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Tozer: Mystery of the Holy Spirit:
The 27th book in the best-selling Pure Gold Classics line, Tozer: Mystery of the Holy Spirit is a follow-up to the groundbreaking Fellowship of The Burning Heart. Best-selling author and editor James Snyder has compiled some of Tozer's greatest works on the Holy Spirit. Includes photographs and FREE CD of selected Tozer sermons.
194 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2007
532 people are currently reading
590 people want to read
About the author
A.W. Tozer
664 books2,103 followersAiden Wilson Tozer was an American evangelical pastor, speaker, writer, and editor. After coming to Christ at the age of seventeen, Tozer found his way into the Christian & Missionary Alliance denomination where he served for over forty years. In 1950, he was appointed by the denomination's General Council to be the editor of "The Alliance Witness" (now "Alliance Life").
Born into poverty in western Pennsylvania in 1897, Tozer died in May 1963 a self-educated man who had taught himself what he missed in high school and college due to his home situation. Though he wrote many books, two of them, "The Pursuit of God" and "The Knowledge of the Holy" are widely considered to be classics.
A.W. Tozer and his wife, Ada Cecelia Pfautz, had seven children, six boys and one girl.
Born into poverty in western Pennsylvania in 1897, Tozer died in May 1963 a self-educated man who had taught himself what he missed in high school and college due to his home situation. Though he wrote many books, two of them, "The Pursuit of God" and "The Knowledge of the Holy" are widely considered to be classics.
A.W. Tozer and his wife, Ada Cecelia Pfautz, had seven children, six boys and one girl.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
May 15, 2025
Tozer is in a league of his own. His theology is sound and at times difficult to follow. However, Mystery of the Holy Spirit is worth the read.
Pentecost came and stayed, and you and I are living in the midst of it, if we only knew it and would do something about it.
Tozer: Mystery of the Holy Spirit is not a book to be rushed but savored. This particular edition includes an introduction that tells about Tozer's life and includes a few pictures of him.
Tozer touches on who the Holy Spirit is, promises of the Father, the gifts of the Spirit, and so much more in this short book. He presents things in a way that I had not considered before. I love a book that requires something of me, and challenges me to think in new ways about a topic that I already know a fair amount about, and this book did that for me.
Pentecost came and stayed, and you and I are living in the midst of it, if we only knew it and would do something about it.
Tozer: Mystery of the Holy Spirit is not a book to be rushed but savored. This particular edition includes an introduction that tells about Tozer's life and includes a few pictures of him.
Tozer touches on who the Holy Spirit is, promises of the Father, the gifts of the Spirit, and so much more in this short book. He presents things in a way that I had not considered before. I love a book that requires something of me, and challenges me to think in new ways about a topic that I already know a fair amount about, and this book did that for me.
October 15, 2020
Tozer really was a 20th century prophet, considering that he passed away in 1963 it's amazing to read what he foresaw happening in today's churches, where entertainment, enthusiasm and/or theological knowledge fail horribly as a substitute for Holy Spirit's Presence. The precious Holy Spirit who always seeks to glorify the Lord Jesus.
April 18, 2012
A. W. Tozer was not a man to mince words and spoke what he believed to be the truth of God's Word and leave the rest up to God. This book is a collection of sermons he preached at the Alliance Church he pastored in Toronto.
It is so far similar to Francis Chan's book, Forgotten God, in that it is not about being 'charismatic' but is about allowing the Holy Spirit his rightful place as followers of Christ. It is a call to recognize his person, authority, and role in our lives as we seek to live for Jesus.
According to Tozer it is a 'terrible thing' for the church to live without the power of the Holy Spirit on a daily basis and to ignore his authority over us.
Read it, think about, open your heart to the Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jesus, the Promise of the Father, and see what he will do!
It is so far similar to Francis Chan's book, Forgotten God, in that it is not about being 'charismatic' but is about allowing the Holy Spirit his rightful place as followers of Christ. It is a call to recognize his person, authority, and role in our lives as we seek to live for Jesus.
According to Tozer it is a 'terrible thing' for the church to live without the power of the Holy Spirit on a daily basis and to ignore his authority over us.
Read it, think about, open your heart to the Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jesus, the Promise of the Father, and see what he will do!
August 17, 2009
This collection of sermons by A.W. Tozer on the Holy Spirit was refreshing in many ways. First I have spent too little time reading about and studying about the Holy Spirit. I'm troubled that I've not really ever been taught much about this third person of the holy trinity Godhead. I recommend it to all.
This collection of sermons were bold and are timely as though being written today about the church. I found myself gasping for air at times over how current these messages are.
Tozer brought things up that I've never heard anyone preach. I will read this book again immediately with a bible close by to satisfy my questions. Which is what editor, James Snyder, warns the reader about; "this book sends the reader to his knees and then to his bible."
This collection of sermons were bold and are timely as though being written today about the church. I found myself gasping for air at times over how current these messages are.
Tozer brought things up that I've never heard anyone preach. I will read this book again immediately with a bible close by to satisfy my questions. Which is what editor, James Snyder, warns the reader about; "this book sends the reader to his knees and then to his bible."
August 28, 2015
My first book on Tozer's preaching. This is truth about the living Holy Spirit and the many awesome blessings, guidance and loving ways about God, our perfect Advocate. A must read for anyone wanting a true real life relationship with Jesus, our Savior, which is experienced not in this world of the flesh, but in the spirit, which is in us, around us, of us.
January 16, 2016
I wish I could A.W. Tozer were still alive today so that I could attend his church and hear him preach with such candor and conviction. He doesn't suger coat his messages and gets to the heart issues. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this collection of sermons and learned a good bit about the Holy Spirit as well as some fascinating church history. I highly recommend this book.
September 6, 2012
A collection of sermons by one of Christianity's best. His humor and wit comes across and I could almost hear him preaching, though I've never actually heard his voice. I recommend this book for anyone wanting to learn more about the Holy Spirit and his role in the life of Christians.
August 16, 2013
Surprisingly bad, at least the first 50 percent. I cant go on.
July 29, 2016
Poorly edited -- the typos and mangled grammar made it hard to concentrate on the content.
April 7, 2022
The Tozer content was great! The biographical info was extraneous to me and there were lots of typos throughout the book but it was full of powerful truth!
October 6, 2023
For My Own Future Notes:
Page 4 - “It will cost something to walk slow in the parade of the ages, while excited men of time rush about confusing motion with progress. But it will pay in the long run and the true Christian is not much interested in anything short of that.”
Page 7 - “Worship is to feel in your heart and express in some appropriate manner a humbling but delightful sense of admiring awe, astonished wonder, and overpowering love in the presence of that most ancient Mystery, that Majesty which philosophers call the First Cause, but which we call Our Father in Heaven.”
Page 11 - “With a large vocabulary you are able to be precise in what you are saying. Nothing takes the place of using the right word. Flaubert used to say there are no synonyms. Find the right word, and use it.”
Page 24 - “For one, the fellowship of the Church has degenerated into a social fellowship with a mild religious flavor. For me, either I want God or I do not want anything at all to do with religion….Either I want it all or I do not want any. I want God or I am perfectly happy to go out and be something else.”
“Another result of the failure to honor the Holy Ghost is that so many non-spiritual, un-spiritual and anti-spiritual features have been brought into the church. The average church could not run on a hymnbook and a Bible. The church started out with a Bible and then developed a hymnbook, and for years, that was enough. Now, some people could not serve God without at least one vanload of equipment to keep them happy.”
Page 26 - “The Holy Spirit is not enthusiasm. Some people get enthusiasm and imagine it is the Holy Spirit. They become worked up over a song thinking it is Spirit-anointed worship, and they imagine that is the Spirit. Enthusiasm is not the Holy Spirit, because those same people go out and live just like the world. The Holy Spirit never enters a man and then lets him live like the world. You can be sure of that.”
Page 43 - “Always remember this: that God is always bigger than anything God can say, because words are inadequate to express God and what God can do. Any promise God ever made, God has to fulfill it. The reason being, God is so great. His heart so kind and His desire so intense and tremendous that language does not express it. Not the Greek, not the English, no language expresses God. It cannot. If language could contain God then language would be equal to God.”
Page 60 - “Brother, God never put a preacher in the pulpit to ask questions; he put a preacher in the pulpit to answer questions. He put him there with authority to stand up in the name of God to speak and answer questions. Back in the Gospels, they were always asking questions. ‘Lord, shall it be? Lord how shall it be? Lord, who? Lord, what?’ But when they go to the book of Acts, they began to answer questions. And they stood with authority. The same Peter that sneaked around, warmed his hand at the world’s fire, and lied to the little woman that recognized his accent. He was standing boldly to preach the word of the Lord. That was the difference. There was no authority there. That is our trouble.”
“I know there ought to be a lot more authority in the pulpit than there is. A preacher ought to reign from the pulpit as a king from his throne…When a man of God stands to speak, he ought to have the authority of God on him so he makes the people responsible to listen to him. When they do not listen to him, they are accountable to God for turning down the divine word. Instead of that, we have a lot of tabby-cats with their claws carefully trimmed in the seminary. They can paw over their congregations and never scratch them at all. They have had their claws trimmed. They are just as soft and sweet.”
“I believe in the authority of God. And I believe if a man does not have it, he ought to go away somewhere and wait until he gets the authority. Then stand up to speak if he has to begin by preaching on a soapbox on a street corner or go to a rescue mission and preach with authority. They had it in those days. When they stood up, there was authority there.”
Page 75 - “Brethren, you will never know more about God than the Spirit teaches you. You will never know any more about Jesus than the Spirit teaches you, because there is only the Spirit to do the teaching. Oh, Holy Ghost, how we have grieved Thee. How we have insulted Thee. How we have rejected Thee. Yet, He is our teacher, and if He does not teach us, we can never know. He is our illuminator, and if He does turn the light on, we can never see. He is the healer of our deaf ears, and if He does not touch our ears, we can never hear. And yet churches can run for weeks, months and years without ever knowing anything about this or ever having the Spirit of the Living God come at all upon them.”
Pages 75-76 - “Dr. A. B. Simpson had an illustration, which I think was about as good as I ever heard. He said to be filled with the fullness of God was like a bottle in the ocean. You take the cork out of the bottle and sink it into the ocean; you got the bottle full of ocean, the bottle is in the ocean, the ocean is in the bottle, the ocean contains the bottle, the bottle contains a little bit of the ocean and so it was with the Christian. We are filled under the fullness of God, but of course, we cannot contain all of God because God contains us.
But we can have all of God we can contain. And if we only knew it, we could enlarge our vessels. The vessel gets bigger as we go on with God.”
Page 97 - “This desire must become all-absorbing. I want you to hear this; that the desire to be filled must become all-absorbing in your life. If there is anything bigger in your life than your desire to be a Spirit-filled Christian, then you will never be a Spirit-filled Christian until that is cured. Never. If there is anything bigger in your life than your longing after God, then you will never be a Spirit-filled Christian.”
Page 130 - “Another consequence with this error is that we have two Christs. The Christ of history and of creed and of story and song. The Christ we sing about, the man upstairs or the Baby Jesus. Then there is the Christ, which the Spirit reveals. You can never piece Jesus together out of historic knowledge. You can read your New Testament and still never find Christ in it. You can be convinced that He is the Son of God and still never find Christ. The Holy Ghost reveals Christ."
“A revelation of the Holy Spirit in one glorious flash of inward illumination will teach you more of Jesus than five years in a theological seminary.”
Page 158 - “The only safe place for a sheep is by the side of his shepherd, because the devil does not fear sheep; he just fears the Shepherd, that is all.”
Page 4 - “It will cost something to walk slow in the parade of the ages, while excited men of time rush about confusing motion with progress. But it will pay in the long run and the true Christian is not much interested in anything short of that.”
Page 7 - “Worship is to feel in your heart and express in some appropriate manner a humbling but delightful sense of admiring awe, astonished wonder, and overpowering love in the presence of that most ancient Mystery, that Majesty which philosophers call the First Cause, but which we call Our Father in Heaven.”
Page 11 - “With a large vocabulary you are able to be precise in what you are saying. Nothing takes the place of using the right word. Flaubert used to say there are no synonyms. Find the right word, and use it.”
Page 24 - “For one, the fellowship of the Church has degenerated into a social fellowship with a mild religious flavor. For me, either I want God or I do not want anything at all to do with religion….Either I want it all or I do not want any. I want God or I am perfectly happy to go out and be something else.”
“Another result of the failure to honor the Holy Ghost is that so many non-spiritual, un-spiritual and anti-spiritual features have been brought into the church. The average church could not run on a hymnbook and a Bible. The church started out with a Bible and then developed a hymnbook, and for years, that was enough. Now, some people could not serve God without at least one vanload of equipment to keep them happy.”
Page 26 - “The Holy Spirit is not enthusiasm. Some people get enthusiasm and imagine it is the Holy Spirit. They become worked up over a song thinking it is Spirit-anointed worship, and they imagine that is the Spirit. Enthusiasm is not the Holy Spirit, because those same people go out and live just like the world. The Holy Spirit never enters a man and then lets him live like the world. You can be sure of that.”
Page 43 - “Always remember this: that God is always bigger than anything God can say, because words are inadequate to express God and what God can do. Any promise God ever made, God has to fulfill it. The reason being, God is so great. His heart so kind and His desire so intense and tremendous that language does not express it. Not the Greek, not the English, no language expresses God. It cannot. If language could contain God then language would be equal to God.”
Page 60 - “Brother, God never put a preacher in the pulpit to ask questions; he put a preacher in the pulpit to answer questions. He put him there with authority to stand up in the name of God to speak and answer questions. Back in the Gospels, they were always asking questions. ‘Lord, shall it be? Lord how shall it be? Lord, who? Lord, what?’ But when they go to the book of Acts, they began to answer questions. And they stood with authority. The same Peter that sneaked around, warmed his hand at the world’s fire, and lied to the little woman that recognized his accent. He was standing boldly to preach the word of the Lord. That was the difference. There was no authority there. That is our trouble.”
“I know there ought to be a lot more authority in the pulpit than there is. A preacher ought to reign from the pulpit as a king from his throne…When a man of God stands to speak, he ought to have the authority of God on him so he makes the people responsible to listen to him. When they do not listen to him, they are accountable to God for turning down the divine word. Instead of that, we have a lot of tabby-cats with their claws carefully trimmed in the seminary. They can paw over their congregations and never scratch them at all. They have had their claws trimmed. They are just as soft and sweet.”
“I believe in the authority of God. And I believe if a man does not have it, he ought to go away somewhere and wait until he gets the authority. Then stand up to speak if he has to begin by preaching on a soapbox on a street corner or go to a rescue mission and preach with authority. They had it in those days. When they stood up, there was authority there.”
Page 75 - “Brethren, you will never know more about God than the Spirit teaches you. You will never know any more about Jesus than the Spirit teaches you, because there is only the Spirit to do the teaching. Oh, Holy Ghost, how we have grieved Thee. How we have insulted Thee. How we have rejected Thee. Yet, He is our teacher, and if He does not teach us, we can never know. He is our illuminator, and if He does turn the light on, we can never see. He is the healer of our deaf ears, and if He does not touch our ears, we can never hear. And yet churches can run for weeks, months and years without ever knowing anything about this or ever having the Spirit of the Living God come at all upon them.”
Pages 75-76 - “Dr. A. B. Simpson had an illustration, which I think was about as good as I ever heard. He said to be filled with the fullness of God was like a bottle in the ocean. You take the cork out of the bottle and sink it into the ocean; you got the bottle full of ocean, the bottle is in the ocean, the ocean is in the bottle, the ocean contains the bottle, the bottle contains a little bit of the ocean and so it was with the Christian. We are filled under the fullness of God, but of course, we cannot contain all of God because God contains us.
But we can have all of God we can contain. And if we only knew it, we could enlarge our vessels. The vessel gets bigger as we go on with God.”
Page 97 - “This desire must become all-absorbing. I want you to hear this; that the desire to be filled must become all-absorbing in your life. If there is anything bigger in your life than your desire to be a Spirit-filled Christian, then you will never be a Spirit-filled Christian until that is cured. Never. If there is anything bigger in your life than your longing after God, then you will never be a Spirit-filled Christian.”
Page 130 - “Another consequence with this error is that we have two Christs. The Christ of history and of creed and of story and song. The Christ we sing about, the man upstairs or the Baby Jesus. Then there is the Christ, which the Spirit reveals. You can never piece Jesus together out of historic knowledge. You can read your New Testament and still never find Christ in it. You can be convinced that He is the Son of God and still never find Christ. The Holy Ghost reveals Christ."
“A revelation of the Holy Spirit in one glorious flash of inward illumination will teach you more of Jesus than five years in a theological seminary.”
Page 158 - “The only safe place for a sheep is by the side of his shepherd, because the devil does not fear sheep; he just fears the Shepherd, that is all.”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 24, 2018
Very biblically sound. A wonderful treatment of the topic. I particularly was blessed by Tozer's constant emphasis on Jesus and how the Holy Spirit points to Jesus. He doesn't magnify Himself, but He magnifies Christ.
There was one place in the book where I wasn't sure if I agreed with what Tozer said and that was that he said something to the affect that there are certain spiritual things that we cannot know with our minds, but only with our spirits. Just as God gave us eyes for seeing, not for hearing, so He has given us minds to understand intellectual things, but other aspects of God's character we cannot know with our minds, only our spirits. I think I agree with this, but it certainly made me pause and look up the Scripture's he referenced.
Ultimately, for content, I'd probably give this book a 4 star rating, but I give it a 3 because I've heard and learned all of this information before. It was encouraging to re-affirm biblical truths, but I didn't necessarily grow that much because I've heard it all before. Still very good though!
There was one place in the book where I wasn't sure if I agreed with what Tozer said and that was that he said something to the affect that there are certain spiritual things that we cannot know with our minds, but only with our spirits. Just as God gave us eyes for seeing, not for hearing, so He has given us minds to understand intellectual things, but other aspects of God's character we cannot know with our minds, only our spirits. I think I agree with this, but it certainly made me pause and look up the Scripture's he referenced.
Ultimately, for content, I'd probably give this book a 4 star rating, but I give it a 3 because I've heard and learned all of this information before. It was encouraging to re-affirm biblical truths, but I didn't necessarily grow that much because I've heard it all before. Still very good though!
May 7, 2022
A.W. Tozer has quickly become my favourite author. His way of writing is like you are in the room with him having a personal conversation. His conviction and DEEP respect and love for God ALMIGHTY is evident in every word he writes.
I am going through all his back catalogue of books now as I love his style and manner of expression, because it always through his own personal experience. It’s all first-hand knowledge. Highly recommended by one who dreams to find a relationship with God like his,
I am going through all his back catalogue of books now as I love his style and manner of expression, because it always through his own personal experience. It’s all first-hand knowledge. Highly recommended by one who dreams to find a relationship with God like his,
June 7, 2025
These sermons have good insights, but are harder to read than his books
Tozer’s books are readable because they are intended for a written audience—readers. His sermons are less readable because they are intended for a listening audience—hearers. That is, in this book of sermons one must read as though listening … which means overlooking incomplete sentences, run-on sentences, and repetition, and intuiting the modern meaning behind many of his dated illustrations.
Still, his biblical and practical insights deserve 4 stars.
Tozer’s books are readable because they are intended for a written audience—readers. His sermons are less readable because they are intended for a listening audience—hearers. That is, in this book of sermons one must read as though listening … which means overlooking incomplete sentences, run-on sentences, and repetition, and intuiting the modern meaning behind many of his dated illustrations.
Still, his biblical and practical insights deserve 4 stars.
August 18, 2024
Would Have Loved to Hear These Sermons
This book is a collection of sermons by A.W Tozer. Each sermon explores an aspect of the Holy Spirit as only Tozer can. The sermons are short but incisive. They bring the reader back to the heart of worship, and the author of worship, the Holy Spirit.
This book is a collection of sermons by A.W Tozer. Each sermon explores an aspect of the Holy Spirit as only Tozer can. The sermons are short but incisive. They bring the reader back to the heart of worship, and the author of worship, the Holy Spirit.
September 2, 2024
Mystery of the Holy Spirit
A. W. Tozer was one of the finest preachers and writers than Christendom has known. He has a way of delving into the subject and coming up with a manner of communicating it that no one would be left out. We are blessed to have had such a fine man and one who gave himself to God fully and led others to do as well.
A. W. Tozer was one of the finest preachers and writers than Christendom has known. He has a way of delving into the subject and coming up with a manner of communicating it that no one would be left out. We are blessed to have had such a fine man and one who gave himself to God fully and led others to do as well.
April 4, 2025
Pure gold for the Christian
Mr. Tozer, in his simplicity, gets to the heart of the gospel and challenges us to live like God wants us to. The mystery of the Holy Spirit is explained in such a way that one can grasp and his books are ones that give you the desire to meditate on them and read again and again.
Mr. Tozer, in his simplicity, gets to the heart of the gospel and challenges us to live like God wants us to. The mystery of the Holy Spirit is explained in such a way that one can grasp and his books are ones that give you the desire to meditate on them and read again and again.
June 8, 2025
There’s a lot of great content here, but also some strange rambling at times. Overall, I was inspired to seek more of the Holy Spirit, and I think it’s worth reading.
To the publisher: When you publish a sermon transcript from a recording, you really need to proofread and edit it. This book is filled with misspellings, wrong words, and grammatical errors. This book needs to be edited.
To the publisher: When you publish a sermon transcript from a recording, you really need to proofread and edit it. This book is filled with misspellings, wrong words, and grammatical errors. This book needs to be edited.
August 12, 2022
Enjoyed this book
Tozer speaks as your old Grandfather spoke when you were a child, a language straight forward and Truthful. Engaging and instructive in the old school ways of viewing The Holy Spirit.
Tozer speaks as your old Grandfather spoke when you were a child, a language straight forward and Truthful. Engaging and instructive in the old school ways of viewing The Holy Spirit.
July 27, 2025
So much underlined in this book. I found it also helpful to listen to the audibles of these sermons posted on the internet. The book is not one Tozer wrote but is an edited compilation of a series of sermons he gave focusing on the Holy Spirit. I found it very edifying and spiritually awakening.
October 28, 2017
Written in a very down-to-earth prose and full of good information about the Holy Spirit.
October 18, 2021
Simple and challenging with a deep love for God. A thoughtful and good book that touches.
March 14, 2022
Get to know the Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit is God. Tozer says it all beautifully. He is needed by His children. Don't pass this book up!
Holy Spirit is God. Tozer says it all beautifully. He is needed by His children. Don't pass this book up!
June 16, 2022
Vintage Tozer from sermons he preached in Toronto. Good stuff!
August 7, 2022
Beautiful
September 20, 2022
Always love and appreciate Tozer’s writings!!
Read
August 30, 2024Couldn’t manage to finish this one. It’s a collection of transcribed sermons. As such it’s a bit rambling, surface-level and repetitive. Maybe I’ll try one of his proper books in the future.
November 11, 2024
Lots of good thoughts; just a bit tougher reading, but worth the effort. Of course I didn't agree with everything in the book, but much food for thought.
June 7, 2025
Very good. powerful message about the spirit.
August 18, 2025
Important book to consider in modern evangelicalism.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews