0:00 Exodus chapter 33 beginning in verse 17. And the Lord said to Moses, this very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name. Moses said, please show me your glory. And he said, I will make my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name, the Lord. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
0:29 But he said, you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live. And the Lord said, behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock. And while my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I pass by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen. Father, we come before you in light of your word, and, lord, there are many people here tonight, some visiting for the first time.
1:02 Some may know you personally. Some may know you traditionally. Some truly know you. And, Lord, we ask that you would do one thing for all these people from different backgrounds and different walks and different levels of understanding. Show us your glory.
1:19 This is our desire, Lord. In this room right here, right now, we're asking that you would do that very thing as we unpack your word. Assist us by the Holy Spirit, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated.
1:33 If you're here for the first time, we are going through a series in the book of Exodus, chapter by chapter, verse by verse, because we are hungry for the whole counsel of God. We don't wanna shy away from the old testament. We don't wanna dismiss the fact that, you know, we're in the new covenant, and so the Old Testament has no relevance. There is great relevance in the Old Testament concerning the new covenant believer. And if you were not here last week, we've been discussing the reality of the presence of God and how Moses was a man like you and me who had this craving to know God more.
2:05 And up to this point, the people of Israel, even before the 10 commandments have come down the mountain, broke the law. And in sinning, the same reality for you and me, they forfeited the nearness of their God. And God offered them everything else except his own presence. And when the people heard this, it was a disastrous word. And so Exodus 33, we've learned about what what it means to know God intimately, what it costs, what price it comes with.
2:32 And this whole chapter really is about God, in his grace, restoring his presence to a people who have forfeited because of their sin. And we learned about the glorious truth of our faith that we serve a God that is knowable. We serve a God that longs to have intimate relationship with you and me, and we come to realize that there is a pattern throughout the Bible that the nearness of God is possible when a man chooses to sever sin from his life and to embrace whatever it takes for this one cause to know Him and to make Him known. And that reality, unfortunately, is for so little because so little are willing to pay the price of knowing God intimately. And man Moses was one of those men, and he pleaded with God.
3:21 He asked God, please do not let us go into the promised land without your presence. How will we be distinct? How will people know that there's a difference between us and the others? And when we we just read in verse 17 that the Lord answered that request, the Lord said, okay. My presence will go with you.
3:38 The awareness of my person will be a reality for you and your people. And really, if this whole chapter was really about that, it should have ended there. It would have made sense for Moses who was pursuing God for the sake of the people of Israel and for his own sake, that the chapter would have ended there and we removed on in the wilderness journey. Moses should have got up and said, thank you Lord. Thank you for hearing.
4:00 You're gracious. You are merciful. So you're coming with us? Yes. I'm coming.
4:04 Great. And that they should have packed their bags and moved forward. But something happens here. We see that God and Moses continue in their interaction, and shockingly the chapter doesn't end here. Why?
4:19 Because Moses asked for more, and more interaction was added to the relationship between Moses and God because Moses knew how to ask God for more. And you and I can continue our story with God if we simply learn the simple truth of asking him for more. And that's why so many people who have been in the faith for twenty years are still in chapter one of their faith because they don't know how to seek and ask. But Moses knew how, and Moses says this wonderful thing. He says, your presence is coming with us.
4:57 Wonderful. And he reassures him, yes, it's coming. I'm coming with you. And he goes, please. He was requesting for the nation.
5:04 Now he's requesting something personally. Please show me your glory. Now we use a lot of Christianese, don't we? We say a lot of things. We sing a lot of things, and we don't really know what it means sometimes.
5:17 If we really take our terminology and put it on the table and really evaluate what we're trying to say, we would if we're honest with ourselves, we would not really know the depth of what we're saying. One of those words is the word right here, glory. Show me your glory. And you know, you wanna know how you get answers from the Bible, ask the Bible questions. That's the best way to get revelation.
5:41 Instead of just reading by and trying to get something that, you know, you can it's just a nice thought from the scripture, that's fine. If you really wanna dig deep, we know this rule, ask the text questions. You know what my question is? I see Moses's heart here. He wants more of God, but what in the world is glory?
5:57 I understand presence. I understand that God can manifest his presence and make himself known to us in such a real way where he becomes the most real person in your life. But what is Moses asking for here when he's saying, please show me your glory. And this is bible study. This is not a sermon tonight, and I know there's quite a few people here tonight, so don't be shy.
6:19 But I'm curious to know when you hear the word glory, what comes to mind? What do you think of when you hear glory? His face? So it has something to do with this person? Absolutely.
6:32 Glory. The glory of God. God's character. Going public with who he is and making himself known is his glory? Absolutely.
6:48 And we say it all the time. We sing it all the time. Do we really know what it means? Something glorious? It's not easy to define glory.
6:57 Try to define beauty. Try to define beauty in your mind right now. Try to define glory. It's not an easy task because the Bible has much to say about the glory of God and associates much of different elements concerning his glory. And so I'm gonna need some participation here.
7:19 We're going through a lot of Bible today, but hopefully it'll give some answers. I need three volunteers right now. Three volunteers. Just lift up your hand. Brother back there, can you open up to Isaiah chapter six one to three?
7:29 Don't read it yet. I need somebody else to read John twelve forty one, but you gotta read it loud. And lastly, if you can read, brother, if you can read Romans three twenty three. So Isaiah's begin with us, please.
7:42 In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood a seraphim. Each had six wings. With two, he covered his face, and with the two, he covered his feet, and with two, he flew. And one called to another one and said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.
8:08 The whole earth is filled of his glory.
8:10 What did the angels say? Holy, holy, holy. The whole earth is filled with his glory. So the angels are seeing him and they're saying holy, holy, holy. Who did Isaiah see?
8:28 Did did he see Jesus? According to John twelve forty one. Can you read it for us? But look what it does, it's added detail concerning John's account of this scene.
8:39 These things Isaiah said when he saw his glory and spoke
8:42 When he saw his what? When he saw his glory, but the angel said holy. The angel said holy. When they saw him, holy, holy, holy. And through John's account, talking about Isaiah seeing holy, yes, but glory.
9:02 Romans three twenty three, who has it? Yeah. For all have
9:12 sinned and fallen fall short of the glory.
9:16 Fall short of what? The glory of God. Isaiah saw the angels, and the angels saw God and saw Christ. Holy, holy, holy, John tells us that they saw his glories. Isaiah saw his glory.
9:29 Romans three twenty three, we all know it that we have all fallen short of the glory of God. So there is a great and strong connection between God's glory and his holiness. God's glory and his holiness is intricately woven. But not just his holiness. Psalms 19 I need I need three volunteers again.
9:50 Different ones maybe. Psalms 19 verse one. If you can up to Psalms 96 verse three, and one more person. Numbers fourteen twenty two. Psalms nineteen one, Psalms ninety six three, numbers fourteen twenty two.
10:07 Psalms 19 ones. Please help us. Yes.
10:10 The heavens declare on the glory of God.
10:13 of God. Glory of God. Psalms ninety six three. Tell of all his glory among the nations, his wonderful deeds among all the peoples. Do you see the parallelism there?
10:26 Tell declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples. This is this is a a linguistic a poet poetic linguistic tool here. There's a parallel. Glory with marvelous works. Numbers fourteen twenty two.
10:42 None of the men who have seen my glory, my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness. None of them who've seen my what? My glory and my signs. So you're hearing all those things, and what are you making a connection concerning God's glory with?
10:59 It's like a standard of excellence.
11:01 Standard of excellence. That's a beautiful way of putting it. What else? The heavens declare the glory of God. Creation.
11:08 Creation. So not just creation, but behind creation is power, his greatness, his ability that is not limited. So we can categorize it with his greatness. His greatness is strongly connected to his glory. And one more verse, Revelation twenty one twenty three.
11:32 If somebody could read Revelation twenty one twenty three. Last book of the Bible. Revelation twenty one twenty three. If it's on the screen already, you can just read it. Whoever wants to
11:42 City has no need a sun or a moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives its light, and its lamp is the lamb.
11:54 Don't need the sun. Don't need the moon. Don't need any light because his glory will be enough. So this speaks of his splendor. This speaks of his brilliance.
12:06 This speaks of his dazzling light. So it's not as easy as we would like it to be to define glory, but if I were to take all those things, all that what scripture the Bible interprets the Bible. The Bible answers the Bible. I take all those puzzle pieces. I put it together, and this is what I would say the glory of God is.
12:23 It is. Glory is the immeasurable, unmatchable greatness, splendor, and holiness of God. That is his glory. The immeasurable, the unmatchable greatness, splendor, and holiness that radiates from God. And you know what Moses is asking for?
12:51 A greater degree of revelation of these manifold perfections of his being. Show me your glory. Do you ask him for it? Is that ever a prayer request of yours? Lord, I I long to see your glory.
13:10 I long for you to show me yourself. The heavens declare the glory of God. So God has, to some measure, revealed his glory to us. The heavens declare the glory of God. And so you drive in the morning when you're going to work, and you see that sky painted with pink and blue and that streak of yellow, and guess what?
13:27 Shouting, God is glorious. You go up north a little bit, and you go see your friend out on the farm, and you see all those stars. You know what they're shouting? God is glorious. When you see that sunset, what goes on through your mind?
13:40 It should be God is glorious. The heavens declare the glory of God. You know what? It doesn't stop there though. The measure of revelation of the glory of God comes through someone.
13:55 You know his name, I hope. Hebrews one three. Hebrews one three. She being Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. Do you pray for God to reveal his glory?
14:14 You have every right to, but do not be surprised if God answers it with greater revelations of the person of Jesus Christ. I wanna see your glory. Do not be surprised when the spirit of wisdom and revelation comes into your heart and opens the eyes of your soul, and you behold something of Christ that you did not know before. Do not be shocked when God longs to reveal His glory through the Son who wants to show you His love, His immeasurable greatness, His power, His holiness, his compassion, his all these things. God longs to reveal his glory to his people through the radiance of the person of Jesus Christ.
14:51 He is the radiance of the glory of God, and we have beheld him. I have another question because I'm reading this and and something else popped to mind. Okay. I know what glory is. Now I know what I'm saying when I sing songs.
15:04 Now I know what I say. Glory to God. I know what I'm saying. God is glorious. I know but you know what?
15:07 I have another question. Because there's another element to glory concerning us. Have you ever wondered what it means to glorify the glorious God? We are called to glorify God. So I got a second question concerning glory.
15:20 What does it mean for me to glorify this glorious one? Any idea?
15:29 Acknowledge and give credit.
15:31 Acknowledge and give credit to him. Yes. Absolutely. Yes. To love him first.
15:39 To love him first. To recognize him as priority. Yes. To reflect him. Yes.
15:47 Reflect his character. Reflect his character, his attributes. Yes. Reverence him. Absolutely.
15:56 Like to show his power in our trials.
15:59 To allow him to move in our lives through our trials. Yes. To yield to him. Sure. What else?
16:07 How do we ascribe glory to God as mere mortals? Well, Psalms 20 nine:nine. A lot of scripture today.
16:16 Whoever can turn there and read it,
16:16 read it like you, Whoever can turn there and read it, read it like you mean it. Psalms twenty nine nine, how do I glorify God?
16:31 Call the Lord, our God, and worship at his holy mountain for the Lord, our God, is holy.
16:42 Is that Psalms twenty nine nine? Twenty nine nine. It's okay. It's still scripture. Voice of
16:52 the Lord makes the deer give birth, and the streets of the forest bear, and in his temple everyone who says glory.
16:59 The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth. That sounds something glorious. That sounds like power. So when God says, give birth, the deer do it. Okay?
17:07 That sounds powerful. And because of his power, because of the immeasurable, unmatchable reality of this power, all of his people cry out glory. How do we glorify God? When we recognize who he is, and we ascribe worship. We ascribe praise.
17:24 We ascribe thanksgiving. When we give ourselves to acknowledging one or more of his attributes as the people of God, he receives glory when we choose to highlight who he is. So when you hold yourself back from worshiping him, we hold ourselves back from glorifying him, And he deserves glory. All the people in the temple say glory, but it's not just that. There's a harder and more difficult task concerning glorifying God.
17:55 The singing part isn't hard. He deserves it. He is worthy of it, but it gets a little bit more complicated, and this is what God is really after concerning us. And Jesus said in John seventeen four, Jesus himself, the perfect one, reveals what it means to glorify the father. What did he say in his prayer, in the highest priestly prayer?
18:11 I have glorified you in the earth. How? By doing what you have commanded me to do. I've glorified the glorious one by doing what he has called me to do. Now what did that look like?
18:26 What did his life look like for for him to glorify God? John fourteen nine. John fourteen nine. I know we're bouncing around, but that's okay. What happens?
18:36 Jesus said to him, because Philip asked, show us the father. Have I been with you so long and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the father. How can you say show us the father? How do we glorify God?
18:54 How do we glorify the father? Imitate him. Live like him. Reflect him. When people see you, we should be able to see say like Jesus.
19:06 Not in boast, not in pride, not in self righteousness, but that should be our ambition. When people see me, they see the Father. And then as a result of that, God receives glory. Let your light shine before men. Let your good works seen before men, that they may glorify your Father who is in heaven.
19:26 That's how you and I get to glorify the glorious one. Oh, so we know what it means concerning glory, and we know what it means to glorify him, but look how God answers the request in verse 19 of Exodus chapter 33. Please show me your glory. Verse 18. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name the Lord, and I will be gracious to whom I'll be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
19:56 Now look at this. This is God's answer to the request of show me your glory, and if you scroll down to verse 20, verse 21, excuse me. And the Lord said, behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, verse 22, and while my glory passes by, well he just said my goodness will pass before you, so there's another connection there, that his goodness equates his glory. And so as as as the Lord is answering Moses, what is he saying? Three things.
20:24 My glory, my goodness will pass before you. My name will be said, and his mercy I will show mercy to him. I show mercy. His goodness, his name, his mercy includes his glory, and this is how it moves on. In verse 20, he says, but you can't see my face.
20:51 He goes, I'm gonna do these things. I'm gonna answer your request, but there's one thing I cannot do in your request to see my glory, and that is for you to see my face. Now why is that? Why is that? Because why?
21:09 Because say a lot louder. Yeah. Because you're gonna die. That's why. So there's an element of the glory of God that can be so noble.
21:20 It's something that we can perceive, but God in his mercy holds that back, that facet of his glory, because we do not have the capability to register that aspect of his glory, because you and I would literally disintegrate to find powder. There is something of his glory, that splendor element, that brilliant light that he he veils himself, because you and I in this frame, jars of clay, we cannot be able to receive such amount of glory lest we be destroyed, and so that part of God's glory. See how complex His glory is? That element of the glory of God is reserved for a future glory. You realize that.
22:06 Right? So he goes, Moses, right now in the state that you're in, if you see my face, you will be completely destroyed. So the Bible promises us though. It goes through the scriptures telling us about a future glory that we're gonna we're gonna be able to receive and walk into. So he says, You shall not see my face, but you know what Revelation 22 says?
22:26 Revelation 22 verse three tells us this. This is concerning when the heavens, the new heaven comes, and there's a new earth, and the end of all things has ushered in. No longer will there be any accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
22:53 So that part of God's glory is reserved for a future glory, and so you know what first Corinthians 13 tells us? That we see through a mirror dimly. Right now, we see through a mirror that we only get glimpse. We only get samples. We only get touches of his glory, but one day we're gonna see it face to face.
23:13 One day we're gonna come in. We're gonna have the full revelation of it. There's gonna be no hindrance. We're gonna have our new bodies. We're gonna become like him as we see him and be able to, for all eternity, bask in his glory.
23:28 So what do we do about that? Well, Romans eight eighteen, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Let me go through. Let me enter tribulations. Let me enter through hell and high water.
23:43 I have a glory that I'm entering into. That's why when you hear people say he's entering into glory or he entered into glory, that's exactly what we're talking about. Unhindered, unreserved, no limitation to knowing God intimately. So what do we do with this text? What do I do with verse 19, verse 20, all these things about Moses and asking for the glory of God?
24:08 This is what we do. We pray the same prayer. But this is how we pray it. Please show me your glory to the maximum capacity with which my mind and heart can contain. Bring me to the edge.
24:25 Bring me to the edge where I can almost smell eternity. I want to know you as much as I can on this side of heaven. Is that your prayer life? Or what are you chasing after? Because I can tell you this, this Moses was not just some random figure in the Bible.
24:44 He was a prince in Egypt. He had the palace. He had the education. He had the connections, and it says that he considered the treasures of Egypt of no worth compared to the sufferings with the people of God. Why?
24:55 Because he was looking to the reward. Hebrews eleven twenty four. So this man tasted something that we all need to taste. He had it, and he knew that there is more. Remember this, brothers and sisters, as you grow in your knowledge of God, you will realize in your pursuit that there is more of God that you did not know.
25:15 Remember this, the more you seek God, the more you will want God. That's the spiritual law. I don't understand it, but it's true. You've heard me say it before, but I'll say it again for those who've never heard it. Do you wanna know how you get hungry for God?
25:29 It's the opposite of the physical. If you're hungry, you don't eat. If you wanna know what hunger feels like, don't eat food for a few days. Don't eat food for, you know, a few hours, and then you're gonna feel those pains. You're gonna feel now everything.
25:43 You know what? Men know it more than anything. Right? Hangry. You guys know that.
25:48 Right? Where everything now becomes about you and finding anything. You just want to eat anything because you're hungry. K. In the spiritual, it's the opposite.
25:56 In the spiritual, if you wanna know how you can experience hunger, and you wanna know what it means to pursue God and and and long for him, you eat. I don't understand it, but the more you read, the more you're gonna wanna read. Some of you guys know this. When you just discipline yourself to do that, your appetite begins to be enlarged. I don't get it, but when you pray, you're gonna wanna pray more, but when you stop, it takes forever to be reignited again.
26:22 Some of you guys can testify to this. So this is a spiritual, and this is what Moses is is showing us right here in a very practical way. I want more of the glory of God, but he promised you his presence. Yeah, but there's more. This is convicting.
26:41 This is, this is encouraging, and so God's glory is about to be revealed. Now we come to Exodus chapter 34 verse five. What happens? The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. Hey guys, guess what we're reading?
26:58 The glory of God is showing up, and look how it is manifesting before Moses. The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children of the children's children to the third and the fourth generation. This is the glory of God. You know what I was expecting when God was gonna reveal his glory? I was expecting Exodus 19 times 10.
27:34 I was expecting the mountains to trouble. I was expecting that mountain to go up. Greater smoke, greater fire, greater trumpet sound. That's what I was expecting when Moses was asking for the glory of God, and that is true of the glory of God. There is that power, and there is that that charge.
27:50 There is that revelation of the fact that I can't even stand here because I know that I will be swallowed up by this, but look how God is choosing to reveal His glory. How? Through revelation of his person. Do you see it here? That it's less about what he's seeing and more about what he's hearing.
28:09 This is how God in the Old Testament is choosing to reveal the glory of himself before his servant, describing his qualities. A clearer perception of his person is what it means to understand the glory of God according to this text. So then it teaches me something else about God's glory, that if I'm pursuing it and if I'm asking for it, you know what God's gonna do? He's gonna remove the layers in your heart that are hindering you from understanding him and beholding him and comprehending him and seeing him for who he is. There is a great connection between the glory of God and revelation of his person, knowing his heart, knowing his attributes, knowing his dealings with man.
29:03 And guess what it doesn't do only? It doesn't touch your intellect and not reach down to your heart. We're talking about a glory. Yes, it is knowledge of who He is, but sinks so deep into you that it will cause you to do what Moses did. And look at Moses' reaction to the very things, the qualities, and the descriptions of God.
29:22 Look what happened to Moses when he received that because it was a heart thing. What happens? Verse eight. Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. Three things will happen.
29:32 If you ask for God's glory and you touch anything of his glory, you better expect these three things to happen. And I doubt somebody's experienced the glory of God if these things have not happened in their life. The first thing will happen, and when you understand the glory of God, when he decides to manifest his glory in a way that you've never known, the first thing that will happen to him, he will humble you. Any thought of self will be deflated. Any thought about self exaltation, any thought about self pleasure, self seeking glory, all of those things will be weighed down by the majesty guess what happened to Moses' vision?
30:17 He was humbled. How so? His eyes was directed towards the earth. And you know what he must have
30:20 maybe been reminded of? Maybe not, but I like to think so. That's what happened to Moses' vision. He was humbled. How so?
30:20 was directed towards the earth. And you know what he must have maybe been reminded of? Maybe not, but I like to think so. That's what I am. I'm dust.
30:27 This is where I came from. This is all dust and ashes. And that's what the glory of God will do when it manifests in your life. You will realize how small you are. You'll realize how he is everything, and you are nothing, and anything that you are is by his grace.
30:44 If you don't believe me concerning God's manifest glory, all you need to do is understand the glory of Psalms nineteen one. The heavens declare the glory of God. You wanna feel small? Study astronomy. You wanna feel tiny?
30:57 You wanna feel humbled? You wanna feel like this? Study the universe. You might go crazy if you do it too long though. So the heavens alone can humble us.
31:08 How much more of God reveals who he is concerning his person and his dealings and his holiness? The the thing that happened to Moses is that he was humbled, but not just humbled, he worshiped. Says he bowed his head, but he also worshiped. Adoration is activated when God's glory is manifested. True worship.
31:30 True worship. I doubt that there was music in the background to get his emotions going when he saw this glory. There wasn't some talent in the background there to get him going to to worship. No. No.
31:45 It was just a revelation of his glory, and that was enough for him to worship in raw form where he got down to the ground, and he began to adore the very one that he was beholding. So if you touch the glory of God or he reveals it to you, you better expect him to humble you in that moment. You better know that you will worship. You will truly worship as a response. But look at the last thing here.
32:15 Verse nine. And he said, if now I have found favor in your sight, oh Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin and take us for your inheritance. Do you see what Moses is doing here? The third thing that will happen when you know something of the glory of God is that you will separate yourself from sin and you will do anything to know him deeply. He's humbled, he worshiped, and lastly he said, we're stiff necked people.
32:47 Forgive us of our sin and come amongst us, please God. Notice he didn't say, forgive them. Notice he didn't say, God, thank you that I am by who your grace holier than everybody. None of that. He included himself amongst these sinful people because when you know the glory of God, you will not dare elevate yourself.
33:15 You will not dare elevate yourself before the majesty of His person. When you get a glimpse of His holiness, even if you are a 2018 version of Moses, you will say I am a sinner. I am wretched. I don't care if I'm the only person standing here. Does not matter who you are, what your track record is, what kind of things you've done for God, when you get a glimpse of his glory, you will not dare put yourself above any other sinner.
33:48 And what happens here? God renews the covenant and he begins to remind him of the laws because as they're renewing this covenant in the rest of chapter 34, what God is trying to say is, I haven't changed with my standard. We're still going for holiness here. We're still moving forward concerning what I instituted for you, people of Israel. But something amazing happens when you come down to verse 29.
34:19 Look at verse 29 of Exodus 34. When Moses came down from the mount from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. Afterward, all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai.
34:55 And when Moses had finished speaking with him, he put a veil over his face. He put a veil over his face, and it says in 34 down that he would go up, he would remove his veil, he would come back down, it was shining, he would talk with the people, hide his face, go back, and just that that was the pattern. So there is a manifestation of the glory of God even on Moses. And how long was he up there for? He was up there for a long time.
35:21 We see it early on. We see it in verse 28. Forty days, forty nines. He comes down, does not know that his face is beaming with light, and it's freaking everybody out. And so they're running away from him, and he realizes, oh, there's light shining from my face.
35:36 And so he calls to them, they come near, and then he finished talking, and he hides it, then he goes back up, and he removes his veil, then he comes back and he does the same thing. But here's my question, why is Moses veiling his face? Yes. Because he doesn't want the the people of exalt because he's he's in the presence of God, and you know, God shines through Moses. He doesn't want them to So he doesn't want worship.
36:06 He doesn't want them to come to a place in which they begin to praise him because of this manifestation. That's one. Understanding, that's not the final conclusion, but we're just brainstorming here. What other thoughts? Some of us have talked about this late Wednesday night, you guys know.
36:23 Why did he hide his face? He was scared. Scared? That's the common conclusion people have. That because he knew the reaction of the people, he hid his face so that he can actually commune with them and converse with them, lest they be afraid, lest they be blinded by this life.
36:39 Who knows? But there is an answer in scripture. Does anybody know where the answer of scripture is found? Yes, yes, yes. We need to turn there because the way the Apostle Paul, and this is where we're ending, interprets this passage is absolutely profound.
36:53 The answer is in second Corinthians three verse 12. Second Corinthians three. This is how the apostle Paul interprets this scene and he gives us insight, and this is what makes the Bible amazing. You find answers in other parts of the book. Look at verse 12.
37:15 Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. Why did he veil his face? Because that light was diminishing, and he did not want them to see that. And so he would go back up into the presence of God. It was like he plugged it back in and the battery was charged again.
37:42 He comes back down and the glory is revealed again, but then it begins to dwindle again. And he didn't want him to see that glory fading. So he hides his face so that they would not realize it, goes back up to the mountain, and does the same thing over and over again. So it wasn't because of fear, wasn't because they you would get some worse No. It was because he did not want them to see this light leaving.
38:06 And you know how Paul interprets this whole scene? It's not for some mystical experience. It's not if you spend time more with God, you're gonna have light shining from your face. None of that. This is this is the argument that Paul is making here concerning this scene here in Exodus.
38:22 He's speaking about the old covenant and the new covenant, And he's saying that Moses represents the law. He represents the old covenant. And he's saying that this glory, like the light shining from his face, is fading. And the glory of the old covenant is diminishing. If you don't see it, look at verse seven.
38:42 Now the ministry of death of second Corinthians three, carved in letters of stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of his glory, its glory, which was being brought to an end. So He's taking this actual light, and He's lining it up with the reality of the Old Covenant, and He's speaking about Jews. This is the context, and He's saying that this light that was on Moses face, the same way that it was diminishing, is the same way that the old covenant is diminishing. And there's a greater glory, a more permanent one in verse 11. For of what was being brought to an end came with glory.
39:21 How much more will what is permanent have glory? The old covenant, like Moses' face shining, is gone because it's been replaced with a greater glory, which is permanent. We're not looking for another covenant. We're not looking for extra. We have it all, and this is a permanent glory.
39:39 It's a never ending glory. It's a glory to glory for us. And so we see here that he's making this argument that Moses's face being hidden is a picture of the law disappearing because of the new covenant. But it goes on deeper than that. He says, that veil that was on Moses' face is actually on the hearts of the Jewish people.
40:05 What does he say here? Look at verse 14. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day, whenever Moses has read, a veil lies over their hearts.
40:23 So the same way that the goal of that veil was to give the impression that the glory has not faded, pay attention,
40:33 the same way that the hearts of the people, the Jews, have this idea, because their hearts are veiled, that there is still glory in the old covenant. And so every time they look at the old covenant, they go, there's still glory in this. Every time they read Moses, like, yes, this is it. There's nothing greater than this, because there's a veil over their hearts. The same way in the Old Testament when they saw Moses with that veil, they perceive that the light has not left.
40:58 If you know Jewish friends, and you've been witnessing to them, and they are not getting it, guess why? Because there's a veil over their hearts. And they look at the old covenant, and they see it, and they say, this is glory. This is glorious. And And the only way that can be removed is if they turn to Christ.
41:14 And when they turn to Christ, he will remove that veil. And once that veil is removed, oh, then they see true glory. Then they see true light. Then they see true brilliance. Then they see true holiness, true love.
41:29 But until then, there's a veil. Not just for the Jews. To some degree, every person who is not in Christ, the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers that they may not see the light of the glory of the gospel of Christ. Second Corinthians four four. If you're in here and you're not a believer in Jesus Christ, and you're not being moved, you're not being stirred, know this, you have a veil over your heart.
41:50 And the reason why you don't hear this, and you're not moving, you're not touching, you don't it's because you're blind. You're not deaf so you can hear me. You're blind. And let me say this, if you just give a glance to him, in humility he's willing to rip open that veil. And for you to perceive him in a way that you never thought you could, but you need to humble yourself my friend, lest you walk out of here just as blind as you came in.
42:19 Turn to the Lord. When you turn to the Lord, he's willing to remove that veil. You wanna stay blind? Keep stumbling in life. Maybe God by his grace will bring you into another bible study so you realize that you need him.
42:33 But let me say this. This is why prayer is so important in evangelism. This is why before this bible study, we take the time to pray lest people come in and leave the same way. We want God and we need God because only Christ can remove the veil. It doesn't matter matter who's behind the microphone.
42:50 Only God has the power to do that. And so we must be a people. As long as we wanna serve God and make this gospel known, we also must rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. Lord, only you can remove that veil from my neighbor's heart. Only you can remove that veil from my coworker's heart.
43:06 Only you can remove that veil from my family's heart. Do it, Lord. Please, have mercy. Let me get a glimpse of it at least. We are totally dependent upon the power of the Holy Spirit, even in making Christ known.
43:18 It says there's a veil. There's a veil. And look what happens here when that veil is removed. There's something amazing. In verse 18, it tells us here, and we all and we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
43:43 So this is the parallel that we can make between Moses and us. Moses had boldness to go before the Lord and remove his veil in the presence of God. But guess what? In the new covenant, it's not just for one person who's a mediator for a nation, and we all. Every single one of us has the confidence to come before God with an unveiled face.
44:06 Not just a leader, not just Moses. No. No. No. And we all have the ability now with unveiled face, come to God face to face in Christ and behold his glory.
44:20 We all have access to that. We all have the ability to behold him, and guess what the byproduct is? As you behold him, you become like him. Listen. This is the secret to the Christian life.
44:33 If you've been falling asleep this entire time, wake up right now, please. Let me tell you why you are so frustrated in your Christian walk. Because you are spending more energy trying to behave for Him than investing in simply beholding Him. You are striving. You are working.
44:53 You hear commands and He goes, okay. I'm gonna do this. And you know what God is saying? Do you really want to become like me? Behold me.
45:00 And so many believers do not understand this. They don't understand that it comes from that place. When you become like Him, it's a result of beholding Him. What do I mean by behold? Exactly what Moses did.
45:13 Do you wanna know how to effortlessly strive in the Christian walk, and become like the one that you know saved your soul? Behold him. As one person said it so beautifully, the Christian command is to behold, not behave. You will behave when you first behold, and you will see the ease that comes with it because when you realize his beauty, and you realize his grace and his holiness, and by the Holy Spirit, he begins to teach you and show you and illuminate things to you, you as a response say, oh Lord, make me like him. Change my heart, oh God.
45:51 Do you behold him? And you say, well, how do I behold him? Well, Exodus 34 shows us. But if there's anything we can take for the Christian walk, it's to know how to behold him like Moses beheld him. And so you come to Exodus 34 again, and this is where we're ending.
46:09 I know I said that, but we're we'll go on here one more time. Exodus 34 verse two. Be ready by the morning and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai. Here's a good principle to the practice of beholding. Do it the first thing of your day.
46:31 Make it the priority of your day to sit at his feet and to behold who he is and watch how your day will change. I promise you. Not because it's my word, because of scriptures. You take the time to behold him and watch how you will be more like him throughout the day. And some of you in here know what it's like not to start your day with Jesus, and when you go through your day, you're not really acting like Jesus.
46:53 You're not reacting like Jesus. You're not taking that phone call like Jesus. You're not responding to situations that you did not plan to go your way that day like Jesus. I can tell you why, because you missed beholding him that day. Verse three, no one shall come up with you and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain.
47:12 Here's another principle, behold him alone. This is a corporate expression of beholding. I mean, it's wonderful, but God wants to reveal himself to you. We know this. Do you see the consistency of scripture?
47:26 You're like, brother, I've heard this. You've even we've been talking about it for the past few weeks, because the Bible wants to get it in our heads. Behold me. Come up alone and and see me. And what else did we do?
47:36 Verse six. The Lord passed before me and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, sloth their anger. Dig deep into who he is. Dig deep into his characteristics. Dig deep into his attributes.
47:52 Stay there until you begin to see it rub off on you, begin to realize that it's touching your heart. I can tell you when you behold him, and you behold him, and you behold him, you will see things of him that you did not see before. True. It's always true. There's always details of Jesus' life that I keep seeing that I've never seen before.
48:09 The way he answers, the way he responds to situations, his boldness, the fact that he's in control of all things, his self control, knowing when to answer, knowing when not to answer, knowing how to I just continually humbled by him, continually falling in love with him. The radiance of the glory of God. Lord, let me behold him. And as you spend that time, as you do it the first thing in the morning, as you do it alone, as you open this word, just like Moses is hearing the things of God, see the things of God in this word. And lastly, verse eight, and Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.
48:46 I find it so true that so many believers in their private lives can do the first three and not do the last part. They they really don't know how to worship God alone. It changes everything. When you learn how to adore him and you find a way to do it, watch how it would change your life. Watch how it brings you in to the courts of God.
49:13 So it's not just even let me just get over my devotion real quick so I can start my day, and I know it's so tempting to do that especially when you have a packed day, but it's to see the things of God like Moses did, to perceive it, to understand it, to hear it, and then as a response to take the time to worship him in light of it. You are glorious. You are wonderful, and you can do it in every book of the Bible. I was just we were praying earlier, and I was we were reading Proverbs, Proverbs chapter one, concerning wisdom, how she calls out. I I was reading it earlier today and how it says that, if you turn at my reproof, I will pour out my spirit on you concerning wisdom.
49:51 Wisdom is a spirit. There's a spirit of wisdom. I thought to myself, Lord, you wanna pour out wisdom in my life. And you just begin to engage with what you're beholding. And what happens as you do that over time?
50:06 What happens? You begin to melt. You begin to melt and be molded and shaped shaped into the very thing that you are beholding. This is what the Bible promises us. And you go from glory to glory to glory, and you're wondering, how does this work?
50:18 This sounds too good to be true. He says, this comes from the Lord who is the spirit. So when the Holy Spirit sees you in that place of humility and hunger of beholding him, he begins to, as a response, rewire you, renew you, fill you, empower you, change you. And you don't have to tell people, just like Moses didn't need to tell anybody else, but you begin to reflect him. You begin to reflect him.
50:44 I hope that that is liberating to your walk as a pilgrim. So many are striving and are are really frustrated because they are putting so much energy in behaving for him when he invites us to simply behold him. Do it and watch how it'll change your life. Do it and watch how you're gonna actually enjoy your Christian walk. Do it and watch how it will transform the way you serve him.
51:15 It will literally it would literally alter the way you live. There's some people here that I've never seen before. So I'm closing with the gospel. You came here, you don't know what you're hearing. But I wanna tell you something, this is God's opportunity to you to receive eternal life.
51:39 You have come here, you were invited, I don't know. You stumbled here somehow, someway, but I wanna tell you something, that if you do not have the assurance of eternal life, know this, that your life is short, and you know that. And know this, that you will one day stand before a holy God. It doesn't matter if you believe in him or not. It doesn't matter if you have some proof.
51:57 There is no proof. There is more proof that God is real than there is that he isn't. The Bible says in Psalms fourteen one that the fool says in his heart, there is no God. And you know who professes to be wise? Those who say that there is no God.
52:10 Bible has a whole different commentary of so many Christians that are so intimidated by those who say that there is no God and prove prove some idea that he's not there. You know what the Bible describes him, Matt? A fool. I wanna tell you something. This is not about a list of do's and don'ts.
52:25 This is about doing the right things enough so that you stand before God, and hopefully your good outweighs your bad. You're in the wrong idea concerning Christianity. But this is what the Gospel is, that you can't do good enough, and you can't do enough to get His approval for your life. And God, as much as He is holy and glorious, as much as His brilliance will disintegrate you, He's also love. And God so loved the world that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ.
52:52 And this man, whether you're an atheist or agnostic, you have to acknowledge historically, he actually lived. Historically, there was a man named Jesus Christ who walked on this earth, but he claimed to be more than a man. He came on a mission, and that mission was to die on the cross for the sins of humanity, including yours. He had you in mind when he died on the cross. And when he was nailed, and when he was whipped, it was greater than that.
53:16 The wrath of almighty God that deserves to be poured out on you, my friend, was poured out on God, on God himself. And Christ received the wrath of God. He took your sin and the sin of the whole world upon himself. And the greatest pain that he had in that moment was not the whips, the bruises, his bare skin against that wooden cross. No.
53:35 It was the moment in which the Lord, his father separated himself, and he felt that cold isolation between him and the one that he was in eternal union with. And he was separated in that moment so that you can be with him for eternity. But I wanna tell you this about this person Jesus because when he died and paid that price, this is what happened. You had a debt, you could not pay that debt. He paid that debt for you.
54:01 And you know what he's doing for you tonight? You came because you thought you were just gonna meet some people, and God is here to offer a check for your debt. And He wants to make sure that your account is paid in full. And He wants to make sure that you have no debt before God, and you can't pay enough. You can't do enough.
54:17 No. No. No. No. He's done it all.
54:19 And when you humbly acknowledge that, he transfers everything necessary for you to be debt free before God almighty, and you will stand before him debt free. And here's the glorious thing about this Jesus. He died, but he rose from the grave. And so you know what we were singing to earlier? We're not singing about a dead philosophy.
54:38 We're not singing about a dead God. He heard us, he's in this room, and he perhaps is touching your heart right now. And this Jesus who died rose from the grave, signifying what? That his payment was approved by God, and that those who join themselves with him will also raise from the dead, including you. So you're in a room filled with people that are not afraid of death because they know that in Christ, death is just a transaction.
55:10 It's just a transfer point into glory as we've been talking about. And here's the reality of this Jesus as I close here. I might say that two more times. Be patient with me. This Jesus that rose is coming back.
55:25 And this Jesus who's coming back is coming to do what? To receive those who have accepted this gospel and have humbled themselves and said, Jesus, you are my savior. I cannot save myself. And he's doing a second thing. The first time he came to make peace.
55:38 The second time he coming, he's making war. And he will judge all those who heard this truth, the truth that you're hearing tonight, and he will hold it against them not for a moment but for all eternity. And there are people right now that wish that they could hear a message like this again. They are begging to hear the word repent again. They are begging to hear the words believe on him again.
56:08 The Bible says that they are weeping and there is gnashing of teeth. This is your opportunity not to go to a place like that. God wants to give you salvation. So what is the response to this good news? Repent and believe.
56:24 Realize that your sin put him on the cross. Realize that you can't save yourself. You turn from sin as an inward change. You say, I don't want this anymore, and I wanna believe on him. And in that moment, even if you don't make it home tonight, you will enter into glory.
56:43 I can't do anything for you. But there's a living God that's by his spirit in this place, and if you have anything within yourself of any sense of conviction left in this depraved, wicked, twisted generation, if you have any hint of conviction, would you call upon him tonight? And all it looks like is saying, Lord, I know that this is this is about me. And I don't know all the answers, but I know this one truth that I need to be saved. Would you change my heart?
57:18 I give you my life. Would you bow your heads, all of us, please? Believers, would you pray in this moment, show me your glory? Would you in your own heart say, lord, show me your glory? And if you do not know Jesus Christ tonight, would you say please save my soul?
57:54 I realize I'm a sinner. I realize that I cannot attain eternal life. I realize that Jesus paid it all for me, so I give him my life. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. God in heaven, we are in awe of your glory tonight.
58:14 But, Lord, we want more. And so give us the ability to behold you in a way that we've never known. And, Lord, we just ask, like Moses, show us your glory. Teach us to behold you day by day. Let our inner man know the attributes of this glorious God.
58:42 And as a result, may we become like the very one that we stare at. And Lord, if there's anybody in this place tonight that has come and does not know you, would you reveal yourself to them? Only you can remove that veil from their hearts. We acknowledge that tonight. So father, we pray by the power of your holy spirit, remove that veil.
59:05 Remove that veil, and let them see their need of you. Would you stand with me, please? And we're gonna do what Psalms 20 nine:nine says, that as a revelation, as a response to the revelation of the power of God, the glory of God, the majesty of God, all the people in God's temple shout glory, and we do that by song. Would you find it within yourself to give him what he deserves? To highlight, to ascribe how glorious he is.
