FINDING HIS GRACE
Have you ever found yourself looking for something you cannot find? It can be very frustrating. We may find ourselves spending a lot of time looking for something we have lost.
We may be looking for:
Car Keys, the kids shoes, our glasses,
our wallets (or purses), something to
write with (or write on), or our car in a
Walmart parking lot, etc.
Think about it. We all find ourselves not able to find those important things we are missing. And at that moment, these items are very important to us.
What is interesting is those things were not all that important to us until we suddenly realized they were missing.
And this is when these insignificant things become our top priority. Nothing else will matter to us until we find what we are looking for. No matter what it is.
While we are looking for the things we need to find, our life is placed on hold.
Listen carefully. When it comes to those everyday things you are looking for, you need to know that you really can live without them (the keys, shoes, the car).
On the other hand, what about the things of God? When it comes to finding what God has for you, nothing else will matter. When a person fully understands that they are spiritually lost, they will have an overwhelming desire to find the Grace that God has for them.
When we understand how lost we are without God, we will become desperate in FINDING HIS GRACE.
We need to FIND GOD’S GRACE.
Text: Exodus 33:12 thru 17
This is a simple, but profound, prayer of Moses. This prayer reminds us that we cannot live without the Grace of God.
In our text, God tells Moses that He has -
“…found favor/grace in His sight…”
There may be those here this morning who may be wondering if God feels the same way about them (as HE did about Moses).
Here is our question today.
“Has God found favor/grace for you in His sight?”
Likewise, “Have you found His Grace?”
This is important! We all need to know the answer to both of these questions.
You see - there are times in our lives when we have no one else to turn to but God.
In life’s toughest trials, we all have found there really is no one else but God.
Isn’t it good to know that He has promised that He will -
“never leave you nor forsake you?”
We need to be -
· Found in the favor of God.
· Found in His Grace.
By looking at Moses, we will see what he found that was important. We will also find what is important for ourselves.
In our text we can see that Moses was a very busy man. Moses had a huge responsibility for the Nation of Israel.
Unfortunately, the people had begun to worship an idol. Moses asked God not to judge the children of Israel for this sin.
In chapter’s 32 and 33, God had become very upset about what the nation of Israel had been doing.
There is a lot to read in these two chapters, so let me quickly summarize what happened.
The nation of Israel :
1. had been given the Laws of Moses to live by and be obedient to Him.
2. decided to worship an idol in the form of a golden calf.
You may be thinking this morning -
“Pastor what’s this got to do with me?
I don’t have a problem with worshipping any golden calves...”
Well in a way we all have our “golden calves” that can pull us away from God.
I would suggest that (if you are like most people) you probably loose sight (from time to time) of what God has told you to do and/or what not to do.
As a matter of fact this is how we become lost and can’t find God.
You may not have a “golden calve” sitting on top of the television at home, but for some people the television has become their “golden calve”.
If we spend too much time in front of the television, we will become lost and separated from the presence of God.
Hey it happened to God’s people in Exodus, and it still happens to God’s people. God can get upset about that.
People haven’t changed that much since the time when this was written.
We may dress different but we still have our own “golden calves”. Amen?
Well, this is what happened to Moses.
Moses had :
1. convinced God to spare the nation of Israel from God’s judgment.
2. threw down the tablets with the ten commandments
3. destroyed the golden calf idol, burned it, and ground it into fine powder and then made the nation of Israel drink it. (Pastor Moses didn’t give the children of God any slack for what they had done wrong.)
4. rebuked Aaron for failing to be the leader he should have been
5. 3000 people killed who were disobedient to God and would not repent
Now some of you may not understand how (or why) Moses was so tough.
Moses was a very strong leader, but did not have much mercy for God’s people.
Sometimes it is necessary to be stern with God’s people. I don’t imagine Moses took much pleasure in doing all of that.
Moses did what he knew he had to do.
And finally, we come to our text in verse 12 thru 17. In this passage, we find Moses interceding in prayer to God to forgive the children of Israel.
Personally, I find Moses’ prayer to be the prayer we all should consider this morning. This prayer is guideline for us all.
With this prayer, Moses’ life is changed.
Moses decides to become very personal with God. After all, Moses is a mere mortal human being, and he knows it. But Moses also realizes that if he is ever going to become everything God wants him to be, he is going to have to have a relationship with God.
Moses knows that he doesn’t know God very well. But he wants to know Him.
God is the Master of the Universe.
Remember – all of this is very new to Moses. Moses has never tried to talk to God like he is going to talk to Him now. Moses is not too sure how God will respond to this. But being able to talk directly with God had to happen.
Moses asks something very important of God, and God gave to Moses a very direct response.
“SHOW ME NOW YOUR WAY THAT I MAY KNOW YOU” – Verse 13
Moses has come to the place that he is desperate to FIND GOD’S GRACE.
Moses and God have already been through a lot with each other.
God had already spoken to Moses many times and told him what to do.
And so far, Moses has been (for the most part) obedient. But now, Moses is not so sure that he can be everything God wants him to be.
Have you ever been there? I have.
We may have said to God,
“Lord, I know you delivered me from the bondage I once lived in. You set me free and gave to me my liberty. Why You even did the impossible in my life. Truly, I have crossed the Red Sea in my life.”
“But now I am not too sure anymore.”
Like Moses you may be thinking, “Even Aaron, my most trusted brother and friend, has let me down. I am weary Lord, and I am not so sure I can go on.”
You see when all of this happened, God immediately told Moses he would now have to take this backsliden bunch of Hebrew children over to the Land of Canaan. Moses must have thought,
“Not now, Lord. I can’t do this now.”
Moses did something that we must do when faced with a situation like this in our lives. Moses reaffirmed with himself and God that God had
“…found favor in His sight…”
I must tell everyone here that God has “found favor (for you) in His sight.”
Did you know that? God loves you!
In spite of everything that has gone wrong with all of the golden calves in your life, God has favor/grace for you.
This may surprise you about the Lord, but He knows you can’t make it without Him.
He knows you are weak and you need Him to forgive you and show you His favor and give to you His Grace.
As well, God knows that you will never know and understand Him until you experience His forgiveness and Grace.
Psalms 103:6 – 7 says,
The LORD performs righteous deeds, and judgments for all who are oppressed. He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel. The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
Many times when we are away from the Lord and His forgiveness, we forget things.
We forget how much He loves us.
The farther we run from God, the longer we are away from Him, the more difficult it is for us to understand and know Him.
In this prayer of Moses we have read, Moses knows that he must know the Lord in greater ways. I sense that Moses has become desperate to know God.
Moses desires to FIND THE GRACE OF GOD. The question is this,
“Are we desperate to FIND THE GRACE OF GOD, and to know Him better?”
But wait there’s more for Moses. There is something else on the heart of Moses in this prayer (we should see). Moses desires for the nation of Israel to be saved from the judgment and wrath of God.
Moses is burdened for the nation of Israel to be found in the Grace of the Lord.
This is a true servants heart. Moses is just as concerned about his own soul as he is the souls of the nation of Israel.
Listen church. We are in desperate days. Our nation is going through more danger and threats to our way of life than it has since it was founded over 200 years ago.
We need to be praying for ourselves as we should pray for the souls of our nation.
Our nation of America must be saved from it’s own destruction.
Both physically and spiritually.
Our nation needs to be “found in the favor and grace in the sight of our Lord.”
Did you know that the safety of our nation is not determined by how smart our bombs are? The future and well being of America will be determined by whether or not we are living for God.
FINDING GOD’S GRACE is the way God had intended it to be for the nation of Israel, and this nation we now live in.
We must become desperate to find God’s Grace for ourselves, our families, our community and our nation.
The proof is found in Deuteronomy 12:10
"But when you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety,
As we pray for our own souls, we must also be praying and interceding for the souls of our great nation to “cross over Jordan and dwell in the land…”
This great land we all have come to love and fight for will not continue to exist without FINDING THE GRACE OF GOD.
Look again at verses 15 and 16.
Moses is so burdened for the nation of Israel that he speaks for himself and the people of his nation.
Moses prays and says,
“Your people and I…Your presence must go with all of us if we are to go to Canaan…we shall be a separate people…from all of the people upon the face of the earth.”
I realize Moses was referring to the Jewish nation, God’s chosen people. And some may think that does not include them. They may say, “Well I am not Jewish, or Hebrew…”
You are right. But if you have found favor in His sight, if you are living in His Grace, then you are a “separate people…from all of the people upon the earth.”
Conclusion:
As a result of Moses’ prayer of intercession, the Lord saved not only Moses, but the Nation of Israel as well.
Psalm 73:25-26
Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
My friend do not give up on God.
HE has not given up on you.
Listen to how Psalm 73 closes.
28. But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all Your works.
My friend you and I must “draw near to God” this morning. We must decide that we are not going to go it alone. We need the Savior to forgive us and help us to FIND HIS GRACE.
