"On One Condition"
Exodus 33:12-18
Moses said to the Lord, "You have been telling me, ’Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ’I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ [13] If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people."
[14] The Lord replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."
[15] Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. [16] How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?"
[17] And the Lord said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name."
[18] Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory."
Text taken from Vs. 15
Here was Moses once again interceding for the children of Israel after they had failed God again...
Moses had just descended from Mt. Sinai only to discover that there was chaos on the ground as the people had formed a golden calf out of their gold and were worshipping it under the approving eye of Aaron...
I think it is worth looking back into vs.s 21-24 just to see what happened according to Aaron...
Aaron clearly was trying to pass the blame to the people while we see that Moses who had the heart of a real leader was trying to intercede for the people to God...
Exodus 32:31 And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.
Exodus 32:32 Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.
We read also that punishment came upon the people of Israel as a result of their disobedience to God...
But we see time after time that Moses interceded to God on behalf of the people, which is what he was doing as we have read in our text...
He knew there was a long journey ahead, and this is one journey that he didn’t want to make without God going before them...
How soon the children of Israel forgot the miracles of the Red Sea, and the manna from heaven, and the water from the rock, and wanted to make another God...
Moses knew that without God’s presence it wasn’t even worth making the trip, but God had become quite angry with his people, and Moses needed the assurance that God was going to make the trip...
We see first of all as Moses comes to talk with God ...
I. THE PRIVILEGES OF FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD.
Moses knew that in order to lead a congregation of so many people that there was one friendship that he had better keep fresh and alive, and that was the one that he had with God....
I’m sure that he was thankful for his relationships with many of the people, but there was nothing like that fellowship and communion that he had with his maker...
What did this friendship bring to Moses and us as we draw nearer to our Lord...?
a) Friendship gives us boldness to approach the Lord.
There is that awful awkwardness of first getting to know someone that we all have felt here today...
That moment that no doubt we all would like to skip and move right into a friendship or relationship...
But that cannot just automatically happen because relationships and friendships have to be built over a period of time...
But as the relationship is built, and time goes by, we become more bold in our conversation, because we have become accustomed to who that person is....
Getting to know the Lord is much the same, as that relationship is built through time...
The word of God says in..
Eph 3:12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
Hebrews 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
1 John 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
Fear is lacking, boldness is present... the Word says that even in the day of judgement that we can have boldness before the very throne of God...
So Friendship produces boldness to approach God as we see that Moses approached God in boldness, because of His friendship...
b) Friendship also helps us to know His mind vs. 13
One thing we all need to know, and that is the mind of God...
Isn’t it amazing that the more we get to know people that we know what they would like without them even saying a word...?
As we draw closer we begin to understand that persons desires as well as needs...
The husband may "feel like chicken tonight" and
has been dreaming about "chicken tonight" all day at work, and knowing that most likely it would be "spam tonight", but when he arrives at the door, guess what he smells? "Chicken Tonight"!
Why? Because his wife knew that he just enjoys "Chicken tonight" and she wanted to please him when he arrived home...
Friendship with God helps us get to know the mind of God, and helps us know the way that we should take, just as Moses needed to know...
Spend time with God, and in his word, and you will be surprised at how you begin to feel the way God feels about certain things....
The best way to know the way and will of God, is begin to spend more time in the presence of God.
II. THE BLESSINGS OF GOD’S PRESENCE
Moses knew that no matter what was ahead that it was all going to be in vain unless the presence of the Lord was with them...
Services are being held all over the world today that God is not attending, and has not attended for years...
Why? Is it because he doesn’t want to, or is only moving in certain denominations? No... it’s because we have blocked his presence out with all of our man-made services....
Lord help us never to become so programmed that we program the moving of the Holy Spirit right out of our services....
Instead of entertaining the presence of God, many of our churches have fallen into the trap of just entertaining...
We know that...
a) His presence is the highest blessing
Nothing else can be compared to the presence of God in our lives...
Psalm 73:25-26
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
[26] My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
David was saying that this world had nothing to offer him, and here was a man who had more wealth than any of us here would even dare to dream about.
David had more fame than any of us here tonight.
David had seen all that this world had to offer, and he still was able to say that there is nothing I desire besides you...
Whom do I have in heaven but you. David was saying that neither angel nor archangel could replace that relationship with God Himself.
It seems that America is often taken up with “Angels Among Us”, and angels here, and angels there, but if there is anything that we ought to be seeking, it is a living breathing relationship with God.
We need God more than we need the angels, the saints, or Mary. As we get to know Jesus, there is nothing else that can fill the void, but Him...
b) His presence is the blessing that enriches all other blessings.
The bible tells us to “seek Him first, and all these things will be added unto you”...
Often in America, we feel that if we somehow seek these things first, then a relationship with God will come since we have everything we want.
As long as those things are obtained w/o the blessing of God, things will always have a hollow and empty feeling...
Moses was saying to God that even though He knew blessings were ahead, he still needed God to be with him...
The grass would be greener, the water would be sweeter, the flowers would be brighter, the food would be more nourishing, the mountains wouldn’t seem quite so high, and the valleys wouldn’t be so wide with God by his side...
There is something about the blessing of God that makes all other blessings greater...
III. Friendship with God Is Inclusive Of Others.
There’s nothing like having a friend who knows someone in a higher position who "will put in a good word" for us...
The people of Israel who had just finished worshipping the golden calf were in desperate need of having someone put in a "good word" or two on their behalf to God...
Notice that Aaron was not here with Moses... He had been a part of the sinful actions of the people, so he was excluded from a powerful blessing of seeing and hearing the voice of God..
Moses soon set his heart to seeking God on their behalf....
When we really know God we are able to intercede on the behalf of others who may not even know how to get to God... Don’t ever allow the enemy to steal your friendship and relationship with God...
Because you may be the only ray of hope that a sinner may have....
Become friends with God, so that you can intercede for others in a powerful way...
Moses knew that he could make the trip that lie ahead, and have the blessings of God in a powerful way, but he wanted the people to be included in what God was doing...
We need to have the resolve that says, “yes, I may be going to heaven. I may be redeemed by the blood of the lamb... the blessings of God are in my life, and all around me, and Lord, hasten your coming, but help me to take as many people with me as I can find...
Help me to have a part in restoring that brother or sister that has fallen by the wayside for one reason or another...
Help me reach out to “the least of these”, or the person who can do nothing for me or my reputation...
In vs. 16 Moses says so we shall be separated, I and thy people from allo the people that are upon the face of the earth...
Friendship with God also talks about being separated from the world...
Woe be to the Christian who is more comfortable hanging around the sinner than being in right fellowship and relationship with his brothers and sisters...
James 4:4
You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
There is a road and a way up ahead of us that has never been travelled before, and we cannot desire to “go up” without the blessing and the presence of God in our lives, and in our midst...
How many of you can say, “yes, I need a lot more of God, and a lot less of me”!
The journey is too great for me, and I need the power and presence and approval of God in my life, so that instead of just crawling across the finish line, I can blaze over it in victory...
