Knowing with the Heart

. . . there is at the root of true religion an inward witness, an awareness of God and Christ at the farthest- in the core of the renewed Christian's spirit given to him by the Spirit of God. This experience results from faith in and obedience to the Scriptures. It is the end result of Bible doctrine but it is not that doctrine. It is a consciousness of God and spiritual things too deep and wonderful to utter or even think.

If this sounds too extreme or mystical let me remind my readers that it was once an accepted and expected phenomenon in most Protestant churches. In happier and holier times conversion was held to be (among other blessed things) an immediate acquaintance with God in living, spiritual experience. This came about as the result of the Word preached in the power of the Spirit.

And let's remember one thing more. Even today there are those who can testify that they too know what I am talking about here. We do not need to appeal to the dead past for support of our teaching. God still has His thousands who know what the inner witness is.

[url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/articles/index.php?view=category&cid=2]A.W. Tozer[/url]

Even today there are those who can testify that they too know what I am talking about here.

I praise God that I can type these words with that very testimony dwelling within me. An intimacy with God that transcends understanding, and cannot be expressed in words. It is the indwelling Spirit of the Lord, and He is the most precious treasure I have in the entire world - before my wife, possessions, job, parents, and my own life. All earth-bound things grow mortally dim in His increasing radiance.

It is the Lord, and He is all there is. Oh, that His presence would grow even deeper each day, and engage all my resources with ever-increasing intensity on and on until my spirit leaves this earth! May it never end! The mystical union Tozer speaks of here is what bears the ineffable witness of Christ's indwelling, and this blessed indwelling is what fans the growing flames of devotion in the heart of the believer. Hallelujah!

Brother Paul