Let's take our Bibles again and
turn with me to the book of Exodus chapter 33. Exodus chapter 33. We started this chapter a few
weeks ago. This is the last, the fourth
message in Exodus 33 in this particular series. And I'd like
to deal with verses 18 to 23. This passage that we deal with
today, to me is one of the most tender passages that can be found
in all of the scriptures. Here's a needy sinner. One that's along with God of all glory. And in the presence of Almighty
God, Moses asks a question, makes a request, that I truly believe
every regenerated object of God's mercy wants. This is what he said in verse
18, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. Boy, you talk about one that's
opened his mouth wide. Show me your glory. You talk about go to the top
of the request. Lord, show me, this word is interpreted and
you can look at it in the scriptures, it's interpreted, your honor,
your wealth. Show me your reputation. In the
New Testament, set forth more of its understanding, its interpreted
opinion. Think. I beseech thee, Lord,
show me the wealth of your opinion. Lord, I truly, I want to know. What do you think? Lord, I want to know. Manifest to me the glorious revelation
in your goodness in the blessed Messiah. Moses knew, by faith,
he knew Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ had not
come into this world physically yet, obviously, but the Lord
Jesus Christ said in John 5.46, Moses wrote a name, Moses knew
Christ. Just like every believer right
now knows by faith the blessed Lord Jesus Christ, Moses knew
Christ, Abraham, even the Lord. Lord, show me your glory. Show me the way of your honor. My what a request. And based on the word that we
just saw, the Lord said, you open your mouth wide and I'll
fill it. I'll fill it with Christ. Gary and I was talking just a
minute ago. I'm talking about those little birds, what are
they going to eat? They're going to eat food. They're going to
eat sticks, trash, rags. They're going to eat food. The Lord feed my soul this morning. The Lord for this dying
creature right here. One that this tabernacle right
here. I know that this tabernacle is
going to die. And Lord, I'm going to die and
I'm disappointed until man wants to die in the judgment. Lord,
I'm going to stand before you. I know that. I know that. I'm
going to stand just like every man, every woman that's ever
been born in this world. We're all going to stand before
God. Lord, show me what you think. Lord, help me. Moses knew that there was one
that would manifest the glory of the Father. John 17, verse
4, the Lord says, I glorified thee on the earth, I finished
the work that thou gavest me to do. And Moses said, Lord,
show me of that. Show me the glory. In the book of Exodus, the glory
of the Lord obviously has been manifested in the redemption
of his people, the physical of a great deliverance out of
the plunge of sin. That's what we just talked about. Isaiah 44, 23, listen to this,
this is precious, listen. Sing, O ye heavens, for the Lord
hath done it. Shout ye, lower parts of the
earth, break forth into singing old forest, and every tree therein. For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob,
and glorified himself in Israel." I looked up that word glorified
right there. You know what it means? Explained.
He explained himself in Israel. I look around and
I see, I'm convinced, looking at some of God's event, We generate
sinners saved by the grace of God, and Almighty God in the
redemption of His people has explained Himself. And I look
at that, and I think, what wonder, what mercy, what compassion. Seeing the glory of God is that
which we view right now by faith. I know we know in part, but we
do know, and we do see. But we do, so I have more of
an understanding. I said before, Paul the Apostle
knew the Lord when he said this, O that I might know him. You
that know him, don't you want to know him. You that see him, don't you want
to see him. have heard his voice. Don't you
want to hear this morning? If all we did this morning just
in our duty. I want to hear today. Lord, show me your glory. The
glory of the Lord, according to Revelation 21-22, is the very
light of heaven. The glory of God. How do you
explain that? The glory of the Lord is the
light of heaven. Here's what he says, he says,
I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the
Lamb are the temple light. And the city had no need of the
sun, neither of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of the Lord
had lightened it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. I'll see you through a glass
door. Those that are yet spiritual
deaf don't see it also. I see a glimmer. Somebody say,
how much do you see? Well, admitting what I know,
I see little. But I want to see. But in that
day, the glory of the Lord is the light. What mercy does the Lord show
Moses, that needy sinner, in allowing him to even be able
to ask, that I want to see, that I want to look. Lord, show me Yourself today. Lord, don't let my little I'm struggling right now. That
old man says, well, why are you making such a big deal out of
this? You that know it know what I'm talking about. Why? Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock,
and it shall be opened unto you for every one that asketh, receive
it. He that seeketh, it to him that
knocketh, it shall be opened." Moses said, I beseech you, I
ask you, I pray you, this is what I want to know. Show me
your Lord. And the Lord's answer to Moses
was the perfect answer, the most revealing answer that he could
give. this blessed word of Jehovah. This is what he said. Verse 19,
I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim
the name of the Lord before thee. I will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious. I will show mercy on whom I will
show mercy. in the revealing of His glory,
to show Him, to see Him. Here was His answer, I will make
all of my goodness pass before Thee. I know that there is none good
but God. So to see His goodness, is to see His blessed Son as my life, my hope, my salvation,
my righteousness, my Lord, my God, my King, my Prophet. I will make all of my
goodness pass before Him, pass before Him. If I'm allowed by
faith to see with eyes made alive by Him. If I am allowed the privilege
to be able to see Him and look away from myself. Because when
I look inside, all is dark and wild with this. Show me your
penance. Show me your glory. I will make
all of my goodness Here is the sum of God's excellency,
the totality of His preciousness and wonder. He is all of it. He is all of it. The Lord Jesus Christ. He's everything. Show me your glory. I'll make
all my goodness pass before you that I might see. Romans 2, 4, O despiseth thou
the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and longsuffering,
not knowing that the goodness, the kindness of God leadeth thee
to repentance. It's Christ himself, by the blessed
Holy Spirit, that draws us in. Come unto me. That's what he
said. Come unto me. And the Spirit of God comes powerfully,
affectionately, makes that word. He draws his own, and gives them
a heart in the day of his power, and they come. Come to him. They've seen the goodness of
God pass before them. Seeing the glory of Almighty
God is to see all of His goodness. in Christ, in redeemed grace
and mercy. Passed before, and he said, I
will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee. I will cause
to meet before your eyes, the eyes of faith, I will cause you
to see the blessed name, the Word itself. cause you to cross paths. You
that I've ever lasted in my life, I'm going to cause you to see
my son in his character, in his honor, in his authority. I'm going to cause you to see
my goodness, all of my goodness, and I'll proclaim who he is. I mean, I'm not talking about
just knowing the name. As I said before, everybody knows
his name. But to be able to see him in
his character, in his honor, his glory. My glory is going to be shown
to you in quickening grace. I'm going to save you. Show me
your glory. I'm going to save you. I'll have
mercy on whom I'll have mercy. Compassion on whom I'll have
compassion. When he said, I will be gracious
to whom I will be gracious and show mercy on whom I'll show
mercy, I mentioned this a few weeks ago, but I want to bring
it up again. There's a difference, obviously.
If you say, well, the Lord said I'm going to be gracious and
I'm going to show mercy. You would say, well, aren't those
two about the same? They're not about the same? Well,
obviously it's not. The wonderful difference between
these two words, gracious and mercy, sets forth
the indescribable kindness of God toward a people that he has
chosen to show mercy to. God's going to save his people.
He's going to save everyone that He's chosen to show mercy to.
The Lord was gracious to national Israel, to the Hebrews. He chose
them to be His people. Who were the people of God? The
Jews. How about the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Habibites,
the Genesites? Were they the chosen people of
God? Were they? Who were they? Israel. Israel. God was gracious. I know that there's some out
of every nation, kindred, and tribe, and tongue, but that national
Israel. Gracious. He chose them to be
His people. He graciously delivered them
out of the bondage of Egypt. Graciously delivered them out
of Egypt. Moses in there, Moses from the
Lord's direction says, you let my people go. And the Lord did go. Gracious! He kept them, opened
the Red Sea, he fed them, gave them manna every day, every day,
every day, every day. Until they entered into Canaan,
ate manna, gave them water and drink out of the
rock. Gracious, gracious. The Lord's
graciousness is to show us favor. For time after time, they, as
we, Act in a disrespectful way, just like right now, just the
way we all did just right now. Just now. My mind was over here,
thought about that car, thought about what I got to do this afternoon,
tomorrow, what I did yesterday. Isn't that sad? And we all did
it. We're all guilty. How gracious
that Almighty God would show us Himself, call us out of darkness. The nation of Israel murmured
against the Lord, against His prophet, but here was mercy. He was gracious to them. Call
them, throw them out, keep them, but He was merciful in that He
didn't kill them. Every time they disrespected
Him. disobey Him. Oh, the mercy of God. That is
that blessed quality whereby God Almighty preserves those
who have sinned against Him. Think how many times we've sinned
against the Lord. That's what we dealt with last
week at Red Heifer. Think of the need He's not going
to leave us. He's not going to forsake us.
So what must He do? For me to be able to even pray,
for me to even by faith and prayerfully enter into the presence of Almighty
God, I cannot enter into Him. Tainted? What does He do? He
reminds me, I've washed you. I've paid for that sin. Robed
us in righteousness. Thanks be unto Him. that I could
call on Him and remember His mercy. Lord, thank You that You
didn't kill me. The first time that I rebelled
against Him, which would have been as soon as He called me
out of darkness. What did Adam do? How gracious
was the Lord in that garden. He took what God Almighty told
him not to do, the mercy of God. was the reason God didn't kill
him right then. Mercy. It's by the grace of God
that we've been everlastingly loved. Grace of God that we've
been chosen in Christ, redeemed by His precious blood and the
Spirit of God to call us out of darkness. It's by the grace
of God that He kept you right till this morning. And allowed
you to even be here. And allowed any of us to even
hear His Word. by the mercy of God, that we
all hadn't died sitting here listening to the gospel. We know what we are, O wretched
men that we are. Who shall deliver us from the
body of this death? Mercy, mercy. Lamentations 3.22,
it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed Because His
compassions fail not. Lord, thank you. Please don't
take it for granted. If God has sustained you again
today, by the grace of God, you're still breathing. In ourselves,
we deserve, no, no, no. All of us are rebels by nature. Thanks be unto Him that He's
put us in Christ. And for Christ's sake, let's
have mercy on us. Verse 20, And he said, Thou canst
not see my face, but there shall no man see me and live. Moses
had asked the Lord to show him his glory and redemption. Our
great Jehovah has been pleased to show us that he does that
very thing. But here he explains In that revelation, no man is
capable right now of the fullness of beholding what he's done in
the redemption of his people. Now you think about what you
see right now concerning redemption. Now you realize and remember
again, we see through a glass darkly. Do you think that we
would be able to sustain if we beheld the totality of what Almighty
God has everlastingly done, and to see it all right now, to behold
it right now, to actually see, to be able to enter in and to
behold. Listen, when the Lord Jesus Christ
on the Mount of Transfiguration, the Scripture says that His glory
did shine through, His garments were white as snow, It snowed
brighter than the noonday sun and they just saw a glimpse of
it, I think. Can you imagine being able to
behold the fullness of what Almighty God has done and who He is? What
He's done in the redemption of His people? Thou canst not see my face. You can't see my character. There
shall no man see me and live. The scripture sets forth that
He is the blessed and only Pope, King of kings, Lord of lords,
who only hath immortality dwelling in the light that no man can
approach unto, whom no man hath seen, nor can see. to whom the
honor and power everlasting. Amen. Can you imagine? Graciously, Moses said, show
me your glory. The Lord said, you can't look
on my face. You can't look. Man can't behold
the fullness, the thrice holy God, but Almighty God has graciously
provided a way that we can see. Verse 21-22, the Lord said, Behold,
there is a place by me, and I shall stand upon a rock, O blessed rock, and it shall
come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee
in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover thee with my hand while
I pass by. Here we are this morning. Here
we are. He put us in the rock. Standing in that place, by Him,
standing on His sure foundation. My hope is built on Jesus. Jesus' blood and His righteousness
like a rock. He is our rock. That rock that
followed the nation of Israel. That rock was Christ. And some
saw it. They drank spiritually from that
rock. Tell you what I'm going to do for you. You want to see
my glory? I'm going to hide you in Christ. That's where the people have
always been. I think all of us have been. Think of the mercy
of God that He told us about today. And He told you afresh,
and hidden in Christ, sheltered by the blood of His precious
cross, seeing our glorious redemption. Right now, I see something. I see my faith. I do see through
that glass darkly. I see in parts. I know in parts. But thanks be unto God that being
in Him, protected. Protected. And God passes by. And He's allowed some, some sitting
here today, to sit with me. Show me your glory. Some of you
sit on the gospel for years, and you saw, you've seen, You've
seen the glory of God pass by. Show me your glory. I'm going
to find you in a rock. Put my hand over you. You can't
sit before this. You can't take it. Keep sitting.
And I'm going to cause you to pass by and you've viewed it.
You've seen the sustained grace of God. Some of you have suffered
and lost loved ones. You've seen the grace of God.
Somebody who's seen God Almighty show mercy to you, your families,
you've seen the grace of God. He passed by. Isn't that precious? That's wonderful. He covered
Moses with His hand, showing His kindness, mercy to Moses. He died not and revealed Himself
as He veiled Himself. The Lord said that He would take
away I shall see my back parts, and
my face shall not be seen." You're going to see from behind
is what it means. You're going to have to see by
faith right now. You can't see my face, meaning
the fullness of my glory, right now. We have a knowledge,
and I understand, by the presence of sin and the frailty of this
flesh, we don't see as we would. There's coming a day when Almighty
God is going to release us from the bondage of this body and
this world. And this is what Scripture says.
We're going to see Him. As He is. We can't see Him in this flesh. We're going to have to be changed.
We're going to have to be changed. We cannot behold Him in this
mortal body. We're going to have to have a
spiritual body. But we're going to see. We're going to see. And
we're going to know. We're going to know. We're going
to know what He's done. Lord, show me Your glory. I'll
tell you, it is the glorious privilege of God's people, hidden
in the rock, covered with His hand, and to behold from behind,
by faith, to see something. It's something. Oh, how thankful
I am that the Lord has allowed me to see something. Lord, bless
this Word. for the glory of Christ and the
honor of his precious name and for the good of your people.