Exodus

[0:00] The 33rd chapter of Exodus, the 18th and 19th verses, and he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory.

[0:19] And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee. And I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

[0:42] I did feel, perhaps this evening, we would leave the words, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and go to the next clause, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee.

[1:09] But my mind has suddenly been directed to observe the great goodness of the Lord which he has continually caused to pass before us as he is king in Zion.

[1:28] And if we should have our prayer answered this evening, I beseech thee, show me thy glory.

[1:41] And as we have said, may this be our watchword and prayer throughout this year, then there is indeed a great glory when we consider the Lord himself as king.

[1:59] He was a king different from all other kings. He is referred to in the scriptures as king of kings and lord of lords.

[2:16] And furthermore, we see the grandeur and the majesty and the glory which surrounded the throne of king Solomon, which the word of God assures us.

[2:38] The light had never been seen before, and the light will not be seen again. And yet, when we come to read the Lord's comments upon Solomon, he takes the lilies of the field and he says, Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

[3:08] And if this should be the case as it is concerning that which has come from the hand of the creator of all things, how much must that glory be which belongeth unto him alone?

[3:29] We shall not go over the varying aspects of the goodness of God passing before his children as Christ is revealed to them in his various paths, but would now seek grace that we may have our hearts lifted up and be humbled at the same time in recognition of this word.

[4:02] I will make all my goodness pass before thee. It is a great blessing to have the Lord as king.

[4:19] I was reading a few weeks ago that passage, I think it is in John's gospel, where Pilate brought forth the Lord Jesus and he said, Behold your king.

[4:39] And there was the outcry, we have no king but Caesar. Now there is a great deal of unutterable solemnity that such words should ever be spoken.

[5:00] And yet, it is the voice of many. We have no king but Caesar. It is our privilege and benefit if we are able to say, This is our king.

[5:22] This is the king of glory. Those words in the 24th psalm are wonderful words even to read.

[5:36] How much more when the glory of them is brought into our hearts. Who is this king of glory?

[5:47] The Lord strong and mighty. The Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates. Even lift them up, ye everlasting doors.

[6:00] And the king of glory shall come in. Who is this king of glory? The Lord of hosts is the king of glory, Selah.

[6:12] But we would take the point from the words of Pilate where he said, Behold your king.

[6:23] Lord, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. The Lord was never divested of glory, even in a time of his humiliation.

[6:38] That his glory was veiled is perfectly true. But in no account was that glory lessened.

[6:50] Wonderful were the eyes that, being opened by the Spirit of God, were able to look at the despised and crucified man as he stood there before Pilate and the Jewish crowd and say, Yes, this is my king.

[7:17] You see, outward appearance will not hide a kingly personality.

[7:30] I remember reading, I think it was one of the king, Charles, who on one occasion disguised himself in very disagreeable clothing at a time when he was being hounded from place to place.

[8:00] And he went to a certain place, despite his clothing, despite his loss of the kingly robes, yet someone says, This is the king.

[8:15] This is the king. What a wonderful mercy. When we see the goodness of God passing before us, when Jesus standing before these terrible people, there should be some that would say, But this is the king.

[8:43] This is the king. The king of glory. Sunk in shame. The king of glory. Come down. To deliver his people.

[8:56] From their sins. It was the custom in former times for kings to lead their troops into the battle.

[9:10] And if we go back to the time of the history of David, there was an occasion when David was very keen to lead his troops into the battle.

[9:23] If I remember rightly, it was the time of Absalom's rebellion. But there were those there that said no, that his life was worth 10,000 other lives.

[9:41] They would not let him lead the troops into the battle. Well, now, we may say that concerning our Lord Jesus Christ.

[9:53] His life is worth 10,000 other lives. But a multitude of lives. Yea, the lives of the whole election of grace.

[10:06] But will he be dissuaded from going into the battle? He must go into the battle. None is equal to his ability to go into the battle.

[10:22] And in order that he might go into the battle, the king of glory, in leading his troops, not a freeing man, but a leader indeed, was clothed in his humanity, so different from what the scribes and the Jews and the Pharisees expected him to appear in.

[10:55] Behold your king, the goodness of God, passing before his people when the glory of their king is revealed.

[11:09] He was undertaking the greatest transaction engaging in the most severe war that had ever been raised.

[11:27] And what was more, it was essential that he should be a conqueror. We are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

[11:46] Now, it will be our mercy this evening if the Lord should bring the Lord, bring the, our king before our very eyes.

[12:02] and say in these simple words, behold your king. But at the same time, as Jesus came forth wearing a crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate also said unto him, behold the man.

[12:32] Behold the man. So, we have before us the glory of Christ the man, yet Christ the king.

[12:44] now he has ascended up on high, having led captivity captive, and received gifts for men, yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them.

[13:03] now, what do we see of the glory of our king in the person of Christ?

[13:17] People, the natural mind may be ready to recognize a person in regality and royal glory, which would be attractive to the natural eye, but the first real glimpse that will be attractive to you and to me will be when we see the Lord Jesus our king, our king, led forth to be crucified, led forth to suffer agonies which cannot be computed or entered into our king.

[14:08] But then, we also consider the glory of his majesty and the excellency of his dignity, which did not depart from him even though our king came upon this earth and to many.

[14:28] He was not regarded as such. None, so many saw nothing in him. But there was some that did and it will be our mercy if by the spirit of grace and the enlightenment of that spirit our hearts have been touched and we fell down and worshipped our king.

[14:52] Oh, the goodness of God that passes before you and me, the goodness of God that passed before the shepherds as they were in their fields, the goodness of God that passed before the three wise men that caused them to bring gifts of fromer and frankincense and so on and to bow down and worship their king.

[15:19] Wonderful for us to consider to see glory. It is not set forth by merely painting a halo round the head of the babe as we of course sometimes see in pictures.

[15:40] The glory is that which is revealed to the soul by that which is revealed to faith so that we can look at the babe in the manger and say our king and as our king we may do obeisance and worship him oh worship the lord but whilst the lord jesus our king was manifesting forth his glory in that very capacity whilst here upon earth to those whose eyes were opened to see it yet he was reigning in heaven for he is in every place beholding the evil and the good we come now to consider another point and this is the goodness of the lord passing before us when the lord jesus sets up his throne in our hearts and we sing at times reign o'er us as king accomplish thy will and powerfully bring us forth from all ill till falling before thee we lord thy loved mate ascribing the glory to god and the lamb we shall be blessed indeed as and when we feel that the lord reigns as king in our hearts let us take one instance in the scripture and maybe you have been in that place yourself there was a certain man that had two sons and he said unto the one go my son into my vineyard and he said

[17:57] I will not but afterwards he repented and went and the man said to his second son go into my vineyard and he said I go sir and went not now which did the will of his father the answer is very clear but the reason for the outcome perhaps is not so clear do we know I would think that we probably do such occasions when the king of kings has said do this do this and we've said in no uncertain terms I will not I will not on such an occasion to prove that the lord is king you see where the word of a king is there is power now power is not always best manifested by a towering appearance and a shouting voice we have seen people even on the earth amongst men who have been very capable of exerting a great deal of power amongst men by a very quiet voice and a simple demeanour and so it is with the work of

[19:45] Jesus when he reigns as king in our hearts so different it may be to the kings of the earth certainly it must be in the spirit can you imagine can you feel the glory of your king that when he sees you with a rebellious spirit when he sees you with an opposite determination he does not say as some tyrants have said off with his head but he comes down this king of whom we speak comes down and condescends to reason and what a glory there is in the king of heaven and earth that dwells in the hearts of his people and rules in their hearts to put down all of the determination of their old nature the outcome of his rule brings us to sing as I have already mentioned reign or as king as the man afterward he repented and went he will also know that he saw the rightness the blessedness the goodness of the command that had been given to him reign or us as king strictly speaking only a king can reign we read in the scriptures also that he shall reign on the earth now many people to my mind are somewhat misguided in this point they are waiting for some time called the millennial time when the

[22:10] Lord will return to this earth and then they will be reigning well I'm thankful to have had the experience to believe that the Lord is reigning on the earth now reigning in the hearts of his people reigning in the hearts of men for who is it that saith and it cometh to pass when the Lord commanded it not reigning and controlling our spirits reigning and controlling our affairs directing all things after the counsel of his own will none being able to stay his hand or say unto him what doest thou now I will make all my goodness pass before thee is this not the wonderful goodness of God that he should have raised up a king and that that king should reign effectively not only over all the earth but in our hearts how close we are to this king so many people speaking after the order of natural things are very very far removed from the throne in order that they might have converse with the king or the queen would need a great deal of preference being given through the appointed channels but the

[23:51] Lord the king of Zion is close at hand and ready to speak with us we have accounts in the old testament of people that came they were able to come in those days to the king and to pour out their complaints before the king and the king had complete authority to deal with them the same thing applies to our king and he had going back to the time when he stood before Pilate he had complete authority you will remember no doubt that Pilate said know ye not that I have power to deliver to deliver thee and power to release thee the Lord says thou couldst have no power at all except it were given thee from above there's great consolation given to the children of

[24:57] God what goodness passes before them when they when we can feel Jesus reigning as our king and whatever people may say and suggest we've got power to do this and power to do this and power to do the other for our eyes to be up unto heaven for our eyes to look upon this despised and crucified man and see their resplendent in his Godhead covered as it were and veiled in his humanity yet nevertheless authority authority you Calcans have no power at all may our faith be raised up to see the glory of Jesus as our king and see here the goodness of God passing before us now an indication of this power and authority was given in the garden of

[25:58] Gethsemane whom seek ye when they said Jesus he said I am he and immediately they fell back the power of his presence the power of his authority and then you see he had authority to exert his power he had authority to withhold his power so you see we read wish ye not that I could cry to my father and he would send me twelve legions of angels but this is your hour and the power of darkness the goodness of God we shall do well to look at our king as Pilate brings him forth to men divested of everything to those blessed with precious faith divested of nothing still holding the scepter still ruling still causing all things to work together according to his will and purpose and shall we be followers of the

[27:32] Lord Jesus Christ shall we be despised and rejected of men shall we be scorn shall we be scorn shall we sometimes come into the place when e'er they meet the public eye they feel the public scorn and with Christ reigning in our hearts by faith as our king shall not the same authority still exist shall not the same authority still be set forth that is able to restrain or constrain have we fell down and worshipped sometimes when the manifestation of the goodness of God has been revealed to us just like this perhaps men have strained at the leash perhaps the devil has strained at the leash but God has said by his kingly authority thus far shall they'll come and no further and here shall thy proud waves be stayed but then as we behold the goodness of God as our king we remember that when he was upon earth the question was asked who is this that can forgive sins who is this authority authority to forgive sins all power is given unto me in heaven and on earth go be therefore preaching the gospel to every creature teaching them and baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy ghost the dying thief had a glimpse and what an evidence of the goodness of God passed before that wretched man there was but a few hours well we would say perhaps a few minutes between life and death and suddenly the Lord showed him his glory the glory of Christ as his king this is evidence from the words that he spoke when thou comest into thy kingdom he was a king he saw him as a king on the cross wonderful revelation to the faith of the children of God to see that the

[30:27] Lord Jesus is a king when he was on the cross I will make all my goodness pass before thee now he rules in heaven he rules upon earth he rules in the hearts of his children and also rules over the hearts of men is this not a consolation to us have we fell down at times and worshipped the Lord as king because he has spoken and it has been done spoken perhaps you haven't heard it but he's spoken into the hearts of men altered their tone their feelings authority power have been exerted and when we come to forgiveness well we would think that everyone would be seeking after forgiveness but if we ponder the matter a little we shall see that very few are seeking after forgiveness we should have not sought after forgiveness at all if the power of the spirit of God in his quickening influence had not caused the goodness of God to pass before us so that we became conscious of our need of forgiveness now the

[32:07] Lord is able to forgive sins we have already spoken a little on the forgiving love of Christ in the manifestation of his Godhead I will make all my goodness pass before thee and the Lord reigns in Zion it will be a great blessing for us I believe we may even go so far as to say it is a great blessing for us that the Lord does reign as king amongst us reigns in our hearts put down that which is evil and strengthen that which is good that is that which is of the spirit so that there is a willingness to follow his example his example as king oh indeed and his example as king

[33:11] I have already set before you in his humiliation and as we are followers as we are his subjects we shall partake of the spirit of the throne you see the spirit of authority it works down so to speak it works down and so it is in the church of God where Jesus is reigning in our hearts as king it works down works into the hearts of the well perhaps you will understand me if I use this kind of expression to the lowest person perhaps the one who with the apostle would be ready to say I who am less than the least of all saints and here are that person who very much value the lord

[34:18] Jesus their king willing to come down now we by nature will feel that we are kings in our own right that is that we have a perfect right to exert our will and to do that which we think right in our own eyes but God has brought us under another king and it is his will to be performed the goodness of God passing before us when we consider the king and consider the excellency of his will good aunt steel she was brought to this point and how she worshipped the lord as king when she said whate'er consists not with my will oh teach me to resign now the king will have full knowledge of all things and he is well acquainted with his purposes and his will is perfect the perfect will of god now god's children will see this perfect will operating in their lives can we discover it in our lives where the authority and power and the will of the lord has been made known when by a gentle word and yet a powerful word our natures have been subdued by a powerful word and yet a gentle word our souls have been encouraged when we've seen it is the will of god the will of god what will deal with our obstinacy i remember the lord wonderfully dealt with my obstinacy on one occasion by bringing words which were not familiar to me so powerfully to my mind that a tremendous raging tempest was replaced by a great calm and the words were these submit yourself to every ordinance of man for the lord's sake and for the lord's sake brought with it the authority of my king for the lord's sake now you see it wasn't some idle pleading as we may sometimes hear people pleading with their children to do it for my sake but when we consider it in this light submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the lord's sake it is for the lord's honour and for the lord's glory and so he may sometimes call upon you and upon me to walk in a way which is going to be a way of humiliation salvation and people will come along and they will say to you how terrible this is fancy people speaking to you like that there may be some response in your heart too think you are unjustly dealt with and according to the general laws of nature it's perfectly true but for god at that stage to make his goodness pass before you in answer to perhaps a prayer which you scarcely knew you had put up

[38:30] I beseech thee show me thy glory the lord showed to you that he was king when he asked you submit yourself to every ordinance of man I have the ordinances of man under my control and it is for you because it is my will and for my sake and for my honour and for my glory to submit unto it we shall worship when the lord rose in our hearts like this with the word of a king with what power accompanies that word a still small voice a great calm so it was with me maybe it's been with you too you know a tempest raging in the breast is a dreadful experience but to god to speak peace when he giveth quietness who then can make trouble when he hideth his face who then can behold him but what goodness of the lord has passed before us when we see that the lord has seen fit to allow it allow it there's a purpose in it and you know we shall never come into a place where we may be ready to say why should i submit to this but what the lord will show himself and perhaps say in very quiet words i submitted to many things and if you should say but this is beneath my dignity it may be beneath your dignity but you will not lose your dignity by submitting to the will of god your pride will be injured no doubt but your dignity will not be lost in submitting to the will of god and you have before you the king in zion who submitted and came down very low what is this but the lord showing to you the great glory of his submission though he was king though he was king so we sometimes sing the lord in zion reigns he reigns and what a blessing it is if we are to enjoy peace peace in the church it is because the lord reigns because the king jesus reigns in zion can we have reason i believe to bless the lord for his reign amongst us here there wouldn't have been any peace otherwise would there i'm quite sure there wouldn't and so he said i will make all my goodness pass before thee and if a request that the lord's glory might be made known as he is king may seem too great for us and sometimes unbelief will arise and present to us a question you cannot ask for that you've asked enough already when god says i will and we've already made this point in our discourses i will there is nothing that can contradict the will should i distrust it is the lord should i distrust or contradict his will who cannot do but what is just and must be righteous still i will make all my goodness pass before you before thee how certain it is it's not dependent upon your even your urgent request your besynchie though in one sense it may be said to be so because god puts the beseeching into the soul we come to the place where we pray with moses i beseech thee show me thy glory but the answer in perhaps a more grand sense it does not repose in our asking but because the lord himself has already said i will i will make all my goodness pass before thee now all my goodness is surely under the control of a king the goodness of the kingdom the goodness of the land belonging to the king is served in respect of the king and so we find it and the him that we have opened our meeting with this evening elaborates upon the wife's fear where our king operates there is no sphere in which he does not operate whatever place or difficulty or soul exercise or anxiety or opposition from the enemy you may be concerned about this evening

[44:34] God makes his goodness pass before you first of all by telling you bringing it to your faith that the Lord is king the Lord is king we do not lead a long and involved sentence to convey truth the Lord is king how effectual can that word be to a troubled soul as much as in the book of Malachi we read I am the Lord I change not therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed many fears may arise but a simple word I am the Lord I change not and so when and may we remember it for our consolation in our day by day experience one may say this and the other may say that and you may be afraid by what they say for the

[45:40] Lord to speak from heaven and cause his goodness to pass before you by just seeding these words quietly upon your spirit but I am king by me king's reign and princes decree justice I am king and then you see if we should be concerned about the wickedness of our own hearts the pride and the envy and even the malice that we may sometimes feel and wonder where it will land us the Lord to whisper and remind us of this great truth the beginning of his goodness passing before us when he says I am king I can deal with this I can put down as well as raise up and Hannah had proved this she had passed through as you know a very bitter experience whilst she was childless but how she honours the

[46:50] Lord in her prayer there is none holy as the Lord for there is none beside thee neither is there any rock like our God talk no more so exceeding proudly let not arrogancy come out of your mouth for the Lord is a God of knowledge and by him actions are weighed and if you read in the Old Testament and Samuel and in Kings you will read a reference where the Lord someone came to David and told him that there was nothing that could move but what he knew being the king nothing can move unknown to him that sits above how true that is and he knows the king the eternal king not a king with limitations but a king without limitations because he is the eternal king knowing the end from the beginning can speak and tell you what will happen here is a king to whom you can come and inquire as David did of the Lord shall we shall I go down to

[48:10] Keilah will the people of Keilah give me up to king Saul the Lord said they will he was king he knew but he also knew that by this information David would be able to make a way of escape what did the Lord know well he knew that in the hearts of king Saul his men there was a determination to take Saul and he knew that there was also in the hearts of the men of Keilah a determination to give up Saul the fact that neither of these things happened is because the Lord delivered David from the hands of king Saul and he did not pursue his course but the thoughts were in his heart and is this not something for our consolation the goodness of God passing before us when we feel that we have

[49:17] Jesus Christ our king to whom we can go and inquire as to whether our journey will be prosperous or not or whether we should continue or turn aside or stand still or sit still or wait on the Lord and be of good courage and he said show me I beseech thee show me thy glory he said I will make all my goodness pass before thee and this goodness is the goodness of life it is a goodness if I may put it like this in which there is participation there's a great deal of emphasis put in the present day upon participation well there is a participation in the will of

[50:18] God not as men may present it but you see the life of God in his goodness passing before you has its effect upon your life has its effect upon your heart and makes you willing absolutely willing being of one heart and of one mind to follow that course which the Lord your King commands Amen Hymn 555 555 Tunes and Paul's 62 When God proclaims his name then Zion hears with joy his grace from age to age the same shall all her needs supply when he descends to show the wonders of his heart his presence lays proud nature low and guilty fears depart

[51:34] Hymn 555 family has loved family inIA what God what cried WHEN WHY THE DAY COUNTеш BAR They these people l and could le Thank You.

[52:19] The End For it is the people's names Those in the angels' shells Down by the lost and the healing Free the Lord and His grace

[53:25] And now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ And the love of God And the fellowship of the Holy Ghost Be with you all Amen .

[53:57] . . . . Thank you.

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