Apprehending GodApprehending God

Psalms 34:8 “O taste and see that the Lord is good:blessed is the man that trusteth in him.”

KJV

Today we are starting the fourth chapter; Apprehending God.Apprehend

to become aware of. So we are learning to become aware of God. Notice that the verse Tozer uses for this chapter is Psalms 34:8.Let’s read Psalms 34:8

“O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the manthat trusteth in him.”

KJV

Those who seek the Lord discover that He not only saves and keeps but thatHe also satisfies. When we read “O taste and see that the Lord is good”;"Taste" doesn't suggest a sip or a nibble; it implies feeding on the Lordthrough His Word and experiencing all He has for us.

1 Peter 2:2-3 “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that youmay grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”

(NKJV)

David found God's Word sweet.

Psalms 119:103 (NKJV) “How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth!”

Tasting means; knowing Him better and enjoying Him more.So to know God better, we need to look at who God is.

Question #1: “To most people God is an inference, not a reality.” Is he areality to you? If so, explain why and how He is real to you. If not, what could He do to make Himself a reality to you?

Now as you did your homework, I am sure you journaled a lot on how God isreal to you but I want you to look at a video that shows what people thinkabout who Christ is:

In general the video shows people saying who Christ is:In general the video shows people saying who Christ is:

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a prophet of God a prophet of God

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He is the son of God He is the son of God

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liberator liberator

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revolutionary of his timerevolutionary of his time

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don’t know because they are an atheist don’t know because they are an atheist

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gave His life for usgave His life for us

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a philosopher a philosopher

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a person who had a lot of wonderful ideasa person who had a lot of wonderful ideas

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just a man just a man

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a concept of belief that keeps people goinga concept of belief that keeps people going

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To most people God is an inference, not a reality. They deduce that Hemust exist but He is not spiritually known to them.

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To others God is only an ideal. He is “goodness,” “beauty”, “truth”, or “the creative impulse behind existence.”

•

God is a reality known in personal experience.From generation to generation you can see a spiritual downfall. You figureTozer wrote about the lack of spiritual pursuit sixty years ago. Think aboutwhere we are today.We have seen, with the video series on our Founding Fathers, how ourcountry was built on Judaea Christian ethics.

Thomas Jefferson our Third President (1801-1809) said

“Almighty God, who has given us this good land for our heritage; wehumbly beseech Thee that we may always prove ourselves a peoplemindful of Thy favor and glad to do thy will. Bless our land withhonorable ministry, sound learning, and pure manners.”

Calvin Coolidge, our 30th President (1923-1929) said

,“The Foundation of our society and our government rest so much onthe teachings of the Bible that it would be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in our country.”

Now our 44

President Barak Obama,

states that we are no longer aChristian nation. Let’s hear it in the President’s own words:

“No matter what we once were, we are no longer aChristian nation, at least not just. We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, and a Buddhist nation,and a Hindu nation, and a nation of non-believers.”

Not only has our leadership withdrawn from God, but God has been takenout of our everyday living.

Psalms 33:12 “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (NKJV)

Ladies, we need to get back to the basics. Our nation is not going to get anybetter. We are living in the end times. Now, more than any other time, weneed to be diligent in pursuing a deeper relationship with God. We need tobe in our word. We need to know God experientially. I cannot stress thispoint enough!So how can a Christian know God? He or she should be able to know God inthe same way that he or she knows the reality of this world.

Question #2: In what ways can we apprehend God in the same way we canapprehend this world?

We can know God as certainly as we know material things through ourfamiliar five senses:

“Seeing; Hearing; Touching; Tasting; Smelling” Seeing:

Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall seeGod.” (NKJV)

Hearing

John 10:27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” (NKJV)

Touching

:Mark 5:27 “When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Himin the crowd and touched His garment.” (NKJV)

Tasting

: Psalms 34:8 “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is theman that trusteth in him.” KJV

Smelling:

Psalms 45:8 “All Your garments are scented with myrrh and aloes and cassia, Out of the ivory palaces, by which they have made Youglad.” (NKJV)

I am reminded of a story I heard about a City Pastor who was visiting asheep farmer. The shepherd asked the Pastor to come take a walk with him.So the Pastor did. As they walked they came across the shepherd’s flock of sheep grazing in the field. The shepherd said, Pastor I was thinking aboutyour message on John 10:27 and how the sheep knows their shepherd’svoice, have you seen it illustrated? The Pastor said no. He asked the Pastorto call his sheep and he told him how he calls them. So the Pastor called thesheep as the shepherd said. But the sheep just kept grazing in the field.Not one head came up. Then the shepherd called the sheep. Every head of the sheep popped up and looked at the shepherd. They knew theirshepherd’s voice.Ladies, we need to make sure that we are so close to God, that we know Hisvoice, that we know the difference between God’s voice and an impostor’svoice.In Mark 5:27 The woman planned to slip away and get lost in the crowd, butJesus turned and stopped her. Tenderly, He elicited from her a wonderfultestimony of what the Lord had done for her. Why did Jesus deal with herpublicly? Why did He not simply permit her to remain anonymous and go herway?