Introduction

Throughout this workbook, I have intentionally avoided personal references.

I think, however, that this introduction might be more helpful if the reader
had some idea of the authors own experiences. In 1996 my family and I got
on a plane headed to the little country of Wales. I had recently resigned my
pastorate and finished my Master of Divinity degree. I was spiritually tired
and disillusioned with church. I thought that a PhD and a teaching post in a
seminary might be the answer. The next three years in Wales were a spiritual
oasis for me. It was not primarily the reading in Puritan and revival histories
that helped me; it was three years devoted to reacquainting myself with
the God of the Bible, while sitting under the beneficial ministry of the Rev.
Vernon Higham (then pastor of the Heath Evangelical Church, Cardiff, Wales). I
gained a real sense of what a church might be when God is the great and only
attraction.
After Wales, we returned to the States and eventually moved to north
Mississippi to be part of starting a new church work. The Lord gave me favor
with that patient little group, and I was able to apply the very truths you
are about to study in this book. The young work was often risked in our
attempt to live upon the reality that the God we meet in Scripture is more
than sufficient for all our needs and desires. He has proven Himself to be
abundantly faithful and merciful, despite our many shortcomings. So, for
my family and the families in Christ Church, New Albany*, these truths are
not merely theoretical or historical observations. They have been our lives
foundation as individuals and as a church.

WHY THIS STUDY NOW?

Two things were apparent when I returned to the States in 1999: The American
evangelical scene was worsening, and too much time was being wasted
attacking the fruit sins rather than the root issues. During my first effort at
pastoring a church, I had already tried fixing people by attacking the external
problems. My efforts proved unsuccessful and left both my congregation and
me worn out. I did not want to waste any more time preaching against the
wrong behavior of struggling church members without first dealing with the
underlying causes.
* www.christchurchnewalbany.org

vii

BEHOLD YOUR GOD

Now, in 2012, I have observed new church plants and seen new books that
promise to give us all that we need as professing Christians. While good books
and God-honoring church plants are beneficial, even they are not the answer.
Unfortunately, many books and church plants are neither good nor Godhonoring. I meet more pastors who are also tired and disillusioned because they
have consistently hoped in the next new idea. In a way, it is a good day. It is just
this kind of day that makes Christians stop running on their religious hamsterwheels and ask Why are we doing these programs? and Why doesnt God
ever seem to show up and effectively work in our churches? Hard questions
often lead to right answers. This study is written with the conviction that our
fundamental need in Western Christianity is to repent of our low and unworthy
views of God, to return to the biblical descriptions of the true God, and to risk
it all in order to live upon Who He is. Nothing in these pages is new truth. The
devotions and exercises are meant only to help the reader to take the biblical
descriptions of God seriously and to see how they form the foundation of
Christian living.
This study attempts to answer two questions:

1.

Who is the God I profess to know?

2.

How must I live if I am to live faithfully unto this God?

There is a progression in the themes of the twelve weeks. Week 1 introduces this
need to rethink God biblically, to refuse to settle for anything but a revitalized
knowledge of Him as He really is. Week 2 points out some hindrances to
repentance in this area and explains how to avoid getting stuck in religious
good intentions that never amount to anything. Weeks 35 deal with the major
tools God has provided for our knowing Him: the Bible, the person of His Son,
and the work of His Son. Weeks 69 attempt to show how a biblical rethinking
of God might affect the major areas of church life: personal holiness, worship,
evangelism, and service. Weeks 10 and 11 are warnings. These chapters are
difficult because they reveal two popular ways that we say Yes, Lord but never
really change: allowing our idolatrous ideas of God to remain in place and
choosing pragmatism (being willing to do only what appears to work). The
study ends with week 12, a look at the great delight of the Christian: the God
of the Bible drawing near in seasons of true revival. Such a breadth of topics
requires that Behold Your God only introduce these themes, opening the door
for your further study. You must choose whether or not you walk through that
door and live a Godward life.

HOW DOES THIS STUDY WORK?

Behold Your God is set up like many other studies of its type, with a few
additions that we hope will be beneficial. The study is centered around the

viii

INTRODUCTION
twelve-week workbook and is designed to be used in conjunction with the DVD
series. Each week the student will work through the workbook (five days per
week) in preparation for watching the DVD. Behold Your God can be used as an
individual or group study. If you are part of a group, watch the DVD at the end of
the week and allow time to discuss the issues raised in the workbook and DVD
lessons.
Each weeks DVD is made up of three segments: the historical introduction,
the sermon, and highlights taken from interviews with various contemporary
religious leaders. The historical introduction is a short biographical sketch of
the life of a significant servant of Christ whose ministry illustrates the truths
that you have been studying that week. These were all filmed on site in Wales,
England, Scotland, and North America. They include A. W. Tozer (Chicago, IL),
Timothy Dwight (Yale University), George Mller (Bristol, England), Samuel
Rutherford (Anwoth, Scotland), George Whitefield (Newburyport, MA), Robert
Murray MCheyne (Dundee, Scotland), Charles Spurgeon (London, England),
Daniel Rowland (Llangeitho, Wales), Amy Carmichael (Keswick, England), Charles
Finney (Anytown, USA), D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (London, England), and Jonathan
Edwards (New Haven, CT). These introductions have given the film crew an
opportunity to add a visually rich and historically informative aspect which is not
normally included in this type of study. After the introduction, a sermon follows
that reinforces what you have been studying in the Bible that week. Finally, you
will be able to listen to highlights from interviews with contemporary ministers
whose lives and labors reflect these same truths. These include Paul Washer,
Richard Owen Roberts, Jordan Thomas, Anthony Mathenia, Dr. Eifion Evans,
Andrew Davies, and Conrad Mbewe. I hope you will feel, as I do, that it is a real
privilege to be able to hear from these men whose gospel labors range from
Peru, Ethiopia, Virginia, and Memphis to New Zealand, England, Wales, Ireland,
and Zambia.

A WORD TO ENCOURAGE THE STUDENT

There is no way to adequately deal with the problems in our own lives and our
churches without a deep and thorough rethinking of God. This cannot be done
safely apart from returning to the Bible. Therefore, the real purpose of this
book is to guide you back into those passages which are most significant for
this theme. Avoid the temptation to merely get through the exercises without
wrestling honestly with these matters. We all know it is too easy to check a box,
fill in the blank with the correct word, and move on unaffected. Also, guard
yourself against a merely emotional response. You may be angered by what you
read here and in the Bible, or you may feel your heart warmed. Whatever your
response, it must not be allowed to remain merely emotionalit must move you
to act upon what the Scriptures reveal if it is to be of any lasting value. Bring your
mind and heart, together, and bow before God in real worship as you study each

ix

BEHOLD YOUR GOD

day. Plead with Him to be your teacher and give Him your generous cooperation.
You will not be disappointed with the Living God.
The New King James Version of the Bible has been used throughout the DVD
sermons and this workbook, unless otherwise noted. The exercises will be much
easier if you can use this version for the study.

A WORD OF THANKS
Behold Your God is the product of the collaborative effort of many like-minded
believers. Thanks are due to Media Gratiae for all of its technical skill and
funding. Also, I am grateful to those in Christ Church, New Albany, who served
as test groups and editorial advisors. I appreciate the men who, in the midst of
busy ministries, gave their time and thought to the interviews which conclude
each DVD session. Special thanks are due to a dear friend and spiritual mentor,
Richard Owen Roberts, who helped in the early planning stages of this project.
Much of the content in the following chapters has become a part of my thinking
through twenty years of benefitting from his friendship and ministry. The pages
would be sprinkled with footnotes if I were to cite each truth that I first heard
from him. Week 2, in particular, is heavily influenced by his careful thought on
the topic of returning to God. I am very grateful to all of those who sacrificially
worked so that Behold Your God would be more than a nice idea.
That God would be pleased, and His people helped, is my prayer.
JOHN SNYDER

 Week 1
Beholding God: The Great Attraction!
WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION

In Psalm 113, the psalmist calls us to a duty:

Praise the LORD!

Praise, O servants of the LORD,
Praise the name of the LORD!
Blessed be the name of the LORD
From this time forth and forevermore!
From the rising of the sun to its going down
The LORDs name is to be praised.
The LORD is high above all nations,
His glory above the heavens.

What comes into our minds

when we think about God
is the most important thing
about us.
A. W. Tozer

Then the psalmist asks a question:

Who is like the LORD our God, Who dwells on high,

Who humbles Himself to behold
The things that are in the heavens and in the earth?
We are setting out today on a twelve-week journey. Before we open the gate
and take our first step, we must make sure we are headed down the right path.
In a race, running fast is a bad idea if youre headed in the wrong direction.
Not all religious effort is headed in the right direction. The Psalm above can be
a spiritual compass to help us set the course. Our journey and our destination
will be God Himself. We will give our time and effort to seeking a clearer
understanding of the God of the Bible. His name or character is worthy to be
praised from east to west, from this time forth and forevermore. In this glory
He is solitary; none are like Him. He is elevated above all else, yet He humbles
Himself to take notice of the things of heaven and earth. This is the God who has
called us to Himself, to be reconciled through His Son, and to walk with Him by
His Spirit. It is almost too much to take in!
In light of these truths, we need to be clear about two things:

1. This study will be about Him, not us.

Throughout these weeks, we will have to examine ourselves and our responses
to what we are learning about God, but He will be the ultimate object of our
attention.

BEHOLD YOUR GOD

The end of all learning is
to know God, and out of
that knowledge to love and
imitate Him.
John Milton

2. 
This study is not ultimately aimed at our good.
We will find ourselves benefitted by the time we devote to the pursuit of knowing
God and the transformation which that knowledge brings. However, we are not
hoping to use this knowledge of our Lord for some greater end. The goal of the
study is not to relieve us of our emptiness, fix our families, grow our churches, or
even to find our significance and sense of purpose in Him. The goal of this study is
to see Gods name lifted high above all else. Therefore our desire is not to use God
for our advancement but rather to forget ourselves as we worship Him.
In truth, we cannot give ourselves to a more thrilling, worthwhile, or practical
pursuit. If you are tempted to think that He might not be worth knowing, recall
these words written by John Bunyan, author of The Pilgrims Progress:

God is the only desirable good; nothing without him is worthy of our
hearts. . . . The life, the glory, the blessedness, the soul-satisfying goodness
that is in God are beyond all expression.

When Bunyan penned these words over three hundred years ago, he was not
exaggeratinghe was understating the matter!
This week you will be considering the significance of what you think of God
not your official beliefs about this Being, but your actual ideas of Him. The true
knowledge of God, provided through the mighty labors of His Son, is the great
treasure of Christianity. It has a beginning but will never end, enduring through
the most desperate of times. However, even a believer can take this treasure for
granted. We need a revolution in how we think of God. In seeking to know Him,
we must guard against settling for a counterfeit Christianity that looks like the
real thing but is of no value.
In the eleventh century, St. Anselm gave advice that is relevant to us today:

Up now, slight man! Flee for a little while your occupations; hide
yourself for a time from your disturbing thoughts. Cast aside now your
burdensome cares, and put away your toilsome business. Yield room for
some little time to God, and rest for a little time in Him. Enter the inner
chamber of your mind; shut out all thoughts save that of God and such
as can aid you in seeking Him. Speak now, my whole heart! Speak now
to God, saying, I seek Your Face; Your face, Lord, will I seek.

WEEK

MEMORY VERSE FOR MEDITATION

Psalm 27:8

When You said, Seek My face,

My heart said to You, Your face, LORD, I will seek.

Day 1: KNOWING GOD,

THE TREASURE OF CHRISTIANITY

Are you willing to adjust your life to whatever God reveals
of Himself in the coming days?
What is the one thing about you that you feel sets you apart? What is it about
you that you feel is worth bragging about? It may sound like a strange question
for believers because we certainly do not consider bragging as one of the gifts
of the Spirit. In fact, a braggadocious person is ordinarily not the kind of person
with whom we enjoy spending time. Yet the prophet Jeremiah tells us that there
is something about which we should boast. In Jeremiah 9:2324 we read:

Thus says the LORD: Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and
let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of
his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and
knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice
and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things, declares the
LORD. (NASB)
This command comes in the middle of a long indictment against Israels
outwardly wicked behavior and inwardly idolatrous heart. It is not a passage that
aims to promote arrogance in Israel. Far from it!

READ

it over again and write below what you think is the purpose of these

verses.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Wisdom (the ability to apply knowledge skillfully) and strength (the ability to
accomplish tasks) are prized in every culture. In themselves they are beneficial.
An unwise and incompetent person is not one you would choose as an

BEHOLD YOUR GOD

employee, a spouse, or a close friend. But these qualities pale in comparison to
another: a true understanding and knowledge of this living God.
The knowledge of God is not merely a generic idea that He exists up there.
It involves an intimate acquaintance with His character and actions. Below, list
the things that God tells us about Himself in these verses.
___________________________________________________________________
Ive found the Pearl
of Greatest Price
My heart doth sing for joy;
And sing I must for Christ is mine,
Christ shall my song employ.

John Mason

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

Is that the God you know?

Is that the God you meet when you open your Bible, read, and pray?

Is that what comes to your mind when you think of Him throughout the
day?

This is the treasure of ChristianityGod has done all that is necessary

for you to know Him forever! You have been brought near by His Sons life,
death, and resurrection. He has placed His Spirit within His adopted children,
giving them a heart to love Him, a mind to know Him, and a will to obey Him.
Nothing can compare with this. In fact, how you respond to this reality is a real
test of your profession of faith. When Peter wrote his first Epistle, he divided all
humanity into two camps.

READ

1 PETER 2:67. According to this passage, what does the true believer
think of Christ?
___________________________________________________________________
Delighting in God. Treasuring the real knowledge of God through His Son.
Walking with God. These have always been the birthmarks of Gods people.
Whether you read the life of Abraham (the Friend of God), or Moses (the man
who met with God, as it were face to face), or David (a man after Gods own
heart), or Asaph (the psalmist who wrote that Gods nearness was his good),
you will find that religions great attraction for the believer is God Himself.
This happy fellowship with the Living God, this knowledge of His character, is not
limited to biblical saints. Listen to what Paul wrote to people in an unhealthy church:

WEEK

1 Corinthians 1:9

God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His
Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Do we see what God, the faithful One, has called us to? To enter into the
fellowship of His Son is to enjoy communion with the Father as the Son does.
Every believer can have that kind of friendship with the Triune God.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

It is time to ask ourselves some questions in light of these passages. These are
easy questions to answer correctly, but it would be good if you could slow
down and ask God what is true of you.
 o you think that the most noticeable, the most distinguishing thing about your
D
life is that you know the Living God?
 o you think that Jesus is the most precious thing about Christianity, or do you
D
find that the idea of what He can do for you is more enticing than who He is?
 o you find those passages of the Bible which describe God most interesting, or
D
would you prefer to read a description of how He can benefit you?

Only after a painful ordeal

of self-probing are we likely
to discover what we actually
think about God.
A. W. Tozer

o you substitute a one-time experience of salvation for an ongoing

D
understanding and knowledge of the Divine Person?
 o you mistakenly think it a mark of ingratitude to want more than forgiveness
D
of sin, to ask God to let you know Him better each day?
Take some time to consider what comes to your own mind when you think of
the character of God. Of course, no library could hold the books that would
be required to describe the infinite qualities of God; yet if you could write one
paragraph, what are the things that you know to be true of Him? Below, write
that paragraph as honestly as possible. Avoid merely writing what you think is a
correct answer.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

BEHOLD YOUR GOD

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

Day 2: GODINCOMPREHENSIBLE AND KNOWABLE

What is an attribute of God? We do not use that word very often, but it is an
important word. A. W. Tozer wrote in The Knowledge of the Holy, An attribute of
God is whatever God has in any way revealed as being true of Himself.

1.

 n attribute is something that God has revealed to be true about

A
Himself. This is not a truth that we discover on our own.

2.

An attribute is something that is essentially true of God.

It is who He is, not merely how He acts; therefore, He never needs to maintain
it. This is a crucial truth that we often misunderstand because we think of these
descriptions of God in the same way that we think of descriptions of people.

One of the most wonderful

things about knowing God
is that there is always so
much more to know. Just
when we least expect it, He
intrudes into our neat and
tidy notions about who He
is and how He works.
Joni Eareckson Tada

Think of it this way: We are human. Good days and bad days . . . we wake up as
humans. We live all day as humans. We do not have to try to be human or to
maintain our humanity. Human is what we essentially are, not merely how we act.
We may act as a kind human or an impatient human. We may be a thoughtful
human or a cruel human. But none of that changes the reality that human is a
description of something that is unchangeable and essential about us. If we
stopped being human, we would have to stop existing. It would no longer be us
anymore. It would be something different, something non-human.
God is who He is. Whatever is true of Gods character is part of who He is. For
example, think about His omnipotence (the possession of all-power). He never
has to start the day by trying to make Himself all-powerful. He does not have to
work at remaining all-powerful even after the passing of ten thousand years. It is
who He is. He is God Almighty. This is one of His attributes. It is one aspect essential
to His deity. If He were not all-powerful, He would not be who He isHe would not
be the person that the Bible reveals to us as God.

WEEK
3.

 n attribute is something that is in perfect harmony with all other

A
attributes.

God, unlike us, is not divided. He is perfect unity. There can be no division or
conflict within God. Every attribute is in perfect harmony with every other
attribute. His love is never at odds with His wrath. His justice and His mercy walk
together. Furthermore, every attribute of God influences all other attributes. If He
is all-powerful, then His wrath is all-powerful. We are faced with a dazzling reality
while studying Gods attributes: They converge and form a multifaceted divine
diamond. No matter how we turn these truths in front of our minds eye, there is
always more splendor to behold.

Being infinite, God is

inexhaustibly interesting. It
is therefore impossible that
God be boring.
John Piper

Lets apply what we have considered above to one of Gods attributes. God has
revealed that He is essentially incomprehensible. He is beyond our understanding.
In short, this teaches us that though God can be known in a personal way, He
can never be figured out. In fact, no angel, no saint in heaven, and no seminary
professor on earth can ever fully grasp the boundlessness of God. Being
incomprehensible is just part of who He is. He knows Himself perfectly, but He is
the only one who possesses this ability.
This has a great deal to do with our getting to know Him better, so lets slow
down and think about it.

WHY IS GOD INCOMPREHENSIBLE?

The answer lies in another attribute: He is infinite. He has no limits upon
His Person. He cannot be measured. Another way to think of it is that He is
overflowing with all fullness in every aspect of His character. Every attribute is
infinitely, immeasurably, limitlessly full. However you try to use your mind to
capture the vastness of Gods character, He will pour over the edges of your
imagination.

LOOK UP

the following passages and fill in the blanks. Consider the way in
which the Bible speaks about this incomprehensible fullness of our God.

1.

God overflows the bounds of creation with His Person.

Psalm 145:3

Great is the LORD , and greatly to be praised; _______________________

________________.

Jeremiah 23:2324


Am I a God near at hand, says the LORD, And not a God afar off?
Can anyone hide himself in secret places,so I shall not see him? says the
LORD; ____________________________________? says the LORD.

BEHOLD YOUR GOD

2.

His thoughts toward creation are beyond numbering.

Psalm 139:1718

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of
them!_________________________________________________________
___________; when I awake I am still with you.

3.

His deeds are beyond measure.

Job 5:89

God. How much this title

implies no tongue, human
or angelic, can express. It
is a volume of an infinite
number of leaves and every
leaf full of meaning. It
will be read by saints and
angels, through the ages of
eternity, but they will never
reach the last leaf, nor fully
comprehend the meaning of
a single page.
Edward Payson

But as for me, I would seek God, And to God I would commit my cause

______________________________________________________________
___________________
Job 9:10
_____________________________________________, yes, wonders

without number.

Job speaks about God transcending our understanding. He asks us a very

searching question:
Job 11:79

Can you search out the deep things of God?___________________

_________________. They are higher than heavenwhat can you
do? Deeper than Sheolwhat can you know? Their measure is longer
than the earthand broader than the sea.
Job 36:26

Behold, God is great, and we do not know Him; ______________

______________________________.
Job uses two simple word pictures to show us the incomprehensibility of God.
Job 26:14

Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways, and how small a whisper
we hear of Him! But the thunder of His power who can understand?
Below, fill in the blanks with Jobs descriptions of the incomprehensibility of God.

Our knowledge of His actions is only the ____________ ___________ of His

____________________. We know as much of God as a person who hears a
small ________________ of a great voice.

10

WEEK

FURTHER ILLUSTRATIONS
Imagine an infant. He cannot understand much of his father. He cannot
understand how he is related to his father, how much his father does for him,
or even what his father does in his occupation. But the baby knows this: When
his father walks by and he sees those familiar shoes and the hem of his pants . . .
thats Dad!
Imagine the Mayflowers initial approach to the American coastline. Only a
fraction of that expansive land would have been visible from the ship. What
could be seen was only the edge of a continent that stretched for thousands of
miles.

How should finite

comprehend Infinite? We
shall apprehend Him, but
not comprehend Him.
Richard Sibbes

Imagine you are sitting at a restaurant. At the table next to you, two men are
talking about the latest happenings in the news. You are very interested, but
they are talking quietly. For all your discreet straining, you hear only a phrase or
two of the conversation.
These are ways we describe our limited understanding of Gods character. True,
He reveals Himself in the Bible, but do we think that we will study these twelve
weeks and at the end have Him figured out? Not at all. There will always be more
of Him to know. He is infinite. At the end of a lifetime of getting to know Him, all
we will know is what a baby can know of his father by the edge of his trousers,
what a traveler can know of North America by seeing the New England coastline,
or what a person can understand of a conversation from whispered fragments.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

One of the evidences that we are growing in the knowledge God is that we are
more aware of how little we know Him! The great Christians of the past spoke
more of the mystery of God than we commonly do today. Read what the hymn
writer Isaac Watts wrote of our knowledge of the incomprehensible God.

Earth from afar has heard Thy Fame.

And worms have learned to lisp Thy Name.
Our greatest theology must include a humility born out of the awareness
that we know only the edges of His ways. The spiritual smugness of
evangelical, conservative churches is proof of our ignorance, not our knowledge.

How completely satisfying

to turn from our limitations
to a God who has none.

It is the believers joy that there can be no end to knowing the Infinite Being. He
is not only perfect; His perfections go on forever. After one hundred thousand
years in heaven, the Christian will still be growing in the knowledge of God.

A. W. Tozer

11

BEHOLD YOUR GOD

At the end of twelve weeks, you can test your progress, not merely by the words
or doctrines you will have learned or the outward changes in your behavior
but by your humility.
Have you responded in humility to the truths revealed to you this week?

Day 3: TO WHOM WILL GOD REVEAL HIMSELF?

It may come as a shock to us at first, but knowing God is not an easy thing. In
fact, it is an impossibility if we are left to ourselves. It requires the almighty
intervention of God, yet it is the one absolute necessity.

But on this one will I look;

On him who is poor and of
a contrite spirit,
And who trembles at My
word.
Isaiah 66:2

This does not mean that the only alternative to a true knowledge of God is
a life without any god at all. Ancient history and todays news both reveal the
drive in humanity to find some type of god. When the apostle Paul arrived
at the city of Athens, he was astonished. It was not the fabulous architecture
nor the Athenians famed intellects that amazed Paul. It was the fact that such
sophisticated people would fill their city with altars dedicated to a variety of
idols. But the most telling of them was the altar dedicated to the unknown god.
Sadly, the cult of the unknown god has endured until today. It is found in small
towns and urban centers, from East to West. It is the basic religion of humanity
apart from a miraculous intervention by the one Living God. It is the grace of
God that He does not leave humanity to sit in its ignorance and darkness. He has
sent His Son to illuminate our dark hearts. Jesus is the Dayspring from on high
(Luke 1:78) that has brought the truth of God into our confused world.
The Christian life begins with seeing God revealed in His Son and responding to
Him in faith and repentance. The life that follows is one of daily learning more of
God. Yet God is very specific about the kind of Christian who receives this
continual and deepening understanding.
Today we consider the people to whom God will reveal Himself. This may be
a novel topic for you, so be very careful to see what God has said about it in the
Scriptures.

FILL IN THE BLANKS

in the following passages and consider the person

to whom God will continue to reveal Himself.

1.

The Reverent Psalm 25:14

The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him, ____________________
______________________________________________.

12

Are you going forward in the fear of the Lord? Are you more aware of His
majesty, purity, and undeserved kindness than you were a year ago?

WEEK
2.

The Pure in Heart Matthew 5:8

Blessed are the pure in heart, _____________________________________.

God delights to reveal Himself to the person whose heart is pure. The idea
behind this word pure is undivided, unpolluted, unmixed. A pure heart is
united. In other words, it speaks of a single-minded person whose desires
have been united around one great objectGod. Are you single-minded or
fragmented and pulled in a hundred directions?

3.

The Childlike Matthew 11:25-28a

At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent
and ______________________________. Even so, Father, for so
it seemed good in Your sight. All things have been delivered to Me by My
Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know
the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.
Come to Me . . .

But when Jesus saw it, He

was greatly displeased and
said to them, Let the little
children come to Me, and do
not forbid them; for of such
is the kingdom of God.
Assuredly, I say to you,
whoever does not receive the
kingdom of God as a little
child will by no means enter it.
Mark 10:1415

Has God been hiding Himself from you?

4.

The Obedient John 14:21

He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And
he who loves Me will be loved by My Father and ____________________
________________________________________.
Will God continue to reveal Himself to a person who does not respond in
obedience to a previously revealed truth?

EXERCISE
CHECK

those which are true:

According to these four passages, your ability to hear what God is saying today
will be largely based upon:
____ your intellectual ability
____ your spiritual single-mindedness
____ your ability to have more free time for study
____ your childlike awareness of your need for God
____ your understanding of Greek and Hebrew words
____ your obedience to what God has previously shown you
____ your fear of God

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SELF-EXAMINATION
For thus says the High and
Lofty One
Who inhabits eternity;
whose name is Holy:
I dwell in the high and
holy place,
With him who has a
contrite and humble
spirit.
Isaiah 57:15a

Is God revealing Himself to you more and more, or have you plateaued and
grown stale? You will find the answer to that question is directly related to
the answer to other questions: Are you growing in the fear of God, in singlemindedness, in a childlike awareness of your need, and in a love-motivated
obedience?

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Do you see the significance of these verses for your life and for your efforts in
this study to know God better? No amount of personal study, no study guide, no
book or sermon will ever unveil God to you if you are not the kind of person God
has described as one to whom He delights to reveal Himself.
If you find that you are not the kind of person to whom God will reveal Himself,
go to God with this matter and plead that He would in His mercy do all that is
necessary to enable you to have the heart and life described in those passages.

Day 4: THE HEART OF CHRISTIANITY: HE IS!

Christianity is remarkably full and complex, as we would expect of a religion that
brings a person into a relationship with the Living God. It is full because it shares
in the fullness that belongs to God. It is complex because it brings the reality of
an immeasurable God (His character and claims upon us) down into every area
of our lives. If anyone attempts to reduce the Christian life to one emphasis
(evangelism, joy, personal growth, etc.), he is sure to become spiritually
lopsided. There is a balance in Christianity. However, that said, certain truths are
foundational to other truths. We find this when we read Pauls letters to the early
churches. Paul always lays a strong doctrinal foundation before he explains how
a Christian is to live. The first chapter of Colossians serves as a rich example for us
today. Pauls description of the Christian life can be reduced to three statements.

Christ is . . .

Christ has . . .

I must . . .

READ

COLOSSIANS 1:323. Using the passage, make three lists. (You will be
taking a long look at these descriptions in a later chapter. Just list them here.)

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He is [character of Christ, verses 1518]:

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

Apart from Christ let

nothing dazzle you.
St. Ignatius

___________________________________________________________________
He has [work of the Father and Son, verses 1214, 2022]:
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
I must [my response to His character and work, verses 912, 23]:

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
These phrases not only sum up the Christians life; they do so in the correct
order. There is an evident cause-and-effect sequence in these. We cannot
reverse them. We may be tempted to think of Christianity primarily as
I must . . . , but that is not the starting place. You cannot make yourself a
child of God by doing things that a child of God does, any more than you could
make yourself an heir to Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain by walking around in
royal clothes and waving kindly at people! The duty of the Christian lifethe I
must . . . ,is caused by something else. We may think of the Christian life
as primarily about He has. The work of God for our salvation is certainly a
significant part of Christianity and is the reason that we are able to live a life of
obedience. But even the He has . . . is not the foundation of Christianity,
for that itself is built upon a larger and deeper foundation. The greatest truth

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BEHOLD YOUR GOD

of Christianity is summed up in the words He is. Who He is must be
understood if we are going to grasp what He has done to save us. Who He is and
what He has done form an irresistible argument for obedience in the heart of
the Christian. We are all tempted to emphasize one of these to the neglect of the
others. Which of the three do you find yourself thinking about most often?
Go back to the three lists you made from Colossians 1.

READ

the He is list and then read a statement from the He has list.
Do you see how the He has is enlarged and enriched by considering the
who behind it all?
Continue until you have considered each of the He has statements in light
of the He is truths.
Read the I must list with the He is and He has truths in mind. Do
you see how the I must is wonderfully affected by who it is that commands
you and what He has done to make it possible for you to obey Him?

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

In light of what you have looked at, the He is list is the most significant of
the three because it affects how you understand the others. Is that the list that
gets most of your attention? Do you see the shortsightedness of starting with
He has or I must in Christianity?

Day 5: AVOIDING THE COUNTERFEITS

Things that have great value are often counterfeited. There will always be a
market for fake diamonds and counterfeit money. It is the same with intangible
thingslove, friendship, loyalty, and integrity. There will always be people who
choose the counterfeit over the real. Sadly, a counterfeit knowledge of God also
exists.
When we speak about the knowledge of God, our enemy will not whisper to us
in our church pews: Why bother? Who wants to know God anyway? Instead,
the temptation will come in a more subtle form. Maybe it will sound something
like this: Knowing God . . . thats a good thing. But remember, there is more
than one way to know God. You might want to consider a way that doesnt
require so much of you. So, like other valuable things, the knowledge of God is
counterfeited. It is like shopping at a street market in a large city. You can find
knock-offs of name-brand luxury items (maybe a Rolex watch for your spouse)

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WEEK

for a fraction of the price that you would pay for the real thing. It looks like the
real thing. People will give it the same kind of compliments. But it will never
be the real thing, and it will not work like the real thing. That describes many
peoples knowledge of God. It is counterfeit. It is inexpensive. It looks similar to
the real thing, but it is not genuine. It will never impact their lives like the real
thing.
In the video lesson this week, you will hear about three counterfeits of the
knowledge of God. We will carefully consider them today before going any
further in this study. After all, you dont want to spend twelve weeks pursuing
something that you later find out was merely an impressive forgery.
These counterfeits might be described in a number of ways, but various authors
have mentioned three:

1.

Knowledge by Hearsay

Thomas Carlyle wrote: What this country needs is a man who knows God
other than by hearsay. Knowledge by hearsay is counterfeit knowledge, made
up only of things others have told us about God. Such knowledge might come
through years of listening to sermons or reading good Christian books. These are
beneficial, but they can become a substitute for personally walking with God. We
end up only knowing Him by hearsay.

2.

The many false and

counterfeit appearances
which we meet, instead
of proving that there is no
religion in the world, not
only prove that there is, but
that it is extremely precious,
otherwise it would not be
counterfeited.
Edward Payson

Textualism

This is a deadly counterfeit that thrives in conservative churches that still defend
the truthfulness of Scripture. A. W. Tozer describes the textualist as a person who
assumes that because he affirms the Bibles veracity, he automatically possesses
the things of which the Bible speaks.1 For example, if he agrees with the biblical
definition of faith found in Hebrews 11, then he assumes that he already
possesses such faith, even if all of his choices in life prove otherwise. If he agrees
with the words of Paul, then he is sure he possesses the reality of Pauls words.
If he accepts every word of Paul as inspired, then every experience that Paul
describes in the Christian life must already be his. In other words, the textualist
lives as if affirming the words of the Bible is equivalent to having their reality in
his own life.

3.

True Truths

Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote: Truths . . . are often considered as so true that
they lose all the power of truth, and lie bed-ridden in the dormitory of the soul,
side by side with the most despised and exploded errors. This is nowhere more
obvious than in the basic truths we have been given in the Bible concerning

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BEHOLD YOUR GOD

If there is one fact, or
doctrine, or promise in the
Bible, which has produced
no practical effect upon
your temper or conduct,
be assured that you do not
truly believe it.
Edward Payson

God. Reflect on how little Gods omnipresence (dwelling everywhere at once)

has affected the way you dressed, ate, drove, spent money, and responded to
family members today. You will admit that God is present everywhere; it is a very
different thing to live on it. By the way you treat this truth, it may be difficult
to distinguish it from things you know to be bold-faced lies. The Easter Bunny
myth was exploded long ago for us. Therefore, we do not think about the Easter
Bunny, and his nonexistence does not affect our lives. How tragic to allow the
glorious truths of God to lie bed-ridden in our minds alongside such myths.
This is another counterfeit type of knowing Godhaving a mind crammed full
of right words that lie dormant, not affecting your life any more than the things
you know to be lies. A. W. Tozer gave this advice: Take them out of the back room
of your mind, dust them off, reacquaint yourself with those truths, and live on
them.

TEST

yourself. What truth about God can you dust off and begin to live upon?

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

GOOD NEWS!
If there are counterfeits, then there must be something worth counterfeiting. An
individual can know the living God. Knowing God is worth any price or effort.
See how two seventeenth-century authors defined theology (the study of God):
William Perkins wrote:

Theology is the science [study] of living blessedly forever.

William Ames wrote:

Theology is the study of how to live unto God.

Are these accurate? Can you really take the descriptions of God in the Bible,
live on them, glory in them, and find happiness in that kind of life? A more
authoritative guide in this matter is found in the Apostle Pauls writings to the
Ephesians. In this letter, Paul includes a great deal of theology and doctrine.
Chapters 13 are full of doctrine. These form the foundation of the ethical
commands (duties) of the Christian life that are found in chapters 46. Notice the
way Paul keeps doctrine from becoming a collection of dry, dead sayings. At the
end of chapters 1 and 3, Paul prays. For what does he plead? He is praying that
God will enable the Christians to grasp all that doctrinal truth, internalize it, and
live on it. It is this application of doctrine to our hearts that forms the bridge
between right thinking about God and right living with God.

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WEEK

READ

EPHESIANS 1:1522 and list below the things that Paul asks God to do
for the believers in order for the doctrines to become a part of their everyday
living.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

Everything that men do in

their own strength and by
means of their own abilities
is done for time alone; the
quality of eternity is not in it.
A. W. Tozer

___________________________________________________________________

READ

EPHESIANS 3:1421 and list below the things that Paul asks God to do
for the believers in order for the doctrines to become a part of their everyday
living.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

All three elementsright living, built upon right doctrine, planted deeply in
your heart by Godare inseparable. They cannot exist in isolation from one
another. If your life lacks one or another, in truth it does not have any of the
three.

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