Encounter God

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY86lVnNGYQ

Exodus 33:1–3

The Lord said to Moses, “Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give it.’ I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”

Exodus 33:7–11

7 Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. 8 Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. 9 When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord[a] would speak with Moses. 10 And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. 11 Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.

Exodus 33:15–16And he said to Him, “If Your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not in Your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and Your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”

Encountering God – Are You Ready?

I. Desire God’s Presence Above His Promises

A. God tells Moses He won’t go with them into the Promised Land.

B. There are three options Moses is presented with in this passage.

Moses, you can have the promise of this land flowing with milk and honey.

Moses, an angel will go with you and lead you there.

Moses, go with the presence of God.

C. Moses pleaded with God for God to go with him.

If we truly desire God’s presence, how do we prepare for it?

II. Proper Preparation Cultivates Correct Expectation

Six ways we can prepare to have a corporate encounter.

A. Prayer

B. Worship

C. Attitude

What is your attitude when you are receiving the Word?

James 1:22–25

But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Do we have a holy fear and reverence of God?

Ecclesiastes 12:13

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

Questions we can ask ourselves:

Am I teachable?

Am I humble?

Am I hungry?

Am I reverent?

D. Punctuality

E. Distractions

F. Unity

There should not be divisions among you. (1 Corinthians 1:10)

If you want an encounter, then be a peacemaker.

God blesses unity in the house.

Psalm 133:1–3

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.

III. An Encounter with God Will Leave You Changed and Valuing Holiness

Exodus 34:5–8

The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.

A. The character of the God we encounter.

B. True encounters bring true change.

C. Encountering God will produce a heart of worship.