K Neill Foster

Welcome to Classic Christianity

First published by Christian Publications, Inc., 3825 Hartzdale Drive,Camp Hill, Pennsylvania 17011 Republished by www.kneillfoster.com in 2005. K. Neill Foster, Publisher. Paul L. King, Editor. A.W. Tozer, 1897-1963, Editorial Voice.


WELCOME TO:

#14 CLASSIC-CHRISTIANITY/THE E-ZINE


CLASSIC-CHRISTIANITY/THE INDEX

"THE CROSS-LIFE"


1) THE PUBLISHER ON "THE PREACHING OF THE CROSS"

2) THE EDITOR ON "TAKING UP YOUR CROSS"

3) A.W. TOZER ON "WHAT IT MEANS TO BE CRUCIFIED"

4) NICHOLAS OF BASLE ON "COUNSEL TO JOHN TAULER"

5) THOMAS A KEMPIS ON "LOVERS OF THE CROSS"

6) RECOMMENDED READING

7) MARTIN LUTHER ON "THEOLOGY OF GLORY VS. THEOLOGY OF THE CROSS"

8) FRANCOIS FENELON ON "THE SURGERY OF THE CROSS"

9) E.M. BOUNDS ON "GOD'S PLANS VS. MAN'S PLANS"

10) A.B. SIMPSON ON "THE CROSS MARKS OF THE CHRISTIAN"

11) ANDREW MURRAY ON "THE DEEPEST ROOTS OF FAITH"  

12) RECOMMENDED READING

13) JESSIE PENN-LEWIS ON "JOY IN THE CROSS, MISERY WITHOUT IT"

14) GEORGE D. WATSON ON "DEEPER DEATH TO SELF"

15) WATCHMAN NEE ON "THE CROSS AND THE SOUL LIFE"

16) LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

17) INVITATION TO SUBSCRIBE


1) THE PUBLISHER ON "THE PREACHING OF THE CROSS"

"For the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us who are [being] saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18 ASV).

This statement is as pivotal as any I know in the New Testament. The preaching of the cross, if anyone is listening, does not make sense to lost pagans. But for those of us who are being saved by the grace of God, the bloody cross is a happy event. Indeed, most of us know that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. Not so many of us are aware that without the preaching of the cross to saved people, there is no possibility for a Christian to live the crucified life. There at the cross, we may enter into the crucified life through the power of the Holy Spirit. "If you through the Spirit do make dead the deeds of the body, you shall live" (Romans 8:16). When Christians by the hundreds begin to experience this, we call it revival.

George Mueller, the sainted man of faith was once asked, "Mueller, what is the secret of your spiritual life?" Bowing low, he responded,  "There was a day when George Mueller died." That was all and that was it. The function of the cross in the life of the believer was, for him, a marvelous spiritual reality.


2) THE EDITOR ON "TAKING UP YOUR CROSS"

When I teach in seminars on Ministry and Leadership Development around the country, I speak on the importance of the crucified life. But I was personally challenged afresh recently in this area at a ministers' retreat. Rev. Rockwell Dillaman (pastor of Allegeny Center Alliance Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) spoke on "Taking Up Our Cross." He observed correctly that "It is not hard to attract a crowd to a crossless theology." Further he noted, "It takes a crucified man to bear effective witness to a crucified Savior." He also cited Leonard Ravenhill, saying,

"You can't hurt a dead man because he is already dead; he feels nothing," and "A man crucified with Christ has no battle."

We don't hear much about this vital aspect of Christian growth today, known by various terms: the cross life, the crucified life, death to self, the exchanged life. It is not very popular in our narcissistic, materialistic Christian culture. We need to hear this message anew from these classic leaders, experience it afresh in our lives and teach it to the church, even if it does not draw a crowd.


3) A.W. TOZER (1897-1963) ON "WHAT IT MEANS TO BE CRUCIFIED"

To be crucified means three things. First, the man who is crucified is facing only one direction. . . . If he hears anything behind him he can't turn around to see what's going on. He has stopped looking back. The crucified man on the cross is looking in only one direction and that is the direction of God and Christ and the Holy Ghost and the direction of the edifying of the church, the direction of sanctification and the direction of the Spirit-filled life. . . .

Second, the fellow going out to die on the cross doesn't say to his wife, "Good-bye, honey. I'll be back shortly after five." When you go out to die on the cross you bid goodbye--you're not going back! . . .

Another thing about the man on the cross, . . . he has no further plans of his own. . . . Somebody else made his plans for him, and when they nailed him up there all his plans disappeared. On the way up to the hill he didn't see a friend and say, "Well, Henry, next Saturday about three I'll come by and we'll go fishing up on the lake." He was going out to die and he had no plans at all.

A.W. Tozer, TOTAL COMMITMENT TO CHRIST (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1995), 11.


4) NICHOLAS OF BASLE (14TH CENTURY) ON "COUNSEL TO JOHN TAULER"

You must die, Dr. Tauler! Before you can do your greatest work for God, the world, and this city, you must die to yourself, your gifts, your popularity, and even your own goodness, and when you have learned the full meaning of the Cross you will have new power with God and man.

Nicholas of Basle, cited in F.B. Meyer, FIVE MUSTS OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1927), 41.

Editor's note: Tauler became an influence on Luther and paved the way for the Reformation.


5) THOMAS A KEMPIS (1380-1471) ON "LOVERS OF THE CROSS"

Jesus has now many lovers of His heavenly kingdom, but few bearers of His cross. He has many desirous of consolation, but few of tribulation. He finds many companions of His table, but few of His abstinence. All desire to rejoice with Him; few are willing to endure anything for Him, or with Him. Many follow Jesus into the breaking of bread, but few to the drinking of the cup of His Passion. Many reverence His miracles, but few the ignominy of His Cross.  

Thomas a Kempis, OF THE IMITATION OF CHRIST (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1973), 69.


6) RECOMMENDED READING

Sorting Out the Supernatural

by Dr. K. Neill Foster.

Subtitled “If It Happens in Church, Is It Always of God?” this book looks at the contemporary components of Judeo-Christian life and practice, such as prophecy, tongues-speaking, deliverance and more.  It explores the possibility of deception and affirms the biblical injunction to “test everything [and] hold onto the good.”

Order from Christian Publications by calling 1-800-233-4443 (in North America) or fax 1-717-761-7273 or web: www.christianpublications.com.


7) MARTIN LUTHER (1483-1546) ON "THEOLOGY OF GLORY VS. THEOLOGY OF THE CROSS"

The "theologian of glory" calls the bad good and the good bad. The "theologian of the cross" says what a thing is. . . . Without a theology of the cross, man misuses the best things in the worst way. (1)

 The theologian of glory prefers works to suffering, glory to the cross, strength to weakness, wisdom to folly, and in general, good to evil. . . . God can only be found in suffering and the cross. . . . Therefore the friends of the cross say that the cross is good and works are evil, for through the cross works are dethroned and the old Adam, who is especially edified by works, is crucified.  It is impossible for a person not to be puffed up by his good works unless he has first been deflated and destroyed by suffering and evil until he knows that he is worthless and that his works are not his but God's. (2)

(1) Martin Luther, MARTIN LUTHER: SELECTIONS FROM HIS WRITINGS, ed. John Dillenburger (New York, NY: Anchor Press/ Doubleday, 1961), 503.

(2) Martin Luther, cited in Justo L. Gonzalez, A HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN THOUGHT (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1975), 3:35.


8) FRANCOIS FENELON (1651-1715) ON "THE SURGERY OF THE CROSS"

I am amazed at the power that comes to us through suffering; we are worth nothing without the cross. . . . The very proof that God loves you is that He does not spare you, but lays upon you the cross of Jesus Christ. . . . This spiritual death (which really is a blessing in disguise) is undeniably painful. It cuts swift and deep into our innermost thoughts and desires with all their parts, exposing us for what we really are. The Great Physician, who sees in us what we cannot see, knows exactly where to place the knife. He cuts away that which we are most reluctant to give up. And how it hurts! But we must remember that the pain is only felt where there is life, and where there is life is just the place where death is needed. Our Father wastes no time by cutting into parts that are already dead. Do not misunderstand me; He wants you to live abundantly, but this can only be accomplished by allowing Him to cut into that flesh part of you that is still stubbornly clinging to life.

Francois Fenelon, LET GO (Springdale, PA: Whitaker House, 1973), 5-7.


9) E.M. BOUNDS (1835-1913) ON "GOD'S PLANS VS. MAN'S PLANS"

All God's plans have the mark of the cross on them, and all His plans have death to self in them. . . . But men's plans ignore the offense of the cross or despise it. Men's plans have no profound, stern or self-immolating denial in them. Their gain is of the world. How much of these destructive elements, esteemed by men, does the devil bring into the church, until all the high, unworldly and holy aims, and heavenly objects of the church are retired and forgotten?

Lyle Wesley Dorsett, E.M. BOUNDS: MAN OF PRAYER (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1991), 213. 


10) A.B. SIMPSON (1843-1919) ON "THE CROSS MARKS OF THE CHRISTIAN"

We may not preach a crucified Savior without being also crucified men and women. It is not enough to wear an ornamental cross as a pretty decoration. The cross that Paul speaks about was burned into his very flesh, was branded into his being, and only the Holy Spirit can burn the true cross into our innermost life. . . .

Our spiritual life must pass down to deeper depths and on up into higher experiences of life, or we shall lose even what we have. We cannot cling to the sweetest spiritual experiences, the fondest object of our highest joy, without ceasing to grow and bear fruit. . . . We must learn not only to give up our wrongs, but to give up our rights. . . . We must turn from the things that are not sinful and learn the great lesson of self renunciation even in rightful things. . . . We must have the cross mark upon our affections and friendships, . . . our prayers, . . . the life of our body. . . . Our religious experiences must have the mark of the cross on them. . . . Our service for God must often be buried before it can bring forth much fruit.

A.B. Simpson, THE CROSS OF CHRIST (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1994), 30, 33-35.


11) ANDREW MURRAY (1828-1917) ON "THE DEEPEST ROOTS OF FAITH"

Our lesson of today leads us to the very deepest roots of the life of faith.  The deeper we are willing to enter into the death of self, the more shall we know of the mighty power of God, and the perfect blessedness of a perfect trust.

Andrew Murray, "Faith Counting on the Power of God," TRIUMPHS OF FAITH, November 1934, 243.


12) RECOMMENDED READING

A Brooklyn Jew Meets Jesus

by Albert Runge. 

Order this fascinating chronicle of a lifetime of obedience and trust that produced an accomplished and anointed leader.

Order from Christian Publications by calling 1-800-233-4443 (in North America) or fax 1-717-761-7273 or web: www.christianpublications.com.


13) JESSIE PENN-LEWIS (1861-1927) ON "JOY IN THE CROSS, MISERY WITHOUT IT"

The believer's death with Christ upon His Cross therefore means being crucified to the world in all its aspects. Not to be a miserable, joyless person, but one filled with the joy and glory of another world. It is not the "cross" that makes us miserable, but the absence of it. It is a delivering Cross--a Cross that liberates you to have the very foretaste of heaven in you, as already sharers of the power of the age to come. . . . Glory to God for the Cross that severs us from the world, and the world-spirit, and makes a way for us into another world where all is peace and joy and love.

Jessie Penn-Lewis, THE CENTRALITY OF THE CROSS (Dorset, England: Overcomer Publications, n.d.), 6-7.


14) GEORGE D. WATSON (1845-1924) ON "DEEPER DEATH TO SELF"

There is a deeper death to self--a crucifixion in detail, and in the minutia of life-after the soul has been sanctified. . . . There are a multitude of things which are not sinful; nevertheless our attachment to them prevents our greatest fullness of the Holy Spirit and our amplest cooperation with God. Infinite wisdom takes us in hand, and arranges to lead us through deep, interior crucifixion to our fine parts, our lofty reason, our brightest hopes, our cherished affections, our religious views, our dearest friendships, our pious zeal, our spiritual impetuosity, our narrow culture, our creeds and churchism, our success, our religious experiences, our spiritual comforts. The crucifixion goes on until we are dead and detached from all creatures, all saints, all thoughts, all hopes, all plans, all tender heart yearnings, all preferences; dead to all sorrows, all troubles, all disappointments; equally dead to all praise or blame, success or failure, comforts or annoyances; dead to all climates and nationalities, dead to all desires but for HIMSELF. . . .

When the soul undergoes this deeper death to self, it enters into a great wideness of spiritual comprehension and love; a state of almost uninterrupted prayer, of boundless charity for all people; of unutterable tenderness and broadness of sympathy; of deep, quiet thoughtfulness; of simplicity of life and manners. . . . Such a soul looks back over its heartbreaking trials, its scalding tears, its mysterious tribulations, with gentle subduedness, without regret, for now it sees God in every step of the way.

George D. Watson, cited in Paul Billheimer, DON'T WASTE YOUR SORROWS (Fort Washington, PA: Christian Literature Crusade, 1977), 76-78.


15) WATCHMAN NEE (1903-1972) ON "THE CROSS AND THE SOUL LIFE"

The Blood deals with what we have done, whereas the Cross deals with what we are. The Blood disposes of our sins, while the Cross strikes at the root of our capacity for sin. . . .

This does not mean that we are going to cross out the soul altogether. You cannot do that. When today the Cross is really working in us, we do not become inert, insensate, characterless. . . . What God is now doing is the pruning work of the vinedresser. In our souls there is an uncontrolled development, an untimely growth, that has to be checked and dealt with. . . . He is doing a direct work in our hearts to undo the over-developed soul, that other natural resource that is the result of the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Every day we are learning . . . a checking and handing over to death that other soul-life. . . . Many of us are people with over-developed souls. We have grown too big in ourselves. When we are in that condition, it is possible for the life of the Son of God in us to be confined and crowded almost out of action.

Watchman Nee, THE NORMAL CHRISTIAN LIFE (London: Victory Press, 1957, 1963), 11, 153-154.


16) LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Thank you so much for your faithfulness in sending your e-zine. It is always uplifting. This month I am forwarding it to several of my friends whom I know will be blessed. Armin Gesswein was a friend of my father's who was a pastor for over forty years and Armin was a guest speaker in our church for nearly as long as I can remember. His wife was also a great woman of God who impacted my life when I was a teenager. Dad also belonged to Armin's pastors' prayer fellowship in Pasadena. Thanks for the memories and for the fabulous nuggets of truth you pass on to so many.

--Janet (Fix) Saint Pierre

Thanks for inspiring quotes. I am encouraged in my journey as an intercessor!

--CMA Pastor's Wife

Many thanks for sending me the latest edition of Classic-Christianity. I would like to get everything that is available electronically and file it for future use. I appreciate the fine work of Dr. Neill Foster and Dr. Paul King.

--Dave Jones


17) INVITATION TO SUBSCRIBE

Invite your friends to join the Classic Clan for free!

Welcome to a spiritual adventure!

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VOL. III, ISSUE 1, June 1, 2001. Published every other month 2/1; 4/1; 6/1; 8/1; 10/1; 12/1. Archives on www.kneillfoster.com.

Republished by www.kneillfoster.com 2005.