Climbing the mountain

Exodus 33:12–23 ESV

Moses said to the Lord, “See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” And he said to him, “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 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?” And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass 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 on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” And 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 a cleft of the rock, and I 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.”

Exodus 34:4–9 ESV

So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”

I want to talk to you today about what is looks like to climb the mountain

What it looks like to passionately seek the glory of God

Introduction

Over the last couple of weeks we have been talking about going deeper in our relationship with God and seeking him intently..

The Secret Place

Two weeks ago the glory of the Lord was thick in this place.. and the Lord called us to regularly be in the secret place with him..

This is to say making regular time to get alone with him each day and seek his face through the word and prayer..

And I hope you have been doing that..

Seek him with all

Last week we talked about seeking the voice of god ourselves instead of looking for someone else to tell us what God is saying..

and we looked at the promise in Jeremiah 29 where God promised we will find him when we seek him with all of our heart..

Both services we came to the altar and consecrated ourselves before the Lord..

and dedicated ourselves to seeking him greater..

This week

I have been trying to preach on faith for three weeks now..

and each an week God has steered me in a different direction..

this week being no different..

We were going to be in hebrews 11..

and maybe well get there in a couple weeks..

but instead I believe the lord wants to continue to call us deeper

and were going to look at the story of moses and the mountain top found in exodus 33 and 34.

Moses and the Mountain Top

Moses is in a desperate place when we come into exodus 33..

Idol

Moses has already spent 40 days on the mountain with god..

received the law..

and gone down the mountain to find israel in idol worship..

they had convinced aaron to make them a golden cafe

and then they worship it..

Anger

and in anger..

moses has broken the tablets..

and cleansed the camp..

3,000 Israelites die this day..

Tent

and he has gone back to the tent of meeting..

frustrated by whats going on..

and in exodus 33 he comes to the tent of meeting and meets with god..

and begins to intercede for the people..

God

In the midst of this..

god tells him.. im not going with you..

these people are stiff necked..

and moses begins to plead with god and tells him..

you have to go with us.

we cant go on without you..

Desperation..

its in this desperation for gods presence to go with them that moses make a request..

and says.. Show me your glory..

Glory

What is the glory?

the Hebrew word for glory is kovad..

And it means weight or splender..

It carries the idea of honor and greatness..

but this is not just an idea..

its the tangible nature of gods presence..

Moses

notice moses says show me your glory..

and God says.. I will pass by you.. but you cannot see my face

You cant see all my glory..

it would be too much for you..

light

many times the glory of god is associated through scripture with light and luminousness..

and is pictured as radiating from God…

Tangible..

the glory of god is a tangible radiance of gods presence..

its a weighted manifestation..

where you know the glory of the lord has filled the room..

Examples

The pillar of cloud and fire was a type of the glory of god..

The light luminating from Jesus on the mountain of transfiguration was a type of the glory of god..

The fire in the burning bush was a type of the glory of god..

the light the shepherds say in bethleham was a type of the glory of god..

The glory is the manifest presence of god himself..

Expereinced..

Mose had experienced gods glory in ways before..

he saw the burning bush..

he saw the pillar of fire..

he dwelt for 40 days in the pillar of cloud..

but now..

He has a deep needed desire for a fresh, tangible and more intimate encounter with god himself..

He wants to see him and know him in a deeper way..

his soul is longing for deeper revelation..

so he say..

Please.. show me your glory..

and god anwsers him..

us

ive come to tell you this morning..

we cant grow content with what we have seen.

we cant continue to live off the leftovers of yesterdays revelation and revival..

we need a fresh encounter with god..

a fresh outpouring of his presence..

a deeper encounter with the father..

a fresh revival…

We need something that will change us when we walk away from it..

like moses face shining when he left the mountain..

and jacob limping after wrestling with god..

THE CHURCH NEEDS TO ENCOUNTER THE GLORY OF GOD ONCE AGAIN..

…

but its going to require us to seek him like never before..

Revealed

moses asks god to show him his glory…

and god honors his request..

and does..

and moses is forever changed..

What will is look like for us to encounter the glory of god?

What will it look for like for us to encounter gods glory once again?

First its going to take a desire for a greater revelation..

It takes Desire

Exodus 33:18 ESV

Moses said, “Please show me your glory.”

Everything starts with desire..

If we are going to see more of god.. we have to be hungry for more of god..

Matthew 5:6 ESV

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Everything starts with a desire for more..

A hunger within you for for more..

HUNGry PEOPLE EAT..

BLOATED PEOPLE DONT..

and i believe the reason were not hungry for god is because were full of other things..

we have to get hungry for him..

Struggle

I want to point out thought that moses desperation for more of god is not birthed in the context of blessing and contentment

contrary to the western understanding of seeking god..

moses desperation and revelation are entangled within his suffering and struggle with the people..

moses is not saying.. your so good to me and I want more goodness..

He is actually saying.. I cant do this without you..

he even tells god in verse 15 of chapter 33..

If your presence is not going to go.. then dont send us..

MOSES REALIZES THAT HE DESPERATELY NEEDS GOD AND HIS HELP

There are times god has to let us walk through some things so we can see our real priorities…

dont despise the times of suffering in your life..

because its during our suffering that we are driven deeper and deeper with god..

and his nature and character is revealed in a more prevalent way.

Stop eating junk

we have to be hungry for god..

If your not hungry stop filling yourself up with the things of the world..

and get hungry again..

cookies

you ever tell your kids not to eat cookies before dinner?

why?

because you want them to eat the things that are good for them..

Stop eating the cookies of the world and get hungry for god..

Not enough

but desire is not enough..

real hunger for god will lead us to action..

It requires Action

moses had a desire

but then he climbed a mountain..

Exodus 34:4 ESV

So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone.

if you are hungry you will find something to eat..

If you are hungry for god.. you will seek him out..

Moses didnt just say I want to see your glory..

He traversed up the mountain a second time to see the glory of god..

Its not enough to say you want more of god..

Act on it..

Seek him

Mountain top..

kings rock

a few years ago we were in spain..

and we were in the beautiful and historic city of toledo

and i had been there many times..

but this time.. he said..

Have you ever seen the city from the kings rock?

I said no whats the kings rock?

hes said its the rock the king or toledo used to go to too over look the city..

I said no ..

lets go..

so we drive there..

and where we get here..

Were stare strait up the side of a mountain..

and he.. being skinny.. said lets go and he ran off..

and we navigated the mountain..

and i huffed and puffed..

and almost died..

and finally we got to the top..

and it was beautiful (Photo)

man getting there was hard..

it was work..

but it was worth it..

If were going to see more of god we have to understand it wont come easy..

we have to be willing to act.. to climb the mountain..

to spend months and years in study and prayer. ..

hours each week seeking god..

we have to be willing to climb the mountain..

and in the end..

we will see a greater revelation of his glory..

It will bring Revelation

god honored moses desire and action..

and revealed himself to him..

Exodus 34:5–7 ESV

The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

Moses had desired it.

he climbed the mountain for it..

and he received it..

Us

God has given the same promised to us..

that is we will get hungry for him..

If we will seek him we will find him..

Jeremiah 29:13–14 ESV

You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

James 4:8 ESV

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Proverbs 8:17 ESV

I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.

we, like moses, have the promise that if we will seek God..

He will reveal himself to us..

He will show us his nature and character

he will reveal his glory to us..

but we have to seek him!

desire, action, revealation..

If we will passionately seek god, he will show himself to us..

and look what happens..

it will change us..

The outcome of passionatly seeking god.

Seeking God like this has the propensity to change us..

Passionate Worship

the first thing we see is this cause moses to worship..

Exodus 34:8 ESV

And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.

moses saw god.. and it led him to worship..

This kind of seeking should lead us to a passionate

When you see God in this kind of way..

You cant help but worship him..

and passionate seeking will lead to passionate worship..

You begin to magnify your view of god..

to deepen you understanding of him..

and as we do.. we see how small and insignificant we really are..

the true worth of his grace and mercy in our lives..

and it leads us to call out to him in worship..

Divine intervention

I also want you to see that this kind of seeking leads to god moving in our lives..

Divine Intervention

Exodus 34:10 ESV

And he said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.

when you seek god like this..

and draw close to him..

divine things begin to happen..

Because

Notice this was not the thing moses was looking for..

He just wanted God to go with them..

god to reveal himself to him..

but god promises im going to do wonders..

Side

I want you to understand that the blessings and miricals of god are not the purpose of our seeking god..

they are the outcome of a sincere desperation and seeking of god.

we dont seek god for his blessings..

we seek god for God and then he gives us his blessings..

Carriers of the glory..

moses was forever changed when he came down the mountain..

Exodus 34:29 ESV

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.

When you seek god like this.. and you find him in the secret place..

it forever changes you…

You become a carrier of the glory..

You carry the presence..

People look at you like they did Mose because they see something different in you..

Angles

Many theologians believe that this was the reason people were afraid of angles when they showed up..

because when they showed up..

they shone with the glory of god..

why?

because they live in the presence of god.

Us

When you endever to seek god like never before and find him..

You become a carried of the presence

and others will notice..

End

How desperate are you for more of him

One more time…

I’m going to call you to this altar..

and were going to ask him.. show us your glory..