Moses 3 Fold Prayer

Q: What does the Bible say about grace?

The Bible teaches that grace is unmerited favor from God, leading to salvation and redemption through faith in Christ. In Scripture, grace is presented as a fundamental aspect of God's relationship with His people. Romans 11:5 tells us about a remnant chosen by grace, emphasizing that salvation is not based on human merit but is a divine gift. Ephesians 2:8-9 confirms this, stating that we are saved by grace through faith, and not of ourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. This grace is richly illustrated throughout the Bible, showing God's unchanging nature and His continual deliverance of His people, even when they are undeserving. Grace includes aspects such as calling, redeeming, and sustaining, all of which underscore God's initiative and faithfulness in salvation.

Q: How do we know election is true?

Election is affirmed in Scripture as God's sovereign choice of certain individuals for salvation to demonstrate His grace. The doctrine of election is a vital part of Reformed theology, underscoring God's sovereignty in the salvation of sinners. Romans 8:29-30 speaks of those whom God foreknew and predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, affirming that election is based on God's eternal purpose, not on human works or decisions. Ephesians 1:4-5 further emphasizes that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. These verses highlight that election reveals God's grace, as it demonstrates His initiative in choosing a people for Himself despite their sinful state. Furthermore, as seen in Exodus 33, God's choice of Israel reinforces the reality that His favor and presence are rooted in His sovereign grace.

Q: Why is God's presence important for Christians?

God's presence is essential for Christians as it assures us of His grace and distinguishes us as His people. In Exodus 33, Moses's plea for God's presence reveals its fundamental importance for believers. The assurance that God's presence is with us brings peace and strength, as demonstrated by David in Psalm 23, where he confidently states, 'for thou art with me.' God's presence signifies His favor and grace, separating His people from the rest of the world. In Christ, believers are brought near to God, experiencing His presence through the Holy Spirit. Thus, God’s presence is not only a source of comfort in trials but also indicates our identity as a people chosen and set apart for Him, reflecting His glory to the world.

Q: How does grace relate to salvation?

Grace is the foundation of salvation, as it is by grace that we are saved through faith, not by our works. The relationship between grace and salvation is central to Reformed theology. Ephesians 2:8-9 articulates that we are saved by grace through faith, which emphasizes that salvation is a gift from God, not a result of our actions. This concept aligns with the understanding of grace as unmerited favor, where God offers salvation freely to those who believe in Christ. Romans 3:23-24 further elucidates this by stating that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, yet are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Thus, grace not only initiates salvation but also assures believers of their standing with God through faith in Christ.

Turn with me to Exodus chapter 33. Exodus 33. I want us to look at a few of these verses of Scripture together this evening. Let's begin in verse 12. Exodus 33, verse 12. Moses said unto the Lord, see thou sayest unto me, bring up this 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 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 he said, my presence shall go with thee, and I'll give thee rest. And he said unto him, if thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence, For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Is it not that thou goest with us? So shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth?

And the Lord said unto 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. And then he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And he said, I'll make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and I'll be gracious to whom I'll be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

I want us to look, there's three requests here. Moses makes three requests to the Lord. In the first one, if you look in verse 13, Moses says, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way. If I have found grace in thy sight, You know it's grace, grace that chose us. We read in Scripture the election of grace.

Even so then at this present time there's also a remnant. God has a remnant of people according to the election of grace. It's God's grace that gave us to Christ before the world began. God has a people. and he's given them to his son. We read in the scripture of redeeming grace, redeeming grace. In Christ, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. Don't we love that word? Grace. It's amazing to think that there are many that hate it. They hate the idea of God's grace. They despise it. We read of calling grace.

Paul talked about that. He said, God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me called me by His grace. It's unchanging grace. Unchanging grace. It does not change. Almighty God is the God of unchanging grace. He said, I'm the Lord. Therefore I change not. I don't change. Therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Grace that calls us Grace that supplies every need. Isn't that what God told Paul? He said, my grace, what is it?

It's sufficient. It's sufficient. It's all we'll ever need. It's sufficient. I love the words of this hymn. I was thinking about this as we were singing, Grace, think of it, grace to the believer. It's a charming sound. It's harmonious to the ear. Heaven with the echo shall resound, and all the earth shall hear.

T'was grace that wrote my name in life's eternal book. T'was grace that gave me to the Lamb, who all my sorrows took. Aren't those beautiful words? Grace taught my soul to pray and made my eyes overflow. It was grace which kept me to this day and grace that will not let me go. Saved, saved by grace alone. That is our only plea, isn't it? Saved by grace.

And Moses says, Lord, if I have found grace, it's abounding, abounding grace. God's able to make all grace abound towards you, having all sufficiency in every work, in everything, saving grace. For by grace are you saved through faith. That not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.

Would any of us look back on our lives and say with any confidence that we, because of what we did or because of what we didn't do, that we would deserve salvation? or even look ahead to some great work that we might someday do and say, I deserve to be saved.

We're deserving of nothing but God's wrath, God's judgment. The wages of sin is death. Would we bargain with God? Would we set a price and say, I'll give you so many years of service, if you'll in return give me mercy." That's foolishness, isn't it? What does man have to offer God?

Scripture declares this, not by works. Not by works. not by works of righteousness which we've done, but according to his mercy he saved us. By grace are ye saved. Unmerited, unearned, undeserved, grace. He freely saves his people. Spurgeon wrote this, he said, if we serve him in the future, as we trust we shall, with all our heart, all of our soul, all of our strength, even then would we have no room for Glorion. Our best works are wrought by him, they're wrought in the Lord. What do we have? Just name one thing, what do we have that we did not receive? And if you received it, why would you boast about it? By grace are you saved. Moses says, if I found grace in thy sight, show me thy way, show me Show me your way. Solomon wrote in the Proverbs, he said, there's a way that seemeth right unto man.

The end thereof are the ways of death. That's a way that we know all too well, don't we? We don't need anybody to show us that way. Moses, this is his request. Show me, show me thy way. Lord, show me your way. Our Lord spoke in John 14, six. He was speaking to Thomas, and this is what he said. He said, I am the way. I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life, and no man can come to God but by me. Christ is the way. There is no other way.

And then he says this, consider that this nation is thy people. Think about the children of Israel. Truly, truly, God saves sinners. Aren't we thankful for that? You think about the children of Israel. They had time and time and time again sinned against God. And yet we read in scripture that they were a people chosen above all others to be His. Isn't that encouraging? He made a people for whom he made a covenant with. A covenant God, covenant people. A people he delivered. He delivered them time and time again. And he bestowed upon them much, much favor. And yet they were an idolatrous people. and unworthy people. They weren't fit to be called His people. Yet, they were. They were His people. Back to our text, Exodus 33. Here's a second request. Look at verse 15.

If thy presence Go not with me, carry us not up hence. Lord, if you be not with us, he actually says if you be not with me. If you be not with me, don't let me go. I can't think of a time when any one of these requests would not be an appropriate prayer. Is there any situation which we could cry unto God, Lord, if you go not with me, don't let me go? That could continually be our prayer, couldn't it? In Psalm 23, David, he spoke of the Lord's presence He said, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil. David, how can you say that?

What was the rest of that? For thou art with me. Nothing to fear. Not even death. Not if the Lord's with me. I love this portion of this song. John Newton wrote this. He said, prisons. Prisons would palaces prove. I don't think there's anything more discouraging, a worse place to be than a prison. He said, a prison would palaces prove if the Lord Jesus would be pleased to dwell with me there.

His presence. Isaiah prayed this. He said, oh, that thou wouldst rend the heavens, that thou wouldst come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence. His presence. It's an amazing thought. The Lord is everywhere. He's everywhere. He fills the heaven with His presence. He's omnipresent. He's everywhere, all the time. And yet the heavens, the highest heavens, cannot contain Him.

And with that being true, this is still Moses' prayer. Give me your presence. Give me your presence. Joseph. The story of Joseph. What a story that is. All those things that happen, think about all those things that we consider bad things. I mean, there's certainly things we wouldn't want to happen to us. I wouldn't want to be sold out by my brothers. I wouldn't want my death to be faked, put in a pit, sold into slavery, cast into prison. And yet, how many times do we read in Scripture these few words concerning Joseph?

The Lord was with him. with him. And where he is, where the Lord is, there is glory. And where he is not, the word Ichabod might as well just be written above the door. As the heart panteth after the water brook, so doth our spirit cry out for our God. even the living God. We must have His presence.

Listen, let me just read these words to you from Paul to the Ephesians. He said, Wherefore remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that at that time What an awful time that was. He said, at that time, you were without Christ. You were without Christ. Aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenant of promise, having no hope, and without God in this world. A time when you did not have His presence. And then he says this, but now, now, in Christ Jesus, you who were sometimes afar off are made nigh, made nigh by the blood of Christ.

That presence is the result of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, if thy presence go not with us, Lord if you're not going to go with me, don't let me go. And Moses says this, he said it's the Lord's presence, it's His presence that separates us from every other nation, every other people on this earth. His presence distinguishes us as His people, a particular people, a peculiar people. The presence of the Lord is the evidence of His grace in the hearts of His people. Again, it's what separates us, it's what distinguishes us from all the people in this world, God's people, from all the people in this world. Look at verse 16 of Exodus 33. Moses says, For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight?

Is it not that you go with us? So shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are on the face of the earth, Think of all those, just a few of them, that pillar of cloud by day. Nobody else had that, did they? A pillar of fire by night.

A special, peculiar people separated. He said, I and thy people, separated from all the people that are upon the face of the earth, That word separated can mean this, marvelously separated. Marvelously separated. The Lord's presence, it's what set Israel apart. It's what sets God's people apart from all others. Turn with me to Deuteronomy 7. Deuteronomy 7. Look at verse 6. Deuteronomy 7, verse 6. For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen thee. to be a special people to Himself above all the people that are on the face of the earth.

Why? Read on, it says, the Lord did not set His love upon you nor choose you because you were more in number than any people for you were the fewest. You were the fewest of all people. Why? Why did he choose his people? Read on. But because the Lord loved you. He loved you because he would keep the oath which he sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of the bondman from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

Well, quickly. Back to our text, back to Exodus 33. He says, if thy presence go not with us, don't let us go. And then he makes this last request, verse 18. Moses says, he says, show me thy glory. Think of all that Moses had seen. Think of the many just wonderful works. How many times he had saw the great display of Almighty God's power. If you look back in Exodus, Remember when God displayed his power when he sent those plagues upon the Egyptians?

And in doing so, he delivered. He delivered the children of Israel. When he sent those swarms of, just a few of them, remember, he sent those swarms of flies And those flies were all over the Egyptians. And yet scripture says this, he said, I'll sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, and there won't be any swarms of flies there. But thou mightest know I am the Lord. when God sent that plague of hell. And we could go through many of them, but the plague of hell destroyed all the crops. But we read this, only in the land of Goshen. What's special about Goshen? That's where the children of Israel, that's where God's people are. In the land of Goshen, there was no hell.

God sent three days of darkness. And we don't even know darkness. It was so dark that it says the people, God's word said the people couldn't see each other. It was so dark they couldn't even leave their house. Isn't that much the same in our day? The darkness that prevails in this earth, but not for God's people. We read here that, again, the people couldn't see each other, they couldn't leave their house for three days because of this darkness, but listen to this difference. In the houses of the children of Israel, what was there? Light. Light. And then that final plague. That final plague that just did it all. Remember that? The death of the firstborn.

Death in Egypt. We read a great cry went out through the land that there was none like it before. and none like it after. Death in the houses of Egypt. You know there was death in the houses of Israel too, but it was the death of the substitute. It was the death of a sacrifice. God said this, he said, when I see the blood, When I see the blood, I will pass over you.

The blood of a spotless lamb. The blood of an innocent lamb. That blood was shed. That blood was applied. Applied by faith. And everybody in that house was safe, secure, delivered. Moses witnessed the parting of the Red Sea. And he walked through on dry land. And then not only were they delivered through that, but they saw all their enemies destroyed. They drank water. Of all things, they drank water from a rock.

So many, so many things he saw. And this was his request. This is the thing that Moses asked for. Show me your glory. Men want to see miracles. Men want to see signs. They want to see healing. Moses saw all those things. And yet he had this request, show me, show me your glory. Are you still in Exodus 33? Look at 19. Our Lord replied and he said, I'll make all my goodness pass before thee. I'll proclaim the name of the Lord before thee. I'll be gracious to whom I'll be gracious, and I'll show mercy on whom I will show mercy. His redemptive glory. Who's mercy for? It's for the miserable, isn't it? Who's grace for? Grace is for the guilty.

The fallen are lifted up. The eyes of the blind, think about that. The eyes of the blind are open. God causes his people to see something they've never seen before. That deaf ear. that could not hear anything. By God's grace, it's open. He causes His people to hear. Those that are dead, spiritually dead, are raised up to life.

God's glory. I think Brother Henry wrote this. He said, the creative glory of God. And he said history records the providential glory of God. God said to Pharaoh, he said, for this same purpose have I raised you up that I might show my glory in you. And the cross, the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ reveals his redemptive glory.

Ephesians 2.7, that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace toward us in Christ Jesus.

Well, quickly, let's just read the rest of this chapter. Our Lord said, thou canst not see my face, for no man shall see me and live. And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock. Any question to who that rock is? That rock's Christ. Thou shalt stand upon a rock, and it shall come to pass while my glory passeth by. I'm going to put you in the cleft of that rock. and cover you.

Cover you there with my hand while I pass by and I'll take away my hand and thou shalt see my back parts, but my face shall not be seen." That's a model prayer, isn't it? Show me thy way. Oh Lord, if I found grace in thy sight, show me thy way. If thy presence, if thy presence go not with me, don't let me go. And show me. Reveal it to me. Make it plain to me. Show me thy glory. All right, Isaac, come lead us in a closing.

Moses 3 Fold Prayer

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about grace?

How do we know election is true?

Why is God's presence important for Christians?

How does grace relate to salvation?

Sermon Transcript

Comments

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Moses 3 Fold Prayer

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about grace?

How do we know election is true?

Why is God's presence important for Christians?

How does grace relate to salvation?

Sermon Transcript

Comments

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