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 everyone
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 worshiped 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 the Lord, and Moses said
to the Lord, I 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 may 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. God show him 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 shown him His way. Look back at verse 12. That's
it. Verse 12. Moses said to the Lord,
verse 12, See, thou sayest 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, O my Lord,
thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, thy mercy hath
saved me. I found grace in your sight and
your mercy saved me. That's what Lot prayed. One time, Tom Hardy went over
to Rocky Mount, Virginia to preach and to preach to this church
that didn't have a pastor. Jim Byrd 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 a 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. Old 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. Well,
the fellow didn't stop. He said, 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 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, is 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've got to find him. It's time to start
church. 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.
It's time to preach. Well, go tell him to come preach.
Not me. Why? He was praying. He was praying. Well, it's time to pray and it's
time to preach. It's 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 I was 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 pleasant
as May. Content with beholding his face,
My awe to his 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. At least 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 height, 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 it wasn't done
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
fast 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 say it. 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. or being 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 pleased, 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 at all. 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 would 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 pie. We prophesy in pie. We preach in pie. 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 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
somewhere, but he was preaching. He gave this illustration. He
said there was an Irish preacher preaching in an open air situation,
people gathered all around the town and he had a pulpit there
and he was preaching. And there were 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 us. You know what 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. Brother Paul