I was thinking last night that
this was my first Mother's Day without my mother, and I was
thinking what a blessing she was to me. And I'm thankful for
mothers. Happy Mother's Day. I've entitled this message, Show
Me Thy Glory. There's not anybody in this room
that hadn't asked the Lord for something. Maybe when you're
in trouble, you ask for deliverance from that trouble. When you were
in need, you ask for help in that need. There isn't anybody
that hadn't asked the Lord for something. Maybe you've even
asked him for the forgiveness of your sins. that he would save
you by his grace and you asked him for mercy. That's a good
thing. But this is the highest request
a man can make and the most important subject there is to consider. Pray for me and pray for yourselves
As I attempt to preach this message, show me thy glory. I hope everybody in this room
is praying that prayer right now. Show me thy glory. Show me what you say, your glory. Now, the setting of this request
is Moses praying for the people after they had made a golden
calf and bowed down and worshiped it. Exodus 32, verses seven and
eight. And the Lord said unto Moses, go get thee down. For
thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have
corrupted themselves. Exodus 32, verse seven, verse
eight. They have turned aside quickly
out of the way which I commanded them. They've made them a molten
calf and have worshiped it. And have sacrificed thereunto
and said, these be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought
thee up out of the land of Egypt. Never been a greater sin than
that other than the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. When
these people so quickly turned aside and made themselves a golden
calf and Moses is praying for them in chapter 33 verse one. And the Lord said unto Moses,
depart and go up hence thou and the people which thou hast brought
up out of the land of Egypt, into the land which I swear unto
Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying unto thy seed will I give
it, and I will send an angel before thee. And I will drive
out the Canaanite, and the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite,
the Hivite, and the Jebusite, unto a land flowing with milk
and honey, for I will not go up in the midst of thee For thou
art a stiff necked, stubborn, rebellious, wicked people, lest
I consume thee in the way. I'm not going with you. I'll send an angel, but I'm not
going with you. Now the Lord knew exactly what
he's going to do, but he's speaking to Moses in this way. to cause
him to pray this prayer. We would never have this prayer
had not the Lord said this to Moses, I'm not going with you. Now, what me and you need more
than anything else is the presence of the Lord. If I don't have
his presence, I might have everything else, but I don't have anything
if I don't have his presence. Verse four, and when the people
heard these evil tidings, now they heard that he was going
to go ahead and give them the promised land, the land that
flows with milk and honey, but he's not going with them. They
won't have his presence. They'll have the blessing without
the blesser. And these are evil tidings, evil
tidings. And when the people heard these
evil tidings, they mourned and no man did put on him his ornaments. He didn't try to look good. You
know, when you come into the Lord's presence, don't try to
dress yourself up. Don't try to look good. come
in honesty, not in deceit. They put off their ornaments.
Verse five, for the Lord had said unto Moses, saying to the
children of Israel, you're a stiff neck people. I will come up unto
thee in the midst of thee in a moment and consume thee. Therefore
now put off thine ornaments from thee, that I may know what to
do to thee. And the children of Israel stripped
themselves of their ornaments by the Mount Horeb. And I hope
that's what we'll do right now. We'll strip ourselves of what
we think makes us look good and come into God's presence as we
are. Verse seven, and Moses took the
tabernacle. Now that's not the tabernacle
that was going to be built later with the Ark of the Covenant
and the mercy seat and the table of showbread and the veil that
had the holy place and the Holy of Holies, that's not been constructed
yet. And Moses took the tabernacle
and pitched it without the camp, far off from the camp and called
it the tabernacle of the congregation. Now, this is interesting. This
was taken outside the camp. What's the significance of that?
Outside the camp of Israel, there were lepers and there was the
sin offering of Leviticus chapter 16. That's what was outside the
camp. And the scripture points out
that the Lord died outside the camp, outside of Jerusalem, outside
of organized religion. And the writer to the Hebrews
said, let us therefore go unto him outside the camp, bearing
his reproach. This world has a reproach for
Jesus Christ and him crucified. They say no glory in this message. Let's go to him. outside the
camp. But Moses takes this tabernacle
called the tabernacle of the congregation or the tabernacle
of meeting is what the word means. It's where the Lord says, I'll
meet with you. And let's go on reading. I'm interested in this.
And Moses took the tabernacle and pitched it without the camp,
but far off from the camp and called it the tabernacle of the
congregation. And it came to pass that everyone
which sought the Lord Now here's the difference between
a believer and an unbeliever. A believer seeks the Lord. That's their one interest. An
unbeliever may seek many things, but a believer seeks the Lord
himself. Everyone which sought the Lord
went out into the tabernacle of the congregation, which was
at the camp. And it came to pass when Moses
went into the tabernacle that all the people rose up and 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 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 tabernacle door and all the people rose
up and worshiped. Every man in his tent door. And let me remind you, You only
worship an absolute sovereign. One in whose hand you are. And he can do with you whatever
he's pleased to do. You can't manipulate him. You
can't make him respond. You are in his hand for him to
do with you whatever he's pleased to do. That is worship. Verse 11, and the Lord spake
unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. There's only one way this could
be, union with the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord wasn't speaking
to Moses like this because Moses was good. Moses, like you and
I, was a sinner, a sinner saved by grace. The Lord spoke to Moses face
to face as a man speaks with his friend because Moses was
united to the Lord Jesus Christ. Same way Abraham was called the
friend of God. Every believer, You know, this
is what, I want to say this reverently, but this is what I desire. I
want the Lord to speak to me face to face as a man speaks
with his friend. I want to be the Lord's friend.
And the only way you and I can be the Lord's friend is through
union with the Lord Jesus Christ. And he turned again into the
camp, verse 11. But his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young
man, departed not out of the tabernacle, Joshua. He's the
one who would later bring the children of Israel into the promised
land after that 40 years of wandering. His name is the New Testament
name, Jesus, Savior. Moses could never bring us into
the promised land. Only Joshua, the Savior, can. And now Moses is permitted to
speak. Verse 12. And Moses said unto
the Lord, See thou sayest unto me. Now let's stop right there.
Here's where we begin. What he has said. That's all
we have. What he has said. Behold, you
said this. Now, if I'm going to commune
with the Lord, I'm going to have to begin right here with what
He has said. I wish I could emphasize the
importance of this the way I ought to, but this is the Word of God,
and God reveals who He is. This is not up for debate. This
is not up for my interpretation or your interpretation. This
is what He said. I love the way David said, Do as thou hast said. That's our plea. And what does
Moses say? Moses said unto the Lord, See
thou sayest unto me, bring up this people. You're the one who
said this. And thou has not let me know
whom thou will sin with me. He's talking about the Lord talking
about that angel. Yet thou has said, I know thee by name and
thou has 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 might know thee, that I might find grace in thy sight and consider
that this nation is thy people. Now, what a statement. You said, I know you by name. Does the Lord know your name? Does the Lord know your name? I couldn't help but think of
those sons of Sceva who took upon themselves to cast out demons. They didn't know the Lord, but
they saw what Paul did. They said, I adjure thee by the
Jesus whom Paul preacheth. And that demon said, Jesus I
know, and Paul I know, but who are you? And he rose up and whipped
them, and they ran out of that place. Would the Lord know my
name? Moses said, you said, you know
me by name. And you said, I found grace in
your side. Now, if I have found grace in
your side, now here is Moses plea. He doesn't say, I left
all the wonders of Egypt and the riches of Egypt. And I gave
up all these things in order to lead your people. He didn't
say anything like that, did he? He didn't talk about what God
had used him to do or anything like that. He said, if I found
grace in your sight. This is his only plea. And Moses
knew exactly what grace was. Remember, he's the one who wrote
all this. And he wrote Genesis. Let's look at the first time
grace is mentioned in the Bible. Turn back to Genesis six. Moses knew exactly what he was
talking about when he said, if I found grace in your sight. Verse five, and God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil nonstop. Would that be you? Would that be you? Verse eight, but Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Noah was included in that description,
but thank God for the buts of scripture, but Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. And he says, Show me thy way. I pray thee, if I have found
grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, the way into your presence,
the way I can be accepted by you, the way I can find grace
in your sight. Show me now. I need to know now
thy way. Christ said, I am the way. He's the way of peace. He's the
way of righteousness. He's the way of mercy. He's the
way of truth. He is the way to the Father. There are no other ways. There's only one way. Show me
now thy way. And here's why that I might know
thee. I want to know God. That's what
he said. I want to know God. I don't want
to just be religious. I want to know God. I want to
know him. That's why I want to know the
way. I want to know the way so I can know him. I love what Paul
said. I know whom I have believed. I know whom. I want to know the
way so I can know him. That I might know thee. That's
what I want. I don't want to, I want, I want
to know him so that he knows me, that I might find grace in
thy sight. Grace is God's, we always call
it unmerited favor. No, it's demerited favor. Me
and you, demerited. Any favor from God, but oh, thank
God for grace. I want to find grace, free grace
in thy sight. And then he said, consider that
this nation is thy people. It's not my people. I didn't
bring them out of here. You know, Moses loved these people.
We're going to see that when you saw that in that prayer of
his. It brought me out of your book. if you're not gonna have mercy
on them. That's the way he prayed. He loved these people. He said,
these are not my people, they're your people. You're the ones
that brought them out. And the Lord gives this gracious
answer in verse 14. And he said, my presence, and
that's what I need. My presence shall go with thee. and I will give thee rest. His presence, his face, his presence,
his salvation, my presence. I want the blesser. I'm thankful
for the blessing, but I want the blesser. I want his presence. I want him to know me and me
to know him. My presence shall go with thee.
And I love this. I'll give you rest. What is this
rest he's speaking of? He that's entered into his rest
has ceased from his own works. You ever done that? Ceased from
your own works as the Lord ceased from his own works. his work
in creation. He saw that it was very good.
It was finished. Have you ever rested in Christ? Rest. Verse 15, and he said unto him,
will thy presence go not with me? Gary, it's not up this. This
is more important to a believer than anything else. The worst
thing that could happen to me, the worst thing that could happen
to me is for me to be left to myself and not have his presence. That's what happened to the Lord
on the cross. He lost the presence of his father. That's hell. Losing the presence of God. If I don't have your presence,
I don't even want to go. for 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? So shall we be separated,
I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face
of the earth. Now God's people have been separated. You got
any problem with that? Being separated from everybody
else? Who maketh thee to differ? A believer does differ, he's
separated. You remember in Exodus chapter 11, in verse seven, when
the Lord said against the children of Israel, shall not a dog move
his tongue against man or beast, that you may know how that the
Lord doth put a difference between Israel and the Egyptians. Now,
if you're a believer, you've been separated by God himself.
He did something for you that he didn't do for everybody else.
Who made you different? God did. In eternal election,
when He chose you. In redemption, when Christ put
away your sins. In regeneration, when He gave
you a new nature. God made this difference. He
separated you from all the rest of the people of the earth. And
if God didn't make this separation, wouldn't nobody be saved? Amen? If God didn't do this,
Nobody be saved. Verse 17, 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 that's true of every child
of God. every one of God's elect, those
whom God has made to differ, you found grace in my sight. And I know you by name. What could be greater than that? There is something. Verse 18, And he said, I beseech thee,
show me thy glory. Now what is it that you say your
glory is? I beseech you, show me your glory. Now Moses had seen a lot. Moses
had seen that bush that burned and could not be consumed. Moses
had seen the plagues in Israel, the mighty hand of God. He'd
seen the Passover and the Lord passing over in mercy. He'd seen
the parting of the Red Sea and the children of Israel going
through His own dry land. He'd seen manna come down from
heaven, lighting on the ground. He changed this. He's the one
who smoked that rock. And he saw the waters gush out
of the rock. He was there when God wrote the
law on the tables of stone, the finger of God, he was watching
that. And yet he says, I've not seen
your glory. I beseech you, show me your glory. And this is the highest request
that a man can make. And it's the most important subject
we could ever consider. What is your glory? Now I feel so stupid and shallow as I attempt
to speak on His glory. And I feel almost apologetic
that I'm trying to describe that which really is beyond description,
the glory of God. But God's glory is the infinite
beauty, the infinite beauty of all of
his manifold perfections and attributes. God's glory is his
honor, his splendor, his magnificence, his transcendent
excellence, his brightness, the beauty that emanates from His
glorious character. What did the seraphims cry? Holy,
holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of His
glory. The glory of God is the reason
for all things. The glory of God is the reason
for the creation. The glory of God is the reason
for the fall of man. He manifests his glory. The salvation of men is for his
glory. God hath made all things for
himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. God does
what he does for his own glory. The issue in what you hear, the
issue in what you hear, Who gets the glory? Does man get any glory? It's
not truly. It's false. It's contrary to
God. Does God get all the glory? It's
the truth. God gives a threefold answer
when Moses makes this request. I beseech thee, show me thy glory.
Verse 19. And here's God's answer. Now this is what's most important
to God. This is what is most important
to God, his glory. And here's how he answers this
request. And he said, 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. His goodness, His name, and the
sovereignty of His grace. That is God's glory. His goodness. God is good. When the rich young ruler came
up to Christ and said, good master, what good things shall I do to
inherit eternal life? The Lord said, why calls thou
me good? There's one good. God only. Now the Lord wasn't saying he
wasn't good, he was, but he knew this man was coming up to him
as a mere man. Good master, what can I do to get on the level
of your goodness? What good thing can I do? And
that's when he corrected him. Don't be calling any man good.
There's one good. God only. He's originally good. He's essentially
good. He's infinitely good. He's eternally
good. He's immutably good. And all that emanates from God
is good. His decrees that he made before
time began are good decrees. His creation is good. His law is good. His providence is good. Somebody says it doesn't seem
good to me. Don't matter. It's still good. God's good. What about? What about? God's
good. That's who he is. Every attribute
is good. And salvation is a declaration
of His goodness. You see, it's the goodness of
God that leads you to repentance. What an act of goodness on God's
part to cause you to repent and to have a change of mind. Oh,
it's only the goodness. If God left you to yourself,
you'd be so hard-hearted. You'd be so weak. You wouldn't
even care about God's glory. It's the goodness of God that
leads thee to repentance. And God's goodness is magnified
in showing mercy to a people who made a golden calf. And like
I said, I really believe this. Other than the sinfulness of
the crucifixion of Christ, this is the worst thing to ever take
place. After all that the Lord had brought them through, they
made a golden calf and worshipped it. And said, these be thy gods,
O Israel, that brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. They
totally negated the Lord in their own thinking. And I would have
sent them to hell. I would have, no doubt in my
mind, I wouldn't have had mercy on him. But God's good. And his goodness is seen in his
mercy. That's his glory. Whatever God
does is good. And it's good because he does
it. In my salvation, God is good. I don't know how to say this,
other than you say it in the damnation of man, God is good.
Whatever he does is good. You say, explain that to me. God is good, and you're not. Amen? God is good, and you're
not. Whatever God does is good, and
salvation is good. He says, I'll make all my goodness
pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. And he does that in Exodus chapter
34. He proclaims his attributes. We're going to look at that next
week, Lord willing. But his name is his attributes. It's not just
his audible name, but it's his holiness, his justice, his mercy,
his His infinity, His eternality, His love, His grace, His wisdom,
His power. I'm going to proclaim my name
before thee and listen to this. Every attribute of God is manifested
in the cross of Christ. Who God is, you can't know Him. apart from the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ, that in the cross He manifests every attribute. When Christ is nailed to that
cross, that was God's purpose. From before the foundation of
the world, He manifests His sovereignty. One thief is saved and the other
pass by. He manifests His justice. He's not going to let any sin
go unpunished. He manifests His wisdom, how
He's found a way to be just and justify the ungodly. He manifests
his power in how that he can put away sin and make it to not
be. Everything God is, is manifest
in the cross. This is his glory, the glory
of the cross. The cross is the whole counsel
of God. And then he says, I will be gracious. To whom I will be gracious. and
will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. Now he will be gracious.
Preacher, I've heard preachers say, well, God must be just. He may be gracious. No, he must
be gracious. It's who he is. It's who he is. And Moses had said, if you're
not going to save them, blot me out. I know that Moses is
a type of Christ there, but the Lord is saying, you're not going
to tell me what I'm going to do. I'll be gracious to whom
I will be gracious. I'll show mercy on whom I will
show mercy. Sovereign mercy. Sovereign grace. You know, Paul used this in Romans
9. Would you turn with me there?
Hold your finger there in Exodus 33 and turn to Romans 9. This is where Paul got this. Paul was a student of the Old
Testament scriptures. Just like me and you ought to
be. In Romans chapter 9, beginning in verse 11, for the children
being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God according to election might stand. Now here's God's
purpose. That salvation might not be at
works. but of him that calleth." Well, I'm glad that's God's purpose,
aren't you? That's his purpose. Can you not be saved by your
works? Good for you. What a blessing for you. God's
grace. This is God's purpose. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger, as it's written, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. What should we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? That's everybody's natural response
to sovereign election. Well, that's not fair. That's
not fair. God forbid. For he saith to Moses,
I'll have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I'll have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then, It's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Is it necessary to preach this? Well, is it necessary to preach
what God says is his glory? Absolutely. And it is necessary
to preach this. God calls it his glory. Do you find this glorious? See, this is the only way you'll
be saved. If he has mercy on him, he will have mercy. Only
way you'll be saved, only way I'll be saved. And God calls
it his glory. Show me your glory. My goodness,
my attributes. I will be gracious to whom I
will. And I will show mercy. to whom I will. Verse 20. And he said, thou canst not see
my face. For there shall no man see me
and live. You know, this is quoted over
and over again in Scripture. You can't see my face. You can't
see my face. Even Moses. You can't handle
God absolute. You can't see my face in that
sense. You know, you know one of the biggest The biggest oxymoron
there is is casual worship. I'd sit up straight if I were
you. There's nothing casual about this. You can't see his face
and live. Verse 21, and the Lord said,
behold, there is a place by me and thou shalt stand upon a rock. That smitten rock was Christ,
but this is too. This is too. Thou shalt stand
upon a rock, and it shall come to pass while my glory passeth
by, that I'll put thee in a cliff of the rock. And I'll cover thee
with my hand while I pass by. And I will take mine hand, away
mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts, that my face shall
not be seen. God is spirit. He's not made
of parts, is he? This is given to accommodate
our human weakness. His back parts are his works. God is known by his works. And his great work was summarized by this statement,
it is finished. God is known by what he accomplished,
by what he actually did on Calvary Street. That cliff in the rock
is being in the Savior. His side from which flowed out
water and blood, justification and sanctification. And the only
way I can see him is from Christ being in him. Rock of ages, cleft for me, let
me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from
thy riven side which flowed be of sin the double cure. Safe from wrath, and make me
pure. Let's pray. Lord, in Christ's name, accept our thanksgiving for thy
glory. Lord, how we thank you for the
cleft in the rock, thy blessed son, and the revelation of your glorious
person and your glory in him. And Lord, we truly see our Redeemer
being nailed to the cross, dying and being raised from the dead
as your very glory. And Lord, that which you say
is your glory, by your grace, we rejoice in it. Bless this
word for the Lord's sake. In his name we pray, amen.