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From The Library of A.W. Tozer
From The Library of A.W. Tozer
A S h o rt B i o g r a p h y
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This book has been divided into eight separate chapters, each of
which emphasizes a major theme from Tozer’s life and writings—
from worship, to practicing the presence of God, to living the Chris-
tian life. The readings themselves are short in length and focus on
subjects that are important to your life and devotion to God.
One way to use this book is to make it a part of your daily
devotional experience. Consider reading one excerpt each day,
along with a passage of Scripture. As you do, be sure to allow
yourself times of silent reflection in order to think deeply about
what each author is communicating (as was Tozer’s custom). You
may even want to read this book in concert with The Knowledge
of the Holy or another of Tozer’s masterpieces, thereby gaining
a real-time understanding of how these writers influenced and
guided him.
This book can also serve as an excellent educational resource.
Taking a broader look at each chapter will help you learn a great
deal about the essential doctrines and practices of our faith; it will
also help you find wisdom for developing transformative habits
and overcoming the many obstacles you’ll find as you walk the
path of God.
If you are not familiar with all of the authors represented in the
following pages, learning a bit about their stories in the Biographies
section at the back of this book will help you to better appreciate
what they have to say. In addition, as you identify certain passages
and writers that are especially impactful to you, consider reading
the complete volumes from which those excerpts were taken. You’ll
find the source of each excerpt listed on the same page, and you
can identify all of the books excerpted by each author using the
“Excerpts Taken From . . .” section.
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Aiden Wilson Tozer was a man who dedicated his life to pur-
suing a passionate and intimate relationship with a holy God and
to helping others in the church do the same. His life stands out as
remarkable because he succeeded in his dedication and achieved
what he pursued. His overall book sales alone attest to that sig-
nificant impact on the church.
A significant part of that success is due to Tozer’s willingness to
be continually discipled by the great men and women of God, the
mystics, evangelists, writers, and teachers, who had preceded him
through centuries of church history. His mentors had one thing in
common—through Jesus Christ they sought to lose themselves in
a deep union with an ineffable God, experiencing joy unspeakable
and a peace that passes all human understanding. Like the apostle
Paul they were willing to surrender everything for the experience
of knowing his intimate embrace and deep fellowship—the Deeper
Life—an experience shared by all of them but given different
descriptions and circumstances.
You now have the opportunity to be similarly discipled and
tremble in reverent awe in the presence of a holy God, basking in
the ocean of his limitless love and mercy.
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Wor sh i p:
T h e C h i e f E n d of M a n
T he Ten C om ma nd ments
Philosophers are agreed that even the most primitive races of man-
kind reach out beyond the world of matter to a superior Being.
It is as natural for man to feel after God as it is for the ivy to feel
after a support. Hunger and thirst drive man to seek for food, and
there is a hunger of the soul that needs satisfying, too. Man does
not need to be commanded to worship, as there is not a race so
high or so low in the scale of civilization but has some kind of
god. What he needs is to be directed aright.
This is what the first commandment is for. Before we can wor-
ship intelligently, we must know what or whom to worship. God does
not leave us in ignorance. When Paul went to Athens, he found an
altar dedicated to “The Unknown God,” and he proceeded to tell
of Him whom we worship. When God gave the commandments
to Moses, He commenced with a declaration of His own character,
and demanded exclusive recognition. “I am the LORD your God,
who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You
shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:2–3).
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Ma x i ms of the S a i nts
Of the love of God, there are various kinds. At least, there are
various feelings which go under that name.
First, there is what may be called mercenary or selfish love.
That is, that love of God which originates in a sole regard to our
own happiness. Those who love God with no other love than this
love Him just as the miser loves his money and the voluptuous
man his pleasures—attaching no value to God, except as a means
to an end; and that end is the gratification of themselves. Such
love, if it can be called by that name, is unworthy of God. He
does not ask it; He will not receive it. In the language of Francis
de Sales, “It is sacrilegious and impious.”
Second, another kind of love does not exclude a regard to our
own happiness as a motive of love, but requires this motive to
be subordinate to a much higher one—namely, that of a regard
to God’s glory. It is a mixed state, in which we regard ourselves
and God at the same time. This love is not necessarily selfish
and wrong. On the contrary, when the two objects of it, God and
ourselves, are relatively in the right position—that is to say, when
we love God as He ought to be loved and love ourselves no more
than we ought to be loved—it is a love which, in being properly
subordinated, is unselfish and is right.
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O n L ov i ng God
You want me to tell you why God is to be loved and how much. I
answer: the reason for loving God is God Himself, and the measure
of love due to Him is immeasurable love. Is this plain? Doubt-
less, to a thoughtful man; but I am debtor to the unwise also. A
word to the wise is sufficient; but I must consider simple folk, too.
Therefore I set myself joyfully to explain more in detail what is
meant above.
We are to love God for Himself because of a twofold reason:
nothing is more reasonable, nothing more profitable. When one
asks, “Why should I love God?” he may mean, “What is lovely in
God?” or “What shall I gain by loving God?” In either case, the
same sufficient cause of love exists—namely, God Himself.
First, of His title to our love. Could any title be greater than
this, that He gave Himself for us unworthy wretches? And being
God, what better gift could He offer than Himself? Hence, if one
seeks for God’s claim upon our love, here is the most important:
Because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).
Ought He not to be loved in return, when we think who loved,
whom He loved, and how much He loved? For who is He that
loved? The same of whom every spirit testifies: “You are my God:
my goods are nothing unto You” (Psalm 16:2). And is not His
love that wonderful charity which “seeks not her own” (1 Co-
rinthians 13:5)? But for whom was such unutterable love made
manifest? The apostle tells us: “When we were enemies, we were
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