I didn't know how to entitle
this message that I'm going to bring to you this morning except
to call it Moses' Prayer. Now, that doesn't sound like
a very exciting message, but I believe it will be if you'll
stay with me, if you'll listen. Moses' Prayer. It's very significant
and very applicable to me and to you. Moses' Prayer. And the
text, I'm going to be speaking from Exodus, the book of Exodus. Chapter 33. Now, I'm not going
to read some verses here at the beginning of the message, as
we usually do. But I'm going to refer to some
verses as we bring the message. Verse 13, and verse 15, 16, 17,
verse 18, and verse 19 of Exodus 33. So, you turn over there in
your Bibles, and let me tell you a story before I begin the
message. I'm going to give you the background
of this Scripture, the background of this chapter, Exodus 33. Now
Moses, and all of you know who Moses was and what Moses did. Well, Moses had a special tent,
a special tent which he had pitched outside the camp of Israel on
the outskirts. Now this was not the tabernacle
because the tabernacle was not then erected. But this was a
special tent. It was far off from the other
tents. You know, the tabernacle was in the center of the camp
and all the other around him, but this little tent was outside
of the other tents, and Moses called it the tent of meeting.
It's called a tabernacle, but a tabernacle is a tent. When
Paul said that this tabernacle must be dissolved, he's talking
about this tent, talking about our human bodies that are just
as frail as a tent, subject to the winds of the world and easily
torn down. Well, Moses had a tabernacle,
a tent. which he called the Tent of Meeting. And the reason he
called that was this. This is where Moses went to pray. This was where Moses went to
talk with the Lord. This was where God met Moses,
and Moses spoke to God, and God spoke to Moses. This was the
Tent of Meeting, the place of private prayer. Now let me stop
right here and make just a comment. Are we not instructed of our
Lord, you and me, to enter into our closet and pray in secret. Well, that's what Moses was doing.
Now, I encourage public prayer. I love public prayer and I believe
public prayer is a part of worship just as praise and preaching
and giving and these other things. But I do solemnly and humbly
encourage, heavily, private prayer. That's where we do business with
God. That's where we meet with the Lord God. That's where we
pour out our hearts to Him. Moses went to the tent of meeting,
the place of privacy, the closet. And there he spake to God, and
God spake to him. And you know, our Lord said,
enter into your closet when you pray. Enter into your closet
and shut the door. Shut out the world. Shut out
the people. Shut out the distractions. And
your Father which seeth in secret, he'll bless you, he'll reward
you openly. Don't neglect private prayer.
If you've got to neglect one or the other, just cease to have
public prayer altogether. If you've got to neglect one
or the other. But don't you rob yourself of the blessings and
the power of private prayer, of calling on God. I know what
I'm talking about now. And I'm talking from the Scripture.
And that's the heart of it. That's the lifeline. That's the
lifeline. And while we put up with and
we encourage public prayer, but it's not even to be compared
with that private, intimate acquaintance with a living God. That's where
you live. That's where you get your strength. And Moses went
to the tent of meeting, and there he called on God. And I'm telling
you, you can't survive without it. You can't survive. Now, here's the second thing.
When Moses would go to that tent of meeting outside the camp,
All the people of Israel knew what was going on. And they would
rise and stand in the door of their tents until Moses entered
into that tent of meeting, into the presence of the Lord. And
then the cloud, the pillar of cloud, would descend upon that
tent, indicating the presence of the Lord. That cloud would
hover over that tent of meeting where Moses met with God. And
the Scripture says that God spoke to Moses Listen to this, face
to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And that cloud hovering
over that tent out there in the wilderness was an evidence of
the presence of God. And all the people would watch
Moses until he went into that tent, and then they'd all go
back into their tents, and Moses would speak to God, and Moses
would pray. Well, on this particular day,
When we read Exodus 33, on this particular day, Moses went to
the tent of meeting extremely, extremely troubled in spirit.
I know that he was by what took place. I know he was extremely
troubled, had such a heavy responsibility and burden, awareness of the
situation upon him. And he presented to God, he presented
to God a threefold request. You and I are allowed to eavesdrop. By the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit, by the writing of Scripture, we're allowed to eavesdrop on
this conversation between God and Moses. You think, you read
Exodus 33. I challenge you to read it. We just don't read the Bible
like we ought to, do we? And I challenge you to read this
with this background. Read Exodus 33 and you're allowed,
you think about this, you're allowed. This is something even
the Israelites in the wilderness weren't allowed to do. They didn't
know what Moses said or what God said, but you and me, well,
we can eavesdrop on God's conversation with Moses, and Moses in Exodus
33 presented a threefold request to God. And we'll give it to
you. And this special prayer of Moses
in Exodus 33 here is so significant, it's so significant that I urge
your undivided attention. It's so significant. And I can
say, I believe, truthfully and quite faithfully that what takes
place here is the very thing that I desire and that I covet
and for which I pray more than any other thing. Now, I'm thinking
very seriously when I make that statement. I'm not just preaching
now. I'm dealing with an experience.
Now listen to this. Here's the threefold request.
You look, if you will, at your Bible, verse 13. Moses said,
Now therefore, Lord God, I pray thee. See verse 13 there? You
got it? Exodus 33. Moses said, I pray thee, if I
have found grace in thy sight, request number one, show me now
thy way. that I may know thee, that I may know thee. Show me
thy way that I may know thee." Now, here's something significant,
and I bet you've never heard it brought out before because
most people don't pay attention to it. Look where the prayer
begins. Look where Moses begins with
his request. Moses doesn't say, now, Lord,
show me your way that I may know thee. No, sir, he precedes that
request with a statement. Did you ever notice that statement?
Lord, he said, if I have found grace in thy sight, then show
me thy way that I may know thee. Moses didn't say, Lord, I've
served thee faithfully all these years. And Lord, I went down
into Egypt and I obeyed you. I left my flock out there on
the mountainside and I went down into Egypt where you told me
to go. And I delivered the people out of Egypt as you commanded.
I did all these things. I've been faithful. I've served
you loyally. I've given them a time and talent
and tithe." No, sir. No, sir, he didn't. He began
where all prayer begins, ought to. He began where everything
ought to begin. Lord, if I have found grace,
if I have found grace in your sight, grace, undeserved favor,
Unmerited favor. If I have found this, my friend,
we'd better learn it. This is the fountain of all God's
blessings. This is the fountain of mercy.
It's all by grace, for by grace are you saved through faith and
that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God. A man can
receive nothing except it were what? Don't miss every word.
A man can receive nothing except he receives it from above. except
it be given him from above." We read the Bible, and we miss
the word. The gift of God is eternal life. It's a gift. You
don't buy it. You don't earn it. You don't
deserve it. Moses came to the place of meeting, that holy,
sacred, solemn place. He met God face to face, and
he said, Lord God, if I have found grace in Your sight, then
I've got a request. Can you get a hold of that? Well,
we'd better listen to the Scripture. This is the fountain of all mercy.
Genesis 6, 8, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, therefore.
Genesis 19, 18, even Olot prayed, O my Lord, O my Lord, thy servant
hath found grace in thy sight. Thy mercy has saved my life.
Gideon, Judges 6, 17, Gideon prayed. Lord, if I have found
grace in thy sight, show me a sign that you speak to me." Why don't
we hear people praying like that? People today pray like they expect
an answer, or deserve one, or ought to get one, or merit one. These men didn't pray that way.
Gideon. Gideon is a man God selected
to lead the 300. Lord, if I have found grace, in your sight, if,
we don't dare use the word if in reference to God, it's always
no so. We're presuming, we're walking
on forbidden territory, we're trespassing, we're whistling
by the cemeteries what we're doing. Peter said in Acts 15,
we believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall
be saved. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15,
I am what I am by the grace of God. You and I had better get
a hold of this truth. I wish we could. I wish we could. Old Moses, servant of God, meekest
of all men, triumphant, a conqueror, victorious, the whole nation
followed him. But when he came before God,
oh, he was fearless before the people and bold before the people
and courageous before the people and unbending. But when he came
before God, even his own God, he prayed like a little child,
Lord, if I have found grace in thy sight, would you show me
your way? It's grace that chose us, the
election of grace the Scripture talks about, the election of
grace, God's grace given to us in Christ before the world began.
It was grace that redeemed us. Listen to this verse. In whom
we have redemption through his blood according to the riches
of his grace. Of his grace. It was grace that
called us. Paul said, God separated me from
my mother's womb and called me by his grace. You weren't called
because of any distinction that you have among your fellow worms. It was grace that called you.
It was grace that supplied our every need. God said even to
Paul, my grace is sufficient. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now
I'm found. I was blind, but now I see. It
was grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed. Through many dangers, toils,
and snares, I have already come. It is grace that brought me safe
thus far, and grace will lead me home. Lord, if I found grace... You say, you're hanging on that
a long time. Well, you better learn this. You know, you're
saying the other, if you don't learn this. Because it's the
gift of His grace. If you ever know Christ, it'll
be by grace. If you ever love Christ, it'll
be by grace. If you ever wind up in the way
of life, it'll be by God's grace. It won't be because of something
you gave God, but something God gave you. If I have found grace
in thy sight, what do ye ask for? Show me thy way. Show me thy way, that I may know
thee. How does a man know God? How
does a man get in God's way? Show me your way, that I may
know thee. You're not going to know God
going your way. You're not going to know God going the denomination's
way. You're not going to know God
going some preacher's way. You're going to know God by going
His way. He said, show me your way that I may know you. Walk
in your way, I'll know you. Know God. Well, our Lord Jesus
Christ said, I am the way. I am the way. No man cometh to
the Father but by me. God's revealed in Christ. That's
how you know God. He's God's way. And walking in
Him, you know God. John 10, 30, he said, I and my
Father one. Another scripture, he said, No
man knoweth the Father save the Son, and he to whom the servant
of the Son will reveal him. Philip said, Well, Lord, show
us the Father, and we'll be satisfied. He said, Philip, Philip, have
I been with you this long, and you don't know me? He that hath
seen me hath seen God. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. Moses wanted to see Christ. Show
me your way that I may know thee. He wanted to see God's righteousness,
God's sacrifice, God's salvation. Christ is the brightness of God's
glory. Christ is the express image of
God's person. Learn Christ and you learn God.
Love Christ and you love God. Come to Christ, you come to God.
Worship Christ, you worship God. Deny Christ and miss God. It's just that plain. But it
all is the gift of grace. Moses, hear him, Lord if I found
grace. Because it's a revelation of
grace. Now then, let's go to this second
request. Let's listen a little closer. And God said, I'll do
what you say. You'll know my way. If a man
wants to know God's way, he'll know it. We want our way. All we like sheep have gone astray.
We've turned everyone to what did it say? His own way. That's what we're... There's
a way that seemeth right unto men. The end is destruction.
God said, My ways are not your ways. Not your ways. You missed it. You missed it.
But you want your way. Well, have it. But Moses didn't
want his way. He said, if I found grace, if
I'm an object of grace, would you show me your way that I may
know you? Could you forget your tradition
long enough to look to God in sincerity and honesty and cry
out to know God's way? And I don't care how God reveals
it to me or through whom He reveals it, I want to know God's way
that I may know God. And secondly, Verse 15, you got
it there, Exodus 33, verse 15. He said, Lord, listen to this.
This just gripped my soul when I looked at it today. Lord, if your presence go not
with me, then carry me not hence. That's what he's saying. If you
don't go with me, if your presence is not with me, I don't want
to go. And what's he talking about?
Well, Egypt was behind him. That's settled. Egypt's behind
him. That's a fact. They come out of Egypt. They
left Egypt. Egypt's behind them. Egypt's gone and forgotten. The
promised land was before them. It was in the future. In the
future. The long, hard wilderness was
upon them. That's what Moses is talking
about. The long, hard wilderness of 40 years is upon them. And
Moses wanted reassurance. of the presence of the Lord on
this difficult journey. Lord, he said, if your presence
go not with us, don't even let us go. Now this is a picture
of my experience and a picture of yours. Are you with me? We
who have been saved by God's grace, we've been saved. Egypt's
behind us. Sin, the world, we've been delivered
from the curse of the law, condemnation of the law, from the penalty
of sin, from the power of sin, from the practice of sin, he's
just behind us. And heaven is certainly before
us, the promised land, the land of joy and gladness and the land
of God's presence and God's glory is before us. But do you know
what's upon us? Contrary to what most of the
modern preachers are trying to preach, the wilderness journey
of life is right here with us, and I'm talking about 20, 30,
40, 50, 60, 70 years. I don't know how long you're
going to live, but I know however long you're going to live, you're
going to walk through a barren, bleak, and pagan, heathen, sin-infested
world. And you're going to be subject
to the trials and tribulations and temptations and attacks of
Satan and of men, trials sent by God. And you better pray that
same prayer in your private closet right now. Lord, if you don't
go with me, I'm done for. I don't even want to go. That's
what... Listen to Paul. When he talked
about that thorn in the flesh, he cried, Lord, remove this thorn. Three times he prayed. And the
Lord Jesus Christ said to him, Paul, my grace is sufficient. It's sufficient for any thorn.
It's sufficient for any trial. It's sufficient for any testing.
It's sufficient for any tribulation. It's sufficient for any affliction.
It's sufficient for any infirmity. And David wrote, though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, I'm walking through
it right now. I've walked through it this day and I'll walk through
it tomorrow. What do I need? Though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I fear no evil because I'm going to
depend on positive mental attitude. I'm going to depend upon, I'm
okay, you're okay. I'm going to depend upon a positive
thinking. No, sir. No, sir. He said, I
fear no evil because thou art with me. Thou art with me. Thou art with me." Our Lord said,
I will not leave you. He said, Lo, I'm with you always,
even to the end of the earth. And that makes everything all
right. And that's what Moses is asking here. He's saying,
Lord, if Your presence does not go with us, carry us not hence. And then look at verse 16. This
is very significant. Moses says, How shall it be known
that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight, if thou goest
not with us." If we don't have your presence, what evidence
do we have that we found grace in your sight? What evidence
do we have? We don't have any, if your presence
is not. The presence of the Lord with
us is evidence that we found grace in his sight. He that hath
not the Spirit is none of his. That's exactly right. Every believer
has the presence of God and the indwelling Holy Spirit. If he
doesn't, he's not saved. That's what Moses is saying here.
If your presence do not with us, then we haven't found grace
in your sight. Watch this. Look at verse 16
again. Your presence separates us from
the other people on the earth. Your presence distinguishes us
as your people. Particular people, particular
grace. The presence of the Lord is an
evidence of the grace of the Lord, and it distinguishes and
separates God's people from the people of the world. And God
said, Moses, verse 17, I'll do for you what you ask. You've
found grace in my sight. Now, you may feel that I will
emphasize this matter about God's grace in relation to God's blessing.
But you know, when I started this message off, The first request,
Moses started it with this prayer. If I have found grace in your
sight, show me your way. When he made those two requests,
then God said in verse 17, I'll do what you ask. You found grace
in my sight. He closed it with the same thing
Moses opened it with. That's the reason. Because, now
what's the third request? One more request. And he said,
Lord, show me your glory. Show me your glory." Now, the
things that Moses had seen, have you ever thought about the things
he'd seen? The magnificent things that Moses had seen were sufficient
for most people, would be sufficient for most people. Moses saw the
bush that burned and was not consumed. We'd spend the rest
of our lives talking about that. That's all God had to show most
of us, just show us a bush that burned that wasn't consumed.
We'd advertise ourselves as holding special meetings. The fellas
saw the bush burned, it wasn't consumed, you know, and everybody
would come hear us, and we'd tell it ten thousand times. And
the plagues, and the death of the firstborn, Moses saw that.
And the Red Sea divided. Think what an eyewitness of the
dividing of the Red Sea, what a crowd he'd get in this day
of so little power, and so little demonstration of God's power.
Boy, boy, I tell you, we'd be satisfied with that, wouldn't
we, or the manna from heaven. Or the rock. A fellow can heal
somebody of a twisted ankle and pack auditories for several months,
you know. That's all we need. But Moses,
though he'd seen all that, he said, Lord, show me your glory. I want to see your glory. I know
that these wonders and miracles are not your chief glory. I want
to see your glory. I want to see the glory of God.
The chief glory of God. That glory of God. of which he
spake in the beginning, and which he will speak in the end." What
is that glory? God said, verse 19, Moses, I
will cause all my goodness, God's goodness is His glory, His goodness,
His grace is His chief glory. Not the miracles, but His grace. I'll cause all my goodness to
pass before you. I will proclaim the very name
of the Lord before you. Moses, I will be gracious to
whom I will be gracious. I will show mercy to whom I will
show mercy. God's greatest glory is His redemptive
glory. You better learn this. God's
greatest glory is His redemptive glory. Grace to the guilty, mercy
to the miserable. God lifting the fallen, God opening
the spiritually blind eyes and spiritually deaf ears and raising
spiritually dead people. from the grave. That's God's
greatest glory. Christ prayed, listen, I finished
the work you gave me to do. Now, Father, do what? Glorify
thou me with the glory which I had with thee before the world
was. Before the world was. Before
there was any cancer or heart trouble or broken legs. Before
the world was. I want the same glory I had.
And that glory is given to Christ in the finishing of and the accomplishment
of, sufficiently and effectually, the work the Father gave Him
to do. And that's not straight and crooked limbs, but straight
and crooked hearts and lives, and bringing them to the knowledge
of God. Heavens declare the creative glory of God. History records
the providential glory of God. God said to Pharaoh, for this
same purpose have I raised you up, I might show my glory in
you. And the cross reveals the redemptive glory of God. That in the ages to come, He
might show the exceeding riches of His grace toward us in Christ
Jesus. What a prayer. If I found grace
in your sight, show me your way. Send your presence with me and
show me your glory. Now, I have this message on tape.
It's entitled, Moses Prayer. Moses Prayer. And on the other
side is the message, Jesus Christ and Him Crucified. And I'll send
this tape to you for $2 donation. That's what it costs us to put
it out and send it to you. If you want it right to us, the
address will be given to you right there on the screen. Until
next week, goodbye and God bless you.