1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:03,520 Invite you to stand, if you're able, for the reading of God's 2 00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:08,680 word. We're reading Exodus 33, the 3 00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:13,080 whole chapter. First one, the Lord said to 4 00:00:13,080 --> 00:00:15,520 Moses to part. Go up from here, you and the 5 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:18,160 people whom you've brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the 6 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:21,560 land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying 7 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:23,360 to your offspring I will give it. 8 00:00:23,870 --> 00:00:26,470 I'll send an Angel before you, and I'll drive out the 9 00:00:26,470 --> 00:00:29,550 Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the parasites, the 10 00:00:29,550 --> 00:00:33,990 Hivites and the Jebusites go up to a land flowing with milk and 11 00:00:33,990 --> 00:00:36,470 honey. But I will not go up among you, 12 00:00:36,950 --> 00:00:39,990 lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff necked 13 00:00:39,990 --> 00:00:42,230 people. When the people heard this 14 00:00:42,230 --> 00:00:45,670 disastrous word, they mourned and no one put on his ornaments. 15 00:00:45,990 --> 00:00:48,790 For the Lord had said to Moses, say to the people of Israel, you 16 00:00:48,790 --> 00:00:51,870 are a stiff neck people. If for a single moment I should 17 00:00:51,870 --> 00:00:53,750 go up among you, I would consume you. 18 00:00:54,190 --> 00:00:57,630 So now take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with 19 00:00:57,630 --> 00:00:59,910 you. Therefore the people of Israel 20 00:00:59,910 --> 00:01:02,750 stripped themselves of their ornaments from Mount Horib 21 00:01:02,790 --> 00:01:05,830 onward. Now Moses used to take the tent. 22 00:01:06,630 --> 00:01:09,030 And pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp. 23 00:01:09,030 --> 00:01:10,710 And he called it the tent of meeting. 24 00:01:11,030 --> 00:01:13,710 And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of 25 00:01:13,710 --> 00:01:15,310 meeting, which was outside the camp. 26 00:01:15,630 --> 00:01:18,390 Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise 27 00:01:18,390 --> 00:01:21,830 up, and each would stand at his tent door and watch Moses until 28 00:01:21,830 --> 00:01:24,790 he had gone into the tent. When Moses entered the tent, the 29 00:01:24,790 --> 00:01:27,430 pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the 30 00:01:27,430 --> 00:01:29,990 tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses. 31 00:01:30,470 --> 00:01:33,110 And when all the people saw the pillar of clouds standing at the 32 00:01:33,110 --> 00:01:36,430 entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship 33 00:01:36,470 --> 00:01:39,990 each at his tent door. Thus the Lord used to speak to 34 00:01:39,990 --> 00:01:43,550 Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend. 35 00:01:44,030 --> 00:01:47,150 When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the 36 00:01:47,150 --> 00:01:50,710 son of none, a young man, would not depart from the tent. 37 00:01:51,430 --> 00:01:54,190 Moses said to the Lord, see, you say to me, bring up this people, 38 00:01:54,190 --> 00:01:56,670 but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. 39 00:01:56,870 --> 00:01:59,670 Yet you have said, I know you by name, and you have also found 40 00:01:59,670 --> 00:02:02,870 favor in my sight. Now, therefore, if I've found 41 00:02:02,870 --> 00:02:06,750 favor in your sight, please show me now your ways that I may know 42 00:02:06,750 --> 00:02:09,229 you in order to find favor in your sight. 43 00:02:09,590 --> 00:02:12,830 Consider to that this nation is your people. 44 00:02:13,510 --> 00:02:16,710 And he said, my presence will go with you, and I will give you 45 00:02:16,710 --> 00:02:18,860 rest. And he said to him, if your 46 00:02:18,860 --> 00:02:21,980 presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. 47 00:02:22,140 --> 00:02:25,540 For how shall it be known that I found favor in your sight, I and 48 00:02:25,540 --> 00:02:28,740 your people, is it not? And you're going with us so that 49 00:02:28,740 --> 00:02:32,340 we are distinct, I and your people from every other people 50 00:02:32,340 --> 00:02:36,060 on the face of the earth. And the Lord said to Moses, this 51 00:02:36,060 --> 00:02:39,340 very thing that you have spoken, I will do, For you have found 52 00:02:39,340 --> 00:02:43,340 favor in my sight. And I know you by name, Moses 53 00:02:43,340 --> 00:02:47,250 said, Please show me your glory. And he said, I will make all my 54 00:02:47,250 --> 00:02:51,130 goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you my name 55 00:02:51,130 --> 00:02:53,210 the Lord. And I'll be gracious to whom 56 00:02:53,210 --> 00:02:56,330 I'll be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 57 00:02:56,610 --> 00:03:01,570 But he said, you cannot see my face, for a man shall not see me 58 00:03:01,570 --> 00:03:03,770 and live. And the Lord said, Behold, 59 00:03:03,770 --> 00:03:06,250 there's a place by me where you shall stand on the rock. 60 00:03:06,410 --> 00:03:09,690 And while my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the 61 00:03:09,690 --> 00:03:12,890 rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 62 00:03:13,260 --> 00:03:16,740 Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but 63 00:03:16,740 --> 00:03:20,300 my face shall not be seen. This is the word of the Lord. 64 00:03:21,020 --> 00:03:23,500 Thanks be to God, you may be see them. 65 00:03:26,700 --> 00:03:29,260 I don't know what you brought with you this morning, but I can 66 00:03:29,260 --> 00:03:32,100 imagine that some of you see a title like Knowing the Glory of 67 00:03:32,100 --> 00:03:36,020 God, and you just think that does not connect with my life 68 00:03:36,060 --> 00:03:38,860 this week. And I get it, if you feel that 69 00:03:38,860 --> 00:03:41,460 way. Talking about glory is like. 70 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:46,440 Trying to bottle the ocean. It seems too big, impossible. 71 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:50,560 And yet it does connect with the little moments in our lives. 72 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:54,880 Because the Lord made us for glory, made us to seek glory, to 73 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:59,600 find meaning in something bigger and brighter than ourselves. 74 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:03,600 And if we take time to reflect, we'll see this search for glory 75 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:06,360 all over our lives and all around us. 76 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:08,880 I just took time this week to think about the last few months 77 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:11,280 in my life and the glory that I've seen. 78 00:04:11,830 --> 00:04:15,230 Seen Academic Glory. My nephew Luke graduated from 79 00:04:15,230 --> 00:04:17,709 high school, Seen athletic glory. 80 00:04:17,709 --> 00:04:20,709 My son Will was on a baseball team that won a championship. 81 00:04:20,870 --> 00:04:24,550 Got this big old fake ring from Dick's Sports. 82 00:04:25,590 --> 00:04:29,070 I've seen Artistic Glory as my wife Ann brought a creative 83 00:04:29,070 --> 00:04:33,150 project to completion. Seen Recreational Glory as we 84 00:04:33,150 --> 00:04:35,870 just went on a trip as a family to the beach. 85 00:04:36,230 --> 00:04:39,310 And I've seen Relational Glory right here without the pulpit 86 00:04:39,310 --> 00:04:42,740 standing here multiple times. For bride and groom coming 87 00:04:42,740 --> 00:04:46,180 together to be married, that moment glorious. 88 00:04:46,500 --> 00:04:49,900 And so all these glories have been deeply satisfying. 89 00:04:49,900 --> 00:04:53,140 For me, it's the presence of glory that brings great joy in 90 00:04:53,140 --> 00:04:54,900 our lives. And some of some of you may not 91 00:04:54,900 --> 00:04:58,500 feel that presence right now, and that absence perhaps brings 92 00:04:58,500 --> 00:05:01,380 you sadness. But these are little glories in 93 00:05:01,380 --> 00:05:03,980 our lives. They're like rays of light from 94 00:05:03,980 --> 00:05:08,500 the sun, Not the source. But they point us to the source. 95 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:12,200 And in his book Quest for More, Paul Tripp writes the 96 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:16,920 transcendent glory that every human being quest for, whether 97 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:20,000 he or she knows it or not, is not a thing. 98 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:23,240 It is a person, and his name is God. 99 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:28,440 And so the glory of knowing God is absolutely connected to our 100 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:29,920 daily life. Because you could say we've 101 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:34,440 actually all been searching for God and his glory all week, just 102 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:38,270 that some of us don't know it. And all of us struggle because 103 00:05:38,270 --> 00:05:39,950 we look in the wrong places for it. 104 00:05:40,510 --> 00:05:43,630 So what is the glory of God? That's an impossible task. 105 00:05:43,630 --> 00:05:46,030 But I'm going to try to give you some rails to run on. 106 00:05:46,390 --> 00:05:50,350 The glory of God, you could say, is the goal of all that God is 107 00:05:50,350 --> 00:05:54,230 doing in history. In Romans 1136, Paul says, For 108 00:05:54,230 --> 00:05:58,550 from him and through him and to him are all things. 109 00:05:58,910 --> 00:06:03,630 To him be glory forever. Psalm 19 One says the heavens 110 00:06:03,630 --> 00:06:07,510 declare the glory of God, and so creation is shouting His glory. 111 00:06:07,790 --> 00:06:09,910 And sometimes we hear it and sometimes we don't. 112 00:06:10,430 --> 00:06:13,390 But there's this connection between God's beauty and His 113 00:06:13,390 --> 00:06:15,550 glory. We obviously see it in His 114 00:06:15,550 --> 00:06:19,750 creation, but even more, we see it in His perfect character. 115 00:06:20,390 --> 00:06:24,670 In Isaiah 6 three, the angels are crying Holy, holy, Holy is 116 00:06:24,670 --> 00:06:26,870 the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of His 117 00:06:26,870 --> 00:06:29,470 glory. The Lord is holy. 118 00:06:29,470 --> 00:06:32,190 He's different. There's no one like him. 119 00:06:32,550 --> 00:06:36,070 So now we see a connection between His Holiness and his 120 00:06:36,070 --> 00:06:38,790 glory. John Piper sort of puts it 121 00:06:38,790 --> 00:06:43,350 together and says the glory of God is the manifest beauty of 122 00:06:43,350 --> 00:06:46,710 His Holiness. It's the going public of His 123 00:06:46,710 --> 00:06:49,520 Holiness. So an example would be Moses 124 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:52,600 encountering the Lord at the burning Bush in Exodus 3. 125 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:56,160 The Lord was going public with His Holiness, revealing his 126 00:06:56,160 --> 00:06:59,920 beauty and his glory to Moses. And Moses saw that and he knew 127 00:06:59,920 --> 00:07:02,600 this. God is different from any other, 128 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:05,280 an experience of the glory of God. 129 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:09,160 Now in Hebrew the word for glory has an interesting meaning. 130 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:15,160 It has a sense of weightiness or heaviness, real solid, but also 131 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:18,570 significance. Idols are nothing. 132 00:07:18,690 --> 00:07:20,890 They have no glory. But God is glorious. 133 00:07:20,890 --> 00:07:25,050 He has weight, significance, He's real, and there aren't many 134 00:07:25,050 --> 00:07:27,050 words that capture that whole range. 135 00:07:27,050 --> 00:07:28,930 But several preachers have suggested a word. 136 00:07:28,930 --> 00:07:32,930 I think it's a good one. It's the word matter, because 137 00:07:32,930 --> 00:07:36,530 matter has both a physical and more of a spiritual meaning. 138 00:07:37,170 --> 00:07:40,210 So physically, matter is anything that has mass and takes 139 00:07:40,210 --> 00:07:41,970 up space. Maybe you remember that from. 140 00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:45,920 Middle school science. Spiritually, we all want to know 141 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:48,440 that we matter, that we're significant. 142 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:52,440 So you take this Bible, you say this Bible has matter, It has 143 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:54,360 mass and takes up space. It's solid. 144 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:57,160 It's real. But what it says actually 145 00:07:57,160 --> 00:08:01,400 matters so much, Moses says in Deuteronomy 3247. 146 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:04,960 It is no empty word for you. It is your life. 147 00:08:06,030 --> 00:08:10,390 So the glory of God is a weighty and significant subject, because 148 00:08:10,670 --> 00:08:13,630 nothing matters more than he does. 149 00:08:14,230 --> 00:08:17,590 In his book Knowing God, Ji Packer wrote What were we made 150 00:08:17,590 --> 00:08:18,990 for? To know God. 151 00:08:19,430 --> 00:08:22,110 What aims should we set ourselves in life to know God? 152 00:08:22,510 --> 00:08:26,630 What is the eternal life that Jesus gives knowledge of God? 153 00:08:27,070 --> 00:08:30,150 What is the best thing in life, bringing more joy, delight, and 154 00:08:30,150 --> 00:08:33,470 contentment than anything else, the knowledge of God. 155 00:08:34,230 --> 00:08:39,150 And in Exodus 33, what we see is the glory of knowing God on full 156 00:08:39,150 --> 00:08:41,750 display. And so I pray that the Spirit 157 00:08:41,750 --> 00:08:44,910 would help us to see it. The first thing I want you to 158 00:08:44,910 --> 00:08:47,030 see is the glory of knowing God's presence. 159 00:08:47,030 --> 00:08:51,710 The 1st 6 verses of the chapter. If you look at the 1st 3 verses, 160 00:08:52,030 --> 00:08:53,670 consider what the Lord is proposing. 161 00:08:53,670 --> 00:08:56,790 He's offering to bring Moses and the Israelites into the Promised 162 00:08:56,790 --> 00:08:58,430 Land. Give them success and 163 00:08:58,430 --> 00:09:00,390 prosperity, everything they wanted, right? 164 00:09:00,970 --> 00:09:03,850 There's just one catch. The Lord says he's not going 165 00:09:03,850 --> 00:09:06,530 with them. Now, I don't know how that falls 166 00:09:06,530 --> 00:09:10,290 on you, but it fell really hard on the Israelites. 167 00:09:10,290 --> 00:09:13,530 If you look at verse four, it says this was a disastrous word 168 00:09:13,530 --> 00:09:15,770 for them. So what happened? 169 00:09:15,770 --> 00:09:19,010 How do we get here? We had the golden calf incident 170 00:09:19,010 --> 00:09:23,450 next to this 32 and now the Lord appears to be distancing himself 171 00:09:23,450 --> 00:09:25,490 from the people, his covenant people. 172 00:09:25,490 --> 00:09:28,170 They've already betrayed him before Moses could even get back 173 00:09:28,170 --> 00:09:30,650 down the mountain with the 10 commandments. 174 00:09:31,330 --> 00:09:34,490 And the so the Lord sounds harsh, but there's actually a 175 00:09:34,490 --> 00:09:38,010 gracious element to this in verse three says, But I will not 176 00:09:38,010 --> 00:09:41,330 go up among you, lest I consume you on the way. 177 00:09:41,330 --> 00:09:45,650 For you were stiff neck people. Have you ever had a stiff neck 178 00:09:45,650 --> 00:09:49,130 friend, a parent or spouse or child? 179 00:09:49,130 --> 00:09:52,130 Don't name names, don't look at somebody. 180 00:09:52,610 --> 00:09:56,570 But if someone is stiff neck, it's impossible to be close to 181 00:09:56,570 --> 00:09:59,730 them. That's just human relationships. 182 00:10:00,140 --> 00:10:05,500 How can a holy God be close, live with a stiff neck people? 183 00:10:05,940 --> 00:10:08,420 So what does the Lord do? He proposes basically a long 184 00:10:08,420 --> 00:10:11,700 distance relationship to protect the sinful people from their 185 00:10:11,700 --> 00:10:13,940 holy God. He doesn't want to consume them. 186 00:10:14,260 --> 00:10:17,220 And so in these verses the Lord offers the Israelites this 187 00:10:17,260 --> 00:10:21,660 arrangement where they can have what they want without his 188 00:10:21,740 --> 00:10:25,460 presence. Think about that, the glory of 189 00:10:25,460 --> 00:10:29,340 success and prosperity, A land flowing with milk and honey. 190 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:32,040 And no God at the center of it all. 191 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:37,880 It's the arrangement for honest that most people want all the 192 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:41,640 benefits of a relationship with God without God. 193 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:44,760 All the benefits without the cost, you could say. 194 00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:48,160 So think about this. If God offered you success and 195 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:52,520 prosperity without his presence, would you take that deal? 196 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:56,400 And if that's too general, let's get specific. 197 00:10:56,400 --> 00:10:59,000 What glory are you chasing right now? 198 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:02,640 To try to give your life weight and significance, to try to make 199 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:07,320 you think that you matter. Another way to see that would be 200 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:09,520 think about what's your promised land in life. 201 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:13,960 Maybe that's in school or sports, or in recreation or 202 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:16,320 entertainment. What's your promised land at 203 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:18,840 work? What's your promised land with 204 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:23,680 money and possessions, or politics and power or even 205 00:11:23,680 --> 00:11:27,310 things that seem. You know nothing bad about 206 00:11:27,310 --> 00:11:30,470 church and ministry or family and relationships. 207 00:11:30,670 --> 00:11:34,590 What glory, what success and prosperity are you looking for 208 00:11:34,590 --> 00:11:38,390 in these areas? Or do you ever catch yourself 209 00:11:38,390 --> 00:11:43,710 saying, if I could just blank, what goes in that blank for you? 210 00:11:44,510 --> 00:11:47,790 If you can locate that, and then you can say if God gave you 211 00:11:47,790 --> 00:11:51,910 that, ask yourself, could you do it without His presence? 212 00:11:51,910 --> 00:11:53,710 Would you take it without His presence? 213 00:11:54,180 --> 00:11:56,780 And I'm afraid that many people would actually take that deal. 214 00:11:57,220 --> 00:12:01,180 And that says that we don't know the glory of His presence. 215 00:12:01,620 --> 00:12:04,420 So what is so significant about God's presence? 216 00:12:04,420 --> 00:12:06,260 Just think about the story of the Exodus. 217 00:12:06,260 --> 00:12:09,220 What have we seen so far? The Lord heard his people crying 218 00:12:09,220 --> 00:12:12,140 out in Egypt. He he responded and he rescued 219 00:12:12,140 --> 00:12:13,660 them. And they crossed the Red Sea on 220 00:12:13,660 --> 00:12:17,660 dry ground and Pharaoh's army was wiped out in the in the 221 00:12:17,660 --> 00:12:19,340 waters. It swallowed them up. 222 00:12:19,540 --> 00:12:21,460 But why? Why did the Lord do all this? 223 00:12:21,460 --> 00:12:24,280 To bring them out? Why did he keep saying let my 224 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:27,240 people go? If you ask that question, you 225 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:30,800 start to see the whole point of this was for God to be with his 226 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:32,760 people. I will be your God. 227 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:34,920 You will be my people. I will be with you. 228 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:39,320 That is the heart of God's covenant promise always from 229 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:42,480 beginning to end In the Bible, the Lord is working to get 230 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:46,600 closer to his people from the Garden of Eden, and then that 231 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:49,000 falls apart. And then to the patriarchs to 232 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:52,320 Mount Sinai, and then a Tabernacle, and then a temple, 233 00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:55,720 and then Jesus Christ himself and a church filled with His 234 00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:59,000 Spirit, and then a city in the new heavens and the new earth. 235 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:02,880 The Lord rescues His people so they can know the glory of His 236 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:06,760 presence with them. Not just His everywhere presence 237 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:09,200 that He's omnipresent, but His personal presence. 238 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:13,440 You could say right here, right now, and maybe some of you even 239 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:16,840 since that this morning to lose that. 240 00:13:17,090 --> 00:13:20,490 Is actually to lose everything. So when the people hear the 241 00:13:20,490 --> 00:13:23,170 Lord's proposal, they strip off their ornaments, their jewelry, 242 00:13:23,170 --> 00:13:26,050 the things they look to for value and significance. 243 00:13:26,170 --> 00:13:27,930 They didn't have banks in the wilderness. 244 00:13:27,930 --> 00:13:31,450 You carried your stuff with you. And so they take off their glory 245 00:13:31,450 --> 00:13:34,890 that they wear to make them feel significant, and they turn to 246 00:13:34,890 --> 00:13:38,850 the Lord in repentance. But after verse six, it's like a 247 00:13:38,850 --> 00:13:41,250 cliffhanger. What's going to happen to this 248 00:13:41,250 --> 00:13:44,180 relationship? So Moses brings it up again in 249 00:13:44,180 --> 00:13:46,300 verse 12. And then you see in verse 14 the 250 00:13:46,300 --> 00:13:49,500 Lord says, my presence will go with you and I'll give you rest. 251 00:13:49,500 --> 00:13:50,900 Great. That sounds good to us in 252 00:13:50,900 --> 00:13:55,460 English, but in but in Hebrew the Lord is saying my presence 253 00:13:55,460 --> 00:13:57,380 will go with you, singular. Moses. 254 00:13:58,260 --> 00:14:01,980 So Moses pushes that. He basically says if you're not 255 00:14:01,980 --> 00:14:04,780 going with us, all of us, we're not going. 256 00:14:05,060 --> 00:14:08,180 We don't want to go. Please go with all of us. 257 00:14:08,630 --> 00:14:12,350 Because Moses has no interest in power and prosperity without 258 00:14:12,350 --> 00:14:15,070 God's presence. And it goes deeper than that 259 00:14:15,070 --> 00:14:18,230 because the Hebrew word for presence is panin, and it means 260 00:14:18,230 --> 00:14:20,470 presence, but it also means face. 261 00:14:20,870 --> 00:14:23,390 So when you see presence, you can also think face. 262 00:14:23,390 --> 00:14:27,310 Moses is saying, Lord, we want your face to go with us. 263 00:14:27,870 --> 00:14:30,510 What does someone's face mean? When you have someone's face, 264 00:14:30,510 --> 00:14:34,750 you have their attention, you have their their, their focus, 265 00:14:34,750 --> 00:14:37,190 their relationship. There's intimacy there. 266 00:14:37,910 --> 00:14:41,110 Moses doesn't want the Lord's hand of blessing without his 267 00:14:41,110 --> 00:14:44,510 face. And I wonder, is that our heart? 268 00:14:45,230 --> 00:14:48,550 Could we really say, Lord, whatever we're doing in life, 269 00:14:48,550 --> 00:14:51,550 whatever we're going through in life, if you're not going with 270 00:14:51,550 --> 00:14:56,670 us, we don't want to go. Do we love the Lord's face? 271 00:14:56,670 --> 00:15:00,910 You could say more than his hand, a blessing and notice 272 00:15:00,910 --> 00:15:03,110 Moses reasoning. It's not just about him and the 273 00:15:03,110 --> 00:15:06,190 Israelites, it's about their mission to the world around 274 00:15:06,190 --> 00:15:07,390 them. Look at verse 16. 275 00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:10,320 He says, For how should it be known that I found favor in your 276 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:14,040 sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us 277 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:17,200 so that we are distinct, I and your people from every other 278 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:21,040 people on the face of the earth? What made the Israelites 279 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:25,320 distinct among these nations? Other nations were bigger, 280 00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:28,760 wealthier. Other nations had more culture. 281 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:31,200 You could say more land. What were the Israelites? 282 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:34,200 They were former slaves now wandering in the wilderness. 283 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:36,240 What did they have that was so special? 284 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:42,040 They had the presence of God, He had graciously chosen them, and 285 00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:45,760 he had been going with them. Moses pleads for the Lord to go 286 00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:50,280 with them because he knows it's the glory of his presence alone 287 00:15:50,520 --> 00:15:53,120 that makes them distinct from the people around them. 288 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:58,080 And only when God's people are are distinct can they be salt 289 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:00,680 and light, as Jesus says in Matthew 5. 290 00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:03,980 So church what makes us. Distinct. 291 00:16:03,980 --> 00:16:07,780 What do we look to to make us distinct as people and even as a 292 00:16:07,780 --> 00:16:11,620 church? Because it's not our land or our 293 00:16:11,620 --> 00:16:15,500 wealth or our possessions. It's not our righteousness or 294 00:16:15,540 --> 00:16:18,780 even our church programs. As great as they may be, what 295 00:16:18,780 --> 00:16:23,780 makes us distinct is the presence of God with us and 296 00:16:23,780 --> 00:16:26,260 because of Jesus. Think about this, we know so 297 00:16:26,260 --> 00:16:28,670 much more. About the glory of his presence 298 00:16:28,670 --> 00:16:32,470 than Moses, because Jesus was the Word who became flesh and 299 00:16:32,470 --> 00:16:35,950 dwelt among us. He was right here as Emmanuel, 300 00:16:35,950 --> 00:16:41,590 God with us He lived, died and rose again for us here on earth. 301 00:16:42,150 --> 00:16:45,110 And before he ascended he said in Matthew 28 the last thing he 302 00:16:45,110 --> 00:16:49,550 said in that gospel, Behold, I am with you to the end of the 303 00:16:49,550 --> 00:16:52,590 age always. And after he ascended, the 304 00:16:52,590 --> 00:16:56,110 Father then sent the Holy Spirit so that Paul could say in First 305 00:16:56,110 --> 00:16:59,990 Corinthians 316 that we are God's temple and God's Spirit 306 00:16:59,990 --> 00:17:03,910 dwells in us. It's God's presence that makes 307 00:17:03,910 --> 00:17:07,589 us distinct. But in Dallas, the glories of 308 00:17:07,589 --> 00:17:13,310 this world are more real than the glory of God's presence, and 309 00:17:13,310 --> 00:17:15,630 we think these other things matter more than the Lord. 310 00:17:15,630 --> 00:17:19,470 And that's why so many people feel weightless and empty. 311 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:22,920 Because when we chase all these things to make ourselves feel 312 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:26,800 like we matter, we're actually trading the rock solid glory of 313 00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:30,840 God for the shifting sand glories of creation. 314 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:36,880 But the Lord left heaven and earth and came to be with us. 315 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:39,960 Don't we see the glory of being with Him? 316 00:17:40,890 --> 00:17:43,530 And think about Acts 413, the beginning of the church that 317 00:17:43,530 --> 00:17:46,290 says talking about the religious leaders when they saw the 318 00:17:46,290 --> 00:17:48,810 boldness of Peter and John. Remember Peter and John? 319 00:17:48,810 --> 00:17:52,010 They had already abandoned Jesus, and it didn't look good. 320 00:17:52,330 --> 00:17:54,010 But they saw the boldness of Peter and John. 321 00:17:54,010 --> 00:17:56,850 They perceived that they were uneducated common men. 322 00:17:56,850 --> 00:18:00,730 They were astonished, and they recognized what that they had 323 00:18:00,730 --> 00:18:04,410 been with Jesus. What if it was the glory of his 324 00:18:04,410 --> 00:18:07,890 presence that made us distinct? That's the first thing. 325 00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:10,600 Let's talk now about the glory of knowing God's friendship. 326 00:18:11,360 --> 00:18:14,600 We've got the Lord's proposal. But then in verse 7, the Lord 327 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:16,800 goes. Moses goes out to his own tent 328 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:18,360 of meeting his own personal tent. 329 00:18:18,360 --> 00:18:21,480 It's not the Tabernacle. That whole project is on hold at 330 00:18:21,480 --> 00:18:24,600 the moment, and the Tabernacle would be a place for God's 331 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:27,160 presence to dwell in the midst of the people, right in the 332 00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:29,720 center of the camp. But Moses pitches his tent 333 00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:33,360 outside the camp, away from the sinful people, and you can 334 00:18:33,360 --> 00:18:36,120 imagine him wearing out the path to that tent. 335 00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:38,920 As he went again and again to meet with the Lord. 336 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:42,280 So just think about being an Israelite and watching Moses 337 00:18:42,280 --> 00:18:46,640 walk out to his tent and you watch him, and he goes in and he 338 00:18:46,640 --> 00:18:49,520 shuts the door and the pillar of cloud comes down, representing 339 00:18:49,520 --> 00:18:51,160 God's presence. And you're just sitting there 340 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:55,480 thinking, wow, Moses is in there meeting with God. 341 00:18:55,720 --> 00:18:58,120 What do I do? Well, I'll try to meet with God 342 00:18:58,120 --> 00:19:01,000 right here in my tent. Do my best. 343 00:19:01,930 --> 00:19:05,210 Not many people are called God's friend in the Bible, but Moses 344 00:19:05,210 --> 00:19:07,650 is. And this friendship is more 345 00:19:07,650 --> 00:19:10,890 amazing because of the context. The Lord's distancing himself 346 00:19:10,890 --> 00:19:14,850 from the people, but there is one person who still knows the 347 00:19:14,850 --> 00:19:18,730 glory of his friendship. Moses is God's friend, and 348 00:19:18,730 --> 00:19:23,210 that's really good news for all these people who seem unfit for 349 00:19:23,210 --> 00:19:26,250 friendship with God, because in this moment of redemptive 350 00:19:26,250 --> 00:19:30,250 history, Moses served as a kind of mediator between the Lord and 351 00:19:30,250 --> 00:19:32,550 his people. And So what we see in Moses 352 00:19:32,550 --> 00:19:35,110 points us forward to Jesus Christ. 353 00:19:35,350 --> 00:19:39,470 Let me try to explain. Moses was a friend of God and an 354 00:19:39,470 --> 00:19:42,230 imperfect mediator between God and his people. 355 00:19:43,270 --> 00:19:46,190 But Jesus was the Son of God, you could say, the ultimate 356 00:19:46,190 --> 00:19:49,950 friend of God, and the perfect mediator between God and his 357 00:19:49,950 --> 00:19:52,510 people. You go back to Exodus 32, the 358 00:19:52,510 --> 00:19:55,270 last chapter, and we saw that Moses was willing to be killed, 359 00:19:55,270 --> 00:19:58,790 blotted out to save the people from the wrath they deserve for 360 00:19:58,790 --> 00:20:01,380 sin. He wasn't qualified to be that 361 00:20:01,380 --> 00:20:03,980 kind of sacrifice, but Jesus was. 362 00:20:04,100 --> 00:20:05,580 And these Jesus didn't just offer. 363 00:20:05,580 --> 00:20:09,060 He actually was killed to save his people from what they 364 00:20:09,060 --> 00:20:11,820 deserved. And then did you notice why the 365 00:20:11,820 --> 00:20:14,060 Lord agreed to what Moses requested? 366 00:20:14,060 --> 00:20:16,940 Look at verse 17. This very thing that you have 367 00:20:16,940 --> 00:20:20,740 spoken, I will do Why? For you have found favor in my 368 00:20:20,740 --> 00:20:23,020 sight. And I know you by name. 369 00:20:23,660 --> 00:20:26,180 So the Lord was gracious to the Israelites, not because he was 370 00:20:26,180 --> 00:20:29,470 pleased with them. But because he was pleased with 371 00:20:29,470 --> 00:20:32,870 their mediator. And the Father is gracious to us 372 00:20:32,870 --> 00:20:36,230 not because He's pleased with us in ourselves, but because he is 373 00:20:36,230 --> 00:20:38,910 pleased with our mediator, the Lord Jesus. 374 00:20:39,350 --> 00:20:41,830 Salvation is never about what we can do. 375 00:20:42,390 --> 00:20:46,670 It's about trusting what Jesus has done for us as our mediator. 376 00:20:47,740 --> 00:20:51,100 And in that role in John 15, before going to the cross, Jesus 377 00:20:51,100 --> 00:20:54,580 told his closest friends greater love has no one than this, that 378 00:20:54,580 --> 00:20:56,940 someone lay down his life for his friends. 379 00:20:56,940 --> 00:20:59,660 That's what Jesus did. He laid down his life for his 380 00:20:59,660 --> 00:21:01,540 friends. We were enemies, and he made us 381 00:21:01,540 --> 00:21:05,700 friends by dying for us. And in that passage he calls us 382 00:21:05,700 --> 00:21:08,340 friends and he says, I want to talk to you and tell you 383 00:21:08,340 --> 00:21:10,420 everything I'm doing, and that's friendship. 384 00:21:11,540 --> 00:21:15,860 Exodus 3311 says the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face. 385 00:21:16,190 --> 00:21:20,110 As a man speaks to his friend and that's amazing and it seems 386 00:21:20,110 --> 00:21:21,830 like, well, that was just what Moses enjoyed. 387 00:21:22,030 --> 00:21:24,790 But what I want to tell you this morning is because Jesus was the 388 00:21:24,790 --> 00:21:28,230 ultimate friend to us, the friendship Moses enjoyed in the 389 00:21:28,230 --> 00:21:32,670 tent of meeting is available to every believer in Jesus even 390 00:21:32,670 --> 00:21:35,030 today. And we don't need a tent or a 391 00:21:35,030 --> 00:21:38,430 Tabernacle or a temple. It is wonderful for us to be 392 00:21:38,430 --> 00:21:41,830 together in this sanctuary. On Sundays the Lord calls us 393 00:21:41,830 --> 00:21:44,990 together come under the means of grace, word and sacrament. 394 00:21:45,310 --> 00:21:50,230 But this room is not the temple. We are the temple, His people, 395 00:21:50,510 --> 00:21:53,550 and the Lord wants to meet with us as his friends. 396 00:21:54,350 --> 00:21:58,350 Do you know the glory of his friendship, A friendship that's 397 00:21:58,350 --> 00:22:02,110 consistent and focused? Think about Moses returning 398 00:22:02,110 --> 00:22:05,070 again and again to the tent. Now we can walk with the Lord 399 00:22:05,070 --> 00:22:07,590 all day long, Practice His presence as we say. 400 00:22:07,750 --> 00:22:10,870 But when and where do we make time to hear from Him in His 401 00:22:10,870 --> 00:22:13,790 word and speak in response to Him in prayer? 402 00:22:14,820 --> 00:22:17,540 Are we battling all the distractions so we can be still 403 00:22:17,740 --> 00:22:20,580 and know that he is God? I know you're busy. 404 00:22:21,340 --> 00:22:23,380 Moses was busy too. Just think about it. 405 00:22:23,980 --> 00:22:27,540 He had a lot on his plate, but he didn't bring his phone or his 406 00:22:27,540 --> 00:22:32,140 To Do List into the tent. He needed undistracted time with 407 00:22:32,140 --> 00:22:35,780 the Lord, and so do we. If we want to grow in our faith, 408 00:22:35,780 --> 00:22:37,900 we need to cultivate our friendship with God. 409 00:22:37,900 --> 00:22:42,080 There's no shortcut around that. So it's beautiful to read in 410 00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:46,000 verse 11 that the young Joshua would not depart from the 10. 411 00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:49,440 Do we have a hunger to be with the Lord like that? 412 00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:54,320 So a friendship that is consistent and focused, but also 413 00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:57,680 personal and vulnerable. And I think about the phrase 414 00:22:57,680 --> 00:23:00,120 face to face. Face To face is incredible. 415 00:23:00,360 --> 00:23:03,600 Think about your best friends. You might text them, you might 416 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:06,120 e-mail them. We don't call a lot anymore, but 417 00:23:06,120 --> 00:23:09,600 maybe you call them. Nothing beats face to face. 418 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:11,080 Why? Because when you're face to 419 00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:15,360 face, you're fully engaged. It's not just listening. 420 00:23:15,360 --> 00:23:17,680 It's not just talking. It's not just seeing. 421 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:20,080 It's the whole thing. It's not just fingers on a 422 00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:22,120 keyboard. You can actually shake a hand or 423 00:23:22,120 --> 00:23:26,440 give a hug face to face. Do you really believe that the 424 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:29,480 Lord wants a personal relationship with us that He 425 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:33,720 would describe in the word as face to face and vulnerable? 426 00:23:34,410 --> 00:23:37,170 See how Moses is with the Lord, how honest he is. 427 00:23:37,370 --> 00:23:39,490 Think about who pushes back like this, Who? 428 00:23:39,610 --> 00:23:43,050 Who makes requests like this. These are bold requests to make 429 00:23:43,050 --> 00:23:45,890 to the Lord. But this is the way Friends talk 430 00:23:45,890 --> 00:23:48,450 to Friends. With our closest friends, we can 431 00:23:48,450 --> 00:23:52,170 lay it all on the line. Can you have an honest 432 00:23:52,170 --> 00:23:55,490 conversation with the Lord? Can you plead with him about 433 00:23:55,490 --> 00:23:57,410 what he's doing, what he's not doing? 434 00:23:58,170 --> 00:24:02,310 Can you use your status? As God's friend to stand in the 435 00:24:02,310 --> 00:24:05,070 gap for others. That's what Moses did. 436 00:24:05,510 --> 00:24:08,670 That's what Jesus did. That's what God's friends do. 437 00:24:09,070 --> 00:24:12,870 And amazingly, in this passage we see that the sovereign God 438 00:24:12,870 --> 00:24:17,470 who's ruling the the earth takes his friend's prayers into 439 00:24:17,470 --> 00:24:21,150 account. Do you want to know the glory of 440 00:24:21,150 --> 00:24:23,670 his friendship? Then look to Jesus. 441 00:24:23,670 --> 00:24:26,670 He was the perfect friend and grow in your friendship with 442 00:24:26,670 --> 00:24:29,110 him. And I think it's also incredibly 443 00:24:29,110 --> 00:24:32,350 important to find some friends who can help you and you can 444 00:24:32,350 --> 00:24:35,190 help them grow in your friendship with Jesus. 445 00:24:35,870 --> 00:24:39,150 So all that's amazing. God says God speaks to Moses 446 00:24:39,150 --> 00:24:41,630 face to face as a friend, he says, I'll go with you. 447 00:24:41,630 --> 00:24:44,030 You would think that would be enough, but it's not enough. 448 00:24:44,030 --> 00:24:46,110 For Moses. There's one more thing, the 449 00:24:46,110 --> 00:24:50,590 glory of knowing God's goodness. Moses seen so much of God's 450 00:24:50,590 --> 00:24:53,250 glory. He was adopted in the Pharaoh's 451 00:24:53,250 --> 00:24:54,730 family. That was amazing in and of 452 00:24:54,730 --> 00:24:57,170 itself. The burning Bush, the plagues, 453 00:24:57,170 --> 00:25:00,650 the Red Sea, the pillars, Mount Sinai. 454 00:25:01,130 --> 00:25:03,290 So most of us would look at that and say Moses, if you've seen 455 00:25:03,290 --> 00:25:05,410 enough glory, I'd love to see just a piece of that. 456 00:25:05,890 --> 00:25:10,090 And yet Moses prays in verse 18, Please show me your glory. 457 00:25:10,890 --> 00:25:13,730 And so we see that there are degrees to God's glory. 458 00:25:13,730 --> 00:25:17,490 There's glory in the sunset. There's glory in a burning Bush. 459 00:25:17,890 --> 00:25:21,730 There's probably more glory in a sea parted and a people rescued. 460 00:25:22,890 --> 00:25:26,890 Moses is asking now for a full revelation of God's character. 461 00:25:27,250 --> 00:25:28,890 He doesn't want to get something from God. 462 00:25:28,890 --> 00:25:31,690 He wants God. He wants, you could probably 463 00:25:31,690 --> 00:25:34,330 say, the deepest experience of face to face. 464 00:25:35,210 --> 00:25:38,570 God's people always long for a greater experience of his glory. 465 00:25:38,770 --> 00:25:40,490 It's not just knowing about his glory. 466 00:25:40,490 --> 00:25:42,490 Moses doesn't pray, probably like we would. 467 00:25:42,490 --> 00:25:46,890 Teach me your glory. He prays show me your glory. 468 00:25:48,420 --> 00:25:51,100 For younger worshippers among us, I thought of an 469 00:25:51,100 --> 00:25:53,540 illustration. Like imagine if you said queso 470 00:25:53,540 --> 00:25:56,180 is good but you've actually never tasted it. 471 00:25:56,940 --> 00:25:59,660 My son Will would be offended because queso is probably his 472 00:25:59,660 --> 00:26:02,380 favorite food. He would judge you and he would 473 00:26:02,380 --> 00:26:05,180 say you don't really know that queso is good because you 474 00:26:05,180 --> 00:26:09,260 haven't tasted it. But the Bible says taste and see 475 00:26:09,580 --> 00:26:12,660 that the Lord is good. And some of you have heard the 476 00:26:12,660 --> 00:26:15,020 Lord is glorious but you haven't tasted it. 477 00:26:15,180 --> 00:26:17,900 That's why worshipping or reading the word or praying. 478 00:26:18,740 --> 00:26:22,380 Seems boring. But when the Lord shows us his 479 00:26:22,380 --> 00:26:26,940 glory and brings that down, hits our hearts, it turns things 480 00:26:26,940 --> 00:26:30,260 upside down, we start to talk differently. 481 00:26:30,620 --> 00:26:34,180 Like Psalm 7325, whom have I in heaven but you? 482 00:26:34,780 --> 00:26:37,380 And there's nothing on earth that I desire besides you. 483 00:26:38,100 --> 00:26:40,860 So their degrees to God's glory. And we always want more. 484 00:26:40,860 --> 00:26:43,580 But there's also danger because you think about the Lord's 485 00:26:43,580 --> 00:26:46,180 response. Moses ask the Lord show me your 486 00:26:46,180 --> 00:26:49,310 glory. And the Lord says yes, but it's 487 00:26:49,310 --> 00:26:51,310 a strange response because he asked for glory. 488 00:26:51,310 --> 00:26:53,710 And then the Lord says, I'll show you all my goodness and 489 00:26:53,710 --> 00:26:57,830 I'll proclaim my name to you, which is the interesting 490 00:26:57,830 --> 00:26:59,590 response. He doesn't offer the glory of a 491 00:26:59,590 --> 00:27:02,150 lightning bolt or an earthquake. He says, the glory of my 492 00:27:02,150 --> 00:27:05,270 goodness and my name. And you'll probably hear more 493 00:27:05,270 --> 00:27:07,310 about that next week in Exodus 34. 494 00:27:07,310 --> 00:27:10,510 But the Lord says yes, but he also says no. 495 00:27:12,190 --> 00:27:15,830 Moses can't see the Lord's face, because no one can see that and 496 00:27:15,830 --> 00:27:18,830 live. We just heard Moses met with God 497 00:27:18,830 --> 00:27:22,150 face to face, so that must have been figuratively speaking, It 498 00:27:22,150 --> 00:27:25,350 was an immediate, direct relationship. 499 00:27:25,350 --> 00:27:28,630 But he didn't see the fullness of God's face, because to see 500 00:27:28,630 --> 00:27:32,590 God's face literally is a blazing glory that would burn up 501 00:27:32,630 --> 00:27:36,670 any Sinner, which is really an amazing reality. 502 00:27:36,670 --> 00:27:39,750 To think that what God is doing and saying yes and no is at the 503 00:27:39,750 --> 00:27:43,070 same time he's saying, I will reveal myself to you and I will 504 00:27:43,070 --> 00:27:47,310 conceal myself from you. I'll show myself to you and also 505 00:27:47,310 --> 00:27:50,030 protect you from seeing so much that you wouldn't be able to 506 00:27:50,030 --> 00:27:52,470 survive. How does the Lord do this? 507 00:27:52,470 --> 00:27:55,030 Well, here in Exodus 33, the answer is a rock. 508 00:27:55,470 --> 00:27:57,390 The Lord says it's very interesting. 509 00:27:57,590 --> 00:28:00,870 He'll hide Moses in the cleft of a rock covering with his hand, 510 00:28:01,030 --> 00:28:04,030 and so when his glory passes by, then God will remove his hand 511 00:28:04,030 --> 00:28:06,750 just in time, so Moses can see his backside. 512 00:28:06,750 --> 00:28:09,990 Glory, if you will, because that's all Moses can handle. 513 00:28:10,670 --> 00:28:13,550 The rock will save Moses from the glory of God so that he can 514 00:28:13,550 --> 00:28:17,170 actually see. The glory of God, partially. 515 00:28:18,210 --> 00:28:21,770 But in the fullness of time, the answer would be a cross. 516 00:28:22,530 --> 00:28:26,570 In John 17, Jesus prayed that we would be with him and see his 517 00:28:26,570 --> 00:28:29,330 glory. And then he went to the cross to 518 00:28:29,330 --> 00:28:33,690 win these things for us. But think about how the cross 519 00:28:33,690 --> 00:28:35,930 reveals all of his goodness like nothing else. 520 00:28:35,930 --> 00:28:38,250 Remember Moses? I'll show you all of my 521 00:28:38,250 --> 00:28:41,440 goodness. At the cross we see the perfect 522 00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:44,600 demonstration of his goodness, his His perfect love, His 523 00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:48,080 perfect holiness, perfect love and sacrificing himself for 524 00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:52,200 sinners, perfect holiness and paying the penalty and and in 525 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:55,640 the justice for sin. But what did that mean for 526 00:28:55,720 --> 00:28:57,240 Jesus? He'd always known what we're 527 00:28:57,240 --> 00:28:59,840 talking about, the glory of God's presence, the glory of 528 00:28:59,840 --> 00:29:02,040 God's friendship, the glory of his goodness. 529 00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:06,560 But on the cross, when he became the sacrifice for sin, he lost 530 00:29:06,760 --> 00:29:09,710 all that. And in that moment, the beloved 531 00:29:09,710 --> 00:29:13,710 Son of God cried out. My God, my God, why have you 532 00:29:13,710 --> 00:29:16,990 forsaken me? Because his Father, if you will, 533 00:29:16,990 --> 00:29:21,150 turn his face away. Jesus was getting what we 534 00:29:21,150 --> 00:29:25,310 deserve so that we might enjoy what he deserves. 535 00:29:25,870 --> 00:29:30,870 He died so that we can be with him and see his glory and live 536 00:29:30,870 --> 00:29:34,670 to tell about it. I was thinking this week, I've 537 00:29:34,670 --> 00:29:36,470 never really prayed. Show me your glory. 538 00:29:37,460 --> 00:29:39,580 But this is what happens in the presence of God. 539 00:29:39,860 --> 00:29:42,220 The Holy Spirit takes a verse like this that maybe we've 540 00:29:42,220 --> 00:29:44,460 ignored our whole lives, or we haven't really seen it. 541 00:29:44,700 --> 00:29:48,060 And then he lights it on fire in our hearts, like a friend 542 00:29:48,060 --> 00:29:50,340 sharing a secret with a friend. That's how the Lord works. 543 00:29:50,340 --> 00:29:52,380 In his word, He opens up something. 544 00:29:52,380 --> 00:29:56,260 It's like I never saw that before, but now I don't just 545 00:29:56,260 --> 00:29:57,420 know. Show me your glory. 546 00:29:57,420 --> 00:30:00,860 It's like I know it. I've tasted it and now I want to 547 00:30:00,860 --> 00:30:03,020 pray it every day. I'll probably become annoying. 548 00:30:03,180 --> 00:30:05,180 Pray it for you. Pray it for me. 549 00:30:05,180 --> 00:30:08,310 Pray it for the city. And what's interesting is I 550 00:30:08,310 --> 00:30:11,590 actually think we're praying. Show me your glory to something 551 00:30:11,950 --> 00:30:14,190 every day. So think about it. 552 00:30:14,190 --> 00:30:17,950 You look at your phone, or you go to work, or you watch sports, 553 00:30:17,950 --> 00:30:21,230 or you think about money or pleasure, people in your life, 554 00:30:21,470 --> 00:30:23,590 and you're basically praying. Show me your glory. 555 00:30:23,590 --> 00:30:25,750 Show me your glory. All these things around me. 556 00:30:25,750 --> 00:30:28,070 Show me your glory. But it's never enough, is it? 557 00:30:29,030 --> 00:30:31,350 There's this song and the Greatest Showman, the movie 558 00:30:31,350 --> 00:30:33,390 about PT Barnum called Never Enough. 559 00:30:34,110 --> 00:30:35,750 And these lyrics came to mind this week. 560 00:30:35,870 --> 00:30:38,510 All the shine of 1000 spotlights. 561 00:30:38,550 --> 00:30:40,950 All the stars we steal from the night sky. 562 00:30:41,350 --> 00:30:43,670 Will never be enough. Never be enough. 563 00:30:44,030 --> 00:30:45,950 Towers of gold are still too little. 564 00:30:45,950 --> 00:30:47,830 These hands could hold the world. 565 00:30:48,070 --> 00:30:51,030 But it'll never be enough, Never be enough for me. 566 00:30:52,350 --> 00:30:55,430 The glory of this world will never be enough for us. 567 00:30:56,110 --> 00:30:59,190 But the glory of God will always be enough. 568 00:31:00,060 --> 00:31:03,860 And what's amazing is the Lord hasn't even revealed everything 569 00:31:03,860 --> 00:31:09,620 to us yet, but what we see now still outshines by far the glory 570 00:31:09,620 --> 00:31:12,500 of this world. And 1st Corinthians 13 we read 571 00:31:12,500 --> 00:31:16,820 for now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. 572 00:31:17,260 --> 00:31:20,060 Now we know in part, but then we shall know fully, even as we 573 00:31:20,060 --> 00:31:23,400 have been fully known. And friends, we know more than 574 00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:25,720 Moses did. We know what the face of God 575 00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:28,360 actually looks like. In Second Corinthians 46 Paul 576 00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:32,440 writes For God said let light shine out of darkness has shown 577 00:31:32,440 --> 00:31:36,360 in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of 578 00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:41,920 God in the face of Jesus Christ. So if you know him, don't miss 579 00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:44,080 this. He has already shown in your 580 00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:47,120 hearts to give you the light of the knowledge of the glory of 581 00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:51,810 God in the face of Jesus Christ. So as you walk through this Dark 582 00:31:51,810 --> 00:31:56,210 World, open up the curtains of your soul and let his glorious 583 00:31:56,210 --> 00:31:59,090 light come streaming in. And if you're distracted by the 584 00:31:59,090 --> 00:32:02,530 glories of this world, be like the Israelites and strip off 585 00:32:02,530 --> 00:32:04,930 your ornaments and put on Christ. 586 00:32:05,450 --> 00:32:07,850 He's your glory, your wealth, your significance. 587 00:32:07,850 --> 00:32:09,970 He's the one that makes you distinct. 588 00:32:10,330 --> 00:32:12,490 You don't have to chase these glories anymore. 589 00:32:12,490 --> 00:32:14,850 You don't have to wear these things anymore. 590 00:32:15,810 --> 00:32:18,290 Ask him to go with you and give you rest. 591 00:32:18,290 --> 00:32:22,560 Ask him to show you his glory. And if you don't know Jesus, I 592 00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:24,280 encourage you to start praying today. 593 00:32:24,280 --> 00:32:27,360 Show me your ways. Show me your glory. 594 00:32:27,880 --> 00:32:31,600 Open the Bible and behold his glory in the face of Jesus 595 00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:33,960 Christ. Ask him to light up your 596 00:32:33,960 --> 00:32:36,680 darkness and bring you from death to life. 597 00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:40,720 I said earlier that talking about glory is a little bit like 598 00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:44,840 trying to bottle the ocean. I don't know if I like that 599 00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:47,660 metaphor anymore, because. It's not really our goal to 600 00:32:47,660 --> 00:32:49,500 bottle the ocean. Nobody would go to the ocean and 601 00:32:49,500 --> 00:32:51,780 try to bottle it. You you wouldn't want to do 602 00:32:51,780 --> 00:32:53,340 that. You would want to experience it. 603 00:32:53,620 --> 00:32:56,260 You would want to dive into it. And so when we think about the 604 00:32:56,260 --> 00:32:58,340 glory of knowing God, I invite you. 605 00:32:58,340 --> 00:33:02,180 I think the Lord is inviting us to dive in to the glory of His 606 00:33:02,180 --> 00:33:05,220 presence, the glory of his friendship, the glory of His 607 00:33:05,220 --> 00:33:07,780 goodness. And that's where the story is 608 00:33:07,780 --> 00:33:10,860 going. And Habacook 2 we read for the 609 00:33:10,900 --> 00:33:13,700 earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the 610 00:33:13,700 --> 00:33:16,100 Lord as the waters cover the sea. 611 00:33:16,600 --> 00:33:22,040 Let's pray. Father, we are amazed that you 612 00:33:22,040 --> 00:33:24,720 would do all these things through Christ, that we might 613 00:33:24,720 --> 00:33:28,760 know the glory of your presence, the glory of your friendship, 614 00:33:29,080 --> 00:33:31,440 the glory of your goodness to us in Jesus. 615 00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:34,240 So we pray this morning, Holy Spirit, that you would help us 616 00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:36,400 know how to respond to this or that. 617 00:33:36,400 --> 00:33:39,480 You would show us the glories that we chase, that are nothing 618 00:33:39,480 --> 00:33:42,640 in comparison with you, and you would bring us back to you and 619 00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:45,400 turn our eyes upon you. We know nothing in our hands we 620 00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:48,110 bring. Only to the cross we clean. 621 00:33:49,030 --> 00:33:52,110 So Lord, show us your glory. You've blessed us this morning. 622 00:33:52,110 --> 00:33:55,550 Now send us out. Make us distinct for your glory 623 00:33:55,670 --> 00:33:57,790 and the good of the world. In Jesus name we pray. 624 00:33:58,070 --> 00:33:58,590 Amen.