Experiencing the Atmosphere of Heaven

                                                           

                                                                 When the Glory Falls
                                                                  II Chronicles 7: 1-3
Once again we are privileged to look in on a very special time in the lives of God’s people. For hundreds of years Israel had worshipped the Lord in the Tabernacle, the tent that God had given the blueprint for. This is where the Ark of the Covenant dwelt and where God met with His people.
Solomon had been permitted of God to build the Temple, a permanent structure for the Lord to dwell and meet with Israel. The Temple had just been completed and Solomon has just finished the dedication prayer. It was during this gathering that the Lord showed up in their midst in a miraculous way. This was a time of worship and thanksgiving unto the Lord.
I am particularly interested in the presence of the Lord during this worship service. I am certain that we have met with the Lord in these days, but we haven’t yet received all that is available to us. We are serving the same God who met with Solomon and honored him and the people with His presence. God didn’t show up because they had just completed the most magnificent structure known to
man; He showed up because the people had come with a heart of unity desiring worship!
I don’t know about you, but I would like to experience the glory of the Lord on this scale. I have read about in the Bible. I have heard others talk about special times when the Lord met with them. I have even experienced the Lord in an unusual way on occasion, but nothing like this. Are you interested in seeing the glory fall in our day? Are you interested in more than the average service?
We need to understand the principles revealed in the text concerning the glory of the Lord. If we are to meet with God and experience His power, we must meet His conditions. I want to preach on the thought: When the Glory Falls.
I. The Requirements Disclosed (1) – The obedience and actions of Solomon reveal three specific requirements in experiencing God’s glory.
A. Seeking – It is evident through the process of building the Temple and the labor that went into it that Solomon sought the presence of the Lord. Here we find him
humbly before the Lord in prayer, seeking to meet with Him and experience His presence.

 I’m not saying that God requires that we build a magnificent temple in order to meet with Him. In fact we can meet with the Lord at any time and in most any place, but it is essential that we seek to meet with Him.
 If we are to see the glory fall in our day and experience a great move of God, we must seek Him. We must earnestly seek the Lord to move among us and transform our lives and worship services. There has to be a heartfelt desire on our part. It will not happen until we seek Him!
I. The Requirements Disclosed (1)
A. Seeking
B. Submission – Solomon has not come in arrogance, reminding the Lord of all that he had done. He isn’t bragging about the beauty and splendor of the Temple. He has come humbly before the Lord in supplication, 6: 19, 21.
 Submission is essential in experiencing the glory of God. We have nothing to boast of in ourselves. What could we possibly offer the Lord except our worship? We have not seen God move among us because of any merit
of our own. All that we have received has come through His abundant mercy.
 If we are to see the Lord do great and mighty things among us, we must humble ourselves before Him and submit to His will for our lives. We must lay ourselves before God and allow Him to work in our hearts. This thing isn’t about us or our accomplishments; it’s all about HIM!
I. The Requirements Disclosed (1)
A. Seeking
B. Submission
C. Sacrifice – Solomon offered a sacrifice unto the Lord. He wanted to please the Lord with the sacrifice that he had brought.
 This is something that the church knows little about in our day. We want God to bless us. We want Him to meet our needs, but we are willing to sacrifice little in order to receive it.
 We no longer need to bring sacrificed to atone for our sin, but if we are to see His glory, we must be willing to pay the price. We must be willing to sacrifice for the presence of God. We must be willing to lay our selfish
wants and desires aside to meet with Him. We must want the Lord more than we want anything else! Are you willing to sacrifice to see the Lord’s glory?
I. The Requirements Disclosed (1)
II. The Response Displayed (1-2) – The people’s obedience brought an unusual response from the Lord.
A. The Pleasing of the Lord (1) – Fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices. The worship and sacrifice of Solomon was noticed of God. It was pleasing to Him. He accepted it!
 Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could offer worship and sacrifice that pleased the Lord? Wouldn’t it be good to worship in such a way that God noticed our passion for Him and accepted that worship?
 Far too often we come with our own agenda. We have an idea of what we wish to accomplish and many times pleasing the Lord isn’t at the top of our list. Oh that we would focus on the Lord in our services and desire to offer praise and worship that would please Him instead of grieving Him! I’m not looking to get out; I’m looking to get in!
B. The Presence of the Lord (1)
B. The Presence of the Lord (1) – The glory of the LORD filled the house. Do you fully understand what happened here? Solomon and the people offered their worship unto the Lord and He showed up! The glory of our Lord filled the Temple where they were. The God of heaven met with them.
 I have been in some wonderful services where the Lord showed up, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen the glory fill the house. This has the idea of “being full, an abundance, to satisfy or fulfill.” The house was literally consumed with the presence of God. He was everywhere they looked.
 We need His presence every time we meet. We have the mindset that once in a while is great, and it is, but we could have it more than we do. When the Lord shows up, business will pick up at the house of God!
II. The Response Displayed (1-2)
A. The Pleasing of the Lord (1)
B. The Presence of the Lord (1)
C. The Power of the Lord (2) – Solomon wasn’t the only one who recognized what was happening. The priests couldn’t even enter the Temple because the glory of God
was so real. They knew that God was there. They sensed His presence and His power.
 Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could experience that in our day? I would love to see such an outpouring of God’s Spirit that we were unsure what to do. I would love for His presence and power to be so real that we would sense Him before we ever entered the building.
 Imagine the change that would take place in our lives and communities if we got accustomed to the Lord being in the house. Think of the impact on those around us. I don’t know what’s going on out there, but the Lord is there in a mighty way!
 We could see mountains moved in our day if we could get to the place where the Lord met with us in a mighty way on a regular basis. There is absolutely no reason that it couldn’t happen. We could tell others with confidence and experience that Jesus is in the house!
II. The Response Displayed (1-2)
A. The Pleasing of the Lord (1)
B. The Presence of the Lord (1)
C. The Power of the Lord (2)
D. The Purging of the Lord (2)
D. The Purging of the Lord (2) – Did you notice who it was that couldn’t enter the Temple? It was the priests, those appointed of God to handle His business. It was those who ought to have been close enough to God to enter in, but even they couldn’t approach such glory. They knew that they were unworthy of such an outpouring of God.
 Hey, when the presence and power of God begins to move, it won’t leave us as we are. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to enter the Temple, they couldn’t! When God begins to show up, folks will begin to take inventory of their lives. Being around the presence of God will force us to look within our hearts and see where we stand with Him.
 Do you know why it seems as if folks can live as they please through the week and sit on a pew on Sunday untouched and unmoved? It is simple; we aren’t experiencing the presence and power of God. If we ever get in His presence in a mighty way, the Holy Spirit will reveal just where we are. We won’t be able to come before Him with sin in our lives and ignore it!
I. The Requirements Disclosed (1)
II. The Response Displayed (1-2)
III. The Reward Discovered (3) – The people met God’s requirements, He responded to their obedience, and the people were rewarded of God.
A. Their Recognition – The children of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord upon the house. There was no question as to who had showed up. The people were keenly aware that the Lord was among them. They weren’t running to Solomon to ask what was going on; they knew!
 When we get in the presence of our Lord, we will know it. There is no mistaking a genuine move of God. If you are saved, you won’t have to ask others what it going on. The Lord will reveal Himself in such a way that we will know without a doubt. He has met with us recently and I knew it was Him.
 When God begins to move in a mighty way, even the lost will recognize Him. We need that moving of the Lord in our day. We need to experience His presence so that we will know that we have met with the Lord.
B. Their Reverence – They bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement and worshipped. The presence of God and His glory brought a reverent
fear unto the people. They had one thing on their mind and that was worshipping the Lord. (I really believe they couldn’t help themselves. God had shown Himself in such a mighty way that they had to worship Him.)
 Wouldn’t you like to see that in our day? Wouldn’t you like to see a move of God so strong that the church recognized the Lord and worshipped Him? When we get in His glory, there will be no choice but to worship. It will be such an overwhelming presence that we will have to honor the Lord with our worship. We need that in our day. We likely aren’t experiencing worship because we haven’t seen His glory. We aren’t seeing His glory because our hearts are not right with Him. I want to worship when I gather at God’s house.
III. The Reward Discovered (3)
A. Their Recognition
B. Their Reverence
C. Their Rejoicing – Not only did the people worship, but they also praised the Lord. Praise has the idea of “throwing, shooting, or casting; to give thanks and confess.” I want you to get this mental picture. Their hearts were so full of joy that they couldn’t help themselves. Their joy filled the heart and made its way to
the mouth. They were literally throwing their praise toward the Lord. They were casting their praise and thanksgiving at the feet of God!
 If you ever get in the presence of God in a real way, you will rejoice. We all worship differently, but I can assure you that the praise will not be held within. You will cast that praise upon the Lord. You will offer a tribute of praise. Being in the presence of God makes us mindful of Him and the goodness that He bestows. We would all have to admit that God is good!
III. The Reward Discovered (3)
A. Their Recognition
B. Their Reverence
C. Their Rejoicing
D. Their Report – The people said concerning the Lord, “For He is good; for His mercy endureth forever.” God had moved among them and they couldn’t hold it in; they could no longer be quiet concerning the God they served.
 If you ever get in a “glory patch” you won’t be able to keep it quiet. You will offer praise unto the Lord and tell others about what God has done for you.
 I am convinced that we need that in our day. We serve a risen Lord; One who lives and is seated at the right hand of God. He is coming again for His own, and yet many times we show no more excitement about our relationship with Christ than a visit to the dentist. When God shows up, we will proclaim His goodness to those we meet.
 Have you told someone lately about the goodness of God? Have you told them what Jesus has done for you? If you aren’t excited about it, I wouldn’t expect them to get excited about it or want what you have. Let’s tell the world about the marvelous Savior that we serve!
Do you desire to experience the glory of the Lord? Are you hungry for more than the usual? You can have it and good place to start would be at this altar seeking Him.
God desires to meet with us, but most of the time we don’t share His desire. Why not come tonight as the Lord leads?

Exodus 33:12-23 – I AM the God of Glory
1. (12-13) Moses prays for the people.
Then Moses said to the LORD, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people.’ But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’ Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.”
a. [12] But You have not let me know whom You will send with me: For Moses, it wasn’t enough to know that he and Israel would make it to the Promised Land. In his estimation, the Promised Land was nothing special without the special presence of the LORD. God previously promised to send an angel with Israel (Exodus 33:2). Moses pressed God on this point, wanting to know exactly
whom God would send.
i. This was bold - almost rude - drawing near to God. Moses was determined to have God’s presence with Israel as close as possible. This was the next step towards revival and restoration of Israel’s relationship with God.
b. [12] If I have found grace in Your sight: Moses was bold in drawing near to God, but he based the boldness on the grace God had already shown to him. This was a good ground for drawing near.
c. [13] Your sight…Your way, that I may know You…grace in Your sight…Your people: Moses was almost obsessed with God. He was still on earth, but he connected everything to God in heaven.
i. Another strong theme in this section is to know. In some form, the word is used repeatedly in these verses. In the sense of relationship, God knew Israel and Moses, and Moses wanted to know God.
2. (14-17) God answers Moses’ prayer, giving the promise of His Presence. And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
[15] Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.”
[17] So the LORD said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.”

a. [14] My Presence will go with you: God seemed to answer Moses’ prayer, but Moses did not rest. He continued to press God for affirmation of the promise.
This shows how boldly Moses sought after God for the sake of his own relationship with God and for the benefit of the nation.
i. [14] My Presence will go with you is literally “My Face will go with you.” This helps us to understand what it means when it says Moses met with God face to face (Exodus 32:11). It has the sense of “in the immediate presence of God.”
ii. [14] And I will give you rest: The Presence of God means rest and peace in life. This was an important and necessary gift from God to Moses and Israel.
b. [15] If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us: Moses continued his bold way of speaking with God. God had just promised His presence; Moses responded by warning or cautioning God of the consequences of not keeping His promise.
c. [16] For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? Moses knew that nothing the LORD could give them would make them truly different from the nations. Only the strong presence of the LORD Himself could do that.
i. Moses wanted something for Israel that would show that they were not just like all the other nations, and that could only be the unique, powerful presence of their God. Israel’s relationship with Yahweh – a unique example of ethical monotheism in the ancient world – did make them
different from all other ancient peoples. God among them made them different.
ii. It was important for Israel to know this for themselves; it was also important for the other nations to know this.
d. [17] I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name: God honored the bold intercession of Moses, and He promised to restore His relationship with Israel.
3. (18) Moses’ desire to draw closer. And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.”

a. [18] Please, show me Your glory: Moses won a “yes” answer from God when he asked for the special presence of God to remain with Israel on the way to the Promised Land (Exodus 33:12-17). He also won a confirmation of the promise from God and an affirmation of close relationship. Yet he was still not satisfied.
He wanted more in his personal relationship with God.
i. Spurgeon thought that perhaps Moses, when he asked “Please, show me Your glory,” was somewhat like Peter on the Mount of Transfiguration when he asked for something, not really understanding what he said. This was such a bold and brave request that it might have been beyond Moses to really experience; yet God was still pleased with Moses and his longing to know the LORD in greater and deeper ways.
ii. This hunger for more of God - for more of an experience with God - is a mark of true revival and restoration of relationship. Whatever Moses had experienced with God, he now wanted more. If someone really knows God, it shows because they want to know Him more.
iii. Moses here continued an idea that started earlier in the chapter; that God’s people should want more than His blessings and His help. It is appropriate for them to want Him.
b. [18] Show me Your glory: This was an interesting request. Moses already saw something of the glory of God (Exodus 16:10 and 24:16-17), yet he wanted more. He sensed that he had not seen anything yet.
i. “Now Moses’ prayer is to see the kabod, the manifested glory (literally ‘weight’) of YHWH.” (Cole)
ii. This was beyond simply being blessed and helped by God; that was already given. Moses wanted to connect with God in a bolder and greater way than ever before; his soul thirsted for the living God.
4. (19-20) God tells Moses what He will show him.
Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious,
and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.”
a. [19] I will make all My goodness pass before you: Moses asked to see the glory of God (Exodus 33:18), and God promised to show Moses His goodness.
God’s glory lies in His goodness. When Moses saw the glory of God, His first understanding was that God was good. If we don’t know that God is good, we don’t know much about Him at all.

i. God didn’t reveal His justice to Moses, not His power, and not His wrath against sin. All those are truly aspects of God’s nature, but when He showed Himself to Moses He displayed His goodness.
ii. Sometimes people think they must “balance” God, supposing there is something like a Yin and Yang to the universe, in the sense of light and dark, good and evil, law and grace. But God Himself is “unbalanced” in this sense. He is entirely good. Even His justice and power and wrath
must be understood as aspects of His goodness.
b. [19] I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you: In the thinking of the ancient Hebrews (and also in other ancient cultures), the name represented a person’s character and nature. God promised to reveal His character to Moses, not merely a title.
i. Lloyd-Jones gives the idea of what God said to Moses: “I will stoop to your weakness. I will let you see something. But, much more important than that, I will cause all my goodness to pass before you. I will give you a deeper insight and understanding into myself, into my character, into what
I am. That is what you really need to know.”
c. [20] You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live: God would not - and could not - literally show Moses His face. This helps us to understand what was meant in Exodus 33:11 when it said, the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.
5. (21-23) How God will protect Moses when God passes before Moses. And the LORD said, “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.”
a. [21] Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock: God was about to reveal Himself to Moses in a unique way. God prepared the event carefully, giving Moses a specific place to stand.
i. Later, Elijah met God in what may have been the same place (1 Kings
19:8-18).
b. [22] While My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock: God’s glory could not remain in front of Moses, it had to pass by him. Even with that, Moses had to be protected by the hand of God and the cleft of the rock when the glory of God passed before him.

i. This is a vivid and endearing image: protected both by the hand of God and hidden away in the rock of refuge He provides. The shelter in the
cleft of the rock gave the image for Augustus Toplady in his famous
hymn Rock of Ages:
Rock of Ages, cleft for me;
Let me hide myself in Thee.
ii. Protected by God, Moses could endure the glory of God passing before him. Isaiah had a glimpse of the glory of God, and it moved him to mourn his own sin and unworthiness (Isaiah 6). John experienced some of the glory of God and fell at the feet of Jesus like a dead man (Revelation
1:17). Paul experienced the glory of God on the Damascus Road, but also in the experience described in 2 Corinthians 12. It was such an amazing experience that he could only barely describe it.

iii. Others, beyond the times of the Bible, have also experienced glimpses of this glory. Lloyd-Jones mentioned a few:

• Jonathan Edwards described a time of praying in the forest, kneeling for an hour that seemed to pass in just a few moments because of the powerful sense of God’s glory and presence.
• David Brainerd, a great colonial era missionary to the Native Americans, knelt in the snow and prayed for hours – literally sweating in his body though it was freezing cold in the air. The
sweat was a physical reaction to the intensity of the spiritual experience.
• D.L. Moody asked God for such an experience, and when God gave it to him he had to ask God to pull back His hand, because he felt like it was killing him.
iv. What many people speak of today as the presence and the glory of God seems very trivial compared to what Moses and these others experienced. There is no kabod – no weight to their experience of glory.
v. We also should have an earnest desire to experience God deeply. Paul made it clear that we cannot fully see the glory of God - we see it as in a piece of polished metal, dimly (1 Corinthians 13:12) - but we can see something of it. Paul didn’t say we see nothing of the glory of God, only that we can’t fully see it or comprehend it.
c. [23] I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face
shall not be seen: Moses could only see God’s back (a unique term often not
used for anatomy). The idea is that Moses could only see behind God, not God
Himself.

i. “The word…could just as well and more accurately be rendered ‘the after-effects’ of his radiant glory, which had just passed by.” (Kaiser)
ii. “These four things are happening at the same time, whenever God draws near to his people - revealing and concealing, blessing and protecting, all happening together at one and the same time. You cannot separate these things.” (Lloyd-Jones)
iii. With these special protections, God rewarded the desire of Moses to see His glory as much as humanly possible. This demonstrates that God rewards the seeking heart. And, as marvelous as this experience was for Moses, it still cannot compare to the revelation of God given to us in Jesus
Christ.
• And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
• But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:18)