Ephesians 1 - Pauls Prayer - Part 4

It wasn't a very strong rock, it was more like dried clay. And as it was squeezed by the comments of the little girl and the servant in Pilate's kitchen, that clay crumbled. Yet God knew something about this man.

This man with a foot-shaped mouth, you know, he always put his foot in his mouth, this man did. Of the disciples, he was the last one that I would have trusted with the revelation. This was the man who was willing to be in Pilate's kitchen when all the others had fled.

This was the one who later turned the world upside down when he had been enthralled with the power of the Holy Spirit. This was the one who tradition teaches was crucified upside down. God knew this man, and it was to this man that he revealed himself.

Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah. Flesh and blood did not reveal this. I think of Moses.

The children of Israel had turned away from God. They'd made themselves an idol, and they'd worshipped this idol in Exodus chapter 33. And Moses comes down from meeting with God, and he breaks the tablets of stone, and he sees the people worshipping the golden calf.

And God says to Moses in chapter 33 of Exodus, I will not go with you because these people have turned away from me. They are stiff-necked people. And Moses cries unto God, he says, O God, please do not forsake us, please go with us.

And he removed the tent of the tabernacle from out of the area where the children of Israel were, so that it was outside the camp, and he used to go there daily with young Joshua to meet his God. And he pleaded with God that God would go with them. In verse 13 of chapter 33, this is his prayer.

Now therefore I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way that I may know thee. I want to know you, God. And the Lord said, My presence shall go with you.

I'll give you rest. Verse 17. And the Lord said to Moses, I will do this thing also that you have spoken, for you have found grace in my sight, and I know you by name.

Moses, I know what's deep inside you. I know you better than you know yourself. I know your character.

And therefore, Moses, I'm going to reveal myself to you. And Moses said, Lord, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And he said, Moses, I will do that.

I will let my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim my name to you. I'm going to reveal to you who I am, because I know, Moses, who you are. I won't spend a lot of time, but we go into chapter 34.

And Moses is hidden in the rock, and God passes by. And then the Lord descended in the cloud, chapter 34, verse 5. And he stood with him there, with Moses. And he proclaimed his name.

And this is what God revealed to himself. And this is something, I pray, that you and I will understand of God this week. Listen how God describes God.

This is how he reveals himself to Moses. Verse 6, chapter 34 of Exodus. And the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord God.

I want to know if this is the God you know. It's the God I know. It's the God I know, and in part, begin to know better day by day.

This is the God who revealed himself to Moses, a God who is merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression of sin, but that will not by any means clear the guilty. He's a God who is just, but a God of compassion, a God of mercy and goodness and truth. He said, Moses, I know your name.

I'm going to reveal myself to you. This is who I am. This is my name, Moses.

And Paul, in writing to the Ephesians, as you start in this book tonight, says to them, I pray for you, people of faith and of love, that you might know the spirit of wisdom and revelation of him. Just as he revealed himself to Moses, that the risen, exotic Christ might reveal himself and all his nature to you and me this week. Is that your desire? That's my desire.

I came to the Lord when I was 16. I had a radical conversion. It was very real to me.

I knew the Lord as my Savior, my personal Savior. He was, to use a biblical name, he was Jehovah's King of my righteousness. I knew my sins were forgiven.

I knew I had peace with God. I experienced the joy of the Lord. Heaven above was soft.

The blue earth around was sweet and green. Something lived in every hill that Christless eyes had never seen. All this full and perfect peace.

All this rapture, all divine.