Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.
The Bible uses metaphors to communicate spiritual truth. We read about the Lord making His face to shine upon us. In our series called In the Divine Presence, we've learned about God's angry face and His gracious face. Today, more about His hidden face.
From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, in Exodus 33, it seems God is almost negotiating with Moses as we learn more about His hidden face. Is it true that God changes His mind when leaders like Moses appeal to Him?
Dave, in answer to that question, I have to nuance it somewhat. You just mentioned how the face of God is revealed in the Bible, and we want to emphasize, as I do in this message, that we should not take this literally as a human face. My point is this, that the Bible talks about God, in human language, sometimes reacting as human beings react. So you have God changing His mind, God regretting that He made people, but of course, in the divine scheme.
This was all part of the plan. But from our standpoint, it appears as if God responds and that He reacts in the way in which you have described. Lots of mystery connected with God. The most important thing is that you and I draw near to God because the Bible says, when we do that, He draws near to us. Let me ask you a question. Would you consider helping us get the ministry of running to win around the world?
At the end of this broadcast, I'm going to be giving you some contact info. Thanks in advance, but right now, let's listen to God's Word. God says, hey, I'm not going with you anymore.
I'm withdrawing. He said, if I stay with you, it says earlier in the chapter in verse three, He says, if I stay with you, I might wipe you out. So I'm going to withdraw the pillar of fire.
I'm going to withdraw the cloud. And God says in chapter 33, I'm going to send an angel in my place and he'll direct you. And this angel is going to take care of all of the folks in the land. It says in verse two, through the angel, I will drive out all the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, the Jebusites, the megabytes and the gigabytes. God says, I'm going to let the angel do it.
What would you do? If you were Moses, would you say, okay, we'll just go into the land and the angel will do it and God says he's going to help us, you know, so we'll go without the pillar of fire, without the cloud and we'll manage because we still have some promises left, not Moses. Moses goes on to plead with God beginning at verse 12 and says, look at you have said, bring up this people and you have not let me know whom you will send with you and yet you've said you have known me by name. In the midst of this judgment with God hiding his face, the Bible says over and over again and Moses found favor in the eyes of the Lord and he found favor and God graciously said, okay, I will go with you.
That's what the text says. It says in verse 14 of chapter 33, God is speaking, my presence will go with you and I will give you rest and Moses says in verse 15, if your presence does not go with me, do not bring us from here for how shall it be known that I found favor in your sight I and your people is it not in your going with us so that we are distinct. I and your people from every other people on the face of the earth. Two comments. First, what Moses is saying is, God, your presence is absolutely essential. Please don't just give us an angel. And what he's saying is, I would rather stay here in the desert and have the presence of God than I would to go into the land of milk and honey without God's presence.
Can I ask you a question today? What if God came to you and said, you have a choice. You have a choice of $5 million for which you don't even have to pay income tax.
$5 million. The only thing is that if I give that to you, I will withdraw my presence from your life. I'll help you in some other ways, but you'll never experience my presence and my fellowship. What would you do? Would you say to yourself, well, you know, life is tough.
I've been living in poverty, $5 million. Think of all the good things I could do. I could, and here's the justification now, I could give it to missions.
I could make all these choices and I could feed my family and other families too. You know, I'd be very generous with the money. I ask you something. How much is God's presence worth to you? Remember that man? And I tried to find the illustration and couldn't, but he said, God, I want four pounds of God, four pounds of God, please.
Not five, just four. Is that what he's worth to you? Moses said that there is no pleasure that can satisfy without the presence of God. There's no money that can take the place of the presence of God. There's no pleasure.
There's no experience that can take the place. There's no honor that can take the place of the presence of God. And furthermore, Moses said, not only that, but your presence is what makes us distinct.
I just read the text that makes us distinct from all of the other people in the earth. How are people going to know that we're God's people if your presence isn't there? And by the way, the presence of God has always been the distinguishing mark of God's people from the beginning of time, including today. When people come to the Moody Church, they sometimes are impressed by the architecture, and I can understand that because this is, between you and me, one of the most beautiful sanctuaries in all the world, don't you think? You could agree with that.
But that's not what they should leave with. When they go out that door onto Clark Street or this door onto LaSalle Street, what they should say to one another is, surely God was in that place. That's what Paul says in Corinthians. He says when an unbeliever comes in and God begins to reveal the sin of his heart, he should fall on his face and say, surely God is among them. It is the distinguishing feature of the people of God. So Moses said, no way am I ever going to go anywhere unless you come along, unless you lead the way. Now, you'd think that at that point, Moses would say, okay, people up with your tents. Let's get going. God says he's going to come back and he is going to travel with us again. His face that was against us is now shining on us.
Let's get with the agenda. That's what I would say. Maybe you would too, not Moses. Moses says, Lord, thank you for the fact that you're going to go with us, but please show me your glory. Verse 18. We say, Moses, I mean, think about this. You were on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights with God talking to God as a man speaks to his friend.
Why don't you say it's time to move on? Moses says, I still don't have enough of God. 40 days and 40 nights can't do it, but I'll tell you what 40 days and 40 nights does do. It only increases my thirst for him.
I want to see him in a way that I've never seen him before. Show me your glory. The word glory kavod in Hebrew means heavy, the heaviness of God.
This is the most weighty thing, if I can use the word thing in all the universe. Show me your glory. God graciously said to Moses, okay, I will do that. And in the process he says, I'm going to tell you my name. Now Moses knew the name of God before, but remember in the Bible, when you have this reference to names, it's intimacy. What God is really saying is Moses from now on, you and I are going to be on a first name basis.
Is that wrong to say? Well, on one hand, yes, if we're flippant about that because God isn't our buddy, but on the other hand, we do call him Abba father. On the other hand, we do have intimacy with God and we have moments with God that we can share with no one else. And we do delight in God as the all satisfying object. God says, first of all, this is going to be a very intimate experience. And secondly, you can't get to know me without understanding my sovereignty. God says, I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy and I will be gracious on whom I will be gracious. I'm reading the text actually. I will make all of my goodness past before you and will proclaim before you my name, the Lord, and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy to whom I will show mercy.
Wow. God says, Moses, the better you know me, the more convinced you are that I'm in charge and you're not. And then he said, but you cannot see my face for no man shall see me and live. And God said, Moses, I'm going to hide you in the cleft of the rock over here and my goodness is going to pass before you and I will take away my hand.
You shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen. Now you read that and you ask yourself the question, is this contradictory? You'll notice in the previous text I read it very same chapter, verse 11, God spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend. Contradiction?
No. When it says that God spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend, it means that God spoke to him directly. I mean, they had conversations together. When Moses is asking to see the glory of God, he's now asking for a revelation the likes of which he'd never had before. And God says, you can only see me partially. You can't see God as God. Nobody has seen God. In fact, it says no man has seen me, would live.
It's like standing 100 feet from the sun. You would be incinerated if you were to see God. And furthermore, God is saying, Moses, no matter how much you know of me, it is always partial. The older I get, the more I realize that there's much more mystery connected to God than I used to believe that there was.
There's much about God we don't know. We get glimpses. That's why I titled this message, a glimpse of our Father's face. But Moses, I will give you that glimpse.
You can't see me directly. That's why the Bible says in John 1 18, no man has seen God at any time. The only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him. So in Jesus, we see God, but he is veiled.
That's why we sing a Christmas veiled in flesh. The God had to see. We can't see God directly. Even though Jesus said, if you see me, you've seen the Father, but not directly. In fact, I don't think there's anybody here who's ever seen his face or her face directly. Now you probably saw your face this morning. You look as if you did, but you saw it in a mirror. You saw a reflection. And all that we can do is get a glimpse, a bit of a reflection of God.
That's the best we can do. Now, Moses had prayed, show me your glory. Moses doesn't get into the land, as you well know.
He's barred from it because he lost his temper and struck the rock instead of speaking to it. And the good news is that Moses eventually made it. About 14 or 15 centuries later, Jesus appears and he's there on the Mount of Transfiguration and who in the world comes finally makes it across the Jordan River. But Moses and Elijah, Moses got to the land finally.
And what's he doing? He's seeing the glory of God. In the next message, when I speak upon the face of Jesus, that's one of the texts I will use because the Bible says that his face shone as he was up there, the Mount of Transfiguration. And so what you have is Moses, he prayed the prayer, show me your glory. He was with God all those centuries. Now he saw more glory. And what do you think Moses is doing today? He's still beholding the glory of God and learning more about God as you and I will do for all of eternity. And so God shows Moses his glory and then they're ready to go. Then they're ready to go because the face of the Lord had again turned toward Israel.
His angry face had turned to his accepting gracious face and the nation was able to go on its way. Well you say, Pastor Lutzer, exactly why should my life be changed because of this? Let me give you two bottom lines.
Two bottom lines. First, keep in mind, my friend, this fact that God's presence is our greatest treasure. God's presence is our greatest treasure. You see it was after the presence of God returned, the cloud and the pillar.
It is after that. Think of what God's presence meant to Israel. God's presence led them. Some of you are going through a time of really questioning. You're in a time of transition. You've lost your job.
You don't know what to do. You are like Jehoshaphat. God's presence will guide you. God's presence fed them. It was because God was with them there in the desert that he provided manna and he provided water supernaturally. Oh, they went through difficult times and they complained.
Oh yoy yoy, they murmured. Just like we sometimes do, all in unbelief. But God's presence was there. God's presence fought for them against their enemies. Your greatest treasure is the presence of God and we must recognize that there is nothing as great and as wonderful as our knowledge of him. No matter what you are going through today, the presence of God is absolutely essential. And second, second bottom line, God's angry face turns to a gracious face when we deal with sin. You see, God, because he is so holy, he cannot fulfill that. Be gracious unto you. Lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
You can't do that, you see, as long as you've got issues with the almighty that you're unwilling to face. It is sin that prohibited the enjoyment and the fellowship with God. It is when sin was put away that then Moses and Aaron were to say to the people, the Lord bless you and show his favor to you. The favor of God. You say, well, can the favor of God even be turned away from Christians?
Yes, there are Christians living in disobedience. The favor of God is turned away from them. That's why the New Testament speaks so pointedly and directly about living a life pleasing to God because it's possible to live a life that isn't pleasing to God. I don't believe that he denies you or that you lose your salvation, but you can be out of the place of blessing. You can be living in a lifestyle right now where you can't look into God's face and say, God, be gracious unto me and lift up your countenance upon me and give me peace.
You know right well God can't do that considering the issues that you've not been willing to confess and to forsake. The presence of God. Now look at the Old Testament. Where is it that the presence of God was localized the most directly? That was, of course, in the Holy of Holies, wasn't it?
Exactly. I mean, the priest could go in there on the Day of Atonement only that one day a year. And Josephus said that they kept a rope on him in case he did something wrong and would be struck down so they could pull him out without going behind the curtain. Wow, this is where God was and you didn't play around. You weren't flippant when you're in the Holy of Holies for sure. In the book of Hebrews what the Bible says is that through that new and living way we now enter into that holy place. When you pray in the name of Jesus coming through that new and living way with the sin taken care of your life through the blood of Christ, you then enter into the Holy of Holies. And there you are in the divine presence and God is there. And God is there for you. God is there for us as a church.
When you enter into this building, I know that this building is only brick and mortar and carpeting and wood. But you know that when you step from the sidewalk and come in here, this is a special place because this is where God meets with his people collectively. And we say to ourselves that above all, no matter what you're going through today, no matter what need you brought, the answer to your need is the divine presence. Is it any wonder that the Bible says, seek my face? And the response is thy face, O Lord, we shall seek. Because the angry face of God turns to the gracious face of God when we deal with sin. And then we can look back and we can lie in God's presence and say, God, it's so hard for me to believe that you love me considering all that I've done.
But thanks to Jesus, you do. And I just want to absorb your favor. Thank you that your face is shining upon me. Let's pray. Father, we ask in the name of Jesus that you will make us a congregation that has favor with God. I pray for the leadership of the church. I pray that all of us who love you, that we might have favor with God, that we might say under no conditions will we do anything if it diminishes the divine presence. We ask Lord Jesus that you'll give us a sense of honesty and hope for those whose needs seem to be absolutely overwhelming, for which we have no explanation and for which we can scarcely give guidance. Today, we pray that with Jehoshaphat, that we might say, we don't know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.
And the Bible says that when the choir sang, God gave the victory. There it is in your word. In Jesus' name.
Amen. My friend today, the most blessed thing that you and I can experience is the presence of God. Often when I come to God in prayer, I actually spend time enjoying his presence through faith.
And that's our privilege. It's also our responsibility as believers so that we have the strength to serve God in so many different ways. Are you blessed as a result of the ministry of Running to Win? If the answer is yes, it's because people just like you have invested in this ministry. I'm holding in my hands a letter from a Spanish-speaking listener.
Every episode is beautiful and a lasting lesson that leads me to grow and mature in the Lord. One among many responses we receive, Running to Win is in 50 different countries in seven different languages. Very quickly, investigate becoming an endurance partner. I hope that you have a pen or pencil handy. Go to RTWOfferer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. Let me give you that contact info again.
RTWOfferer.com. Now when you're there, click on the endurance partner button and it will give you the info that you are looking for. Or you can call us at 1-888-218-9337. Thank you so much for being a part of this ministry. Thank you so much for your prayers. Thank you for your encouragement. Thank you also for your financial help. We are blessed to have the privilege of preaching the gospel around the world.
You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. There are famous paintings of Jesus all over the world. While we don't know exactly what he looked like, there are some clues in the Bible. Imagine looking into the face of Christ.
What would his piercing eyes see in you? Next time on Running to Win, we'll see ourselves standing before our Savior's face. Plan to join us. Running to Win is all about helping you understand God's roadmap for your race of life. Thanks for listening for Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.
