Moses' Prayer

I'm speaking to you today on
the subject, Moses' Prayer. I started to call this message,
Moses' Greatest Prayer, but I'm a little bit fearful of saying
this is the greatest prayer this most humble man on the earth
ever prayed, but this, this is a great prayer. And if you want
to follow in your Bibles, I invite you to turn to Exodus 33, verses
13 through 18. Exodus 33, verses 13 through
18. It'll do you a lot of good to
follow the scripture as I preach this message today. I think we're
going to, as one fellow used to say, hoe a little corn today. We're going to get down to where
we live. We're going to get down to the need of the creature.
Now, Moses had a tent. He had a tent which he pitched
outside the camp. It was far off from the camp,
away from the other tents, where the other people were. And this
was before the tabernacle was erected, this was before the
services of the tabernacle, before the tabernacle was built. Moses
had this tent, far out of the camp, and he called it the tent
of meeting. It was where Moses met God, and
where God met Moses. And the scripture says that when
Moses would go out to the tent of meeting, that the people would
all rise and stand in the door of their tents until Moses entered
the tent of meeting. And then they'd go on about their
business. And then the pillar of cloud, signifying God's presence,
would descend upon and hover over that tent of meeting, and
God would speak to Moses Face to face, that's what the scripture
says here, face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. This is
what our Lord was talking about, I believe, when he spoke there
in Matthew 5 of the prayer closet. Enter into thy closet, and shut
the door, and pray to thy Father in secret. The presence of the
Lord will surround you, and God will speak to you. and you can
speak to God face to face as a man speaks with his friend.
But Moses went out to the tenth meeting, and this particular
day Moses was extremely troubled, and he was extremely anxious,
and he presented to God a threefold request. And when I read this
threefold request, I'll tell you, I found as I read this passage
that I didn't just look on it as Moses' prayer, but honestly
from my heart, I looked on this as my prayer. And I thought,
let me bring that message to the people. Let me bring it to
the congregation. Let me present it to the people.
May, by God's grace, this be your prayer, too. Moses' prayer,
my prayer. Moses' prayer, your prayer. And
this threefold request. Now, I'm going to take it slowly.
I want you to turn to Genesis, or Exodus 33. Exodus 33, first
of all, verse 13. And here's the first request
in this holy place, in this tent of beating, in this secret hour,
when God's presence, signified by the pillar of cloud hovering
over that tent, and he spoke to Moses face to face as a man
speaks to his friend, and Moses presented a threefold request.
First of all, he said, Lord, Lord, if I have found grace in
your sight, Show me thy way, that I may know thee. Lord, if I have found grace in
thy sight, show me thy way, that I may know thee. Now here's the
request. Show me thy way, that I may know
thee. But look where Moses begins.
Look where this request begins. If I have found grace in thy
sight, You need not come to God any other way. You need not plead
any other foundation or any other grounds for God showing you his
way but grace. That's right. Moses didn't say,
now Lord, I left Egypt. And I went out in the wilderness,
and I stayed for years, and then I went down into Egypt, and I
led your people out, and I've been faithful, and I served you,
and you gave me the Ten Commandments, and I did all that you told me.
Now, Lord, I've done everything you told me to do, and I've given
my life to you, and I've served you, and I've done the best I
can. Now, I've gone to church, and I've tithed, and I've taught
Sunday school, and I've preached, and I've done all these things.
Now, Lord, show me your way." Foolishness. Moses worded this
thing right. He said, Lord, if I have found
grace in thy sight, show me thy way. It's not by works of righteousness
which we've done that God will show us anything. It's by his
mercy and by his grace. If I have found grace in thy
sight, this is the basis of all blessings. This is the basis
of all that God has ever bestowed upon a human being. Let me read
you some scripture. Genesis 6a. Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. Genesis 19.18, Lot cried, O my
God, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight. Thou hast saved
my life. Judges 6.17, Gideon prayed, Lord,
if I have found grace in thy sight, show me a sign that you
speak to me. Acts 15.11, Peter said, We believe. that we, through the grace of
the Lord Jesus Christ, shall be saved, even as the Gentiles. Through the grace, not through
our merit or works, through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15.10, Paul said,
by the grace of God, I am what I am. It was God's grace that
chose us. God didn't leave us in darkness
and leave us in depravity and leave us in sin. He chose us.
It's called the election of grace. That's right. There's a remnant
according to the election of grace. It was God's grace that
chose us. It was God's grace that redeemed
us. In whom we have redemption through his blood according to
the riches of his grace. It was his grace that called
us. God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me
by his grace. It is grace that supplies our
needs. Our Lord said, Paul, my grace
is sufficient for thee. Whatever the thorn, whatever
the trouble, whatever the trial, 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. So
this first request was based upon the right foundation. Lord,
Moses cried, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me thy
way, that I may know thee. Now, how does a man know God?
Our Lord Jesus Christ said, this is eternal life. John 17.3, this
is eternal life. that they might know thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." How does
a man know God? Jesus Christ reveals God, that's
how a man knows God. If you learn Christ, you learn
God. If you know Christ, you know
God. If you come to Christ, you come to God. If you worship Christ,
you worship God. Philip said, show us God, show
us the Father, and Christ said, Have I been so long time with
you, and thou hast not known me? He that hath seen me hath
seen the Father." Jesus Christ reveals God, for he and the Father
are one. He said, I and my Father are
one. And he said, no man knoweth the
Father save the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him. Show me thy way. I believe in
that hour God answered that prayer for Moses. And Christ later said,
Moses wrote of me. God showed Moses the way of redemption. God revealed Christ to Moses,
and Moses wrote of Christ. That's right. Show me thy way.
Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh
unto the Father but by me. He showed Abraham the way of
life. That he might know God. That he might know God in his
redemptive character. That he might know God as the
Savior. that he might know God Almighty
as Jehovah, God our Savior. Christ reveals God's purpose
to save, for he is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the
world. Christ reveals God's love. Herein is love, not that we love
God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation
for our sins. For God so loved the world, he
gave his Son. This is my beloved Son. Hear
ye Him. Christ reveals God. You want
to know God? Meet Christ. Christ reveals God's
holiness. Christ reveals God's power. Christ
reveals God's fullness. For the Scripture says, in Him
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. He's the
brightness of God's glory. He's the exact image of His person. He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. God was in Christ. reconciling
the world unto himself. So this is my prayer. Lord, if
I found grace in thy sight, and it'll have to be on that basis,
it won't be because I'm better than the fellow next door, down
the street, or I'm more holy, or more pious, or more righteous,
or more dependable, or more faithful, or more zealous for God's cause. God's not going to bless you
for that reason. Your righteousness is a filthy
rag. If I have found grace in thy
sight," that's the basis on which you bless Noah. You reckon you
can come just a step ahead of Noah? That's the basis on which
you bless Moses, Gideon, Paul, Peter. If I have found grace
in thy sight, show me thy way, that I may know thee. Now look
down at verse 15. Here's the second request, verse
15. And the Lord had promised Moses,
he said, Moses, my presence will go with you. And verse 15, Moses
presenting his second petition, he said, Lord, if your presence
go not with me, don't let me go. Carry me not hence. Now the Lord had promised Moses
that his presence would go with him. Egypt was behind him. And Canaan was way out there
in the future. But between Egypt and Canaan
was an awesome, awful wilderness. And this is what Moses is saying,
that long, hard wilderness journey is upon me, and Moses wanted
reassurance of the presence of God, and he said, Lord, if your
presence go not with me, I don't want to go. I don't want to go. Now, my friends, let's apply
that to you and to me. Heaven and all its glories are
awaiting every believer. That's right, we believe that.
But the wilderness journey of life is upon us, it's about us,
and this journey would be impossible without His presence. Yea, though
I walk through this valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil, for thou art with me. If he's not with me, I fear all
evil. I fear the evil one and all his
evil subtleties. I fear every trial. How does
a person without the foundation keep his footing? How does a
person without the refuge find any safety? How does a person
without Christ find any strength? How does a person without hope
in Christ find any comfort? I just don't know. Paul prayed
with God to remove a thorn which was disturbing him, and God said
to him, Paul, my grace is sufficient for thee, and that made it all
right. The praying stopped. The request stopped. Paul was
content with the thorn if he could have God's grace and God's
presence. And that's what Moses is saying
here, Lord, if you don't go with me, don't let me go. Not another
step. And I'll tell you something else
he was talking about. He was going to the land of Canaan.
That was his destination. And Moses was saying this, I
don't even want to go to the land of Canaan if you're not
going with us. Canaan would be no joy without
thy presence. Paul said this, I have a desire
to depart and be with Christ. You know, Paul never talked about
the Straits of Gold, the Gates of Pearl and Jasper and the mansions
in heaven. He never talked about those things.
Every time he talked about heaven, he talked about being with Christ. To be absent from the body is
to be present with the Lord. I have a desire to depart and
be with Christ, which is far better. Yes, sir. It doesn't
matter where we are. It doesn't matter what we have.
It doesn't matter who we're with. If God's not there, if God's
not there, content with beholding thy face, my pleasures all to
thy will resign. Any place I am," John Newton
said, a prison or a palace, a prison would be a palace if God dwelt
with me there. If God dwelt with me. And then
God's presence, listen to this, look down at verse 16. Moses
says, Lord, if you don't go with me, don't let me go. Because he says, if thy presence
go not with me, how shall it be known that I and thy people
have found grace in thy sight? Is it not that you are with us? In other words, Moses is saying
here, this is the evidence that we're his, that we're his people,
that he is ours. If his presence He says, Lord,
if you don't go with me, don't let me go, because how shall
it be known that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Is it not that you are with us?
This is the distinguishing characteristic. God is with us. Christ said,
I and my Father will come and dwell in you. We will take up
our abode in you. God's presence reveals God's
grace to us. All right, watch this, down there
in the same verse. God's presence also is that which
distinguishes true believers from all other people. That's
right. Listen to Moses, verse 16. Thy
presence with us separates us from all the people who are upon
the face of this earth. It's distinguishing grace. It's
separating grace. It's not that I wear my sleeves
longer than you that distinguishes me as a God's child. It's not
that I wear my hair in a different style. It's not that I wear a
uniform of religion. It's not that I talk in a high-pitched,
whiny voice and wear a silly smile all the time and carry
my hands like this that I reveal that I'm one of God's children.
It's God's presence. It's God's grace. That's what
distinguishes true believers. the presence of the Lord. Read
it. Verse 16, Exodus 33. How shall it be known that I
and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Well, let them
wear a certain kind of uniform. That'll make them Christians.
Or let them have a certain kind of pious walk. Or let them obey
certain rules and regulations. No, sir. Here's the way you distinguish
a true believer. Is it not that you are with us? Thy presence is with us. That's
what separates us from all the people on the face of the earth.
The presence of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. We are
His temple and His dwelling place. And people recognize that you've
been with Jesus. You've been with Jesus. And God
said, Moses, I'll go with you. I'll go with you. Now watch this.
Verse 17. Because you have found grace
in my sight. Don't you plead on any other
basis. That's the way this whole prayer is conducted. It's in
the secret place. It's between God and Moses, face
to face, friend with friend. And Moses says, Lord, if I found
grace in your sight, show me your way that I may know you.
And Lord, if you don't go with me, don't let me go. And God
says, I'll go with you. I'll go with you because you
found grace in my sight. That's why I'll go with you.
And I know you by name, Moses. I know you. And that leads us
to the third request. Now listen carefully to this,
verse 18. And Moses said, Lord, show me thy glory. Now my friends, the things that
Moses had seen was sufficient to satisfy the average person
for many lifetimes. Oh, he had seen, you talk about
miracles, you talk about seeing a demonstration of the power
of God, the reality of God's presence. Moses had seen the
burning bush, the bush that burned but was not consumed, the plagues
in Egypt. Think of all those plagues, how
many, ten of them? concluded by the death of the
firstborn when that horrible, awful midnight cry went up from
all over Egypt and death bested every family in every home, even
the cattle on the hillside from the Pharaoh's palace to the cows
out yonder on the hillside. And Moses saw the parting of
the sea. I hate to say it, but I'd expect
that'd satisfy you and me for a long time, wouldn't it? We'd
talk about that till we died. And then the manna falling from
heaven, and the rocks spurting forth its water, and the brazen
serpent, Moses had seen those things. But Moses wanted to see
God's glory, chief glory. Are you with me? He knew, evidently
Moses knew, more than we know, that these miracles and these
manifestations of power We're not the chief glory of God. Now, he knew that. Evidently,
he knew that because here he is, after all of these experiences,
he's praying, Lord, show me your glory. All right? Wherein lies the chief glory
of God? What's Moses asking for? This
is what I'm asking for. The same thing Moses asks. My
friends, I don't get excited when God heals someone who's
sick. All healing is of God. God giveth and God taketh away. God giveth life and God killeth. That's what the scripture says.
If anybody's healed, God heals him. If anybody's brought out
of the valley of death, God will bring him. If a life is taken,
God takes it. He's the author of life and death. I don't get real excited. People
get real excited when somebody who's been sick... I've seen
folks crippled. God made them walk. I've seen
people with blood diseases. Seen God heal them. I've seen
people with other sicknesses, we've prayed for them, anointed
them with oil, and God's healed them. That's nothing to get excited
about. God's almighty, he can do all
things. I've seen some folks we've prayed
for, they've died. God wasn't pleased to heal them.
God heals some, and God doesn't heal some. But that's not God's
chief glory. Moses knew that. Can you see
that? That's not the chief glory of God, showing off powers and
miracles and manifestations of his power. Show me your glory. And God said, verse 19, Exodus
33, look at it. And God said, I will cause all
my goodness to pass before thee. I will proclaim the name of the
Lord. I will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious. I will be merciful to whom I
will be merciful. Do you know what God's chief
glory is? Here it is right here. Moses had seen all of these miracles,
and here he is on his knees praying with God face to face. The man
talks to his friend, and he says, Lord, I want to see your glory,
your chief glory, your great glory. God said, all right, Moses,
all right. I'll show you my way. My presence
will go with you. I'm going to show you my glory.
I'm going to proclaim the name of the Lord, Jehovah. I will be gracious. I will be
merciful. I will send the Savior. I will
redeem the lost. I will seek and save the lost.
I will cause sinners to repent us. This is God's chief glory. It's His redemptive grace in
Jesus Christ our Lord. That's right. That's God's glory. And men who are out here preaching
divine healing and miracles and all these are not preaching the
greatest glory of God, the chief glory of God. You preach the
greatest glory of God and the cheap glory of God when you preach
redemptive grace in Jesus Christ, when you preach the cross. That's
the reason Paul, who healed more than anybody, who spoke in tongues
more than anybody, who was not one whit behind the greatest
apostle, that's the reason he said, I determined and know nothing
among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. You take your
message, but Christ crucified was Paul's message. Woe is unto
me if I preach not the gospel. God's greatest glory is his goodness,
is his grace, is his mercy toward sinners in Christ Jesus. He said
that himself in Exodus 33, 19. Moses says, show me your glory,
your great glory, your cheap glory. God said, all right, here
it is. I will be gracious. Sovereign grace, to whom I will
be gracious. I will be merciful. to whom I
will be merciful." Now, before our Lord went to the cross, in
the garden of Gethsemane, he played this way, "'Father, the
hour has come. Now glorify thy Son, that thy
Son may glorify thee. Glorify me with the glory which
I had with thee before the world was, that I may glorify thee.'"
That was done on the cross. Now my friends, the heavens declare
the creative glory of God. Heavens declare the glory of
God, the firmament showeth his handiwork, the creative glory.
History records the providential glory of God. But the cross,
and only the cross, reveals the redemptive glory of God. That in the ages to come, watch
this, That in the ages to come, he might show how many cancers
he's healed. No, sir. And in the ages to come,
he might show how many blind people he's given sight. No,
sir. That in the ages to come, he might show how many lame people
he made to walk, or crutches he broke, or people he healed. No, sir. That in the ages to
come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace. in his kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus, our Lord. That's what heaven
is going to be about. It's going to be to the praise
of the glory of his grace. I tell you, Exodus chapter 33,
verses 13 through 18, is some of the most beautiful, gracious,
and wonderful territory upon which you can walk. Take a stroll
there, will you? The threefold prayer of Moses,
Lord, show me thy way. If I found grace in your sight,
show me your way that I may know you. I don't want to perish defending
a profession of religion or a denomination or a system of doctrine. I want
to know God, don't you? And Lord, if your presence doesn't
go with me, don't let me go. And Lord, I want to see your
glory, your chief glory. I won't be satisfied until I
do. These messages are on cassette
tape. We'll send them to you if you
write for them. There's a small charge, but they're worth it.
You write, we'll send them to you. Join us next week at this
same time. This is Henry Mahan bidding you
a very pleasant good day.

Moses' Prayer

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Moses' Prayer

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