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106 pages

English

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Many modern Christians are familiar with the name, and perhaps even some of the writings of, A.W. Tozer, but few living today were blessed to sit under his weekly teaching from the pulpit. In this never-before-published collection of teachings on 1 Peter, adapted from sermons given to his parishioners, Tozer examines what it means to call oneself a Christian. In his view, to be a recipient of God's salvation is to become "the pride of all heaven," indestructible and able to withstand anything and everything that seeks to undermine one's faith. The Epistle of 1 Peter was written to a group of just such Christians, to encourage them to live in the center of God's redeeming love. Through Tozer's incomparable teaching and commentary, this ancient letter becomes a fresh and life-infusing admonition for today's Christian!

Sujets

Philosophie et théologie

New Testament

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Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	14 janvier 2010
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781441267450
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0432€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

© 2009 James L. Snyder
Published by Bethany House Publishers 11400 Hampshire Avenue South Bloomington, Minnesota 55438 www.bethanyhouse.com
Bethany House Publishers is a division of Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan. www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
Bethany House Publishers edition published 2014
ISBN 978-1-4412-6745-0
Previously published by Regal Books
Ebook edition originally created 2011
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the King James Version.
Other version used is Phillips — The New Testament in Modern English , Revised Edition, J. B. Phillips, Translator. © J. B. Phillips 1958, 1960, 1972. Used by permission of Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 866 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022.
CONTENTS

Introduction: The Amazing Christian
1. The Christian Believes in Things He Cannot See
2. The Christian Understands the Truth About Salvation
3. The Christian Is Redeemed from a Foolish Way of Life
4. The Christian’s Hope Versus All Other Hope
5. The Fundamental Difference Between the Christian and the Non-Christian
6. The Christian Puts Aside Certain Things
7. Christianity: An Experience, Not an Experiment
8. The Christian Believes He Is Exactly What God Says He Is
9. The Christian’s Life Among Non-Christians
10. The Christian’s Presence Among the Unsaved
11. The Christian’s Relation to Government and Authority
12. The Christian Cannot Be Harmed
13. The Christian Believes the Whole Bible
14. The Christian Is a Stranger in a Strange Land
15. The Christian Bears His Suffering with Joy
16. The Christian Doesn’t Have a Care in the World
17. The Christian Stands Firm Against False Teaching
I NTRODUCTION

T HE A MAZING C HRISTIAN

What is a Christian? The contemporary scene is flooded with all kinds of erroneous ideas of what it means to be a Christian, most taken from the culture around us. For some, the Christian is simply a cleaned-up person trying to do the best he can. Some have crafted a template into which they try to squeeze the Christian. But the Christian does not fit, and the result is a caricature, without any power or authority.
In this book, Dr. Tozer is writing to the Christian whose love and affection for Christ is the all-consuming passion of his life…every day. He is not writing about the carnal Christian who has not surrendered himself to Christ’s rule in his life. Throughout this book, he makes one assumption: that he is talking to someone who has experienced a genuine conversion experience. He insists that we must have the utmost confidence in our conversion experience and trust the Holy Spirit to guide us day by day in the way that brings the most glory to the Christ who died for us. Tozer begins where most writers end. To him, conversion is not the end but rather the beginning of a wonderful walk of faith and trust and, yes, of works.
It was interesting to me to see Dr. Tozer’s comment about Hebrews 11. Most of us look at that as the “faith chapter” of the Bible, but Tozer, in his inimitable way, calls it the “works chapter.” Faith without works is dead, and there has to be a balance between what we believe and what we live. Nobody can walk far on only one foot—we need the balance of both feet, and Dr. Tozer gives us quite a spiritual balance as he describes from God’s Word what the Christian walk is all about.
Certainly, we need to celebrate what we have been saved from. That should bring to us a great deal of praise and thanksgiving that God has saved us from a life of wretchedness. But, more important, we need to celebrate what we have been saved unto. The Christian walk is the forward walk. It is the “looking unto Jesus” that is most important. Every redeemed person has a specific destiny to fulfill. Discovering that destiny and fulfilling it in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit is the joy of the Christian’s daily walk.
We must start with Christ, continue with Christ and, finally, end with Christ. It is always Jesus Christ, our all in all; anything outside of Christ is not part of the Christian’s life and walk.
Throughout the book, Dr. Tozer spends time developing the theme of salvation as God’s master plan for man. The preciousness of God’s plan of salvation reveals the value He places on man. Salvation is not a casual thing to God, and should not be thought of carelessly by us. To use a favorite Tozer illustration, it is not put a nickel in the slot, pull the lever, take a box of salvation and then go your separate way. Rather, what salvation does to the person who embraces Jesus Christ is nothing short of revolutionary, and his walk from that moment on is nothing short of miraculous.
This amazing Christian is the reflection of salvation’s glory in the world around him. Not only is salvation a precious and wonderful thing, but also so is the Christian. Salvation is not an end in itself, but rather a plan for man to get back into the center of God’s love and favor. Everything about the Christian reflects the glory of his salvation. All heaven looks with pride upon this curious creature called a Christian.
This Christian can withstand anything that comes against him, including heresy of all kinds that have infested the Church from the beginning. Tozer describes these heresies and how the Christian rises above them, including the blatant attack of Christianity’s archenemy, the devil. It also includes the Christian’s attitude toward persecution and suffering for the cause of Christ. This remarkable Christian is in the world, but he is not of it. Therefore, how he lives in front of the unsaved is crucial.
Because of the Christian’s position in Christ, seated in the heavenlies, no matter what befalls, he is above all harm and can rest in the security of Jesus Christ, the victor. Dr. Tozer says, “No one, no thing, no circumstance can harm a good man.” This “good man” is immortal, and when his destiny on earth has been completed, his destiny continues in what he has inherited through salvation.
James Snyder
T EACHINGS FROM F IRST P ETER
1

T HE C HRISTIAN B ELIEVES IN T HINGS H E C ANNOT S EE

Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
1 P ETER 1:8
Of all the apostles, Simon Peter, in my opinion, looms ahead of them all. His life and ministry are quite interesting to pursue. One of the most colorful of the disciples, he was the most vocally devoted to his Lord and ready to die for Him. I could raise some concern about some of his attitudes and actions revealed to us in Scripture, but down deep inside, Peter was radically committed to the Lord Jesus Christ, which is why I hold him in such admiration. He did not often know how to show his love, but after that mighty day of Pentecost (see Acts 2), Peter, along with the rest of the disciples, was never the same again. He became a mighty force for God.
His writings are not eloquent like those of the apostle Paul’s, for he takes a rather down-to-earth approach to Christianity. His words do not rise up in moments of ecstasy and oratory as Paul’s often did, but they have a way of presenting truth that the average Christian can grasp. By reading his epistles, I can almost hear him preaching simple and practical Bible sermons. In the language of the common man, Peter tells in his epistles about this amazing, indestructible Christian, of which he is a part, who believes even when he cannot see that in which he believes.
In 1 Peter 1:8, Peter begins his description of this amazing Christian. He uses two expressions very much alike except in tense: “whom having not seen” and “now ye see him not.” “Having not seen” has to do with any possibility of seeing Him in the past, and “now ye see him not” has to do with any possibility of seeing Him now.
Christians, who are God’s by sanctification of the Spirit and having been sprinkled with the blood of Christ, are believers in that which they cannot see and that which they have not seen. An old proverb says, “Seeing is believing.” Of course, there is a kind of believing that must depend upon seeing. However, it is merely a conclusion drawn from the testimony of the senses. This is not New Testament believing at all. New Testament believing believes a report about things unseen, which is the difference between New Testament faith and every other kind of so-called believing.
These Christians believed in the invisible, another way of stating it, and this brings it close to Hebrews 11:27: “By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.” Abraham was able to endure because he was looking at the things that were invisible.
Being what we are, we pretty much trust what we can physically see; but if we could see all around us, if we could see the wonders, the invisible things of the creation, we would never be lonely for a moment and we would never doubt what is unseen. The invisible things are there, but they are simply not seen without faith. Abraham had faith and was able to carry on because he could see that which was not seen and could not be seen. And in so doing, these Christians mentioned in 1 Peter experienced the invisible so vividly and so satisfyingly that they were able to rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
Today we sing songs that are so dishonest that I sometimes hesitate to sing them. Yet when we sing the average hymn, if God Almighty compelled us to be entirely 100 percent honest, we simply could not sing them because their words w