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Show RQn netting Shcp 0 Pcxtsbb Fabrication C Rsasir Aluminum Stainless MIG - TIG - ARC - GAS Machine MM & Metal Lathe Lettering & Striping by Bob 676-8259 i 930 N. Hwy 89 Pangultch I Dalton TUl TV VCR Stereo 1 5 & Appliance Repairs S I n 577-2545 . s Guaranteed Service S E Reasonable Prices 5 5 ( In Panguitch " S : E Tuesday & Friday 5 By. y Inquire At Sears J J- r Trees, Shrubs, Plants, Garden & Landscaping Supplies C 378 W. Center Street Panguitch, Utah L 676-8301 J 1 SPnODBPPiODSB 1 1 a.m. -1 1 P.m. 7 Days a Week V Uttalaan Dinners A II Fresh 1(1 Bcli Sandwiches M 676-2377 11 II 523 N. Main - Panguitch I W?ICW? I There has come upon the world in these latter days religion without the cross. There are similarities between the old cross-centered religion and the newer crossless religion but likenesses are superficial; the differences fundamental. This new religion employs much of the same language as the old. but its content is not the same and its emphasis not as before. The Cross would have no truce with the world. For Adam's proud flesh it meant the end of the journey. It carried into effect the sentence imposed im-posed by God's law. The religion without the Cross is not opposed to the human race. Rather, it is its friendly pal. and. if understood aright, if 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, advancement and glory; only now he fakes delight in singing church songs, watching "G" rated movies, and being involved in church activities instead of singing bawdy songs, looking at pornography and drinking alcohol or doing drugs. This accent is still self-serving, though the fun is now on a higher Plane morally, if not intellectually. This religion without the Cross encourages a new and entirely different approach to the gospel mission. It does not demand a turning away from the old life, before a new life can be received. It preaches, not contrasts, but similarities. It seeks to key into public interest by showing that Christianity Chris-tianity makes no unpleasant demands; rather, it offers the same thing the world does, only on a higher level. It does not slay the sinner: it redirects' him. (f gears him to a cleaner, jollier way of living and saves his self -respect. The Philosophy back of this kind of thing may be sincere, but its sincerity sincer-ity does not save it from being false. It is false because it is blind. It misses completely the whole meaning of the Cross. The Cross is a symbol of death. It stands for the abrupt, violent end of a human being. The man in Roman times who took His Cross and started down the road, had already said goodbye to his friends. He was not coming com-ing back. He was not going out to have a life redirected; 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 if 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 fruits of sin. however innocent they may appear, or beautiful to the eyes of men. God salvages the individual indi-vidual by liquidating him and then raising him again to the newness of life. That teaching which draws friendly parallels between the ways of God and the ways of men is false to the Bible, and cruel to the soul of its hearers. hear-ers. The faith of Christ does not parallel the world: it intersects if. In coming com-ing to Christ we do not bring our old life up to a higher plane: we leave if at the Cross. The corn of wheat must fall into the ground and die. Whatever 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 ex-cuse 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. The cleansing power that raised Christ from the dead now raises him to a new life along with Christ. To any who object to this, or count it merely a narrow and private view to truth, let me say: God has sent His hallmark of approval upon this message mes-sage 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 apostles, 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 to us on the mount? May God forbid. Let us preach the Cross, and we shall know the power of God. f Adapted from A.W. Tozer. The Alliance Weekly J for Christ sent me not to Baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with dlCCIflSJ- IITQlV wisdom of words, est the cross of Christ be made of none tfftcl. nlJJIUN, U I H H for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us K P.O. Box 511124 I which are saved it is the power of Qod. Salt Lalu; City. ITT The Apostle Taut to the Church at Corinth (lCor. 1:17, 18) &151 X |