Knowing God (2)

Last month reference was made on this page to spiritual enrichment received by the writer from a small volume entitled The Knowledge of God, Its Meaning and its Power, by A.T. Schofield, M.D., which came into his hands when a young believer fifty or so years ago. We return to this theme for further brief comment.

In the opening chapters of his book Dr Schofield refers to the insipid lukewarmness of many professing Christians. He then proceeds to demonstrate that we may gather a good deal of knowledge about God and yet, although we are truly born again, we may have little personal knowledge of our heavenly Father. There is an important difference between these two kinds of knowledge. I know someone who has an immense store of knowledge about Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. But she has never met the Queen, has never spoken to her. She knows a great deal about Her Majesty but she really doesn't know her at all! And the image formed in her mind from the information she has gathered may bear little resemblance to the original. It is necessary to be frequently in a person's company, and to have an intimate personal relationship before we can claim to really 'know' that person.

The degree of our personal knowledge of God will be reflected in our words, our actions and our attitudes. Certain recognizable characteristics will gradually develop. It would be impossible to speak and behave as we sometimes do if we truly knew our God. Murmuring about trials and reverses would never escape our lips. When all seems to go wrong and there is no cause for joy or hope in our circumstances we would not be downcast. We have an unchanging God. The prophet Habakkuk, although beset by calamities of various kinds, realized that Jehovah was in full control of events and he was able to sing in exultant faith:

"I will rejoice in the LORD,

I will joy in the God of my salvation" (3:18).

The graceful, harmonious growth of those who live in the Divine presence is beautifully expressed in the following anonymous lines:

"My inmost soul, 0 Lord to Thee

Leans like a growing flower

Unto the light; I do not know

The day nor blessed hour

When that deep-rooted daring growth

We call the heart's desire

Shall burst and blossom to a prayer.

And yet my heart will sing

Because Thou seem'st so near,

Close-present God, to me;

It seems I could not have a wish

That was not shared by Thee."

We conclude with a further excerpt from the book under review:

"The character changes insensibly because the graces acquired are unconscious; and not only so, but a new language altogether, the language of heaven, is slowly learned and begins to be heard from our lips. It is not that we use religious phrases, or put on what are believed to be Christian graces, but that an inward growth of spirit in nearness and likeness to God produces of itself changes which are not adopted by us consciously but are produced unconsciously. Things look different to us, and we find ourselves calling loss, gain; and pain, pleasure. Our standpoint with God has the effect of turning many things upside down and reversing the current standards of blessings and trials."

"When a man lives with God he will weave no longer a spotted life of shreds and patches, but he will live with a divine unity. He will cease from what is base and frivolous in his life, and be content with all places and any service he can reach. He will calmly front the morrow in the negligency of that trust which carries God with it, and so has the whole future in the bottom of his heart."

unknown | Dec 1975
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