Turn back with me now to our
text in Exodus 33. Our Lord said to the Jews who
questioned His person and work, they said, we know thee. We know
your mother, your father, your sisters. They questioned his right to
minister to men in God's name because he did not come up through
their ranks. He didn't attend their schools. And they questioned his right
to minister, and especially they questioned his claim to be the
Christ. And he said to these men who
questioned him, He said, for had you believed Moses, you would
have believed me. For Moses wrote of me. But if you believe not his writings,
how shall you believe my word? Now, I said this because I want
you to know that these things that we're studying here in Exodus
are not unconnected with the faith of God's elect. Our Lord
personally sold that book of Exodus and Genesis and those
writings of Moses right to the faith of God's elect as he spoke
to those Jews in John chapter 6, or John chapter 5, I'm sorry.
These things are timeless and they're very pertinent and they
have a very pertinent application to us. Paul wrote to the church
at Rome, and he said, for whatsoever things were written aforetime
were written for our learning. That's why they're written. There'd
be no need to write about them. There's all kinds of events in
history that's happened that's never been written about. But
these things were written for our learning, that we, through
patience and comfort of the scriptures, might have hope. Now, it's obvious
to me that the subject of our text here in Exodus is the glory
of God. That's the subject. That's what
he's talking about. Moses said, if, if I found grace
in thy sight, show me your glory. Well, let me say this, nobody
else is going to see it. If you haven't found grace in
his sight, you won't see it. And Moses knew that. And he said,
if I found grace, show me your glory. So this is the subject
of our text. And then notice too that this
glory is something unique. This is something very unique.
This was not something he'd known all of his life. This was something
he desired to see. This is something he was beginning
to see and wanted more to see. This was something unique. You
see, God has a common glory known to all men. And He has a unique
glory known only to those who find grace in His sight. Everything
that God does manifests His glory. David said, the heavens declare
what? The glory of God. Huh? That's a common glory. All you
have to do, any man, is walk outside his door, Look up into
the heavens, and there displayed before Him is the very glory
of God. The heavens declare the glory
of God. Romans chapter 1 verse 20 said,
For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even His eternal power and Godhead, so that man is without excuse. Creation is a manifestation of
God's omnipotence and His right to do with His own what He will.
He declares that in creation. He said, with whom took He counsel? Who gave me counsel when I laid
the earth upon its foundation and hung the stars and the moon
in the sky? Who gave me counsel? I didn't
counsel with you. And God affixed in man a conscience,
and this conscience manifest in him something of the moral
excellence and glory of God. He tells us that the wrath of
God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness, because that
which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God hath
showed it unto them. So man himself in his conscience
can see something of the moral excellence of God. God stamped
in him part of that glory. And he can see that. That's a
common glory. All men have a conscience. And
to sin against either one of these two manifestations of light
is an assault on the glory of God. Listen to how this is worded
here. You need some time just to read
through Romans chapter 1 through these verses with this in mind. Listen to this. It says, when
they knew God, now watch this, they glorified Him not as God. They wouldn't even give heed
of the glory of God in creation. They wouldn't give heed to the
glory of God in their conscience. They glorified Him not as God,
neither were thankful, but become vain in their imagination and
their foolish heart was darkened. What was their crime? Verse 23,
Romans chapter 1, they changed the glory of the uncorruptible
God into images with no power, no moral excellence, and no divine
light. This divine glory declared in
conscience and creation, according to Psalm 19, has gone out through
all the earth. That's what he said. After he
says, the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament
showeth His handiwork, he goes on to tell us that it's not hidden. It's not hidden. Not hidden at
all. But it goes out. through all
the earth. And there is no speech and no
language where their voice is not heard. So this is the common
glory of God manifested to all men. But Moses here is talking
about something different than this. He is talking about a glory
that must be revealed to men. Something foreign to them. Something
they cannot find in this world. Something they cannot see with
their eyes. I hear men say, well, the mountains
and the lakes are my church. I've heard that many times. They
might be, but you won't find this glory out there. You ain't
going to find it out there. This is the redemptive glory
of God. Moses is talking to God here
about finding grace in His sight. You read these verses before
the verses that I read to you tonight and you'll see that this
is what's going on. Moses is talking to God about
finding grace in His sight, about how God's Israel is separated
from the world and the world from them. Moses is talking to
God about having His presence dwelling among them. And Moses
is talking about finding forgiveness for their sins and rest for their
souls. And this glory is a unique glory. It's the redemptive glory of
God. As we go through these verses, let me give you three or four
things to think about. First of all, notice that there's
a great difficulty. The whole house of Israel had
proven to be idolaters, rebels, full of wickedness and sin. God
created this circumstance and brought it to pass to manifest
the hearts of these people. He left them alone on purpose
to show to them and to His servant what they were made of. Now,
I don't have time this evening to run you through the Scriptures,
but All that I've said to you just now is declared clearly
in the Scriptures. There's only one way a man can
begin to seek after God and to have an appetite for His glory,
and that is to expose Him for what He is. That's where the
appetite's coming. They can sit in here and here
and here and here and here. And I was talking about this
to Bo this weekend on our way over to Mississippi. Natural
man has an appetite for the unknown. And lots of time, wise men and
intellectuals are drawn to the gospel of God's grace because
it's something totally different from what this religious world
sees and knows and preaches. And so they're drawn to it for
a little while and then it loses its luster and they're going
out the door. There's only one way a man can
begin to seek after God and find an appetite for His glory, and
that is to expose Him for what He is. Man is a sinner. That's what we are. We're sinners.
God sees the wickedness of man, that every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart is only evil continually. That included
Noah. Somebody said, well, thank God
he spared one because he wasn't that way. Oh, no. He was just
like the rest of them. Just like the rest of them. But
I'll tell you what he found. He found the same thing Moses
was talking about. He found grace in the eyes of
the Lord. Man's a sinner. He's born in
sin. He comes forth from the womb
speaking lies. He prefers darkness over light
because his deeds are evil. He drinks iniquity like water.
At his best state, he's altogether vanity. He walks. Listen to these
scriptures. David said at his best state,
he's altogether vanity. Listen to these scriptures that
talk about his vanity. He walks in the vanity of his
mind. His sacrifices are vain oblations. His customs are called vain customs. His service is vain. His faith
is vain, and His glory is called vain glory. Man at his best state,
when he's as religious as he can be, when he's as holy as
he can be, is altogether vanity. It's vanity. All the nations
before God, all of them, are as nothing, and they're counted
to Him less than nothing, listen, and vanity. It's vanity. There's a great difficulty because
man is depraved in his nature and sin reigns in his heart.
And then secondly, God is holy. Don't you see the difficulty
here? Men don't see this. Men don't understand this in
our day. They're walking down aisles and singing and chewing
bubble gum and popping gum on their way up front. They don't
see these things. They don't know these things.
They don't see the difficulty. The difficulty is man is totally
depraved and God is absolutely holy. He's absolutely holy. He despises sin. The scripture
said he is of purer eyes than to behold evil and cannot look
on iniquity. That is, he can't look on those
things with favor. He can't look on those things
with indifference. He cannot look on those things.
He's of purer eyes to see those things and let those things go.
Sin, all sin, every sin demands punishment by the character of
our God. And every transgression, he said,
shall receive a due recompense of reward. Listen to this scripture. He said, behold, The soul that
sinneth, angelic soul, human soul, I don't
care what it is, the soul that sinneth shall surely die. And I'll tell you this, the death
of Christ on the cross, the fall of man in the garden, and the
judgment of God that awaits are all evidences that God has, that
God does, and God shall punish sin. There is no escape from it. And
our sins have separated us, the Scripture said, from our God. And man, because of the holiness
of God, is presently said to be under the condemnation and
wrath of God. Turn with me over to Ephesians
chapter 2 for just a second. Let me show you something over
here. Ephesians chapter 2. beginning with verse 1, "...and
you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this
world, according to the prince, the power of the air, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience." Who's he talking
about? He's talking about believers. He's talking about those that
in time God has quickened. among whom we all had our conversation
in times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature." Now, watch
this. Children of wrath, even as others. Children of wrath, under the
condemnation and wrath of God. He tells us back in John chapter
3, he said, he that believeth not is condemned already. He's condemned already. That's
exactly why he won't believe. He's under the wrath of God.
And those whom God saves, he saves out of this present evil
world who were at one time children of wrath even as others. And
then thirdly, I want you to consider this. There is a willingness
on the part of God to minister to fallen men. A willingness. God did not remove His tabernacle
altogether. He did set it afar off, but He
didn't remove it. He didn't just do away with it.
He didn't just say, well, we're not going to have a tabernacle.
You want to be idolaters? I'll turn you over to yourself."
No, he didn't do that. There's a willingness on the
part of God to minister to the sinner. God's servant called
for their repentance and faith, and some did respond. Solomon
tells us over in Proverbs chapter 1 that wisdom crieth without. Who's wisdom? Wisdom is Christ. That's what that is, that's Christ.
She uttereth her voice in the streets, she cries in the place
of concourse and at the gate saying, how long will you fools
hate knowledge? How long? How long will you despise
the light of God? Turn you at my reproof. Behold,
I'll pour out my spirit unto you. I'll make known my words
unto you. There's a willingness. on the
part of God to minister to men. It doesn't say God withheld His
means from men, but that the natural man wouldn't receive
them. That's how it's worded. God's gospel is not withheld
from men, it's preached to all who will hear it. And our Lord
said this, and I'll tell you, the first time I was absolutely
convinced of the grace of God, I still am. But being just beginning
to realize something about the grace of God, I read this, and
it was so perplexing to me. Our Lord looked down on that
city that he just pronounced a woe to. And he said, oh, Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, how oft would I have gathered you like a hen would
her chicks. Now listen, but you would not. You would not. There's a willingness,
a sincere willingness on the part of God to minister to fallen
men. Actually, and I've said this
a lot of times, God is more willing to save than men are to be saved. He says over in Revelation, the
Spirit and the bride say, come. And everybody who's been given
ears to hear says, come. And whosoever out there who is
thirsty and willing, let him take of the water of life free. Eight times in our text that
I read to you a few minutes ago, God said, I will. I will. I will. Sometimes I think that
old leper must have read that. And he came and cast himself
down before the Lord, and he said, Lord, if you will, you
can make me clean. The Lord said, I will. I will. I'll tell you this, if Moses
hadn't believed God was willing to show him his glory, he wouldn't
have asked him. He saw something in the character of God, something
in the hand of God in his ministry toward men that convinced him
that he was willing, that he would be willing. But how did he know God was willing?
Look back to our text here in Exodus 33. Look back at verse
17. The Lord said unto Moses, I'll
do this thing also that thou hast spoken for, or because,
thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. I preach and pray for all who
hear me because when God saved this sinner, He proved to me
His willingness to minister to sinners. That's how Moses learned
it. That's how every preacher of
grace who ever lived learns it. And that's how you'll learn it.
When God shows you mercy and grace, then you understand something
about His willingness to save sinners. The Lord is willing to minister
to men in spite of their sin and in spite of their idolatry.
But this is where the glory of God is seen, in the difficulty. He allows this difficulty to
manifest itself, and that's where He reveals His glory. And this is the gist of this
whole text in Exodus 33, verse 21, and the Lord said, Behold,
there is a place by Me. There is a place by me, and thou
shalt stand upon a rock, and it shall come to pass, while
my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in the cleft of the
rock. I'll cover thee 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." Salvation is to see the glory of God, not
in His face, but in the face of His Son. our representative. And there's only one place where
this glory can be seen, and that's in Christ. He's the rock. He's
the place. He's the remedy. He's the way. He said, I am the way. I am the
way. In Him, Paul said, are hid all
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And to know God is everlasting
life, but there's no way to know Him savingly except in the Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. He that hath the Son hath life.
And He said this, He said, No man knoweth the Father save the
Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him. In Him the glory
of God's justice can be seen, being satisfied for us in His
death on the cross. Justified, He said, freely by
His grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. The glory
of God's righteousness God is righteous. Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. He showed that righteousness by
obeying the law in every jot and tittle, even unto the death
of the cross, so that Christ has become the end of the law
for righteousness. In Christ, we see the glory of
God's grace. God has saved us and called us
with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace, given us in Christ Jesus before the
world began. His election, isn't it called
an election of grace? That's exactly what it's called
in the scripture. His purpose is the purpose of grace. His
appearance in this world is said to be the manifestation of grace. The word was made flesh, John
said, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory. the glory
as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And our quickening with Christ
in Ephesians chapter 2 is explained this way, by grace are you saved. We see in Him the glory of God's
mercy. Our Lord told those Pharisees,
go learn what this means. I'll have mercy and not sacrifice.
We see the glory of God's love in Christ. He commendeth His
love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. And we see in Him the glory of
God's kindness. He said in Ephesians 2, 7 that
in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of
His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. In short,
this salvation is to see His redemptive glory in Christ. Let me show you something over
here in II Thessalonians 2. I'm always quoting verse 13,
but I seldom quote verse 14. In verse 13 he said, we're bound
to give thanks always for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord,
because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Now
watch this. whereunto he called you by our
gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. You see what this thing is all
about over here. This is not just something, a
whim that Moses had toward God, something he was fascinated in
a bush or fascinated in a miracle. He wanted to see God's glory. He says a little earlier in this
chapter, he said, if I found grace in your sight, show me
your way. Your way. And there is a way. There is a remedy. There is a
place, God said, by me, where my glory can be seen. His glory
can be seen. But it can only be seen in Christ.
All this high walking and music playing and cathedral building
and all that kind of stuff and professional entertainment You
are not going to see God's glory in that. If you see it at all,
you will see it when you hear the gospel of Jesus Christ because
there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby
we must be saved. And then turn with me to 1 John
chapter 5 and I will quit. He said there is a place by me. And Christ is that place. He
is the way. Now watch this here in 1 John
5, verse 20. And we know that the Son of God
is come, and hath given to us an understanding, that we may
know Him that is true, that is, the true and living God, and
that we are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal
life. God did not say to Moses, let
me define my grace and mercy to you. He didn't say that, although
His grace and mercy is defined. He didn't say, I'm going to preach
the mercy and grace of God to you, although we do preach these
things to men. But what He said is this, I will
proclaim the name of the Lord before you, I will be gracious. You know how you learn grace?
When God is gracious to you. That's how you learn it. God
is gracious to you. I'll show mercy, he said, on
whom I will show mercy. The revelation of God's glory
is not so much to us, it is to us. But it's not so much that
as it is in us. It's in us. Paul said, when it
pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and called
me by His grace to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach
Him among the heathen. And that, old Barnard used to
say, you can't tell what you don't know anymore and you can
come back from someplace you haven't been. And that's the
truth. We learn this in the experience
of grace. The redemptive glory of God is
learned as God is merciful and gracious to us. He puts us in
Christ and then passes by before us. May the Lord be pleased to
do that in the hearts of every one of us here tonight.