God Loves… Himself

“Orthodoxy, or right opinion, is, at best, a very slender part of religion. Though right tempers cannot subsist without right opinions, yet right opinions may subsist without right tempers. There may be a right opinion of God without either love or one right temper toward Him. Satan is proof of this.” (A.W. Tozer quoting John Wesley)

This is another shocking statement in certain circles. Many strive and spend all of their time earnestly trying to study theology in order to be orthodox. However, that is, “at best, a very slender part of religion.” As noted before, knowledge puffs up but love edifies (I Cor 8:1). All the orthodoxy in the world will not do a man any real good for eternity unless he loves God and his neighbor. “If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing” (I Cor 13:2). This should raze the concept of some that orthodoxy and study is all that there is to Christianity. Even if a person is able to know all mysteries and have all knowledge, without love there is no profit at all. Perhaps, then, what one needs to do is to study in order to love God and our neighbor.

However, some might interpret this to mean that one should get busy and work and then work some more as if Christianity consists in nothing but works. However, I Corinthians has something to say about that as well. “And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing” (I Cor 13:3). It is also true that the motives and intentions of the heart must be right or all the actions are being done for self and its glory. The Father can only be approached in the name of Christ (John 14:6) and any other method is not the way to the Father.

I think, therefore, that we can conclude that orthodoxy is not an end in itself and so it is but a slender part of religion. What is orthodoxy for if not for itself? The word “orthodox” simply refers to right teaching or correct doctrine. But isn’t that important and even vital? Yes, it is utterly vital. But if, as Tozer through Wesley tells us, Satan is correct in his doctrine, then surely one must have more than orthodoxy to be saved and something more than orthodoxy is what is the vital part of Christianity.

I would think that the Great Commandments should come to mind at this point. We must have right teachings about God in order to love God with all of our beings. The works that flow from self-love are not for God and not out of love for God. All that man does is to flow from love for God and the truth of the character and attributes of God is surely necessary for that. Good works, then, are utterly dependant on knowing and loving God. As noted above, Satan knows the truth about God but he hates God instead of loving Him. The orthodoxy of Satan is used by Satan to trick people into non-orthodoxy on the one hand and yet uses orthodoxy to lull people to sleep and cold hearts in their orthodoxy. Satan does not care if people are orthodox as long as they do not love God. Satan is concerned with keeping people from loving and honoring God so that God will not gain the glory. Whether people are orthodox or not Satan’s real goal is to keep them from loving and honoring God.

Another way to look at this is the definition that Jesus gave us of eternal life. “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). Orthodoxy is to know things about God, but eternal life is to know God. In one sense the start of the path to eternal life is through knowing about God, but the goal is not to know about God. Eternal life begins in this life and continues on into eternity and it consists in knowing God which is to love and be in communion with Him. John wrote the book of I John so that people could know if they had eternal life or not. “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life” (I John 5:13). He did not say that he had written the letter so that people could know that they were orthodox, but so that they could know if they had eternal life. One passage that he gave them and us is meant to teach us about what it means to have eternal life and what it means to know God. “We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (I John 4:16). To know God is to know and believe the love that God has for His people. To know God is to abide in love and have God abide in that person. Surely, I would think, that in light of having the love of God in us and having God in us orthodoxy as such pales in comparison. No one has God dwelling in them apart from orthodoxy, but there may be plenty of orthodox people that do not have God and His love dwelling in them. Orthodoxy is but a slender part of being a Christian.

“There is today no lack no lack of Bible teachers to set forth correctly the principles of the doctrines of Christ, but too many of these seem satisfied to teach the fundamentals of the faith year after year, strangely unaware that there is in their ministry no manifest Presence, nor anything unusual in their personal lives. They minister constantly to believers who feel within their breasts a longing which their teaching does not satisfy” (A.W. Tozer).

It is a terrible thing that ministers minister to people that have a longing within them and the teaching simply does not satisfy. Perhaps the teaching is orthodox in terms of the letter of the law or doctrine, but there is no spiritual food for the souls of the people. The only food that the Bible has to offer is Christ Himself who is the very outshining of the glory of God (Hebrews 1:3). Christ is the bread that has been sent from heaven to feed the souls of all who believe (John 6:51-58). No matter how faithful a minister may be to the text in terms of the words, the spiritual souls of people will not be fed unless Christ is given to the people to feed their souls with. In other words, it is possible to set under a faithful minister in the sense of his being orthodox and in terms of his preaching the text but the souls under him are still starving. People must have spiritual food or they will starve.

It is a good thing to be distraught when we see and hear of people being led astray by liberals and unorthodox ministers and theologians. However, how are we to act when we see men that are truly preaching the Word in one sense but are not feeding the souls of the people? In neither of these cases are the souls of people being reached with the manna from heaven. What, then, is the real difference? Is it better to be led astray by the teaching of liberalism and heresy or to be blinded and deceived to true religion by orthodoxy? If neither of these are getting to the point of feeding souls with spiritual food, is one really better than another? While we want to say that the orthodox teaching is better, we must face head on the teachings of the Pharisees versus the Sadducees. The Sadducees denied the resurrection of the dead as many liberals do today. The Pharisees stood up and believed that orthodox teaching and taught the historical teachings of Judaism. However, which one was better?

We need to wake up and realize that orthodox teaching can be nothing more than the wisdom of men given in the power of man. Orthodox teaching as to the letter of it is not all there is to preaching and teaching. People must be led to Christ in order to drink at the Fountain of Living Water and to feed on the heavenly manna. God did not set out ministers within the churches just to teach the basic teachings of the Bible according to words alone. No, they are to preach to the glory of God. They are to preach in the power of the Spirit. “For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (I Thess 1:5). The Word of God is not to be preached in word only, that is, even with orthodox doctrine and cultured expositional preaching. The Word of God is to be preached in power. The Word of God is to be preached in the Holy Spirit. The Word of God is to be preached with full conviction. Dare we say that if these things are not done that one is not really preaching as he ought?

There are true believers in orthodox in doctrine churches and they are sitting under orthodox teachers and their souls are not being fed. Why is that? For the simple reason that orthodoxy does not feed souls in and of itself. Orthodox teaching is meant to take a person to Christ and the glory of God. It is not meant to be an end in and of itself, it is meant to take one to God and His glory in Christ. Only when orthodox teaching takes people to God and His glory and feeds souls with that is preaching carrying out its purpose as well.

Reformed teaching and expositional preaching are not ends in and of themselves. People can starve under those things just like they will under liberal ones. People can starve under expositions of Scripture just like they can with skyscraper sermons (one story on top of another) filled with fluff and humorous anecdotes. Expositional preaching with Reformed theology can leave one dry and dead in the soul too. Both of those methods can be nothing but an approach that tries to teach orthodoxy but is simply full of nothing but intellectual content. Preachers must learn that they need to preach God and His glory more than anything else. They must learn that orthodox theology and expositional preaching is to aid in preaching God and His glory. But if they do not seek to exalt and lift God up with orthodoxy and expositional preaching, they are simply being satisfied with intellectual exercises. “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Surely preaching and teaching falls under that command and privilege as well. That alone will satisfy the longing in the breasts of believers.

“There is today no lack no lack of Bible teachers to set forth correctly the principles of the doctrines of Christ, but too many of these seem satisfied to teach the fundamentals of the faith year after year, strangely unaware that there is in their ministry no manifest Presence, nor anything unusual in their personal lives. They minister constantly to believers who feel within their breasts a longing which their teaching does not satisfy” (A.W. Tozer).

The previous statement by Tozer would probably be shocking to many ears today. Many would wonder what else is there other than setting forth the correct principles and doctrines of Christ. We have stores lined with orthodox books as well as books that are not orthodox. We have more books on how to study the Bible than we could ever possibly use. We have enough Bibles in the United States to virtually cover the world (it appears). We have Reformed movements going on, conservative movements going on, and many other movements on the radio, internet, and television. However, the majority of those movements are primarily moral with a few focused on Bible teaching. But where is God in all of these things?

Amos 8:11-13 sets out what one great judgment that the Lord sends on a nation or His people. It is a withdrawing a hearing of the Word, or perhaps just not giving a hearing or understanding of the Word. The Lord did not say that He was going to remove teachers and take the scrolls from the land at that time, but that He was going to withdraw hearing of the Word. In our day we have a proliferation of Bibles, materials, and aids to study the Bible. But we don’t have more than a mere academic understanding of the Word. Could it be that God has withdrawn understanding from the Church and our nation? Could it be that a proliferation of materials is actually a sign that God has withdrawn from the Church?

I will try to explain what I mean by use of an illustration. We can imagine several people that are used to eating solid food that consists of good nutrition. Now we can imagine an intruder that sneaks in and begins to substitute some food with little to no nutrition for the good food that had a lot of good nutrition. The people could actually eat a lot more food and still have their bodies craving for even more food because they were getting less and less nutrition. On the outside it appeared that they were getting enough to eat because of the sheer volume and amount that they were eating, but inwardly they were starving because they were not getting proper nutrition for their bodies. We can also imagine people stuffing themselves with candy and junk food and never getting enough healthy food. The same thing is true of people spiritually. They can become, so to speak, spiritual addicts or spiritual junkies because they are cramming as much in as they can. However, if they are not getting proper nutrition from the spiritual diet (see the glory of God, understanding truth) they will be craving more and more as they have less and less benefit.

The above illustration sets out what is going on within the United States today. We have materials galore but the presence of God is not with us in giving understanding. As in times of famine, we see few births and those who are born are starving because of the lack of good spiritual nutrition. Things are so bad that the problem is not recognized. The United States is going through a time of unparalleled prosperity in some ways and yet its people are being visited with the judgment of God in a spiritual famine. Interest in Reformed theology is not necessarily a sign that people have understanding. An interest in morality is no necessarily a sign that people have understanding. The number of mega-churches is going up, but a larger number of people attending a place that calls itself a church is not necessarily a sign that people have understanding.

What is lacking today is a people seeking God’s face rather than His outward blessings. Ministers are more like CEO’s trying to grow a business than they are of pastors with a burden for the glory of God. Where is God in all that we are doing? Where is the presence of the holiness of God that will break men from entertainment, learned expositions, and useless frivolity in their pursuit of numbers and money? The Church must get back to seeking the presence of God rather than all of its business in what it thinks is serving God. Without the presence of God all the activities of a church is simply like the rituals of the Israelites that He hated when they did them without a desire for Him. Churches need to consider laying aside their rituals and begin to seek God and His presence. If not, the activities will go on while the people smile and act happy. But inside, they will be starving to death and perhaps not even know why. We must have the presence of God above all. If not, the starvation and deception of souls will continue and the people will love it so (Jer 5:31). But what will they do at the end of it?

“In this hour of all-but-universal darkness one cheering gleam appears: Within the fold of conservative Christianity there are to be found increasing numbers of persons whose religious lives are marked by a growing hunger after God Himself. They are eager for spiritual realities and will not be put off with words, nor will they be content with correct “interpretations” of truth. They are athirst for God, and they will not be satisfied till they have drunk deep at the Fountain of Living Water” (A.W. Tozer).

While it is the case that Tozer sounded a bit optimistic in his day about the growing hunger, I am not sure that optimism is true of the modern day which is almost 60 years later. We live in a day where the Church is pursuing entertainment, large numbers, political clout, and influence more than God Himself. One might even say that it appears that the Church is more interested in the size of its offerings and organization than it is in God. In other words, the Church which is to be marked by eternal life which is knowing God and the presence of God and His glory has actually become more like Israel in its pursuit of foreign nations to ally itself with and even having other gods (idols). The Church is more like Martha who was more concerned with business than with being at the feet of Christ drinking in His Words and Himself. Is it any wonder that the Church is so pathetic and weak in the modern day? Where is God in all that is going on?

Israel was punished over and over again and even banished from the land and sent into captivity because of its idolatry and trusting in foreign nations rather than God. The Church must learn from that and it needs to learn quickly. The Church will only be rescued when it has people that begin to hunger and thirst for God Himself and not just His programs and perceived blessings in numbers and money. The Church develops its programs for church growth and evangelism from the wisdom of the world and then it wants God to bless what it does. The Church is not a business!!!!!! It is supposed to be the dwelling place of the living God. The Church is to be for the glory and pleasure of God as Israel was. But once the idolatry and the leaning on the world started, they were cast off and cast off with severe consequences.

Israel would seek God on occasions with fasting and religious rituals, but that was not really seeking God Himself. They went through all the external things but their hearts were not seeking God in them. God hated that and told them to take away their offerings and the noise of their so-called worship. What about the modern Church is any different than Israel? We come to “church” and we go about the external things of church activities. We do our duty by singing a few songs, though our hearts are not in it. Perhaps we have more modern music and so we tap our toes and sway a bit, but if the music is what moves us and not the glory of God, we are simply in worship of ourselves and doing what we enjoy. The preaching is usually little more than pop-psychology with a bit of Bible added to give it a Christian flavor. Whatever, but where is God Himself? Where is God sought from the heart that desires God and God alone? We must remember that a low view of God is idolatry in the mind and heart. Can a people go to a church, not seek God and that by anything less than idolatry? Isn’t that being like Israel?

If the Church is just like Israel, then it will be punished like Israel. The Church will not find God with all of its external trappings and idolatrous thoughts of God along with the practices that dishonor Him. God is not satisfied with people or churches that try to do Him a favor or throw Him a bone by their giving Him a bit of their time and money. God wants a people that love Him with all of their beings and will seek Him for Himself. God wants churches that will seek Him more than anything else. He wants churches that will settle for fewer people and lesser offerings in order to seek His glory. Since seeking God Himself and not just something from God is unpopular, lower numbers and offerings may result. But isn’t God Himself better than all of those things? What else is there?

Until people and churches turn from their idols and seek God for Himself, the Church will continue to be weak and its steep decline in true spirituality will continue. Preachers will continue preaching and people will be entertained week after week in church after church. However, those churches will have many people that are damned through the church. They will never hear the truth of the glory of God and they will never begin to hunger and thirst for God Himself. The Church desperately needs men and women who are hungry for God and thirsty for Living Water. A few must begin to cry out to God to raise up some people that will care for nothing but His glory and honor on this planet. A few must cry out to God to bring a hunger and thirst in the souls of people. If those things are not done, why will God preserve something that is called “Church” in name but not in reality? Be broken.

“In this hour of all-but-universal darkness one cheering gleam appears: Within the fold of conservative Christianity there are to be found increasing numbers of persons whose religious lives are marked by a growing hunger after God Himself. They are eager for spiritual realities and will not be put off with words, nor will they be content with correct “interpretations” of truth. They are athirst for God, and they will not be satisfied till they have drunk deep at the Fountain of Living Water” (A.W. Tozer).

Jesus and Paul never taught doctrine to feed the intellect alone, they taught to drive men to Christ or to feed the sheep that had already found Christ. It is said that Thomas Aquinas, the theologian of Rome in the 1300’s that was a prolific writer, shortly before he died gave up writing and thought all of his writings were worthless. He had some sort of experience in which he said that he had a vision of some sort where he saw God. Whatever else it was or whatever could be said about it, the sight (spiritual) of God opened his eyes to true glory and he refused to write anything else. Evidently Aquinas had something happen in his soul that can only be described as something like “he tasted and saw that the Lord was good.” Perhaps what he saw was something like Paul who was so zealous for his traditions and orthodoxy until he saw the light which knocked him to the ground. Once Paul recovered, he set the world in its head by the light that he saw shining through him in the world. A person must see God or that person will never have the fire in his bones or belly.

Where are the mighty men of God today? We see many books being written, and that is not all bad. But where are those who have met with God? Where are those who are truly thirsty for the glory of God? Where are those who are so hungry for God and so thirsty for Living Water that they will not rest until they find Him? These are the one’s who believe in orthodox theology and correct interpretation of Scripture but are never satisfied with those until they meet with God. These are they type of men that groan for the glory of God and so they pray for that with a burning heart. But where are these type of men today? We have a lot of heat in some circles, but little to no light. We have a lot of light in one sense from other circles, but no heat. The real problem is that men are simply too satisfied with orthodoxy and will not seek the God that orthodoxy teaches about.

Jesus taught that men must desire or wish to follow Him enough that they would deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him (Luke 9:23-26). Men think that they have denied themselves when they bow their minds and submit to an orthodox understanding of Scripture. But that can be done without true self-denial. Orthodoxy can be that which puffs the mind up with self (pride of I Cor 8:1-3) instead of denying self. Jesus did not say, however, that one must deny himself and take up an orthodox opinion of Him. He said that self must be denied in order to take up the cross and follow Him. Stopping at orthodoxy and morality is not following Christ.

Where are the historians, theologians, and Biblical scholars that weep for the glory of God more than scholarship? Where are those men that will have conferences on seeking the presence of God and not just knowing more about Him? Where are those men who will lay down their scholarship and admit it is nothing compared to knowing the living God? Where are those that will admit that knowing all the details about justification by faith alone is not the same thing as believing God Himself who justifies the ungodly by sheer grace? Where are the conferences that will teach men as much as men can teach on the issue of drinking from the Fountain of Living Water? Where can we find instructions on how to feed hungry souls with God Himself and not just dry bread? Where are the writers and teachers that will teach the Church to seek God with all the heart and not just the mind?

The Church must wake up and realize that we are drowning in a sea of information by means of books, tapes, CD’s, Bibles, and all types of conferences and meetings. Those things do not mean that people are finding God there, it must means that they are hearing information. Amos 8:11 speaks to our time: “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, “When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, But rather for hearing the words of the LORD.”” There is a lot of teaching and a lot of literature, but are those things inconsistent with a famine of hearing the words of the LORD? No, it is not. Verse 12 says this: “People will stagger from sea to sea And from the north even to the east; They will go to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, But they will not find it.” That appears to me exactly what is going on today. Many are going around from coast to coast going to conferences and reading books, but they are not hearing God speak. They are not finding God Himself. We must seek the Lord that we may begin to hunger and thirst for Him, not just the means.

“In this hour of all-but-universal darkness one cheering gleam appears: Within the fold of conservative Christianity there are to be found increasing numbers of persons whose religious lives are marked by a growing hunger after God Himself. They are eager for spiritual realities and will not be put off with words, nor will they be content with correct “interpretations” of truth. They are athirst for God, and they will not be satisfied till they have drunk deep at the Fountain of Living Water” (A.W. Tozer).

The book this quote was taken from (The Pursuit of God) was originally published in 1949. I am not sure that the cheering gleam that Tozer saw then is still a gleam. The darkness of non-truth has settled in and even among those who love truth there appears to be a lack of desire for God Himself. It is true that orthodoxy can be fastened on by some and many can get excited over a growing number that hold to an orthodox position, but that is still a long distance from hungering for spiritual realities and for God Himself. A person my be orthodox in theology without hungering for God and be satisfied with the doctrines themselves. In that case, it is true that knowledge puffs up (I Corinthians 8:1-3) and the orthodoxy may leave a person in a worse position than before. A person that is orthodox and does not really desire God is a person that is seriously deceived by orthodoxy itself. The Pharisees were quite orthodox in many of their positions and certainly were orthodox within their own views. But they did not hunger for spiritual realities and for God Himself.

It appears that people can actually grow in a state of being deceived by Bible study. While this may sound ludicrous to many if not most, we must understand that the Bible was not given for the purpose that people would gather together and study it in order to gain knowledge. The Bible was given as a revelation of God for the purpose of leading people to a knowledge of and experiential reality with God Himself. Many people are satisfied with pat answers and are content with certain interpretations of Scripture, but the very satisfaction and contentment can lull them to sleep if they are not confronted with God Himself. In other words, orthodoxy can be very dangerous if a person is not confronted with the character and glory of God Himself. God Himself must be the spiritual reality that people pursue and find in their studies. If not, they have not found the true meaning of Scripture.

People who are thirsty for God are not satisfied with programs and entertaining events. They want God and nothing else will satisfy their thirsty souls. They desire truth and reality and will not be satisfied with correct interpretations of Scripture and orthodox notions unless those lead them to the Fountain of Living Water. A thirsty person wants to drink pure water and not teachings about what the water is like. In other words, the orthodox teachings of Christ may satisfy the intellect but that will not satisfy the thirsty soul. While the orthodox teachings are necessary, they are not the goal or the purpose of the teachings. John 17:3 tells us that “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” The text does not say that “This is eternal life, that they may know about You by orthodoxy and correct interpretations.” The text tells us that eternal life is in knowing the true God and Jesus Christ.

Again, we must have orthodoxy and correct interpretations within our churches. But, we must never rest satisfied with those alone. We must teach an orthodoxy that leads us to spiritual realities and a knowing of God Himself. We must teach people that correct interpretation is to lead us to drink from the Fountain of Living Water. Orthodoxy and correct interpretation must lead us to being the temples of God where His glory shines through His people and they know Him and love His glory above all else. What else is this but the panting of the soul like we find in the Psalms. Psalm 42:1 tells us this, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God.” That text does not say this: “As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants after orthodoxy and correct interpretations.” While we must desire orthodoxy and correct interpretations, those must not be terminal desires but instrumental desires. Orthodoxy and interpretations must be instruments that are used in the pursuit of God Himself. We could only wish that seminaries and churches would begin to stress knowing God as the goal of orthodoxy and biblical interpretation. Instead, it appears that they stop before they reach that goal. The problem is that no one can really teach others how to find God since God alone can do that. But we must tell people that we have done all we can do and tell them that they must seek God and He alone can give them drink from the Fountain of Living Water. God alone can open their eyes to eternal realities and feed them with His glory. God alone can give man this. Orthodoxy cannot give this to men; all it can do is point men in the right direction. The problem is that we have become infatuated with the directions and not what the directions point to.

“The heaviest obligation lying upon the Christian Church today is to purify and elevate her concept of God until it is once more worthy of Him-and her. In all her prayers and labors this should have first place. We do the greatest service to the next generation of Christians by passing on to them undimmed and undiminished that noble concept of God which we received from our Hebrew and Christian fathers of generations past. This will prove of greater value to them than anything that art or science can devise.” (A.W. Tozer)

Tozer intimates that there are multiple obligations lying upon the Church, but he sets out the greatest or heaviest obligation as the Church’s great need to purify and elevate her concept of God. It is fitting that a conception of God should be elevated and lifted higher and higher. No human being can ever have too high a conception of God as long as it is in line with the truth. We see this line of thought throughout the prophets as they cried out to the people about the glory of God and that they should lift up their eyes to see His glory. For anyone concerned to see the glory of God, that person would desire to see that glory in greater and still greater elevations.

We should also see that the conception of God that we have needs to be purified. All conceptions of God that are lower than they should be are clouded with sin. As we have seen in other blogs from Romans 1:18ff, people have to suppress the truth about God in order to go on in sin. So sin must be repented of and the darkness of the mind must be enlightened in order for a higher conception of God to be renewed into the soul. Regeneration is putting “on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” Sanctification is going through His discipline “so that we may share in His holiness” (Heb 12:10). To know God we must be purified in order to have a purified conception of God.

Another reason that the Church must elevate its concept of God is because of worship. If people were really concerned with worship, they would not be so caught up with all the externals. Instead, they would be caught up with God. Worship is all about adoring God. To have true worship or, even better, to desire to have God’s glory be declared and experienced in true worship is to desire for His glory to be declared. Worship is primarily about God and not what people like or prefer. If people like and prefer God over themselves, then they want the glory of God displayed. The churches must begin to desire for God to be worshipped in spirit and truth rather than trying to please people with great sound and pop music under the guise of worship.

A third reason is because of evangelism. The glory of God is necessary for the conviction of sin and for true conversion. Without the glory of God there is no true evangelism. While many try to do evangelism today based on man-centered models and focused on the need of man, it is doomed to failure for two reasons. One, because it is not true evangelism and God will not honor it. Two, men are not converted with a practice of evangelism that is not based on a high concept of God. An evangelism that does not have a high view of God will never produce true conviction of sin and true repentance. That type of evangelism will never see men turned from the dominion of Satan to the kingdom of God where the glory of God shines in the hearts of His people.

A fourth reason is simply because of love for God. A love for God demands that His people pursue His glory. A group of people pursuing a love for God with all of their being is a people with a high view of God. If a group of people do not have a high view of God they will not pursue God much at all. They may make some noise and appear to have zeal, but their zeal will be without knowledge and will be for self. True worship always seeks to exalt God in heart and life, and an exalted view of God enables and drives true worship.

A fifth reason is because a high view of God is necessary for the next generation. Indeed, even if they gain the whole world that art and science offers and lose their souls, they will have lost it all. Art and science both need a high concept of God in order to guide art and science into the knowledge of God in all that it does. The Church must exalt God and His glory instead of water it down to make things more attractive to the unconverted. For these reasons and more, each church must begin to give itself in prayer and labor to see this happen. If indeed this is the most important thing, then the churches must give themselves to praying as Christ taught (Hallowed by Thy name). After all, the first petition in the model prayer is for God’s name to be revered, held in awe, and glorified. Christ taught this and perhaps this is one reason why. The church can go no higher than its conception of God.

“Before the Christian Church goes into eclipse anywhere there must first be a corrupting of her simple basic theology. She simply gets the wrong answer to the question, “What is God like?” and goes on from there. Though she may continue to cling to a sound nominal creed, her practical working creed has become false. The masses of her adherents come to believe that God is different from what He actually is; and that is heresy of the most insidious and deadly kind.” (A.W. Tozer)

God is thought of in such terms today that He is thought to be something like a doting grandfather, an indulgent and kindly man, or perhaps a blob of love floating around. Many people belong to churches with orthodox creeds but they have a wrong idea of God and that almost completely. The creed that people work by is their real creed since it reflects the deepest beliefs they have in their hearts. Regardless of what the official belief is that a particular church has adopted, and perhaps the people can even intellectually defend it, it is in the business meetings and the practices of the church that the practical working creed which can show the deepest beliefs of people is really seen. What do people believe about God? Do they really believe in God when they develop a budget? Do they really believe in a sovereign God when they think of how they are going to practice evangelism? Do they really believe in a sovereign God when they try to think of supporting missionaries? Do people really believe that God is a God that dwells in His people when they disagree in a business meeting? Do people really believe in a holy God when no human beings see them?

If we take Tozer’s statement seriously, then we must look soberly at the churches we attend. What is the practical working creed of the church that I attend? While “my church” may have an orthodox creed, could it be guilty of heresy of the most insidious and deadly king when its practical working creed is seen? Many believed Jesus when He fed them and healed them, but as He said to a crowd that had believed in Him: “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine.” People must continue in His word in order to show that they are truly His disciples. Believing is not simply a matter of saying a prayer or of agreeing to a creed in a church, but it is a matter of having the life of Christ in a person and believing what He said. It is to take the views of Christ about things over the things of the world and so walking by faith and not by sight. This includes what Jesus revealed about the Father by action and word. If a person does not believe what Christ says about the Father, then one does not believe in Christ and has never really seen Christ (spiritually understanding). Jesus told His disciples that if they had seen Him they had seen the Father (John 14:9). No matter what a church says about believing in Christ, if they do not believe the truth about God they have not seen or understood Christ since He is the outshining of the glory of God (Heb 1:3).

When the practical working creed of a church has become false, this shows that the church has a different God and that they do not know Christ either. This may sound harsh and judgmental, but it is still true. Eternal life is to know God and the Jesus Christ (John 17:3). Christ came to reveal the Father (John 1:18) and in fact was the very dwelling place of the glory of God, the glory of grace and truth (John 1:14-17). As the dwelling place of the glory of truth, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life and the only way to really understand and know the Father (John 14:6). No one can even go to the Father and see or understand His glory without seeing it in Christ and going to Him by way of understanding and faith in the truth displayed in and through Christ. A wrong view of God, therefore, is a wrong view of Christ. As Jesus said, “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him” (John 14:7). If a person knows Christ they know the Father. On the other hand, if a person does not know Christ s/he does not know the Father.

The devastating results of a church that has a practical working creed that displays a heretical view of God is indeed sad. A church that has an orthodox creed is a dangerous place to worship if it has a heretical view of God in it practical working creed. In fact, a church with an orthodox creed could be more dangerous than liberal groups. A person trusting in an orthodox creed and yet does not understand the heretical notions about God within the practical working creed can be drawn into heretical beliefs that are hidden and disguised by the orthodox creed. This is a very dangerous place to be. Tozer called it this: “that is heresy of the most insidious and deadly kind.” Can he be correct? Is it far more deadly to have a practical working creed that is heretical than the official doctrinal statement? It very well could be. Maybe that is why Jesus was so hard on the Pharisees. This kind of idolatry goes under the name of “orthodoxy.” Can correct doctrine hide heretical hearts? Indeed it can, so beware.

“Perverted notions about God soon rot the religion in which they appear. The long career of Israel demonstrates this clearly enough, and the history of the Church confirms it. So necessary to the Church is a lofty concept of God that when that concept in any measure declines, the Church with her worship and moral standards declines along with it. The first step down for any church is taken when it surrenders its high opinion of God.” (A.W. Tozer)

In this blog we want to deal with the statement that the first step down for any church is when it surrenders its high opinion of God. Notice that the statement by Tozer does not say how big the step is, but just that it is a step down. He also says that it is the first step as if the other steps going down are going to be taken if the first step is. Is he exaggerating when he says this? Surely, however, if God has given His people all that they need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him (II Peter 1:3-5), then a step away from a high opinion of God is also a step away from true life and godliness. If eternal life is found and experienced in knowing Him, then a step away from a high opinion of God is also a step away from true life and godliness. I find that instead of an exaggeration of the issue, Tozer has understated the issue.

We see the problems of this in the book of Revelation. In 2:4 of Revelation the church is told that they “have left your first love.” They were told that their lampstand would be removed if they did not repent. This would have been a model church in our day. They had deeds, toil, and perseverance and they tested men who claimed to be apostles and they could not tolerate evil men. These people had perseverance to the point that they endured for the sake of His name and did not grow weary in that. But they were told that their lampstand was about to removed because they had left their first love. Could Jesus have been reacting a bit strongly against this church? Or could it be that this church had taken a step down and given up a high view of God? Can one leave God as their first love and still maintain a high view of God? Surely the answer is self-evident.

What would Christ say to churches today? Perhaps He would say nothing but simply leave. The church in Ephesus sounds like a conservative, Bible-believing, hard-working church. They persevered even in the face of persecution. They had great deeds and toil for the Lord. How many churches could have it said about them today that they could not tolerate evil men? How many churches today could have it said about them that they tested men as to their claims? So this church was far beyond many if not the vast majority of conservative churches today. But they had fallen from their first love. This means that they had surrendered to some degree some part of a high view of God. This is simply devastating.

The church in Sardis (Rev 3:1-6) was also commended because of its deeds and for having a name that it was alive. However, Christ said that it was dead. This is devastating! To be told by Christ that you are a dead church is completely devastating, and especially when it had the reputation for being alive. How many “churches” today have reputations for being active, growing and alive and yet Christ knows that they are dead? This sounds like churches that have a lot of activity and yet no real spiritual life in them. What is their problem? Most likely they have taken a step down from a high view of God at some point and have become more like social clubs and spiritual feel good places where people come by to get a little spiritual talk. Perhaps they have programs that help people in far away places and maybe give things to the needy in their own area, and so they are commended for their deeds and have a name for being alive since they have activities and growth. But if they do not have a high view of God, they are dead.

The church in Laodicea had deeds, but it was lukewarm (Rev 3:16). Imagine that a church worked hard and did many things, but it was lukewarm. Imagine even more that a church worked with earnestness and did many things with enthusiasm, but its enthusiasm was not from a real love for God. In other words, it was lukewarm for and toward God. As verse 19 says, they were to be zealous and repent. What happens to a church that has grown lukewarm toward God? It has taken that downward step and has taken a lower view of God. A step down in the view of God is also a step down in loving God and a step down in zeal for God. The churches in Revelation were in trouble because they had a lowered opinion of God. The churches in the U.S. are in trouble for the same reason. We think that our troubles are because we are not in touch and sing old music, but our troubles are because we are lukewarm and have little if any love for God and His glory. We have become centered on man and are idolatrous in our evangelism and worship. We think God is all about us. We must repent and cry for revival.

“Perverted notions about God soon rot the religion in which they appear. The long career of Israel demonstrates this clearly enough, and the history of the Church confirms it. So necessary to the Church is a lofty concept of God that when that concept in any measure declines, the Church with her worship and moral standards declines along with it. The first step down for any church is taken when it surrenders its high opinion of God.” (A.W. Tozer)

I love the next part of this quote by Tozer. “So necessary to the Church is a lofty concept of God that when that concept in any measure declines, the Church with her worship and moral standards declines along with it.” The word “necessary” is not hyperbole but a statement of fact. The church must have a lofty concept of God because that is the only concept of God that is according to the truth of who and what God is. Of course we must understand that if God is a God of infinite glory, then a small view of God is really a view of another god altogether. It is not just a little bit necessary, but as Tozer said it is “so necessary to the Church.” Why is it that necessary? It is for at least two reasons: One, because God does not dwell within those who are committed to idolatry and a low view of God is idolatry. Two, it is necessary because the lofty concept of God controls worship and morality. When a church’s view of God is lowered, its worship and moral standards are automatically lowered because those things are controlled by the view of God. Of course the two reasons are linked in that when God withdraws from a church its worship and morality will plunge to the depths.

But how does a lower concept of God lead to a decline in worship? Let us remember that Scripture sets out how worship is to be done. “Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe” (Heb 12:28). Three things here are set out as necessary to true worship. One must have gratitude, reverence, and awe. Without those things, worship is not possible. We also have another text that greatly informs our understanding of worship too: “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). From this text we understand that true worship must be from the inner man and it must be in truth.

Now, how do those two texts fit together? Reverence and awe must come from the inner man, so that is clearly linked. However, even more important is the link between truth and reverence and awe. Reverence and awe must be moved by the truth of the character of God and according to the truth of what God has done in Christ. After all, Christ is the Truth Himself (John 14:6). When we begin to grasp that we can only go to the Father through the truth of the glory of God as set out in Christ, we can understand that a deviation from a lofty concept of God is a deviation from the truth about Himself as seen in Christ. We can understand that truth is a vital issue in worship. But we can also understand that truth is vital to the understanding of who God is so that a person will have reverence and awe. If there is no reverence and no awe, there is no worship of the living God. So if there is no truth and that leads to no reverence and awe which leads to no worship, we can clearly see that a lowered concept of God leads to actual destruction of true worship. There must be a lofty concept of God or there will be no worship of the true God at all.

How does a lower concept of God lead to a decline in moral standards? This should be clear from a few points that are drawn from a few texts of Scripture.

1. There is no morality apart from a love for God (I Cor 13:1-8 & Matt 22:37).
2. All men are commanded to be holy as He is holy (I Peter 1:15-16).
3. All the commandments are really kept by love (Rom 13:9).

Without question, then, if morality is really based on love for God, then to the degree that the concept of God is lowered is the degree that morality is lowered. However, it is also true that the lower the concept of the truth of God goes that the whole standard of morality sinks as well. When the character of God is changed to something that He is not or if the terms are defined differently, then the remaining concept is idolatrous. An idol is something that man has dreamed up in his own fallen mind in order to allow for sin so when the concept of God has been lowered morality has already been lowered. The decline is set out for us in Romans 1:18 through the end of that chapter. There is nothing more important for the churches to do than to get on its knees and into its Bibles in order to set out God in His glory as He really is. The churches must do this as no one else will. This must not be done in order to obtain more numbers, but simply because God’s glory is what the church is to be about. The churches must desire the presence of God more than anything else and return to the truth of God so that it may worship. It is absolutely necessary.