[0:00] Turn with me to the book of Exodus chapter 33 this morning.
[0:18] Familiar passage to you, no doubt. Exodus chapter 33. And for the sake of time, we're going to begin reading in verse 12 this morning.
[0:32] Exodus chapter 33 and verse 12. Let's stand together, if you will, while we read in God's Word in honor of His Word today.
[0:44] 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.
[0:56] 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, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight.
[1:14] 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 said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.
[1:31] For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Is it not in that thou goest with us? So shall we be separated, and I and thy people from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.
[1:47] And the Lord said to Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken. For thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.
[1:57] And he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And he said, I will make my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord.
[2:10] Now notice that's the name Jehovah. I will proclaim the name Jehovah before thee, and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
[2:20] And he said, Thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see me and live. And Jehovah said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock.
[2:35] And it shall come to pass, while my glory passes by, that I will put thee in the cleft of the rock, and I will cover thee with my hand while I pass by. And I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back parts, but my face shall not be seen.
[2:52] Go on in chapter 34 now. And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and I will write upon these tables the words that were written in the first tables which thou breakest.
[3:06] And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto Mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount. And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount, neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount.
[3:23] And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first. And Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up into Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hands the two tables of stone.
[3:36] And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. Read it this way. He proclaimed the name Jehovah.
[3:47] And the Lord passed before him, and proclaimed the Lord, that's Jehovah, the Lord God, that's Jehovah Elohim, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the children's children, unto the third and fourth generations.
[4:20] And Moses made haste, bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped. Let's pray together. Father, again, thank you for your goodness and your grace. And now, Lord, thank you for this great opportunity to worship together as your church.
[4:35] And now, as we come to look into your word today, I ask that you will indeed give us clarity of mind and thought, that we may hear what you specifically have to say to us, both individually and corporately as a church.
[4:50] And, Lord, we pray that as we conclude this in a while, that, Lord, we will go away from here, change people today, because of the glory of God.
[5:02] And we'll thank you for it. Honor your son now, and thus honoring yourself through that. And we'll thank you for it in Jesus' name. For his sake we do pray. Amen. Thank you.
[5:13] Be seated, if you will. The passage we just read gives to us one of the most tremendous events that any mortal man can ever experience, and anything found in Scripture.
[5:25] And that is Moses in the presence of God, more particularly Moses in the presence of the glory of God. But I trust and hope that as we go through the message this morning, that we will be able to catch somewhat of a glimpse of that same glory that Moses saw, but also come away changed people just like Moses did.
[5:58] Moses came out of that mount, changed physically. His face shone to the extent that the people of Israel were afraid to look upon him. Now, I hope that we can come away from this realizing that we have the outreign of the glory of God proceeding from us as we've been saved by the grace of God.
[6:18] Not that people would be afraid, hopefully not, but be able to see Christ in us. The story really begins in chapter 2. We don't have time to go all the way back through that.
[6:29] But in chapter 2, we find the preparation of God for what now is going to take place, this glorious event that Moses experiences. We see there the silent, diligent work of God as he prepares the seed and the ground for this tremendous occasion of his work with Moses.
[6:49] In the context of it, we see Israel in chapter 2. We see Israel in bondage. In bondage to Egyptian taskmasters, and their bondage is severe.
[7:02] You know that. They worked by the sweat of their brow night and day and were treated as slaves are normally treated.
[7:15] But then Pharaoh dies. The Pharaoh of Egypt dies. And there springs up hope in the hearts of God's people that perhaps the new Pharaoh won't be so harsh upon us.
[7:29] But quickly those hopes are dashed because the new Pharaoh comes and makes their tasks even greater and harder. And so now that bondage is even more severe than they had ever dreamed it would be.
[7:46] Along with that now, there's not been any communication from God to his covenant people for centuries now. It's been a long time since any prophet has arisen and given them a message from the Lord.
[8:02] But yet, in spite of that, here's a tremendous thing. In spite of all of that, a cry arises from the covenant nation of Israel, from the people of Israel, the Jews.
[8:15] A cry up to the Lord that he would hear them and deliver them. That's nothing more than an indication of a true work of grace within the lives and heart of the people of Israel.
[8:30] Grace and faith, more particularly. To be able to, in the midst of that bondage and lack of hearing and silence from God, that they would rise up a cry unto the God that they worshipped and they knew, which at this point could not worship.
[8:48] God had done a work in them to raise up some form of faith within them and within their hearts. Then we go to chapter 3 and we find there the call of Moses to do a work that God has for him.
[9:03] Go ahead and turn to chapter 3 of the book of Exodus. And by the way, if I do get to going too fast, go like this. Okay?
[9:15] Slow me down because I have a habit of just going. In chapter 3, begin verse 1. Remind yourself here of this. Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian.
[9:29] And he led the flock to the backside of the desert, came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of Jehovah appeared unto him in a flame of fire, out of the midst of a bush.
[9:41] And he looked, and behold, the bush burning with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.
[9:54] And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
[10:05] And he said, Draw not nigh hither. Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover, he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
[10:24] And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people. That's good news. Amen? Now, when God saw in verse 4 that Moses turned aside, he called to Moses out of the bush and said, Moses, Moses.
[10:46] And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither. Put off thy shoes from thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover, he said, I am the Lord God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.
[11:01] And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people, which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.
[11:16] For I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land, and a large unto a land flowing with milk and honey, unto the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
[11:37] Now, therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is coming to me, and I have seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppressed them. Come now, therefore, I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt.
[11:57] The purpose of God, and Moses being present at that burning bush, is quite evident for us today. God remembered Israel. Even in their sin, he remembered them.
[12:11] Good picture. The people of God were not forsaken. Even though it's been quiet from God for 400 years, they have, or not that long, but a long time, they have not been forsaken.
[12:25] God remembers them in their calamity. He demonstrates through that his faithfulness, in particular to the promises of Abraham.
[12:36] That promise, of course, was that the seed of Abraham would possess the land that would be their inheritance.
[12:47] The picture in the bush, of course, is that of Israel burning in the fires of Egypt, yet not given over to death. God was in the midst of the bush.
[12:58] He was the God that chastened, but not the God that consumed. And so the burning bush, then, really represents the relationship of God to the nation of Israel, and really, in type, the relationship of Christ and his church.
[13:17] And then in chapter 2, verses 24 and 25, Scripture says, God heard their cry. They cried out. He heard their cry, and he knew them.
[13:29] He wasn't surprised at what they had to say. He knew what was going on with them. So God then brings Moses upon holy ground, and that begins the start of that glorious work that we begin to see here.
[13:45] He begins then by calling Moses, brings Moses to holy ground, and then does something else as well. God then manifests himself to the nation of Israel in a way he's never done before.
[14:00] In particular to Moses, in a way that no one else has ever done. Back to chapter 33, and let's begin looking again at something here.
[14:12] In the beginning portion of chapter 33, it's interesting that God tells Moses now, arise, you know, this is after Moses' first experience on Mount Sinai, gets the commandments of God, departs from the top of the mountain, and comes down and sees the ungodliness and wickedness taking place in the camp of the nation of Israel.
[14:37] Thus he throws down the tablets of stone, and they are destroyed. So now this is the second occasion. And God says then, prior to that second trip to the mountain, in verse 1 of chapter 33, it tells Moses, depart, go up hence, thou and thy people, which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land that I swear unto Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, unto thy seed I will give it, and I will send an angel before thee, and I will drive out, and then we saw those, unto a land, verse 3, of flowing with milk and honey, for I will not go up in the midst of thee.
[15:15] Now notice that. I will not go up. I'm sending my angel, yeah. But I myself will not go up in the midst of thee. Why?
[15:25] Because they're ungodly, backslidden people. That's what he says here. I will not go up in the midst of thee, because you are a stiff-necked people, lest I consume thee in the way.
[15:38] Amen? That would be a pretty good warning. It had to be a Baptist church. Amen? What can I say? God said, if I have to stay in your presence, and you keep up what you're doing, and going the way you're going, I'm going to have to end up consuming you.
[15:55] So I'm not going to go with you. Now, as we go over to verse 12, and following that we've already read, it's interesting here. Moses reminds God of some things.
[16:07] God, in verse 12, you say unto me, bring up this people, but you've not let me know whom you're going to send with me. You said over here, I'm not going to go with you.
[16:18] Who are you going to send? But he said, as well as that, you've said you know me by name, and that I've found grace in your sight.
[16:29] So, verse 13, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I might find grace in thy sight, and consider that this nation is thy people.
[16:44] Now, again, here's Moses having to lead this backslidden multitude of people into the land that God promised would be their inheritance. And now, Moses, you know, realizes how ungodly these people really are.
[17:00] And he said, God, I need to know your way. Show me the way you work. I need to see that. If I'm going to lead this people into the promised land.
[17:13] Now, I pray thee, verse 13, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me thou thy way, that I may know thee, know you how you work, that I may find grace in thy sight, consider that this nation is thy people.
[17:29] Verse 14, and he said, my presence will go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him, if your presence doesn't go with me, if you go not with us, and carry us up hence, how will it be shown then?
[17:49] And how will it be known that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Is it not in that thou goest with us? So shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth?
[18:03] Will that not be the real mark of us as your covenant people, in that you are with us, you are present with us as we go? You said over here, you're not going to go, you're going to send an angel, but now you've not told me who that's going to be.
[18:20] And God says, all right, I'm going to go with you. Now, let's look a little further. Look at verse 18.
[18:33] Well, look at verse 16. For where in shall, well, we just read that. The Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken, for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.
[18:48] In other words, I'll show you how I operate. I'll let you see that. All right? But look at verse 18. Of all the audacity of anybody, look what Moses says.
[19:02] All right? It's not that, he's not tempting God here. Moses, Moses is just so genuine.
[19:13] He just really needs to have everything from God, he needs, to direct this backslidden people to Canaan. So, look at verse 18.
[19:26] He said, that's Moses, said, I beseech thee, I beg of you, God, show me thy glory. I need to see your glory.
[19:40] I need to see that. Yes, all right, your presence is going to be with us, but I need to see your glory. I need to see you and who you really are.
[19:53] That ought to teach us a lesson. Amen? We have got to be consistently aware of the fact that every moment of every day of our life, we need to have the presence of God at work within our lives.
[20:12] Got to have that. We'll not succeed in anything if we don't have that. Now, we're going to look more at that in just a moment, but we've got to have that.
[20:25] And that's what Moses said, and that's what he understood. Now, he makes that request. Moses desired to see a sight of God that nobody's ever seen.
[20:38] Not even what we see back in verse 11 of chapter 33. Remember that episode? He goes out to the tent of meeting, and that's not the tabernacle per se.
[20:51] That's not been erected yet. But scholars believe more likely it's Moses' tent where he conducted the business of settling matters in the nation.
[21:02] Where periodically, God would present himself in some form or fashion, and Moses would go and commune with God. Verse 11 says, look at what it says here.
[21:15] The Lord spake unto Moses face to face as a man spake unto his friend. Yeah. I love that. But it's a similitude of Jehovah.
[21:27] It's not, Moses didn't see him or else he'd never come out of that tent. It's a similitude of Jehovah. And really, the people of Israel saw that too.
[21:38] The only thing they saw was the cloud of smoke. They were veiled from what even Moses saw. That cloud was a veil upon their face.
[21:52] But now Moses said, God, I want to see your glory unveiled and not in a similitude of form. Any kind of form.
[22:02] I need to see you for who you are. Now, realize here, the glory of God anytime you see the idea of the glory of God, a lot of times we think of that as being the majestic view of light shining and all that.
[22:22] That's not what the word really connotates here. It's the idea of all the attributes and characteristics that God himself possesses in himself and that collectively.
[22:36] So that's what Moses is saying, I need to see. Now, look what happens here. Verse 19, God answers and answers that request and grants that request.
[22:49] He said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee and I will proclaim the name of Jehovah before thee. Will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, mercy upon whom I will show mercy.
[23:03] But, that request, that grant request, has some restrictions to it here. He said, you cannot see my face because if you do, you're going to die.
[23:15] No man can see me in my full glory, my Shekinah glory, and still live. So Jehovah said, there's a rock, I'll put you on that rock and as I pass by, I'll put you in the cleft of that rock, put my hand over you and you can see my hinder parts.
[23:34] It's really, what Moses really sees is a reflection of the glory of God. What I like to call the non-consuming aspects of the glory of God. But he said, the way I'm going to do that is, I'm going to proclaim to you the name Jehovah.
[23:51] Remembering, of course, the name is a reflection of the characteristics possessed by the person named. I'm going to reveal to you all the, or some of the characteristics in this case of what the name Jehovah really means.
[24:11] Now, he grants the request and now Moses will see somewhat of the glory of God.
[24:22] But no human person can see the fullness of that glory. Why? You realize the human body was first destined to be transformed into that glorified state of the Spirit of God.
[24:38] Sin, of course, changed that and from that glorified state that never really came, the human body has fallen prey to the corruption of death.
[24:50] So, we can only walk by faith faith to see God and see Him with the eyes of faith. That's all we can do and do that as far as He's revealed it to us, revealed His glory to us through His Son, Christ Jesus, through the works and through the Word of Christ.
[25:14] Now, turn with me to, well, you don't have to turn here yet. Yeah, you do too. I even confuse myself sometimes.
[25:26] Hebrews chapter 1. Go to Hebrews chapter 1 and take note of something here. Keep in mind, Moses, picture him in your mind asking to see the glory of God and what God's going to do with that request.
[25:47] Now, Hebrews chapter 1, verse 1, God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us, King James has it, by His Son, it's literally, in Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things by whom He also made the world.
[26:14] All right, He speaks not only in what the Son says but what He does as well. Who being, that's Christ, who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sin, He sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high.
[26:37] Notice the phrase, identifying the Lord Jesus as being the express, or excuse me, the brightness. He is the brightness of His glory.
[26:52] That term brightness simply means, in the original, a radiance or an effulgence, which is literally an out-rain.
[27:03] The out-rain is the idea of rays proceeding from a light body, like you see in the stars and so forth. Rays going forth out of the light body.
[27:15] Now, it's not just the idea, the brightness is not just the idea of those rays themselves proceeding, or the idea of those rays hitting upon another body of light and being reflected out.
[27:31] It's not the idea here. The out-rain is the idea of those rays proceeding from the original body and going out and lighting upon something or creating something that is an exact replication of Himself.
[27:50] Another light body. See the picture? Christ Jesus is the out-rain of the glory of God.
[28:02] If we want to see the glory of God, we see Jesus. And that's the idea here. that God has permitted Himself to be duplicated, if you will, out-raised of His divine glory creating another light body like Himself.
[28:24] And that is, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, we see that through faith.
[28:36] We'll look at that again a little bit. But first, the day is going to come when our life of faith is going to become one of sight. Look at Matthew chapter 16.
[28:50] Matthew chapter 16. Begin at verse 24. Then said Jesus unto His disciples.
[29:06] I steer here pages rattling, so I'm going to wait. All right. Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.
[29:22] for whosoever will save his life shall lose it, whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it. For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?
[29:37] Or what shall a man give in exchange for his own soul? Now, get the picture here. You've got to take up your cross and follow Him. The cross for Jesus was whatever the will of the Father was for Him.
[29:50] self-sacrificial will or whatever the design and will of God is for us, we give self-sacrificially to it is the picture.
[30:02] Now, look at the verse 27. 4. And here's the reason behind all that. Not to try to save your life and protect it and not give yourself up to God.
[30:13] He said, the reason being, the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels. Then shall He reward every man according to His works.
[30:26] The Son will come in glory. And we'll see that. We'll see Him just as He is.
[30:37] Now, Matthew 24. While you're in the book of Matthew, Matthew 24. Matthew 24. Now, always remember Matthew 24.
[30:51] The whole chapter is a tribulation chapter. Events that will take place in the tribulation. But look at verse 27. As the light, as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.
[31:09] For whosoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heaven shall be shaken.
[31:25] And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. Then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
[31:40] glory. Now, on and on we could go. Matthew chapter 25 verse 31 said, When the Son of Man shall come in His glory and all His holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory.
[31:55] 1 John chapter 3 is one of my favorites. Verse 2, Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be.
[32:07] But we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. then Philippians chapter 3 verses 20 and 21.
[32:25] Paul says in verse 20, For our conversation or our citizenship is in heaven from whence we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
[32:40] Now, that word whence, again, I think I've mentioned it before. The word whence, from whence we look, the word look, is the idea of looking for Him coming with great excitement and anticipation, just as we would be looking for a dear friend to come visit with us that we haven't seen for a long time.
[33:02] Now, our conversation, our behavior, our citizenship, rather, is in heaven from whence we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change us when He comes.
[33:15] He'll change our vile body that at me be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able to subdue all things unto Himself.
[33:27] How many of, how many of, y'all, and I'll include myself in this, how many of y'all every day when you get up and you look in the mirror you see how more vile you are? Amen? Yeah.
[33:38] Yeah. Yeah. But when He comes, He'll give us that glorified body so we will be like Him and thus, to be like Him, to be able to see Him as He is in all of His glory, we're going to have to be the same way.
[33:55] Amen? We're going to have to have that glorified body. Now, when we've become like Christ, transformed into that glorified body, then we'll see Him just as He is and live with Him forever.
[34:13] Moses had to be content with just letting the glory of God and watching the glory of God pass by and only seeing a reflection of that.
[34:24] He had to be content with that. And he was. He was. But, you and I, currently, are looking through a mirror at the glory of God.
[34:41] Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 3. 2 Corinthians chapter 3. Paul makes reference in chapter 3 of Moses and his second trip to Mount Sinai.
[35:07] And he talks here about the administration of the Spirit being better than the administration of the law. Now, verse 12.
[35:20] Let's pick up there. seeing then that we have such hope, we as great plainness of speech, not as Moses, which put a veil over his face that the children of Israel could not look steadfastly to the end of that which is abolished.
[35:35] That's the law. All right? The commandments. Moses' face shone with such brilliance that he had to cover his face. He had to veil his face from the people of Israel so they could not see it.
[35:50] Now, verse 14. But their minds, that's Israel, their minds were blinded until this day. For until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament which veil is done away in Christ.
[36:09] But even unto this day when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. Now, we're talking about Israel nationally here.
[36:21] Sure, individual Jews have come to know Christ. But Israel nationally still has that veil upon their face so that they cannot see the reality of Messiah Jesus.
[36:34] But the day will come when that will be removed. But look what he says. Yeah, verse 16. Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away.
[36:45] That will be tribulation time, by the way, when Israel as a nation turns to Christ Jesus as their Messiah. Now, the Lord is that Spirit. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
[36:56] And look at verse 18. But we all, as for us, with open face, beholding as in a glass, the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
[37:19] Let me read that to you out of the Amplified, if you will. And all of us, as with unveiled face, because we continue to behold in the Word of God as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His own, very own image, in ever-increasing splendor, and from one degree of glory to another.
[37:46] Spirit, for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. Now, I want you to notice that. And what he's picturing is this. You and I have the Word of God.
[37:56] We have the Gospel of Christ. And we look and we've recognized and we've seen all the benefits and blessings that lie in store for the believer that are held in the Gospel of Christ.
[38:11] We see that more and more as we look into the Word of God, as we meditate on that, as we study that, and as the Spirit of God instructs us and enlightens us in that.
[38:27] We then, every time we do that, it's like us looking in a mirror and not saying, oh me, you vile thing.
[38:40] No. We see what? The outreign of the glory of God.
[38:52] Because we've apprehended by faith the reality of the promises, blessings, and everything else that's held in the Word of God, particularly the Gospel of Christ.
[39:08] We've appropriated that to our life. So what has happened? What has happened? The moment we place faith and trust in Christ Jesus, God placed His Spirit to dwell within us.
[39:26] Now, does the Spirit of God possess the same attributes, the same glory, as the Father and the Son?
[39:38] I would say yes. The Spirit, the Son, and the Father are inseparable in their essence. That's the essential divine being, if you will.
[39:55] Cannot separate that. He's living within us. God is us. that the Apostle Paul in particular, in his letters to the churches, writes so diligently about us learning to yield to the work of the Spirit of God within us?
[40:17] As he wrote to the church at Rome, the thing that God is desiring to do is conform every one of us into the image of Christ.
[40:30] What is the image of Christ? The divine glory. Amen? Now, here's the question for us today, one of them.
[40:42] Moses said, back over in Exodus 33, Lord, the distinguishing characteristic of us as a nation is that your presence is with us.
[40:57] And all the nations knew that. They knew by watching and seeing what God did through the nation of Israel, they knew God, Jehovah, was with them.
[41:12] Have to ask the question, if the divine glory of God is resident within us in lieu of the presence of the Spirit of God, is that evidenced from us?
[41:32] See what I'm saying? When the spies went into Rahab to spy out the land, remember what Rahab said? We're shaking in our boots.
[41:48] We're quaking because we know you're coming. We've seen what God has done in you and through you as His people and that He dwells with you.
[42:03] So, do people see the outreign of the glory of God from us?
[42:14] do they see evidence that God is not only with us, but God is in us? Sobering question, is it not?
[42:26] Yeah. That's the way it is supposed to work. Yeah. Yeah. Moses, caught a glimpse of the glory of God.
[42:47] Look and see, remember what he saw. Go back to chapter 34. God takes him up on the mountain, puts him on that rock, puts him in the cleft of the rock as he passes by and puts his hand over him, declaring the name Jehovah to him.
[43:10] In other words, showing him what the name Jehovah means. Verse 5 of chapter 34. The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name Jehovah.
[43:29] Jehovah passed by before him and proclaimed Jehovah Jehovah Elohim. Now, remember, Jehovah is the name of the characteristic of the self-existent God that reveals himself to man.
[43:52] Elohim is characteristics of the idea he's the strong, faithful, covenant-keeping God. And in that, then, we see the characteristics of the attributes.
[44:08] The Lord, Jehovah Elohim, and here it is, here's the meaning, merciful, gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth.
[44:25] That's the definition of Jehovah that he gives to Moses. Merciful. He sees our mercy.
[44:36] You know what mercy means? Literally, the word mercy. We, you know, we hear so many times people define mercy as God not giving us what we deserve, but that's not the biblical word for it, or the biblical meaning of it.
[44:53] The biblical meaning of mercy is the idea of showing pity. Looking at someone and seeing someone as being very pitiful.
[45:06] I think that fitting, amen? As God looks down on sinful, ungodly mankind, he sees how pitiful we are.
[45:20] But it goes farther than just the idea of seeing us as pitiful. Mercy includes the idea of seeing the pitiful condition, but also having a great desire to change that, coupled with doing and providing whatever is needed to make that change happen.
[45:46] That's mercy. And Jehovah, God, reveals himself as the one who is merciful, sees us in our pitiful state, and that drives his heart to do something to change that state.
[46:06] That's who he is. And in the midst of that, in the midst of that, he's gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth.
[46:22] Aren't you glad that's who he is? All of that, all of those characteristics, united together with holiness and justice.
[46:39] Now, in all of that, we've seen God promises, God's promise to Moses to be present with him.
[46:54] You saw the glory of God revealed to him. Then later, the tabernacle is erected, so God then dwelling with his people as he promised to do.
[47:06] Here's the principle that lies before us. When the going gets tough, amen, how many of you have been through tough times, maybe even right now, when the going gets tough, and the world seems to be falling apart, when everything's coming unglued and nobody seems to care, and nothing seems to be working, and all else seems futile.
[47:38] In all of that, the man or woman who is able to keep on going in a moment like that, is somebody that's caught glimpses of the glory of God.
[47:51] Amen? That's all Moses needed to be the more perfect mediator between he and the people of Israel. That's all we need to catch a glimpse of the glory of God every once in a while.
[48:11] How do we do that? we see Jesus. We look at him. We see what the word of God says about him. I would challenge you.
[48:23] Here's your homework. Amen? Here's your homework. And it's going to take you a while. No test, but you'll want to testify at some point, I'm sure.
[48:36] Begin doing a study of the person of Jesus. Just go through his life. Go through the Gospels.
[48:49] Get your good harmony of the Gospels so you can see what each one of them is saying about the same thing. And ask the Spirit of God, Lord, show me in that the outreign of your glory in your Son.
[49:05] Help me see his glory in that. And you'll come away from that strong, sturdy, steady, unwavering because you know the one that has saved you and is present with you and within you.
[49:31] Now, we need to uncouple right there. but guess what? We can come back tonight and look at some other things along this line.
[49:42] Amen? So we'll do that. I don't know what God is showing you in this. Maybe he's just giving you some encouragement in this. I hope so. God is God is God is Maybe there's something else he's shown you in your particular life.
[49:58] I want to just simply ask you, whatever that may be, that as we pray, you surrender yourself to him in whatever he's showing you.
[50:10] If there's sin in your life, repent of that sin. if you don't really know Christ in saving faith, realize he died for you. He wants to show you and let you be partakers of his glory.
[50:26] So I encourage you to trust him as Lord and Savior. Whatever else God's saying to you, I just ask you to respond in obedience to him.
[50:37] Let's pray together. Father, thank you for your loving kindness today. Thank you, Father, for who you are. Lord, it's impossible for our little human minds to fully comprehend even the things that you've shown us in your word.
[51:02] But we thank you that the Spirit of God teaches us and shows us those things we are capable of understanding. Thank you, Father, for showing us things about your glory and how we relate to them.
[51:23] And so, Father, I ask and I pray that you will then now, at this moment, be speaking to our heart and that whatever you are saying to each individual, that, Lord, you will enable each one, to respond in obedience to you.
[51:42] Give us that grace and that ability today. Break down the barriers, the hindrances, anything that would keep people from surrendering to you and being obedient to you.
[51:53] Honor yourself in the life of the future.