I would not call myself an atheist. The problem involved is too vast for our limited minds. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages. The child knows someone must have written these books. It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangement of the books, but doesn't know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God. Such was the estimation of the knowledge of God by none other than the past century's perhaps greatest physicist and scientist, Albert Einstein. Einstein's attitude, I think, is typical not only of brilliant scientists, but of everyday people in the age in which we live. That is, it's not that most people are overt atheists. There are those who are surely that, but they don't comprise the majority of people in this country or even around the world. Studies show, much to the dismay of Richard Dawkins and his cronies, that despite their valiant publishing efforts, people continue to believe in God. But the problem is that people believe there is some God out there, but if you really press them, you're likely to get the response that we just can't know for sure. There's many opinions of God. Who could possibly know which one is right? That's the argument we hear so often. Now, I want you to see, as we begin this study, called Meeting God, and as we study the person, the attributes of God this evening, that Jesus Christ puts it so plainly to us, doesn't he, in John 17, 3, as he begins what is known as the high priestly prayer of our Lord towards the end of his ministry. He says there, he says, this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. That's what Jesus says. Eternal life is the knowledge of God as well. I want us to see that the Bible clearly and definitely answers this question. Therefore, can we know God? In fact, we can go further and say that's the wrong question to ask. In one sense, the Apostle Paul and the text before us this evening gives us a startling and original answer to that question precisely because it comes from the very God whom people seek to know. Now, before we jump into this, let me briefly set the context and our preaching text will be I read 118 through 23. Our preaching text will be 118 through 21. And one further note, as we do this study of the attributes of God, again, I'll be departing from my normal practice. Normally, as I do the pulpit ministry here at Shiloh, we will go verse by verse through a specific book of the Bible. As we begin, though, I thought it'd be helpful to do a study of the character of God, and we'll be looking to specific passages in the Scriptures, doing what's known as textual topical preaching, so that I will exposit the verses, but we'll be skipping around a little bit in Scripture. This evening, however, we'll study verses 1, 18 through 21. The context should be familiar to most of us. Romans is a book that has been studied and preached throughout all the ages, and the context has made clear to us what Paul is telling us. He tells us at the beginning what he's going to do. He said, I long to see you, verse 11, that I may impart to you some spiritual gifts that strengthen you. That is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. Paul had never visited Rome. It's likely the most important church in the empire. It's the center of all things, was Rome at this time. And the church there, Paul wants to strengthen. And the way he goes about doing that in the book of Romans is unfolding for us the most systematic, thorough, in-depth teaching about the gospel of Jesus Christ. And it's a very tight, compact letter. You'll find that their folks in the connecting words. And it's it's an argument that runs 16 chapters below it in thrill. It thrills us. It enthralls us. It puzzles us. There are things that are hard to understand. We see Peter's sentiment of second Peter when he says there are things in Paul that are hard to understand, perhaps nowhere else than in Romans. This part, however, is very clear. When we come to verse 18, what Paul is going to do is run a systematic argument from 118 to 320, and we can summarize his thoughts in those three chapters very simply. Everyone knows God and everyone needs the gospel because everyone is falling in sin, Jews and Gentiles alike. That's why he begins here in verse 17 saying this, for in it, that's the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith. So he starts in verse 17 and says, righteousness has been revealed in the gospel. Then beginning in verse 18, he says wrath has been revealed. Now, why does he do that? We'll unpack that in a second. But Paul is saying to us, therefore, the Gospel's been revealed, and then there's been a response by humanity. And he begins with the pagans. He begins to unfold what those outside the covenant have done with the revelation of God. Unless the Jewish heroes of his audience become proud in chapter two in verse one, he says, therefore, who are you, O man? Notice how he puts that. Therefore, even the pagans don't get it. He says, that's the very reason you Jews shouldn't be proud because you've had the oracles of God. What have you done with it? You've disobeyed the law. And then he comes to that climax in Romans three, where he says there's none righteous. No, not one. None that seeks after God. So we find ourselves at the beginning of that section of Paul's teaching. What I want us to see from our text this evening is this. We learn that all people know God, but only Christians know him in a gracious way, and that should affect how we live as Christians. We learn that all people know God, but only Christians know him in a gracious way, and that should affect how we live as Christians. And I want to look at this text by answering three questions. Three questions. The first one is this. Can we know God? Question one. Can we know God? Now, I want to cover, as we begin to think about this, two wrong starting points when you ask that question. The first one is this. It's the assumption that you and I are somehow neutral with respect to God, that we're somehow Switzerland when it comes to God. The rest of the world's at war. We're kind of out of it. We're neutral. You see, Paul is going to unfold for us the simple and basic fact that adorns every page of Scripture, and that is that no image bearer of God is neutral towards God. Let me put it as starkly as I can. The attempt to be neutral about God only reveals that you are not in fact neutral. Because God made all things. He tells us in Exodus 24, the whole earth is mine. Nothing fails to proclaim his glory as I read from Psalm 19 in our call to worship. So the very attempt to be neutral is one wrong starting point that rejects God at the outset and not after reasoned argument. I think that's important for us to see today. There's been somewhat of a cottage industry of these new atheist books by Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins, all assuring us that, you know, if you just reason rightly, you'll come to see what a delusion Christianity is. What we need to see is that that premise that these folks are starting from is that they are somehow neutral to God, just investigating the facts. Again, I draw your attention that that is not after reasoned argument that they come to that conclusion. They begin there. They rule out God at the outset. It's a classic example of a logical fallacy known as begging the question. That means you simply assume your point is true and you argue from there. That's what you see going on. And any attempt to be neutral commits the same error. So that's one wrong starting point when we ask, can we know God? The other one has been very popular throughout church history in Christian circles, believe it or not. And that is that we can know God by unaided human reason alone without revelation. So we just neutrally, again, start with our reasoning and imagine that if we put these arguments together, we'll somehow reason our way up to God. This is the motive behind the so-called proofs for God's existence that have been debated throughout the years in the history of the church. Some believe if you start with sense data, if you start with what the world we see around us, it teaches us that God is one, that he is simple, and that we can somehow, therefore then, after we've reasoned with unbelievers for a little while, add the scriptures in, add the gospel in, and then they'll be one to Christ. Notice again, this is one of those wrong starting points. You see, the question is never reason versus faith, as it's so often framed today. The question is not reason versus faith. The question is, what is your faith in? You see, you're either reasoning faithfully or faithlessly. And the attempt to somehow reason our way to God without his word or bringing it in at the end is simply an attempt to be neutral and again is sinful. So both are wrong starting points. The attempt to be neutral and the attempt to have reason without revelation. You see, like every other one of our faculties, our reasoning faculty has been tainted by sin. This is why, if you've ever shared the gospel with someone and you find that they just don't seem to get it when it seems so plain to you, and they don't seem to buy into the arguments you're presenting, it's precisely because they're what the Bible says they are. Fallen, opposed to God, and not neutral. And again, this is one way that Christians, I think, have fallen prey to this, in somehow saying, well, let's just present some arguments for the resurrection. If we can prove the resurrection, then again, we'll prove that God exists. The Bible never countenances that method, never tells you to do that. And again, that is a wrong starting point when we're asking the question, can we know God? Now, look at what Paul's answer is, therefore, to this question. He tells us, first of all, in verse 18, that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world and the things that have been made. You see, Paul said there in verse 20, here's his starting point. In other words, the true God is revealed in nature and in us. That's why I read Psalm 19. We are immediately surrounded by God's revelation. The moment that precious grandchild or child opens its eyes, it is being revealed to, as it were. It itself is a revelation of God. How often have you been, perhaps, like, I know some of you have been in the hospital perhaps when a child is born to an unbeliever. There's something sacred about it. Even they understand that this is far beyond evolved Hanska when they hold that precious child in their hands. You see, nature, Paul tells us, and Psalm 19, reveals God's invisible attributes as eternal power and divine nature, and they've been clearly perceived. Do you see how Paul is being precise here? He's not saying that there's some vague notion of God somewhere that people know. He says they know the true and living God from the outset. That's why I said perhaps it's wrong to even ask the question, can we know God? Paul, it's not even on his radar screen, he says, not can you know God, you do know Him. You already know Him. By virtue of being created in His image and being alive, you know God. Paul is going to tell us this clear revelation, we do something with it. We have something that we want to do with it. So we see God in nature and in ourselves. Moreover, Paul says in verse 21 there, that we know the true God from the outset. Look what he says, for although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. See what Paul says there? They knew God. It's the clearest Greek words you can use for knowing something. It's a deep, personal, intimate knowledge of God from the outset that all people have. Many of you know that my background is in philosophy, and one of the great questions in philosophy is how we can know anything at all. Believe it or not, utter skepticism has reigned throughout most of the history of Western philosophy. That's really the story of philosophy. How do we avoid utter and abject skepticism about everything? Global skepticism is the technical term for it. And you see, one of the things that philosophers do is ignore this kind of teaching. They assume from the outset that they're neutral, that we have to investigate and work our way to God or to know anything else. Paul is saying they knew God. And he's speaking particularly of philosophers and those who reign in the intellectual culture of the day. He's talking to those who are in proud Rome. where philosophers were all over the place, and he says their foolish hearts were darkened, and all that pretended to be high reasoning was foolishness. He knew God at the outset, and all of their pretended high and mighty reasoning was so much foolishness, according to the Apostle Paul. So he's referring to that deep, intimate knowledge we have of God from the outside. Now, one of the things this should do is answer the question that we're so often asked when it comes to evangelism. And that is, what do we do about those who've never heard the gospel? Are they condemned in their ignorance? Do you see what Paul says here, dear ones? He's saying that again is the wrong question. There's nobody who's ignorant. If we imagine that somehow an island tribesman has never heard the word of God, he's not held guilty for that fact. He's held guilty for the knowledge he does possess and wickedly suppresses in unrighteousness. Now that shouldn't soften the blow of the fact that we should feel the sting of wanting and desiring to have missionaries in every corner of the world and the word preached. But you and I are not going to neutral people who have no idea what we're talking about. We're going to people who know God. who've always known him, and then, as Paul says, are suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. But listen to how John Calvin summarizes this knowledge of God. In the opening sentences of the Institutes of the Christian Religion, listen to what he says. No one can look upon himself without immediately turning his thoughts to the contemplation of God. Listen to that again. No one can look upon himself without immediately turning his thoughts to the contemplation of God. Do you see what Calvin's saying? Exactly what Paul is saying. If you are self aware, you are God aware. If you are a sentient being, you know God. That's what Paul is saying here. And then he tells us in verse 18, we do something. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who, by their unrighteousness, suppress the truth. Now, you children likely will go to a pool or some sort of a water activity area this summer. And if you're like me, what you would do is you take the beach ball your parents may give you. Have you ever done this? You try to sit on it in the water, children, and what does it immediately do? It pops right back up from underneath you. You try to sit on it again and it pops up the other way. Do you know what Paul is saying? He's saying that our suppression of the true knowledge of God is like what we do with that beach ball. We try to push it under and it keeps popping back up. Paul is saying that's what everybody does with the knowledge of God that they have by virtue of being made in His image. They attempt to suppress the truth in unrighteousness, but it keeps being revealed. And notice one thing as well here that Paul says in verse 18. We often hear, as I've spoken about the proofs for existence of God, people trying to prove to unbelievers God exists. One thing I've never heard trying to be proved is exactly what Paul says is already revealed, and that's the wrath of God. I've never heard somebody stand up at a debate with an atheist or some unbeliever and say, what I'm here to defend this evening is not simply the existence of God, but the fact that the God who does exist is angry with unbelief this evening. or this morning, or whenever it is. That's what Paul says is revealed, beloved. Not simply that there's some God somewhere. You and I know Him so well that Paul can say the wrath of God is what's revealed. The wrath of Almighty God is known clearly. Not simply that we know God. We have some vague sense of Him. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. And we see that wrath revealed in temporal judgments, don't we? God removing righteous men and women from this land. God pouring out his judgment and setting over us wicked leaders. This is one of the ways we see wrath revealed in the culture, untold sexual sin abounding in our culture. That's exactly where Paul is going to go to describe the pagan culture of his day. He's saying when you see homosexuality rampant, when you see adultery rampant, when you see unmitigated divorce rampant, this is evidence of the wrath of God being revealed against the unrighteousness of men who are suppressing the truth. So Paul says, not only do we know God so clearly, this is astonishing to us. We know he's angry. We know he's angry at the unrighteousness of sin that was brought into this world. We, therefore, are guilty before the God whom we know. That's why Paul can end this section, verse 20, saying, so they are without excuse. There's just one Greek word there. It's the Greek word that is anapologetos. And what that simply means is a combination of two Greek words meaning without apologetics. And what Paul is saying there is apologetics is the defense of something. Paul is saying everybody is without a defense before God. They have no way to rise up and say to God, but, but no one can do that. Interestingly, Paul uses another Greek word at the end of chapter three in verse 20. He says, every mouth will be closed. One Greek word again. One participle meaning the same thing that there's no way anybody's going to have a complaint against God in the last day. The famous atheist Bertrand Russell was wrong when he was asked, what will you say to God if you stand before him? And he says, why did you not believe in me? Russell answered, not enough evidence, not enough evidence. Paul says that's dead wrong. There's evidence everywhere. And Bertrand Russell's problem, as it was with every other form of unbelief, was that he suppressed the clear knowledge of God and unrighteousness. And he'll be judged according to that knowledge. So we see in this first point, Can we know God? The answer from the Bible is, that's the wrong question. We do know God. The question is, how do we know him in grace? How do we know him outside of wrath? That's the question Paul wants us to ask. In the second place, and our second question is this, how do we know God? According to Paul here. And I've already briefly alluded to the fact that we know God in nature. But expanding upon the Apostle's teaching here, we can say this, as clearly taught in other passages of Scripture, we know God through what he has made, through ourselves, as Paul teaches us, but we also obviously know God through the Scriptures. It's amazing to me when you talk to folks who say, I'm not really sure we can know God. Ask them if they've read the Bible. That may seem obvious, but you will be astonished by how many times you'll have perhaps very intelligent unbelievers opposing the faith. Simply ask them if they've read the Bible. And that's one of the things that God gives us. And it's the preeminent revelation of God to know who he is. And therefore, the Bible comes to us with absolute authority. If you question the Scriptures, it's the same thing as questioning God. Because it's the way that we know Him. We know Him through what is made, that is as clear and as authoritative as the Word He gives us. But what a gracious thing God does in condescending to give us His Word. And isn't that how relationships work, beloved? How can you know somebody unless they choose to reveal themselves to you? I know many things about many of you. I don't know everything about any of you. And that's because you haven't told me all that's on your heart. In one sense, not even we know ourselves completely. We are so easily deceived. But you see, with the Scriptures, what we have, beloved, is the very mind of God revealed to us clearly. This is why we insist on the clarity of Scripture, because it tells us that it is. This exposes the error of things like Jehovah's Witnesses, or Mormons, or Roman Catholics, or Eastern Orthodox, who say that you need some other way to supplant the Scriptures to make sure that you can understand them. No, the Bible says it's clear. As clear as nature. And we have to keep those two things in mind. The scriptures and the revelation in nature are clear. The theologians use the term general and special revelation. General revelation or natural revelation is what we see in nature and what we see in ourselves. And special revelation is the word of God. And what does that special revelation point us to? The preeminent way that we can know God in Jesus Christ. He's the focus and the end of the scriptures. If somebody asks you, as my dear friend Richard Phillips likes to put it, if somebody asks you what God is like, he says, God is Christ-like. That's what we can say with full heart. God is Christ-like. If you want to know who God is, look to Jesus Christ, not to any other prophet or teaching or anything else. The scriptures are a book about Jesus, beloved, from start to finish. If we fail to see Christ, we fail to understand God's revelation. Now, Paul connects these, interestingly, later in the epistle to the Romans in chapter 8. He connects general and special revelation in an astonishing way. You remember what he says there. He says, creation groans earnestly for the revelation of the sons of God, because it was subjected to futility by the one who subjected it. Now, what is Paul saying there? Notice what he says. consistent with what he starts off in chapter 1 and verses 3 and 4 of this epistle. He says, just as Christ suffered unto glory. As you were the installation of a few weeks ago, you heard Dr. Tipton preach on that. Suffering unto glory is the pattern of Christ and therefore the pattern of the believer. But let's not stop there, because Paul says in Romans 8, that's the pattern for this creation too. groaning under the weight of sin, suffering under the glory of the new heavens and the new earth. And I hope you see by Paul's example there that special revelation and general revelation can never be separated. And it's only because we've grown fat and sleek in listening to unbelieving materialist scientists tell us over and over that we are a happenstance chance combination of chemicals and quarks that we would ever dream of separating what God had joined together. As surely as you know Christ, as surely as you believe in Him, so surely should you see the Creator revealed in His creation, dear ones. We can never separate the knowledge of God we see in nature from what He gives us in His Word. But let me make one more distinction. The Word governs how we look at the world. The Word governs how we look at the world. And that's important because one of the things that people will try to say to us is that nature has the same authority, we agree in one sense, but that therefore if we see that nature somehow teaches us that the world is billions of years old, that we need to buy into that and therefore rethink how we exegete the scriptures. That gets it exactly backwards. And I encourage you again to do study when you hear someone say to you, I know the world, I know this, I know that. Ask about their assumptions. Ask how they're interpreting the data. And you will always find that they're leaving out God from the outset, not after argument. It's not that people start from reasoning, Paul says. Again and again, they do not like God. They suppress the truth and unrighteousness that colors everything they see. And our job as Christians is not simply to give them a truncated gospel. It's to bring them to the King of glory, the Lord Jesus Christ, who doesn't want just part of you. He wants you to see the world His way. And creation does not fail to proclaim the triune God of glory, beloved. Don't exclude him from where he has made himself plainly known, lest you become guilty like the ones Paul is talking about here. Everything proclaims God. And this is how we should teach our children. Let me say to you, young people, that some of you are gifted in science and math. And I hope as you pursue that, and God raises up scientists and mathematicians, whatever else are the natural sciences among us, that you would see God's glory as you study those things. That when you look into a microscope and see the smallest bacteria, you would also see the glory of the Creator who designed it. That as you gaze upon the stars and look perhaps light years away, you would see the glory of God in the universe. That as you work with complex equations that puzzle others, you would see the glory of God in the unwritten realm of mathematics, as He shows Himself as one who loves beauty and order. This is why we can take up the plow, as it were, in whatever field God sets us in, knowing that our work is under the glory of the Lord. He made it all. It all shows you. And the only reason, again, I think that we fail to see that, or the main reason in our day and age, is because we've bought so much into the culture's lie about what the purpose of this world is. That it's neutral, that it's uninterpreted until we come along and give our particular materialistic spin on things. As Cornelius Van Til, the great 20th century apologist, put it, there are no brute facts And what he meant by that is there are no facts that do not speak about God's glory. As he put it another time, brute facts are mute facts. And what he meant by that is anything we see in creation, if we fail to see God's glory in it, it's as if that fact before us was mute, saying nothing to us. And that's why he could say there is no such thing as that. Everything proclaims God's glory to us. That's what Paul is saying here. We know God. We see Him in creation. We know Him so well that His wrath is revealed against us. We know Him so well that we suppress that truth in unrighteousness. We know Him so well that we exchange His glory for created things and turn to idolatry. Now, viewing God this way will do a couple things for us. It helps us avoid deism. As we enter our study of God's attributes, we'll watch this flip-flop-flop through the history of the church and through the history of views of God. On the one hand, people will think God is so far exalted above us that we can't know him. Certain forms of Islam teach that. A popular movement in the time of the Enlightenment of the 18th century was something known as deism. And I think most people are functional deists today. That is, that God made the world and then lets it to run according to natural laws as a watchmaker winds up a watch and lets it go. And this is why you'll see very easily, if that's your view of God, then you're not going to believe in miracles. Because you're going to believe the world is governed by natural laws rather than the providence of God, the Creator who sustains all things. And again, I think that's the view of most people living today. God's out there. He's there if I need him. I can't really know him for sure. Nature takes its course, but maybe I'll try to pray. It's the spaghetti-at-the-wall view of God, isn't it? That's how we do prayers if we think of God like that. We throw spaghetti at the wall and hope it sticks. We throw a prayer up every now and then. So deism, on the one hand, the fact that God is so far out there we can't know him. On the other hand is the error of so many other world religions of pantheism. It's the equal and opposite error. And that is that God is all. One says we can't know God, the other says God is everything. And I think one of the most scientific and one of the most educated expressions of polytheism today, or pantheism rather, is the Green Movement. It's the movement, the environmental movement. And we have to see the religious underpinnings of this movement. Now, the one thing we want to say clearly as Christians as we think about that, is that we should be the best stewards of creation. We should be those who have much care for the natural beauty of this world. We should be those who support conservation of land efforts. We should be those who aren't littering or throwing trash all over the place. We should be conscious to use the resources God has given us well. We're not to be wasteful or greedy with it. But at the same time, nature is not God, beloved. This is why we don't have Mother Earth, but Father God. And this is why we don't have Earth Day, because Earth is not God. There's no goddess you and I serve. The creation has a creator. So we avoid deism on the one hand and pantheism on the other, that God is in all. No. Creation and creator are always kept separate in the scriptures. And if you lose that, you'll lose a proper view of both. You'll misuse creation, you won't believe in God, and you'll find yourself in a chaotic mess of a life. Only as we understand the clear biblical teaching that balances all this out that God is both the one who transcends creation and in Christ has come to dwell with us The two are held in perfect balance. We know God and yet he transcends us If you put it this way, we know God truly but not exhaustively That means we know Him as He is, as He revealed Himself to us. You and I will never fathom the depths of God. Think about that. Some of you may wonder, is heaven going to be boring if it's worship all the time? Some of you children may wonder that. You may think worship's boring now. The reason we think worship's boring now is precisely because we don't know God as we ought to. And we don't understand that He is inexhaustible. And when you and I are in heaven, seeing the glory of the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world, you and I will begin to understand more of God, more of who He is. But even into eternity, you will never know everything about God. You will remain a creature, and I will too. And the rapture Part of the rapture is seeing the unfolding glory of God for eternity and knowing that it's like the sweetest spring that we can never drink enough of. So Paul answers the question, our second question, how do we know God? Through nature, through scripture, and most preeminently, in Jesus Christ. Finally, our third question that we want to answer this evening, what should the knowledge of God do to us? Let me mention a few things as we close thinking about this. The knowledge of God should cause us to have reverent worship. Some of you may be visiting and wondering, new to the Reformed faith, why do we do what we do at Shiloh? It's because we are a consumer-driven church. I want to say that. We are a consumer-driven church. We have looked at a market study and looked at what Our consumer desires in worship and have adjusted ourselves accordingly. And our consumer is the triune God. That is how we have determined to worship according to his word and reverent worship that is well ordered as Paul commands us to have it. Understands who God is and enjoys worshiping him. Do you enjoy worship? Do you enjoy coming here? Or is your worship joyless? Do you want to enjoy worship? That's my experience. Most Christians, worship is dull, especially in so-called traditional worship. By the way, that will not be a word you hear me use often. We do not have traditional worship at Shiloh. We have covenantal worship according to the scriptures. Now, if you want a shorthand of saying that, we have regulated worship. I know that sounds tremendously authoritarian and Eastern Bloc-ish, but use it. Our worship is regulated according to our consumer's demands and his word. And it should be reverent and full of joy. And one of the reasons I want us to study who God is, is so that we do have joy in worship. I think most people want that. I think that you want that. And the way you have joy is to understand the person you are worshiping. The personal triune God. So it should cause reverent worship, not only in our corporate lives, but in our family lives. Fathers, just worship reverent in your home. Is your day-to-day view of God reverent for your children? Or are you flippant about it? And one of the other things in our private worship, the way that your knowledge of God and how well you know Him will show up the most quickly and the most revealingly, if we can put it that way, is in your prayer lives. What you believe about God is revealed in how you pray. And what you expect from your prayers reveals what you believe about God. And if you believe He's distant, far off, and little interested in you, you will pray accordingly. If you know Him, as I hope we will see as we study His attributes, you will pray accordingly. That's one of the reasons we want to know God in grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. Another thing that the knowledge of God should do to us is cause a holy fear in us. A holy fear. Now, society will never tell you this, and unfortunately, most churches won't tell you this either, but if you lack intimacy in God, may I suggest to you that one of the ways to regain intimacy with God is to study the fear of the Lord? Because it's the beginning of wisdom, and if you don't fear God, you won't reverence Him, and interestingly, the pathway of the right and proper fear of God will be the right and proper joy in God. Holy fear. should fall upon us as we study who God is. And that leads us to deep-seated joy, doesn't it? Deep-seated joy is another effect of knowing God. You see, that's why when people say to us, you know, why would you study such deep doctrine? Because if you know God in the deep sense that He expects us to know Him as He's revealed Himself in His Word, you'll have joy. This is the most practical study you will do in your life. This is the most practical study you will do in your life, is to think about the Trinity, for instance. This is not musty theology that is to be debated in Latin and to be left alone. It's to change you. And God will never leave you in a plateau situation with His knowledge. It will change you. It will never leave you alone, for good or for ill. You see, most of our humdrum existence and most of the lack of joy in our lives is precisely because we have not thought deeply about God. And he's a trivial dictator at best, or a kindly old grandfather. And as we study his attributes, both those, I hope, will be laid waste, those views of God. Greater love for the Lord Jesus Christ results as we know God, doesn't it? Do you love Jesus Christ? Do you feel like you know Him? Or is He an idea to you? You've heard about Him, talked about Him, maybe even witnessed about Him, but you don't feel like you know Him very well. You've got all the correct things in place, but there's no intimacy there. Let me put it as starkly as I can. Do you feel like you know Jesus as well as you know your spouse, or your children, or your best friend, or a beloved parent? Is that what your relationship with our Lord is like? I know there's qualifications that need to be drawn there, but do you know Jesus intimately? That you can be amazed by Him and say, He's my Savior and He's my friend. Not in a flippant way, but in a trembling way that says, I cannot believe I can take up this study. That's what a study of the attributes of God will do in a person of who God is. It will lead you to a greater love for Jesus Christ. Isn't that the promise of the New Covenant? They shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. That's through Jesus. That's who we're going to be studying. That's who's going to be brought home to us. That's who we need to know better and love more. One warning as we close. All people know God. The question is do you know Him in grace or do you know Him in wrath? Do you know Him in Adam and therefore in wrath or do you know Him in grace in the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you come to this God in Christ and surrendered yourself and said, this is eternal life that I may know you God? If you haven't, if you're just on the outside looking in, you can come to Christ right now. He's most willing and able to receive sinners and desires that this evening. If you want a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ, let me say to you that that's what He desires for you. Don't think that as we study God here, that we're simply going to try to throw out some propositions to you, have you assimilate them, then move on to the next thing, and that God somehow is willing to try to hide Himself for you. No, no, no. He wants you to know. He desires us. But the warning is this. As Dr. K. Scott Oliphant put it, If the knowledge of God agitates and makes you anything but restful, there may be something in you that needs to be changed. And therefore, again be warned, the knowledge of God will never leave you neutral. You will either be moving into a deeper relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ or further suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. Who are you?