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This is week number five in our series. We've
come a long way, but we're going to start out
in the same place where we started in week number
one with Moses at Mount Sinai. And our text is
Exodus 33 when we're talking about Moses. I know
there's a lot in there about this story, but
it was the time in chapter 33. It was a time
when they were about to leave Mount Sinai and
go to the promised land. They had built the tabernacle,
the tent of meeting. They had built the Ark of
the Covenant. And God told them that he would
meet with them over the mercy seat, which was
between the two golden cherubim on top of the
Ark of the Covenant. And God said, that's where
I'll meet with you. So we can look at that as
it was. an earthly throne for God. And in the
Old Testament, God's presence could always be
found in the Holy of Holies by above the Ark
of the Covenant. It was a pillar of cloud. Every
time Moses would go into the tabernacle to meet
with God, a big pillar of cloud would form over
the entrance of the tabernacle. That represented
the manifest presence of God. When the people
saw it, they knew that God was there meeting
with Moses. It was something visible, something
we could say tangible. They knew it. And then
when Moses would come out, they could know that
Moses had met with God. Do you remember how?
His face. His face would shine. Because he had
been in the glory. Everybody say the glory. He
had been in the manifest presence of God, and
his face would shine to such a point where they
wanted him to put a veil over his face. The tangible
presence of God. The glory of God had been imprinted.
Jeffrey alluded to this, but we used to have
a burgundy couch that had... little, Gayna's
dad made it for us. He worked at a furniture
company. So it was one of a kind, but the cloth
on it was almost like a velvet, but it had little
holes in it, like a pattern, like a, wasn't a
dominant polka dot, but you could picture the
pattern that way. And anytime I would lay on
that couch and fall asleep and spend time there,
I would get up and I looked like I had the chicken
pox. Because the couch had imprinted on my face.
So you can think about that. With Moses, the
glory of God, he had spent time in the glory
where the glory of God was imprinted on his face.
And right after he met with God, I mean, it was
just shining brightly. So he put on a veil and
then... As he went not being in the manifest
presence of God, it would begin to fade. So,
what are some things out of chapter 33, what
are some things that we need to always remember?
You don't need to just remember this for the
five weeks of the series. You need to remember
in your walk with God. Because God had said,
these people are rebellious. They didn't want
the presence of God. They didn't want God to
talk to them. They wanted Moses to talk to God
and then tell them what God said. At Mount Sinai,
it was like, because when God showed up there,
he talked to all of them. And they're like, whoa,
this is too much. Moses, we just want you to
talk to God. Listen, they gave up something.
They gave up something that was available to
them to be a kingdom of priests to their God.
That was going to be all of them. Just like it's
supposed to be all of us. Chosen generation,
royal priesthood, that we should... Show something.
Show forth the praises of God who's called us
out of darkness into his marvelous light. But
this was available to them, but they said no.
And I'm afraid that in most of modern Christianity,
it's kind of fallen back into that pattern where
everybody wants a preacher to spend time with
God. And then tell them what God said. I don't
know why I'm going here, but I'm liking it, so
I'm going to stay here a minute. It's almost
the same thing, right? Oh, we want the preacher
to seek God and get a word from God and then
bring that word to us when God's saying, I want
to speak to all of you. So let's don't fall back
to old covenant. And God said, you know, Moses,
I'm going to send an angel with you. I'm going
to send an angel with you to help you to fight
to get there to the promised land. Because God
basically said, if you read chapter 33, He basically
said, look, these people don't want me to be
around them in my manifest presence all the time.
The way they're living, It's not going to work
out too good. But Moses said this. He said, God,
if you don't personally go with us, don't make
us leave this place. Moses had encountered the
presence of God so much, he didn't want to do
life without the presence of God, without God
being with him. If you don't personally go with
us, God, don't let us leave. Because we don't
want to go anywhere or do anything without you.
And then he says, how will anyone know that you
look favorably on me, on me and your people,
if you don't go with us? And then the next verse.
Stood out to me. I mean it never stood out to
me like it did. Until I was preparing this series.
Where Moses says to God. Your presence God. Your
presence among us. Your people and me. Is your
presence. Sets us apart. From all the other people
in the earth. Everybody say the presence of God.
Separates me. From everybody else in the world.
Now, the New Testament tells us that the world
will recognize and know that we are Christians
by our love. And I've known that one. I've preached
that one. I've talked about that one a lot, right?
But it's not only by us walking in love. It should
also be that the presence of God is among us.
A few verses later, Moses says, show me your
glory. He had been on the mountain with God.
He had seen the glory of God. He had been in
the manifest presence of God. He had been talking
to God. Listen. The glory of God is not a, should
not be a one -time thing. We shouldn't meet together
and say, well, you know what? About 37 years
ago, boy, I was at a, well, it wouldn't have
been 37. It had been, I mean, I've shared some
stories with you, but about 35, What is it? 34.
Is that what you're turning? About 34 years ago,
I was at a worship conference with Lamar Boshman.
Man, the glory of God. I mean, it just got amazing.
To the point that Gana was healed. Just in the
glory of God. I mean, I can look back at different
times when I've encountered the glory of God,
and I can say, well, it happened here, and I
recognize it here, and I experienced it here,
but it's not supposed to be like that. Every
week when we get together, somebody should have
a glory story of, I was in, I experienced the
glory of God, and here's what he said, and here's
what he did. I mean, something pretty amazing
happened to me this past week. Anybody else?
Because we asked God last week, we were saying,
God, use me. You know, flow through me, use me.
I mean, I'm at Valvoline getting oil changed
in my car. And it almost turned into a church
service with two of the guys. I was really hoping
to see them walk through the door today. But
it was a pretty amazing time. And I wish that
would happen all the time, but it just happened
this week. And I believe it was a result of me
saying, God, use me as a vessel of your presence.
I want to carry your presence. I want to carry
your glory. God, use me. I'm available. And he
didn't use me because I was a preacher. That's
not why he used me. He could use you just as
much as he could use me. He could use you more
than he could use me if you're in the flow. I
think we talked about the flow last week. Moses
said, God, show me your glory. Show me your glorious
presence. He'd experienced it. And God said,
okay, Moses, because Moses couldn't see the face
of God because he was not clothed in the righteousness
of Jesus like we are today. You can see the face
of God and still live. He couldn't. Think about
that a second. Anyway, God said, my goodness
is going to pass before you, and then you can
see my goodness. God's so good, when you encounter
him, you can see his goodness. You can see it.
So Moses saw the glory. That word glory in the
Old Testament is translated weight. weight, like
a heaviness. There's two kinds of heaviness we
can feel. One is a heaviness that's negative.
Has anybody ever had a negative heaviness on
them before? You know what I'm talking about.
But that's not God. God's not a negative weight.
This word, weight, that's translated glory in
the Old Testament, it's weight and it's and it's
always used in a good sense. Everybody say a
good sense. You can't be confused. It's translated
in English, translation is glory, splendor, honor.
And when I've encountered the glory of God, I
have always sensed it. And we can't go by our
feelings all the time. But I've always sensed
it. It was a good heaviness. It was a good weight
in the room I've encountered. And let's remember
this. Moses wasn't hungry for better circumstances.
He wasn't crying out to God to fix his problem
that he was in and experiencing. Like we do most
of the time. Don't shout amen right then, but
you got to at least say, oh, me, or something
like that. Most of the time when we talk to God,
we're asking him to fix it. Whatever it is, we
want you to fix it, right? And Moses cried out
to God and asked him to fix it a few times, but
this time, I believe he got it right. He's like,
God, I just want you. I just want you. Because
if I have you, Like that first song that we sang,
if I'm standing in your presence, I have everything
I need. You're all I need. You're all I need.
Has anybody ever sang that before? Jesus, you're
all I need. You're all I need. You're all we
need. All we need is your manifest presence.
All we need to do is to seek you. And when we
seek you, all these other things, the Bible says,
Jesus said, when we seek you, all these other
things, they'll just happen because we're seeking
you, right? All those other things will be added
to us. So Moses was hungry for God's presence.
Now let's go with David. He's in a parched and
weary land. Has anyone ever felt like you were
in a parched and weary land sometimes? He was
physically in a parched and weary land. Right?
Sometimes we find ourselves emotionally and mentally
in a parched and weary land, and that's where
David found himself. And this is why he said,
oh God, you are my God. I earnestly, wholeheartedly
search for you. My soul thirsts for you. My whole
body longs for you in this parched and weary
land where there's no water. Listen, he's not
saying. God, can you give me some shade? God,
can you give me some water? God, can you make
it easier for me? That's not what he's saying,
right? He says, I search for you, God. My soul
is thirsting for you. My whole body is longing
for you. You are what I need. And in the very
next verse, He reminds himself in his talking
to God, God, I've seen you in your sanctuary.
I've gazed upon your power and glory. So I know
if I can encounter you, your goodness is going
to come with you because you can't be separated
from your goodness. You can't be separated from
your power. You can't be separated from your
glory. So wholeheartedly. Search for you, God.
David was hungry because he had seen something.
He had seen something. He had experienced the
glory of God. And he knew whatever circumstance
he was in, if he could just be with God, then
everything else is going to work itself out.
So what is the glory? The glory is the manifest
presence of God. It's the weight. of who He is.
It's His goodness revealed. It's His reality
made known in the earth among His people. So
where is the glory? Old covenant, we talked about
it. God's glory on earth was manifest with the
Ark of the Covenant. This Ark, if it ever had
to be moved, it had to be carried by priests.
and it had to be kept in the inner part of the
tabernacle or the sanctuary, kept in the Holy
of Holies. And it got to a point where, you know,
there wasn't somebody regularly going to talk
to God because you couldn't even go in there.
And they would sew bells on the garment of the
priest that went in there one time a year. The
high priest could go in. For a short time, they
put bells on him and they tied a rope around
his ankle. And if the bells quit ringing, they
would drag him out. Because he didn't do something
right. Who's glad to be washed in the blood and
redeemed by Jesus? Not the blood of bulls and
goats. But forever, once and for all. So we can
come boldly before the throne. Not timidly, hoping
that we got everything right. We can come boldly
before the throne. That was the old covenant.
The new covenant, things have changed. You are
now the temple of God. Don't you know that your
body, Is the temple of the Lord? Don't you know?
We are the temple. So a new covenant, God's glory
manifests in and through his people. God's presence
can be carried everywhere. Even to the Omni.
Even to the airport. The office. Your house.
Your school. Glory can be carried everywhere
that God's people go. We can carry his glory.
Because his power isn't just accessed by the
priest or the preacher. His power can be accessed
by all of his children. That's the new covenant.
Colossians 1 .27. To them. Talking about us.
Everybody say, this is talking about me. To them,
God willed, He desired to make known something.
He wants you to know something. Look at the person
beside you and say, God wills for you to know
something. To us, God willed to make known what
are the riches of his glory, riches of the glory
of this mystery. It was hidden. God willed to
make known what are the riches of the glory of
this mystery among the Gentiles. Here it is.
Christ in you. You're in Christ. Christ is in
you. Christ in you is the hope of glory. New
Testament word for glory is a little bit different.
It's the word doxa. That verse tells us Christ
is in us is the hope of glory. Here's what hope
means. Hope is a confident expectation. It's
not a hope so hope in the New Testament. It's
a confident. I hope you always remember this.
I confidently expect that you will remember this.
Confident expectation. It's what God wants to
know. We can have a confident expectation of
experiencing His manifest presence and His goodness.
Because Christ is in us. And we're in Him. Somebody
smile. That ought to put a smile on your face.
Under the new covenant, God pours out His glory
among His people and displays His glory through
His people. Somebody say, that's me. That's me.
Ephesians 5, 25. Christ loved the church. That
word church, again, is not a building, it's not
an organization. It's a compound Greek word that
means called out ones. Called out ones. Not called
out one. Called out ones. That means that it's
not talking about Lone Ranger people. They feel
like they don't need the church. They don't need
to get together with other called out ones. They
just look at themselves as a called out one.
But the word doesn't mean called out one. It
means called out ones. To correct some people
that you don't even know who I'm correcting that
seem to post like they know everything about
everything. Christ loved the called out ones.
He gave up His life for her to make her holy.
Everybody say set apart. To set her apart. To
make her clean. To wash her by the cleansing
of his word. And he did all this. Why did he
do all this? He did all this to present her,
to present the called out ones to himself as
a glorious church. Glorious church. Have you
ever been to a service with other believers and
you left saying, boy, that was glorious. Glorious
is in doxos. It means in glory. A church that
is in glory. Caught out ones who are in glory.
Experiencing glory. Doxa is the root for endoxos.
It means glory, splendor, and honor. That sounds
a lot like the Old Testament word that we look
at. As a matter of fact, in studying the words,
I just copied and pasted this. It corresponds
to the Old Testament word kabo, which means to
be heavy. And both terms, everybody say both
terms. Both terms convey God's infinite, intrinsic
worth. His substance and his essence. His essence.
His substance. Jesus defines the church he's
returning for. He's returning for a glorious
church. He's not returning for a barely surviving
church. He's not returning for a fearful church.
He's not returning for a powerless church. He's
returning for a glorious church. The church is
in glory, experiencing the manifest presence
of God. I think I just said that. So, here's
what we've got to realize. God's vision for the
church is higher than our imaginations at this
point. I mean, we go back and read some of the
things that happened in Acts, and then we look
at what's going on today, and we're like, we're
a long way from that. Well, it's a long time
in time, in chronology. But listen, that should
have just been the beginning of something that's
bigger and greater than it was. Shouldn't be
looking back to it and say, wow, what if God
still did that? What if God could, wait a minute,
we might put the word could in it. What if God
could still do that? Hello? That's the wrong
way of thinking. We look at what Jesus did. And
we say, wow, what if Jesus was still here and
doing that? And Jesus said, even greater. What
you read about me, it should be greater than
that today. Help us. A glorious church is a church
that is weighty with presence, weighty with the
glory of God, weighty with God's manifest presence.
It's filled with his reality, and it's marked
by his divine activity. That's a glorious church.
Anything short of that is not a glorious church.
Let's go to Habakkuk. You might have to rub the
pages in your Bible to get that one open. Habakkuk
2 .14. For as the waters fill the sea, there's
a lot of water in the ocean. Look to the person
beside you and say, there's a lot of water in
the ocean. As the waters fill the sea, the earth
will be filled. with an awareness of the glory
of the Lord. Just like the sea is filled with
water, the earth is supposed to be filled with
glory. And it will be filled with glory. But
it's not through clouds. It's not through buildings.
It's not through sermons. Even though sermons
can help. Not through sermons alone. But it's
through believers. That's how the earth is going
to be filled with the glory of God. It's going
to be through believers. This is a prophetic
verse. Unless you have walked outside and just
saw the manifest presence of God and felt the
manifested presence of God everywhere you've
went. It's not full yet. Can anybody look at
this world and say it's not really? I mean, God's
omnipresent, so He's everywhere all the time,
but I don't see the whole world filled with His
glory. I haven't seen it. Have you seen it? Where
the whole world is filled with the manifest presence
of God? The way that's going to happen is through
believers carrying the glory everywhere they
go. A glorious church is people who are carriers
of the presence of God. Have you ever encountered
somebody that when they just walked up to you
and started talking to you, you could just sense
the presence of God? Because they've spent so
much time with God and they're just carrying
the presence of God. If you haven't, look at
the person on the right and say, I'm waiting
on you. Acts 2, 1 through 4, this is the time
when the glory of God was manifest in the room,
right? On the day of Pentecost, all the believers
were meeting together in one place. Suddenly,
there was a sound from heaven. Like the roaring
of a mighty windstorm. And it filled the house
where they were sitting. I mean, we've talked
about the cloud in this series. We've talked
about the doorpost being shook. The prison being
shook. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven.
Like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, it filled
the house where they were sitting. Then what
looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared
and settled on each of them. And everyone present,
everybody say everyone present. Not just Peter.
Everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit,
began speaking in other languages as the Holy
Spirit gave them this ability. So when they were
together, everybody say together. Wasn't they
called out one experience? It was 120. Called
out ones seeking God. When they were all together
in one place, suddenly, there came a sound. Suddenly.
Because they were unified. They were all seeking
God. They were all waiting. on the promise of
God. They weren't going to do anything else until
they experienced the promise of Jesus. They're
just waiting. They've been waiting for a long
time, every day for a long time. The Spirit came
upon all. I'm going to go ahead and say the glory
of God filled the room. The Spirit came upon
all and He flowed through each. The glory flowed
through all of them. God has positioned his church
in the world for such a time as this. God has
positioned you for such a time as this because
the world is shaking, but the church must be
steady. Culture is really confused, and truth
must be bold. People are broken. And God's presence
must be real. I'm just rubbing a little Jesus
on it, but the manifest presence of God must
be real. So broken people can be restored and
healed and set free. And that's just not going
to happen in some kind of flash. That's going
to happen. As we become carriers of the presence
of God and allow His glory to flow through us.
I just want to want you to remember, when we
gather together like today, your worship, I mean
your real worship, if you're really worshiping,
if it's coming from your heart and not just...
you know, just going along with whatever's taking
place, but real worship beginning out of your
thanksgiving and your love to God and lifting
Him up. When that's really taking place, your
worship joins my worship. My worship joins your
worship. Your worship joins your worship. I can't
point to everybody in the room, but our worship
joins together. Wherever two or more are gathered
in his name, he's there in the midst of them.
When we lift up the name of Jesus, we can experience
his manifested presence. But it happens in greater
degree when we're doing it together than it could
possibly happen with just me in the car on I
-4. It can happen, but it's greater. Everybody
say greater. Your worship joins my worship. Your
hunger for God. When you come in expectation
and hungry for God, our hunger joins with each
other. It brings amplification. Your expectation
joins my expectation. Your faith joins my faith.
For us to encounter. The manifest presence of
God in such a way that when we leave, we'll never
be the same. And when that happens, as that happens
in greater and greater measure, as it's amplified
and added together and multiplied, then suddenly
the flow Because out of your belly, rivers of
living water are supposed to be flowing. And
as we flow, as you flow and I flow and you flow
and you flow, you know what? Then all of a sudden
the flow becomes a flood. And the river becomes
an outpouring. As we come together as the glorious
church, the called out ones, as you are in. his
glory, as I'm in his glory, as you are in his
glory. See, it amplifies. That's what a glorious
church looks like. The glorious church is defined
by some things. It's defined by hosting the presence
of God. And just like Moses said, God, if you're
not among us, you know, don't even take us up
from here if you're not here. Because if God
is not among us, if his manifested presence is
not here, It doesn't matter what else is happening.
It doesn't matter how the program is. Because
the last thing anybody needs is just a religious
experience. Because that's not going to change
anything. If God's not among us, it doesn't matter
what else is happening. But when His presence
is among us, Everything changes. Close with a
story. I don't normally do this. There's a famous
architect traveling across Europe studying the
old cathedrals. He was just amazed by the architecture.
And one evening, He visited a massive stone cathedral
in France. The sun was setting, and the building
looked gray. Has anybody seen a big stone church?
Just all dark gray stone, you know. The building
looked gray, looked lifeless from the outside,
but inside. Inside, a different story unfolded
because he looked at it on the outside, and I
mean, he's looking at the architecture, but there's
nothing much different than any other place he
went. He went inside, and something happened
when he was inside. In a spectacular moment,
the setting sun hit one of the stained glass
windows just right, and the entire interior of
the cathedral just exploded with color. When
he first walked in, it was still kind of lifeless
on the inside, but then the sun just hit that
stained glass window just right. And now there
are reds and blues and golds and greens all dancing
across the pillars inside the cathedral on the
floor. You could see all that color just came
alive. And there was a tourist standing nearby,
and the tourist reached over. And whispered something.
She said. It looked ordinary. Until the light
touched it. And then it became glorious. Just
looked ordinary. Till the light touched it. If
you look around the room, we don't look much
different than anybody else. If we go over to
Publix and walk around, we don't look any different
than anybody else. Go to the restaurant and eat.
Just blend right in. This is an example of what
God intends for His church to be. I mean, we
want to build that building, and I think it's
a beautiful building, even though it's a 60 by
90 metal building. And I see it, and we're going
to have it one day. But God intends for His church
to not just be a beautiful building. He intends
for His church not to just be a polished program.
I mean, polished programs are okay, but... He
definitely doesn't see or intend for his church
to be a gathering of just people who think they're
perfect, self -righteous, perfect people. But
he's coming for a glorious church. He's coming
for a people that have the glory of God. The
manifest presence of God, carriers of the presence
of God, the glory of God flowing through them.
And when the glory of God begins to flow through
us, when we walk in the public, we're not just
going to look like everybody else. When we go
to the restaurant, we're not just going to look
like everybody else. When we go to work, we're
not going to look like everybody else. Because
the glory of God. It's surrounding us. We're
imprinted with the glory of God to such a point,
listen, to such a point that even people who
don't know God begin to recognize that there's
something different about us. God, without your
presence, we won't be a set -apart people. That's
what Moses said. Without your presence, it's
your presence that sets us apart. It's your presence.
Let's pray. God, thank you for your word. Thank
you for your truth. Thank you for what you're
speaking to our hearts. Help us to receive it,
not just be emotionally stirred. but be spiritually
challenged to seek you more than anything this
world has to offer. God, help us to seek you
wholeheartedly. Help us to come to a point where
we don't even want to go through our day without
you, God. I need you today more than I need anything
else. Use us, fill us. Help us to represent you
well. Help us to be carriers of your glory. In
Jesus' name, amen. This online worship experience
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