1 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:10,360 This is ERC Sundays, the messages at Emmaus Rd. 2 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:14,240 Church in DeWitt, Iowa. ERC is a Church of people 3 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:17,320 striving to grow in Jesus and make him known to others through 4 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:21,560 our faith, words and actions. Find out more about our church 5 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:25,360 at emmausrdonline.org. Here's this week's message. 6 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:29,600 All right, well, hey friends, it's good to be back with you. 7 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:32,840 I was able to take a short break last week, which was nice. 8 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:36,960 I got just an ever so slight sunburn, which was really cool. 9 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:40,600 It was just, it was just enough that I was like itchy but not in 10 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:43,640 pain. And I realized as I as I left 11 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:47,720 Florida, I was like, I will not give this much vitamin D until 12 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:50,120 May. So I should probably soak this 13 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:52,280 in anyway. So thank you for praying for me 14 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:55,720 and my family as we are away. I really appreciate that and 15 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:57,720 it's great to be back with you guys. 16 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:03,400 Well, this week I, I have to say that we are drawing near to the 17 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:07,320 end of our time with Moses, which makes me a little sad. 18 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:12,200 Next week is our last week to spend directly with Moses and 19 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:15,720 then we come into our Advent series, which is aptly named 20 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:20,240 Coming Home for Christmas. And so here's the thing, we have 21 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:21,960 some space right now, which is great. 22 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:24,440 That means there's room for one more. 23 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:27,800 And it might be weirder. It might be difficult to invite 24 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:30,680 people to church, especially if you're thinking about what I 25 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:34,120 just said, which is like, oh man, next week is the last 26 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:38,040 sermon in an entire series that might be confusing for people. 27 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:39,760 I promise it will not be confusing. 28 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:43,600 It will wrap up nicely. And even if the person has never 29 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:46,760 been in church, I promise they will be able to understand 30 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:49,840 what's happening. And then again, Advent coming 31 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:51,280 up. Can't wait for that. 32 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:53,360 We're, we're going to spend a lot of, we're going to spend all 33 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:56,800 those weeks leading up to Christmas in Isaiah and that's a 34 00:01:56,800 --> 00:02:00,160 great place to spend some time. Speaking of all that, by the 35 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:03,480 way, just as an aside, Christmas is happening soon. 36 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:06,800 I don't know if any like Christmas is happening soon. 37 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:09,280 Are you hearing the words that are coming out of my mouth? 38 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:14,760 No, you're not I'm excited. I, I love Christmas. 39 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:17,760 It's a great time of here. It just gives us this beautiful 40 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:21,040 reminder of God coming to meet with us in person. 41 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:25,720 Well, anyway, when we left off with Moses last week, there was 42 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:29,160 some strange things happening, some really weird occurrences, 43 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:34,000 like the fact that they were worshipping this calf, this bowl 44 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:36,800 that was made of gold. And that's a really strange 45 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:39,520 thing to do. I suspect it would not be any 46 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:42,280 different than worshipping a giant wedding ring or something 47 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:44,240 like that. It just, it makes no sense. 48 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:48,480 And So what happens because of their stupidity is a lot of 49 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:52,520 people end up dying. And that's awful. 50 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:54,840 That's awful. But that's what that's what 51 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:57,760 idolatry does to us. It promises something that it 52 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:01,200 never actually fulfills. And in the end, it takes our 53 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:04,600 lives from us because it requires everything of us and 54 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:08,160 gives nothing back. So that's a problem. 55 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:10,800 Now, one of the things I was thinking about, just thinking 56 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:13,800 about last week and hearing Pastor Matt's message is does 57 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:17,600 our lack of faithfulness negate God's faithfulness? 58 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:22,040 Does our lack of faithfulness negate God's faithfulness? 59 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:25,840 Well, the short answer to that question is no. 60 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:30,520 The short answer is no. However, there are consequences 61 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:33,760 for our actions. I think somebody has said it 62 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:36,720 this way, and I, and I kind of like this phrase, Play stupid 63 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:41,360 games, win stupid prizes. I have played a number of stupid 64 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:45,360 games in my life and won a lot of very dumb prizes for it, and 65 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:48,840 so I would like us all to avoid that if at all possible. 66 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:52,640 So the question then becomes, how do we move forward after we 67 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:57,440 do dumb things, after we leave God in the dust, after we 68 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:00,640 worship something else? How do we come back from that? 69 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:03,080 Because ultimately it's a relationship. 70 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:08,040 And so when and and when we basically cheat on God, how then 71 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:10,280 do we gain his trust back? How do we rebuild that 72 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:12,360 relationship? Well, this week we're going to 73 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:14,040 find out kind of what that looks like. 74 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:18,440 And so I'm, I'm excited for you guys to hear what's going to 75 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:21,360 happen. But one of the things that I 76 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:24,400 want to preview on is Moses is going to do something really 77 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:29,640 unique and really strange in his, in his request, in, in, in 78 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:33,280 his mediating for the people and the people attempting to come 79 00:04:33,280 --> 00:04:34,960 back to God after breaking his trust. 80 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:37,520 He's going to make a strange request and the request goes 81 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:40,560 like this. Lord, show me your glory. 82 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:45,560 Show me your glory. The reason why this is a strange 83 00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:48,240 request, and you need to understand this, is because if 84 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:52,480 Moses is asking to see God's glory, what he's really asking 85 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:55,720 for is he's asking to see God bear. 86 00:04:56,440 --> 00:05:00,240 He's asking to see God exactly who he is and all of his power 87 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:03,080 and all of his justice and all of his love and all of his mercy 88 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:04,960 and all of his judgement, everything. 89 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:07,920 He is asking to see God without a filter. 90 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:13,320 That's an incredible ask. Is it something that he can do? 91 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:17,120 Is this something that is it a a request that God can acquiesce 92 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:19,720 to? Well, we're going to find out. 93 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:23,520 So as we find out this week, I want to look at this text 94 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:27,200 through the through a lens that shouldn't say title. 95 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:30,560 That's dumb. I have a title. 96 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:39,680 My bad. That's so dumb, so dumb. 97 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:41,840 The title of this sermon is title. 98 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:45,360 You're welcome. You're welcome. 99 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:49,640 Well, let's look at the text through the part that is 100 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:50,840 correct. How about that? 101 00:05:51,280 --> 00:05:53,920 First, we're going to understand that we need all of God or we 102 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:56,760 need none of Him. There's not an in between. 103 00:05:57,080 --> 00:05:59,280 We cannot. I'll get into it in a minute. 104 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:02,400 The second thing that we need to understand is what does intimacy 105 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:04,880 with the Lord look like? What is that relationship? 106 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:07,280 How does that really function? And then finally, we're going to 107 00:06:07,280 --> 00:06:09,720 see that the Lord has an inheritance. 108 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:14,160 What would that be? Well, we'll find out. 109 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:18,920 But as we as we look at this today, we're going to be between 110 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:20,760 two chapters. We're going to be in Exodus 111 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:24,320 chapter 33 and we're going to read verse 12 through 23, which 112 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:25,840 gets us through the end of the chapter. 113 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:29,160 And then we're going to jump over to chapter 34 and read 114 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:31,440 verses 5 through 9. So if you have your Bibles, 115 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:35,520 that's where we're going. Exodus 3312 through 23 and then 116 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:40,840 Exodus 34, five through 9. We read all this in Jesus name. 117 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:48,440 Moses said to the Lord, See, you say to me, bring up this people, 118 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:51,200 but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. 119 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:56,400 Yet You have said, I know you by name and and you have also found 120 00:06:56,400 --> 00:07:00,240 favor in my sight. Now therefore, if I have found 121 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:04,080 favor in your sight, please show me your ways that I might know 122 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:06,880 you in order to find favor in your sight. 123 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:10,640 Consider too, that this nation is your people. 124 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:16,400 And he said, My presence will go with you, and I will give you 125 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:19,480 rest. And he said to him, If your 126 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:22,960 presence will not go with me, do not bring me up from here, For 127 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:26,520 how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, 128 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:30,280 I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, 129 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:34,680 so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other 130 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:38,960 people on the face of the earth? And the Lord said to Moses, This 131 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:43,000 very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found 132 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:46,240 favor in my sight, and I know you by name. 133 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:50,880 Moses said, Please show me your glory. 134 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:55,360 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I 135 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:59,280 will proclaim before you my name, the Lord, and I will be 136 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:02,760 gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy, 137 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:06,880 on whom I will show mercy. But he said, You cannot see my 138 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:10,680 face, for man shall not see me and live. 139 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:16,400 And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me where you shall 140 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:21,560 stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by, I will put you 141 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:26,440 in a cleft in the rock, and I will cover you by my hand until 142 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:29,360 I have passed. By Then I will take away my 143 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:34,960 hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen. 144 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:41,039 Verse 5 of 34 The Lord descended in a cloud and stood with him 145 00:08:41,039 --> 00:08:43,559 there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 146 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:47,040 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed the Lord. 147 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:50,960 The Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and 148 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:55,160 abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast 149 00:08:55,160 --> 00:08:59,560 love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgressions and 150 00:08:59,560 --> 00:09:03,400 sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty. 151 00:09:04,080 --> 00:09:07,480 Visiting the iniquity of the Father's on the children and the 152 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:10,880 children's children to the 3rd and the 4th generation. 153 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:15,280 And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshipped. 154 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:20,480 And he said, If now I have found faith in your sight, O Lord, 155 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:25,560 please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff 156 00:09:25,560 --> 00:09:30,000 necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take 157 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:34,520 us for your inheritance. Here ends the reading of God's 158 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:41,920 word. There is a saying that actually 159 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:44,840 I had conversations around the same this week, interestingly 160 00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:46,040 enough. But there's a saying that goes 161 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:50,120 like this. Absence makes the heart grow 162 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:56,560 fonder. Now, some of you know exactly 163 00:09:56,560 --> 00:10:01,920 what that phrase means because you have people in your life who 164 00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:06,040 you do really love, but you love them when they're gone. 165 00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:11,000 Yeah. I mean, I, I I will not name 166 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:12,400 anybody. I'm not going to do that. 167 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:17,160 But gosh, there are people who you love dearly, who you're 168 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:17,920 like. You know what? 169 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:21,840 Once a week is more than enough. You have filled my cup with you. 170 00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:23,600 I'm good. Please. 171 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:25,840 I will see you next week, next month, next year. 172 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:29,880 We're good now as we approach the holidays, I think we, we 173 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:33,200 probably come into a little bit of that and but just don't tell 174 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:36,080 them that that's the kind of person they are for you. 175 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:38,960 Don't do that. Because what's really true that 176 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:42,280 we have to reflect on is the fact that we ourselves are 177 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:44,160 probably that person for somebody else. 178 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:48,520 I know I, I don't know it for sure, but I'm sure I'm too much 179 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:50,880 for some people who love me and they're like, you know what, 180 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:53,120 man, I'll see you next month. That's good. 181 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:57,640 We're good. Well, anyway, that that can be 182 00:10:57,640 --> 00:11:01,000 true to an extent. However, when you have a 183 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:06,280 relationship where your entire life, your entire existence is 184 00:11:06,280 --> 00:11:09,960 built on that relationship with that person, absence is no 185 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:13,320 longer a good thing. That's that's our relationship 186 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:15,760 with God. When our relationship with God 187 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:19,480 has a period of absence, it does not make us grow fonder, nor 188 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:21,400 does it make him grow fonder of us. 189 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:25,720 It just messes things up really bad and and it has the pencil. 190 00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:29,320 The longer the the absence is, the the greater the potential 191 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:33,000 for things to go sideways. You see, God said he would 192 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:36,040 previously. Our God previously said that he 193 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:40,600 would not go with them because he may consume these stiff 194 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:44,120 necked people along the way. Now that's weird. 195 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:47,240 By the way, just as an aside, that's a really strange thing to 196 00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:49,520 say. Like it's not, I'm going to for 197 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:51,080 sure. If I go with you, it's like, 198 00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:53,600 dude, I might have a bad day and just wipe you out. 199 00:11:55,400 --> 00:11:58,120 Lord, I would like some clarity on that if you don't mind. 200 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:03,200 Excuse me, still fighting a cold, but I want to. 201 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:05,560 I want to, I want to show you where this happens. 202 00:12:05,560 --> 00:12:07,800 It's not something that we read today, but this is where we get 203 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:11,560 that idea. It says I will send an Angel 204 00:12:11,560 --> 00:12:14,200 before you and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, 205 00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:16,960 the Hittites, the Parasites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 206 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:19,880 You like those names. I go up to the land flowing with 207 00:12:19,880 --> 00:12:23,040 milk and honey, but I will not go with you lest I consume you 208 00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:25,080 along the way for you are a stiff necked people. 209 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:27,480 That happens earlier in chapter 33. 210 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:31,360 So what are what are we really dealing with here? 211 00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:36,920 Well, the tough thing about this I, I, I think and let me get my 212 00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:38,640 head wrapped around this because I don't want to say it 213 00:12:38,640 --> 00:12:43,480 incorrectly. I think for some people this 214 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:47,520 looks like an amazing deal. This looks really good. 215 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:50,560 You would stop right here and you wouldn't be like Moses. 216 00:12:50,560 --> 00:12:53,360 You'd be like, sweet man, I'll, I'll buy that. 217 00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:56,760 And here's why. Because what God is promising is 218 00:12:56,760 --> 00:13:00,360 he's not promising his presence, but he is promising social, 219 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:03,720 political and economic Wellness. Do you get that? 220 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:08,800 So what that means is that there are a lot of people, and I would 221 00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:11,960 say a lot of people who would even call themselves Christians 222 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:15,520 and they would take this deal. They would take this, and they 223 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:18,040 would run with this. Because here's the thing, If I 224 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:20,880 can have a God who's going to give me social, economic and 225 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:27,040 political power but has no expectations on me, is not a 226 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:29,240 part of my daily life. Sweet. 227 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:32,880 It sounds like I've won. It absolutely sounds like I've 228 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:34,480 won. What that might look like is, 229 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:36,960 hey, Lord, OK, you're going to do all this stuff for us. 230 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:40,160 And I will just tag in the big guy when I need him. 231 00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:50,360 I can tell you that is not an intelligent or a thoughtful or a 232 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:54,880 right way to live with God to say I want you when I want you 233 00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:58,560 and besides that you can just go do whatever other business you 234 00:13:58,560 --> 00:14:01,200 have to do. That is not a good relationship 235 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:03,200 to have. If you don't believe me, let me 236 00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:05,680 explain it like this. Let's say that there are two 237 00:14:05,680 --> 00:14:09,240 people dating and they don't live together, but they're 238 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:11,000 dating. And So what happens is over a 239 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:15,200 long enough timeline, this relationship it it blossoms a 240 00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:17,560 little bit. And so now not only are they 241 00:14:17,560 --> 00:14:20,520 going to dinner together, not only they're kind of meeting 242 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:23,120 friends together, but now they're actually physically 243 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:26,040 intimate too. And what happens is one of the 244 00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:29,800 people in that relationship when somebody, one person says, you 245 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:31,280 know what? I would, I would really like to 246 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:34,200 take this to the next level. I think we should make a firm 247 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:36,640 commitment to each other. Oh, I don't know, something like 248 00:14:36,640 --> 00:14:38,560 marriage. Crazy idea, right? 249 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:41,480 And the other person's like, you know what? 250 00:14:41,760 --> 00:14:44,920 I would prefer not. I really like this situation. 251 00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:47,920 I've got my own house. You've got your own house. 252 00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:51,720 And guess what that means? I can just call you when I want 253 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:53,760 to see you. I can call you when I'm feeling 254 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:55,560 aroused. I can call you when I want to go 255 00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:57,440 to dinner. And why don't we just leave it 256 00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:01,800 like that? What would you say about that 257 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:05,240 person? If you're being kind, you would 258 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:08,320 call them a scoundrel. You would call them somebody 259 00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:11,120 who's using and abusing the other person. 260 00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:13,920 You would not call that a good relationship, would you? 261 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:18,440 And if you would, I feel sorry for you because those people are 262 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:21,720 missing out on the greatness of what could be. 263 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:26,440 They're missing out on that. But that's the way we treat God, 264 00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:32,400 isn't it? Yes, that's how we treat God. 265 00:15:32,560 --> 00:15:35,080 We treat God. Hey, I'll call you when I need 266 00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:36,480 you. I'll call you when I want 267 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:38,200 something. I will call you when I'm 268 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:40,360 desperate. Baloney. 269 00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:45,240 That's ridiculous. It is all of him or none of him. 270 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:49,440 In the Book of Revelation, we hear that it's better to be hot 271 00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:52,960 or cold because if you are lukewarm, I will spit you out of 272 00:15:52,960 --> 00:16:03,440 my mouth. The other thing that matters 273 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:08,480 here, and I want to bring this up, it's really important, Moses 274 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:11,120 does not like that set up. He does not like the casual 275 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:14,600 relationship and he knows it's bad for him and his people. 276 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:18,440 And so he makes a request. He makes a statement and he 277 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:21,080 says, Lord, I need you to be with us. 278 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:23,720 I need you to be with me. I want to be all in with you. 279 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:27,280 I don't want this social political goodness without you 280 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:30,960 because it won't fulfill me. And so he asks to be made 281 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:35,240 distinct. He wants to be a distinct people 282 00:16:35,240 --> 00:16:37,280 group. He wants to be set apart. 283 00:16:37,400 --> 00:16:39,240 Why? Is it because he has a big ego? 284 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:42,880 No, it's because that word distinct matters. 285 00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:45,040 That word is talking about ownership. 286 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:48,280 Now, let me put it to you this way. 287 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:51,480 Gosh, there's a lot of Tim's in our church. 288 00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:54,880 Hey, Tim, that's one of them. Or is it? 289 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:56,040 There's another. There's another one. 290 00:16:56,200 --> 00:16:57,560 There's a lot of Tim's in our church. 291 00:16:57,880 --> 00:17:03,440 Now, when Megan says Tim, you know what she probably says? 292 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:06,640 She says my Tim. That's my Tim. 293 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:09,079 There's other Tim's here, but that's my Tim. 294 00:17:10,119 --> 00:17:12,920 When I look at my wife, there are a lot of married people in 295 00:17:12,920 --> 00:17:16,119 this room, but I get to look at her and I say that's my wife. 296 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:20,000 She is distinct from every other woman in this room because she 297 00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:25,200 is mine. That's what that's what Moses is 298 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:28,680 asking for. He's asking for God to come down 299 00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:33,880 and say these people are mine. And that's what we should all be 300 00:17:33,880 --> 00:17:37,440 asking for. We should all be asking for God 301 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:41,840 to say Lord, call me yours, not just when I call you, not just 302 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:44,560 when I need you, but call me yours all of the time. 303 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:48,680 That's what we should be asking for. 304 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:52,360 That's what we should be seeking for and striving for all of him 305 00:17:52,360 --> 00:17:54,400 or none of him. Make a decision. 306 00:17:55,360 --> 00:18:01,480 Don't be lukewarm. Now that moves us into into our 307 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:04,600 second point. If we're going to assume all of 308 00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:07,120 the Lord, let's move forward assuming that we want all of the 309 00:18:07,120 --> 00:18:10,160 Lord and if you're not there yet, stick with me. 310 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:13,120 Maybe it will happen by the power of the Holy Spirit. 311 00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:17,160 But here's here's how we move forward with conviction of all 312 00:18:17,160 --> 00:18:19,960 the Lord. It means that just like Moses is 313 00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:23,240 seeking an intimate relationship with God, we are too. 314 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:27,840 And how does Moses do that? Well, verse 18, he is seeking 315 00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:32,880 intimacy with God by saying please show me your glory. 316 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:37,640 Now again, give you an example of this, and this is not a 317 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:40,720 perfect example, I'm sorry, but it's the best I've got. 318 00:18:41,120 --> 00:18:42,920 I'm going to go back to husbands and wives. 319 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:48,240 When a man and a woman commit themselves into biblical 320 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:52,400 marriage, what happens is you are asking for that very thing. 321 00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:55,080 You are asking to see that person bear. 322 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:59,840 You are asking to have every part of that person understood 323 00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:03,280 by you. It is a revelation of character. 324 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:06,080 That's what we're asking for. We're asking for a revelation of 325 00:19:06,080 --> 00:19:08,280 character where there's no more filters. 326 00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:11,960 Now, of course, in human relationships, when we drop all 327 00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:15,520 the filters, when we drop the ACT, you take off the makeup, 328 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:19,840 you look like a crazy person when you wake up, what happens 329 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:21,720 is we start to see flaws in people. 330 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:24,800 We start to see flaws. We see them there. 331 00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:26,840 We see the full revelation of them. 332 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:29,600 Now, here's the thing, and this is kind of an aside. 333 00:19:33,120 --> 00:19:37,600 Lord, help us to our spouses, or if you're not married, potential 334 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:40,120 spouses. We will be a gospel 335 00:19:40,120 --> 00:19:43,280 representative to them because we do see their flaws. 336 00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:47,240 We do see them there, and we will treat them the way that God 337 00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:51,480 has treated us in our sin. He sees us bare, but He still 338 00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:52,880 loves us. He still forgives us. 339 00:19:52,880 --> 00:19:55,600 He still wants a relationship with us, right? 340 00:19:56,560 --> 00:19:59,840 So just in thinking about that, I want to say one more thing and 341 00:19:59,840 --> 00:20:02,200 then I have to move on because this is not really what the 342 00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:03,840 sermons about. Lord help me. 343 00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:12,080 Too many people think that being in a relationship is about. 344 00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:14,240 I need that person to make me happy. 345 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:18,000 They should make me happy. Well, I'm here to tell you, 346 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:21,480 friends, your spouse is not primarily there to make you 347 00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:23,600 happy. Your spouse is there to make you 348 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:27,000 holy. And if you think that your 349 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:30,480 spouse's existence is there solely to make you happy, you 350 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:33,240 have made a huge mistake. Because guess what? 351 00:20:33,360 --> 00:20:37,080 They are going to fail over and over and over again. 352 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:39,280 Do not get these things mixed up. 353 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:42,960 They're there to make you holy, not necessarily happy. 354 00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:50,400 Don't mix that up anyway. So for Moses to ask to see God's 355 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:54,080 glory is for him to want every curtain pulled back, just like 356 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:56,360 with a spouse. He's wanting to see the full 357 00:20:56,360 --> 00:21:00,520 revelation of God's power and his beauty and His Majesty and 358 00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:02,840 all of these things. And so here's what that looks 359 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:06,360 like in verse 19. He said, I will make. 360 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:10,720 He said, I will make all my goodness pass before you and 361 00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:13,520 will proclaim before you my name, the Lord. 362 00:21:14,080 --> 00:21:17,240 Now something changed. Something got off here in the 363 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:18,920 translation. Not really. 364 00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:28,120 But Moses asks for glory and God says, goodness, Well, here's 365 00:21:28,120 --> 00:21:30,280 what's happening. And somebody way smarter than me 366 00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:32,680 has explained it better, so I'm going to give you their words. 367 00:21:33,120 --> 00:21:37,040 Tim Keller put it this way. He says that the reason that God 368 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:42,120 says no to showing Moses his glory is because there is an 369 00:21:42,120 --> 00:21:46,400 incompatibility of nature. There's an incompatibility of 370 00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:47,880 nature. What does that mean? 371 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:51,440 Well, I'll give you an example. If you have a little fire and a 372 00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:53,480 lot of water, what's going to happen? 373 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:58,080 Fire's going out. It will be quenched, right? 374 00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:01,360 Or if you have a really big fire and a little bit of water, 375 00:22:01,360 --> 00:22:05,520 what's going to happen? Water's vaporized, right? 376 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:10,000 Well, because of our sin, because of the incompatibility 377 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:14,840 of our nature as we sit today, right now in this room, sinners 378 00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:20,680 saved by grace, we cannot be in the total bare presence of God. 379 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:24,600 There is an incompatibility of nature that will absolutely 380 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:27,880 consume us. We will not survive that 381 00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:31,760 encounter. The greater will dominate and 382 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:36,000 overtake the smaller. And guess who you are in that 383 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:38,680 equation? You are not the greater, neither 384 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:40,240 am I, even though I have a microphone. 385 00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:42,800 It doesn't matter. God is the greater in that 386 00:22:42,800 --> 00:22:43,920 scenario. And because of our 387 00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:48,280 incompatibility of nature, He will consume us as we are right 388 00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:50,280 now. And so The funny thing about all 389 00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:54,640 of this that I think is like, OK, so this pastor has been 390 00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:56,920 talking about the very thing we need most, the only thing we 391 00:22:56,920 --> 00:22:59,440 ever need in our lives and in the whole world is we need a 392 00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:01,240 close intimate relationship with God. 393 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:03,520 But we can't get that close to Him because we'll die. 394 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:08,920 Awesome. That's a problem, I think. 395 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:14,640 I think that's a problem. But God also gives us a 396 00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:21,320 solution, as He always does. In the last couple verses that 397 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:25,400 we covered in chapter 34, God does this strange thing with 398 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:29,720 Moses, really unique experience. He puts the he's on the 399 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:31,680 mountain. He kind of tucks him back in, in 400 00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:34,480 the cleft in the rock and he says, all right, here's what I'm 401 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:35,720 going to do. I'm going to I'm going to cover 402 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:38,720 you up as I walk by. And what you're going to see is 403 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:42,320 after I pass by, you're going to see kind of the, the tail end of 404 00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:43,680 things. You're going to see the tail end 405 00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:47,920 of my goodness in my glory. You can't see me full, but I'll, 406 00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:51,600 I'll let you see my goodness in my glory in that way. 407 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:53,400 I'll let you see a partial view of it. 408 00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:57,920 OK, well, I think the most interesting thing about this 409 00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:02,440 partial view of God and and what he says, it's also the most 410 00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:05,360 confusing and challenging thing about those couple verses. 411 00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:10,120 And here's what I mean. And and let's hear. 412 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:13,520 Yeah. So as God passes by, he says 413 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:17,600 this about himself, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast 414 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:21,000 love and faithfulness, forgiving iniquity and transgression and 415 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:22,840 sin. Cool. 416 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:25,800 We like that part, at least I hope you like that part. 417 00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:32,960 But then in the same breath, he says, who will by no means clear 418 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:36,360 the guilty. And I will punish the father in 419 00:24:36,360 --> 00:24:37,880 this generation, in this generation. 420 00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:42,000 And you're like, whoa, hold on. This man is talking out of both 421 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:47,800 sides of his mouth because quite frankly, how are you going to 422 00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:52,080 tell me that you perfectly love me, but every single tiny minute 423 00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:55,560 sin you are going to judge and you are going to punish for 424 00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:57,600 that? How can it be both? 425 00:24:58,520 --> 00:25:03,680 How can you do that? There's a solution. 426 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:09,440 It's a very real solution, and if you have your Bibles, here's 427 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:11,200 what I want you to do. If you have your Bibles, if you 428 00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:13,760 have a physical Bible or your phone Bible, I want you to turn 429 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:16,600 to John chapter 1. I'll give you a second because 430 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:19,160 this matters. Go ahead and turn to John 431 00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:26,560 chapter 1 and find verse 14. Now I will tell you that I think 432 00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:31,600 that John 114 is maybe one of the most important verses in the 433 00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:36,320 New Testament because it gives us such a clear bridge from we 434 00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:40,080 cannot endure the glory of God to how then can He still 435 00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:43,840 maintain a relationship with us? Not just a baseline 436 00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:47,880 relationship, but how can He maintain a relationship of real 437 00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:49,800 intimacy with us? How does He do that? 438 00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:54,200 Here's what John 114 says. Underline it, highlighted 439 00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:55,800 circle. It puts stars all over it. 440 00:25:55,800 --> 00:26:01,200 You need this verse. And the Word became flesh and 441 00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:05,840 dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory. 442 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:14,960 We have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, 443 00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:20,120 full of grace and truth. Two things here and then I'm 444 00:26:20,120 --> 00:26:21,960 going to close up with these two short ideas. 445 00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:28,560 First and foremost, when it says that he dwelt that Jesus dwelt 446 00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:30,840 among us, you know what that word is indicating? 447 00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:34,040 It's it's the same word as as as Exodus. 448 00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:38,680 But in Exodus you might say God was tabernacling with his 449 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:41,760 people. In other words, he was in their 450 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:45,000 midst. He came right into their camp. 451 00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:48,440 He was with them. Well, that's what's happening 452 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:50,080 here in the New Testament with Jesus. 453 00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:55,640 Jesus is tabernacling as God. He's in the midst of his people. 454 00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:58,280 And you know what that means? That means he became 455 00:26:58,280 --> 00:27:01,160 approachable. That means he became somebody 456 00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:04,080 who you could touch, who you could talk to, who you could 457 00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:07,280 have a meal with. That's an incredible thing. 458 00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:12,600 That's a ridiculous thing. It makes no sense, if you stop 459 00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:16,040 and think about it, that God, the God of the universe, is 460 00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:18,320 approachable. And the second thing that makes 461 00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:22,400 this all the more ridiculous is that Jesus Christ, as the Son of 462 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:29,480 God, has the full glory of God. He has the full glory of God, 463 00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:33,920 and guess what? We get to approach him in his 464 00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:38,560 full glory. So the Moses problem is handled 465 00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:42,480 through the Son of God, Through Jesus Christ, the glory problem 466 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:44,960 is handled. That's how we have that intimate 467 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:49,800 relationship with God because the Son of God came in full 468 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:56,160 glory to be tabernacling, to be in the midst of His people. 469 00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:00,520 I know Jesus isn't walking in physical form in our church 470 00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:03,560 today, but do you realize that He's walking through His Holy 471 00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:06,120 Spirit, that He's walking with you right now? 472 00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:09,280 He is tabernacling with you. He is in your midst, He's in 473 00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:12,520 your heart, He's in your soul through the Holy Spirit. 474 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:16,120 That's what He does because He loves you that much. 475 00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:19,320 Your sin has been fully taken away and has been fully 476 00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:22,000 discarded. That perfect judgement of God 477 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:27,520 has been put on the shoulders of Jesus Christ fully, full stop, 478 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:30,520 all of your sin completely removed from you. 479 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:33,400 There is nothing left for you to be ashamed of. 480 00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:36,160 There's nothing left for you to fear or be anxious about. 481 00:28:36,360 --> 00:28:41,240 He is tabernacling with you because He loves you that much. 482 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:46,560 You get to experience the full glory of God through the person 483 00:28:46,560 --> 00:29:01,520 of Jesus Christ. Here's the thing, you as an 484 00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:04,520 individual have a choice to make and so do I. 485 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:10,480 I can, I can try and tag in God when I really need him or I can 486 00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:16,160 ask for all of him. I can I can try and and reach 487 00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:20,520 out to Him when I'm looking for peace and and intimacy that goes 488 00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:25,200 beyond any human imagination. I can do that from time to time, 489 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:29,760 or I can just go all in for the Lord because He has gone all in 490 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:32,760 for me. He has been consumed. 491 00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:38,840 He was consumed by our sin because He loves us that much. 492 00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:41,720 That is somebody who I want to go all in for. 493 00:29:56,360 --> 00:30:04,760 It is a remarkable thing to know that you are loved beyond 494 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:11,480 anything you can imagine. I'm trying right now to imagine 495 00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:14,600 God's glory and His love for me, and I cannot wrap my head around 496 00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:19,320 it. If you're not there, I hope you 497 00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:21,360 get there. And it's not just that this 498 00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:23,280 emotional one time feeling thing. 499 00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:26,960 It is God's Holy Spirit dwelling within you every single day, 500 00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:35,240 pushing you towards His love. If you've fallen off, if you've 501 00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:38,360 fallen short and you need somebody to pray for you, we'd 502 00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:39,760 love to be able to do that today. 503 00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:44,800 I'm going to pray for all of us right now, but if you need 504 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:47,360 something extra, please stop in the prayer room before you leave 505 00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:51,240 today. Let's go to the Lord who loves 506 00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:56,000 us. Our Father in heaven, You are 507 00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:59,680 good and You are gracious beyond anything we can understand. 508 00:31:00,840 --> 00:31:06,720 You allowed your Son to be consumed by your perfect 509 00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:11,760 judgement for us. Lord, I can't get my head around 510 00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:15,560 that. That's what you did so that we 511 00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:17,840 can have intimacy in a relationship with you. 512 00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:21,560 Lord, I pray for every single person in here right now that if 513 00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:26,640 there has been a strain or a walking away that you would draw 514 00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:30,240 them back in in such a way that they would want all of you and 515 00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:32,560 they they would seek you every single day. 516 00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:37,360 So, Father, moving our hearts, moving our minds, moving our 517 00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:42,880 mouths, that we might call on the one more to bring them into 518 00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:47,000 Your glory and your goodness. Father, we pray all these things 519 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:49,840 in the precious name of Jesus Christ, who is our Lord and our 520 00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:51,440 King. Amen. 521 00:31:55,760 --> 00:31:57,960 Thanks for listening to ERC Sundays. 522 00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:00,480 To support the work God is doing at Emmaus Rd. 523 00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:04,480 Church, visit emmausrdonline.org/giving.