Introducing the Knowledge of God
Introducing The Knowledge Of God Now then that we’re all sort of in gear, hopefully, I want to share with you some things about the knowledge of God. Now I use this subject all over the world, in many countries—I don’t know how many, and I like you to remember that this is barely a fragment. In fact, it’s more or less an introduction, though there’s plenty in it. We’re going to meander down some scriptures and see just how far we’ll be able to get this evening.
I’m taking you to the Book of Exodus. I like to assure you that what I’m saying to you here is a subject very, very much on the heart of God. Some years ago, the Lord had asked me to go aside. I went to a hotel room and was there 48 hours in fasting and prayer without anything from God.
When after 48 hours exactly to the minute, the Lord walked into the room, stood to my left and began to open unto me the scriptures for 4 solid hours—personal teaching from the Lord in the general area of knowing God, particularly the subject of familiarity with God. After 4 hours (it was 6:00 o’clock on Sunday), He turned around—He just stood to my left a few inches beyond the reach of my hand. I didn’t try it, I just say this to describe it to you.
He turned around; His presence that had filled the room collected from all over the room—just collected together. As He had walked in, it spread out; when He left, it collected; turned into the form, the shape of a royal robe particularly of an Eastern sovereign—like those long flowing robes that glide on the floor—that’s how His presence collected and followed Him out of the room. Two hours later Satan came to challenge everything, but that lies now beyond our reach tonight.
I had two debates with him like people would debate, real debates. I spoke out loud to him like I speak to you, and that went on for quite awhile. There were two challenges. Satan tried to take from me what the Lord had given me to take all over the world, and I’ve done that now for 22 years.
I’m going to give you a little bit tonight. And should it be that we meet again here, which I do not know—it’s not impossible—that I would simply continue in the area, but that’s subject to divine providence and His leading. I say that to make you realize that what we’re doing here—we’re only starting—but if you will take to heart what I do say, it will take you a long ways into an area of crucial importance to every one of us with respect to our personal relationship to the Lord, and of tremendous importance to the heart of God.
I’ll take you to Exodus 33:12-15. Now I could take these verses alone and speak unto you from them all evening, and another time, and another time, and another time. I say that to let you know that these verses are pregnant with so much spiritual truth that I personally do not know how long it would take to exhaust them. I’m merely touching on them.
Perhaps the Spirit of God will take them and give you more on your own. And Moses said unto the Lord, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people; and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight; and consider that this nation is thy people.
And he said, My presence shall go with thee; and I will give thee rest. And he (Moses) said unto him (God), If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. Exodus 33:12-15 Take a good look at this marvelous, marvelous passage with so much truth. When you read the passage, you will observe that Moses is speaking from a sense of need.
The man is troubled, perhaps even somewhat perplexed. He is apprehensive (that is perhaps the best word to use here) of the future. He knows that God assigned to him a Herculean task. To lead these people into the land was a tremendous undertaking.
The man knew that the geography they had to traverse would be most difficult. There were deserts, slime pits, scorpions, all sorts of enemies, drought, and perhaps, last but not least, a rebellious, stubborn people. Now I know people are not stubborn down here near Washington—or rebellious—so we have little idea what it is. Of course I take that back, you understand.
And Moses was apprehensive about the whole operation, so he prayed. In his apprehension, he spoke to God and said in effect, “Lord, You told me to bring up this people, but You did not let me know whom You will send with me.” I’m not dwelling on this, because once I do, we’re going to take a tangent, and we won’t get done if I talk until midnight. But I want to give you the cue, and I try to let it remain a cue. Moses felt in need of a companion.
“Lord, whom are You going to send with me?” Down in the passage we have read, the Lord answered and said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. It’s very likely that many of us here tonight, at one time or another, if not currently, are sitting here with an apprehension in our heart, respecting perhaps the future, or whatever. Moses felt that way, and so God gave him this remarkable promise, My presence shall go with thee. The man’s heart was in a state of dis-peace.
That might not be absolutely correct English, but I can’t help that—that’s the word I need. He was in a state of dis-peace, and that’s why God said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. I will bring your heart and mind into a state of quiescence where you need no longer be afraid or even apprehensive about the future. That reminds me of something, and then I’ll drop it.
I was going to France one year. That’s many years ago now, in the beginnings of my travel. And I was walking down 5th Avenue, New York; had a little extra time before taking the bus to what was then Idlewild Airport (that’s a nicer name than JFK). I walked down toward 42nd Street to go over to get the bus to the airport.
While walking down, I said in my heart, “Father, don’t let me go unless You go with me.” Who wants to travel without the Lord’s
presence? I don’t. And at once, I got an answer—what I quoted or read here, My presence shall go with thee. When you arrive, I will be waiting for you.
I thought that was one of the most delicimous things I ever heard. Now don’t say, “Brother Beuttler, delicimous is not in the dictionary.” I know it, but leave me alone. (laughter) Didn’t I say I’m a character? When I saw myself on video, I shook my head in disbelief.
“That character!” So what do you expect? You got a character tonight—but I’m not staying all night. How would you like the Lord to say to you sometime, down in your heart, but very distinctly in words—oh yes, He speaks in words—right down here. And I don’t mean the physical heart—that’s only the pumping station.
By the heart here I mean our spirit where our true personality resides. This is not our person; this is our bungalow. Some of you heard me say that. This doesn’t make us a person.
We are a person apart from a body. God is a person. He doesn’t have a body. The same is true of Satan, of demons, of spirits.
This is our bungalow. I know it sometimes need repairs. I see a bungalow over here that could stand a new roof. (laughter) Mine’s alright.
Somebody asked me in a church, “Brother Beuttler, where did you buy your wig?” Not yet! But down here in your innermost spirit, “When you arrive I will be waiting for you.” Oh, how delicimous for the Lord to speak like that. I arrived at Oley Airport next morning in a driving rain. Everything came down that morning.
You know what we say: it rained cats and dogs, pitchforks—it rained more than that—sauerkraut, succotash, lima beans, everything came down. And in the rain, I stepped on the ground—I had a raincoat so didn’t worry about getting wet—I stepped on the concrete and there was the presence, an enveloping presence. “When you arrive, I will be waiting for you.” Other passengers were met by somebody inside the airport, I was met at the bottom of the steps by my companion.
My presence shall go with thee. Folkses, these things are real. I could keep you going for quite some time—for hours. So the Lord spoke to this man, and frankly, when I say My presence shall go with thee, I’m not talking merely about the omnipresence of God.
That is involved, absolutely, that’s basic. But I’m also talking about the personal, manifest presence of God, the sense of His presence; the inner glow of His Spirit. We know He is with us; we know it theologically; we know it rationally because we believe through faith, but we may also know it experimentally. The Lord wants to bring us into far more experience than most Christians enjoy—and that’s what we’re dealing with tonight.
Have you ever noticed the scripture in the Psalms? Taste and see that the Lord is good. Have you ever given that some thought? Well I guess thought doesn’t give it to us.
It has to be, I think, revelation. I had read that scripture oodles of times and never saw what I saw when the Lord opened my coo coo eyes. Taste and see—taste is experience. I’ll tell you something.
Some spiritual areas of truth we learn only by prior experience combined with the revelation of the Spirit through the experience. Some things in the things of God, we cannot learn, we will never know except through experience. You can swallow the Encyclopedia Britannica, and put on top of it the Preacher’s Homiletical Commentary, and still be ignorant of some areas. Taste and see.
Now look, I love fruit, I love tropical fruit because I think its super delicimous. Oh, they have different fruits, you know. I’m very, very fond of mangesteens. I’m not talking about mangoes.
I love mangoes, but I’m not talking about them. I’m talking of mangesteens, a fruit, I would say, looks pretty much like a walnut except it’s a little bit more maroonish, reddish perhaps. Its soft shell you break it open and umm. In it you have snow white fruit divided up in little segments, almost like an orange, but wider segments.
And if that fruit especially is chilled, not ice cold, but just chilled—oh! I can eat a basketful. I had the chance and the experience this summer on the Island on Bangolia in Indonesia. They put before me whole buckets of mangesteens.
They were ripe and I sat there—You should have seen the heap of shells. Well they are so super delicimous. They taste like some exquisite perfume smells, but they don’t smell, but they taste like a delicimous smelling perfume. Oh, umm, you know what I mean?
Oh, are they good! “Brother Beuttler, will you on earth tell us what they taste like?” “I can’t.” “Why can’t you?” “Because I can’t.” You have to taste it. There are no words, there is not the remotest possibility that I could ever (or anybody) explain to you what they taste like. It can’t be done.
Can you explain to anybody what Channel #5 tastes like? Or smells like? You couldn’t describe that smell. How would you describe it so that somebody would know exactly what it smells like, or inexactly?
It cannot be done. It takes experience with Channel #5. That’s a chemical, you know. It’s not a perfume, well it’s a perfume, but it’s synthetic.
Alright, smell it—umm. You can’t explain it. Taste a mango, you say, “Now I know what you’re talking about,” but not before. And folkses (folkses, that’s a Beuttlerism, you understand), the Lord wants to bring us into spiritual experiences that will bring to us a knowledge, an experimental knowledge of spiritual truth which cannot be acquired by the usual methods of acquiring knowledge.
There is no book that can tell you; there is no teacher that can explain it; there is no means to impart it; it must be an experience given by God. Taste and see. (Slurpy noises) Umm, now I know. Some truths require experience as a precedent to the truth.
Study alone cannot bring us into the knowledge of some of these things. Is it my fault if that’s the truth? Taste and see. We’ll go on now a little bit more.
This Moses prayed—notice he prayed for two things. The two things really complement each other: Show me now thy way, that I may know thee. Notice the word show. Here is something which has to originate in God.
If I may speak parenthetically for a moment. I get all over the world, I get everywhere, often, and have done it for many years, and I can say this, that all over the world people are hungry for truth that will bring them into a true experimental knowledge
of God. I hope you understand. They want reality; they are so fed up (and so am I) with traditional religion: 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4 Amen. (laughter) Did I tell you I’m a character?
God’s moving, you know that, and there are a lot of people who are moving with Him—I’m one of them. People are so hungry. I’m not exaggerating, not at all, when I tell you that I have so many requests from so many countries for teaching in these areas, it is absolutely hopeless for me ever to think I can reach these areas. I’m 69, I don’t have too many years, but the demand is unbelievable.
What they want is, Show me now thy way, that I may know thee. I don’t know how to say what I would like to say and say it right, but one doesn’t like to be misunderstood, and yet, it’s really unavoidable. In our theological schools today, the students are getting so much of the wisdom of man, the ways of man, ways that are so often incongruous with the ways of God that it’s pitiful. I know.
I don’t want to say too much, but what we need is what Moses prayed for, Show me now thy way. If you will learn to watch God at work, see how He does things, you will learn to know the ways of the Lord. I like to watch God at work—Show me now thy way—Lord let me know Your way, show it to me, that I may learn from Your ways. Some of you might know Hattie Hammond, quite a girl, but no longer a spring chicken.
She was in Springfield, Missouri at the Assemblies of God, a huge young people’s rally. Now I’m not talking anti-Assemblies—I’m in the Assemblies. They had several thousand young people in that auditorium, and had a young feller preach. Hattie Hammond and I had a campaign in Washington, and the church had put us up at the same Ambassador Hotel.
Evenings after the service, we’d go down to the coffee shop and have a toasted English muffin, cup of tea or something, and talk. We talked, and were usually the last ones out of the shop. I think the waiters could have kicked us. I remember her leaning over the table and said, “Brother Beuttler, I must tell you something.” “Okay” She was there and a young feller preached, a Christ Ambassador.
You can only be a Christ Ambassador if you’re under 30. Isn’t that ridiculous! I’m 69, but I’m still a Christ Ambassador. I’m not qualified to belong to the organization of Christ Ambassadors because I’m over 30.
Funny, isn’t it? So they had a young feller, of course, under 30. She said he preached an awful harangue. He cut the Assemblies up and down into sliverines.
She was disturbed. When he got down, the Spirit of God fell upon that congregation, and the people had their hands up worshiping God, Hallelujah, glory to God. She said in her heart to the Lord, “Lord, I can’t understand how You can bless a harangue like we heard tonight.” She leaned a little closer and said, “Brother Beuttler, what do you think the Lord said?” “I didn’t know.” “The Lord said, ‘I am not blessing one word of all that he said, I’m pouring out My Spirit of rejoicing upon My people to help them forget everything he did say.’” (laughter) Now I saw something, Show me now thy way, that I may know thee.
I learned from that. Sometimes God blesses a preacher’s message to distract the people’s attention from his boo boo. I was speaking in school, in chapel one morning. I had a real message; had a real anointing.
While I spoke I said something I should have never said. I shouldn’t have come out with it. While I was saying it, I knew I was making a mistake, but I was still speaking under the anointing. Maybe that’s hard for you to understand, well, believe it anyway.
Can you imagine a pure river of water—no, we can’t image pure rivers anymore, can we? But there was a time when you could. Can you imagine a pure river of water flowing down and carrying a dead cow with it? Well, I got a dead cow into the river of God.
While my cow floated along, I knew I was making a mistake. (laughter) You know, it’s surprising how your mind can work, like a computer. It shot through my mind, “Should I stop and correct it?” “No, if I correct it, I only draw attention to it. Chances are half of the students aren’t listening anyway.
Some will be doing their homework, others are so bored they’re half asleep, and very few probably remember.” That’s Bible school too. So I went right on with it. I was stunned, I went on beyond it, came to the end of a phrase or something, and there was a powerful utterance in tongues and interpretation. Oh, it was beautiful.
When that got done, the students shouted, “Hallelujah, glory, glory.” They had a good time. I think they thought the Lord blessed my preachment. I knew He took His eraser (laughter), and wiped away what I had just said that I shouldn’t have said. It was true alright, but it should not have been said, not by me anyway.
Oh, you learn. Do you ever watch God work? I was in my former pastor’s Bible study and at the end he asked me to close in prayer. We were standing and he said, “Brother Beuttler will you close in prayer.” Well, I tried to start to close in prayer when I got such a spirit of happiness.
I began to praise the Lord, shouting, so did the others, and we had a real hallelujah time then. I thought at first, “I better pray, after all I’ve been asked to close in prayer, not to have a shouting time.” But it just bubbled up, and I let it bubble. When that had subsided, there was an utterance in tongues with an interpretation that I’ve never forgotten. I cannot quote it verbatim, but close enough for the substance to be absolutely correct though the wording—I can’t remember that close.
God is pleased when He hears the rejoicing of His people, for God pours out His Spirit of rejoicing upon His people because a sinner has repented, and there is such joy in the corridors of heaven that God loves to share His joys with His people, therefore He pours out a Spirit of rejoicing upon His people that they might rejoice with Him, etc. And I understood. Have you ever noticed—I know I have—we used to get it in school in the earlier days. For no apparent reason, hallelujah, oh glory, praise God, and before you know it, the thing has spread over the whole class—for no apparent reason.
It subsides, and we
go on with the lesson. Now I know something. People got saved and God is so happy that He has to share His joy with His people for even God seems to believe what has often been said, “Joys not shared are only half enjoyed.” You learn by observing God at work. Show me now thy way, that I may know thee.
One year while I was still teaching in school, I got a letter from Tokyo, from the Assemblies of God there. “Brother Beuttler, we are extending to you an invitation to come over here during the early part of January and have a public debate with a Japanese philosopher on the existence of God. We are going to rent an auditorium, and we’ll put you two up there on the platform. We’re going to have tickets printed because in Japan, Japanese psychology is such that if it’s free, it can’t be any good, or else it would cost something.
So we have to charge admission or the Japanese won’t think its worthwhile going. We’ll put you two up there and you debate the existence of God.” I had a letdown feeling when I read that letter. I’d been there before and they knew me. I thought they had a better opinion of me.
So I wrote back and said. “Brethren, I thank you for your kind invitation, but you sent that to the wrong man. In the first place, I do not have the educational qualifications to take on a philosopher in a public debate. In the second place, I’m not the type of personality that debates.
I’m not a debater, I’m a sharer.” If somewhere you don’t agree with what I say, don’t start an argument with me, just leave it alone, and me too. (laughter) I share on a take it or leave it basis, that’s my style—and my personality. I do not have the combativeness of spirit that that would take. So I said, “I’ll recommend to you one of our teachers.” In fact, that was Brother Tavani.
Some of you might know him. He’s a brain. He could do it. He’s a computer, that man.
“You ask him, but if do you want me to come, I’ll come, but on the condition that you just let me share with you what God has shared with me.” They said, “Come.” So I went over and I shared with them things on the knowledge of God. They were so pleased that they said, “Brother Beuttler, we were way off. Could you come back next year in January and give us some more on the knowledge of God?” So I went over again. They had the idea of this intellectual approach, but folkses.
We need to study, I’m a student, I love to study. I’ve spent half my life in school now, but in the final analysis, God is not truly known by study, by research (and I’m a researcher—I love to research), but in the final analysis, God is not known by research; He’s known by revelation. Show me now thy way that I may know thee. There used to be a philosopher and astronomer in Europe years ago—Voltaire, I think was his name, if I err not.
He took his telescope and looked all over the heavens to find God. He couldn’t find God so his conclusion was, “I see no God so there is no God, and that settles the question.” Well he used the wrong means. Show me now thy way. Remember what Jesus said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast hid these things from the wise and the prudent, (now they are not the educated—God has nothing against education or research or study.
That’s not the idea.) Father, I thank thee that thou hast hid these things from the smart alecks, from the know-it-alls, from those who are wise in their own conceit, and hast revealed them unto babes. Revealed—that’s the work of the Spirit. It’s a divine disclosure, a divine opening of human understanding, because Satan has blinded the minds of the ungodly and they cannot see. They just don’t see, yet they are groping for light and truth.
I travel all over the world every year, and every year I observe the same thing. I would call it a revival of Satan-oriented religions the world over—all sorts and brands of beliefs that people flock to, blinded in the search for reality. But in the final analysis, it takes the revelation of the Spirit of God. The human intellect is incapable, in itself, to discover God.
God has to illuminate the mind to cause it to see. Show me now thy way, that I may know thee. I’m going to take time yet with 3 points. I’ve only started on my notes, I’ve gone this far, that is up to these 3 points.
That’s alright. Folkses, if you can take these 3 points; if your heart is open, responsive, ongoing toward truth; if you will take what I’ve just given you tonight and go to your God with it and say, “Father, did You hear what that character told us tonight, that’s what I want.” Show me now thy way, that I may know thee. Notice Deuteronomy 34:10, this Moses—oh that Moses was a man! This prayer is not made by a man who didn’t know God already.
Oh no! This prayer was made by a man who already knew God beyond the knowledge of any other man at that time or thereafter. There arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. Think of it!
What you have here is simply this. Moses had already, at the time of his prayer, an intimate relationship with God. He knew God face to face. Now I take that phrase simply to mean that he had an intimate relationship with God.
Think of it! That’s what the Lord had dealt with me about 4 hours in that hotel room—intimacy with God. And yet, this man Moses, intimate with God already, beyond any other man of his time, still prayed, Show me now thy way, that I may know thee. How can you know God when you already know Him?
Well, you know Him still more. God is infinite. There is no limit. Just to use the term in want of a better one, there is no limit to our discovery of God—in the sense we don’t discover God, but simply the human side.
In the final analysis, God lets Himself be discovered—just to use the term. This man prayed to know God, yet he already was an intimate of God. Think of it! God shared with Moses what He didn’t share with other people.
This man Moses had influence with God beyond that of any other man. Exodus 33:11. The Lord spake unto Moses, face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. There you are.
God had intimate communion with Moses; Moses had intimate communion with God. Think of it! Intimate communion. There is a statement in Psalms 25:14.
I can quote it. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will show them his covenant.
I was speaking to the ministers of France one year up in the Pyrenees Mountains, and one said, “Brother Beuttler, would you like to know how this reads in the French translation.” “Of course, I do.” There it reads, The intimate communion of the Lord is with them that fear him. You see this thing is conditional, but we can’t go into that. Moses had intimate communion with God; he had an intimate relationship with God. Number 12:8 will be our last one tonight.
You know that I haven’t even finished my introduction? That’s alright. I say that to let you realize the extent, the vastness of this subject. It’s a subject as big as God, and God is infinite.
In 12:8, this man enjoyed an intimate privilege. With him (that is with Moses, God is speaking now) will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches, and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold. Other translations read, and the shape of the Lord shall he behold. I could take an evening with you talking to you about God’s shape—the shape of the Lord shall he behold.
Another translation, the likeness of the Lord shall he behold, and the form of the Lord shall he behold. Moses was so privileged by God that God permitted Moses to see (speaking in synonymous terms now) His similitude, His shape, His likeness, His form. Think of it! What a privilege that man had, and what influence.
Do you remember when God was going to destroy Israel, and God said to Moses, “Moses, get out of my way. I’m going to destroy the whole nation. I’ll start all over with you.” And Moses stepped, so to speak, in front of God and said, “God, wait a minute. Keep Your cool.
Have You ever thought this thing through? Do You know what Your enemies are going to say if You do this? Do You know they’re going to laugh and say, ‘Aha, God couldn’t fulfill His promise; He couldn’t bring them into the land, so He killed them dead.’ God, You better think this thing over.” God changed His mind and said, “I won’t do it.” Whew! Such influence with God, yet this man still prayed, Show me now thy way, that I may know thee.
So this man prayed out of a sense of need. He prayed for two things: the revelation of His ways, the revelation of Himself. And yet this prayer was uttered by a man who was not a backslider, but a man that enjoyed intimate relationship, an intimate communion—as a man speaketh unto his friend. A friend tells a friend what he doesn’t tell everybody else—and an intimate privilege.
Now if such a man prayed such a prayer, should not you and I pray, Show me now thy way, that I may know thee. Now if you will take just a little fragment that I gave you tonight of a huge area of truth, take yourself before the Lord and pray as Moses did, shall not this God take you and lead you on from there into the revelation of His ways, and the revelation of Himself. Show me now thy way, that I may know thee. Hallelujah!
This message is one of the sixty-six surviving transcripts of Walter Beuttler's teaching. To hear his voice, visit the Messages page. To read the story of his life — from the Brooklyn Bridge to the school of the Spirit — see Who Was Walter Beuttler? The True Story of the Man Who Knew God.
The Man Who Knew God
Walter Beuttler was never famous, yet he carried God's presence to more than a hundred countries. His students said that when he walked into a room, the air changed. This is the first full account of a friendship with God that was specific, sustained, and costly. Read the story of his life →