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December 11, 2020 · 25 min · Pray Radio
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Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative and author of over 100 books, booklets and Bible studies.
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0:00 There are a lot of places in life spiritually we by ourselves, and we wonder why God is nowhere to be found.0:06 Doctor. Tony Evans says the difference has to do with our desire.0:10 God will only give you as much of God that you really want. He wants to know that you want to know him.0:17 This is the alternative with doctor Tony Evans, author, speaker, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, and president of the Urban Alternative.0:30 Today, Doctor. Evans explains why our relationship with God is exactly as deep as we want it to be, and what we can do if we'd like to see a change. Let's join him.0:40 If you've ever been involved in sports, or if you follow it, you will know that a regular question is asked when a sports team is ready to go into competition0:51 or a player is ready to compete against the odds. And the question is, how bad do you want it? How bad do you want it?1:03 It's a question about desire. Do you really want it bad enough? Is this just a casual thing? Are you simply fulfilling a role1:15 of responsibility or duty? Or do you really want this thing? But that question is not limited to athletic competitions when a coach is1:27 trying to point his team to the next great victory. It can be asked of an employer to an employee related to their job. How1:39 do you really want to work here? How bad do you want it? It can be asked of a relationship. Do you really want to be married? How1:50 bad do you want it? Because we all know you can say you want something, but not that bad. Come see, come saw, maybe2:02 so, maybe not. If it happens, okay. If it doesn't, I'll make it. You can be cavalier and not really want it.2:15 Our series is knowing God. Our question is how bad do you want it? Because when we talk about knowing God, we're talking about knowing him experientially and not2:27 merely informationally. We're not asking how much do you know about God. So the question on the floor today is, how bad do you want it? And Moses2:39 wanted it real bad. So he comes to the Lord, and he makes 3 requests of God, 3 things he wanted from God.2:51 Verse 13, Now I pray you, if I have found favor in your sight, let me know your ways that I may know you. He says in verse 15,3:03 if your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. If you're not there, I'm not going. He says in verse 18, I pray3:14 you, show me your glory. The request of a hungry man. Job says, I heard about you with the hearing of the ear.3:26 I went to church. But having come through these trials I've just come through, I have now seen you with my own eyes. Your trouble, whatever your trouble is, may simply3:38 be God trying to create some hunger. Moses said, I want to know you. I want to know you. I am hungry, and hungry people adjust to where the food is3:50 located. I pray you. So it's a prayer. He says, I pray you in verse 13, Let me know your4:01 ways that I may know you. That's instructive. Moses says, To know you is to know your ways. That is here it is, here it is4:13 to be in sync with where you are going. He says in verse 15, If your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from4:25 here. If you're not going, I'm not going. He only wanted to be where God was. I want to4:37 know you are with us. Now the first request is, I wanna be with you. I wanna know your ways. Where where are you headed? And many of the issues that we4:49 face is because we don't want to know his way, we want him to bless our way. But here he says, first, I want to be with you, but second, I want you to be with me.5:01 I want your presence. What does that mean? That means we are not to be satisfied with the program. We want his presence.5:13 We're not to be satisfied simply with public approval, where the crowd is applauding and Jesus is staying seated. We want him to be with us. We want5:25 him to be we want his presence. We're after his presence. We come together to worship. But if God doesn't show up, if the Holy Spirit doesn't decide5:37 to come to church today, so to speak, then it doesn't matter how good the choir sings, how great the sermon is, and how finely tuned the program is, it'll just be5:49 wasted space, because I need you there. I'm gonna be with you. In fact, I'm so committed to being with you that I'm not going if6:01 I don't know you with me. So 1 of the questions you have to ask is, am I with him, and then is he with me? And then if you discover he's not with me, I'm not going.6:13 We have people in our lives, if you're not going, I'm not going. Okay? I ain't going there by myself. You know, there are a lot of places in life, spiritually, we by ourself,6:26 and we wonder why God is nowhere to be found. Because we decided to go and leave him home. We decided to hang out without God. He6:37 says, I'm not going if you're not going. I want you to be there beside me, because this journey is too difficult. And I hope you've discovered6:50 that this life is too tough. This journey is rough. It's rough. It's rough on all kind of categories. Life isn't simple anymore.7:03 It's rough. And he says, this terrain, this place going through this wilderness, going into this new land is rough, and I are you not going?7:15 In other words, I would rather be in the desert with you than in the promised land by myself. That's convicting. It's like saying, I'd rather be poor with you than7:27 rich without you. I'd rather live in an apartment with you than in a big house without you. I would rather drive an old car with you than a new car that you can't get in.7:39 In other words, I want this relationship so bad that I'll adjust. What God is saying today through7:51 Moses' passion, hunger, is that I want to go with you, and I'm not going if you're not with me. And I don't want cheap substitutes8:03 for knowing you. He makes a third request. Moses says, I pray you, show me your glory.8:15 Wow. Glory is the visible display of the attributes of God. It's when God makes8:27 himself seeable, manifests aspects of his deity, of his character. And isn't8:39 that what we want? Don't we want God to show up? Show me. I want to be able to see it. I don't want to just hear everybody else talking about8:50 it. Show me. 1 of the great scourges of our day, and it is a scourge, is pornography. That's a scourge of our day,9:02 an addictive scourge. It's addictive because, particularly for men, it is the most natural addiction, because it's not an addiction outside of yourself. See,9:13 virtually all the other addictions are outside of yourself that you bring into yourself, not pornography. Pornography is an addiction born within, because it is9:25 in the makeup of our DNA to be sexually oriented. That is part of the human creation. But what pornography does is it takes what is9:37 legitimate and turns it into something that is not legitimate. The problem is it's born from within. So you can take away cigarettes, you can hide9:48 alcohol, but you can't hide desire. It's built in. And so, of course, the enemy takes what God has legitimately created and creates something illegitimate10:00 off of it. And so pornography is a scourge of our day, and at the at the heart of pornography is this, I seek to10:12 piggyback on the intimacy of others. In pornography, you seek to piggyback. You seek to get your thrill10:24 by somebody else's thrill. You seem to get -you want to get your experience. And so when a person becomes addicted to pornography, they can't get enough.10:36 It's the computer controls it all. The flicks control it all, and I want more, and I want more, and I more, and I want more, because I want the feeling,10:48 the experience of somebody else's intimacy. Far too many of us are spiritual pornographers.11:01 We can't get our own intimacy straight, so we piggyback on the intimacy of others. See, because fundamentally, to depend on pornography really reveals a lack in11:13 you. Because if you really had it going on like it ought to be going on, they would want to tune into you. You wouldn't need to tune into them, because11:25 but to piggyback off of the intimacy of others, hour after hour, day after day, week after week, year after year, because of11:37 the lack within you. And so what we often do is come to church to piggyback off of the intimacy of others because our own11:48 experience with God is so lacking. But Moses wasn't gonna accept that. Moses said, show me your glory. Make12:00 yourself visible to me in the coming together of your attributes. Don't hold back. And I've already seen a12:12 lot. He said, I've seen a bunch of stuff, but I know that's just a down payment. Because if you can do all that, I haven't seen anything yet. Show me your12:23 glory. Or as we say at McDonald's, supersize it. Make yourself big12:35 to me. I wanna know your glory. Show me your glory. It's the cry of a hungry man.12:43 When doctor Evans returns in a moment, he'll share more insights to help us get to know God better. Don't go away.12:49 The world, chaos. God, peace. Society, full of hate. God, love. The future, uncertain. God, certain. In the best of13:01 Tony Evans 20 20, Doctor. Evans shares 20 messages on CD and digital downloads full of hope and life, something you won't find much of in the world right now. With your gift to help keep The Urban13:13 Alternative on the air, we'll send you this series to lift you up, plus Doctor. Evans' devotional book called for a purpose to help you embrace God's wonderful plan for your life. Learn more at13:25 tony evans dot org.13:26 And the lesson you're hearing today is part of the best of Tony Evans 20 20. As our gift to you, we'll send this giant collection of 20 full length audio messages plus his called for a purpose devotional book13:38 when you help support Tony's ministry with a year end contribution. This is a limited time offer, so make the arrangements today by visiting tony evans dot org or call our resource center at 113:50 808 hundred 32 22. Team members are standing by to help with your request day or night. Again, that's 1 808 hundred 3 2 2 2. I'll have14:01 all of that contact information for you once again after part 2 of today's message. Here's Tony.14:07 God has more value in himself to be misused by his people. He thinks more of himself than that. That's why he will not reveal14:19 himself to people who really don't wanna know him. In other words, he's not into wasting his time. He's not trying to play hard to get, he's not trying to play hide and seek,14:31 but neither is he trying to waste his time. He wants to know that you want to know him. God will only give you as much of God that you really want.14:43 He's not gonna waste God on you. He's not gonna just let it overflow and and go down the drain. God's response. Verse 19,14:55 I myself will make all my goodness pass before you. Woah. I'm going to make all my goodness, my generosity pass before you and15:07 will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. God's name is his character, his reputation. I will be gracious to whom I am15:19 gracious, will show compassion on whom I will show compassion. But he said, you cannot see my face, for no man can see me and live. I'm going to let15:31 all of me pass before you, but there's going be 1 thing I can't let you in on, and that's my face. That is the essence and core of my being. I can't let you15:42 see that because it would kill you to see it. It would be like being in a nuclear reactor. The energy would overwhelm you and disintegrate you. So, I'm not going to let you see my face.15:57 Then the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, by me, close to me, and you shall stand there on the rock, and it will come about while my glory is passing by. I'm going to pass16:08 by. You know, pass me not, oh gentle Savior. I'm a pass by. I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed16:20 by. Then I will take my hand away, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.16:32 He said, show me, me, show me your glory. God says, I I tell you what we're gonna do, Moses. I'm gonna put you on a rock here, and all16:44 of me is gonna pass by. So you will know what it feels like to have all of me come your way, but I'm not gonna let you look on the16:56 all of me that comes your way. I'm gonna bring my glory. I'm gonna bring the full manifestation of my being, but on what I let you see, I'm gonna create a limitation for your17:08 welfare. This is with you and mine. Cause if I let you see the essence of my being, it'll kill you. But what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna cover you with17:20 my hand in the cleft of the rock, and my glory is gonna pass by, but I'm gonna create a cloud cover so you're not disintegrating in the midst of this past.17:32 And then I'm going to remove my hand when my back is passing by. So he says, My glory is going to pass by, the full essence of who I am, but I17:43 can't let you see it. You'll know it, but you can't see it. But just as I'm about to finish, I'm going let you see the exhaust. You ever look up in the sky and see a plane go by?17:55 But you can't see the plane, but you know the plane had passed by, because that line of exhaust is still left. So there's no doubt that there was something there. You don't see the something, but you see what the18:06 something left behind, the exhaust from the plane. He says, I'm a pass by in all my glory, but when the exhaust is left and you18:18 can't see me in my core essence, I'm a let you see what I leave behind, my back. A let you see what I leave behind. You want to know me? Moses,18:30 you really want to know me, and you have found favor in my sight. He says that a number of times, you found favor. Why did he find favor? Because I want to know your way. I want you to be with me.18:42 This is my passion. I am hungry for you, and I'm in hot pursuit after you. God says, Okay, you'll see my exhaust. He passes by,18:54 The hand is removed. He sees God's back. You say, so what?19:07 Moses picks up a pen and he writes, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the19:19 face of the deep. And God said, let there be light, and there was light. And God separated the firmament, and he called the the light day, and he called the the dark night. And then God created all the animals, and then19:30 God created man on the sixth day. He said, let us make man in our own image. Moses wrote the first 5 books of the Bible. How did he know what happened back then when he wasn't born? He19:42 got to see God's exhaust. He got to see what was back there. He got to see God's back. He was able to look back and he said, Woah, good Lord. All of this stuff, all this good Lord. And19:53 God gives him all this backward revelation and manifestation, because he got to see the back, the history of God. What did he get when he saw God?20:05 Insight that he didn't naturally have. He saw things that he could not have figured out, what eye have not seen, ear have not heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love20:16 him, but he has revealed them unto us. You want insight. You want to know what to do. You want to know what direction to take. You want to know where to get to know him!20:29 1 more thing as we close. God says to Moses, You can't see my face and live.20:42 You can see my face and die, but you can't see my face and live. Only dead people see my face.20:55 I'm trying to go somewhere here. I can't let you see my face, because you're going to die. So you cannot see my face and live, or you can die and see my face.21:07 Maybe that's why Paul said, I die daily. I am crucified, because he wanted to see something that went beyond the ordinary. Moses died.21:20 He didn't see God's face, he saw God's back. That was a whole bunch, but he died. But in Matthew chapter 17, hundreds of years later, Jesus goes up to the Mount of21:31 Transfiguration. The heavens open up. A voice from heaven says, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. Peter, James, and John21:43 hit the ground because it said the light was too bright and it overwhelmed them. And in the middle of that moment, God said, Moses,21:55 come on. Dead Moses showed up at the Mount of Transfiguration and got to look on the glory that Peter,22:07 James, and John could not look at, because they were still alive. Moses was dead. So God summoned Moses thousands of years later and said, You know what you couldn't do back there in Exodus 33?22:19 Cause you were still alive. Hey, come on now. You died, so you can handle this. Do you know that's why God's gonna give you a new body?22:31 And when you die and go to heaven, you get a brand new body, because your body can't handle this. In the words of a great theologian, you can't touch this. You can't touch this.22:44 God's gonna give you a new body to handle what you're getting ready to look at. In the meantime, his back is still available. The exhaust22:56 of his glory, and even that is too much to handle. The question on the floor is not do you want it? Everybody will say yeah to that. The23:08 question on the floor is how bad do you want it?23:14 Doctor. Tony Evans, talking about ways we can stimulate our appetite for God. Now today's message, How Bad Do You Want It? Is available for you to request on CD or download. In23:26 fact, the full length version contains more material than we were able to present on the air. But you can also get this lesson as a part of our special year end compilation, the best of Tony Evans 20 20. As I mentioned23:38 earlier, this giant collection is available for a limited time as our gift when you help support Tony's ministry with a generous year end contribution. In addition to the 20 audio messages, if you contact us right23:50 away, we'll also include a copy of his powerful book, Called for a Purpose, containing devotions that can help you overcome feelings of anxiousness, aloneness, and uncertainty as you gain a better understanding of the24:01 calling God has just for you. Simply visit Tony Evans dot org today to get all the details and make the arrangements. Or call our resource center at 1 808 hundred 3224:12 22, where team members are ready to help you day and night. Again, that's 1 8 0 0 8 0 0 3 2 2 2. You know, God loves to amaze his children, but next time Doctor.24:24 Evans says we may sometimes prevent that from happening by either expecting too little or knowing too much. Find out more when you join us again on Monday. The Alternative with24:36 Doctor. Tony Evans is brought to you by The Urban Alternative and is made possible by the generous contributions of listeners like you.
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