Quotes from John Koessler

Rest is synonymous with grace, which is never seized by force but always taken hold of freely by faith.

The silence of this age is an exclamatory silence. God has stopped talking because all that needs to be said has been summed up in the person of Christ. Those who preach do not come with a new word. Instead, they declare and apply that which has already been said. Like the apostle Paul, the preacher's message is shaped by a determination to "know nothing … except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2).

Jesus came for us, but that doesn't mean he came to please us. Jesus came for us, but he does not answer to us. Jesus came for us, but he will not subject himself to our agenda . . .

The Bible clearly teaches God's sovereignty and human responsibility. The great Charles H. Spurgeon of London was asked to reconcile these two truths. He answered, "I wouldn't try. I never reconcile friends.

Life and thought mutually illuminate each other: I come to understand what I believe and the language I use only as I live it, and I am able to live my belief and the language I use only as I come to understand them more clearly."9

Ethos can amplify the preacher's message, but it cannot serve as a substitute for the authority of the biblical text. Good ethos is not a guarantee of good results. Godly preachers like Jeremiah are sometimes ignored, while surly and self-centered preachers like Jonah may be heeded beyond all expectation.