The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer

Week 4: Chapter III — Removing the Veil

Read Chapter III of The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer. Primary Scripture: Hebrews 10:19-22; Exodus 26:31-35; Matthew 27:51.

Tozer leads us through the Old Testament tabernacle and into the Holy of Holies — and then confronts us with the veil that still hangs in our own hearts. This chapter calls for painful honesty.

Discussion Questions

8 questions

1.Tozer opens with Augustine's famous line: "Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee." He says this is "the origin and interior history of the human race." Do you feel that restlessness? What do you typically do with it?

2.He distinguishes carefully between the omnipresence of God and the "manifest Presence" of God. We have fled from the manifest Presence — like Adam hiding, or Peter crying "Depart from me." What is the difference between knowing God is everywhere and actually experiencing His Presence? Which do you know more of?

3.Walk through Tozer's description of the tabernacle — the outer court, the holy place, the veil, the Holy of Holies. What does each stage represent in the soul's journey toward God? At which stage do you think most Christians are living?

a.Tozer says the veil of the temple was rent at the moment of Christ's death. What does it mean to you personally that this barrier is gone on God's side?

b.Why, then, do so many Christians still live in the outer courts?

4.Tozer names the "inner veil" that remains in our hearts: "the veil of our fleshly fallen nature living on, unjudged within us, uncrucified and unrepudiated." He then lists the "self-sins" that compose it: self-righteousness, self-pity, self-confidence, self-sufficiency, self-admiration, self-love. Which of these threads do you recognize most clearly in yourself?

5.He makes a striking observation: "Self can live unrebuked at the very altar. It can watch the bleeding Victim die and not be in the least affected by what it sees." And even more startling: it "seems actually to feed upon orthodoxy and is more at home in a Bible Conference than in a tavern." Do you think this is true? What makes the self-life so resilient even in the midst of religious activity?

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Closing Prayer

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Lord, show us how to die, that we may rise again to newness of life. We have named the self-sins and felt the familiar discomfort of recognition. Rend the veil of our self-life from the top down, as You rent the veil of the Temple — not by our effort, but by Your sovereign act of grace. We would draw near in full assurance of faith, not in the outer courts any longer, but in the Presence itself. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

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