I'd like for you to turn to a
most familiar passage of scripture, Exodus chapter 33 of Exodus. Here's my title tonight. The Lord, Moses said to the Lord,
show me your glory. Show me your glory. And let's
start reading with verse 7, Exodus 33. And Moses took the tabernacle
and pitched it without the camp. Now, this is not the tabernacle
where the high priest offered the sacrifices. This is not where
the mercy seat was. This was a tent different from
that tabernacle. That's what we're talking about.
And he pitched it afar off from the camp, and he called it the
tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass that every
one which sought the Lord went out unto the tabernacle of the
congregation, which was without the camp. And it came to pass
when Moses went out unto the tabernacle that all the people
rose up stood every man at his tent door and looked after Moses
until he was gone into the tabernacle. And it came to pass as Moses
entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended and
stood at the door of the tabernacle and the Lord talked with Moses. And all the people saw the cloudy
pillar stand at the door of the tabernacle. And all the people
rose up and worshipped every man in his tent door. And the Lord spake unto Moses
face to face, as a man spaketh unto his friend. And he turned
again into the camp, but his servant Joshua, son of Nun, a
young man, departed not out of the tabernacle. And Moses said
to the Lord, Now 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, Moses, and thou hast
also found grace in my sight. On this particular day, Moses
appeared to be greatly troubled, and he presented to God a threefold
petition. Now, you've heard this again
and again and again, I know. Show me thy way. If you go not
with us, don't let us go. Show me thy glory. But I'm going
to preach on it again because I believe I've got some things
that need to be said about these petitions. The greatness of these
petitions are beyond human words. I can't even put it in words
what Moses asked the Lord. I'm so troubled by my own prayers
and petitions. I pray about such mundane things,
it seems to me, materialistic. I pray, Lord, heal my body. Lord,
prosper my efforts. Lord, bless my ministry. Lord,
bless my family. You know, one old fellow said,
Lord, bless me and my son John, us four no more, you know. There's
just too much materialistic things there. personality. This prayer, somebody said about
these petitions, this prayer, Moses prayed, contains all that
we need here or hereafter. In those three petitions, all
that I need, here and hereafter, contained right here. Show me
thy way. Don't let me go alone, and show
me your glory. Somebody said, This prayer of
Moses contains all that is of any eternal importance to me
and you. And also, this prayer reveals
the heart of a man that really knows God and is concerned and
seeking God's will and God's purpose. I believe that's true
about these petitions. So let's look at the first one,
verse 13. 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 might find grace in thy sight, and
consider that this nation is thy people. Show me thy way. I know that we know all too well
the ways of men, don't we? The ways of men are called the
broad way that leads to destruction. That's the ways of men. The ways
of men are those ways that seems right to men and the end is death. It's also called, our way is
called our thoughts and our way and God says your thoughts are
not my thoughts and your ways are not my ways. So what Moses
is asking here is, Lord, show me your way. Show me thy way. It is thy way because you purposed
it. Salvation is of the Lord. It's
of the Lord in its origination. It's of the Lord in its execution. It's of the Lord in its application. It's of the Lord in its sustaining
power. Salvation is of the Lord in His
ultimate perfection. It's all of the Lord. Show me
your way of salvation. And our Lord said, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. Thy way is the way of substitution. And thy way, O God, is the way
that glorifies You. We said that three times this
morning. He saved us to the praise of His glory. to the praise of
His glory. Everything God does is to the
praise of His glory, because it glorifies Him. And this is
His way, because it's the only way that God can be just and
justify us. It's the only way. And it's the
living way. He set forth for us a new and
living way through the Bible. And here's the charge Him that
cometh up some other way is a thief and a robber. Lord, show me your way. It's
your way. But notice the foundation on
which Moses made this plea and this petition. He says in verse
13, Now, therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy
sight, show me Thy way. And yet God had already told
him He'd show him His way. Look back at verse 12. Verse
12, Moses said to the Lord, verse 12, See, thou saith unto me,
bring up this people, and thou hast not let me know whom thou
hast sent with me, yet you've already said, I know you by name. And you found grace in my sight?
Why is God, why is Moses asking the Lord again, if I found grace
in your sight, show me your way? I'll tell you why. The real servant
of God doesn't want to lean upon presumption. My wife and I, we pray like you
and your wife does at the table and other places, A thing I constantly
say, Lord, don't leave me alone. When I get up here, don't leave
me alone. That's what Moses is saying here.
Lord, show me your way. Don't leave me alone. Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. I want to find grace in the eyes
of the Lord. And this is what Moses keeps repeating. Everything,
the very foundation on which he prays, if I have found grace
in your son, do this for me. If I have. If I am an object
of your sovereign free grace, do this for me. If I am. Lot prayed that way. Listen,
Lot said this, Oh my Lord, thy servant hath found grace in thy
sight. Thy mercy has saved me. I found grace in your sight and
your mercy saved me. That's what Lot prayed. Gideon. One time Tom Harding went over
to Rocky Mount, Virginia to preach and to preach to this church
that didn't have a pastor. Jim Byrne had resigned and you
went down over to preach. And Tom came back and came in
my study. And we sat down and talked. And
the church had offered him the pulpit. I believe that's correct. He mentioned it to me. And he
turned to me and said, Is it asking too much of God for him
to give me an evidence that he wants me there? Do you remember
that? Is it asking too much? And that's exactly what Moses
said. Lord, if I've found grace in your eyes, show me your way. Gideon prayed that way. Gideon
said, Lord, if I've found, if. That's what Gideon said. Lord,
if I have found grace in thy sight, show me a sign. that you
speak. Show me something." And the Apostle
Paul said, I am what I am by the grace of God. Oh, John Jasper,
sometime you might read the book, that rhapsody in black. He was
a great preacher of the gospel in Richmond, Virginia. And somebody
came to him one day and said, John Jasper, You say that you've
found grace in the eyes of the Lord? Tell me, when you get to
heaven, and they ask you this, John Jasper, what right you got
to be here? What are you going to say? He
said, I'm going to say I got no right to be here at all. I'm
not here on my rights. I'm here on the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Bella Bella didn't stop. He said,
but. What if they came up there and
they put you out? And John Jasper said, well, I'll
say this, if I go before God's throne in glory and they put
me out, the Lord will lose more than I will. He said, well, how
can you say that, man? He said, well, I'll lose my soul. But he'll lose his truth, justice,
and promise. Because he said, because he said,
he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me,
hath everlasting life, and shall never, and shall never, and shall
never come into condemnation, but is already passed from death
unto life. The Lord is true to his word. And I'll tell you this, pray
this way. I'm not going to lean on presumption
because I know you're God and I'm nothing. I know that. But
if I have found by your love and mercy in Christ, if I've
found grace in your sight, show me your way. Show me your way. Grace, it's a charming sound. It's harmonious to the ear. Heaven
with the echo shall resound and all the earth shall hear. Grace
taught my soul to pray and pardoning love to know. It was grace that
has kept me to this day and will not let me go. Don't be afraid to say, if I
found grace in your sight. I think we don't need to lean
on presumption, do we? It's all of grace and all of
God and all of His goodness. All right, let's look at the
second petition. Verse 14. Verse 14. And he said, the Lord said, My
presence shall go with thee, and I'll give thee rest. And
he said unto him, The Lord, if your presence go not with me,
carry me not him. If your present doesn't go with
me, don't leave me even to Canaan." That's where they were headed,
to Canaan. He said, carry us not hence, don't let us go. Well, in what way can we determine
that we found grace in his sight? Well, look at verse 16. Moses said this, If you don't
go with us, don't let me go. But verse 16, 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? Isn't that proof that we found grace in thy sight, that
you go with us? And so shall thy people be separated,
I and thy people, from the people that are upon the face of the
earth. One old writer said this, though
God has promised his presence, Moses could not keep himself
from pleading for the Lord's presence with him. For it doesn't
matter where we are or what we have or whom we're with if his
presence is not there. If God is not there, everything
is worthless, insignificant, and we walk in darkness and death. But if the Lord is pleased to
grant His presence, the greatest trials and heartaches are made
easier. I didn't say made easy, are made
easier with this scripture. I will never leave you. And I'll
never forsake you. That makes all the trials and
hardships that we go through in this life easier because he's
with us. I read the story of a great old
preacher. His name was Christmas Evans,
the one-eyed preacher. He pastored and preached in Wales
for a number of years. Great congregation. People loved
him. I've got a book at home with
sermons by Christmas Evans. And one day the people assembled
in the church like you did tonight. Everybody came in and sat in
the pews and waited on the pastor. And he didn't show up. And two
of the men, two of the elders were back in the back and one
of them said to the other, he said, where's the pastor? He
said, I don't know. Haven't you seen him? I haven't seen him.
Not this morning. Have you seen him? I haven't
seen him. Well, we better find him. It's time to start caring.
So, he said, you go that way and I'll go this way. So, one
man, the elder went that way and another elder went this way
and after a while they both came back to the same place. And one
of them said, did you find him? Yep, I found him. Where was he? In the study. But he said, there's
a time to study and there's a time to preach. There's a time to
preach. Well, go tell him to come preach.
Not me. Why? He was praying. He was praying. Well, there's a time to pray
and there's a time to preach. There's a time to preach. But
he was saying these words. He said, O Lord God, I've gone
in that pulpit by myself for the last time. If you don't go with me tonight,
this morning, I'm not going." He said, we all better start
praying. Oh, that's what Moses said, Lord, if you're not going
with us, don't take us. Wish I could learn that. And
be weighed on the Lord, be patient. My favorite hymn, I believe my
favorite hymn, How tedious and tasteless the hours when Jesus
no longer I see. Sweet prospects, sweet birds,
sweet flowers have all lost their sweetness for me. The midsummer
sun shines but dim. The fields strive in vain to
look gay, but when I'm happy and healed, December's as present
as May. Content with beholding His face,
My altar's presence resigned. No changes of season or place
would make any change in my mind. While blessed with a sense of
his love, a palace, a toy, would appear, and prisons would palace
his proof, if he would dwell with me there." That's what Moses
is praying right here. Lord, don't take me. If you're not going with me,
don't take me. All right, here's the third petition. Verse 17, And Moses said unto
the Lord, the Lord said to Moses, I'll do this thing that you have
spoken, for you have found grace in my sight, and I know you by
name. And then Moses asked this, verse
18, I beseech you, show me your glory. Show me your glory. Now, there's
four things I want to say here. You remember these four things.
When Moses says, show me your glory, that's the first thing
that I say is this, as I see is this, it's a great request. What a great request. I believe
this is the prayer of all prayers. I really do. I believe it's the
prayer of all. Lord, show me your glory. I believe this is
not form or ceremony or ritualism. This is the root of the matter.
I want to see your glory. This is the loftiest height to
which faith can reach. Lord, show me your glory. You know what Solomon said? He
said, I've seen the glory of the world, and it's proven to
be nothing but vanity. Vanity of vanity. It's all vanity. Isaiah said, I've seen the glory
of human righteousness. First chapter five, Tom, in Isaiah. He had self-righteousness written
all over these things, he said. But when he got to chapter six,
He said, it left me in filthy rags. I'm undone. I'm nothing. And all our righteousness
is a filthy rag. Paul said, the glory of religion,
religious ceremony and works and duties and deeds proved to
me to be nothing but dung, garbage. Now, Lord, show me your glory.
But you know, not too many people in this world can pray that in
sincerity. You know why? Because we have
too many other priorities other than His glory. A young man, our Lord said to
a young man one time, follow me, follow me. He said, all right,
I will, but suffer me What? First! Suffer me first! Me first! Not you, me first. And our Lord said to him, let
the dead bury the dead. You come follow me. So this thing
about seeing God in His glory, you've got to turn loose of some
of these priorities that we have. For He said, seek ye first the
Kingdom of God. and His righteousness. And these
priorities and these other things will be added to you. But you've
got to seek Him first. One old writer said this, in reference to this, Moses said,
Lord, show me Your glory. He said this, when the true glory
of God is revealed, it makes living the ordinary life a lot
more difficult. When the true glory of God is
revealed, it makes living the ordinary life a lot more difficult,
because that's when Paul said, I am in a straight betwixt the
two. I have a desire to depart and
be with Christ, which is far better. But for you, it's expedient
that I remain. This is a great request. This
is the loftiest height to which prayer can climb. Show me your
glory. That's what Simeon said when
he went into that temple that day and took the baby, Christ
Jesus, in his arms and lifted his eyes to God and said, Lord,
now let me die. According to your word, I've
seen your salvation, your glory. Because what is God's glory? It's his salvation. This is a
great request here, but this is a great revelation. What is
God going to show Moses? Show him his power? No. Show
him his awesome holiness? No. Show him his justice and
his wrath? No. Show him my goodness. Look at this. Show me your glory. And here comes a great revelation.
All right, verse 19. I will make my goodness pass
before you. What is the glory of God? It's
His goodness, His grace, His mercy in Christ Jesus. My goodness
will pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord
before thee, and I'll be gracious. Somebody said, well, God could
save everybody or damn everybody. No, He couldn't. Oh, I beg your
pardon? I don't know whether he could
save everybody or not. That's up to the Lord. I know he can't
damn everybody, because God is love. God has got to show love
if he's God. God is merciful. That's his name. Mercy is his name. Grace, goodness
is his name. He's got to show mercy. That's
the reason he sent the Lord Jesus to save us, show mercy to us. I'm going to make my goodness
pass before you. And I will be gracious to whom
I will be gracious, and I'll show mercy to whom I will show
mercy. My, my. All right. The third thing, a great request. Show me your glory. And a great
revelation. This is my glory. This is my
true glory. This is my greater glory. This
is my true glory. Save and send us. Having a people
in Christ. Having a people like Christ. Perfectly conformed to the image
of Christ Jesus. That's my glory. That's my glory. Now what's this great reservation?
Let's camp here just a minute. A great reservation. Verse 20. And he said, Moses, you can't
see my face. For there shall no man see me
and live. There are many reservations in
this request. Show me your glory. And there's
got to be some things revealed and some things that are concealed. Concealed even from Moses. Concealed
even from Paul when he went to the third heavens. He said, I
heard things I can't tell you. I have no way of putting it in
human words. And God Almighty is pleased to
reveal things to us, but let me tell you something, God Almighty
is pleased to keep certain things from us. And there are plenty
of those. Because when God is pleased to
keep certain things from us, there's as much grace in this
as there is when God reveals things to us. It's His grace
to keep them. Brother Brian wrote that good
article this morning. Why'd it happen? You're not going
to get the answer. That's exactly right. You're
not going to get it. God keeps these things from you.
He keeps these things. I tell you this, the secret things
belong to God. I believe every believer ought
to memorize and sing this song quite often. I've memorized it. I could say it without looking
here, but I'm going to look at it because I stumble sometimes.
God moves in a mysterious way, a mysterious way, his wonders
to perform. He plants his footsteps in the
seas and rides upon the storm. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage
take. The clouds you so much dread. And boy, we do, don't we? The
clouds we so much dread. are big with mercy and will break
with blessings on your head. So judge not the Lord by feeble
sense, but trust Him for His grace behind a frowning providence. He hides a smiling face, and
He'll reveal it when He's preached to you, and He'll keep it from
you. Somebody said this. Now listen
to this. A full revelation A full revelation of God's glory would
kill us. That's what he said to Moses.
You can't see my face, Leo. Show me your glory. Not so. Not my full glory, because it'd
kill you. And I'll tell you this, a full
revelation of your sins, that'd kill you too. a full revelation
of what we are by nature, and what potential we have by nature,
and the attitude we have. A lot of times, if we saw a full
revelation of God's hatred for sin, it'd kill you right now.
You couldn't bear to look up, or even look at anybody else,
if He revealed everything that we have in us, and a full revelation
of God's justice and wrath. We're going to see that someday,
but we'll be in the new heaven when we see God's wrath descending
upon this earth. A full revelation of God's wrath
would destroy us because we know in part. We prophesy in part. We preach in part. We see through
a glass dimly. But when that which is perfect
is come, I'll have the nature that can take it. I can see His
glory. And I can see all of His wrath
and judgment and holiness. And be happy. Be happy with it. With it. All right, here's the
great refuge. We have a great request. We have a great We have a great
revelation, we have a great reservation, now we have a great refuge. Listen
to verse 21. And the Lord said, Moses, behold,
there's a place, there's a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon
a rock. Who's that rock? That rock is
Christ Jesus. And thou shalt stand upon a rock,
and shalt come to pass, when my glory passes by. I'll put
you in the cleft of the rock, I'll cover you with my hand while
I pass by, and I'll take away my hand, and thou shalt see my
back parts, but my face you shall not see." That place by God is
in His Son. He rose to the right hand of
God and makes that accession. We've got a place. We've got
a refuge. We've got to rock Christ Jesus,
and it's by God. at his right hand. At his right
hand, we make intercession. He makes intercession all the
time. Brother, I want us to sing on
Christ the solid rock I stand on. Brother Dan Parks was preaching
one day years ago. I think it was down the island
or somewhere, but he was preaching. He gave this illustration. He
said there was an Irish preacher preaching in an open air situation,
people gather all around the town and he had a pulpit there
and he was preaching. And there was some hecklers there,
some hecklers. And they started giving the preacher
a hard time. And they started hollering, show
us the shamrock. Show us the shamrock. Preach
about the shamrock. And he couldn't quiet them down.
Trying to, but they kept talking to him. You know what a shamrock
is, don't you? It's that Irish symbol, the clover, the shamrock. Well, the preacher stopped and
he said, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood
and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame. I wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ, the solid rock,
I stand. All other ground, shamrock. Christ is my rock. I stand in
Him. Everything else is shamrock.