Gems From Tozer

by A. W. Tozer

Publisher:

WingSpread

, 1979

Overview

These are selections from the writings of Tozer meant to encourage, forewarn, and convict the believer so that he or she does not run the risk of becoming complacent. This small volume focuses on the greatness of God and the honor due Him in worship. In it Tozer reminds us that we are here to be worshipers first and workers second. God wants new converts to learn, in a sense, to sit at Jesus’ feet, before being put to work for His cause. “The work done by a worshiper will have eternity in it.” The supreme test for our religious work is to know the place Jesus occupies in it. Is He the Lord or a symbol; is He in charge of the project or merely one of the crew?

Product Details

• Title: Gems From Tozer
• Author: A. W. Tozer
• Publisher: WingSpread
• Publication Date: 1979
• Pages: 96

About A. W. Tozer

Aiden Wilson Tozer (1897-1963) was born on a small farm in what is now Newburg, PA. His family moved to Akron, Ohio, when he was just a young boy. At the age of 17, Tozer heard a street preacher, responded to the calling of Christ, and began his lifelong pursuit of God. After becoming an active witness of Jesus as a lay preacher, he joined The Christian and Missionary Alliance and was soon serving as the pastor of West Virginia’s Alliance Church, in 1919. He transferred to the Southside Alliance Church in Chicago in 1928, and his ministry continued there for 31 years. During that time he preached on the Moody Bible Institute’s radio station. In the 1940s Tozer was invited to speak at Wheaton College, and seldom a year passed after World War II that he didn’t preach in the college’s Pierce Chapel. In 1950 he became the editor of The Alliance Life magazine and served in that capacity until his death.

Self-taught, with no formal Bible training, Tozer has been called a twentieth-century prophet within his own lifetime. Through years of diligent study and constant prayer, he sought the mind of God. A master craftsman in the use of the English language, he was able to write in a simple, cogent style the principles of truth he had learned. For Tozer, “there was no substitute for knowing God firsthand.” He wrote many of his books with one idea in mind—that his reader would achieve the heart’s true goal in God and maintain that relationship with Him.

Tozer moved to Toronto in 1959 and spent the final years of his life as the pastor of Avenue Road Church. He and his wife, Ada, lived a simple, non-materialistic lifestyle and let much of the royalties from his books go to those in need. The Tozers had seven children, six boys and one girl. James L. Snyder, said of Tozer that his “preaching as well as his writings were but extensions of his prayer life. He had the ability to make his listeners face themselves in the light of what God was saying to them.”

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Contents

Top Highlights

“Nothing twists and deforms the soul more than a low or unworthy conception of God.” (Page 9)

“Much of our difficulty as seeking Christians stems from our unwillingness to take God as He is and adjust our lives accordingly. We insist upon trying to modify Him and to bring Him nearer to our own image.” (Page 11)

“From man’s standpoint the most tragic loss suffered in the Fall was the vacating of this inner sanctum by the Spirit of God.” (Page 17)

“We need to learn that truth consists not in correct doctrine, but in correct doctrine plus the inward enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.” (Pages 37–38)

“In all our efforts to find God, to please Him, to commune with Him, we should remember that all change must be on our part. ‘I am the Lord, I change not.’” (Page 11)

Product Details

• Title: Gems from Tozer
• Author: A. W. Tozer
• Publisher: WingSpread
• Print Publication Date: 1979
• Logos Release Date: 2008
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subject: Christian living › Spiritual growth--General
• ISBNs: 9780802418449, 9780875091631, 0875091636, 0802418449
• Resource ID: LLS:GEMSTOZER
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2025-04-03T21:00:02Z

About A. W. Tozer

A. W. Tozer (1897–1963) was a dynamic preacher, prolific writer, and a no-nonsense man of God. Aiden Wilson Tozer responded to the call of Christ at the age of 17. After becoming an active witness of Jesus as a lay preacher, he joined The Christian and Missionary Alliance and was soon serving as the pastor of West Virginia’s Alliance Church.

In 1928, he transferred to the Southside Alliance Church in Chicago where he served for 31 years. During that time he preached on the Moody Bible Institute’s radio station and was often invited to speak at Wheaton College in Pierce Chapel. Tozer spent the final years of his life as the pastor of Avenue Road Church in Toronto and the editor of The Alliance Life magazine.

Tozer authored over 40 books, including The Attributes of God, Volume One, Tozer on Christian Leadership, We Travel an Appointed Way, The Pursuit of God, and God’s Pursuit of Man.