History repeats itself because no one was listening the first time

Exodus 33:1–3 KJV 1900

And the Lord said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it: And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way.

Exodus 33:1-

God gave Moses and the children of Israel a promise of a land that flowed with milk and honey.

God has taken them from the bondage of captivity and a life of harship and was leading them to a place of freedom and blessings.

God has promised to send angles before them removing any threat that was in the land.

But then God says I will not go up with you, for if I go I will destroy you on the way because you are a hard headed people.

We all know that God is omni-present and he is every where at all times, but this is talking about a particular presence where God chooses to make himself know and active. It is this particular presence that God is threatening to remove from the people.

How upset is God that He has to pull away from the children of Israel because if He didn’t he is going to destroy them?

What did the children of Israel do to make Him so upset?

Why was He that angry?

What was said?

What was done?

What in the world would make God that angry?

We must look at chapter 32 to find the answer

Exodus 32:1–2 KJV 1900

And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.

Exodus 32:1 KJV 1900

And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

Exodus 32:

Could it be the the people became a little anxious?

Could it be that the people felt like Moses was taking to long up on the mountain with the Lord?

Or maybe it was because the people began to do their own thing and forgot about what Moses had taught them to do.

We know the people began to make and worship their own Gods.

Maybe they felt like they had no leader so they were going to do what ever they wanted to do.

James 4:17 KJV 1900

Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

I know we do not have a pastor at this time.

I know we may feel a little abandoned

I know we may feel like we have lost our Under Shepard, but we still have The Great Shepard

God is still in control

God is still on the throne

He will never leave us nor for sake us

He is still faithful to us

He is still alpha and omega

He is still leading this church

So we know what we are supposed to do

We know the

Its not time to give up

Its not time to slow down

Its not time to give in

As a matter a fact its time to pray more than ever

Its time to fast more than ever

Its time to give more than ever

Its time to commit more than ever

Its time to unify more than ever

To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not to him it is sin.

i

We must learn from History

Exodus 33:7–11 KJV 1900

And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the Lord went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp. And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle. And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses. And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door. And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.

Exodus 33:7-

It was Moses who would go into the tabernacle and begin to pray

He would pray until something happend

The people would witness the pillar of cloud that would stand at the door of the tabernacle

The Lord would talk with Moses

But the people also would begin to worship

It was in those meetings that Moses would talk with the Lord

When is the last time you had a good ol fashion prayer meeting where you know you have been with the Lord

When you know you have talked with Him as if you were face to face

It’s time for the church to bind together in prayer like never before

We all must get into our own little prayer closet and not leave until the pillar of cloud stands at our door and we talk with Him as if we were face to face

I cant help but think of the story in where Joshua is leading the Israelites in battle.

The Israelites are pursuing the enemy and Joshua realizes he is going to run out of day light

So he prays and ask the Lord to stop the sun and the moon right where they are

The Lord answered his prayer and the sun stood still about a whole day

I love what is says in verse 14

Joshua 10:14 KJV 1900

And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the Lord fought for Israel.

I must ask the question

When is the last time your prayers wowed God?

When is the last time you talked with him face to face and God said wow you really do have faith as a grain of mustard seed

What do you need from Him

What have you been putting off asking Him because it seemed impossible

Let me tell you today we serve a God of the impossible

There is nothing he cannot do

There is not a need to big that He cannot answer

We serve a God that is fighting for us

When you get in His presence, Im telling you today make Him say wow with your petitions

Exodus 33:12–17 KJV 1900

And Moses said unto the Lord, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in 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 the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.

Exodus 33:12–17 KJV 1900

And Moses said unto the Lord, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in 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 the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.

Exodus 33:

Exodus 33:12-

It was prayer that changed the mind of God.

It was prayer that changed the mind of God.

When we read God was not going with them into the promised land

He was so angry that the people were turning their backs on Him and he was ready to destroy them

But it was when Moses and the people began to pray and worship that God changed his mind and he was going to let His presence go with the children of Israel

There are so many of us here today just like Moses, He was wanting to know who was going with him to the promised land.

We are wondering who will be our next pastor

But can I tell you today the better question to ask God is simply found in verse 13

Exodus 33:13 KJV 1900

Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.

If I have found grace in thy sight, show me your way, that I MAY KNOW YOU

The last couple times I have preached I have preached on knowing Him

If we could turn our focus on knowing him more than knowing who will be our next pastor things will begin to happen in this church.

I get it, it is a bit scary and we all can spend a lot of time on speculating who will be the next pastor, But I must tell you in the holy ghost today

There is a much greater need than knowing who will fill this pulpit, it is getting to know Him.

That is the most important issue today.

Do you know Him

Do you have a relationship with Him

Does He know you by name

Have you spoken with him as if you were face to face like Moses did.

When we get to know him, all of a sudden his presence begins to go with us every where we go.

And Im not talking about the omni-presence where he is everywhere at all times, but I’m talking about the presence where He chooses to make Himself know and active.

We must learn from history

Exodus 33:18-

Exodus 33:18–23 KJV 1900

And he said, I beseech thee, shew 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 shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man 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 passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift 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.

Moses was not satisfied with where he had been with the Lord

He wanted more

He wanted to know Him better

He never let his relationship get old

He was never content with where he was

He wanted to know the Lord like never before

Just talking with the Lord was not enough

Just being in the presence of the Lord was not enough

Just having the grace of God was not enough

Moses wants to see His glory or His goodness

He was not going to be satisfied, He was always going to be seeking more of Him

We know that no man could ever see the face of God and live

So God does the best that He could do by letting Moses see his back

We as the body of Christ must never get to a place in our relationship with Him where we feel like we do not need anymore of Him

We must hunger for more of Him

We must seek for more of Him

We must desire more of Him

We must never become ok with where are current walk with God is at

There is always more of Him for us

We must learn to be like Moses and constantly seek more of Him

When we get to a place where we know we have been in the presence and glory of God everyone around us will know

Just like Moses, when he came down from the mountain after being with the Lord his face shined and it scared the people.

He ended up putting a cloth over his face when he was with the people

There is no denying when you have a true relationship with the Lord

But there is also no faking when you have not been with the Lord

Everybody knows the difference

I want everyone of us here today to get to a place in their walk with God that you can truly say you have been in the presence and glory of the Lord

Closing

The children of Israel wondered the wilderness for 40 years

The journey should of taken roughly 9 months to a year

But the Lord let them wonder in circles for so long because they never could get it right

When you read the story it seems like all they did was complain and get upset at Moses for every little thing

They back slid every chance they could

They would worship false Gods

They would turn their back of God and then realize they needed Him so they would come back to Him

It sure does sound like many of us here today

We live this roller coaster walk with Him

Week to week and month to month we are up and we are down

We throw in the towel and then we pick it back up

Its time to make up in our mind that no matter what happens we will not give up

We will not quit

We will not backslide

We will not let down or let go

This is our church

This is our family

This is where we belong

This is where we are needed

This is where we can be saved

I don’t want history to repeat itself because we did not fix some of the mistakes that the children of Israel made

I don’t want this church to spend wasted years wondering the wilderness because we are to busy complaining and questioning everything that is fixing to happen over the next couple weeks

We must find ourselves like Moses

We must get with God

We must get in our prayer closet

We must get in the presence of God

We must get in the glory and goodness of God

IF we as the whole body of Christ can do this

When our next pastor comes in we will connect with His spirit and we will know that this is the right man for the job

But this will only happen when the whole church gets to the prayer room

When the whole church begins to fast

When the whole church stops the mumbling and grumbling

And when the whole church leaves the prayer room with our face glowing

Where everyone knows we have been with the Lord

I will finish with this story

H