More A.W. Tozer

God is God, always, only, fully God, and can never be other than He is.

The Justice of God

Our Father, we love Thee for Thy justice. We acknowledge that Thy judgments are ture and righteous altogether. Thy justice upholds the order of the universe and guarantees the safety of al who put their turst in Thee. We live because Thou are just - and merciful. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, righteous in all Thy ways and holy in all Thy works. Amen.

The Mercy of God

Holy Father, Thy wisdom excites our admiration, Thy power fills us with fear, Thy omnipresence turns every spot of earth into holy ground; but how shall we thank Thee enough for Thy mercy which comes down to the lowest part of our need to give us beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and for the spirit of heaviness a garment of praise? We bless and magnify Thy mercy, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

- A.W. Tozer - The Knowledge of the Holy

Good Friday - 1533

text - John 19:13-30

Today we are considering the events of the suffering and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we confess in the creed, "I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son our Lord... who suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried." Christians really should have the suffering and death of Christ always in mind an on their lips every day. However, this day is especially devoted to considering and preaching about Christ's suffering, in order that we realize all that happened to Christ on this day, namely, in the Garden, at the house of the high priest, Caiaphas, in the judgment hall before Pontius Pilate, and on the cross. Under God's gracious guidance we shall speak of these events at some length.

In recording the events of the suffering of Christ, the Evangelists always repeat these words, "These things happened so that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled," for everything that Christ suffered happened in accord with Holy Scripture. For that reason the Evangelists not only record the events of Christ's suffering, but also repeat, "This happened that Scripture might be fulfilled." As though they wish to say, Ask the prophets about it; they will tell you why Christ suffered. Great and severe is His suffering, His martyrdom, and the cross; but great also is His love, compassion, ardor, and all-encompassing grace toward us, in that the devout Lord and Saviour with His suffering and death fulfilled the Scriptures for our sake.


And that is the paramount significance of the passion, that we realize and consider how Christ suffered in obedience to His heavenly Father and in our behalf to benefit us, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. It is well that we consider the true price of the redemption with which Christ redeemed us. It was not the exodus form Egypt. The redemption is nothing temporal, but rather, eternal, from sin, death, and hell. It is also well to consider the price paid for our sins, namely, that Christ did not pay gold or material goods, but rather His body and life, Himself the offering for our sins, as St. Paul exults (Gal 1:4, Eph 5:2, Titus 2:14). At the same time one should bear in mind what great agony He suffered for us and how excruciating it was for Him; how His sweat was as great drops of blood; how He was mocked, crowned with thorns, spit upon, scourged, nailed to the cross, and pierced for our sake. But this is the greatest and noblest consideration, that Christ had to suffer in order that He might fulfill the Scriptures.

We should diligently ponder all this, in order that we might not only recognize the greatness of the redemption, the price and the martyrdom, but also discern the love and good will toward us; how deeply concerned He is about us, and how His great heart, love, and compassion motivated Him to give Himself for us. That is why we should lovingly esteem both Him who suffered such martyrdom for us and also the heavenly Father who ordained this and placed this martyrdom upon Him. Such love should generate within us the realization of His goodwill toward us which prompted His voluntary martyrdom and suffering in our behalf.

What should our response be when God's Son is given for our sakes and endures sin, death, and hell? Should we not respond, My Lord Jesus Christ suffered for me; therefore, n return, I will love Him, gladly preach, hear, and believe His Word, be obedient to, and follow Him. If we do not do this, we are a thousand times more malicious than the people of the world.

We need to study the passion of Christ, in order that we might remember that it happened for our good and for our eternal benefit. I must have regard for His bloody sweat, His agony, and His crucifixion, and say, That is my help, my strength, my life, my joy. All this happened for our sakes and for our benefit. We must believe this and thank Him form the bottom of our hearts. Whoever does that and views the suffering of Christ in this way is a Christian.

He has shown us great kindness and we should never forget it, but always thank Him and find comfort for ourselves, confessing, His pain is my comfort; His wounds, my healing; His punishment, my redemption; His death, my life. No one can preach it sufficiently; no one can be sufficiently amazed that so great a person came from heaven, stepped into our place, and suffered death for us. We have been visited graciously and redeemed with a great price. We should hold firmly to our Saviour and sacred Head, Jesus Christ, who for our sins was crucified and died. To this end may the gracious God help us. Amen.

excerpts from Martin Luther sermon

The Immutability of God

Change and change are busy in our little world of nature and men, but in Thee we find no variableness nor shadow of turning. We rest in Thee without fear or doubt and face our tomorrows without anxiety. Amen

To say that God is immutable is to say that He never differs from Himself.

"All that God is He has always been, and all that He has been and is He will ever be." Nothing that God has ever said about Himself will be modified; nothing the inspired prophets and apostles have said about Him will be rescinded. His immutability guarantees this.

The immutability of God appears in its most perfect beauty when viewed against the mutability of men. In God no change is possible; in men change is impossible to escape.

And all things as they change proclaim
The Lord eternally the same.

- Charles Wesley

In this world where men forget, change their attitude as their private interests dictate, and revise their opinions for the slightest cause, is it not a source of wondrous strength to know that the God with whom we have to do changes not? That His attitude toward us now is the same as it was in eternity past and will be in eternity to come?

What peace it brings to the Christian's heart to realize that our Heavenly Father never differs from Himself. In coming to Him at any time we need not wonder whether we shall find Him in a receptive mood. He is always receptive to misery and need, as well as to love and faith. He does not keep office hours nor set aside periods when He will see no one. Neither does He change His mind about anything. Today, this moment, He feels toward His creatures, toward babies, toward the sick, the fallen , the sinful, exactly as He did when He sent His only-begotten Son into the world to die for mankind.

Fountain of being! Source of Good!
Immutable Thou dost remain!
Nor can the shadow of a change
Obscure the glories of Thy reign.

Earth may with all her powers dissolve,
If such the great Creator will;
But Thou for ever art the same,
I AM is Thy memorial still.

From Walker's Collection

from A.W. Tozer - The Knowledge of the Holy

Never Changing God

God does not change! That is great news to us, leaning upon the Rock. Here is a quote from A.W. Tozer about the immutability of God, who he can't and doesn't change. More to follow.

"For a moral being to change it would be necessary that the change be in on of three directions. He must go from better to worse or from worse to better; or, granted that the moral quality remain stable, he must change within himself, as from immature to mature or from one order of being to another. It should be clear that God can move in none of these directions. His perfections forever rule out any such possibility.
God cannot change for the better. Since He is perfectly holy, He has never been less holy than He is now and can never by holier than He is and has always been. Neither can God change for the worse. Any deterioration within the unspeakably holy nature of God is impossible. Indeed I believe it even to think of such a thing, for the moment we attempt to do so, the object about which we are thinking is no longer God but something else and someone less than He. The one of whom we are thinking may be a great and awesome creature, but because he is creature he cannot be the self-existent Creator.
As there can be no mutation in the moral character of God, so there can be none with the divine essence. The being of God is unique in the only proper meaning of that word; that is, His being is other than and different from all other beings. We have seen how God differs from creatures in being self-existent, self-sufficient, and eternal. By virtue of these attributes God is God and not some other being. One who can suffer any slightest degree of change is neither self-existent, self-sufficient, nor eternal, and so is not God."

from "The Knowledge of the Holy" A.W. Tozer