Preface

In this hour of nearly universal darkness, one bright glimmer can still be seen: within conservative Christianity, there are increasing numbers of people whose spiritual lives are defined by an intense hunger for God Himself. They long for genuine spiritual realities and refuse to be satisfied with mere words or with correct "interpretations" of truth. Their thirst is for God alone, and nothing less will satisfy them until they drink deeply from the Fountain of Living Water.

This spiritual hunger is the only true sign of revival I can detect anywhere on the religious horizon. Perhaps it is the cloud no larger than a man's hand that a few faithful believers have been waiting for. It may bring new life to countless souls and restore the vibrant sense of wonder that should accompany faith in Christ—a sense of wonder that has almost entirely disappeared from the Church of God in our time.

Yet, this hunger must be recognized by our religious leaders. To use another metaphor, contemporary evangelicalism has built the altar and arranged the sacrifice, but it seems content merely counting stones and rearranging pieces, unconcerned that there is no fire descending upon Mount Carmel. Thankfully, a few genuinely care. They love the altar and delight in the sacrifice, yet they cannot reconcile themselves to the persistent absence of fire. Above all else, they desire God. They thirst to experience personally the "piercing sweetness" of the love of Christ, the same Christ about whom the prophets wrote and the psalmists sang.

Today there is no shortage of Bible teachers who accurately present the basic doctrines of Christ. Unfortunately, many of these teachers appear content to repeat fundamental doctrines year after year, seemingly unaware that there is no evident presence of God in their ministry and nothing extraordinary about their personal lives. They continually minister to believers who harbor an internal longing that their teaching simply cannot satisfy.

I speak charitably, but this lack in our pulpits is real. Milton's severe observation about his generation accurately describes ours as well: "The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed." It is a serious matter—and no small scandal—to see God's children starving spiritually while sitting at the Father's table. The truth of Wesley's words is plainly visible before us: "Orthodoxy, or right opinion, is, at best, a very slender part of religion. Though right tempers cannot exist without right opinions, right opinions can exist without right tempers. There may be right opinion of God without either love or a correct temper toward Him. Satan is proof of this."

Yet I wonder if there has ever been a time when true spiritual worship was at a lower ebb. To great segments of the Church, the art of worship has completely vanished. In its place has appeared something strange and foreign called the "program." This term, borrowed from the stage, aptly describes the type of public service now passing for worship among us.

Sound biblical exposition is an absolute necessity in the Church of the living God. Without it, no congregation can truly be considered a New Testament church in the full sense of the term. Yet it is possible for biblical exposition to be carried out in such a way that it leaves hearers utterly without real spiritual nourishment. The soul is nourished not merely by words but by God Himself. Unless and until hearers encounter God in personal experience, they gain no true benefit from hearing the truth. The Bible itself is not the end goal; it is a means designed to lead people into an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God—to enter His presence, to delight in Him, and to taste and know the sweet intimacy of God Himself deep within their hearts.

This book is a humble attempt to assist God\'s spiritually hungry children in finding Him. Nothing written here is new except perhaps in the sense that these truths are discoveries my own heart has made, spiritual realities which are wonderfully delightful to me personally. Others before me have delved much deeper into these sacred mysteries than I have, but if my fire is not large, at least it is real, and perhaps there are some who can light their own candle from its flame.

A. W. Tozer
Chicago, Ill.
June 16, 1948

O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, that so I may know Thee indeed. Begin O God, a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, \'Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away.\' Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long. Amen.