Show Me Your Glory

By Bill Blakey on January 3, 2016

Exodus 33:18-23

AUDIO

Show Me Your Glory

By Bill Blakey on January 3, 2016

Exodus 33:18-23

This is a rush transcript.

[00:00:00] What a glorious truth to start off the new year, celebrating the Jesus has paid it all. What is a joy to be with you here this morning and now reside in this city with you all? It is a great joy and honor for us. If you've got a Bible, hopefully grabbed one or brought one. Please open up that Bible to Exodus Chapter 33 for our time. In God's word this morning, if you've got one of the the standard issue compass, HB Bibles, that's on page 74 for you. And it's such a joy and a privilege for me to open God's word with you all at the start of this new year. And I'm so humbled and honored to be able to serve God here in your midst. And so, so thankful for the board of this church and for their prayers for for me and for your prayers. And it's it's been a great transition from Texas here to Southern California. We're getting settled in our our new house in Fountain Valley. And we are looking forward to all that God is going to do in this time of year. I don't know if you've been around people that they like to start off the new year by looking ahead to all that's going to happen in 2016.

[00:01:17] Maybe you have made some New Year's resolutions. Any any people resolving to do anything in this New Year? Anybody making New Year's resolutions? Maybe a few of us, the Eger among us who have done this. You guys are at the nine o'clock service. So I thought all of us would be resolved here. But this is the time of year where this is very commonplace. Right. We see people joining gyms, people, you know, resolving to eat healthier, making a plan. Thinking about this upcoming year and saying, I'm going to grab the bull by the horns and ride it. And there's an in the lives of many others, full of hope and excitement as they think about the possibilities. And I think this is the time of year where many people are thinking about something that could change in the upcoming year.

[00:02:01] That could make it better. Right. That could bring many good things right.

[00:02:05] There's many who are looking at this upcoming year with great excitement and anticipation, but there's probably also maybe even some among us today that when they think about the upcoming year, there's not a sense of excitement. Maybe they're discouraged, maybe as they look back on 2015. It's been a difficult year, a challenging year, one where they've lost loved ones. And and maybe some of you think about the task ahead. Maybe you're even tempted to be discouraged.

[00:02:33] And so I think what we need to think about this morning is what are we going to look to? What are we going to look to as the thing that is going to make this next year better? That is going to bring change. That is going to bring hope. As we look forward to 2016, I think that in this account of Moses and his interaction with the Lord that we see here in Exodus Chapter 33, I feel like we get instructed in in and an example for us to to follow. And we're going to look at specifically this morning at versus 18 through through twenty three. But before we jump into that text, we've got to realize that this passage comes right after Exodus Chapter 32, which is a very low point in the nation of Israel. Right. God had been so faithful to this nation to bring them out of Egypt and to conquer their enemies. And it brought them to the Mt. Sinai and and there on the mountain, Moses had gone up and God was giving his law and his commandments to his special people that he had chosen and protected. And then he was going to bring them to the land that he had promised to them. And while Moses is up on the mound, everything kind of goes south. The wheels fall off the wagon, as it were. And if you look at Exodus 32, verse one, it says, When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who has brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him, right? That's exactly what you'd love to hear. Your people are doing while you're away as a as a leader. And maybe even worse than that. Moses, his own brother, Aaron, in verse two, says to them, take off the rings of gold that are in your years and your wives and your sons in jars and bring them to me and they all bring them to him. And he fashions a golden calf. And they said in verse four, These are your gods to Israel who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. And when Erin saw this, he builds an altar to this calf in an air and makes a proclamation. It says tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord. And he's talking about this image of this calf that they had made. I mean, come on, Erin. I mean, what are you doing to us here? I mean, you're supposed to be the brother, right? Supposed to be the one. And and everything just just keeps going worse and worse from there.

[00:04:54] And and it says that, you know, the people rose up and they worship this God and they. SAT down to eat, to eat and drink and rose up to play, that they're just engaging in sin and and in any morality.

[00:05:07] And then Moses comes down and in verse 15 and and breaks the commandments on the stone that God had given to him. And it says in verse 20 says he took the calf that they had made him burn it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it.

[00:05:25] And the people are still breaking loose in in sin. And it says in verse 25, Moses saw that the people had broken loose. For Aaron had let them break loose to the derision of their enemy. That Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, Who is on the Lord's side? Let him come to me. And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. And he said to them, thus says the Lord God of Israel, put your sword on your side, each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp. And each of you kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor.

[00:05:55] And the sons of Levi did, according to the word of Moses. In that day, about 3000 men of the people fell and even down a verse 35, it says the Lord sent a plague on the people because they had made the calf the one that Aaron had made. This is a very low point in the nation of Israel. This is not a happy time. It is not one where they're excited about the future.

[00:06:19] And even as they think about leaving the mountain, it says it says in verse five of Chapter 33 that the Lord said to Moses say to the people of Israel, you are a stiff necked people. If for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. And so God is basically going to tell the nation of Israel to proceed to the land, but he is not going to go with him, that his special presence that had been with him is now. He is saying is not going to proceed with him, that that's perhaps the worst of of all of these things. Right. And if you think about this, is that a terrible time where as Moses even himself is is looking towards the future? He's got to be tempted to to be discouraged. But yet we see that he goes to the Lord and is starting in verse 12 of chapter 33. And he says, say aye. Say you see to me, you say to me, bring up these people, but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Right. And so Moses wants to make very sure that God's presence is going to continue. And so he pleads with the Lord. He he pleads with the Lord on on behalf of the Lord's glory, and that then this nation is his people. And in verse 14, God says, my presence will go with you and I will give you rest. And Moses said to him in verse 15, If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favoring your side? I and your people. Is it not in you are going with us so that we are distinct. I and your people from every other people on the face of the Lord, the Earth. And the Lord said to Moses, this very thing that you have spoken I will do for.

[00:08:01] I have found favor for your have favorite my sight and I know you by name.

[00:08:08] And so there's almost this pause right here where what Moses had gone to intercede and ask of the Lord. God has granted him that request. But then Moses makes one more request. Right, than I we are going to look at. And so let me just read versus eighteen twenty three.

[00:08:25] Moses said, please show me your glory. And God said, I will make all my goodness pass before you and we'll proclaim before you my name the Lord and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But he said, you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live in the Lord said Behold. There is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by, I will put you in the cleft of the rock and will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand and you shall see my back. But my face shall not be seen.

[00:09:04] Here we see Moses and he is gone to the Lord and Brahe. His request before the Lord say Lord, if you're going to send us on our own, if you're going to send me with these people and you're not gonna go with us if we're not going to be your special people, don't send us up from here. Please go with us.

[00:09:21] And God is very good and merciful to continue his presence with the people. And it was almost like a Moses could have been done at that point. But he goes further and he asks more of the Lord in his request is show me your glory. And as Moses is thinking of all that's needed to accomplish the task in the time ahead, as they proceed away from Mount Sinai, he realizes there something that he needs to look to. There is something that he needs to be hold if all of this is going to happen and it's God's glory.

[00:09:56] And so he asks Lord, he says, please show me your glory. He's asking the Lord, show me your weightiness. Like, show me the the.

[00:10:06] Mount of worth an honor that you have, right? Show me how great you are. Show me how majestic you are. What I need to have my view of you enlarged. I need to see you as more glorious and more amazing than even I have before you. I want to see it. I want to. I want to see it on. I think that this request that Moses makes is the same thing that we need today.

[00:10:33] It's the same thing as we think about this upcoming year. And in all that God has called us to do and all that he's going to accomplish. We need to have a higher view of the Lord. We need to be bringing this same request to God and saying to him in 2016. Show us your glory. Impress us. Show us how majestic you are.

[00:10:58] So let's get this down. If you're taking notes on your note sheets, let's get this down as point number one that you in this upcoming year, you need to ask God to show you his glory. Right. That needs to be a request that you bring to the Lord God. Show me your glory. Right. In a time of the year where so many people. Right. They want to look to themselves. Right. They want to look to their own abilities. They want to put confidence in themselves, are thinking, I'm going to schedule out my time in the new year. And, you know, I'm just going to work my calendar. And I've got a new app that I downloaded. And 2016, we're just gonna take it to. Right. Maybe that apps even made by Google, I don't know. Right. Right. And then you're going to find out that, hey, there's gonna be appointments that need to be shifted around and and you're not as efficient as you'd like to be. Or there's times where you sick or your schedule isn't going the way that you want. Or your your boss put some extra demand that you weren't anticipating or or maybe some people want to look to some other person and put their hope in that person and say, well, hey, this is gonna be the year where were my kids?

[00:12:04] Just behave. And they, you know, they honor me as their as their parent. Or this is going to be the year where my husband treats me the way that he should. And it's just gonna be wonderful and in and people will be disappointed by that. This is going to be that maybe some people are thinking this is gonna be the year where I'm just going to have enough willpower to get it done in 2016. I have joined a gym. I've got that little fob on my key ring and I am going to go there and have energy and be fit. And and pretty soon, you know, February is gonna roll along. You're going to be one of those people that likes the idea of going to the gym and has a gym membership. But it just doesn't happen. Right. Like so many people. Right.

[00:12:46] That we need to be very clear what we're looking to in 2016 and what we're looking to is not another person. What we're looking to is not our own abilities. We need to fix our eyes and ask God to reveal in greater and deeper ways his glory in two thousand and sixteen. This is more important. Not that there's anything wrong with resolving or wanting to put forth more effort towards a certain thing. We all should be be doing that. But that effort will not be ultimately successful unless we're fixing our eyes on God and his glory.

[00:13:22] Right. This is something we need to ask God to do for us. That he needs to reveal himself. He needs to show us how great he is. And this should be really the desire of our hearts. If you look all throughout the Bible, this this desire for the Lord, this this lack of satisfaction of, hey, I know the Lord to a certain extent right now, but I'm not satisfied with that.

[00:13:42] I want more. I want to see more of God school or I want my view of him to continually be getting greater and deeper and richer as I go throughout this year and throughout this week.

[00:13:55] I want more. I want to see God's glory. And so I just want to encourage and exhort you this week that this is something that you need to be asking God to do for you. Right. That maybe even like tomorrow morning when you wake up right before you get into your schedule, before you start thinking about, you know, the work week coming up or or the things on your to do list or what's going on in your family, maybe you just need to start out tomorrow. But by directing your attention to the Lord and asking him, God today, would you show me your glory? Would you impress me, Lord? Would you would you so fill my mind in my affections that I want to think about you, that you're just I can't push you to the fringes of my mind or of my heart today that these other things that are going to come at me throughout the day or that they wouldn't displace you, that they wouldn't be able to push you out of my thoughts, that I would continually be focused on you because I see you as so majestic and glorious that I want you that that's the desire of my heart. The plea that Moses nay makes. Needs to be our plea.

[00:15:05] And so if we're asking. That from the Lord, and that's what you should be asking God to do for you and we should be asking God to do for us as a church body and in our city. What is that going to look like? Right. If we're asking God to do that, how will we know when God has answered that request?

[00:15:24] Let's get this down as point number two on your notes is let's anticipate how we will see it, anticipate how you're going to see it. If we're asking God to reveal his glory and to show his glory. What's he going to look like? What's it what's it going to. What's it going to. How are we going to be able to talk to know when that prayer has been answered? And Moses? We're not exactly sure what he was anticipating. But Moses had been one who'd been familiar with manifestations of God's glory that were unique and special and impressive.

[00:15:54] I mean, even as we we think about Moses encountering God at the burning bush. Right. That that God had had allowed this Bush to be burning, but yet not consumed. And Moses was drawn to it. And their God met with Moses. And it was a holy place. And God commissioned him to the work that God would have him to do.

[00:16:14] Maybe Moses is thinking, hey, give me another burning bush. Or the glory of the Lord would proceed before the nation of Israel. Right. That the that the cloud of glory would proceed before the nation would lead them throughout the wilderness in a in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by, by night, maybe, maybe as as Moses thinking about it and say, OK, we got this settled. Now we know that God's presence is going to go with us. So where's the cloud? That's where we go and hear what's let's let's proceed. Show me your glory. We're not exactly sure, but it seems as if he is asking for some kind of visible, you know, something that he can behold with his eyes, manifestation of God's glory.

[00:16:54] And God really saves his life by not granting him his request. Look at what God says to him in verse twenty says. But God said. You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live. Now, obviously, Moses had a relationship with God where they were communicating very closely.

[00:17:16] But but for Moses to be able to see the full manifestation, for God to really open up everything and display it all would have consumed Moses that us in our in our fallen state of humanity to be able to behold the glory of the Lord in its fullest extent is not something that we're capable of handling at this point in history.

[00:17:37] And I think you've even Isaiah in Isaiah Chapter six, where Isaiah gets some some sort of manifestation, the glory of the Lord that the train of of God's robe is even filling the temple and the whole temple is filled with glory. And that's not even the full manifestation. But but even there, Isaiah is freaking out. Isaiah is saying, woe is me. He is shrinking back in fear.

[00:18:01] And so for for God to grant this request would have consumed Moses. He he's saying to Moses I your anticipation if you're expecting to see the fullness of my glory. That's not possible at this time, that you would be consumed. Your anticipation is not correct. And there are many people in our society today and even many people in many churches that they are still looking for some sort of visible manifestation.

[00:18:28] Right. They want to see glitter falling down from the from the ceiling. And then we'll know that God's presence is with us. Or I just want to have some kind of feeling inside of me. I want something warm, something comfortable, something fuzzy. And then I will know that God is with me, will feel his presence.

[00:18:50] Right. That that or I want some sort of impression. Right. There's so many today that are seeking something like that. And we need to see very clearly what God says that he will do. How will God answer this request that Moses has made? How will he show his glory? Look at verse 19 together. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before you and I will proclaim before you my name, the Lord, and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. And I will show mercy on whom I will show. Mercy, I'm not sure if this was exactly what Moses was anticipating, but this is the way that God, in his perfect plan, that he knows best how to show his glory to Moses. And this is what God says I'm going to do. I'm going to let my goodness pass before you. Right. Well, if we're asking God to do that, how are we going to see it? We're gonna see it write this down even underneath this on that second point of your notes. But we're gonna see it in his goodness, right? We are gonna see God's glory in his goodness. That's what God himself says.

[00:19:59] I'm going to make all of my goodness pass before you.

[00:20:02] And this is what sets the true God apart from many people's perception of God that so many in our society, that when they think of God, don't think of him as being good. They think of him as.

[00:20:13] As being a dictator or corrupt or a miser or something that somebody that hasn't given them what they have wanted or given them the life that they have they've dreamed of.

[00:20:24] But a fundamental characteristic of our God is that he is good, right. That God is a good God. Right. That that is a fundamental characteristic of who he is. I think even of Hebrews 11 six, that without faith it's impossible to please the Lord and one who comes to him must believe that God is not he is the reward or of those who seek him.

[00:20:47] Right. That is so crucial for God's people that we know that our God is good. Right. And the nation of Israel that they had experienced God's goodness hadn't, hadn't they? I mean, if you just think even of what Moses himself had experienced right. Of his life being preserved from being killed even as a even as a baby and then and then to be sent back from God, from the wilderness to Egypt as God's leader of his people to lead them out into the sea, the hardness of Pharaoh's heart and how God had orchestrated these miraculous plagues that you're no one would have thought that the nation of Israel could have been set free from from Egypt. But yet God shows his power that he is greater than the nation of Egypt and they're rescued and they're they're set free. And not only are they just gonna be set free to go to the land that God had promised to give them. But on their way out, God said, you are going to plunder the Egyptians. Right. That after the last plague and the first born have been wiped out, if you remember the story, that that basically that the people of Egypt are begging the Israelites to go, they are begging them to leave and even giving them their treasure on their way out the door. And the nation of Israel leaves with great with great wealth amassed. You know, if if you're looking for the lost treasure of Egypt on some invisible map of it's on the back of the Declaration of Independence, you're not going to find it there. The nation of Israel, they took it right. They've they've got it. God allowed them to plunder the nation of Israel. Then he brings them to the Red Sea and they begin to fear and they begin to to worry about what God has done. And then God shows his goodness again by parting the Red Sea and the nation of Israel goes through on dry ground and the armies of Pharaoh won't want to go in after them. And then the waters collapse.

[00:22:39] And and in one decisive moment, God earns the victory for his people and and his people rejoice in his people saying of his of his goodness.

[00:22:49] And then they're in the they're in the wilderness and there's no food. And so God provides water from Iraq and he provides manna on the ground, a bread like flaky substance that's there every morning. It tastes a little sweet. Sounds like a donut to me. Right. I don't know about you, but if there's donuts on the ground every morning, I'm saying God is right. This is this is good. Right. And that's what God God says that all throughout. Even Moses life that that he had been so good. He had displayed his disposition towards his people. But it had even gone back in the nation of Israel much further than that, even back to the founding of the nation of Israel.

[00:23:28] If you want to just write down Deuteronomy, Chapter seven versus six and seven where the Lord says this about the nation, says the Lord, your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. Right. His special people. That's what Moses is saying. It is not because you are more in number than any other people that the Lord said his love on you and chose you for you were the fewest of all the people.

[00:23:53] Like how few can you get? You can get one, right? That's like the fewest. Abraham. Right. One guy that God goes to and says, I'm going to make you into a great nation. Right. Your descendants are gonna be like the sands on the sea and the stars in the sky. Right. Want one guy. Right. And it's not because Abraham is this impressive guy. It's not because he's already built up this this family in this lineage. He's he's yet without children. His wife is barren. Right. But but God says I'm just going to choose you. Right. There's nothing in you that. Intrinsic to you. That makes you valuable to me. But I'm just going to choose you because I'm good. Because that's who I am. Right. Because I am a God. A good God. Right. Abraham doesn't deserve anything. And God shows up and says, here's what I'm going to do for you. That's the same thing we see in our lives, right? There's nothing valuable in us, right. That makes us worthy of God's attention or of his love or of his salvation, his mercy and his grace. But God is willing to do that because he's good, because he delights to show off his goodness. Right. He delights to allow his goodness to pass before us.

[00:25:05] All of us have rebelled yet. God is good. Right. And and God's good in a lot of ways, even to his enemies. Right. I mean, we've got a forecast for this week. Do we not? Have you guys seen this, that there's supposed to be some rain? Right. I've been reading from Texas about a thing called the drought here in Southern California. Right. So, you know, hey, praise the Lord. Right. And I'm pretty sure that that rain is going to fall on the just and the unjust. Right. I'm pretty sure it's not only us in here who are gonna get our lawns watered and everything. Right. That's gonna be God's goodness display to to all even even those who hate the Lord right in and out burger is available to Christians and non Christians, right. God. God is good. But he's even better than just being generally good. That he has made a way of salvation possible through his son. Jesus Christ wasn't because we were good. He said, no, this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to send my son as a baby boy to live the perfect life that no human is lived right. To be able to be an acceptable sacrifice to the Lord, that that could take the place of our sins, that the punishment that we deserve could be put on him. And for those who are in crisis, goodness and his mercy are chasing us all the days of our life.

[00:26:20] They are literally running us down and tackling us day after day after day. Right. And we see it. Don't. Don't you see it? If you've been a Christian for for any any number of years, you've you've seen this. Right. And we see that even as we go through trials. Right. That even in the midst of a trial, even the midst of a hard thing in our lives, that God is good. Right. That he's refining us, that he is drawing us to himself, loosening our affections for the things of this world and centering our gaze on him and his glory alone. God is good, is he not me? And I'm just so thankful to bring my family to this church where that has been the resounding theme that as we've learned about this church, that everybody's so excited about how good God has been to CompassHB Bible Church, honey, Huntington Beach. And it's just such a joy to be able to continue to anticipate that. And then in the upcoming years, we are asking God to show us his glory. He's going to do that by continuing to show his goodness to us in our lives, in our in our church, in our community. Right. And then he says more.

[00:27:27] He says, I will make my goodness pass before you in verse 19 and we'll proclaim before you my name, the Lord.

[00:27:37] Now that there's a little bit of distance for our understanding of this, because in America, in our society today, names don't have a lot of meaning to them.

[00:27:47] Right. When if you're a parent, you're naming your kids. Maybe maybe you actually did some research on what names mean or you picked a biblical name or or maybe just picked the name that you liked, maybe just picked a name that sounded good to you and kind of fit with the names of of your other kids. Right. When, you know, even you were introduced to me. Right.

[00:28:04] Pastor Bill. Oh, obviously, that's from William. Oh, that means protector. OK, I see. Right. That's what you were all thinking as as we came up, you know. Right. It's not at all what you were thinking or Bobby.

[00:28:17] Right. My my beloved older brother Robert. Right. His name means bright fame.

[00:28:26] I mean, you know, right, you've you've seen it right in our society today. Our names don't have necessarily as intrinsic meanings as names did in in the Bible. Right. Then when God is is saying, I'm going to declare to you my name, I want to proclaim my name to you. He's not just saying, hey, here's my name tag, the Lord. Right. That's not that's not what he's doing, that he is revealing something that says something about who he is. Right in his name, as he says it here, you'll see it translated in your Bible, probably right. With all capitals. Right. I have every every letter is capitalized right there. And that's the name your way. Right. That's the same name that God revealed to Moses from the book Burning Bush. I am right that that right there is God revealing his glory. Right.

[00:29:16] Let's let's also see this. That we're gonna see God's glory and God showing us in who he is. Right. That's our second sub point for number two. And we're gonna see God's glory in who he is. Right. Oh, show me your glory. When I make my goodness pass before you and I'm going to proclaim before you my name, the Lord, I'm going to tell you about myself. I'm going to I'm going to talk to you about who I am, my essence, my characteristics. Right. We are gonna see God's glory when we understand who he is more clearly. Right. What makes him him? A lot of times we refer to those things as God's attributes. Right. And even in his name. Yea way I am. He's telling us something about himself that he exists. He wasn't created. He didn't have to be born. He has always existed. Right. He doesn't have a beginning. He doesn't have an end. He isn't improving. He isn't saying I am becoming.

[00:30:10] I'm getting better. No, I. I am right. That God has been absolutely perfect at all points even before time existed. Right. That he doesn't change. We see God's glory revealed when we see his character revealed that that even just thinking about who God is and his characteristics that make him him. There is an intrinsic glory to that. His character shines glorious.

[00:30:38] And even after this, God highlights some of his favorite character qualities about himself. He says, I will proclaim before you my name, the Lord, and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious.

[00:30:50] And I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy right at a time in the nation of Israel where there is was great sin. What a what a joy for Moses even to hear God's characteristics of mercy and grace for those characteristics to be put on display. Right. For God to proclaim that I'm merciful. I'm gracious. That's part of who I am. Right. This is kind of where God gives the preview. And if you turn down to Exodus Chapter 34, just down to the next chapter, we see this event that God says, I'm going to do this. We see it actually happen.

[00:31:28] And it says in verse six, the Lord passed before him and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord, a God, merciful and gracious.

[00:31:36] Right. But then he even goes further than that. He says, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.

[00:31:50] And he expands, even goes into more depth. He says he's slow to anger that God doesn't fly off the handle, that he is very patient.

[00:31:58] I mean, isn't it some of you, your testimony that you appreciate and glory in the fact that God was slow to anger with you? That all of our testimony, that our first instance of sin, that God did not strike us down at that very moment is we deserved to be struck down for our rebellion against Hembree slow.

[00:32:19] The anger is very he's very patient. Maybe some of you your testimonies. I lived long in sin. I lived long in rebellion against the God of the universe. But he was slow to anger, right. He allowed me to live. He preserved my life so that I could hear the gospel. And so that I could be saved from my sins. That I could be given new life. And his son, Jesus Christ, he says he's a bounding and steadfast love and faithfulness. Right.

[00:32:45] His his love. It isn't just kind of there. It's overflowing. It's it's abounding. It's it's lavish. It's it's generous. Right. And if and if you've walked with the Lord, you know you know that his love abounds.

[00:32:57] Right. It's there every morning. Right. He's faithful. He's good through every trial, through every circumstance.

[00:33:04] And he says that it's not just good for a few people, but he's keeping steadfast love for thousands or to the thousandth generation that there are going to be many, many people throughout the course of history that God is going to show his steadfast love to.

[00:33:18] It's not limited to a few, but people from every tribe, tongue and nation will know the steadfast love of the Lord and that he is a God who forgives iniquity and transgression. And Sanamein, praise the Lord. Right. That part of God who he is is that he does forgive. That he has mercy and grace available, even for those who've wronged him and rebelled against him. Praise the Lord that he forgives. Amen. Amen. And I think for many people this sounds good and glorious up to this point. But he says more after that. He says in inverse A, you see. But who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers and the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generations, that that God is a just God who who punishes sin.

[00:34:10] Sin has consequences. And a lot of people today, they don't want to believe this. They want to create their own version of God. Maybe they want to, you know, get excited about the character qualities. Up until that. But in that in the text there. But they don't want to. They don't want to glory. They want to see God's glory as God wants to reveal himself saying about it. But I'm also going to visit iniquity on the guilty. I'm also going to punish the guilty. People are not going to get away from the punishment that they deserve to do. And the people, they want to take half of God. They want to take half of what God has revealed about himself. They really rob God of his glory. Right. They really let the air out of all that. All that should be pumped up and seen as as rich and beautiful and glorious. Right. That even God's mercy and his grace. If there's no punishment, if if there's no reckoning, if if we're not going to be called to account, if we're not going to have to give an account to the Lord for our sin against him, then his mercy in his grace really aren't that big a deal.

[00:35:12] Right. They're not really that glorious. They're not really that precious or that worthy of of being gloried in and rejoiced in. I only see God is as he really is, as he's revealed himself in the pages of scripture. Then we see his glory. Then his his mercy and his grace are beautiful and treasured. Right. And his and his justice is treasured and glorified and and worshiped.

[00:35:39] Right. That is this year. We need to spend time really thinking about who God is. We need to meditate on his character and really all of his character. Right. We can't just settle on one or two of our his favorite our favorite characteristics of him and neglect the rest of what he has said about himself, that we need to think about his attributes. Maybe even a good way for you to start off this new year would be for you resolving that. I really want to get to know God better as he's revealed himself in his where to maybe, you know, even above and beyond my normal just reading of his word day after day, maybe I even want to do some extra study that I want to I want to really, like, look at something that will help me to to see all that the Bible says about the Lord and who he is and his character in a great book for this. That's not terribly long or difficult, but just will point you to what the Bible says about the Lord is the attributes of God. Bye bye, A.W. Pink. You can actually get one in the bookstore after after the service to be a great resource for you to start off 2016, saying, hey, I really want to look to God, really want to seize glory, and I might do that. But by knowing who he is. But then we can. You on it back in Exodus 33. And we see that that then he says, you cannot see my face in verse 20 and live.

[00:36:56] And he says, behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock. All my glory passes by. I will put you in a cleft of the rock and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by that. That even though God is is revealing his glory to Moses.

[00:37:10] There is also a concealing of his glory right there. There is also a protection that says you can't handle this. Right. And I think even Moses, as he's working through all of this in his mind, he's saying God's proclaiming to me that he is merciful and gracious. But yet the guilty will not go unpunished. How does this all work together? How can God show his mercy and his grace? But yet there is still be a punishment for all rebellion against him. How how is this all even possible? We stand at a point in human history. We are so blessed. We have even more revelation from the Lord that reveals his glory. And I want to ask you just to turn over to the book of John that we've been working through at this church over the last year and we'll be continuing to work through in 2016. Let's just go back to if you get one of the CompassHB Bibles, page 86, John. Chapter one. Right. Right at the beginning of this letter.

[00:38:05] And we look at it, verse 14, even what we've just celebrated this last week and it says and the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we have seen his glory.

[00:38:18] Gloria is the only son from the father full of grace and choose verse 18, no one has ever seen God, Moses. You can't see God and leave. No one has ever seen God. But the only God who is at the father's side.

[00:38:32] He has made him no right. And John, let me just read for you, John, chapter 14, verse nine, where Philip is talking with with Jesus Christ. And actually in verse eight, he says, Lord, show us the father. And it is enough for us, like show me. And Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long? And you still do not know me, Philip. Whoever has seen me has seen the father.

[00:38:57] Right. The clearest manifestation of God's glory that he has provided for us to look at is his son, Jesus Christ. How are we going to see God's glory by looking at Jesus? We're going to see it in Jesus Christ. Write that down as another sub point for number two. Right.

[00:39:13] That that all of God's concealing that God had to protect the nation of Israel. Right. And even as God is going to give them all the plants for the tabernacle and then the temple. Right. That it's like, no, this is the holy place in the holy of holy places. And there's this separation between God's people and his presence. And Jesus Christ, the veil of that sample is torn in two from top to bottom.

[00:39:35] And now people can be with God and it's Jesus. Right.

[00:39:39] It's Jesus where God's mercy. And yet his justice come together. Right. That that God made Jesus Christ to be sin right for us so that we could become the righteousness of God in him right down Second Corinthians five 21. That's where it says that this is where it all comes together, that God's mercy and his grace and his justice all unite around the cross, that he punished him. Right. That there was a punishment for my sin. Right. That I haven't gone unpunished. Just that the punishment didn't fall on me.

[00:40:09] It fell on Jesus Christ who took my my place on the cross, that Jesus bore it for me, that instead of God's punishment, that through Christ I received his mercy and his grace. And I think there's a there's a lot of people in our society, in our community who maybe even some of you in this room today is as we think about this concept of God's glory or maybe you're new here. This your first Sunday is that you see other people that are enthralled with the Lord and who are excited about him. And you can see that God has this weightiness in their life that they're fixated on is his glory that maybe that's not really you yet. Maybe you've kind of seen it happen in the lives of other people, but it hasn't really rung true in your life as well. Perhaps it's because you haven't really met Jesus yet. Perhaps you really haven't come to know the glory of God that has been revealed so clearly to us and his son, Jesus Christ. Maybe maybe you don't really believe that God is going to punish you. Maybe you don't really think that you're that bad or that you haven't broken as many of God's commandments as you would need to in order to deserve punishment. But honestly, friends, if if we broke and even one of God's commandments, we're just as guilty as if we've broken all of them. And God will not let the guilty go unpunished with a fury and a fire. He will punish those who rebelled against him. Right. But there is a place where you can be safe and I can be safe. And that's where that fire is already burned. Right. That's where his wrath has already been poured out in full measure on his son, Jesus Christ, on the cross in our place.

[00:41:48] We look at Jesus. We are seeing gods or.

[00:41:52] His glorious display of his perfect attributes, a plan that he has set forth and built up all throughout history so that we would see his glory.

[00:42:01] Right. So that our eyes could be opened to his majesty and his worth and that the things of this life would, you know, turn strangely dim in the light of his glory, of his grace.

[00:42:14] So we need to look to that's what we need to fix our eyes on in the year ahead in 2016. It's not ourselves, not our own abilities. It's not what we can accomplish. It's God's glory, glory and his goodness in his character and his son, Jesus Christ. What does this look like practically? Number three on on your notes is that we should seek to see his glory in his word.

[00:42:38] Right. On an ongoing basis, day after day, week after week, as we proceed throughout this year, right. There's definitely going to be things that God brings into our lives, that he just displays his glory. But where are we going to see his goodness? Where are we going to see his character? Where are we going to see his son, Jesus Christ? It's going to be in this book. It's going to be in the Bible. It's going to be in his word. You'll find it in the Bible right down. Hebrews Chapter one.

[00:43:03] You even turn there to page one thousand and one with me. Hebrews, Chapter one. We got talks of his son and says the following. He says.

[00:43:17] Long ago, many times, and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

[00:43:29] He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. And he upholds the universe by the word of his power. You want to be more impressed by God. You want to have got to have a greater weightiness in your life. And in 2016, you had to be looking at him.

[00:43:48] You've got to be beholding his glory put on display as he reveals himself in the truth about himself, in the full truth about himself, in his word that we're going to meet God. Right.

[00:43:59] The reason we read the Bible is not just to get a list of deduces because we want to know our God, because we want to know him. We want to we want to know his character. We want to see his glory revealed in his scripture. So you have a plan to do that in this upcoming year. You got a plan to be, in God's word to make this maybe a very important resolution is that this is gonna be the year where I'm more fixated on God's glory, in his word, than I ever have been before my life, even if I've been very fixated on it in the past. I want more. I want to know God more. I want to have a deeper and richer appreciation. Right. We can't approach this as just I'm going to check it off and kind of go through my routine and forget about it for the rest of the day.

[00:44:43] Can't be only academic if I'm doing a study. That's very good. We want to get into the text and and chew on the meat of it. Right. Not only just information, but glory. Right. We want to see God's glory. Want to know him through his word.

[00:44:57] And so I just want to ask you, are you planning on that? Have you already started as the New Year has started? Maybe even today. Tomorrow is a great is a great day if you haven't already tried to resolve that. God, I want to know you through your word. I don't want to see your glory put on display as you speak in the same way that you spoke to Moses and you revealed your character and you revealed your goodness. I want to I want to see you speak through your word, right. That your spirit has written this book so that I could know you in all of your your glory. And that that brings us to our last point, that even before we end, I think that we should have an expectation if you go back to Exodus Chapter 34, that after after this actually happens and Moses comes down for from the mountain, we'll see that this experience had a profound effect upon Moses. Even if you look down at verse 29 of chapter 34, it says, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, met Moses did not know that the skin of his face shown because he had been talking with God, that God's glory had kind of rubbed off a little bit on Moses, that it had a profound effect on him to the point where the people were almost saying, hey, that's that's even too bright. We need to put some kind of veil on. I'm almost afraid of this man, Moses, that has been beholding the glory of the Lord. Nor last point, if this is happening, if we're asking God to show us his glory, if we look into it in the way that he has told us to look for it, as he has said, he will reveal it in who he is and his goodness in his son, Jesus Christ, we should be expecting our last point. Are you notes? If that's happening in your life, you should be expecting to become like God, expect to become like you. Right. Not in the sense that you're going to become a God or you're going to, you know, become divine or anything. But his character is going to form your character. Not that our faces are going to shine, but if we're looking to the Lord Paul. Paul writes in Second Corinthians, chapter three, verse 18, you can just write that down on your notes. Second Corinthians. 318 even talking about this passage, he says.

[00:47:18] And we all, with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, that that's what's going to happen. It if I'm looking at God and I'm seeing his glory and his majesty and his character.

[00:47:35] I'm going to be transformed through that process. Right. I'm going to be changed. I'm going to be changed to become like him. Right. Maybe. Maybe you realize that there's some bitterness in your life, that maybe there's somebody that's wronged you and and you're upset with them or angry at them. You look at the glory of God's mercy and of his forgiveness, how he is a God who forgives iniquity and sinew. And that's going to do. Looking at that, thinking about that, meditating on that in your own life, it's gonna make you a forgiving person to someone else. You're going you're going to be willing to forgive even when someone doesn't deserve to be forgiven, just like you were forgiven when you didn't deserve to be forgiven. You realize maybe that what other people think of you has is weighed too heavily in your thoughts and in your life. This last year, looking at God's justice, right. That we got to think about what God thinks of us and our character and our behavior, that that's going to help you to fear the Lord in 2016. Right. Rather than fearing people and what they can do to you and what they think of you. That's what's gonna happen.

[00:48:42] That's what we want to we want to encourage and plead with you to do in 2016 is to play pray to the Lord God. Show us your glory. Show me your glory. I want to see your character. I want to see your perfections manifested in your goodness, manifested in such a way that I'm so impressed with you that I can't look away.

[00:49:01] Right. And that you just say so central to my heart and my thoughts and my life that nothing could pull me away from you. Right. And God will be shown to be greatly glorious and majestic and and honorable as we do that.

[00:49:15] So let's make that our cry as we enter 2016. Right. Let's make that the anthem that we as individuals and corporately as a church body that we are saying, show me your glory. Right. We've seen it this last year. We've seen all that God is has done. But we want more. We want to see more of God's glory. We've seen God do great things. Now we want to see God do more great things for his glory this year. God, we want our view, which is high of you now, to be even higher in this is upcoming year. We want to see you as more glorious. We want to see your glory shine through your son, Jesus Christ, as you call people to yourself and you bring them to repentance and faith in. And they get saved. God, would you show us your glory? Would you ask God to do that? He will do that. He is so faithful to answer that request. Let me pray. As we conclude together and ask God to do that. God, you have been so faithful to reveal your glory. Lord, you have created the world in all of Its Majesty, in all of its glory. To point to you, Lord, to point to Your Majesty in your glory as the Creator of these things, Lord, that you have sent your son to redeem us, Lord.

[00:50:24] So that your mercy and your grace and your justice could be put on display. Lord. And it's our heart that we want to see you. We want to see you as greater and richer and deeper than we have before. Lord, we want you to be more glorious in our eyes and in our thoughts. And so, Lord, would you show us your glory or what you were so faithful to do to Moses? Would you continue to be faithful to do each and every day? What, keep us faithful to be looking for it and to be asking you for. And we just pray that 2016 would be a year where you are greatly magnified and honored that you show yourself to be who you are and all of Your Majesty and glory and more that we would worship you as a result of it and help us to do that. Even now, as we seem to you, we pray, AME.

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