In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of seeking a revelation of who God is. He highlights that despite our knowledge and understanding of various worldly things, it is crucial to have a deep understanding and pursuit of God. The speaker also points out that our view of God has changed over time, leading to a low view of God and a high view of ourselves. He urges the audience to follow the example of those who walk in the ways of Christ and warns against being enemies of the cross of Christ. The sermon concludes with a call to earnestly seek the Lord, to know Him, and to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, making no provision for the flesh.

Hello, this is Brother Denny. Welcome to Charity Ministries. Our desire is that your life would be blessed and changed by this message. This message is not copyrighted and is not to be bought or sold. You are welcome to make copies for your friends and neighbors. If you would like additional messages, please go to our website for a complete listing at www.charityministries.org. If you would like a catalog of other sermons, please call 1-800-227-7902 or write to Charity Ministries, 400 West Main Street, Suite 1, EFRA PA 17522. These messages are offered to all without charge by the free will offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry. Well, thank you for that. Not sure how you follow that, but we appreciate all your love and encouragement, young people. God bless you for that this morning. For thinking of us, I thought about the morning, the way the Lord has led here this morning. It's been such a refreshing morning. We got a missionary report and that a praise report of the beautiful things that God did in answer to prayer on the other side of the ocean. I don't know if you caught it or not this morning, but we had a Father's Day message. Did you get it? How many of you got the Father's Day message? We had one before our eyes as one child after the next, after the next told the story of how their dad reached out to them, how they got under conviction and went to their dad and their dad came to them and asked them, How are you doing? What's happening in your life right now? We got our Father's Day message this morning beautifully and we would rather see a sermon than hear one, wouldn't we? So, we thank God for that and I'm sorry I don't have a Father's Day message for you this morning, but I trust we'll be edified in the things that God wants to say to us. I'd like to share this morning, if I can, I'm not sure if I can, all that I have to say, but we'll see here. But I want to share on this subject to our hearts the pursuit of the living God, the pursuit of the living God. I've taken that from Tozer's book, The Pursuit of God, but in reality, this is a lifelong pursuit that never goes away. In fact, I believe it reaches all the way into eternity. You say, but when we get there, we'll see God. Yes, we may see God when we get into eternity, but we will never stop pursuing God, who He is, what He is, what He is like and what that implies and how that affects us. I don't believe that will ever go away. In all the days of eternity, that's how big God is, by the way. So, for some time, I have wanted to take a sermon and do some teaching, just to kind of stir our hearts a bit about the attributes of God. Some of the brothers have come to me and said that I should give the sermons on Sunday morning that we gave to the young men at Bible school. Well, that's 15 sermons and I haven't been able to figure that one out yet in my heart. I haven't felt clear to do that. But this morning, I would just like to stir our hearts toward a study of God. That's something that God has called every one of us to. In fact, I believe that is the reason or one of the reasons why we're still here on this earth in this body, that we might, by grace, through faith, rise up with hearts and seek a revelation of who God is. So, I felt like God would have me to share on this subject this morning, in light of some of the other circumstances that we have been facing. I felt today would be a good day to do that which I've been wanting to do for weeks and weeks. So, the pursuit of the living God is the title this morning. We humans, we know a lot of things. Like Brother Rick said this morning, we know how to go to the moon. Oh, we're very smart people, us humans, especially we who live in these days. We know a lot of things. We know a lot about a lot of things. We know the depths of the sea. We know about the planets. We know about the stars now. And we can tell you how far away they are, amazingly that we can, but we can tell you how far away they are, and how big the planets are, and what kind of gases are around them. We know a lot of things. We think that we have discovered the mystery of the atom, and not realizing the power behind it, the one who made it. Imagine the power of an atom bomb just taking little atoms and dividing those atoms and creating a bomb, but did you ever consider the God who made the atoms? And if those little atoms can do what they do when you divide them, just imagine what the God who made the little atoms can do. But we think that we've discovered the mystery of the atom, and we know about disease, and we know how to make money, and oh, we know a lot of things these days, you know. These are days when knowledge has increased upon the earth, and the computer has increased that by tenfold more. I mean, if you think the industrial age makes the head spin, try the computer age. Oh, we know a lot. We know about world events, and we spend our hours mastering the computer, and now we know how to use them, and we can learn new talents, and we've learned new trades, and we know a lot of things. Oh, we do. All those things that I listed and multiplied thousands more, we, as humans, we know. And it takes hours and hours and days and weeks and months to learn those things, and we know them, because we have invested, we the human race, time into them. But how much do we know the living God who made all those things that us humans have spent whole lifetimes discovering? But yet, how much do we know the living God who made all those things? When it's all said and done, brothers and sisters, and we stand before the God who made all those things, it won't matter how well we knew about the computer. It won't matter to God that we figured out how far it is from one star to the next. It won't matter to God how much we learned about the diseases upon this earth. It won't matter. What will matter is, do you know Me? Do you know Me? In Daniel chapter 11, in the context of Daniel chapter 11, is trials and persecutions from the Antichrist. And we get a little bit of a glimpse of what it's going to be like in the last days, in the last of the last days in Daniel chapter 11. And without reading a lot of verses there for the sake of time, we find these words right there sandwiched in the midst of the troubles and the trials and the persecutions and the onslaughts of the Antichrist. We find these words in Daniel 11, verses 32 and 33. But the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits. And they that understand God among the people shall instruct many. The people that do know their God. Think about it, brothers and sisters. That day is coming. That day is coming when Antichrist will rule on this earth. And all the things that are happening on this earth, He'll have His hand upon it all. And all the people will be smarter than they are today. And they'll know their computers better than they do today. And they'll build a bigger computer than they already have today. And all those things will be there. And the Antichrist will be there. But, the people that do know their God shall be strong. That means filled with energy. Not human energy, brother Daniel. But the energy that comes by the Spirit of God. They shall be filled with energy. And because they are filled with energy, they shall take action. They will do exploits. And because they know God and they understand God and they know who He is and they understand who He is and about Him, they will instruct many in those days. That's what the Bible says. It's a beautiful prophecy of the church in the end time. The end time church. In the midst of all the persecution. Oh, I don't mind if you learn how to run your computer, but oh, my dear people, when it's all said and done and we find ourselves in the midst of all of that, that's not what's going to count. That's not what's going to count. But the people that do know their God, and that word know, that's a strong word. That's an intimate word. A dying martyred church shall rise up in response to the evil around it because they didn't know their God. And they will do exploits in the midst of all of that trouble. I want you to notice, it is not those who know about God that are going to do that in these last days. It's not those who know their theologies that are going to do that in the last days. But it is those who know Him. That word know is an intimate word. And it has a call upon it, brothers and sisters, to each and every one of us. That word know is an intimate word. Jeremiah chapter 9, if we could just again turn there with me. Jeremiah chapter 9, verse 23. And oh, this verse is so fits what I've already said. Listen to this. Oh, listen to this, mankind, all ye sons and daughters of Adam. Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. Neither let the mighty man glory in his might. Let not the rich man glory in his riches. Oh, Americans. But, let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me. Hear the heart of God. That he understandeth and knoweth Me. That I am the Lord which exercise loving kindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, saith God. My, what a beautiful verse. A verse calling. Calling to us. Calling to a world around us. Calling us. And what is God saying? I am God. Beside Me there is no other God. Come. Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. Come to Me and get to know Me. Come to Me. I sent My Son, Jesus Christ. He paid the penalty. He bridged the gap. He shed His blood to wash away your sins so that you can come to Me and get to know Me. Yes. The pursuit of the living God. Theology, in its purest sense, is the study of God. I know that we use the term pretty broad. And we talk about theology, us men do, on Brothers Meeting Night as we look at different things. And I have no problem with that. That is theology. But theology in its purest sense is simply the study of God. And what a subject that is, brothers and sisters. That will take you a lifetime and on into eternity to finish with it. A study of God. And this morning, I would like to engage your hearts and minds to meditate upon the Supreme Being that we call God. We, especially we here in America, we have lost our lofty view of God. We have lost our lofty view of God. And A.W. Tozer would say, we didn't lose it, we have surrendered it. We have surrendered our lofty view of God. And many evils have come in. Amen? By God's grace, we would like to regain that high and lofty vision of the One who inhabits eternity. I want you to consider a bit here this morning just a definition, a definition of the glory of God. That's not a new term to us. That's all over in the Bible. But what is the glory of God? Maybe you think that the glory of God is something beautiful. And it is. But it is much more than that. Maybe you would think, well, the glory of God is something bright and something shining. And it is. But it's much more than that. You see, God is not a bunch of pretty colors. Although when you read the accounts in the Scriptures about God, you read about blues and greens and emeralds and gold. Yes, you read about lots of pretty colors. And if you just read those verses on the surface, you might think that that's the glory of God. And it is the glory of God. But that's not all what the glory of God is. God is not a bunch of pretty colors. God is not a radiant light, even though when the Apostle Paul got a glimpse of Jesus on the road to Damascus, the light was so shining bright, it was brighter than the sun, and it blinded his eyes. And even though all that's true, that's not what the glory of God is. The glory of God is the bright outshining of God's nature. It is God's holy character manifesting itself. And in that manifestation, yes, there's beautiful blue and there's green and there's bright white so bright that no sun could compare to it. Yes, God is radiant. But that which makes God radiant is His holy character manifesting itself. God is the most glorious, majestic, terrible, yes, terrible, terrible, awe-inspiring being in the entire universe. That's God. What is it that makes Him all of this? This awe-inspiring, terrible, majestic God. It is the outshining of His holy character. That's what makes God who He is. Moses in Exodus chapter 33 and verse 18, brothers and sisters, cried, I believe, out of the depths of His being unto God and said, God, show me Thy glory. Show me Thy glory. What do you think this morning? Do you think Moses was saying, God, I want to see something beautiful. Show me something that will thrill me. I don't believe so. I believe Moses was deeper than that when he cried those words to God. Show me Thy glory. Notice the words that God gave to Moses in response to his plea. He said, I will make my goodness pass before Thee. Here we get a glimpse into the nature of God. God said to Moses, you cannot see My face, for no man can see My face and live. Imagine that. That's what God is like. No man can see My face and live. So, God said to Moses, I'm going to put you in the cleft of a rock and I'm going to pass by. And when I go by, I'm going to put My hand out to block your view so you can't see Me. And when I get past you, after I'm gone by, I'll move My hand out of the way and you can see My hinder parts. You can see the glory that shines out of My hinder parts. Because if you see all the glory shining out of My face, you will die. Imagine that. No man, no sinful man, no corrupted man, no fallen man can see My face and live. The pure and holy angels, they can. The seraphim and the cherubim, they can. Remember the song we sang this morning about the angels clapping their wings of fire? They can. But no man can see My face and live. Why? It is the outshining of God's holy character. It is all that God is shining out of His being. All at the same time. That is the glory of God. You know, in Isaiah chapter 6, there where Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up that beautiful vision that Isaiah had of God, we don't get a lot of description there like Ezekiel did and like Moses did and even like Daniel did and like the Apostle John did and how they described what they saw. We don't get a lot of that. Isaiah doesn't tell us what he saw. He talks about the cherubims that were there, but he doesn't tell us what he saw. But we can tell what he saw what must have been awesome because all he could say when he was finished seeing it was, woe is me, I am undone. I believe he got a glimpse of the glory of God, the outshining of God's character is what Isaiah saw. And all he could do is say, I am undone. And I am a man of unclean lips. And brothers and sisters, all of us are. Amen? Praise God for the blood because all of us are. Everyone in this room, no matter how sweet, no matter how humble, no matter how lowly we are, we need the blood this morning to look up into His face. Hallelujah for the blood. In Ezekiel chapter 1, we are not going to read because of time, but you can read the first chapter there of Ezekiel where Ezekiel says, I saw visions of God. And in another place he said, I saw the likeness of the glory of God. And what did Ezekiel see? He saw the outshining of God's holy attributes. And you know what Ezekiel says? I fell on my face. That's what Ezekiel said. I fell on my face. You know, in your first reading of this chapter in Ezekiel chapter 1, you may not see the glory of God. You may see some scary creatures and a beautiful throne and blue and emerald and yellow and green. Maybe those are the things that you'll see and some wheels and all those things. But if you look deeper, you'll see more than blue and yellow and green and wheels and a throne. You'll see the holiness of God shining out of God's very person in the vision that Ezekiel saw. This God is our God, brothers and sisters. He hath revealed Himself to man. Think about that. This God hath revealed Himself to man. Here we have it. Right here in our hands. This is a portrait of God. It is a revelation of the character of God. And we all have it. We all have one in our hands. What we think about God affects every area of our lives. You cannot get away from it. I agree with A. W. Tozer. The church has surrendered, not lost, her lofty view of God. And a thousand woes are hers because of it. You say, brother, that seems a bit simplistic. Stay with me then. The church in America has surrendered, not lost, surrendered, little by little, choice by choice, the church has surrendered her high and lofty view of God. And a thousand woes have come to replace it. Worship has changed. Our songs have changed. Morality has changed. Salvation has changed. And for many, even hell has changed. It's not there anymore. Our songs have changed. You know, it's very interesting to me this little side input for you. But after my family sat through all those teachings on the attributes of God, oh, it was just a couple of months later after that, we were on our way up to Vermont, I believe, on a preaching trip. And we put one of Hal Al's CDs in to play. And it didn't sound the same. It just didn't sound the same. And one of the girls said, you know, Papa, that song doesn't sit with me anymore. There's something light and loose about it that I never saw before. Yeah, we lost our lofty view of God. And surely it affects the songs we write and the songs we sing. Today, God can be a basketball star. He can sing in a nightclub on Saturday night and sing the Gospel songs on Sunday morning. God can do that today, you know. Today, God can be a movie star and tempt men and women to lust and still be a good church member on Sunday morning. Today, God can do that. Because our view of God has changed. He who has a low view of God also often has a high and self-centered view of himself. Those two go together very clearly. When you see God for who He is, you automatically see yourself for who you are. But if we do not see God for who He is, we will not see ourselves rightly and immediately. What happens is as we humanize God, we will then begin to deify man. And that is the biggest mockery in the face of God that you could ever have. To first of all humanize God, to bring God down to our level. And then on the top of that, to deify man and make myself a God. I will do what I want. Take the Hindus for an example this morning. To them, everything is God. That is their view of God. Everything is God. I am God. The cow is God. The tree is God. Even the rat is God to the Hindu. Nobody will kill the rat. Nobody will eat the cow. Today in India there are hundreds of millions of cows and billions of rats who eat half the grain produced in the whole nation of India. And yet many of the people starve. We must change their view of God through the Gospel. That is the only answer to that darkened, heathen land of India. We must change their view of God. God is not the tree and God is not the cow and God is not the man. Those are simply things that God made. God is the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity whose name is Holy, who dwelleth in a light that no man can approach. That's God. Oh, when they begin to see Him for who He is, they will not worship the cow or the rat anymore. Or the tree. We must change their view of God through the Gospel. It's the only hope for a heathen land like that. An idolater is the same. What a different view of God an idolater has. Think about it. When you get a little bit of a glimpse of who God is and you realize that man has reduced his view of God down to something so small that he can make it out of wood and cover it with gold and bow down to it and talk to it and give it food that it never eats and sing songs to it that it never hears and on and on it can go. Pray prayers to it that it has no ears to hear. But that's the view of an idolater. That's his view of God. What we think about God affects every area of our lives, brothers and sisters. Every area. Look what Paul has to say in Romans. Romans chapter 1. If we can just turn there. I know I don't have time. Romans 1 and verse 18. Paul says, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth and live an unrighteous life. Ooh. Who hold the truth and live an unrighteous life because that which may be known of God is manifest. It is manifest in them for God hath showed it unto them for the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Look at that. Look at those verses. You get a glimpse of God's eternal Godhead and His power when you look around you at the world which God made. And here's the idolater living in all of his wickedness, knowing in his conscience God made all of this. But look what happens. How did this happen? How can this conscience be seared to such a place that a man knowing this about God could bow down before this little idol and talk to it and give it food that it never eats and sing songs to it that it never hears and carry it around with them because it cannot walk? How can it be? Here's how. Verse 21 Because that when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God. Neither were thankful. That's a sermon all in its own. Neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Why did all of this happen? Because they had knowledge of God's holy character and they just lived in wickedness. Because that which can be known of God was rejected. Because what they knew of God, they did not acknowledge. And because they did not like to retain God in their knowledge. That's how that happened. Now, it didn't happen just boom like that. It takes a long time. And we sophisticated Americans, you know, we're a long ways from bowing down to that little idol that we talked about earlier. But I'm telling you, there's some dangerous signs when you read these verses in this land where we live. Because they did not like to retain God in their knowledge and they have no idea where they're going. They surrendered their high view of God and became vain in their imaginations. This is exactly what is happening in America today. Multitudes now worship a God after their own imagination. Psalm 50 verse 21 says, After several verses of rebuke for wicked works, the Lord says these words, Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such and one as thyself. Yeah, you thought I was just like you. That is the problem. And brothers and sisters, that's not just out there. That's also right here in this room. Somehow we think that God is altogether like we are. But He is not. He is not. Man fell in the garden when he lost his lofty concept of God. Satan had something to do with this loss as he convinced Eve by casting reflection on the character of God. That's what he did. He said, Hath God said? By this he cast doubt about the goodness of God. And Eve believed it. Then Adam believed it. And there has been trouble ever since because they departed from their simple trust in an awesome God. Think about America for a few minutes with me. This nation has been on a moral slide for the last 50 years. Why? We have more Bibles than ever. More Christian books than we ever had. More churches than we ever had. More radio programs. More sermon tapes. More seminars. More born-againers. More Christian movies and music. Why does she continue on her moral slide into debauchery? We have surrendered and some have rejected a lofty vision of God. That's what we've done. Today, God has become a pal. He's a pal. Some say, He's my partner. And to some, He's the man upstairs. One man wrote a book, Christ is my quarterback. Is that right? Christ is your quarterback, huh? And some movie star called him a living doll. Brothers and sisters, No Jew and no Muslim would ever talk about God like that. And they don't even know Him. Would they? No Jew, no Muslim would ever talk about God like that. What a preposterous abomination. He's not the man upstairs. He is the most awesome, terrible, awe-inspiring God. That's who He is. But I'm afraid we get caught up into that more than we realize. You know, get the old slapstick, you know, songs out there and we're going to have a little talk with Jesus. No, you're not. Not my Jesus. You'll be on your face like John was on the Isle of Patmos. The Roman general who sacrificed a pig on the altar in Jerusalem did no worse than American Christians when they dragged the thrice holy God down from His lofty place and make Him a Santa Claus. A good fellow. A living doll. He's not a living doll, dear lady, whoever you were, wherever you are. He's not a living doll. He is the awesome God of the universe whose eyes are a flame of fire who shall at His coming melt the eye sockets of the human beings that are on the earth in that day. That's who He is. Well, let's look at the positive inspirational side for just a few minutes. It's good to look at the other, isn't it? It's good to recognize. What's happening to God. It's good to recognize that, isn't it? Oh, I pray a holy jealousy would rise up in every one of our hearts. But you know what? God doesn't need your help. He is who He is. Oh, He'll be glad if you'll rise up and honor Him and glorify Him and stand for who He is and represent Him rightly by the way you live and the attitudes of your heart. He'll be glad for you to glorify Him that way, but He doesn't need your help. He is the God of the universe and He stands all by Himself, needing nothing else. He is the self-existent One. But let's look just for a few moments on the positive inspirational side of this subject. What about the powerful life-changing potential of a high and lofty vision of God? Yes, we can see by reading there in the book of Romans what happened to those who lost that vision. But we can also look at the saints in years gone by and the ones in the Bible and how it affected them and how their lives were changed and what it did to them as they gazed upon this beautiful, omniscient, omnipotent God we call our Father this morning. As we learned, Moses cried out, Lord, show me Thy glory. As we learned already, Moses was not asking to see something beautiful. He was not asking for that. Thrill me, Lord. Thrill me with something beautiful. No, not Moses. Not brother Moses. He wasn't looking for a thrill, I guarantee you. He was not asking for that. No, he wanted to see what God was like. And that should be the cry of our own heart. Lord, show me what You're like. Show me who You really are. He wanted to know God in a deep way. He got a glimpse of God. We're going to turn there over in Exodus 34. It doesn't say anything about the blue and the green and the yellow. I'm sure it was there in Exodus 34. In verse 5, now Moses is up on the mount. God told him, come up. Come up on the mount. He's there. And in verse 5 it says, The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed. Proclaim the Lord. Proclaim the Lord God. Proclaim the Lord to be merciful and gracious. Proclaim His long-suffering. Proclaim His abundance in goodness and truth. Proclaim that He's a God keeping mercy for thousands and a God forgiving iniquity and transgressions and sin and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and upon the children's children under the third and the fourth generation. And Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth and worshipped. What else could he do? But the point I want us to notice here in this text is that when Moses cried to God to see the glory of God, God showed him who he was. God showed him His character. God proclaimed His name. He proclaimed Himself. I'm God. I'm the Lord God. I'm Jehovah. I'm the self-existent One, Moses. I'm the Lord Merciful. I'm the Lord God. I'm full of goodness. I'm God of truth. And He proclaimed His name to Moses. You remember those times when Moses would come down off the mountain back down among the children of Israel and the first time he did it, you know, he scared all the people because his face shined. What do you think? Do you think it shined just because the light was bright up there? I don't believe so. I believe His face shined with the character of the God that He had been alone with for 40 days and 40 nights. His face shined with the character of God. And dear brothers and sisters, that's how we make our face shine also. Our faces shine when we have the character of the living God inside of us working itself out of our very lives. Our faces will shine also. That's what those Sanhedrin saw when they looked down on Stephen there that day when he stood up getting ready to give his sermon which cost him his life. They looked down and they saw the face of an angel. You know, they saw the character of God shining out of a man who had a God, the God of the universe living inside of Him. That's what they saw. Oh, the potential! The potential of that, brothers and sisters! God's name in Scripture represents all that He is. By the way, your name represents all that you are too to those who know you. Your name represents all that you are, whoever you are, to all who know you. But God's name represents all that He is, His attributes, His glory, His purposes, His authority. May God make us like Moses, sighing and crying for a fresh revelation of the character of God. Only God can do that. But we must open our heart to that, that stirring of God's Spirit in our own hearts. We must open our heart to it. So, how do you do that? How do you see God? How do I see Him then? If when I see Him He will make me like Himself, how do I see Him? "-Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see." That's a good start. But I thought of these verses. Brother Daniel already quoted some of them. But let's turn there in Matthew 11. I'll be finished here soon. In Matthew chapter 11, And it seems to me that Jesus is just kind of overflowing here. He's dealing with Pharisees and Sadducees. He just finished rebuking Capernaum for rejecting the light that has come to them. He pronounced woes on Chorazin and Bethsaida and woes on Capernaum. And at this time, in that context, as Jesus was moaning and grieving over the fact that these places rejected the Christ, the Son of the living God, as He walked before their very eyes, then He said these words to His Father. At that time, Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes. Do you grasp that? Do you grasp what He just said there? All that glory, all that beauty, all the character of God, He has hidden it from the wise and the prudent, but He reveals it unto the babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight. All things are delivered unto Me of My Father, and no man knoweth the Son but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and He to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him. And now look at the next verse. This is the context, see? The context is knowing God and who He is. Come unto Me, O ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I, God, am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls. Remember our definition of the glory of God? The outshining of God's holy character. One more verse and then I'll be done. I'm not done, but I'll be done. In 2 Corinthians 4, remember, the glory of God is the outshining of God's character. Remember what John said about Jesus? We beheld His glory. No blue. No yellow. No greens. We beheld His glory. The Word became flesh and we beheld His glory. The glory as of the only begotten of the Father. Full of grace and full of truth. That's what John said about Jesus. Chapter 4, verse 5 and then 6. For we preach, Amen, Paul, we preach not ourselves, wise move, but Jesus Christ the Lord, and ourselves, your servants, for Jesus' sake. Why, Paul? For God. God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts. Why? To give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. You want to be like God? You want to see what God is like? Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. You want to see what God is like? You can see what God is like. To give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. God has shined out His character in the face of His Son, Jesus Christ. And we have a record of that outshining. In practical, everyday shoe leather, brothers and sisters, in real life, in a real world, just like you and I live in, God has outshined His holy character in the face of His Son, Jesus Christ. And we have Matthew, Mark, Luke and John to testify of it. Theology is the study of God. The core and center of all theology is God. Hosea 6.6 says, God says, I desire the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. Did you hear the heart of God? What I desire is that you would have a knowledge of who I am. I desire that more than all your sacrifice. And lastly, lastly these words. 1 Peter 1, verses 2 and 3. Just listen. Grace and peace be multiplied unto you, brothers and sisters. How, Peter? How? Through the knowledge of God and the knowledge of Jesus Christ. According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. How? Through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue. Hundreds of points could be added this morning, but I just wanted to take a few minutes and stir our hearts' attention to a pursuit of the knowledge of God. It's right here. We all have it in our hands. What a treasure. You begin to realize that God has given us a revelation of His very person and every one of us have one in our hand. And He's given us the earnest of His Spirit in our hearts. Whereby we can read this book and get a glimpse of the holy character of the God who wrote it. And that glimpse will change you. Will you be changed? May God add His blessing to His words. To know Him. Oh, that I may know Him. Thank you, Brother Denny. Like you say, there's so many points, so many things. My heart is is stirred. You know, I think about this at different times. We know so much of what we know because we invest time into it. And we give it our focus and our attention. You know, somehow I think our mindset is affected by our low view of God that somehow the Lord will just dump it into us. But it doesn't come that way. Listen to these words of Paul. He said, that I may know Him. That was his longing cry. And Paul is not an unbeliever. He is a believer. And he's crying out to God that I may know Him. And the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings be made conformable unto His death. If by any means am I attained to the resurrection of the dead. But he says some things prior to that. And I think we do well to look at this. He says that when he looks at himself and the confidence that he has in his flesh or could have. He says I could have all of this that I could trust in. It's Philippians 3. You don't need to turn there. But he says, if someone could trust in the flesh I could the more. I was circumcised the 8th day of the stock of Israel, tribe of Benjamin, Hebrew of the Hebrews as touching the law of Pharisee. Concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is of the law, blameless. But then he stops and he says this. But what things were gained to me, those I counted it loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless I count all things loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dumb that I may win Christ and be found in him, not having my own righteousness which is of the law but that which is through the faith of Christ. The righteousness which is of God by faith I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ. And I believe brothers and sisters it's the same for us this morning. And I am concerned about all of the distractions that we have in our day to just keep our minds occupied and to keep us from seeking and pressing into the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. And so my dear brothers this morning if you'll just bear with me what is it gonna matter? You know? What is it gonna matter if I knew all about all of these different things? Know how to run all the latest gadgets but I don't know him? You know how sad? So this morning if we go on farther in this verse he says brethren be followers together of me and mark them which walk so as you have us for an example for many walk who I've told you often and now tell you even weeping that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ whose end is destruction whose God is their belly and whose glory is in their shame who mind earthly things we live in the last of the last days I believe brothers and it is time to earnestly seek the Lord that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering put off that former conversation concerning those things of where of now we are ashamed and put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh I'd like to just open it up if there's someone who has something to share raise your hand and get a microphone to you yes brother Emmanuel I was listening to the message here and I began to just be excited in my heart as I was pondering this morning at home in my devotional time the Lord seemed to speak to me and I'll share what that was in just a minute I thought that Dennis you were going through that and Moses was seeing the presence of God and was hearing the character of God there and I suppose Moses was able to go back to the children of Israel and preach a very maybe inspiring and eloquent message about what he saw but that did not enable them to reach that mark of seeing the glory of God you and I cannot attain to holiness by just seeing who God is Paul says in Ephesians and Galatians and Corinthians he says grace and peace be to you from God our Father the only way that anyone is going to receive what he's looking for is by becoming a child of God being born again in the family of God where this God becomes our Father those two are together today he is that mighty high lofty God but he's also my Father and I rejoice and that's so exciting I don't even have to try to be all those things I can accept those things by faith and I enter in he becomes my Father I'm going to be like him amen praise God thank you Lord another microphone over here somewhere brother Luke I was just really blessed this morning my mind went back to approximately 1988 having a physical problem being sent some distance to a doctor sitting in that doctor's office in town I think and there finding a dog-eared tattered copy of the book The Pursuit of God and I got a hold of that and I began to go earlier for those appointments I began to sit there afterwards sometime wondering if they'll kick me out at that time I would not have had an understanding to be able to realizing that such an old book as it looked to me would be available to buy anymore it was such a blessing to me I had been becoming I had gone down the path of Romans chapter 1 seeing God not being thankful and just going step by step downhill till I had come to a very low place and then been seeking God that I remember sitting in church service in the morning and just sitting there longing and just weeping and weeping tears just falling down my face in a culture where it was not acceptable for men to weep I was 30 years old and longing for something more and going home so perplexed and then getting caught up in the race of life again and realizing that time is slipping by and this morning it was just good for me to be reminded of that I'm still pursuing God I was pondering some of the things that take that tear the lofty view of God down that we do ourselves a disservice by some of the things we do and the one thing I have been noticing is the reading we do Jude says Beloved when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered for the saints and then we read of though you knew these things it was needful to put you in remembrance of them and Paul that says to I come give attendance unto reading but what I've been seeing for some years and last night this last one last night was made very aware of that is what type of reading do we do some time ago we had a friend speak of a book that we really look forward to just what I'm seeing is what reading does a book called the five love languages of something like that and I was we were excited we'd heard for this for a year but God had been laying on our heart because where we were at to pray for things and not go and spend for them and see what God would do and finally someone gave us this book and my wife had very much been looking forward to this book and one night after the others were in bed I wanted to go through this book and I sat reading and I said Lord how can I read through a book like this and know if it's okay and I prayed Lord show me and I opened up and very quickly I found the man saying things like while there may have been some good teaching in there I'm not denying that he was saying things like you may not take the Lord Jesus his word personal you may not apply that and I there was about five things that I prayed and said God what about this and so very clear that it was it was horrific and yet we tend to use those books and say well there's some good in it another area like that that I see affecting us affecting me is literature that comes out that's free one thing that has come out some in the last few years that I see very much affecting us is oh there's a newspaper I'm going to speak very frankly I think we need to call it the fish wrapper sounds so good put out by the plain community and because it's free I picked up some and I became very troubled by the content of that there's some good things in there but a lot of lightness no names that you can trace things back to and inability to trace back to things that are just a lot of things that are just outright lies and that had troubled me and then in preparing to go to travel to Kentucky to visit my brother of our extended family gave us a package and had a lot of these fish wrappers in and all of a sudden I saw these all over our home and I was so last night I sat down and read some of those and was again reminded of that of the low view of God in that but because it's put out by our plain communities and it's supported by that but our view is so low and then what we allow in us to come into us it's not that it doesn't do what Jude and Paul were recommending but we can do things to bring that view of God lower or we can choose to do things that God can use to lift that view of God and I say amen thank you brother Luke that is so vital what we feed on yes Jeremy I was tremendously blessed this morning with the message and the thrust of the message to knowing God this verse here in Jeremiah chapter 9, 23 and 24 that brother Denny read to us it was such a tremendous blessing as I read over it again and again here while I was sitting and God telling us that let not the wise man glory in his wisdom neither let the mighty man glory in his might or the rich man in his riches my mind just started going to right now where we're really praying and preparing we'd like to eventually go on the field sometime throw our life into the work of God in any way that we can here you know just a lot of dreaming and scheming if I can say that in the right way just really Lord what do you have for us what can we do how do we prepare ourselves for your work that we know that you'll eventually put us into very excitedly looking forward to God what can we do and different things that have come my way okay maybe I should start studying this or maybe I should get more involved in reading into some indigenous church principles a lot of different things that I've been thinking about okay eventually we might need to know some of this and again just sitting here through this service and God reaching down and speaking to me so softly saying that Jeremy in all of this all those things are wonderful but the most important thing is that you know me the most important thing is that you walk in your daily life practical life walk out the word of God the truths of God this is what's important I was so blessed thank you brother amen brother is there anyone else hand somewhere else yes I just wanted to share what God has done for me a little while ago April 22nd I was struggling and saying that I was a sinner and that night I prayed with my dad and the Lord saved me and I felt so much better than I did before thank you amen praise God God bless you thank you for sharing that testimony with us this morning God bless you the pursuit of God we will never be sorry that we pushed aside other things and with a single eye pursuing the Lord but we will have regrets if we let other things crowd in and steal that away from us can we kneel together in prayer holy holy holy holy Lord God almighty Father we do thank you for giving us a revelation of yourself Father Father we pray in Jesus name Father that it wouldn't just be something that stirs our hearts this morning and then is soon settling down to life as usual but Lord God that it would be a lifelong pursuit seeking first the kingdom of God seeking our God Father in heaven we do thank you thank you Lord for speaking to us this morning but Lord we also acknowledge Father and confess Lord that our view has been lowered and Father we are sorry for that we don't want that Lord but Lord we want to see you for who you are in reality in truth that we may reverentially fear you that the fear of God may be upon our hearts continually Lord Father forgive us where we've not seen you for who you really are and continue to open our eyes and show us thy glory oh Father that we may see you for who you are and then we see ourselves for who we are oh Father Lord have mercy upon us have mercy upon me have mercy upon us as a congregation Lord and deliver us from a low view of God oh Father take us on Lord Father that our hearts would pant and thirst after the living God Father there's things in our lives that are a hindrance that are a distraction other loves other things Lord please convict us show us those things Lord reading materials anything that we would be viewing Lord or computer Father all these things cell phones games on them all kinds of stuff for us to distract us all kinds of little gadgets Lord oh Father show us Lord Father we love you and we want to love you more we want to walk with you Lord as obedient children not fashioning ourselves according to the former lust God but Father walking in holiness in obedience Lord Father thank you for your word to our hearts today may we have the proper view and balance Lord yes on the negative side and also on the positive side that we don't go away from here discouraged and our hands hanging down but Lord that we can see you that you're the merciful God and you forgive iniquities and transgressions and sins but that will in no wise pardon the guilty so Lord thank you that we can come and we can be forgiven and we can be cleansed and washed in the blood of Jesus Christ Father thank you Lord for being our Father and our God we pray in Jesus name Amen