Water | Fire | Stone - Session 15 (OC)

lord we are speechless lord in your presence lord we too just lord are just dumbfounded when we behold you in your glory lord lord we do want to lift up our praise and we want to give you our everything this morning lord because truly lord you are worthy of all glory and honor and praise lord we want to tune our hearts towards heaven lord we want to pray lord that you would speak lord for your servant hears lord we just pray lord just as those morning glories await the rise of the sun and they open up and display their beauty so we wait and readiness for you god to open our eyes to the revelation of your glory as our faces are turned towards you god so lord we turn our hearts towards you lord we lift our our eyes towards heaven lord and lord we pray that you would open up your word to our hearts lord and truly lord we would behold you in your glory this morning thank you lord and we love you thank you truly you inhabit the praises of your people so lord we know you are here this morning we welcome you in our midst in jesus name amen amen wow i could just go to heaven right now i think right wow and i think that isn't that probably how moses felt when he experienced chap this this portion of scripture you know last week we were given such an amazing message by our sweet tiffany lor in chat in exodus chapter 33 but it was a bit of a cliffhanger wasn't it we kind of were cut off mid-stream and we see in exodus 34 is actually the response of moses's request of god in chapter 33 when moses prayed please lord show me your glory please lord please show us your glory and isn't that what we prayed this morning that the lord would reveal himself to us and show us his glory and you know you think why did moses need to see more of the glory of god hadn't moses already seen enough what did moses already see he already saw god in the burning bush the bird the bush that burned but wasn't consumed he had already seen him as he put that rod into the waters and the waters would part when the waters would turn to blood when he saw the ten plagues when he saw israel released from the um from their enemies of egypt he saw them go free he saw um god part the red seas before him as he stepped their foot into the red sea they walked upon dry ground he saw the pillar of cloud by day and he saw the pillar of fire by night he saw manna come from heaven he saw the quails come down he saw water from a rock and moses prays lord show me your glory right if any one of those things would have happened in my midst that would be enough to carry me through a lifetime right but right what tiffany shared with us last week the more that moses had of god the more that he wanted right moses wanted god to show him his glory what is glory that word in the old testament in the hebrew is kabod and i don't think i'm pronouncing that right and in the new testament it is doxa it means weight it's weighted substance it means god's unchanging essence all that makes up god all that is excellent in the divine nature that true apprehension of god what he is in essence when we give glory to god we are ascribing to god his full recognition god tells moses in chapter 33 i will proclaim the name of the lord before you you know some of the most powerful and life-changing studies that i have done throughout my life here have been those that have been centered on the names of god and those that have studied his character and those that have studied his attributes god's name reveals his character what we know and believe about god affix affects absolutely everything that we do everything that we say and everything that we are we are experiencing doubts in our life if we have despair if we are disillusioned then maybe we need a clear revelation of our lord and his character are we experiencing a lack of faith or a lack of trust then maybe we need to know our god on a deeper and more intimate level daniel 11 32 says the people who know their god shall stand firm and take action we don't want to be wandering or floundering like the israelites wandering in the desert and choosing other things to satisfy their cravings but besides god we want to be those that know our god jeremiah 9 23 and 24 says thus says the lord let not the wise men glory in his wisdom let not the mighty man glory in his might nor the rich man glory in his riches but let him who glories glory in this that he understands and he knows me that i am the lord exercising loving kindness judgment and righteousness in the earth for in these i delight says the lord do we know him do we really know him in as god proclaims his word to us throughout scriptures as he proclaims to us who he is he is beckoning us to come he is saying be still and know that i am god he's saying draw near to me and what does he promise i will draw near to you he says seek me and what will happen we will find him and he says call upon me and i will answer you he says discover who i am and what better place to discover who god is than by reading the words that god himself says about god himself right so we bring ourselves here to chapter 34 and what is he start to tell moses at the very beginning of this chapter he says be ready right um let's re start reading if you haven't already open up your bibles to chapter 34 and verse one we're just going to read the first four verses for now and the lord said to moses cut two tablets of stone like the first ones and i will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke why did moses break the first tablet because the people had broken his covenant right so he says be ready in the morning and come up in the morning to mount sinai and present yourself to me there on the top of the mountain and no man shall come up with you and let no man seen be seen throughout all the mountain let neither flocks nor herds feed before that mountain so we cut two tablets of stone like the first ones then moses rose early in the morning and went up to mount sinai as the lord had commanded him and he took in his hand the two tablets of stone moses went up to the mountain who no one went with moses no flocks no herds no children nobody moses went up by himself and he went up by himself with the tablets god said be ready and he was to be there all by himself into that mountain to meet with god and i thought about that can you just feel that holy hush upon the mountain as moses waits to hear and he waits to see god's glory that holy hush god wants to speak to us on that mountaintop he wants to reveal to us who he is and he says be still and know that i am god i know so often it's hard for me to be still but and i so often when i try to study i've got either jackhammers going outside my alleyway or there's construction noises and there's all these things but god says to moses take none of those noises with you i don't want anything to distract from you from hearing my voice steal your heart prepare your heart be ready because i'm going to speak to you i am going to show you michael my glory so my first point in this three point message is god reveals his glory when we look back at exodus chapter 33 and verse 18 moses said please show me your glory then he said i will make all my goodness pass before you and i will proclaim the name of the lord before you i will be gracious to him i will be gracious and i will have compassion on whom i have compassion but he said you cannot see my face for no one shall see me and live and the lord said here is a place by me and you shall stand on the rock so it shall be while my glory passes by that i will put you in the cleft of the rock and i will cover you with my hand while i pass by and then i will take away my hand so you shall see my back but my face shall not be seen wheresby says that this word back carries the idea of what remains that is the afterglow of the glory of god what was left over after god passed by and since god is a spirit he doesn't have a body like we as humans have and these are only human representations of those divine truths about god but i loved reading what spurgeon wrote about this scene too he says we cannot see god and live all that we can ever see of god is what he called his back parts the words he says signify that regal train of god when we think of isaiah before the lord what did he see i saw the lord seated high and lifted up and the train of his robe filled the temple with glory we are seeing the back parts of his glory the regal train that god leaves behind him and then he says you have seen kings have regal trains trailing behind them and all we can ever see of god is his train that floats behind him the sun that burns in the heavens with all of its brilliance or radiance you think he's bright you look upon him and he dazzles you but all his splendor is but a single thread in the regal skirts of the robe of deity you have seen night wrapped in her sable mantle woven with gems and stars there they shine as ornaments worked by the needles of god and that brilliant piece of tapestry which is spread over our heads like a tent for the inhabitants of the earth to dwell in and you have said oh how majestic that star that comet that silver moon how splendid yet they are nothing but just a tiny portion of the skirts of god that drag in the dust the glory of god his back parts the afterglow of god as he walks by this is what moses beheld his glory is so brilliant that the sun pales in comparison the glory of god where was moses when this was going on it says god hid moses in the cleft of the rock as he proclaimed his name before him only when we are hidden in the cleft of the rock can we behold the glory of god jesus is our rock and we are hidden in him we can behold his nature and his essence and his character in verse 5 of exodus 34 says now the lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the lord and the lord passed before him and proclaimed the lord the lord god merciful and gracious long-suffering and abounding in goodness and truth keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin by no means clearing the guilty visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation moses pro or god proclaimed his name before moses and what did he say he said the lord that word is yahweh yahweh or jehovah we don't know because we just have the vowels for it right we call it that tetragrammaton there's no vowels but that true pronunciation we don't quite know because the um the um the observant jews they stopped pronouncing his name after the temple of solomon was was destroyed and so they refused to pronounce that name that name that was so holy that they couldn't even utter and so instead they might call it hashem the name or the holy one or they would substitute that name adonai instead of jehovah or yahweh as we call him today that word means that self-existent one self-existent god himself father son holy spirit he needs nothing but himself to exist he himself is enough to exist before the earth was god was in existence all by all by himself he is the unchanging eternal self-existent gods he needs nothing he doesn't need more wisdom he doesn't need more knowledge he doesn't need more sight because he already is knowledge he already is wisdom he needs nothing to exist because he is and have has everything already within himself he is the i am the i am that i am that he as he revealed himself to moses in the burning bush he is the covenant keeping god this is the name that was known to israel as as their this um was their covenant keeping god i am he who was i am he who is now and i am he who is to come because he is the god of the past he has our past in his hands because he is the god of the present he has our present in his hands because he is the god of the future he knows everything that is going to transpire in our lives and he has us in his hands he has our future in his hands in him we have life and breath and all things we have everything that we need in him because he is everything he is the lord god he has said i am the lord and i am the lord god jehovah l the lord the strong god a god of almighty power himself and the origin of all power this teaches us a holy reverence for his name he is our great god but then he goes on to tell us he's not only our great god but he's our good god right we see in this he is and i love um proverbs 18 10 it says the name of the lord is a strong tower the righteous run into it and they are safe he is our mighty god that we can run into and we can find safety and security at all times whatever is going on in our lives we can run into his name are we in need of grace and mercy today we can run to that name and find all that we need he said he is that merciful god he is full of compassion or that word means tenderly pitiful psalm 78 verses 37 and 38 says their hearts were not loyal to him they did not keep his covenant yet he was merciful and forgave their sins and did not destroy them all many times he held back his anger and did not unleash his fury we know that word mercy means not getting what we do deserve right god holds back what we deserve he doesn't give us his dessert or just desserts i love reading the new testament god delights in showing mercy for mercy triumphs over judgment god is gracious that word gracious means to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior to favor or to bestow giving to the undeserving we are so undeserving grace cannot be bought it cannot be earned and it cannot be won i love what it is in ephesians 1 6 through 8 to the praise of his glorious grace which he has freely given to us in the one he loves in him we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of god's grace that he lavished upon us i love that god lavishes his grace upon us he loves to find vessels whom he can lavish his grace upon god is giving and giving and giving again second corinthians 9 8 says god is able to make all grace abound towards you hold on didn't go away grabbing a tissue okay he is long-suffering he is slow to anger and he delays the execution of his justice he waits to be gracious and strengthens out the offers of his mercy second peter 3 9 said the lord isn't slack concern in his promise as some count slackness but is long-suffering towards us not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance so often with the way the world is now we just pray lord jesus come right come now but god waits he is carrying because he is waiting for one last soul to come to know him god is patient he is long suffering he's long suffering with me he waited for me did he wait for you right he waited for you he waits for me he is abounding in goodness that word can be translated either love loving kindness or kindness in the niv it says it's an act of kindness love or mercy shown to someone this word is central to god's character it's closely tied to his covenant with his chosen people isaiah 54 8 says in an outburst of anger i hid my face from you for a moment but with everlasting loving kindness i will have compassion on you says the lord your redeemer are you gathering a theme how god is revealing himself to moses and to the children of israel this these people who had so rejected him and so blown it was this what they needed to know about god right now yes this is what they needed to know right now about their god and then he says he is the god that is abounding in truth or faithfulness that word can mean firmness stability or faithfulness second timothy 2 13 if we are unfaithful he remains faithful for he cannot deny who he is it's the very essence of his character right is faithfulness that means we can trust every word he says every promise he gives every decree he makes we can stand on it we can know it is sure instead fought steadfast and we can bank our very souls upon every word that god says god is faithful and he will be faithful he will be faithful to us to carry out all who he is to us and all that he will do for us that word abounding abounding in in goodness abounding in truth he is abounding it's like there he i love 30 psalm 36 5 your love o lord reaches to the heavens and your faithfulness to the skies gail irwin who wrote several books says he that word abounding means not merely adequate but abounding is this great god of glory he has barns and silos full of love and faithfulness he is stacking it in the streets waiting and looking for a distribution system are you waiting are you waiting for that god it's abounding and he is just looking to give it out to us keeping mercy for thousands his mercies are never exhausted enough to go around enough for all who cry out and he is the god of the second chances he keeps mercy for thousands how there was millions there with moses god was going to keep his mercy for them oh lamentations 3 22-23 says though through the lord's mercies we are not consumed because his compassions they fail not they are new every morning great is his faithfulness do you count on those new mercies every day i know i do i need fresh mercies every day because i blow it every day and i need that fresh mercy and then it says that god is the one who forgives iniquity transgression and sin god forgives all types of sin right the big sins the medium sins and the small sins in our eyes right all sin separates us from god god forgives all sin micah 7 18 and 19 says who is a god like you pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage he does not retain his anger forever because he delights in mercy he will again have compassion on us and will subdue our iniquities you will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea and i love what corey ten boom says he posts a no fishing sign a no fishing allowed sign at the depths of the sea right we can't go there because it's so deep we cannot find them while moses and the children of israel had to continually offer up sacrifices for their sins jesus died for our sins once and for all all our sins all of them romans 6 10 for the death that he died he died to sin once for all all the past sins all the present sins and all the sins that i will commit in the future jesus died for each and every one of those sins and then he says by no means clearing the guilty you know so often we view god's patience and his long-suffering for indifference to sin but that's not the case there is going to come a day our holy god whose eyes are too holy to look upon sin who hates sin and the separation that it brings the destruction and the hurt that it brings he's the one that made provision for that sin to be judged upon that cross where all my sin was taken and it was heaped upon christ's shoulders not only mine but all the sins of the whole world was there and when jesus cried out my god my god why has that forsaken me it was because of my sin that was there that he was bearing that weight upon his shoulders so here at the cross what do we see we see the grace and the mercy and we see the justice of god all meet together right we're god in his grace as he gave his only begotten son for me so that if i believe on him as i look to that cross i can live and i can have that everlasting life and in his mercy he can take my sins and cast them as far as the east is from the west because he's taken and he's satisfied his justice by laying them upon christ's shoulders all that glory meets at the cross where i can behold him at the foot of the cross but there will be a time when all those who have entrusted in him though those who have rejected his gracious pleadings to come to him that there will be a day of reckoning for that sin where he will judge with righteous judgment it says in righteousness he judges and makes war he will right every wrong and there is a day coming where god's wrath will be poured out on a christ-rejecting world and until that day we need to occupy till he comes right until that day we need to be out there and pleading with others to know the name of our god it is jesus who reveals god's glory to him as we see him hidden in the cleft of the rock it is jesus who is that glory of god in john 1 12 and 14 says in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was with god well the word was god he was in the beginning with god and the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory is of the only begottens of the father full of grace and truth jesus is the glory of god in my second point is moses responds to god's glory we look at verse 8 moses what was the response that moses gave to god's glory when the lord revealed to him who he was and revealed to him his character what did moses do it new living translation says moses immediately threw himself to the ground and he worshipped he worshipped that word worship chica to prostrate oneself in homage or royalty or to god to bow down to crouch to fall down to sink down to humbly besiege it's that way of showing submission one person william temple wrote this i wish i had it on the screen for you to see to worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of god to feed the mind with the truth of god to purge the imagination by the beauty of god to open the heart to the love of god to devote the will to the purpose of god isn't that beautiful love that to worship is so much more than just offering god lip service right so much more god wants me to come before him and he says devote my whole self as moses laid himself on the ground it was just saying here i am lord all of me take me lord romans 12 1 i urge says i urge you in view of god's mercy to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice this is your true and proper worship right god wants us to bow our hearts to him not just our lips so often in in worship service i can daydream and just be singing with my lips but my heart and mind can be so far from him god wants all of me he wants me to offer up myself to him first chronicles 16 29 says give to the lord the glory do his name bring an offering and come before him o worship the lord in the beauty of holiness bring an offering what does he want he wants all of me right we know in the gospels we read of mary of bethany she broke that alabaster flask we knew mary who was accustomed to sitting at the feet of jesus and hanging on his every word but we read of her as she broke this flask this perfume this was probably her dowry and she took him and she gave her most priceless possession and as she's sitting at his feet she took that and she anointed him with oil and she it says the scripture says that she worshipped him by wiping his feet with her hair she poured that oil upon him where mary worshipped him with everything that she had and the whole house was filled with the fragrance of her worship right where we wherever we go is the room filled with the fragrance fragrance of our worship to the lord is our worship coming from our heart and rising as a sweet aroma to his throne you know before i go to the lord in the mor with my grocery list of prayers i need to first look at him behold his glory see him for who he is as he reveals himself to me through his word and as i fall on my face before him in worship before i come and offer up what i want him to do i need to see him who he is and how does that change my perspective from my prayers that i might pray after i see him i can pray with eyes full of faith i can pray with eyes full of confidence because i know that my god is able he is able to do all he said he can do then verse 9 moses next response was if now i found grace in your sight o lord let my lord i pray go among us even though we are a stiff-necked people and pardon our iniquity and our sin and make us your inheritance moses again mediates on behalf of the people right in this we can see that axe model of prayer that you always pray at the end of your study which is so great he saw the lord and he saw in himself his own unworthiness he thanks god for his grace if i had found grace in your sight lord pardon our iniquity he associated himself with the people and said not just their iniquity but mine too i acknowledge in light of who you are how short i've fallen and i'm on my face before you lord and then he says pardon our iniquity and take us as your inheritance lord renew that covenant that you've made with us oh moshe um god moses worships god he confesses his people sin and he pleads for that forgiveness and then what do we see god's response to moses's pleadings he writes what god has given him or i'm sorry we see the next response he writes what god has given him in exodus 34 27 then the lord said to moses write down these words for in accordance with these words i have made a covenant with you and with israel as god spoke so moses wrote and i think so often we come to god not expecting him to speak but god said come with pen in hand be ready because i want to speak to you oh how thankful i am for the sacrifice of moses as he spent that time in god's presence no food no water once again for 40 days and 40 nights and we have that written word because moses came with pen in hand right we have the first five books of the bible because moses was ready to write how thankful i am for the apostle paul who was imprisoned and while he was in prison penned those beautiful epistles that so challenged me and strengthened me and gave me life and and encouragement when i need it they're inspired by the holy spirit they mold me how thankful i am for the sacrifice of those classic authors such as charles spurgeon who says many of those things that he wrote were between those hours of four and eight in the morning who came with pen in hand and i can glean those great treasures and insights into the understanding of the word and the character of god how thankful i am for our pastors through pour over the word of god and write down all that he has spoken to them so that they can feed and instruct their flocks and how thankful i am for our precious leah here in the front row as she spends countless hours every week alone with god sacrificing many times that she could be out with friends and doing things just so she can hear his voice speak write down what he says and give us the tools that we need so we can dig and write down for ourselves what god is speaking to us through his word when i come to meet with god i need to come with pen in hand right god not only wants to hear us speak to him but he longs to reveal himself to us to come without would be like praying for rain and not bringing an umbrella right we need to expect god to speak and then we read in in verse 28 god moses remained there on the mountain with the lord 40 days and 40 nights and all that time he ate no bread and drank no water and the lord wrote the terms of the covenant the ten commandments on the stone tablets moses wrote but god wrote as well and god is the one that wrote those ten commandments and renewed that covenant with israel and my point number three and boy am i i'm getting really late in this but we're going to go we're going to say we're gonna do it moses reflects god's glory you know the moon gives no light of its own right when we see the brilliant moon in the darkened sky the only light it brings is the light of the reflected sun this time that moses had with god 40 days and 40 nights no food no water just the pure presence of god just god giving moses his word man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of god god miraculously sustained moses on that mouth with nothing but his life-giving word himself that self-existent words that word is moses's face he came down from the mountain it says his face shone it says that word shone means he shot forth beams of light moses could shine because he spent time in the presence of god he had long looked upon the face of god moses when he came down was not aware that his face was glowing he didn't see that the glory of his own face because he had he didn't see the glory in his own face because he had seen the glory of god and when you see that perfect purity then you see the taintedness of your own self moses didn't see his own glory because he was more concerned with the other spaces than for his so often we don't shine god's glory because we are so consumed with our own glory that self hides the glory of god the more of me the more of god the less of self the more of god moses was willing to have his own name blotted out of the book for the sake of others could we say that are our life so invested in others that we lose ourselves he must increase but i must decrease they were afraid of moses when he came down right why were they afraid of moses's glowing countenance john 3 19 and 20 says this is the condemnation that the light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil for everyone practices evil hates the light and does not come to the light lest his deeds should be exposed so often the world doesn't like our light they don't want to hear what we have to say but that doesn't mean that we aren't to shine any ways we are to be living epistles second corinthians 3 2 and 3 says you are our epistle written in our hearts known and read by all men clearly you are an epistle of christ ministered by us written not with ink but by the spirit of the living god not on tablets of stone but on tablets of the flesh that is of the heart we are to be those ones that reflect god's glory god wants to reveal his glory to the world through us he wants us to shine the um moses veiled himself because the people had their hearts veiled towards god the glory of the old testament of the old covenant was fading but the glory of the new testament of grace was not fading into the unfading glory we can read about that in 2 corinthians chapter 3. god wants us to come to him with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the lord and be transformed into his same image from glory to glory just as by the spirit of the lord god wants us to be changed in his presence he wants us to be the light of the world that city that is set on a hill that cannot be hidden he wants us to shine he doesn't want us to hide our lamp under a basket under a basket but he wants us to put it on a lampstand and give light to all so that everyone can see it he wants our light to so shine before men that they could see our good works and glorify our father who is in heaven do people see jesus in me am i reflecting our jesus you know i think there was um a good friend of mine and ours who is no longer here she is in the presence of jesus and i when i think of her face i see a face that reflects the glory of god when i she wrote us a letter and she was in her she was in the last stages of cancer and she says she addresses it oh my precious ones i love our jesus so much i can't even imagine holding jesus i can't even imagine loving him more i can't even imagine any more love in my heart for him and yet he keeps expanding my heart he is so precious to us he laid with me yesterday in the mri for an hour as my body was in so much pain i wasn't allowed to move at all as they needed to get the scans to start my radiation treatment i could almost hear him breathing as he held me next to his heart and said be still genie and know i am your god i am with you i will never leave you i love you he was myth with me when it was the toughest i kept thinking of him on the cross and taking the stripes on his back so we could be healed his love is what sustains me i kept thinking of just being in poland and watching the holy spirit save so many more souls what a great gift the lord gave our family in being able to go to the festival of life and watch jesus lifted up and accepted by so many i know this is a new assignment when i was in auschwitz my heart was broken in a new way i was alone in the gas chambers where millions of people perished the evil was still so present reflecting satan's present i could hardly breathe so i began to sing out loud you are the air i breathe jesus you are the air i breathe holy spirit you are the air i breathe your holy presence living in me my worship filled the chamber where so many had perished the acoustics made my voice carry throughout the gas chamber and into the ovens i became overwhelmed with the love of god in the darkest places the light of jesus will penetrate the darkness and he will take over i had a vision of this before we left for europe i asked the lord to give me his love mercy and heart of forgiveness so i could truly reflect his character to others when people are in pain and facing death they can become consumed with fear i know that allah the lord is allowing me to be refined in the fire again his perfect love casts out all fear and then she signs her letter and she goes on but she says i love you with all my entire heart please ask your prayer worries to worries to pray the lord is preparing us for his party in heaven we must lead as many as possible to jesus with blessings and more prayers and our majesty's service forever your eternal genie jeannie was a moonbeam she was shining for his glory god now she's in his presence where there is fullness of joy forever and more worshiping him around his throne seeing him face to face and that is what we can have but for now we are to reflect him on this earth daniel 12 3 says those who are wise shall shine as bright as the sky and those who lead many to righteousness like the sh will shine like the stars forever let's shine for jesus in this darkened sky lord jesus we thank you that you are the one that we bring all of our glory honor and praise to lord you are worthy of our praise lord we pray lord that you would just shine out lord through these jars of clay that are filled with cracks but lord your glory you have placed within and so lord we pray that you would just shine out through these cracks we pray in jesus name amen

Channel: Harvest Virtue

Views: 129

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Cathe Laurie, Virtue, womens bible study, church, bible study for women, Christian, God, Jesus, small groups, moses, old testament, water, fire, stone, gospel, exodus, sermon, Harvest Riverside, Shelley Hurley, Exodus 34, Chapter 34, Session 15

Id: pll6MEWk7Vc

Length: 44min 47sec (2687 seconds)

Published: Wed May 26 2021