he calls a pervasion of his teaching in churches kicking out believers (Purpose Driven resistors) and stating that those who say that this is what they have learned from him or the PDC (Purpose Driven Church) are in serious error.
5. Stop using the Message pervasion and stick to good Bible translations like the NASB, NKJV and the ESV. Repent of using 13 different bible “translations” and of ripping the verses out of context in his PDL
6. Emphasize that what the Lord requires is not sacrifice but obedience, and therefore what is required is holy living more than what any member can contribute to the Church and her programs. Emphasize that the Church should love and treat all her members equally whether they are serving in the church or not.
7. Set himself against the relativism and inclusivism present in the Emerging Church Movement. He can do it as lovingly as the way D.A. Carson does it.
8. Renounce playing politics and involving the Church in social causes void of the proclamation of the Gospel. Take part only in social causes that are coupled with a clear proclamation of the Gospel of Christ
9. Stop being unequally yoked with members of the CFR in politicking. Get back to calling all Man to repentance, including the big shots over in CFR who are lost apart from the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ
10. Change the 'P' in the PEACE plan to "Proclaiming first and foremost the unadulterated Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in all its fulness, calling on all Man everywhere to repent and turn to Jesus Christ as the only Savior from sins and the wrath of God" (Idea taken from Pastor Bob DeWaay's response)

I think all these should be a good start. And let me say up front that I will most definitely rejoice the day Warren does this. After all, it is written:

...there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents (Lk. 15:10b)

And

Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? (Ez. 18:23)

Amen.

Pastor Bob DeWaay responds to the spin doctors

Well, Pastor Bob DeWaay of Twins Cities Fellowship has given his response to the spin doctors trying to use DeWaay's words against other Christia watchmen and apologists who oppose Warren's unbiblical Purpose Driven paradigm, in his Sunday School class on June 1st here. This is especially pertinent given the fire-storm erupted over Chris Rosebrough's not-very-sensitive post regarding Rick Warren. Warren defender Richard Abanes has tried to milk out something from DeWaay's previous statement made in his previous Sunday School class last week (May 25th): that he and Rick Warren share the same doctrines, just different ministry philosophies, of which DeWaay aptly rebuts Abanes' grasping of straws in this response of his. After listening to him, I can say that I have new-found respect for Pastor DeWaay, who truly loves the sheep and does not compromise the truth nor does he stumble the sheep but affirms his solidarity with them, all while doing so in a gentle and godly manner. If only there were more pastors and Christians like him.

Anyway, here is the statement that Pastor DeWaay has sent out through a friend on Saturday, May 30th, which Pastor Ken Silva has posted on his ministry page here.

I wrote my book, Redefining Christianity, assuming that Rick Warren actually believes the Saddleback Church’s statement of faith, but that he refuses to preach it because he wants to be popular with the world and grow his movement. I still think that could still be true—I give him the benefit of the doubt.

At the Saddleback Church conference he was speaking of winning souls for Christ and talking about his father’s legacy of building churches and winning souls. More than likely he believes Baptist doctrine. But along the way he was derailed by reading the church growth theory of Donald McGavran. While in seminary I studied under a disciple of McGavran. McGavran’s book was required reading. His philosophy hinges on this idea: “people do not become Christian for theological reasons, but for sociological ones.”

Rick Warren believed McGavran and set out to study people to find out what makes them tick so he could get them into church — thus “Saddleback Sam.” Purpose Driven is a franchise system to multiply this idea into other churches. Warren tells pastors that they do not have to change any doctrine to join his movement. The reason for that is that doctrine becomes unimportant because it is no longer taught. I don’t think Rick Warren changed his Baptist doctrine either; he just doesn’t allow it to determine what he teaches and what he does. When we met that is what I challenged him about.

So I have not moved in my beliefs nor have I changed my position on any doctrines I have preached.

I will not allow myself to be pitted against any of Warren’s critics. I read Warren Smith’s book and spoke with him on the phone. He is a wonderful brother. The New Age implications are in Rick Warren’s movement and are helping lead toward a One World church. But because he has publicly made statements besides his statement of faith that he believes there is a literal hell and that people without Christ will go there, I don’t believe Rick Warren is a true New Age believer, and neither does Warren Smith. Warren Smith simply says there are New Age implications to what Rick Warren is doing, and I agree with him.

Tomorrow morning [Sunday, June 1, 2008] I will make a statement clarifying what I mean when I said that we did not have theological disagreements in our meeting. Rick Warren did not disagree with my positions on doctrine in our meeting. But he did not comment on everything I said. Please read my book, because in it I point out that Rick Warren privately affirms orthodox Christian theology—he did so again in our presence. So this is not news worthy.

To set the record straight, for those who think I am suddenly okay with Rick Warren – I am not. I asked him to preach Christ and honor the idea of scripture alone – and I pointed out that he cannot have a “reformation” based on general revelation.

These are huge issues and he did not say he was going to change anything—but he did not disagree. Do Warren’s supporters really think that having an orthodox theology in private is all that God expects of a preacher? Do they think we should not hold Rick Warren accountable to sola scriptura? Do they think that we can have any old ministry philosophy even if doing so totally changes the definition of the church and her message from how the Bible defines them?

I challenge Rick Warren’s supporters to step up to the plate and demand that Rick Warren repent, as I requested him to do in my book. Otherwise they have no business claiming that I agree with them.

Bob DeWaay

As Ingrid Schlueter has also stated succintly regarding this episode:

What ultimately matters is not what is said in private by any Christian leader. What has been said publicly by Rick Warren has always been the issue. Rick Warren, I am sure, is a gracious host, and personally, highly congenial. When was that ever in question? The only reason that I and the others who have addressed the PDL movement have ever written or said anything about Rick Warren’s teachings is that these ideas have had a vast impact on the evangelical church around the world. When these ideas do not comport with Holy Scripture, we are under an obligation to say something.

Pastor Bob DeWaay himself has also just posted a column on Christian Worldview Network here to counter the misinformation spread around by various people regarding the visit. Thanks Pastor Bob for standing up when it counted; we salute you.

Booke Review: Turning back the Darkness

After posting all the nice excerpts, here is my short review of the book Turning Back the Darkness — The Biblical Pattern of Reformation by Richard D. Phillips, which also contains all the good quotes quoted previously also.

Quotable quote (11): No neutrality

Surely this tells us that we must disabuse ourselves of the possibility of neutrality when it comes to matters of truth. There are good reasons to avoid controversy; surely we should neither seek it nor love it. But we are called to realize that in a world such as ours, in a time like that in which we live, when truth is up for sale, there is no neutrality. There is fidelity to Christ, and there is friendship with the world.

- Richard D. Phillips, Turning Back the Darkness: The Biblical Pattern of Reformation, (Crossway Books, Wheaton, Il, USA, 2002), p. 173

Quotable quote (10): The Gospel: Relevent?

The Gospel is relevent; it is always relevent, as long as there are sinners, as long as God sits upon a holy throne of judgment, as long as lawbreakers are under the condemnation and in the bondage of sin. The Gospel is relevent to the ultimate and greatest needs of every man and woman, needs that do not change with the generations or intellectual fashions.

- Richard D. Phillips, Turning Back the Darkness: The Biblical Pattern of Reformation, (Crossway Books, Wheaton, Il, USA, 2002), p. 167

Weekly Meditations: Is. 8 (2)

For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”

Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching among my disciples. I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness (Is. 8:11-22)

The firs part of chapter 8 shows us the mighty wrath of God coming over and against His people the Jews for sinning against him. God is sending the mighty Assyrian Empire as his rod to chastize Judah for her sins, and especially for the wicked sin of King Ahaz who decided to trust in Man rather than in God. In this climate of judgment, there is hope for those whose faith in in God, which we shall certainly see.

The passage opens with verse 11 which informs us of God's instruction to Isaiah, that he should not worry about the conspiracies nor call them conspiracies, and that he should not worry like others (v. 12). But rather he should turn to God and Him alone he shall honor and fear, and dread (v. 13). The result of this is that God will be his sanctuary, yet this action would at the same time also be judgment onto the unbelieving houses of Israel, even to Jerusalem the "holy city" (v. 14) resulting in their destruction and fall (v. 15).

From verse 11-13, we can see the secret of truly trusting God and being secure in Him. To do this, we must abide in Christ and not be troubled by the things of this world. Most certainly King Ahaz was conspiring with the Assyrians to eliminate the confederate forces of Syria and Israel, and so factually there is a conspiracy in the making, in fact one among several. The politicians now are no different from then, and in fact conspiracy theories abound in this age and time. While some of them are probably true, what dos God expect of us? Sure, all of these politicians (and pastor-politicians ie Rick Warren) are busy playing politics to control the world and "make it a better place", but what does God expect of us in this?

As we can see, God gave Isaiah, and thus us also, specific instructions. Verse 12 tells us not to call conspiracy what others call conspiracy, not that we live in a state of denial about that fact, but we should be unmoved by it. We should neither fear what the world fears nor be in dread about the future. For our God is a sovereign God, and there is nothing those politicians can do which is outside the sovereign decree of God. As it is written:

The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He will. (Prov. 21:1)

Even the mighty Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Greek and Roman empires were forced to serve our God, so why should we fear conspiracies even if they are true. Aren't all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing (Dan. 4:35a), and God does all He wills? Is there anything the governments of this world or the UN can do that God has not ordained it to be? So therefore, God directs us not to fear these things, but if we need to fear something, let us fear God and Him alone.

Verse 13 tells us that we must honor God and Him alone as holy. This tells us that we are sanctify God in our hearts and live our lives accordingly; to be holy as God is holy (1 Peter 1:16), giving him the honor and reverence He rightly deserves. We should only fear God and dread His wrath instead of fearing the uncertainties of life and dreading the calamities of this world. And this is God's promise to us: that while destruction and devastation would come about by the outpoouring of God's wrath in judgment, those who trust in Him and fear Him, honoring Him alone as holy would find God to be the sanctuary they need. Even in the midst of chaos and total societal breakdown, or war and famine, God will protect and provide for His people In this therefore, God has provided for those who trust in Him a sanctuary in the midst of Judgment.

Such consolation however has a most definite opposite effect on the unfaithful and unregenerate Jews who trusted not in God but in themselves. To such people, God and His Gospel of salvation will be an offense to them causing them to stumble. Such judgment is on the entire Covenant people encompassing both houses of the Divided Kingdom, and most certinaly included the inhibitants of Jerusalem, the "holy city" (v. 14b). For God will not spare anyone merely because they have the appearance of piety and are outwardly religious, but inside they are full of pride and unbelief, even though they may be in Jerusalem where the templs was. The good news will cause many Jews to stumble, fall and be broken (v. 15); all who do not trust in God by faith for their salvation.

Verse 16 shows that even at this time those who remain faithful to God must continue to stand firm and seal up the teaching or law in their hearts. In other words, they are to continue to abide in Scripture for their comfort and strength. Like Isaiah, we are to hope and wait on God who has in judgment hidden His face from the unfaithful and disobedient (v. 17). Verse 18 brings back to mind the use of Isaiah's two sons in 7:3, 15, 16; 8:1-3 as signs against faithless Israel. Through the prophetic words of judgment, Isaiah proclaims the authoritative Word of God which seals Judah's sins and destruction. Verses 21-22 prophesies the punishment of the wicked, showing their great distress and hunger and their contemptuous speech against both God and king. They will see nothing but death and darkness, thick darkness is their destination, and their final destination is hell.

Verses 19 tells us about the deplorable state of the Jews who desire to seek guidance from other gods, the dead (necromancy) and occultic powers (mediums), instead of their living God. Should they not inquire of their God, yet in their wickedness they know no bounds to their rebellion, asking the dea on behalf of the living rather than the Living God who controls all things. And verse 20 show us our ultimate frame of reference with regards to doctrine and life. For all of such innovations by the Jews, Isaiah sounds forth a clarion call back to God and His commands through the text of Scripture. "To the law and the testimony!", he proclaims. Law here referring to the first five books of Moses; the Torah, while testimony refers to the judges and prophetic utterances, and all of this constitute Scripture or God's Holy Word. If they do not follow the Scriptures, Isaiah proclaimed, it is because they have no dawn, or no light in them. The sufficiency of Scripture here is proclimed by the prophet Isaiah, in that Scripture and only Scripture must dictate our lives, other than that, there is no light and no life in such practices and teachings.

Therefore, in conclusion, let us learn to trust in God once more. Do not be overly concerned about the degeneration of this world but rather live in obedience to God in holiness for Him. The LORD of hosts, Him we must honor as holy. Let Him be our fear, and let Him be our dread, and thus He will be a sanctuary for us. Amen.

Book Review: Convergence

I have prepared a short review of this interesting book by Sam Storms entitled Convergence: The Spiritual Journey of a Charismatic Calvinist on my website here. I think this is an interesting book for those who are Reformed with experential and Charismatic sympathies (ie John Piper).

Quotable quote (9): What is the Gospel?

When Paul says the false teachers are seeking to avoid persecution for the sake of the cross, he reminds us that it is the cross that makes people antagonistic toward Christianity. The cross tells the man on the street that he is not basically good, that his guilt demands a sacrifice that he himself cannot offer, that he needs a substitute, eve the perfect Son of God. The cross tells proud people that they had better humble themselves, confess their total failure and profound guilt, and place all their hope in the blood of Jesus Christ.

- Richard D. Phillips, Turning Back the Darkness: The Biblical Pattern of Reformation, (Crossway Books, Wheaton, Il, USA, 2002), p. 162

Quotable quote (8): Seeker Sensitivity?

Since these were Paul's objectives, his means were chosen appropriately. To glorify God he used the means given by God. To lead people to faith in the Christ of the Gospel, he made the Gospel itself his instrument. When people didn't like it — as often happened — he did not mold his message according to their consumer tastes. Instead, he warned them of the judgment awaiting those who reject God's Gospel (see Act 13:40)

- Richard D. Phillips, Turning Back the Darkness: The Biblical Pattern of Reformation, (Crossway Books, Wheaton, Il, USA, 2002), p. 161