Blog - Page 227 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Was A. W. Tozer a Calvinist?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:47-05:00June 26th, 2008|Categories: Reformed Christianity|

A question was raised about whether A. W. Tozer was a Calvinist when I quoted him last week in several of my blogs. I have several responses to this statement and the supposed objections that come with it.

1. Who cares? Seriously now, must we who are Reformed in our understanding of divine revelation always use this “label” to prove a point or to discredit the contributions of another Christian thinker who is not precisely where we are on some doctrinal points? Can’t I be a Reformed minister and still count the confession of this particular historical understanding of faith as much less important than the simple fact that I am a Christian? If I must rank these commitments, as labels are generally used to judge others, then I am a mere Christian first and a catholic Christian second. Beyond that I would call myself a Protestant catholic Christian. Only then would say that I am a Reformed Protestant catholic Christian. My order […]

Why A. W. Tozer Has Been a Great Blessing to Me

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:47-05:00June 25th, 2008|Categories: Spirituality|

I mentioned in my June 24 post (yesterday) that I would address A. W. Tozer’s views of the sovereignty of God. I will still do that in the next few days, God willing. But today I want to tell you several of the reasons why I respect A. W. Tozer.

First, he was a plain preacher. I have heard a number of his sermons on audio, and read some others. They were simple, clear and prophetic. I feel this is one of the truly great needs of our time. Most preaching today is predictable, political, dull, doctrinally pedantic, a rigid exposition of words without engagement with the soul, and generally heavily manuscripted. People are unmoved. Thus both their emotions and minds are left untouched. Tozer spoke to both and did so with pathos. He didn’t seem to care all that much about what you thought about his sermon either. It may surprise some of you to hear this but he was very unpopular […]

Tozer (Again) on Conditions to the Knowledge of God

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:47-05:00June 24th, 2008|Categories: Spirituality|

Last week I wrote several posts on A. W. Tozer. I cited his classic book The Knowledge of the Holy. Several have questioned me about this post and one reader noted that my quotation, upon which the premise was established, was not in the text where I cited it. I went back to the book and read this material again today. As I read it I realize that I had made one very minor mistake. I said the quotation was from the preface to the book but it was not. It is in the final chapter (Chapter 23), titled "The Open Secret." The quotation I cited is as follows:

As sunlight falls free on the open field, so the knowledge of the holy God is a free gift to men who are open to receive it. But this knowledge is difficult because there are conditions to be met and the obstinate nature of fallen man does not take kindly to them […]

The Mission of Jesus and Our Persecution

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:48-05:00June 22nd, 2008|Categories: Personal|

Today, in the West, is the sixth Sunday after Pentecost. Liturgical churches, who follow the Church calendar, pay attention to these seasons of worship and remembrance. One way they do this is to use a lectionary of biblical texts which are read in their services on the Lord’s Day. The texts read in my own church setting today are: Genesis 21:8-21; Romans 6:1-11 and Matthew 10:24-39.

So today I preached from the Matthew text. It is an account of Jesus telling his disciples to expect that they would face opposition and persecution in their mission. It comes in a section of the Gospel that we rightly call “Matthew’s Missionary Discourse” (cf. 9:35-37). The central point of my text is that following Jesus in mission will bring opposition, even death. But when opposition comes Jesus promises to be with his disciples to help them do through the fire.

He does this by telling his disciples that “a disciple is not above […]

God Made Man in His Image

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:48-05:00June 22nd, 2008|Categories: Biblical Theology|

One of the most important doctrines in the Christian faith is creation. And the most important part of the biblical doctrine of creation is not the length of the seven days in Genesis or the method or manner by which God created all things. The fact is what matters—God is the sovereign creator. This too is an article of faith and the creed rightly places it in a prominent place when it speaks of God the almighty.

Not until the late 19th century did the various debates about how to understand time in Genesis 1-3 become a divisive issue. These debates arose in response to the claims of evolution. But centuries ago great theologians, such as St. Augustine, were quite sure that issue was not that important to a correct understanding of what really mattered in the Genesis account. Like so many debates carried on by modern conservatives, especially by fundamentalists, the forest is often lost to the trees. To listen to […]

Are There Conditions to Salvation: Part Two?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:48-05:00June 21st, 2008|Categories: Spirituality|

I have been considering the thought of the late A. W. Tozer for several days. I have personally been reading Tozer for well over thirty-five years. I even had the privilege of knowing the man who best knew Tozer and his work, for several years, prior to his death. He lived only a mile from my home in a retirement village. I once called this dear brother and said, “I have a Tozer quote in a book of mine and no data for where it came from. The publisher insists I document this two sentence quotation. Can you help me?” In three days he called me back and knew precisely where it came from. Quite amazing! We had more than one conversation about A. W. Tozer.

Anyway, we have seen that Tozer spoke of seven “conditions” for coming to the saving knowledge of a holy God. I have listed three. I will now list the other four.

Step Four: As we […]

Are There Conditions to Salvation?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:48-05:00June 20th, 2008|Categories: Uncategorized|

In the classic The Knowledge of the Holy the famous A. W. Tozer laid out seven conditions to be met if we would have the knowledge of God. By this Tozer did not have in mind some kind of special experience or knowledge for only a few but the normal experience of all of those who truly want to “know” God in Jesus Christ. These seven steps are:

Step One: Becoming a child of God requires us to forsake our sins. It is sin that keeps us from a relationship with a perfect, holy, sovereign God who is without sin. Jesus said, Blessed are the pure in hear; for they will see God (Matthew 5:8). There must be repentance and an acknowledgment of our complete inability to save ourselves. We must be “justified.” Note: Tozer links justifying faith to repentance very clearly and plainly. He never separates them since the Bible doesn’t either.

Step Two: After we have turned from our […]

What Should We Make of A. W. Tozer?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:48-05:00June 19th, 2008|Categories: Spirituality|

The famous A. W. Tozer (1897-1963) is widely respected by many modern evangelical Christians. He is the author of fifty-plus books and is often referred to, rightly I believe, as “an evangelical mystic.” When Tozer was alive he was not so widely respected precisely because he was so profoundly prophetic. His writing often irritated people and made many leaders nervous. He was unsparing in stating his concern for how he saw evangelicalism selling itself out and this was all the way back in the 1950s. Now his words have proven accurate in most every way imaginable. I guess most prophets are heard after they’re gone!

Born in 1893, in Newburg, Pennsylvania, Aiden Wilson Tozer was converted at the age of 18. He had no formal training but began a lifelong pastoral ministry in the Christian Missionary Alliance in 1919. (One thinks of other great ministers who had no formal training, including C. H. Spurgeon, who was never ordained either!)
What made A. […]

The First Martyr of the Christian Era

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:48-05:00June 18th, 2008|Categories: The Persecuted Church|

All agree that the first martyr of the Christian Church was Stephen. I do not think we ponder this man or his sacrifice deeply enough. Stephen’s story of dying for the faith is recorded, of course, in Acts 6 and 7. This story follows immediately the account, in the opening verses of the chapter, of how the Jerusalem leadership chose seven men "who [were] known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom" (Acts 6:4) to care for administrative matters in the congregation. Stephen was one of these men.

These seven, who may have been the prototype of the office of deacon, were chosen to free up the apostles, who were in effect acting as the elders in that church. This was done so the apostles could give themselves to the Word of God and prayer. Stephen, one of the seven men chosen, was obviously a gifted speaker. This in itself is interesting. Here a man is chosen to do what we […]

The Passing of a News Icon: Tim Russert (1950-2008)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:21:48-05:00June 17th, 2008|Categories: Current Affairs|

Tim Russert (1950-2008) will be sorely missed by many, many people, especially those who knew him personally. I am a “news and political junkie” so I saw him often on NBC. I was also a long time fan and admirer. Like so many I too feel that I lost someone I personally cared about even though I never met the man. Television personalities come and go. Some leave a positive mark. Others make no real difference at all. Tim left a huge mark and made a great and lasting impression. He was a professional and he stood out in an age of “silly” television and bad journalistic methods.

I watched the NBC morning show on Saturday and listened to a one-hour tribute the various news staff of NBC gave to Tim after his sudden passing on Friday, June 13. It was amazing to listen to Tim’s boss, the president of NBC news, as well as his colleagues. Tim was not only the host […]