Moses Series

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS SERIES

4 – MOSES

This morning, we come the FOURTH INSTALLMENT of our “Close Encounters” series as we talk today about the life of Moses

Just a few weeks ago, we got the news that Charleton Heston died, and we remember him most in the movie, The Ten Commandments, playing Moses

Moses – that…

--one who told Pharaoh – “let my people go”

--one who divided the Red Sea

--one who came down from the mountain whose face shown

There’s no doubt that Moses is one of the top 3 to have the closest encounters with God any mortal human has had

In fact it was God Himself who said in Numbers 12:6-8 that with all the other prophets, God said that he would show a vision or a dream, but not so with Moses

God said, “I’ll talk to Him plainly and directly”

Talk about CLOSE ENCOUNTERS!

And yet despite the fact that he had close encounters with God, he had…

--his failures

--his moments

--times when he acted to fast

--times when he sinned against God

And that’s what we’ve been learning in this message series, that no matter…

--who we are

--where we’ve been

--what mistakes we’ve made

We can all have CLOSE ENCOUNTERS with God

So, with that in mind, let’s read…

Exodus 33:12-23 ( KJV ) 13Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight… 14And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. 15And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence…17And 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. 18And he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. 19And 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…22And 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: 23And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.

INTRODUCTION

Moses was many things…

--deliverer

--lawgiver

--prophet

--prince of Egypt

--founding father of a new nation

--song writer

--author

But if you could encapsulate the entire life of Moses into one verse that would BEST describe all that he was about, it would be found in the words of our text this morning…

Exodus 33:15 ( KJV ) 15And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.

In other words, Moses was saying… I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT YOUR PRESENCE

And how powerful that is, because the secret to having CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH GOD is not…

--living a perfect sin-free life

--having money in the bank

--the church you are a member of

--your position in the social class

The secret of having CLOSE ENCOUNTERS with God is one word – DESIRE!

In other words, Moses was saying…

--I CAN’T GO ON WITHOUT YOU

--I don’t want to know about God, I want to know God

--I don’t want to just seek His hand, but I want to seek His face

--I want close encounters with God

And I do sense an urgency in these messages that I’m preaching, because…

--we’re all wrapped up in the price of gas

--we’re all concerned about the next President

--we’re all worried about our businesses and jobs

But what we really need to do is, like Moses, say, I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT YOUR PRESENCE

We all need…

--every parent

--every grandparent

--every teenager

--every church worker

--every deacon

--every preacher

--every person

WE ALL NEED CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH GOD!

And I want us to look at the life of Moses today, and what I want to do is to break it down into three parts, because when you look at Moses life, it can easily be broken down into every 40 years

In fact, it was D.L. Moody, the great evangelist, that said about Moses…

“Moses, spent his first forty years thinking he was somebody. He spent his second forty years learning he was a nobody. He spent his third forty years discovering what God can do with a nobody.”

And in looking at the life of Moses, that’s what I want to do this morning is to follow that outline and look at…