昨天我们在结束的时候提到，我们越明白神的本性，就越能肯定祂的决定的正确性。你有没有想过，在过去多个世纪里面，神的仆人为何在最恶劣的环境下依然能为神坚定不移？答案是：因为他们熟悉神的本性和品格。

现代的基督徒有一个令我十分关注的情况，那就是他们对神的本性认识得很少。我成了基督徒后参加的第一个查经系列是关于神的属性。对年青的基督徒来说，那课程并不容易，但那几个星期的教导却为我往后多年建立了稳固的信仰根基。我在那里第一次听到一些终生伴随我的话。例如：「只有在我们明白神是谁时，才能够明白祂所做的事。」以及：「我们必须小心，不要凭我们所见的来解释神的品格，而要凭神的品格来解释我们的所见。」

巴刻（J.I. Packer）在《认识神》（Knowing God）这本书中说：「对神无知──既不认识神的做法，也不懂得与祂实践相交──是今天教会很多软弱的根源」。我同意这个说法。现代的教会往往是透过望远镜错误的一面来看神，把全能者缩小成为侏儒。结果是：教会坐满侏儒基督徒，他们对自己承诺要事奉的神只有表面的知识。

Yesterday we ended with the statement that the more we understand God's nature, the more certain we will be about the rightness of His decisions. Have you ever wondered how it is that over the centuries, men and women have stood for God in the most unenviable circumstances? The answer is this: they were familiar with the nature and character of God.

One of the things that concerns me about many modern-day Christians is that they know little about the nature of God. The very first series of Bible studies I attended after I became a Christian was on the subject of the attributes of God. It was tough going for a young Christian, but those weeks of teaching built under me a foundation which has stood solid over the years. It was there that I heard for the first time statements that have stayed with me all my life. Statements such as: "It is only when we understand who God is that we will understand what He does." And: "We must be careful not to interpret God's character by what we see, but what we see by God's character."

J.I. Packer, in his book Knowing God, says: "The ignorance of God - ignorance both of His ways and of the practice of communion with Him - lies at the root of much of the church's weakness today." I agree. The modern Church, generally speaking, looks at God through the wrong end of a telescope and ends up reducing the Almighty to pygmy proportions. And what is the result? Our pews are filled with pygmy Christians who have only a superficial knowledge of the God they are pledged to serve.