Good to be with you again. Thankful
the Lord has blessed us one more time to assemble together to
worship Him in spirit and in truth. That's the only way you
can worship God. Jesus told the woman at the well
in John 4, 24, He said, God is a spirit. And they that worship him must
know two ways about it. Must worship him in spirit and
in truth. I need your prayers tonight.
The Lord would help us. If you have your Bible, open
it tonight to the book of Exodus chapter 33. Exodus chapter 33. And I want to begin reading verse
18. Exodus chapter 33 and verse 18. Now, before I read the scripture
tonight, I must confess to you that I don't know everything about
what I'm about to read to you tonight. But I'm thankful for
what the Lord has revealed to me about what I'm going to read. Tonight, we're going to read
the greatest thing anyone can ever experience. And that's the
glory of God. There's nothing in this universe
like seeing God's glory. When we think of God's glory,
a holy hush should come upon us. And we approach that subject
with reverence and godly fear. For we are talking about the
Lord of glory, the supreme ruler of the universe. Let's read Exodus
33, beginning at verse 18. This is Moses speaking in verse
18, and Moses says this. And he said, I beseech thee,
show me thy glory. And he said, I will make all
my goodness pass before thee. And I will proclaim the name
of the Lord before thee. and will be gracious to whom
I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. And he said, thou canst not see
my face, for there shall no man see me and live. And the Lord said, behold, there
is a place by me And thou shalt stand upon a rock, and it shall come to pass while
my glory passes by. That I will put thee in a cliff
of the rock, and it will cover thee with my hand while I pass
by. And I will take away mine hand,
and thou shalt see my back parts. but my face shall not be seen. Subject tonight is God's sovereignty
and God's glory. If any man ever sees the glory
of God or God in his glory, God will have to do it. It's nothing
that we can work up. Moses knew that. It's nothing
Moses could work up. And the words that are used by
Moses in verse 18, he says, I beseech thee, I beg you, I plead with
you. With every fiber of my being,
Lord, Show me your glory. Now, Moses was a man that had
seen a great deal in his lifetime. In Exodus chapter 3 and verse
8, Moses was on the backside of the desert, taking care of
Jethro's sheep, the priest of Midian. And one day he was out
there and he happened to look And he saw a bush that was on
fire. And as he looked more closely
and more intensely, that bush was on fire, but it was not consumed. The bush wasn't burning to the
ground. Moses said, I will now turn aside
and see this great sight. And as Moses drew near, the voice
of God Almighty came out of that bush and said, Moses, Moses. He said, here am I, Lord. Don't
come no closer, Moses. That's far as you can go. Take
your shoes off. For the ground wherein thou standest
is holy. Now, brethren, I submit to you
that that one instance alone would have been enough for you
and I to talk about Bill for a lifetime. But that's not all Moses witnessed. When the children of Israel were
in Egypt, Moses witnessed the 10 terrible plagues of God's
judgment. In the very last plague, Moses
witnessed how God Almighty killed every
firstborn son from Pharaoh's house to the servant, all the
way down to the cow. Moses witnessed that. Moses gets
to the Red Sea and he's got the Red Sea on one side and Pharaoh's
army behind him. You talk about being between
a hard place and a rock. And the children of Israel murmured,
y'all just let us die in Egypt. Moses raised both hands and said,
stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. And the Red Sea parted and a
strong east wind blew all night long. And the children of Israel
walked across that seabed on dry ground. Moses witnessed manna
fall from heaven. Moses witnessed water coming
out of a rock. But here, here is something totally different. We're talking about redemptive
glory. Lord, I beseech you, show me
your glory. God said, all right, Moses, I
will, but let me tell you this first. You can't see my face. No man can see my face and live. In other words, Moses, I can't
grant your request 100%. It'd kill you. It'd kill you. But he said, Moses, I'll tell
you what I'm going to do. And I want to give you five points
tonight, briefly, about God's sovereignty and God's Verse 19,
God says, I will make all my goodness pass before thee. Any message that claims to be
the gospel that's not soaked with the goodness of God is not
the gospel. Romans chapter 2 and verse 4,
the Apostle Paul said, it is the goodness of God. that leads men to repentance. When I think about the goodness
of God, I think of the loving kindness of God. When I think
about Moses' request, Lord, show me thy glory. In order for God
to show his glory to anybody, there has to be something paramount
first. And that is this. He has to love
those whom he shows his glory. That's right. He has to love. What is it Jeremiah said in Jeremiah
31 verse three, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore with loving kindness,
I have drawn thee. Paul said in Ephesians chapter
two, you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and in
sins, were in time past you walked according to the course of this
world, the prince of the power of the air, and were by nature
the children of wrath, even as others, but God, but God, with his great love, wherewith in order for a man to see the
glory of God. God's got to love that man. Let us never forget that God
chose the people from a foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in what? Love. What did he say about his disciples
that were in the world in John chapter 13? He said, having loved
those that were in the world, he loved them to the end. Praise God for his love. You
know why you love God tonight? He loved you first. Herein is
love. Not that we loved him, but that
he loved us and gave himself for us. He loved me when I was unlovable. He loved me when I didn't love
him. He loved me when I was blaspheming
everything high and holy. He loved me when I knew nothing
about his mercy, nothing about his word, nothing about his gospel. Even while we were yet sinners,
God commended what? His love toward us. And Jesus Christ died for us. Moses, I'm going to make all
of my goodness pass before you. Oh, look at the goodness God
has revealed to his covenant people. He's revealed his love.
He's revealed his grace. He's revealed his long-suffering. He's revealed his patience. Oh,
praise his name. Moses, I'm gonna make all my
goodness pass before you. In 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13,
Paul told the Thessalonians, but we're bound to thank God
for you always, brethren, beloved of the Lord. For God hath from
the beginning chosen you. Why did he choose them? He loved
them. He loved them. God hath chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. whereby he called you by our gospel. Second Timothy
1.9, Paul said this, about choosing us before the
foundation of the world. Paul told Timothy, not by works
of righteousness, which we've done, but he chose us because
he loved us. You know when a man's saved?
A man's saved when it pleases God. Galatians 1 15, Paul said,
when it pleased God to reveal his son in me. Now, if that's not the goodness
of God, I don't know what is. Amen. I'll make all my goodness
pass before you. Then secondly, in verse 19, he
said, I'll not only make all my goodness pass before you,
but he said, I'm going to proclaim the name of the Lord before thee. This is the sovereignty of God. What do we mean when we say God
is sovereign? What does that really actually
mean? Is there a definition for the
word sovereign God? I believe it means this. God
Almighty has the ultimate right to do with everything that writhes
and wriggles as it pleases Him. He does not seek anyone's counsel. He does not ask permission. He
does all things after the counsel of his own will. In Isaiah 45
and verse five, the Lord said this, I am the Lord. There is none else. I am God
and besides me, there is none other. I create light. I create the darkness. I create
evil. I, the Lord, do all of these
things. God is sovereign in creation. He spoke the world into existence.
He said, let there be light, and there was light. All things
were made by him, John said, and for him. He's sovereign in
eternity, decreeing, as I said earlier, a chosen people before
the foundation of the world. Christ Jesus, the Lord, being
a lamb slain before the foundation of the world. He's sovereign
in eternity, sovereign in creation, and he's sovereign in providence.
Proverb 21.1 says, he turns the king's heart whithersoever He
will. Now everybody's up in an uproar
about this coming election. Everybody says, I hope my man
gets elected. You got people saying, I hope
my woman gets elected. There's a big to-do, and they
think that it's up, now listen close to me about what I'm gonna
tell you. They think that it's up to them going to be president of this
country. Well, I got news for you. Whoever God Almighty wants
to put in, that's who'll be put in. That's right. Daniel chapter two says this.
He setteth up kings and he removeth kings. Now I'm here to tell you
folks, God is sovereign in Providence. There has never, there has never
been one ruler in any nation that it wasn't the will of God
to put them on the throne. Now you can drive a stake down
there and hold it. God is sovereign. You know, When
things happen in this world, you know, a lot of people think
that, you know, God is somebody that's all together like this
and something happens in the world. And they think that the
Godhead gets together and scratches their head and says, boy, I didn't
expect this. I didn't see this coming. What
are we going to do now? This wasn't supposed to happen.
But there's nothing that goes on like that. God's sovereign
in Providence. Honey, you can rest assured that
every event that's going on in America and all over this world,
there is a sovereign God in control. Don't never forget it. If there
is an election on the first Tuesday of November, I'm here to tell
you, it's already been decided. And it won't be decided by Democrats. and it won't be decided by Republicans. It'll be decided by God Almighty. Amen. That's so folks. God is sovereign, sovereign in
eternity, creation, providence, sovereign in salvation, sovereign
in its purpose. God purpose shall stand. He's sovereign in redemption.
He's sovereign in keeping. He's sovereign in its ultimate
completion. He that hath begun a good work
in you shall perform it to the day of Jesus Christ. God never
makes a mistake. He never does anything wrong.
Everything He does is good. Now, it may not seem right to
you, and it may not seem right to me, but all things, good and
bad, all things work together for good. To who? To them that love God. To them
that are be called according to his purpose. I'll make all
my goodness pass before you, Moses. I'll proclaim the name
of the Lord before you, Moses. And then third point is this. He said, I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and
will show mercy on whom Show mercy. Mercy, saving mercy,
is not something you can demand from God. Mercy is not something
that's owed to man. Mercy is God granting you redemption for Christ's sake
because you don't deserve it. You got no claims on God. He doesn't know you anything.
That's right. Oh, this world hates this. The
world hates this. They think that God has to give
everybody a square deal and a fair shake and If God doesn't do this,
He'd be just. Let me tell you something about
justice. Let me tell you something about
fairness. You say, preacher, it ain't fair! Do you want fairness
from God? Do you want God to be fair with
you? Oh, honey, you don't know what
you're asking. If He gave us what our due is,
he'd send every last one of us to hell. You don't want fairness
from God. You want mercy. You want mercy. Saving, mercy. Paul said in first Timothy chapter
one, Paul talked about himself. Paul was probably one of the
greatest religious guys of his day. But you know what he said,
1st Timothy 1, 11, 12, 13, 14. He said, I was before a blasphemer
and an injurious, but I did it ignorantly in unbelief, but I
obtained mercy. He obtained. Remember blind Bartimaeus? Blind
man. He's blind, he couldn't see.
He heard Jesus was passing by. Do you remember what his cry
was? Oh thou son of David, you owe it to me. No, that's not
what he said. Oh thou son of David, you've
got to do this for me. No. Oh, thou son of David, have mercy. Have mercy on me. Mercy. Saving mercy. Is in the hands of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and he gives it to whom he That's right. He'll be gracious
to whom we will be gracious. It's not by chance. And by the
same token, folks. He'll be gracious to whom he'll
be gracious. He'll grant mercy to whom he
will show mercy. But let us not forget whom he
will. He hardened. Does God harden
people? You better believe he does. He hardened Pharaoh's heart. How does God harden someone's
heart? Now, I want you to listen to
me now. How does God harden someone's heart? Does he strike them with
lightning? No. Does he hit them over the head? No. He leaves them to their own
devices. He just leaves them alone. I know of nothing, Mark, no more
terrible than that, than for God to leave a man to his own
devices and turn and leave him alone. Say, preacher, that's
not fair. What can you do about it? What
can you do about it? You can't change it. You say,
preacher, what are you driving at? I'm driving at this. That
salvation is in the hands of the sovereign God of glory, and
he owes you nothing. He owes you nothing. If you get
anything from God, if he saves you, if he calls you by his grace,
It's cause he's loved you with an everlasting love. He's chosen you before the foundation
of the world. He set his love on you. He called
you by his grace and he's given you mercy. Mercy. You ever been there? Has God
ever granted mercy to you? Then fourthly, Look in verse 21. And it shall come to pass that
while my glory passes by, that I will put thee in a cliff. Now that word cliff means crevice. I will put thee in a crevice
of the rock and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by. This is the reason for the incarnation
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is that rock. And for you to be in Christ,
did you notice the language of this verse? I will put thee in
the clift The only way you can get in the
Lord Jesus Christ is for God to put you there. I'll put you in the cleft of
the rock. There was absolutely no hope
for any of us to see the glory of God unless we could behold
it in a man. And that's why the word was made
flesh and dwelt among men. We beheld His glory, as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. When the fullness of time was
come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the
law, to redeem them that are under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons. John said, We beheld His glory. Moses could have never got a
glimpse of the glory of God without being in the cliff to the rock.
The Lord Jesus Christ. Everything we have, Billy's in
him. Everything. I don't have anything
of my own. I don't have anything to glory
in. All the promises of God, Paul
said, in Him, in Christ, are yay and amen. There are no promises
outside of Christ. They're all in Him. Everything. Wisdom. Heavenly
wisdom. Perfect wisdom. Righteousness. the perfect righteousness of
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Of Him are you made. Where? In Christ Jesus. That's where everything is. Wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, redemption. Oh, Moses, I'm gonna
put you in the cleft of the rock now. I tell you what I'm gonna
do, I'm gonna put my hand over you. Because I already told you,
you can't see my face and live. But I'm going to cover it. I'm going to put you in the cleft
of the rock. But in order for you to see my glory, to get a
glimpse of my glory, I'm going to have to put my hand over you. And when my glory passes, I'll
remove my hand. And you can see my back parts. That's all you can stand. That's
all your body can take. It's the back parts. It's all
you can handle, Moses. But oh, isn't that enough? Oh, isn't that enough to behold
the glory of God, His majesty, His splendor, His honor. Wow. I'm fumbling for words. I'm talking about the greatest
thing in the universe. I'm talking about the greatest
thing that any human being could ever witness. And that's the
glory God. Then, I want you to notice, and I'll
be done here in a minute, there have been people other
than Moses who have seen to some degree God's glory. Moses wasn't the only one. There are two others that I want
to read to you because I want you to see this. Turn to Ezekiel
chapter one. I want to read this to you. I
want you to see this. Never forget this. And in both of these instances
in Ezekiel and in Daniel, you're going to find that without
exception, that Ezekiel and Daniel responded
the same way when they saw his glory. Ezekiel chapter one, verse
Verse 26, here's what it says. Ezekiel had seen a vision, just
to give you a running update on it before I get to where I
read. Ezekiel had seen a vision. He saw a wheel within a wheel. And in verse 26, it says this,
and above the firmament there was over their heads was the
likeness of a throne as the appearance of a sapphire stone. And upon
the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance
of a man above upon it. And I saw as the color of amber
as the appearance of fire round about within it from the appearance
of his loins even upward and from the appearance of his loins
even downward. I saw as it were the appearance
of fire. and it had brightness round about. And as the appearance of the
bowl that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance
of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the
likeness of the glory of the Lord. Look at the last sentence. And when I saw it, I fell on
my face. I fell on my face. If you ever see the glory of
God, you will, without exception, do what Ezekiel did. Remember
Isaiah? Remember Isaiah? The year the
King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, Isaiah 6. What'd you see, Isaiah? He said his train, his presence,
his backside filled the temple. The doorpost shook. There were seraphims there and
they had to cover their eyes. And they cried, holy, holy, holy. The earth is full of his glory. And Isaiah fell to the ground. What happened to Isaiah? He saw
the glory of God. He said, mine eyes have seen
the king. Mine eyes have seen the king.
And lastly, turn to Daniel chapter 10. Daniel chapter 10. The glory of God. Daniel, the 10th chapter. I wanted to read this to you. That
way you can mark it in your Bible if you want. Verse five, Daniel
has seen a great vision. And in Daniel chapter 10, I can
get my fingers to move here. Verse five, he says this. Then
I lifted up mine eyes and looked and beheld a certain man clothed
in linen, whose loins were girded with the fine gold of Euphrates. His body also was like beryl. and his face as the appearance
of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and
his feet like in color to polished brass, and the voice of his words
like the voice of a multitude. And I, Daniel, alone saw the
vision, for the men that were with me saw not the vision, but
a great quaking fell upon them. so that they fled to hide themselves. Therefore I was left alone and
saw this great vision and there remained no strength in me. For my comeliness, my vigor,
my strength was turned in me into corruption and I retained
no strength. I'm talking about the glory of
God. Have you ever seen it? That's
what salvation is. Yes. Then in Exodus 34, what God actually
promised Moses came to pass. In Exodus chapter 34, And verse five, we'll turn back
to it. And I'll end with this, not be
so long-winded. Exodus chapter 34 and verse five. And the Lord descended in the
cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the
Lord. Verse six, and the Lord passed
by before him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God, that's
Jehovah, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in
goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity
and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the
guilty. visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children and upon the children's children
unto the third and the fourth generation. And look at verse
eight. And Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth
and worshiped. Without exception, everyone that
sees gets a glimpse of the glory of God. They're humbled. They're humbled. They're humbled. Have you ever seen His glory? Have you ever experienced His
goodness? Have you ever experienced His
mercy? Have you ever experienced His
love? His love is like none other.
His grace is like none other. We serve a sovereign living God. Our Father, take the message
now and use it for your glory. Lord,
we're nothing within ourselves. Oh, Father, may your saints be strengthened
tonight. May they be fed, speak to hearts,
have your way, and whatever you do, we'll thank you and praise
you for all of it. For it's in your name we pray.
Amen. Mark.