Shabbat shalom kol beit Yisra'el and Mishpachah - may the grace of our Master Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) be with us as I share with you some of the things the Ruach (Spirit) has been laying on my heart this week.

To begin may I read to you the sound admonition of the apostle Paul to Timothy the evangelist:

"Hold to the standard to sound teaching ('pattern of sound words', NIV) that you have heard from me, emunah (faith) and ahavah (love) that are in Messiah Yah'shua (Jesus). Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) living in us" (2 Tim.1:13-14, NRSV)

In his earlier letter to Timothy, Paul instructed the young evangelist to stick to foundational doctrine and not to become occupied with things that lead to endless speculation but rather to focus on "the divine plan (training) that is known by emunah (faith)" (1 Tim.1:4, NRSV).

"But the aim of such instruction is ahavah (love) that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere emunah (faith)" (v.5, NRSV).

Those of you who were around in the 1950's or in the two decades afterwards may have heard of a music quartet called The Four Aces which was so successful that its fame reverberated even into my own youth. They had a very famous song, some of the lines of which even I, with my appalling memory for such things, can still remember, which went like this:

Love is a many splendored thing
It's the April rose that only grows in the early Spring
Love is nature's way of giving a reason to be living
The golden crown that makes a man a king

Once on a high and windy hill, In the morning mist
Two lovers kissed and the world stood still
Then your fingers touched my silent heart and taught it how to sing
Yes, true love's a many splendored thing.

I am quite sure that I would get a hearty 'Amen!' from liberals and conservatives alike to Paul's words that "the aim is...love", and not only them but almost every other decent person from other religions or from no religion at all. And although, sadly, there are increasing numbers of people who no longer believe in 'love' but in 'revolution' or something else like it, there are still enough people around who think that love is the main thing. And they would all, I am sure, be willing to nod in agreement to the sentiment of 'Love is a many splendored thing', because it is.

But there the agreement ends because Christian or Messianic love insists on some qualifiers, Paul adding three: true love "comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith". A room full of people from all kinds of belief systems can be talking about love but be meaning quite different things, and that is undoubtedly why the Ruach (Spirit) moved Paul to explain why Torah - Yahweh's Law - is essential in making such qualifications provided, as he cautioned, "one uses it legitimately (properly)" (v.8, NRSV).

What is legitimate use of Torah in the New Covenant? To expose "whatever...is contrary to sound teaching that conforms to the glorious Besorah (Gospel) of the blessed Elohim (God)" (v.10b-11, NRSV). Then he lists some of the people who ignore the major Torah-truths that do not conform to the Besorah (Gospel):

"...the lawless and disobedient, the godness and sinful, the unholy and profane, those who kill their father or mother, murderers, adulterers (NIV), sodomites, slave traders, liars, [and] perjurers" (vv.9-10, NRSV).

One of the tasks that we have all been given as believers, but especially so for ministers like myself, is to be truth-tellers. That might seem rather obvious but the more I listen to what is being taught and believed in today's Post-Modernist or Solipsistic schools and colleges, and the more I see the behaviour of those people who believe in these new-fangled teachings, then the plainer it becomes that the rising generation is not committed to emet (truth) anymore - not because they are in open rebellion against it, but because they have been taught to deny it even exists. Increasingly, we are being taught that our beliefs are merely 'social-constructions' without any objective reality.

If you talk to young people these days about 'truth', 'meaning' or 'morality' you will often be met by a blank stare. Indeed I, as one trained in Academia where 'truth' and 'reality' were recognised axioms of life and thinking, even if colleagues disagreed about what these were - as I read the literature of the Post-Modernists I am struck immediately by how nonsensical and illogical it is. It is really hard to take seriously.

If you ever get hold of a copy of Ravi Zacharias' little book, The End of Reason: A Response to the New Atheists (2008), I highly recommend you read it because this great Christian philosopher exposes what is going on. Ten years after writing this, things have got a lot worse - far worse than anyone could have imagined. The Left today - the 'New Communism' - cares nothing of those things which we take for granted (like truth and morality). The only thing that really interests them is power. It should come as no surprise, then, to realise that we are entering a frightening 'brave new world' where principles are becoming rarer and rarer. Principled people will soon become a rare breed indeed.

The centres of higher learning, and especially in the the notoriously lawless liberal arts departments, are rapidly degenerating into places where sound argument and reason no longer prevail. About the only material you will ever read is utter gibberish. This 'new-think', if it can even be called that, is not just a threat to humanity as a whole but it presents us with a new challenge, and that is, how to present the Besorah (Gospel) to these lost souls whose minds have been ground into mincemeat.

We had problems enough in the past presenting the Besorah (Gospel) to atheists and even second-wave feminists but now we are both faced by an emerging generation who have no time for proper science or reason either. Who would have ever thought that we would one day make common cause with atheists who believe in objective truth? We both stand aghast at the nonsense that pretends to be rational in so-called 'Gender Studies' courses in the universities. Yet it has happened, at least in this area. Even arch-atheists Christopher Hitchens and Daniel Dennet could see through the nonsense of the postmodernist "Get Lost!" Generation and said, respectively, that "the Postmodernists' tyranny wears people down by boredom and semi-literate prose" and "post-modernists are a fraud" but their form of rational atheism is slowly dying out and being replaced.

Look at the modern flat-earth phenomenon. People who adhere to what can only be described as an irrational religion are no longer capable of doing rigorous, systematic science. They come to the most ridiculous conclusions. There are even flat-earthers who believe Australia doesn't exist (because it doesn't fit on their flat-earth map) and have added a new conspiracy to hide the 'truth' about this from the public by adding it to their list of absurd conspiracy theories. When you tell them that upwards of 8 million tourists from around the world visit Australia every year they are incapable - or unwilling - to process this information. They are utterly brainwashed. Here again we are able to make common cause with atheistic scientists, who at least can do rational science.

When you think about it, there is no substantial difference between 'Christian' flat-earthers and Moslems who believe in equally ridiculous notions. Moslems believe that the sun sinks each evening into a muddy puddle because an illiterate 7th century bedouin said so and then called it scripture. If people in the 21st century can believe some of the mumbojumbo in the Moslem holy books then we should not be surprised to find Westerners, with a long tradition of Christianity and reason behind them, sinking into such abysmal ignorance and superstition when they abandon Yahweh and scientific reason. If people believe in flat-earthism and the Mandela Effect (the nutty idea that wicked scientists have gone back in time and changed the Bible), then be prepared for increasing numbers of people joining Christian churches and Messianic assemblies who are severely backward in their understanding of the real world. The 21st century Messianic Community (Church) has got a lot of educating to do in its discipling.

This is one reason why homeschooling, where science and logic can be taught along with undoctored history, a broad range of literature, and sound Bible teaching, is so important. But even more of a challenge than proper education, in some respects, is knowing how to deal with all the false spirits that are saturating the West and returning it slowly but surely to a new age of barbarism. Even the churches have been overwhelmed, and increasingly so, in fulfilment of the end-time prophecy:

"Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false navi (prophet). They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of Elohim (God) Almighty" (Rev.16:13-14, NIV).

This process, though still in its early stages, has been underway for some time now. As the last generation, saturated in post-modernist 'thinking' (if you can even call it that), matures, and takes the reigns of authority in society, so the end will accelerate, as the last of the intellectual handles which give life meaning are wrenched from their hands.

In the meantime, our first task is to educate mature and maturing believers as to what is going on in our society. We are very much insulated from it. The people in the emerging post-modernist culture, which is slowly but surely replacing our own, argue that the truth is socially constructed, plural, and inacessible to universal reason. And whilst that may sound crazy to us, it is actually the logical outworking of atheism, for if there is no Elohim (God), there can be no emet (truth), no purpose and no objective reality to speak of.

The only reason atheists believe there is law and order in the universe is because without that there would be no basis for doing science. In that respect they are still living in the afterglow of Christianity in their thinking with its insistence that there is an intelligent Creator. C.S.Lewis states the atheist's problem well:

"Suppose there was no intelligence behind the universe, no creative mind. In that case, nobody designed my brain for the purpose of thinking. It is merely that when the atoms inside my skull happen for physical or chemical reasons to arrange themselves in a certain way, this gives me, as a by-product, the sensation I call 'thought'. But if so, how can I trust my own thinking to be true? It's like upsetting a glass of milk and hoping that the way the splash arranges itself will give you a map of London. But if I can't trust my own thinking, of course I can't trust the arguments leading to atheism; therefore I have no reason to be an atheist, or anything else. Unless I believe in God, I can't believe in thought, so I can never use thought to disbelieve in God" [1].

Christianity stands in stark contrast. We understand emet (truth) as established by Elohim (God) and known to us through the self-revelation of Yahweh in Scripture. Emet (truth) is eternal, fixed, and universal, and our responsibility is to order our minds in accordance with what Yahweh has revealed and then to go out and bear witness of this emet (truth). Only then can we actually do rational science. We serve the Incarnate Elohim (God) who emphatically identified Himself as "the Derech (Way), the Emet (Truth) and the Chayim (Life)" (Jn.14:6) and calls us to believe that.

I mentioned earlier that we find ourselves making common cause with science in many things today. However, we must remember that atheistically-defined 'modernist' science denies revelation as a source of emet (truth) and has replaced it with only the Scientific Method. To be clear, Messianic Evangelicals do not reject the scientific method in that sphere where it works, namely, the physical universe, which consists of all that can actually be observed with our physical senses. The spiritual is for the most part inaccessible to science.

The emerging generation does not believe emet (truth) is universal, does not believe in objectivity or absoluteness, and does not believe truth can be obtained by a commonly accepted method. Post-modernists believe that truth is made rather than found. And the deconstructionalist wing of Post-Modernism believes that all truth is socially constructed. According to them, social groups construct their 'own truth', including Christians, and do so in order to serve their own interests. So they maintain that what is 'true' for one group isn't for another.

It does not take a rocket-scientist to understand that such a doctrine is a recipe for total social anarchy and collapse. It is a direct challenge to the Besorah (Gospel). We do not claim to teach 'one truth among many', or 'one Saviour among many', or 'one gospel among many'. We do not, as Albert Mohler, says, "believe that the Christian gospel is a socially constructed truth but the Truth that sets sinners free from sin - and is objectively, universally, historically true. As the late Francis Schaeffer instructed, the Christian church must content for 'true truth'" [2].

If the Post-Modernists have their way, they will not only destroy religion, but science and philosophy too. It is little wonder that IQ's are rapidly dropping in the West. We cannot assume of the people we seek to witness to understand what we assumed when I was a young man, at least not in the West. We have to make the gospel message very basic indeed. Consumed as Post-modernists are by what are called 'metanarratives' (pictures of the world that claim more than they can deliver), we have to not only present ours but insist that it is truly the 'Metanarrative of all metanarraives'. And if that sounds strange and unappealing to your ears, remember that we must reach people with their own social language. That is what the apostle John did in his Gospel, written as it was for pagans coming out of a gnostic pagan mindset, which is why it reads so differently from the other three Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.

So what is our 'Metanarrative' of all metanarratives? What is it that we must tell people? What is our story, the one they will listen to? Put simply, it goes like this:

• 1. That everything begins with Creation by the sovereign, omnipotent (all-powerful) Elohim (God);
• 2. Continues through the fall of humanity into sin and the redemption of sinners through the substiutionary work of Messiah on the cross; and
• 3. Promises finally an eternal destiny for all humanity - in its most simple and basic form, the redeemed with Elohim (God) forever and the unredeemed forever separated after a very long and painful punishment.

Our worldview is, quite naturally, deeply offensive to post-modernists, who, as the 'new communists', charge all who claim universal truth with imperialism and oppression. Communists, old and new, hate - loathe - our narrative, and murderously so. They've killed believers in their millions before and they will do so again. They hate anything that claims to be absolute, and especially texts like the Bible.

The first signs of post-modernism have started creeping into Christianity itself, a reason this message must be urgently given. Who has introduced this into Christianity? The liberal theologians on whose backs the post-modernists have been riding. Since everything is subjective or existential to this mind-set, these post-liberals claim the Bible can be interpreted in any way you want. Feminist, liberation, homosexual and other 'interpretations' have all now been added and are becoming the new modernised, state-sanctioned 'Christianity'. They don't care what the literal meaning of Scripture is.

For example, it is as easy for them to impose reincarnation on the Biblical text (in spite of Hebrews 9:27 which clearly refutes it) as easily as they can deny revelation, prophecy, patriarchy, gender or anything else they might not like because it makes them feel 'unsafe'. All that matters to the post-modernist is what makes him 'feel good'. The focus has now moved off Yahweh and onto self. Post-modernism is the ultimate egotism and selfishness, which is the core of satanism. All counselling is now psychiatry which has but one goal: to enhance self-esteem. Therefore there is no longer, in their mind, anything like 'sin' because it's oppressive and harmful to self-esteem. Post-modernists want to enhance self-esteem, self-expression and establish 'authenticity'; the Besorah (Gospel), on the other hand, demands you put anything and everything to do with 'self' to death in order to exchange the fallen nature for the Messiah-Nature wherein lies the only authentic emet (truth) anywhere.

Post-modernism, like communism, demands the destruction of all authority which must therefore be 'deconstructed' (i.e. ripped apart) and thrown off in an act of supposed 'liberation'. From the authority of husbands, to the authority of parents, to the authority Elohim (God) Himself, all authority is to be destroyed, except for that of the professors and politicians of post-modernism, of course. There is no morality in the post-modern universe even though they employ the language of morality simply to reverse biblical morality totally. Everything is now permitted, including perversion. Only the teachers and propagandists of Post-Modernism now have 'authority' (and therefore, power).

How do you deal with a person who believes that the root of all their problems lies in a lack of self-esteem? It is here that I agree with Albert Mohler, which is why I am quoting him a lot today. He rightly says that in a post-modernist environment, evangelism is a form of apologetics. What is apologetics? Apologetics is "the task of setting forth the truth claims of Christianity and arguing for the unique truthfulness of the Christian faith" [4]

Yahweh, in his foreknowledge, knew that such a time as this would be coming and ensured that the needed methodology would be prepackaged and ready for us in Scripture. You'll find it in Acts 17:16-34. We're going to read that together now and then I am going to tell you why I think this approach is important and why this kind of witnessing, which took place in Athens, the most famous seat of learning in the Greco-Roman world, should not be regarded as a failure as some critics claim.

"While Paul was waiting for [Silas and Timothy] in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Judahites and the Elohim/God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, 'What is this babbler trying to say?' Others remarked, 'He seems to be advocating foreign gods.' They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Yah'shua (Jesus) and the resurrection. Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, 'May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean.' (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)

"Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: 'Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.

"'The Elohim (God) who made the world and everything in it is the Master (Lord) of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives all men chayim (life) and ruach (breath) and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. Elohim (God) did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. 'For in Him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'

"'Therefore since we are Elohim's (God's) offspring, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone - an image made by man's design and skill. In the past Elohim (God) overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent. For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.'

"When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, 'We want to hear you again on this subject.' At that, Paul left the Council. A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others" (Acts 17:16-34, NIV).

How can we apply this to our post-modernist situation? you may ask. By noting seven very important things about what was going on in the passage we have just read:

• 1. Firstly, as Paul's own heart was provoked by the blindness of the Athenians (v.16), so ours must be by the blindness of today's post-modernists. They are truly confused and lost, no matter how clever and sophisticated their college professors may seem to be. The sight of all the idols in Athens filled Paul with grief, just as we should be by all the modern self-centred idols that consume the attention of today's young folk. People are so confused and yet they think themselves so very clever and sophisticated because they can string together complex-sounding terms. Remember, Athens was the place where Pericles, Plato and Socrates had debated but Paul was unimpressed. He saw that the Athenians were in need of a Saviour. So all - all apologetics - must begin with a deep concern, and not intellectual snobbery or scorn.

  We're not here to make fun of these lost souls, however tempting at times it may be to riddicule their stupidity. What we preach is not because we have a superior philosophy or because we were smart enough to embrace the emet (truth) but because of one thing only: WE HAVE MET THE MESSIAH and, to quote Paul to the Romans, we have been "transformed by the renewing of []our mind[s]" (Rom.12:2, NIV). Our witnessing is "not a matter of intellectual pride but of spiritual concern" [5].

  What are today's idols? I could name a handful but perhaps the biggest and worst today are:

  • 1. Self-realisation;
  • 2. Material comfort;
  • 3. Entertainment;
  • 4. Sexual ecstasy;
  • 5. Ambition;
  • 6. Power; and
  • 7. Success.

  And what is the religion that offers all of these things? Basically, the smörgåsbord of New Ageism and Occultism. And the mass electronic communication system which we are all plugged into has turned religion into a mere product for consumption. There is little sense that men and women are slaves to these idols. People don't know they are lost because they are too busy trying out new spiritual products. So that's the first thing - we have to be provoked with concern;

• 2. We must be focussed on gospel proclamation (v.17). Every day while he was in Athens, Paul went to the market place and preached, reasoning with both Judahites and Gentiles. Remember, the goal of apologetic preaching is not to win an argument but to win souls. In the Messianic Scriptures (New Testament) there is no such thing as a separation of apologetics and evangelism - the two go hand-in-hand. Paul preached the Besorah (Gospel), presented the claims of Yah'shua (Jesus), and called for men and women to believe in the Master and be saved. Again, I repeat, apologetics is not about philosophical structures and rational arguments - our business is not about proving our truth-claims but in getting sinners to repent and be saved. Accordingly, every true theologian is an evangelist and vice versa. The Besorah (Gospel) has content and presents truth-claims that require good arguments and bold proclamation but "Christianity is not merely a truth to be affirmed but a gospel to be received" [6]. And that is what seeing idolatry all around us is supposed to provoke us into doing.

• 3. Proclaiming the Besorah (Gospel) is going to provoke confusion (vv-18-21). The intellectual philosophers hearing Paul couldn't make head nor tale of what the apostle was saying. Paul might just as well have been an alien speaking an unintelligible language at first. When Paul preached, you may remember there were Epicureans and Stoics present. For those of you not familiar with ancient Greek philosophy that may mean nothing to you until I tell you that the Epicureans were the forerunners of today's secularists and the Stoics of today's pantheist rationalists. Both of them said Paul was teaching nonsense. They haven't changed.

  It would be true to say that most Westerners are today hopelessly confused, even those who claim to be nominally 'Christian'. They certainly don't have a clue what discipleship is. Just consider the number of 'Christians' today who believe in reincarnation, channeling or other occult doctrines and practices. Do you remember not so long ago I was telling you about the latest craze in 'Destiny Reading Cards'? Even to nominal Christians, the Besorah (Gospel) sounds strange and weird because they've never heard the real thing. For most it's just a 'cultural thing'. Most of these people believe themselves to be 'good' and 'decent' and don't have a clue what sin or what being separated from Elohim (God) means. Just watch some Ray Comfort videos of his converations with ordinary people on the street or read the commentaries in your New King James Version (NKJV) bibles which we use in this congregation.

  Most have no idea what grace is either. It's politically incorrect to talk about sin and guilt because the post-modernists have convinced young people that these things are oppressive. The atonement is likewise made to seem unfair - of someone dying in our place - and the idea that Elohim (God) entered human flesh as Yah'shua (Jesus) even stranger still. It's too much for most people, just as Paul's preaching was too much for the Athenians. The Besorah (Gospel) is simply too radically counter-cultural, which is amazing when you come to think about it, because a century ago the exact opposite was the case. Our culture has been flipped on its head. And now, you can be cited for 'hate speech' for talking about such things because people don't want to feel condemned by sin. Indeed, the Besorah (Gospel) threatens the local deities that people now worship.

• 4. Nevertheless there is a real spiritual hunger that needs to be addressed (vv.22-23). The Athenians were very religious indeed, devoted to their idols. This generation is no different. And the fact that there was an idol dedicated to the 'Unknown God' reflected a fear less they miss any new philosophy or neglect any new deity. The fact that we are a not a Christian culture anymore doesn't mean we are not religious. Look at man-made global warming which has all the characteristics of a fanatical religion. The same is true of 'evolution' and 'political correctness'. People are most passionate and zealous about these things. And now we have a new breed of 'evangelical new atheists' who feel 'called' to preach to the religious to 'save' them, a religious sentiment if ever there was one. No, people are very religious still, even the atheists, because the spiritual controversy of the ages is still real and raging - that's the real problem. People are still looking for the miraculous whether it comes from some spirituality or from scientific technology.

  Paul sees a missionary opportunity in such sentiments, especially when he sees the statue to the 'Unknown God'. Though they don't know it, post-moderns are deep down looking for this 'unknown god' too. Paul says to them, 'It just so happens that I know that God' and "you have been worshipping Him without knowing who He is, and now I wish to tell you about Him" (v.23, NLT). If this isn't a legitimate pattern for post-modern preaching, I don't know what is! We must tap into the already existing spiritual hunger and turn it around toward the true food of the Besorah (Gospel). But to do that, we must muster sufficient courage to confront the post-moderns with the reality of their spiritual ignorance. Paul never allowed this ignorance to be an excuse and pointed out that they were consuming superstition and myths. The hunger is a place to start but first you have to identify it and then present Messiah as the only answer to that hunger.

• 5. The next thing we must do is present post-moderns with a true picture of Yahweh's nature, character, power and authority (vv.24-28). Paul does not begin with Messiah and the cross but with the knowledge of Elohim (God) in Creation. That is why I firmly believe a solid foundation in, and witness of, Genesis is important. We live in a scientific age and have to answer scientific questions too. That's why apologists like Professor John Lennox, Professor of Mathematics at Oxford University, are such important witnesses in our time.

  Further, our Elohim (God) is not interested in fancy religious buildings because He is the very author of life itself. He doesn't need anything from us. Besides, He made human beings and is Master over all the nations, sovereignty determining their times and boundaries. Notice that Paul ackowledged where the Athenians were partly right - he didn't knock all their beliefs - and quoted their poets. Modern apologist, the Christian philosopher Ravi Zacharias, is good at doing that. We are all Yahweh's children but not in the sense that the Athenians believed. Like Paul, we have to proclaim Elohim (God) as the Creator, Ruler and Sustainer of all things and all peoples.

  It's so important to understand that Paul established his preaching of Messiah upon the larger foundation of the knowledge of Elohim (God) as the Maker of Heaven and Earth. Liberals don't do this because they are usually pantheists and evolutionists, and in omitting the emet (truth) about the Creator and His Creation, they end up giving a distorted message about Yah'shua (Jesus). To them, His love then just becomes a 'many splendoured thing' not founded on anything substantially moral or spiritual, an open door for post-modernist existential thinking that's focussed on the self and its perceived needs.

  I can't tell you how important this approach is. People must first understand Elohim (God) the Creator before they will understand Elohim (God) the Redeemer. We must start with the knowledge of Yahweh as Creator, but this is not sufficient to save. Seeing people come to faith in Messiah the Redeemer begins with seeing them come to grips with the fact that Yahweh is their Maker. It is one thing to feel Elohim (God) our maker supports us by His power, governs us by His providence, nourishes us by His goodness, and attends to us with all sorts of blessings, and another thing to embrace the reconciliation offered to us in Messiah.

• 6. Christian proclamation in a post-modern culture confronts error (v.29). Ah, now this is what scares a lot of believers because they are unwilling to confront sensitive snowflakes with anything because they fear the backlash. However, ERROR MUST BE CONFRONTED, HERESY MUST BE OPPOSED, AND FALSE TEACHING MUST BE CORRECTED. It's not enough to just talk about love and forgiveness. It's the whole package deal or nothing. In this Paul was always bold, correcting the Athenians with a firm injunction: we ought not to think false thoughts about Elohim (God). We have to teach accurately what the Divine Nature is like, and it's not something that can be apprehended through human thinking or art.

  Todays heresies are simply the old ones revived and repackaged. The ecological mystics think that the world is 'god' - or 'Gaia'. New Agers think that god is 'infinite empowerment'. We have to confront these lies boldly and biblically because we have no right to make Elohim (God) in our own image.

• 7. Finally, Christian proclamation in a post-modern culture affirms the totality of Elohim's (God's) saving purpose (vv.30-31). In a word, we have to preach repentance and warn of judgment. Paul proclaimed Yah'shua (Jesus) as the appointed Deliverer (Saviour) that is to come and judge the whole world, whose identity has been clearly revealed by the fact that Yahweh has raised Him from the dead. It is not enough to preach Messiah without telling people of their need to trust Messiah and repent of their Torah-disobedience. It is not enough to promise the blessings of heaven without warning of the threat of hell. It is not enough to preach salvation without also pointing out judgment. If physicians do it all the time, telling us both what the cure is and what the consequences will be if we don't take the cure, why should preachers be any different?

Do you now see the necessity of presenting the full Besorah (Gospel) with its balancing elements? That's what Paul did. We have to declare and defend the whole of the Besorah (Gospel), not just the 'bits' we 'like' or which we think won't upset or antagonise too many people. The truth both blesses and upsets. The centre of our proclamation is Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) the Deliverer (Saviour), who was crucified for sinners, was raised by the power of Elohim (God), is coming again in glory and judgment, and is even now sitting and ruling at the right hand of Yahweh-Elohim the Father Almighty.

We must defend the truths of Messiah's deity, the virgin birth, the historicity of the miracles, the truth of the incarnation, the reality of His substitutionary death, and the assurance of His bodily resurrection. Yet we dare not stop at just these! We must place the person and work of Messiah within the context of Elohim's (God's) eternal purpose to save people to His own glory and to exalt Himself among the nations. And finally, we must teach the necessity of living lives of holiness through living the Torah-mandated lifestyle. Therefore our task is comprehensive and we cannot leave out any part of the madate given to us. Driving all of this must be our personal desire to see sinners turn to Messiah in emunah (faith) and live obediently as talmidim (disciples).

Does that all make sense? Our post-modernist world does not need half-baked evangelists preaching half a gospel to only half the world, to the half converted leading a half-hearted fellowship (church) or, as we say in Britain, 'we won't half be in trouble'! What is needed now is a generation of bold and courageous preacher-apologists for this final 21st century - whole-hearted men with wholesome minds who will be witnesses to the whole world of the power of the whole gospel and who will proclaim the whole counsel of Yahweh until their work is done and they are taken home. And they need wholeheared wives to back them up to the hilt.

That, brethren and sisters, is why we have to "hold to the standard of sound teaching". That is the task clearly laid out by Paul to the Athenians and, I contend, just what a post-modernist world needs the most. No waterning-down, no appealing to the flesh or the corrupt heart and mind of man, no compromising allowed. Just the plain emet (truth) in ahavah (love) by emunah (faith). Have a blessed Sabbath! Amen.

Endnotes

[1] C.S. Lewis in The Case for Christianity
[2] R.Albert Mohler, Jr, He is Not Silent: Preaching in a Postmodern World (Moody Publishers, Chicago: 2008), pp.117-118
[3] Ibid., p.118
[4] Ibid., pp.123-124
[5] Ibid., p.124
[6] Ibid., p.126

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to the vision and inspiration of Albert Mohler, ninth president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in his many writings, but in particular for his book, He is Not Silent: Preaching in a Postmodern World.

Further Reading on Post-Modernism

[1] The NCAY website on Existentialism
[2] Doubt and Faith I: Why They're Both Necessary
[3] Doubt and Faith II: The Tragedy of Charles Templeton
[4] The Doctrinal Drifters: How They Come and How They Go
[5] Kerygmatic Revival: A Call for Solid Bible Preaching
[6] Vision of the Ouroboros and Great Panic
[7] Gospel Readiness and the Imminent Dark Event

Comments from Readers

[1] "A whole-hearted AMEN to the whole sermon! Thank you" (SW, Germany, 21 June 2018)