Longing for God's Glory: A Journey of Faith

the words to which I should like to call your attention this morning are to be found in the  book of Exodus in chapter 33 reading from Verse 18 to the end of the chapter book of Exodus 33: 18-23 and he said that's to say Moses said I beseech thee show me me thy glory and he said I will make all my goodness pass before thee and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show Mercy on whom I will show mercy and he said thou canst not see my face for there shall no man see see me and live and the Lord said behold there is a place by me and thou shalt stand upon a rock and it shall come to pass while my glory passes by that I will put thee in a cliff of The Rock and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by and I will take away mine hand and thou shalt see my back Parts but my face shall not be seen [00:06:28]

we thus continue our study and examination of this great 33rd chapter of the book of Exodus in which as most of you will recall we have an account of this extraordinary experience indeed series of experiences that were given to Moses the servant of God let me hurriedly remind you of the background and the context the children of Israel had been guilty of that Grievous sin of making and worshiping a golden Cal while Moses was up on the mount with God and God had shown his displeasure at that and had punished the children of Israel very severely but you remember that Moses had interceded on their behalf and then God had commanded Moses to continue with the March and to take the children of Israel up to Canaan telling him that he himself would not accompany them he would send his Angel but his own presence would not be with them and that you remember led to the action on behalf of Moses and others Moses took the tent of meeting which hither to had been in the midst of the camp he took it and set it up outside the camp and there he went and interceded with God on behalf of the children of Israel and various others joined with him in doing so and M's prayer was you remember that God should return should have pity and compassion and God hearkened and His presence came back again the people saw the Cloudy pillar stand at the Tabernacle door and the result of that was that they rose up and worshiped every man in his own tent God spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaketh unto his friend and Moses went back and reported all this to the children of Israel leaving Joshua in the tent of meeting and then having reported to the people he went back again and he went on praying and you remember we found that he asked God for something further he asked God for a definite personal Assurance If thy presence go not with me carry us not up hence and then he asked God for some unusual manifestation of himself in order that the Nations that the people round and about them might know that he and the children of Israel had found Grace in the sight of God he says how shall they know that except that thou goest with us so shall we be separated I and thy people from all the people that are upon the face of the Earth and we have considered how Moses offered that prayer we've noticed his method of reasoning and of arguing with God pleading the promises and have realized that that is the model for all our prayers the more we know the scriptures the more we know the promises of God the better able shall we be to pray and God Delights to hear his children using these arguments reasoning with him pointing out to him what he said himself well Moses you remember prayed in that way and God turned to him and said I will do this thing also that thou has spoken for thou Hast found Grace in my sight and I Know Thee thy name and we were considering last Sunday morning in terms of the message of Pentecost how it was that God answers that particular prayer very well now that brings us to this section that we're looking at this morning this third and final section of this great chapter one of the most extraordinary things surely that is to be found anywhere in the whole Compass of holy RIT it's one of those uh paragraphs which one can only approach with the considerable hesitancy and uncertainty we are treading on very Holy Ground and we should face a statement such as this with a I feel that the word comes to us that came to Moses himself on that occasion at the burning bush take off thy shoes from off thy feet for the ground where on thou standest is Holy Ground the most extraordinary and amazing episode I say and yet we must follow it because I think we shall see as we do so that this takes us yet a further step and a further stage in our understanding of what happens when God graciously visits his church and people with Revival and Reawakening that is still our fundamental theme all these considerations of different portions of scripture are designed to that end that we may have a deeper and a clearer conception as to what exactly does happen when God gives and sends a special visitation of his holy spirit in what we normally call Revival now let me make this quite plain and clear we are dealing with the subject in general particularly but though we are dealing with it in in general and as it affects a number of people at the same time we must never forget that all this is possible to the individual there are people who don't seem to be quite clear about this and that is why I'm giving this word of explanation in passing it is possible for an individual on his or her own to have any one of these experiences that we are describing that we are illustrating from the scripture a Revival is just that state and condition in which that happens to a number of people at the same time that is what is meant by Revival but we must never forget that it is always possible to the individual so as we consider these principles let us hold on to that fact there is no need in other words for us of necessity to wait until a Revival comes to experience some of these things we can seek them in individually but God from time to time is pleased to Grant such experiences to large numbers all together to a whole church to a district to a whole country perhaps or to many countries in the world as he did 100 years ago in 1858 but the blessing is not confined to Revival it is always possible I say to the individual in isolation well now then bearing that in mind let us proceed to consider what we are told here we can divide our matter like this the first thing obviously is Moses's request and he said I beseech thee show me thy Glory now this is the thing I say that really almost staggers one Moses is still not satisfied and you remember what that mean he is not satisfied in spite of all that God had promised him and in spite of all that he had just been receiving consider this man Moses who had been up on the mount with God 40 days and 40 nights there in communion with him he'd already experienced that he's already had the experiences that are recorded in this chapter where God we are told spake unto him face to face as a man speaketh unto his friend the most unusual thing and then that further request God says I will even grant you that and gives him some immediate assurance and satisfaction and yet Moses goes further he's not satisfied he doesn't stop he goes on and says show me thy Glory this is what we may very well describe as the daring quality that always comes into great faith you'll find other illustrations of this in places in other places in the scripture but here is perhaps one of the most remarkable of all the daring of mures he Ventures to go on to ask for something still further he seems to run is from step to step as God says yes I'll Grant you even this give me more says Moses and here he makes what is in many ways the final and the ultimate request this request namely that he may see and know the glory of God now here is the thing which must concern us particularly this morning let me put it to you like this before we go any further do we know anything about these advancing steps and stages as we look back across our Christian experience do we know what it is to rise like this from step to step and from platform to platform do we know this increasing boldness in the presence of God this increasing Assurance this desire for yet more and more while we thank God for all that we've received as Moses did this longing for yet something above and beyond this striving this Rising this scaling the heights as it were now this is a principle which is taught in the Bible to him that he shall be given and he shall have abundance I'm simply asking whether we know anything about this and I ask it because I have a most uncomfortable feeling that it's true to serve so many of us yes even those of us who are Evangelical people that our main characteristic is self-satisfaction and the feeling that we've arrived because we are converted and we may have had some other experience or believed something further well there we are all we've got to do is to maintain the position and we are looking down upon those who haven't arrived where we are how much evidence is there of striving seeking Rising on the wings of Faith following in the footsteps of Moses and saying oh I thank you for what you've promised but show me now thy Glory let me put it then directly by putting it like this to what extent are we aware of a desire for God himself and and for a knowledge of the glory of God I imagine that this is the highest reaches of Faith Moses you see is no longer asking God for particular blessings he's done that but he doesn't stop at that he's gone beyond blessings he's Bey gone beyond the gifts he is now seeking God for himself for his own sake he's now filled with a passion for a personal knowledge confrontation meeting with God himself he he he doesn't despise the gifts it is rather that because of the gifts and because of the glimpses he's received of the glory of God in the matter of the gifts that now forgetting himself and all gifts and blessings he just has this longing for God himself and for the glory of God well that is the question I think that should come to all of us do we know anything of such a longing how long have you been a Christian it may be many years have you ever had this longing at all have you ever really longed for some personal Direct knowledge and experience of God oh I know we pray for causes we pray for the church we pray for missionaries we pray for our own efforts that we organize and yes that's not what I'm talking about we ask for personal blessings I'm just asking how much do we know of this desire for God himself that's what Moses said show me thy Glory take me yet a step nearer well it's the same thing of course as the psalmist had in Psalm 42 as the heart panteth after the water Brooks so penth my heart after thee Oh God my soul thirth for thee for the Living God that's the thing he wants the Living God himself my soul thirth this panting this thirsting for God himself now I say this is the thing you get it again in Psalm 17:1 15 as for me it says the psalmist looking forward to what is coming as for me I will Behold thy face in righteousness I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness now I'm holding this before you for this reason here you see where the desires of men under the Old Testament dispensation Moses the psalmist these were men who simply looked at the promises of the Gospel AAR off they hadn't seen them but they saw them a far off they had their eye upon them they believed that they were coming ah yes but they hadn't yet come they hadn't yet happened as Abram all my day says Christ he saw it he believed it he saw it a far off so did all these men says the author of the Hebrews in chapter 11 they hadn't yet received the promises they believed them they saw them a far off and you see here are these men in that position Longing To See and to know the glory of God now you and I are living in the new dispensation where we are not looking forward to the coming of the Messiah we're not looking forward to Calvary we're looking back we've got these records in the New Testament explicit statements the whole thing unfolded the Holy Spirit has been given and yet I wonder how we compare this morning with the psalmist and with Moses what's the matter with us my friends we who like to burst about our superiority over the Old Testament Saints some of us even to the extent of being so foolish as not to believe that they were Saints at all how do we compare with them in actual experience of course these people were the children of God but I say they were living in the dim light of the old dispensation whereas you and I are in the new and yet here they are show me thy Glory notice the intimate knowledge which the psalmist also has of God well now then let me say like put it like this this is the ultimate the end of the true seeking for Revival the prayer for Revival is ultimately a prayer based upon a concern for the manifestation of the glory of God remember what I've said that this can happen individually as well as collectively but here it is Moses you see knew of the glory of God he hadn't seen it but he knew he believed God he'd accepted the Revelation he'd had odd manifestations here and there and on the strength of this he says now let me see it let it be manifested and that should be our position here we are in this difficult world we see the church as she is languishing we see the sin and evil that are rampant round and about us now we know that God is there in all his glory and I say that what is necessary is that we should be moved as Moses was to desire the manifestation of this Glory it's almost inconceivable isn't it that there should be anybody who doesn't offer this prayer of Moses isn't it difficult to understand how anybody can be satisfied with things as they are now but there are many such people they say what's all this talk about Revival and praying for Revival aren't things going well isn't the church Evangelical Church doing well what's all this oh my dear friend if you speak like that you're just displaying this that you really know very little about God himself you're interested in things happening in results in activities in blessings don't you know anything for a longing to see the manifestation of the glory of God don't you know anything about some thirst for God himself is it I wonder that some of us are so busy that we don't have time even to think about God God's not a force God is personal God in three persons father son Holy Spirit personal have we forgotten this personal element I wonder and are we tending Loosely and in our great hurry and business to think of God only as some agency that blesses oh there's no doubt about this as we advance in faith and in knowledge and in experience we shall more and more desire God himself and not only and not merely the things that are given To Us by God you see the Apostle Paul puts this so perfectly in his own case here was a man who had received so much and had had so unusual blessings yet this is what he says in Philippians 3:10 you remember that I might know him well you'd have said If ever a man did know Christ it was the Apostle Paul but you know he wasn't satisfied that I might know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings me being made conformable unto his death if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection from the dead not that I have already apprehended says this man who has apprehended so much this man who has had such unusual experiences not as though I had already apprehended no you see the point is he's had such tastes of it he wants more he wants to know him himself so he forgets the things that are behind and he presses forward toward the mark well I'm simply emphasizing this it's no use our talking about these things if we don't desire them if we don't know something about them I ask once more to what extent my dear friends do you know of a longing for God himself for the Living God show me thy Glory well then that brings us to God's answer and this is a matter of course that we of necessity must made up under various headings the first thing that we see quite clearly is this that God answers Moses by telling him yes I am going to answer your prayer your petition but I'm going to do so in my own way and we must consider this and the first thing that strikes us at once is this that it was a partial answer we shall also go on to consider God willing the means or the method or the way in which God gives the partial answer and we shall consider thirdly the nature of the answer for because it's all here but let us start with the first thing the the partial character or nature of God's answer and here it is in verse 20 God said to Moses thou canst not see my face for there shall no man see me and live and again again in verse 23 and I will take away my hand and thou shalt see my back Parts but my face shall not be seen here we are face to face with the final mystery you see the answer is going to be given yes but in this partial manner now this must be the case there surely should be no difficulty about this no man shall see me and live no man in other words is capable of standing the full vision of God's glory he couldn't stand it it would kill him why well because of the inconceivable nature of the glory my dear friends there is no doubt at all about it 99.9% of our troubles as Christians is that we are ignorant of God just sheer ignorance of God we spend so much time in feeling our own pulse taking our own spiritual temperature considering our moods and states and feeling oh if we but had some conception of him the inconceivable glory of God Immortal invisible God only wise in light inaccessible hid from our eyes no man shall see me and live Moses didn't quite realize what he was asking so God corrects him and he teaches him he does it gently with tenderness shows him exactly what is possible and what isn't possible this is not peculiar to Moses you remember Isaiah when he had a glimpse of him read it in chapter 6 of his prophecy when he was just given a glimpse of that ineffable Glory he cried out saying Woe Is unto me for I am undone I a man of unclean lips he heard the voices holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts and the house was filled with smoke and the pillars of the door moved just a glimpse of it Woe Is unto me says Isaiah I'm unfit for this I'm unworthy he staggered John the Apostle tells us that when he likewise was given just some vague indication of it I fell down as one dead these were men let me remind you living in this world in the flesh as you and I live in this world in the flesh and they've had such experiences of God why haven't we had them why do we know so little about these things these are the things that are to be a part of the life of the Christian Christianity is to know God this is life eternal that they might know the the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent not know about God only but to know God well there they are and you remember the Apostle Paul himself as sa of tsus there he is on the road to Damascus and suddenly he sees that light above the brightest shining of the Sun and you remember what happened to him he fell down on the road and he was blinded by it why well it's the glory that did that to him the sight of the glory was such we ought to be have able to have some increasing understanding of all this today you read about the explosion of these atomic bombs don't you and how people have to be very careful to shade their eyes the brightness of this flash you've got to multiply that by Infinity to know something about the glory of God you remember that the apostles the Disciples of Our Lord on the Mount of transfiguration even when they saw this Transfiguration a kind of Deep Sleep came over them why well it was to protect them the glory is so Transcendent it's blinding it's inconceivable and then you remember the Apostle again tells us in 2 Corinthians 12 that he had an experience some 14 years before he was writing and this is how he says whether in the body or out of the body I know not it was so marvelous he says I don't quite know he was in a state and in a condition which he really cannot describe with accuracy oh but there someone that only happened to men in the scriptures no no this is something that has gone on happening to God's people who have realized the possibilities and who have sought God himself throughout the running centuries have you ever read of Jonathan Edwards describing his experience of it when he was there kneeling in a forest once for about an hour I'll give you a short account of it later on have you read of David Brainard the great Apostle to those American Indians there experiencing the glory of God and literally sweating though it was cold and though it was freezing round and about him what was causing the sweating oh it was the glory the character and the Transcendence of the glory and to give you a men who's much nearer to ourselves DL Moody a very strong man physically a very sturdy man and yet you remember that when God gave him this glimpse of his glory he had to ask God to desist and to hold back his hand he felt it was killing him he's not the only one who's felt that I could quote you others have said exactly the same thing the man felt that his literal physical frame was cracking and was breaking under the glory and has to ask God to hold back his hand Thou shalt not see my face for no man shall see me and live I'll give you just some indication of it I'll give you a fleeting glimpse of it but you can't see me as I am no no my back Parts Only well now as you come again to the question of Revival you will find a great deal of this you will find that when God manifests himself and by an outpouring of the spirit whose special work and commission it is to manifest the Lord Jesus and His glory and through him God himself you will find that you will often read things like this that men and women in the presence of this glory and of this presence have literally Fallen to the ground have fainted ah say somebody these phenomena my dear friend don't be interested in or frightened in phenomena I'm just reporting to you that God himself has said that the glory is So Glorious that man's physical frame is inadequate so don't be surprised if you read when you read these reports of people fainting or going off into a kind of dead Swoon it's the glory of God it's beyond us and it's not surprising therefore that it should sometimes lead to such consequences the partial nature well but let me go on and say this that though the answer is partial it is nevertheless very definite you shall not see my face says God to Moses but you're going to see something and what is he going to see well he's going to see God passing by the Lord said behold there is a place by me and thou shalt stand upon a rock and it shall come to pass while my Glory passees by that I will put thee in a cliff to the Rock and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by and I will take away my hand and thou shalt see my back pass he's passing by do you know what a Revival is now that's a perfect description of it it's the glory of God God passing by that's precisely what it is just this glimpse of God as he passes by The God Who is there in the glory as it were comes down pays a visit pours out his Spirit descends again and he just passes by us and we look on and feel and know that the glory of God is in the midst and is passing by oh it's but a touching of the Hem as it were it's but a vision of the back you know let me give you a comparison which may help what is thunder and lightning well according to the psalmist and according to the Bible everywhere thunder and lightning are better a kind of indication of God's power The God Who said at the beginning let there be light and there was light well now he just gives you an indication of what his power is in the flash of the lightning the Roar of the Thunder these are but glimpses of God's might God's power God's Eternal ability very well a Revival I say is just a kind of touch of his glory a fleeting glimpse of something of what he is in and of himself and I'm emphasizing this my dear friends because you and I must come to real realize that these things are possible and these things are meant for us we were never meant to be content with a little let me therefore give you some scriptural indications of the possibility of this I've already reminded you of what happened to Saul of Tarsus there on the road to Damascus suddenly there shined round about him light from Heaven that happened to a man remember and then I must read you again this description which he gives in 2 Corinthians 12 12 it is not expedient for me doubtless to Glory I will come to visions and Revelations of the Lord I knew a men in Christ above 14 years ago whether in the body I cannot tell or whether out of the body I cannot tell God knoweth such an one caught up into the third heaven and I knew such a man whether in the body or out of the body I cannot tell God Earth how that he was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a man to utter that was an experience received by the Apostle Paul himself a man of like patience with ourselves a men still in the body still in this world still in the flesh he has had this experience of the glory itself in this veiled and in this partial manner but he had other experiences there was in Corinth and he found everybody against him and he went to bed one night very troubled but this is what I read then spake the Lord to Paul in the Night by a vision visions and experiences of the glory of God and the result of this is that he's able to say he knows the Lord Jesus Christ so well that he says to me to live is Christ and to die is gain that I might be with Christ Which is far better can you say that can you say to me to live is Christ if we can't say it and why can't we say it why shouldn't we say it it's meant for all the Apostle nowhere teaches that this was only meant for himself or merely for the apostles he's telling these Philippians this that they may have the same experience John says these things right we unto you that ye may have fellowship with us and our fellowship truly is with the father and with his son Jesus Christ we are all meant to be enjoying these experiences I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me but then you see the Apostle puts it like this this is the counterpart of what we've got in Exodus 33 for now says the Apostle we see through a glass Darkly but then face to face the hand is upon us now we are only seeing through a glass Darkly yes but we do see through a glass Darkly that's the thing emphasizing even here in this world we see through a glass Darkly an enigma in a riddle if you like yes but we do see and the question I'm asking is are we seeing it then I know it'll be face to face but the question is what now or take that last verse in the third chapter of The Second Epistle to the Corinthians which I read to you at the beginning this morning but we all with open face beholding as in a glass it's still only partial you see it is beholding as in a kind of Reflection from a mirror yes but it is that beholding as in a glass what the glory of the Lord are you with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord can you say honestly with the Apostle Paul God who commanded the light to shine out of Darkness has shined into our hearts to reveal the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ can we appropriate the words of Peter in his first epistle in the first chapter and verse 8 and say whom having not seen we love in whom though now we see him not yet believing we Rejoice with a joy unspe able and full of Glory can you say that oh you sheer I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ I've rejoiced in my salvation for I'm not asking you that what Peter says is this that the Christian is a man who so knows him and loves him that he rejoices in him with a joy that is unspeakable battles description and full of Glory in Revival men and women women in large numbers are able to say that the glory of God has come near has passed by they've seen his back parts and they've been able to use those words with absolute honesty you see all this is a kind of for Taste Of Heaven but we are to enjoy four tastes of Heaven here in this world blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God our Lord's prayer for his own is this father I will that they also whom thou Hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory which thou has given me for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world then says John we shall see him as he is and we shall be like him then as our himym has just put it his glory full disclosed shall open to our sight yes but my dear friends before we come to that we should have these partial views here in this world not the full disclosure that's to come but the partial disclosure and the question I'm asking is this do we know anything of these things well now let me encourage you by just reading a few extracts to you take Jonathan Edwards first Sometimes He says only mentioning a single word caused my heart to burn within me or only seeing the name of Christ or the name of some attribute of God and God has appeared glorious to me on account of the Trinity it has made me have exalting thoughts of God that he subsists in three persons Father Son and Holy Ghost the sweetest Joys and delights I have experienced have not been those that have Arisen from a hope of my own good estate but in a direct view of the glorious things of the Gospel when I enjoy this sweetness it seems to carry me above the thoughts of my own estate it seems at such times a loss that I cannot bear to take my eye off from the Glorious Pleasant object I behold without me to turn my eye in upon myself and my own good estate then listen to this once as I rode out into the woods for my health in 1737 having all lighted from my horse in a retired place as my manner commonly has been to walk for divine contemplation and prayer I had a view that for me was extraordinary of the glory of the Son of God as mediator between God and men and his wonderful great full pure and sweet Grace and love and meek and gentle condescension this grace that appeared so calm and sweet appeared also great above the heavens the person of Christ appeared ineffably excellent with an Excellency great enough to swallow up all thought and conception which continued as near as I can judge about an hour which kept me the greater part of the time in a flood of tears and weeping aloud I felt an urgency of soul to be what I know not otherwise how to express emptied and annihilated to lie in the dust and to be full of Christ Alone to love him with a holy and pure love to trust in him to live upon him to serve and to follow him and to be perfectly Sanctified and made pure with a Divine and Heavenly Purity I have several other times had views very much of the same nature and which have had the same effects that's Jonathan Edwards what should I do about all this says someone let Spurgeon answer the question here is Spurgeon in one of his Revival year sermons just reprinted on page 77 let me say now say spon before I turn from this point that it is possible for a man to know whether God has called him or not and he may know it too Beyond a doubt he may know it as surely as if he read it with his own eyes nay he may know it more surely than that for if I read thing with my eyes even my eyes may deceive me the testimony of sense may be false but the testimony of the spirit must be true we have the witness of the spirit within bearing witness with our spirits that we are born of God there is such a thing on earth as an infallible Assurance of our election let a man once get that and it will anoint his head with fresh oil it will clothe him with a white Garment of preise and put the song of the angel in his mouth happy happy men who is fully assured of his interest in the Covenant of Grace in the blood of atonement and in the glories of Heaven what would some of you give if you could arrive at this assurance Mark if you anxiously desire to know you may know if your heart pents to read its title clear it shall do so air long no man ever desired Christ in his heart with a living and longing desire who did not find him sooner or later if thou Hast a desire God has given it thee if thou pentest and criest and groan after Christ even this is his gift bless him for it thank him for a little Grace and ask him for great grace you see this is these are the steps of Moses thank him for a little Grace and ask him for great grace he has given thee hope ask for Faith and when he gives thee Faith ask for Assurance and when thou get us Assurance ask for full assurance and when thou has obtain full Assurance ask for enjoyment and when thou Hast enjoyment ask for Glory itself and he shall surely give it thee in his own appointed season are you on these steps having thank God for what you have have you got this longing for more hope faith Assurance full Assurance enjoyment Glory ask him for it climb the steps follow the example of meres Venture boldly in faith and say to God show me thy glory and you have the Assurance not only of SP that if you do so from your heart and sincerely that in his own good season he will answer you you have the infinitely higher and greater assurance of this word of God itself of the promise of the Living God draw nigh unto God and God will draw nigh unto you seek the glory for yourself seek it for the church pray for Revival for the passing by of the glory of God Amen we do hope that you've been helped by the preaching of Dr Martin lyd Jones all of the sermons contained within the mlj trust audio library are now available for free download you may share the sermons or broadcast them however because of international copyright please be advised that we are asking first that these sermons never be offered for sale by a third party and second that these sermons will not be edited in any way for length or to use as audio clips you can find our contact information on our website at mlj trust.org that's mlj t.org [00:96:16]