Let us turn to God's Word in
that portion that we've just read and I want us to consider
in particular verse 18, Exodus chapter 33 and verse 18, and
here that is Moses said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. Exodus 33, 18 and he said, I
beseech thee, show me Thy glory, the prayer of Moses. We have many prayers of Moses
in this chapter and in the previous chapter. As I said, he is the
man who comes to mediate on behalf of the sinful children of Israel,
pleading for them in spite of their grievous sins and their
idolatry. Back in chapter 32 then. And
verse 11, Moses besought the Lord his God and said, Lord,
why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people which thou hast brought
forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty
hand? Now he pleads for them again
later in that same chapter. And verse 31, Moses returned
unto the Lord and said, All these people have sinned a great sin,
and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive
their sin, and if not, block me, I pray thee out of thy book
which thou hast written. He keeps on praying and pleading,
imploring God on the behalf of the people. And so, as we see
at the end of this 33rd chapter, And verse 12, Moses said unto
the Lord, See thou sayest unto me, Bring up these people, and
thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou
hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace
in my sight. Now therefore I pray thee, if
I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may
know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight, and consider that
this nation is thy people and yet again at verse 15 he says
to God if thy present go not with me carry us not up hence
and so forth he keeps on praying and besides these prayers in
exodus we have that prayer in the psalm psalm 90 remember is
a prayer of Moses the man of God Moses is a man then of prayers
a man who knows what it is to come before God, to seek the
face of God, to call upon God's name, and he does not call upon
God in vain. God hears his prayers and God
answers his prayers. And so turning, as I say, to
the particular request that we have here at verse 18, he says
to God, I beseech thee show me thy glory." And first of all
to consider this request. Now when we look at the words
of his prayer we recognize that there is a certain frailty and
a weakness in his prayer that is the observation that is made
by Dr. Gill for example. He says his
request is sincere and upright but attended with frailty and
weakness. And what is the weakness? Well,
he is asking to see the glory of God. He wants to see God.
He wants, as it were, to see the very face of God. We know
that a man's face is the glory of the man, because in the face
you see the full view of the man. and we recognize people
by their faces normally and so Moses is here really desiring
to see God but this is never to be as we read in the opening
chapter of John's gospel no man has seen God at any time The
only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, says
John, He has declared Him. But no man has seen God, no man
has seen bare dietary. We see God in the great mystery
of the incarnation, the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
is the image of the invisible God. But no man has seen God's
face. Moses never saw the face of God. How did he know God? Well, God
revealed himself in a verbal sense. This is how God reveals
himself to men, not in a visual appearance, but it is verbal,
the revelation that we have of God. And we see that here, do
we not? In verse 11, the Lord spake unto
Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. But the operative Words there
are those words that he spoke as a man speaker. It was a familiar
communication that Moses enjoyed. God spoke with him. God talked
with him out of the dark cloud, remember? When the tabernacle
was set up, he pitched it without the camp, and then we are told
how Moses entered into the tabernacle at verse 9 and the cloudy pillar
descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle and the Lord
talked with Moses there was the cloudy pillar there is no physical
sight of God he is hidden he is concealed in a sense he is
in the cloudy pillar and how is it that Moses knows that this
is God God comes and God speaks to him now it's true we have
that expression previously here how the Lord spoke unto Moses
face to face he was a man who was greatly favored in that sense
he had an intimacy of knowledge of God as we see from what we
read later in Deuteronomy chapter 34 and there at verse at verse 29
sorry verse 10 Deuteronomy chapter 34 and verse 10 we have mentioned again there
of the fact that Moses saw God's face to face. There arose not
a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses whom the Lord knew
face to face. What a remarkable experience.
All the other prophets who come after him of course look to Moses
and appeal to Moses. They appeal to the Lord and to
the testimony. They appeal to those things that
were given in these opening books of Scripture, the first five
books of the Bible. The books of Moses to the law
and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this law,
it is because there is no light in them. Moses is favoured then to know
God in this remarkable fashion. God talks to him, but God talks
to him face to face. Now what are we to make of that
expression, face to face? Well, all that Calvin says in
his commentary is that God appeared to Moses by an extraordinary
mode of revelation. That's as much as the Reformer
will acknowledge. He sees that it's not a reference
to Moses actually seeing the face of God, because no man can
see God's face and live. But it was obviously something
that was quite remarkable, something extraordinary, and the effect
of course upon Moses was that his own face did so shine. Here in verse 29 of chapter 34,
when he came down from Mount Sinai with the two tables of
testimony in Moses hand, when he came down from the mount,
Moses wished not that the skin of his face shone while he talked
with him. And when Aaron and all the children
of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and
they were afraid to come nigh unto him." It was something quite
remarkable then that Moses had experienced during those 40 days
and 40 nights when he was alone with God in the mount. But see
how it again emphasizes the verbal aspect of the revelation there
at the end of that 29th verse, while he talked with him, God
talked with him. It was a revelation by word that
Moses experienced the interesting thing is of course that it was
not only Moses but the children of Israel that God also spoke
with face to face in the recounting of the Ten Commandments when
they're on the borders of the promised land after the 40 years
of wilderness wanderings Remember how the Ten Commandments are
repeated in Deuteronomy chapter 5, and there in Deuteronomy chapter
5 and verse 4, Moses says, The Lord talked with you face to
face in the mount, out of the midst of the fire. Same expression
then used with regards to their experience. when God came upon
Mount Sinai and spoke the Ten Words, the Ten Commandments.
Remember how they were afraid at the voice of God and that's
why they desired that Moses should be the mediator. They wanted
Moses to go into the Mount alone and he does that of course for
those 40 days and 40 nights. They were so afraid when God
spoke how the Mount quaked. And what dread came upon the
children of Israel. But here Moses is reminding them
of the great favour that they knew. God actually talked with
you. Face to face he says. But we know for a fact that they
did not see God. Even there in the previous chapter. Chapter 4 and verse 15 of Deuteronomy. Take ye therefore good heed unto
yourselves for ye saw no manner of similitude. on the day that
the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire."
Clearly then, though God spake face to face, they didn't see
God. And I emphasize that. Moses does
not see God. It would not be possible to see
the full glory of God, to see the full face of God. And so he's wrong here to make
this request to desire that he might see some representation
of that glory that belongs unto God. Show me he wants to see
something, you say. I beseech thee, show me thy glory. But we know from the scripture
that God's children must walk by faith. and not by sight, not
to be those who are looking to see some remarkable sight, some
remarkable vision. We walk by faith. We walk as
those who are looking to the invisible God. Faith cometh by
hearing, not by vision. There is a certain frailty there,
a weakness in what Moses is saying in his prayer. But let us not
be too quick to judge the man. Surely we would have to acknowledge
there is much weakness mixed in all of our prayers. Our prayers
so often are intermingled with with sins. This is why we have
to plead all in the name of Christ. We cannot come before God as
those who are able to so order our cause that we don't say anything
foolish or sinful. We want God to wash our prayers
in that precious blood. We want God to cover our weaknesses
with the mantle of his forgiving love. We're not to be too swift
then to sit in judgment upon this man because we can discern
something of frailty in the manner in which he makes his requests.
There is also here in Moses a great deal of earnestness. All what
desire I beseech thee, he says. He wants to do business with
God. He wants to know God. And surely this is how we are
to come, we are to seek him with all our hearts. We're those who
desire that we might do business with the Almighty when we come
before Him with our prayers. We beg of Him, we beseech Him
to do certain things for us. Certainly Moses is here praying
in faith. Without faith, of course, it
is impossible to please God. For he that cometh to God must
believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of all them that
diligently seek him. What diligence, what perseverance
in his prayers as we've seen these chapters 32 and 33 can
contain so much of the prayers of this man at this time. How
he pleads and how he prays to the Almighty. The psalmist says
when thou seest seek in my face my heart said They face, Lord,
will I seek? He is seeking the face of God. And he is seeking God's face
in a very earnest fashion. God gives certain promises. Look at what God says to him
in verse 14, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give
thee rest. And what does Moses do when God
makes that promise? My presence shall go with them.
verse 15 he said unto him if thy presence go not with me carry
us not up hence he turns the promise into a prayer he's not
doubting God but he's pleading what God has said he wants to
know the reality of that and God grants his request God grants
his request In what he says here at verse 17, the Lord says to
Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken, for thou
hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. God will go with him. God assures
him of that. So what does Moses do? In our
text, verse 18, he prays again. He said, I beseech thee, show
me thy glory. As Moses speaks to God and God
answers him, why Moses comes again? He keeps on continually
pressing home the promises of God, praying over the promises
of God. As the old Puritan says, he is
thickening his prayers with the promise of God. We just sang
those words of John Newton, the best returns for one like me
so wretched and so poor is from his gifts to draw a ploy and
ask him still for more the more that God grants us. Surely it
should embolden us to ask more of God. Now what does Moses pray? He says, show me. And literally,
the Hebrew is, cause me to see. Cause me to see thy glory. He wants God to cause him to
see something of the wonder of all that God is. There might
be weakness there. Oh, but what a desire! He cannot
of himself, you see, do anything. God must cause him to see these
things. The Lord Jesus says, No man knoweth
the Son but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father save
the Son. And he to whomsoever the Son
will reveal Him. He to whomsoever the Son will
reveal Him. The verb to will there, it's
the strongest of the two Greek verbs that could be used. There
are two verbs, one weaker, one stronger. It's the stronger verb.
He to whomsoever the sun willeth to reveal him. Oh, it's what
the sun wills. God must be the one then who
comes and reveals himself, shows himself to us. grants us such
a revelation. Remember how Philip speaks to
the Lord Jesus in the Gospel, there in the 14th chapter of John, verse 8, Philip says to the Lord,
show us the Father and it suffices us. Jesus said unto him, have
I been so long time with you? And yet hast thou not known me,
Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father, and thou
sayest thou then, show us the Father. It is in the Lord Jesus
Christ, it is only in the Lord Jesus Christ that we can come
to see God or know anything savingly of God. The only begotten Son
which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. And so when we come we should
make this our plea, surely we should ask God to cause us to
see these things, to open our eyes, that we might see these
wondrous things that are contained in His Word. Firstly then the
request that Moses is making here in his prayer, in his petition,
I beseech thee Show me thy glory. In the second place, he does
not pray in vain. What is the point of prayer if
God doesn't hear us? And if God hears us, surely God
will answer us. He is a prayer-hearing God. That
means he will answer the prayers of his people. And he answers
this prayer. Moses prays that God would show
him his glory. But God says, I will make all
my goodness pass before thee. Moses speaks of glory, God speaks
of goodness and surely in this we see that God does exceeding
abundantly above all that we ask or think. Matthew Henry is
worth quoting, he says, we know God more by the glory of his
mercy than by the glory of his majesty. Oh, is Moses asking
to see something of the glorious majesty that belongs to God?
Does he want to see the face of God, the fullness of that
glory? Well, when God answers, he doesn't
speak of majesty. The Lord said unto Moses, 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." See what he does. What name does he proclaim? He
proclaims the name of the Lord. He proclaims the name of the
Lord before the very face of Moses. And Lord, as you see,
is in capital letters, indicative that this is the covenant name.
This is the God of the covenant. This is the God who had given
promise to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob. This is the God who had appeared
to Moses at the burning bush and declared, I am that I am.
The one who had determined that he would deliver the children
of Israel. It's the covenant name. and all
that that entails of God's goodness and His grace and the certainty of His purpose
of grace. He says, I will be gracious to whom I will
be gracious and will show mercy to whom I will show mercy. Now God had been angry with the
children of Israel. God had been ready to disinherit
them, to cast them off, to destroy them, and to take Moses and to
make of Moses a people. But observe what God doesn't
say. He doesn't say, I will be angry with whom I will be angry. Oh, God is angry. As I say, He
was angry with them. But God's wrath is always a holy
wrath and a just wrath, we might have to recognise, we do have
to recognise in scripture, the terrible doctrine of reprobation.
But let us not lose sight of this, that the first part of
reprobation is what is called preterition, which literally
means passing by. That's all preterition means. It means God passes over. He
makes choice of one, and He passes over another. And when he passes
over, what does he do? Well, subsequently he will condemn
them. But condemn them for their sin. He condemns them for their sin.
Look at what he says here in verse 7 of the next chapter.
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 to the fourth generation. When God
deals with the reprobates and condemns them, it is because
of their sins, their guilt, and they are worthy then of condemnation. And it's interesting, is it not,
that what we have here in the answer that God gives to Moses
in verse 19 is the very scripture that the Apostle takes up in
the ninth chapter of Romans when he's dealing with the great subject
of God's election and God's predestination of his people to glory. Paul quotes from Exodus 33 there
at verse 15 In Romans 9, look at the context,
it is written, verse 13, we're told, it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he said to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. With regards to the wrath of
God and the way in which God visits that wrath upon the non-elect,
he punishes them because he's passed over them and as he passes
over them they are left in their sins and he condemns them because
of their sin. But His mercy, you see, here's
the difference, His mercy is always free and always sovereign. There's nothing in the object
of mercy that causes God to have that mercy. If grace is grace,
it is unmerited favour. There's nothing in the object
of grace that merits grace, otherwise it wouldn't be grace. But it
is a very important distinction that we seek to make between
the elect and the reprobate God's mercy is always sovereign mercy
but he always deals with the non-elect in terms of the strictest
justice but he answers Moses and he answers
him by declaring that he will cause Moses to see something
of his goodness. Now, what is that goodness? Well,
in the third place, we have here the prayer of Moses, the request
that he makes, the reply that God begins to give in verse 19,
and then we have this wonderful revelation of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the rock, whereby Moses is able to see something of the
glorious goodness of God. 21 The LORD said, Behold, there
is a place by me, and they shall stand upon a rock, and it shall
come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee
in a cliff of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while
I pass by, and I will take away mine hand, and they shall see
my back parts, but my face shall not be seen. Now that still at
Horeb, remember. This is the place where God had
brought them. Mount Sinai was one of the principal mountains
in that range of mountains known as Horeb. And it was there that
God had entered into covenant with them. They are still there.
Verse 6, the children of Israel stick themselves of their ornaments
by the Mount Horeb. These are the ornaments that
they were wearing when they had gone after the golden calf. They
are still at Horeb. We go back, right back to chapter
17 here, and there in verses 5 and 6. Look at what God says to Moses,
this is where Moses smites the rock to supply the water. Verse 5 of chapter 17, the Lord
says to Moses, Go on before the people and take with thee of
the elders of Israel and thy rod wherewith thou smotest the
river, take in thine hand and go on. Behold, I will stand before
thee there upon the rock in Horeb, and thou shalt smite the rock,
and there shall come water out of it that the people may drink.
And Moses did so in the sight of the children of Israel. He is to smite the rock, you
see, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb,
and thou shalt smite the rock. And that's what Moses did then,
and water was supplied. And we're told, are we not, in
the New Testament, we always come to the New Testament in
order to understand these things that in the Old Testament oft
times appear so dark to us. We're told by Paul in 1 Corinthians
10 and verse 4 that that rock was Christ. All that rock that was smitten
by the rod of Moses and the water flowed out, that rock was Christ. And of course, the great sin
of Moses, whereby he was prevented from entering into the land of
promise, had to do with that rock on another occasion in the
book of Numbers Numbers chapter 20 verse 7 when
the Lord spoke unto Moses again take the rod gather thou the
assembly together thou and Aaron thy brother and speak unto the
rock before their eyes and it shall give forth his water it
had done so previously And thou shalt bring forth to them water
out of the rock, so thou shalt give the congregation their bleached
drink. And Moses took the rod from before
the Lord as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered
the congregation together before the rock. And he said unto them,
Here now, ye rebels, must we fetch you water out of this rock?
And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the
rod twice. And the water came out abundantly,
and the congregation drank, and their beasts also." There is
a provision then of water again, but what do we read in the next
verse, verse 12? The Lord spoke unto Moses and
Aaron, Because ye believe me not, to sanctify me in the eyes
of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation
into the land which I have given them. Because he believed not
me to sanctify me. What did Moses do that was wrong?
The rock had been smitten, but he will smite the rock again,
and he was not commanded to do that. If this rock is Christ,
the Lord is smitten but wants you, sir. What did the Lord command
him to do? He said, take the rod, and gathered
the assembly together with Aaron but he said speak unto the rock
speak unto the rock that Moses lifted up his hand with his rod
and smote the rock and that rock that rock was Christ and it's
that rock that we have here when God says behold there is a place
by me and thou shalt stand upon a rock other foundation can no
man lay than that which is lay which is Christ Jesus, the Lord. And see what God says here in
verse 21. There is a place by man. There
is equality here between God and the rock. The rock is Christ
and the Lord Jesus Christ, of course, is God. He is the only
begotten of the Father, the eternal Son of God. And He is that One
who is always by God. We can only know God. We can
only know God in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, the image
of the invisible God. Remember, no man has seen God
at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. He declares
Him. The revelation that God gives
us is a verbal revelation. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, we are told in John's Gospel, and we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. This is how God is pleased to
make Himself known to men by His Word. Christ is the Word
incarnate, the Bible is the Word inscripturated, and we search
it, and we should ransack it that we might find in it the
Lord Jesus Christ. It's the only way we can know
God. We cannot know Him apart from that revelation that He
is pleased to give us in and through the Mediator, the Man,
Christ Jesus. Isaac Watts says, Till God in
human flesh I see my thoughts no comfort find, the holy, just,
and sacred three are terrors to my mind. All God is a consuming
fire, is He not? And here is Moses, you see, and
he must hide in that cleft of the rock. And he does so. Moses was there, of course, on
another mount. He was there in the Mount of
Transfiguration, together with Elijah, and Moses and Elijah
spoke with Christ, as those three disciples can testify and do
testify. And what did they speak of? They
spoke of his decease. which he would accomplish at
Jerusalem. We use Moses as he is in Christ. Moses is saved. We associate law with Moses. The law was given by Moses grace
and truth came by Jesus Christ. But Moses is saved by the grace
of God. Moses is in Christ. And let us
not forget that whilst in the books of Moses we have this fearful
revelation of God in his holiness and righteousness and justice
in the law, but we also have the gospel. In all the types
and figures of the book of Leviticus, Moses is in the Lord Jesus Christ,
shouted in that cleft of the rock. And what does he see? He
sees the goodness of God. God's glory pass by, he says,
and I will put thee in a cliff of the rock, and will cover thee
with my hand while I pass by, and I will take away mine hand,
and they shall see my back parts. But my face shall not be seen."
He only sees the back part, and surely that's all we're able
to see, for now we see through a glass, dark one. But then,
face to face, when he shall appear, We shall be like him, says John,
for we shall see him as he is. Oh, what a remarkable answer
it is that God gives in to the prayer of Moses here in our text
tonight. He said, I beseech thee, show
me thy glory. And Moses is put in the Lord
Jesus Christ, put in that cleft of the rock, there hiding himself. In that cleft of the rock he
sees the glory of God in the gospel. Well the Lord help us
to come and learn of this man and pray as this man prayed to
be earnest in our seeking, beseeching God, pressing home upon God all
those exceeding great and precious promises that we find contained
in his word. that we might be those who know
what it is to wrestle, as Jacob wrestled, and to become those
who are the blessed Israel of God. Father Lord, bless this
word to us. Let us, before we pray, worship God in the singing of
the hymn 943, And the tune is Mansa 364. Hymn 943. The God of grace delights
to hear the plaintive cry, the humble prayer, nor shall the
weakest saint complain that he has sought the Lord in vain. 944. you The God of grace delights
to hear the plaintive cry, the humble prayer. Nor shall the weakest saint complain
that he has sought the Lord in vain. With power to Jacob's seed he
speaks His word the heart asunder breaks While grace the rage of
sin controls, And the repentant melts their souls. Seeking my faith, Jehovah cries,
With joy the contrite heart replies, Thy face I seek with power distant,
from every foe my soul defends. A pleading Christ is all they
plead And all that guilty sinners need In His dear name their fervent
cries Before the Lord like incense rise Well the Lord help us now as
we turn to him in prayer. Let's remember the ministry on
the coming Lord's Day. I don't know where our brethren
are. Where are you Cliff? I'm at Bournemouth. You're at Bournemouth.
That's morning and afternoon. You away Andrew? Shoreham. At
Shoreham. So let's remember Cliff and Andrew
Bournemouth and Shoreham on the coming Lord's Day. Are there any other matters that
we should be aware of as we come to God with prayer? It's good to have Richard with
us tonight. May the Lord help us. Who's Betty?
How is she? She's not up tonight. She's not so good. She was out
twice on the Lord's Day, but she has better days and worse
days, does she? We continue to pray for Betty.
How's your sister, Jill? She was well while she was here,
wasn't she? Well, let's pray and remember
Pam as well. Would you lead us please, Cliff? Oh Lord, our God, our Father
in Heaven, we thank Thee for Thy Word, we thank Thee for Thou
dost speak and O Lord thou dost manifest thyself to us we thank
thee for the inscripturated word and we thank thee that the holy
scriptures reveal unto us him who is the living word who is
thine eternally begotten son and Lord we do plead the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ only We do come before Thee acknowledging
and confessing our sins, for alas, in many things we offend
all. And O Lord, we do pray that we
might know that sprinkling of the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ
in heart and in conscience. We do thank Thee for that blood O Lord we do thank Thee for that
blood that speaks and how it speaks peace to our consciences
we do thank Thee for that which Christ has done and Lord we thank
Thee for Him who is the rock even the rock of our salvation
and O Lord we do thank Thee for Him who is the refuge of our
souls oh Lord we do thank Thee then knowing Christ we do know
Thee and we see Thy glory in the face of Jesus Christ oh Lord
we do thank Thee for Him as the expression of Thee Father's glory
and Lord we do pray that Thou wouldst grant us that sight of
him by faith more and more O Lord we pray that we might daily commune
with him O Lord we think of how Moses'
face shone when he spoke with me face to face and oh Lord we
pray that our faces might be lightened as we look unto Thee
as it is written in Thy Word oh we do pray that we might be
granted Thy grace oh that Thou would show us Thy glory that
we might behold Thy Son that we might behold Him more and
more that our faith might increase Lord we do pray for one another
that thou wouldst bless us each bless us out of Zion we pray
thee bless us in the fellowship of the saints and under the ministry
of the word we pray that thou wouldst speak to each of our
hearts Lord we pray thee one of old be not silent to me Lord we pray that thou wouldst
speak to our hearts leave us not to ourselves but ever lead
us and guide us in thy truth we pray thee do you remember
mrs matronola we commend her to thee and pray that thou wouldst
bless her and strengthen her oh lord we pray that thou wouldst
bring her through this presence of trial and grant her a measure
of health and strength we do pray that thou dost remember
jill's sister pan we do pray that thou dost have mercy on
her oh lord we pray that she might be delivered of the cancer
we do pray thou dost grant her health and body but lord more
than this we pray that she might know the saving health of the
gospel and thou dost bless her in her soul so we commend her
to thee to help Lord we beseech thee in the ministry of the word
this coming Lord's Day help thy servants here and at Hedge End
also do bless the churches increase us Lord we pray thee with men
like a flock do remember the saints at Shoreham and Lord we
pray that those remember the fewest or most few oh lord remember
mr randles we pray thee we commend him to thee and pray that thou
would strengthen him and grant him encouragement we pray that
there might be gracious additions to the church there oh lord remember
that cause we pray thee in their lowest to bless them we beseech
them, hear these our prayers according to thy mercy for we
ask these things in and through thee, O Lord worthy name of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. Richard please. Lord Father God we do thank thee for the ministry here, for us
people this evening, for feeding us all, and our souls. Please continue to give us that
spirit whereby we might be seen by words more than our necessary
food. Oh God, we say it again, we thank
Thee for Thy words to us and that we We can hear from Thee,
face to face, and look into Thy Word and see, as it were, even
the face of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we can see whether we are
conformed to His image, whether we are conformed to the world.
We might cry out to Thee for repentance, and we do. Please
conform us to His image. walk and be more like Him and
see ourselves and our names crucified Lord we have nothing to glory
in ourselves all our glory is in Him and so we thank Thee Lord we ask that Thou would preserve
Thy Word and defend even the authorised version of the Scriptures
will go in these terrible times where it is attacked the Jesuits would call this our
paper pope and they would burn him but Lord it is them, it is the
world that has a paper pope and that will burn my wife will endure
forever and the answer that might even shine forth in this land,
even in this city Lord yet for thy glory Lord God we pray for
brothers and sisters in the chapels that we are associated with and
everywhere Lord even we pray for those who are believing and
yet have not professed the Lord Jesus Christ in the ordinance
of baptism or their appraisal with us, please. Our brothers
and sisters wouldn't start with a food house, but that they would
be glory in the Lord Jesus Christ
and not ashamed, not afraid to lift up His banner and to claim
Him as their King and to declare their faith openly to all and
to fight. We're soldiers here. We are the
church militant, as the Puritan said, and we must fight. And
they're not worthy to fight for. We ask, please Lord, grants all
assurance that's needed to all fatherless and sisters. Lord,
we think of folks in this very city who are not well fed, in
chapels where they are, not taught the truth, and they are taught
a false gospel. And we ask that all of the Lord
Jesus Christ should be brought out from that. and even brought
here brought to the truth and read in sound doctrine and for those who don't know
me we've heard the rain tonight and we have a lot of sense on
the just and on the unjust and there's no-one in this city that
deserves it and we ask even that there might be a pouring out
of Thy Spirit upon all of those with ears to hear, that souls
might be saved. Lord we pray again, please do
send young men into our chapels, who are sound in doctrine, who
love the insincerity, Lord we pray for our Queen and
Government again we pray that there would be even if it is
rejected by the people we pray at least that there would be
those in authority who would declare that Thou art the King
the King of Kings and they would recognise Thee as the only true
Potentate Lord, we pray for those with
ill health, we thank you for our brothers and sisters here,
we thank you that Sarah is here with us and we ask you to protect
her and give her the gift of martyrdom, we pray for her peace
here as well Lord, we ask peace here from every spiritual blessing. please help Eugene at all times
Lord for the comforts both him and Mrs Machinola please help
Mrs Machinola lift her up in her soul lift her head up even
to the Lord please bless Andy and Cliff and Pastor Sam in their
meditations please help them and please bless the heroes as
well Lord for the things that help we'll give them to say Lord please forgive us for all
that we forget to pray for we're so slow to pray and so please
do help us as we pray in secret for one another and please reward
us openly Lord God as thou hast promised we ask that thou would
help us to continue in prayer now In the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ, in his name alone, we ask. Amen. Mark him please. We do worship thee, our great and holy
God, we We thank Thee for all that is
in Thy Word. We thank Thee that we do not seek Thy faith in vain. Sometimes we feel we are rather
like Philip. We feel our weakness. We thank
Thee, Lord, that He asked that question. We thank Thee for the
answer. If we have seen Christ by faith, then surely we have
seen a Father. See not that expressing image
of God. And surely we see God in the
face of Jesus Christ. We know that in Him we can have
treasure in earthen vessels. We can know that love of God
shed abroad in our hearts. So we thank the Lord that our
life is a life of faith. We walk by faith and not by sight. the challenge we all face. It's
the challenge ultimately that Moses faced. So we thank you
Lord, that any among us know thee not, or that they might
be encouraged to look to Jesus, to look and live. There are any
who feel their spiritual need, they might turn to him. As we
must all do, we must come to Christ for all our needs. We
must cast all our care upon him for he cares for us and we do
pray for our land what a need there is Lord yes there is abundance
of rain we thought there was a drought now we have we're awash
with water abundance of rain but oh the land is dry truly
the land is thirsty spiritually almost dead Lord it's almost
as a desert here oh they'll pour out of thy spirit abundantly,
we do ask in this day, yet raise up again a testimony to the glorious
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We think of those who rule over
us, we think of how their face is set against thee and thy word.
Have not the politicians set their face against thy day? Is this not a creation ordinance?
to destroy it and the principle behind it and the necessity of
it and alas in our day the face is against marriage all the leading
politicians are against marriage this again is a creation ordinance
and it speaks to us lord of that correct relationship between
men and women sexual morality and they set this aside as though
it's nothing wickedness what evils it has unleashed in our
land we must pray lord yet that these things might be changed
or they will raise up yet better men to rule over us for these
things are worthless lord for all the fine words about family
we see alas nothing we see not rather the raising up of that
which was in Sodom and Gomorrah which is an abomination to thee
such is the land we live in strengthen us lord We see on every hand
people attacked who hold Christian views, they lose their jobs,
they lose their businesses. We pray that we might remain
strong in the Lord, standing firmly on my truth and on my
word because we will be severely tested in these days. There are
forces of evil, satanic forces and they will test and try all
who oppose the atheism, the humanism, the evil that is in our land. But we thank them that we can
stand in Christ. He who has overcome all these
things is the victory sign. It is the only walk that there
can be to walk in Christ. So reveal thyself we pray to
each of us. Encourage us each in our souls
we do ask. Bless the ministry here we do
ask. Week by week and as Richard has
prayed we will long to see others added to us, desiring to hear
thy truth, desiring to go on faithfully in thy word. Will
thou do this, we pray, and help the brethren as they go forth,
even this weekend. Lord, we pray, own thy word. Will it prove powerful in souls,
we ask, as we come in Jesus' name. Amen. Lord we would come before thee
this evening again and as has been said we have been reminded
that we are subject to thy power the rain has come in force and
it appears has abated for a time but are we not at thy mercy men
speak as though they have the answer to everything when one
puff of wind can reduce a man to nothing oh the foolishness
of the human heart the foolishness of our own hearts which is at
its best stayed and died with sin may we realise, continue
that our only hope is in the gospel and is in thy free favour
that we've heard tonight sovereign mercy which is large and free
are not these the constant themes upon our lips are they not what we desire to
hear Or do grant us, Lord, discriminating ministry? Do grant us, Lord,
that which separates? Do grant us that which lays forth
the experience of Christ in reality? We need the Lord. We are so inconsistent, one moment,
that we are up the next we are down we are subject to the frailties
of our human nature so Lord grant us the peace of Christ who grant
us the truth for we know the truth does set us free and if
we are in the truth we are free indeed so we would be thankful for all
thou dost do for us may we not wallow in self-pity we have to
confess we think too much about ourselves
may we think upon the wonders that we have even that cornice
which is true count our blessings name them one by one and it will
surprise us what the Lord hath done how forgetful we are may
we be mindful people may we be a grateful people and may we
praise thee for who thou art for thou art God and thou art
worthy of every praise as the Psalmist said let everything
that hath breath praise the Lord and even if we were to fulfil
this we have to realize we would only be paying that which we
owe oh how far the gospel has gone much further than that and
much further than we can ask or even think do grant liberty
more for the brethren as they go on on the Lord's day we think
of others whom we know and whom we love for the truth's sake
think particularly those in affliction's pathway do undertake do grant
that peace which passeth all understanding do grant us lord
from the master's table as we go on week by week that we would
receive something real from thee and that we may know that we
have met with thee save us from deadness and dryness and remove
our hearts of stone give us hearts of flesh we beseech thee we ask
these things with the forgiveness of every sin For Jesus' sake,
Amen. Peter, please. Almighty God and our Heavenly
Father, we do pray that we might know that help of Thy Spirit
as we continue before Thee, that we might each know that grace
to come with humility, that we might know that true spirit of
worship as we come before Thee, as we approach Thee, the Almighty
King of Kings. Help us, O Lord, to realise Thy
greatness and Thy majesty, so that we might not come in any
spirit of pride or any spirit of arrogance, We pray that we
might realise what we are before thee, and what we have been,
and what we deserve, that we might come with that plea for
mercy, and that we might come in Jesus' name, not in word only,
but in our souls and in our hearts. We thank Thee, O Lord, that we
have this ordinance of prayer, that Thou hast made this way
whereby sinners can come unto Thee and can speak to Thee. Lord,
what a great privilege we would esteem it to have the ear of
our Queen, and how much greater to have the ear of the Almighty
God, who is over all things. We pray, O Lord, that we might
ever realise what a great privilege this is, that we might not use
it lightly or indifferently, that we might not come before
Thee carelessly or thoughtlessly, but that whenever we come there
might be that reverence, that realisation of what we are doing,
that we might come carefully, and yet grant, O Lord, that we
might be given that liberty as we come before Thee in prayer,
that we might not be bound up with the spirit of bondage, that
fear that has torment, but that we might know that fear of the
Lord that is the beginning of wisdom, even that fear that We
ought to have of Thee as our Heavenly Father, as that One
who is able to do all things above that we can ask or even
think. Help us, O Lord, to come before Thee with that confidence
that Thou art able to do all that we ask, that Thou art able
to do even those things that we do not ask. Help us then to
come with submission to Thy will. Lord, we look around us today
and there is much to cast us down. We look at the affairs
of this nation, those in authority over us, the ignorance of Thee
that is so widespread, the hatred of Thee, of Thy Word. And we
pray, O Lord, that as we look at these things we might feel
only pity for those around us who know Thee not, that we might
not be judgmental, that we might not think of ourselves as better
than those that we meet day by day. But Thou knowest, Lord,
except for Thy grace we would all be filled in Thy grace. Help
us then to pray for the good of those around us and help us
to seek their real good. And Lord we pray that as we see
these down-heartening things and the affairs of this nation
as it turns further and further from Thee, help us to realise
and to know and to understand that the Lord God still omnipotent
reigneth, that there is a God in heaven, that all these things
are in thy hands. Have there not been times in
the history of this nation, O Lord, when there has been so little
real religion, when there has been so little real preaching,
when there has been such widespread ignorance and darkness? And yet,
Lord, we look back to those times of revival that have come to
this land in times past, And we see that through the work
of just a few men, thou canst spread thy gospel far and wide
throughout this land. Help us, O Lord, and grant us
that faith to believe that thou canst do it again. And grant
that this might be our prayer, not to make our lives easier
or more comfortable, but that thy name might be glorified and
uplifted, that sinners might be converted, that thy church
might increase, and that there might be that coming together
to praise and to worship thee, the Almighty God. Help us ever,
Lord, to seek first thy kingdom and thy righteousness, and help
us to pray for thy glory above everything else, and that we
might have this as our chief desire. We thank thee, O Lord,
for the privilege of meeting here tonight, and we pray that
the words that we have heard might remain with us, that there
might be food for our souls for many days, that they might return
to our minds, that we might meditate upon them, and that we might
learn from those things that we hear in thy house. Do bless
all thy people wherever they meet tonight, and do grant that
prosperity, thy blessing upon the preached word. that it might
be for Thy glory and for Thy people's good, and do help us
now to continue in prayer, and in praise, and in thanksgiving,
and forgive us now for all our sins, and especially the sins
of these our prayers. For Jesus' sake. Amen. Eugene, please. Gracious, holy, and heavenly
Father, I thank Thee for the prayers of
the brethren, and pray Thy blessings upon each one. Let me think of
our nation, Lord. Our brother has saved our nation,
having many years passed with such a nation to be proud of,
a nation where men would stand forth, praying, wherever, to
be taken, to be slaughtered by evil men. The Lord would have
gone past at that stage. So we ask of The Heavenly Father,
would that they would bring us again to a knowledge of that
wondrous truth. Lord, one of the blessings of
age is that one can remember school starting with the assembly,
the assembly under the Word of God. Would it ever happen yet
again that the young should hear the Gospel? from their youth,
from their very youngest ages that the parents would know that
it is in this that they live and move and that they blame
so we ask Heavenly Father to look upon a nation lost in wickedness
and sin lost in all that is evil and knowing one who gave himself
for ransom for many So Heavenly Father we pray for the young,
we pray for those starting age of school and those that are
getting on with studies, university, college and these things that
today seem to be so prominent in the hearts of the nation. Lord would that they would have
the heart to look to Thee. So Heavenly Father look upon
the young of this land the young of all nations, that they should
look to Thee. For heavenly Lord God Almighty,
Thou that gavest Thine only Son a ransom for many, would that
in this day, in this land, there would again be those seeking
the truth. Heavenly Father, look upon those
of Thy people that a congregation like ours, where there is those
that would preach the gospel from Lord, what a loving family
it is when we know that we can speak to a brother and say, do
you know that Jesus Christ loved you and gave himself for you? Oh yes Lord, we know these things
and it will be that that keeps us as that family of God and
that desired walk of faith from the very youngest, even to myself,
may it be heavenly Father, that we are one in Christ Jesus. Lord, we thank you, we pray thy
blessings on the pastor, we are privileged to have a pastor that
will preach that gospel. We have deacons, we have a brother
that in like manner will preach the gospel. And so Heavenly Father,
bless them each one. Bless the families of them. We
think of Ruth, her way of work, her salary, her working. Lord, the job that they do is
a job that I'm sure that thy holy word will uphold, giving
help and strength to those in need. So bless these two dear
ones. Bless others, Lord. We think
of Mrs. Metro, again, a dear lady in
need of thy loving arms, that loving strength. We think of
our Lord as we think of our sister, Joy Hemming, and ask again thy
blessings upon her, upon her condition. We ask thy blessings
upon Pastor Randalls and Pastor Miller. It is men that will uphold
thy gospel of truth, bless them Lord, in their health may they
know thy presence. And Lord, that as the years go
by we begin to realise, O Heavenly Father, but for the grace of
thy only Son, where will we be today? but looking unto hell
instead of by thy grace looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith. So, Lord, bless thy church, whatever
it may be, whatever nationality or tongue, for, Lord, thou hast
said there is one church, one Saviour in Jesus Christ, one
God in Father, Son and Holy Spirit. So, bless thy church, get thee
glory, Lord, forgive all that has been said, or even all that
has been thought and missed, and grant us that peace of knowing
thy presence. For what is man, that they should
be mindful of thee. For the Son of Man, that they
should visit us in. Lord we thank Thee that here
this night Thou didst visit with us as we have come before the
throne of grace looking unto Jesus again the author and finisher
of our faith so give Thee glory we ask in Jesus' name and for
His sake. Amen.