The LORD continued, “There is a place near Me where you are to stand upon a rock,Yahweh also said, “Behold, there is a place by me, and you shall stand on the rock.And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:And Jehovah said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon the rock:
3 sermons cite this verse
Can you say amen? Remain standing with me for a minute. I want to talk about close proximity. Close proximity. No longer afar off, no longer at a distance, but close proximity. Let's pray while we're standing. Spirit of the living God, fall fresh. Anoint these lips of clay that they may be endowed with what is necessary to declare the word of God so clearly and succinctly that the children understand it as well as the oldest amongst us. from the illiterate to the most profound, educated person in the room. Let the word of God hit everybody and everybody come into an awareness of what you're able to do and speaking to them in your own language and in a way that they can understand it. Make it plain, make it clear, make it relevant, make it life-reforming, make it life-changing, make it thirst-quenching, mind-renewing. Come on in, Holy Spirit, and do what you want to do as we came here to see you. We came here to be with you. …
… Now, today we're looking at this fascinating spot in verse 11 where it says, The Lord would speak to Moses face to face as a man speaks with his friend. What's friendship with God? Why would God dare call himself our friend? And let's ask the question of the text like this. Why is friendship with God so important? So why is it so important? Then secondly, what it is? And thirdly, what it brings? And lastly, how we get it. Why it's important, what it is, what it brings, how we can get it. Now, number one, why is it important? You have to understand this incident here where Moses goes out to the tent of meeting and gets things from God. You see, for example, it says, whenever Moses would go out, all the people rose and stood at the entrance of the tent. Anyone inquiring of the Lord would ask Moses, and then Moses would go into the tent, what is this all about? It's very simple. …
"And he said, I beseech You, show me Your Glory. And He said, I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. And He said, You cannot see My face: for there shall no man see Me, and live. And the Lord said, Behold, there is aplace by Me, and you shall stand upon a rock: and it shall come to pass, while My Glory passes by, that I will put you in a cliff of the rock, and will cover you with My hand when I pass by: and I will take away My hand, andyou shall see My back parts: but My face shall not be seen." Exodus 33:18-23. IT has frequently happened that good men in times of great trial have asked God either to give them a signal token of His love, or a special Revelation of Himself, that they might be strengthened and encouraged thereby. I suppose of many here present it is true that when called by the Master to great labor or deep affliction, you have been conscious of the same inward desire—your heart has craved after some extraordinary dispensation of Grace to counterbalance the extraordinary visitation of suffering that has overtaken you. Were you indulged with singular nearness to God and unusual glimpses of His Glory, you feel it would then be easy to leave all matters in His hands and acquit yourselves valiantly—strong for service, whatever there is to do—and patient in enduring whatever there may be to bear. That prayer, "I beseech You, show me Your Glory," is a natural yearning, a spontaneous impulse of the soul. Albeit, I know that there is a grievous incredulity, a sinful unbelief which asks to see signs and wonders—and without them men will not believe— yet I think there is a desire which springs up in the breasts of Believers from an earnest childlike feeling of dependence upon the great Father God which is not sinful, and which God accepts—and to which He often sends a gracious reply. …