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[ Music ] found a friend, a close friend, a true friend, and his name is Jesus. Jesus, my friend Jesus. Oh, and what a friend we have in Jesus.

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Let me tell you what he's done for me. He gives me victory strength when I weep. But most of all, he is the only one who will answer my call. Every time that I need him, yes, I found a friend.

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Ooh, yes, I found a true friend, a friend in Jesus. ♪ I, I found a friend ♪ ♪ Found a close friend ♪ ♪ I found a true friend ♪

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♪ And his name is Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus, my friend, Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh and what ♪

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♪ A friend we have ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ Let me tell you what he's done for me ♪ ♪ He gives me victory ♪

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♪ Strength when I'm weak but most of all ♪ ♪ He is the only one who will answer my call ♪ ♪ Every time that I need him, yes ♪ ♪ I found a friend, ooh, yes ♪

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♪ I found a true friend ♪ ♪ A friend in Jesus ♪ [MUSIC] [MUSIC]

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♪ What a friend Jesus ♪ ♪ What a friend ♪ ♪ I am in Jesus ♪ ♪ Let me tell you what he done for me ♪

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♪ The thing that I weep for most of all ♪ ♪ Every time I need him ♪ ♪ Yes, I found a friend ♪ ♪ Oh, yes, I found a true friend ♪

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♪ Yes, I found a friend ♪ ♪ Yes, I found a friend ♪ ♪ Yes, I found a friend ♪ ♪ Yes, I found a friend ♪

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♪ Yes, I found a true friend ♪ ♪ I found a friend ♪ ♪ Ooh, yes ♪ ♪ As close as I'd ever been ♪

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♪ I found a friend ♪ ♪ He'll stand beside you ♪ ♪ I found a friend ♪ ♪ Yes, I found a friend ♪

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♪ He'll walk beside you ♪ ♪ I found a friend ♪ ♪ Yes, I found a friend ♪ ♪ I found a friend ♪

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♪ He's a close friend ♪ ♪ Yes, I found a friend ♪ ♪ He's a true friend ♪ ♪ I found my friend ♪

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♪ He's my best friend ♪ ♪ He's my closest friend ♪ ♪ Yes, I found a friend ♪ ♪ I found my friend ♪

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♪ I found a friend ♪ ♪ Ooh, yes, I found a good friend ♪ ♪ Yes, I found my friend ♪ ♪ Yes, I found a friend ♪

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♪ Yes, I found my true friend ♪ ♪ Found my best friend ♪ ♪ Closer than a brother ♪ ♪ I found my best friend ♪

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♪ Closer than a brother ♪ ♪ And I found my friend ♪ ♪ Thank God I found my friend ♪ ♪ My friend is Jesus ♪

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- Amen. Let's all say amen again. It's a wonderful thing to have found that true friend. [audience chatter]

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The 8 o'clock service as we have been engaged in a sermon series. And so today is the beginning of another sermon series, which will be in the 11 o'clock worship period. In keeping with this particular season of the year, those last 40 days in the earthly

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ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ embracing Easter that we commonly call the season of Lent. I want to lift up several of the verses that were read earlier for our scripture as a basis of this message. Exodus the 33rd chapter The 18th verse, portion of that verse, and the 21st through the 23rd.

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Again that's Exodus, the 33rd chapter, portion of the 18th verse, and then the 21st through the 23rd verses. Moses said, "I beseech thee, show me thy glory." And the Lord said, "Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock, and

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it shall come to pass while my glory passes by that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by and I will take away mine hand and thou shalt see my back parts, but my face shall not be seen. The general theme for this period, for the series of sermons, is "Glory Through the Cross."

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the title of this particular message is "King of the Mountain." Amid clouds of confusion that hover over us on our journey, there is a determined quest for certainty. We want to be sure.

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We want to know. We do not want to be kept in the dark. We want to be ushered into the light where we can see for ourselves. We want to know who God is.

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We want to know what God is doing in the world. We want to know if we can count on God being with us on our journey. Show me thy glory. This is the plea of Moses.

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Pull back the curtain and let me see you as you are, Lord. Show me thy glory. Remove the mask, undress yourself, take away the veil, show me thy glory. The desire to be shown the divine glory is expressed by Moses following a crisis experience

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in the life of Israel. The people have encamped at Sinai, the Mount of God. They have left Egypt. They have sojourned in the wilderness for some time.

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They have been led by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Moses talks with God and tells the people what God says. Now as they come to Mount Sinai, he spends some time on the mount talking with God. But there is a restlessness in the camp.

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Clouds have led them, cloud of fire by night and a cloud by day. clouds are not usually considered by us as means of comfort and strength. There is a sense of mystery about them, sense of fear. This is also true of fire. We are captivated by the fiery pillar. There is a sense of wonder. It's difficult for us

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to see the glory of God in the clouds. It's difficult for us to comprehend the divine glory in the dark foreboding clouds that surround us. In fact when we see the clouds we are tempted to think that God has departed from us. We dread the clouds yet the divine glory may be hidden in the clouds that surround us on

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our journey. This is the mystery of the glory of the cross. The fact that it is hidden in the clouds. Ye fearful saints fresh courage take. The clouds you so much dread are big with mercy and shall break in blessings o'er your head. On Mount Sinai while they are gathered

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They Do not Recognize the glory of God in that mountain. In fact, they grow weary of waiting on Moses to return from talking with God And so they take that jury and make their own God and worship a golden calf

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They fail to see the glory of God The people want a God they can see, one they can touch and feel, a God they can mold in their own image, a God they can control. So they make a golden calf and bow down and worship it.

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the midst of all that happens, we often become buffeted about by the vicissitudes of human existence. We become so separated that we lose contact with the ground of our being. We become alienated from that from which we have emerged and that which supports and sustains us.

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Mount Sinai should have been a blessing to them, providing them the opportunity to receive a panoramic view of the goodness of God from its landscape. should have been able to look back over the distance that they had traveled and also to consider the journey that was ahead and thank God. But instead of the mountain being a blessing

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in their experience, it seems to be an obstacle. And that's the way a mountain often is. It for some people is a challenge and they love to climb mountains. They want to attain into a higher level and we sing higher ground as an expression of that challenge and our response to it.

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And then for others the mountain is an obstacle, something that we dread, something that we'd like to do without, a mountain. so some would like for the mountain to be moved. I can remember when we were in Ethiopia,

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the high altitude was of such that at first I found it difficult to breathe. And whenever you are living or you reach a higher altitude, which is involved in mountain

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climbing, it's more of a test. It's a test of your stamina. The mountains that we encounter in our lives are sort of a test of our character. So here on the heels of this experience, when the people have sinned against God and fashioned and idol God and given the idol the kind of devotion that should have been

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reserved for God. On the heels of this Moses says to the Lord, "Show me thy glory. I want to know you Lord in the fullness of your character. Show me your glory." What a bold request. Moses talks with God, it is said earlier in the same book, that he talks with God face to face and now we read in this 33rd chapter that

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Moses says show me your glory and even though Moses has been in intimate fellowship with God he wants a closer view he wants to know more and he says "Show me thy glory." He's asking for the revelation of that which has evidently been concealed, it's hidden from him. He desires the experience of all of the

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goodness of God. He's asking for the fullness of the splendor of divine purity, the brightness of truth, the glistening of his grace. "Show me thy glory and God answers Moses come and stand by me in the cleft of the rock while my glory passes. Moses you will see my glory pass by you will receive a

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glimpse just a glimpse of my glory but you will not see me face to face no man can see me face to face and live. It's not granted to humanity to know God in His fullness and to be able to comprehend His fullness. We're finite, God is infinite. If we were able to understand all about God and to

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experience Him in the fullness then we wouldn't need to be infinite like He is. So Moses you will not be able to see me face to face, I will cause my glory to pass by and you'll get just a glimpse of my glory. You will see the hinder part, the back part of God. And that really is what we get a glimpse of as we think

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about the glory of God. Show me thy glory. You see the glory we're talking about, the glory is the glory of the cross. The kind of glory we are most familiar with is the kind of glory that is really human glory. It's the kind of glory that can be forcibly seized. In other words someone is able to outdo all of the others and

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so he is given the Heisman trophy in football. One may win a particular race come out first in a particular event and receives a gold medal in the Olympics. One may be able to fight and defeat all of the contenders and he's given the belt and he is called the heavyweight champion, the welterweight champion of

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whatever particular bracket it's in. It's a kind of glory that is forcibly seized. But Moses is asking to see the divine glory, the glory of God. It's a glory that is hidden by clouds. The mount testifies concerning the glory of God, but the mount itself is not the glory of God. It is a part of his

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creation. It is a part of his creation through which God manifests his glory. The mountain is high, it summons the highest and best in us if we would climb it. And we are given a breathtaking view of such mountain ranges as the Rocky Mountains, but they don't tell us of the character of God. The mountain

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tells us nothing of the divine compassion of God. It does not reveal God's character. We may get a glimpse and somehow recognize something of his mighty acts, but the mountain does not tell us of God's salvation. What Moses is asking for is a full revelation of the King of the Mountain. The King of that

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which is high and noble and true, the King of the Mountain, the King of compassion. And you see it's a very difficult thing to really be King of the Mountain. It's a difficult thing to be King of anything. But to be king of the mountain is to be king of the most difficult experiences in life.

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When people, you know, respond to you the very opposite way you'd like for them to respond, you know, it's a pretty difficult thing to be trying to kiss a person who isn't trying to kiss you. It's a difficult thing to love those who hate you. That's a mountain. It's a difficult thing to somehow have a loving

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relationship with those who speak all manner of evil against you falsely to forgive them and to go on as if nothing has happened. That's a mountain. And yet Moses says, "Now Lord, we want, I want to know your glory. Show me your glory." And God's glory, you see, is a sense of his presence. It's knowing that he's with us

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on the journey. This is a kind of petition that he makes, "Show me your glory. And the glory of God is a kind of brightness, it's a kind of brightness, a shining brightness of brilliance that's too much for us to stand, really. So Moses said, "Now show me your glory." And God says to him, "Now you

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come with me and you stand in the cleft of this mountain and I'll let my glory passed by but I'll have to put my hand over it because you really won't be able to stand it. We really want to know God but there's so much about us that we are finite, feeble creatures of the dust and God somehow robes himself. He wears a mask that we

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might just get a glimpse of his glory and he lets us see just the back part not his face just behind the part and we get a glimpse of his glory on a mount called Calvary. They were gathered around the Mount called Sinai but God has somehow given us a glimpse of his glory on the Mount called Calvary for there he

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has placed a cross and it is through that cross that God reveals to the world his love for all humankind, a glimpse of his glory. And that glory is in the fact that God loves us, he loves us so much that he comes to the world and he comes sort of, they don't let him in through the back door so to speak so

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he comes in the back door and is born in a lowly cattle shed. And so we see him wrapped in human flesh wearing diapers and we don't think of God that way. We get a glimpse of his glory. And we see him as he walks the dusty sunbeam hills and we see him as he is misunderstood, he's abused, we just see the, we see him loving, we see him

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caressing, we see him healing, we get just a glimpse of his glory. It's the glory that shines, it shines even in the midst of suffering, it's the glory that somehow how God has used a cross with nails driven in the hands and in the feet and yet God uses this glory to show how he rules the world. He doesn't rule the

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world the way we would ordinarily think of seizing the glory, but he rules the world in meekness and that meekness shall inherit the earth. It's that way that he rules from the mountain and so he's placed that cross on the mountain that all may see it it is it is that point that separates history AD and BC

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the cross cross an emblem of suffering and shame that when we suffer for righteousness sake that somehow there is a reflection of the glory of God and when we would embrace truth and when we would be willing to embrace it even when it's painful to us we are given a glimpse of the glory of God for God

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reveals himself in redemptive suffering in that suffering which not only redeems but that suffering which is the hope for every one of us. So Moses sees the hinder part of God. The hinder part. God is somehow hidden in history. He's hidden even in places where we would never expect to find him. God's there. He's hidden many times in the most

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disease-infected ghettos of our world, God is there. And yet in the midst of it, God is there in the form of a cross, and God rules through that cross, and he conquers the world through lowly suffering in the cross of Christ thy glory, towering o'er the wrecks of time. We extend now the privilege of the church to accept Jesus Christ as Lord of your life, the one who is the King of the mountain, who rules over every obstacle, who rules in the midst of our difficulties, who rules from an old rugged cross.

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We invite you to accept him as Lord of your life. For God has shown us his glory through Jesus Christ, and he waits even now to bless each one of us who would be open to him. [ Music ]

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♪ Honor him, our own way ♪ ♪ To the old, worthy cause ♪ ♪ We give the gods our praise and shame ♪ ♪ And our love never grows ♪

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♪ When the giver is the best ♪ ♪ Our honor not sinners forsake ♪ [ Music ] ♪ Till my trophies at last are laid down ♪

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♪ I will win through the old running cross ♪ ♪ And exchange it someday for a crown ♪ ♪ For the home of the brave ♪ ♪ So despised by the world ♪

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♪ As a wanderer's attraction for me ♪ ♪ For the dear land of love ♪ ♪ There is glory above ♪ ♪ To her and to God glory ♪

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[ Music ] ♪ Till my trophies at last I lay down ♪ ♪ I will cling to the old rugged cross ♪ ♪ And exchange it someday for a crown ♪

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♪ In the old rugged cross ♪ ♪ Take me once to the island ♪ ♪ Where the waters are still deep I see ♪ ♪ On the top that old cross ♪

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♪ Jesus suffered and died ♪ ♪ To the Father and Son give my peace ♪ So I'll cherish the old world in all of their forms Till my trophies at last lie laid down

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I will cling to the old world in all of their forms And exchange it someday for a crown To the old running cross I will ever be true, Its shadowy roots I'll be there.

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Even though we some day do lie home far away, There is glory forever I'll share. So I'll cherish the old road with all of it was. 'Til my drum is at last driving out.

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I will cling to the old road with all of it was. And its days of big moral prowl. [music] [ Music ]

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