Aticles by A W Tozer
(Aiden Wilson Tozer 1897-1963)
Boasting or Belittling
WE ALL know how painful it is to be forced to listen to a confirmed boaster sound off on his favourite topic - himself. To be the captive of such a man even for a short time tries our patience to the utmost and puts a heavy strain upon our Christian charity. Boasting is particularly offensive when it is heard among the children of God, the one place above all others where it should never be found. Yet it is quite common among Christians, though disguised somewhat by the use of the stock expression, "I say this to the glory of God."
Change Not Annihilation
Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?' (John 11:2526 NIV) One thing that I notice immediately is the mysterious relationship between blood and life.
Choices Reveal - and Make - Character
INTO NINE WORDS, having altogether but eleven syllables, Luke packs a world of universal truth: "Being let go, they went to their own company" (Acts 4:23). Every normal man has a "company," however small, where he feels at home and to which he will return when he is tired of being alone. The important thing about a man is not where he goes when he is compelled to go, but where he goes when he is free to go where he will.
Does God Always Answer Prayer?
CONTRARY TO POPULAR OPINION, the cultivation of a psychology of uncritical belief is not an unqualified good, and if carried too far it may be a positive evil. The whole world has been booby-trapped by the devil, and the deadliest trap of all is the religious one. Error never looks so innocent as when it is found in the sanctuary.
Following Hard after God
How tragic that we in this dark day have had our seeking done for us by our teachers. Everything is made to centre upon the initial act of "accepting" Christ (a term, incidentally, which is not found in the Bible) and we are not expected thereafter to crave any further revelation of God to our souls. We have been snared in the coils of a spurious logic which insists that if we have found Him, we need no more seek Him.
How to Make Spiritual Progress
Time is short, and eternity is long. The end of all things is at hand. Man has proved himself morally unfit to manage the world in which he has been placed by the kindness of the Almighty. He has jockeyed himself to the edge of the crater and cannot go back, and in terrible fear, he is holding his breath against the awful moment when he will be plunged into the inferno.
How to Try the Spirits
THESE ARE THE TIMES that try men's souls. The Spirit has spoken expressly that in the latter times some should depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron. Those days are upon us and we cannot escape them; we must triumph in the midst of them, for such is the will of God concerning us.
In Word, Or In Power
Excerpted from The Divine Conquest
For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. (1 Ths. 1:5)
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. (2 Cor. 5:17)
You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. (Rev. 3:1)
Man: The Dwelling Place of God
DEEP INSIDE EVERY MAN, there is a private sanctum where dwells the mysterious essence of his being. This far-in reality is that in the man which is what it is of itself without reference to any other part of the man's complex nature. It is the man's "I Am," a gift from the I AM who created him.
On Taking Too Much for Granted
ONCE MARY AND JOSEPH, with a number of friends and relatives, were travelling back home from Jerusalem and, supposing the young Jesus to be in the company, went a whole day's journey before discovering that He had been left behind.
Religious Boredom
THAT THERE IS SOMETHING gravely wrong with evangelical Christianity today is not likely to be denied by any serious minded person acquainted with the facts. Just what is wrong is not so easy to determine.
Self-deception and How to Avoid It
OF ALL FORMS OF DECEPTION, self-deception is the most deadly, and of all deceived persons the self-deceived are the least likely to discover the fraud.
Some Thoughts on Books and Reading
ONE BIG PROBLEM IN MANY PARTS of the world today is to learn how to read, and in others, it is to find something to read after one has learned. In our favoured West we are overwhelmed with printed matter, so the problem here becomes one of selection. We must decide what not to read.
Temperament in the Christian Life
A CELEBRATED AMERICAN PREACHER once advanced the novel theory that the various denominations with their different doctrinal emphases served a useful purpose as gathering places for persons of similar temperaments. Christians, he suggested, tend to gravitate toward others of like minded types. Hence the denominations.
The Call of Christ
TO BE CALLED TO FOLLOW CHRIST is a high honour; higher indeed than any honour men can bestow upon each other.
The Importance of Sound Doctrine
IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE to overemphasize the importance of sound doctrine in the life of a Christian. Right thinking about all spiritual matters is imperative if we would have a right living. As men do not gather grapes of thorns nor figs of thistles, a sound character does not grow out of unsound teaching.
The Lordship of the Man Jesus Is Basic
WE ARE UNDER CONSTANT TEMPTATION these days to substitute another Christ for the Christ of the New Testament. The whole drift of modern religion is toward such a substitution.
The Old Cross and The New
Unannounced and mostly undetected there has come in modern times a new cross into popular evangelical circles. It is like the old cross, but different: the likenesses are superficial; the differences, fundamental.
The Once-born and the Twice-born
CLASSIFICATION IS ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT of all tasks. Even in the realm of religion, there are enough lights and shades to make it injudicious to draw too fine a line between men and men. If the religious world were composed of squares of solid black and solid white classification would be easy, but unfortunately, it is not.
There Is No Wisdom in Sin
THE WORLD HAS DIVIDED MEN into two classes, the stupid good people and the clever wicked ones.
The Saint Must Walk Alone
MOST OF THE WORLD'S GREAT SOULS have been lonely. Loneliness seems to be one price the saint must pay for his saintliness.
The Wrath of God: What Is It?
IT IS RARE that there is anything good in human anger. Almost always it springs out of unholy states of heart, and frequently it leads to cursing and violence. The man of evil temper is unpredictable and dangerous and is usually shunned by men of peace and goodwill.
Three Faithful Wounds
FAITHFUL ARE THE WOUNDS OF A FRIEND, says the Holy Spirit in Proverbs 27:6. And lest we imagine that the preacher is the one who does the wounding, I want to read Job 5:17 and 18: "Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: for he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole." You see, the one who does the wounding here is not the servant, but the Master Himself. So with that in our minds, I want to talk to you about three faithful wounds of a friend.
True Faith Is Active, Not Passive
A CHRISTIAN IS ONE WHO BELIEVES in Jesus Christ as Lord. With this statement, every evangelical agrees. Indeed there would appear to be nothing else to do since the New Testament is crystal clear about the matter.
True Religion IS Not Feeling but Willing
ONE OF THE PUZZLING QUESTIONS likely to turn up sooner or later to vex the seeking Christian is how he can fulfil the scriptural command to love God with all his heart and his neighbour as himself.
We Must Have Better Christians
Excerpted from Of God and Men
To talk of "better" Christians is to use language foreign to many persons. To them all Christians are alike; all have been justified and forgiven and are the children of God, so to make comparisons between them is to suggest division and bigotry and any number of horrible things.
What Men Live By
HUMAN LIFE HAS ITS CENTRAL CORE where lie the things men live by. These things are constant. They change not from age to age but are the same among all races throughout the world always.
What We Think of Ourselves Is Important
THE MAN WHO IS SERIOUSLY CONVINCED that he deserves to go to hell is not likely to go there, while the man who believes that he is worthy of heaven will certainly never enter that blessed place.
Why People Find the Bible Difficult
THAT MANY PERSONS FIND THE BIBLE HARD to understand will not be denied by those acquainted with the facts. Testimony to the difficulties encountered in Bible reading is too full and too widespread to be dismissed lightly.