Master Reset, Pt. 5
Tim Ross | November 29, 2020
“I don’t care how long you’ve been saved. You still need to be curious about who God is.”
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Transcription
What's up, Embassy City family? I love you guys. I hope that you all have had an incredible week, a great weekend, and that you're ready to dive into God's word as we continue in our series; Master Reset. This is week five- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5- and we're still talking about how God is resetting us, the Master is resetting us so that we can be ready to come back as a community and be all that He has called us to be, to upset all the people He's called us to upset until His return.
I'm very, very excited about the next three messages in this series. That's right, this is a seven-week series. Over the course of the next three weeks, God told me very specifically that I need to reset you to Him. I need to reset you to Him. We've talked about forget all that. We've talked about the prepare for mores. We've talked about all of the things that would orient you to understanding that He's ready to do more for you. Last week, we talked about the Master Reset.
Now, I need to talk to you about the thing that you need to be reset to more than anything else, and that's Him. Over the next three weeks, I need to reset you to God the Father. I need to reset you to God the Son, I need to reset you to God the Holy Spirit. This weekend, we need to talk about resetting ourselves to God. If you have your Bibles, I need you to open them to Exodus 33. I want to read verses 12 through 23 in your hearing, and then we'll pray and see what the Lord will say.
Is anybody excited except me?
I'm super hyped for what's about to happen. Exodus 33:12, here's what it says. "One day, Moses said to the Lord, 'You have been telling me take these people up to the Promised Land, but You haven't told me whom You will send with me. You told me I know you by name and I look favorably on you. If it is true that You look favorably on me, let me know your ways so I may understand more fully and continue to enjoy Your favor. And remember that this nation is Your very own people.'
The Lord replied, 'I will personally go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest. Everything will be fine for you.' Then Moses said, 'If You don't go personally with us, don't make us leave this place. How will anyone know that You look favorably on me and on Your people if You don't go with us? For Your presence among us sets Your people and me apart from all other people on the earth.' The Lord replied to Moses, 'I will indeed do what you have asked for I look favorably on you and I know you by name. Moses responded, 'Then show me Your glorious presence.'
The Lord replied, 'I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will call out My Name, Yahweh, before you. For I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose. But you may not look directly at Me, at My face, for no one may see Me and live.' The Lord continued, 'Look, stand near Me on this rock. As My glorious presence passes by, I will hide you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove My hand and let you see Me from behind, but My face will not be seen."
Oh, it's so good. If you're taking notes on this message, very, very simple message, but I'll need you to capitalize the last-- I need you to put in bold or capital letters the last word in the sentence, okay? The only difference is YOU, and I need you to put that in all caps. I know everybody's saying no cap right now, but I need all caps for
Again a little bit louder.
The only difference is YOU.
It's the truth. Bow your heads, let's pray, shall we? [claps hand] [prays] Holy Spirit, help us to understand that we are no good on our own. The only difference is you.
When the Lord laid this assignment on my heart, to really just say, "Hey, I want you to take this particular message in a direction that orients them back to the truth of who I am," I got super-duper excited. I got emotional because my entire walk with God has been a constant reminder that everything that I've been able to do and everything that's been done is not because of anything concerning me, and everything concerning Him.
There's this interesting dynamic that's happening in Exodus 33 that I want to make sure you have context to, because this conversation just doesn't come out of nowhere. This conversation comes upon the heels of an episode that takes place in Exodus 32. An episode that if the people of Israel had it their way, they would have struck it from the records. It was a very, very low time for the children of Israel as it related to their fidelity and their commitment to God. There's three verses that I want to read for you in Exodus 32 that will give you some context to the things I'm covering in Exodus 33.
Exodus 32:1, here is what had happened. When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. "Come on," they said, "Make us some gods who can lead us." Can I just-- What? Could you imagine the God of the universe takes you out of bondage, splits the Red Sea, blows on it until the ground is so dry you would think it would have been a desert bed. They walk across it, they're miraculously sustained in the middle of a wilderness, getting manna from heaven, water from a rock.
Moses just happens to go up for a few days, up into the mountain to speak to God, and within, it seems like hours, a couple of days, a couple of weeks, they're like, "Man, we need a god. We need somebody that's going to lead us." He hadn't been gone for six years. He was only on the mountain for 40 days. We're talking about less than a full two months, and they're like, "You know what? He's been gone too long. We need something else."
"Come on," they said, "Make us some gods who can lead us. We don't know what happened to this fellow, Moses." They got brand new real quick. They forgot dude was even their leader. He went from leader to some fellow, like they just bumped into him in the wilderness on the way like, "Oh, who's that dude?" "That's some dude named Moses. He was going that way, we going this way." What? "We don't know what happened to this fellow, Moses, who brought us here-" oh, I guess you do remember- [chuckle] "who brought us here from the land of Egypt." That's what verse 1 says.
Here's what verse 6 says. "The people got up early the next morning," and this is after they run to Aaron. Aaron-- Oh, Lord, Aaron. I just don't understand. Aaron is basically like the associate pastor of Israel church. Moses is gone, they come to him and they're like, "Man, he gone. We need something." Instead of going, "Y'all calm down. Our pastor will be back." He was like, "Take off your earrings and your gold chain and your bracelets. I'm going to melt them down and make a golden cow." First of all, dude, why did you come up with this so quick? You didn't go pray about this. This was on your mind already? "Something may have happened to Moses. You know what I'm going to do? Get me a gold cow." It was weird.
"The people got up early the next morning to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, they celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry." I love how- [chuckles] I just love how polite that is. Like, we're not going to get into the specifics of what they were doing, but they were indulging in pagan revelry. Similar to maybe a New Year's Eve party in Vegas. Indulging in some pagan revelry.
The Lord told Moses, "Quick, go down the mountain. Your people." [exclaims] "Don't give them back, God." "Your people whom you brought from the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves." This first line is all I need. God is the one still talking, "How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live." How quickly have they turned away from the way I've commanded them to live.
[claps hands] How fast they turned when the circumstances weren't going their way. How fast did they turn away from God the moment things didn't look like they were supposed to look according to them. How fast did people switch up when they realized COVID didn't go away in two months. How fast did folks turn away when they realized they had to keep their mask on. How fast did people leave God when racism was a big deal over the summer. How fast did people lose their anchor over the election.
How fast did people backslide because we ain't back in church yet? I thought they would've opened by now. The only reason why I let my boyfriend move in- I was good when I was going to church every week, but it's been eight months. They ain't opened up the church. What do you expect? I had to smoke a blunt to just let myself distress. How fast?
Perhaps part of this master reset and the fact that we haven't been in church all year is to see if your fidelity to God was based on this building or your temple. I feel this thing right now. Was it based on the little small group in the community that you got to be a part of weekend and week out, or did you have an anchor that was strong enough to hold you when you had to stay in that apartment by yourself and couldn't have no visitors over?
How fast did you turn? How fast was it for you? This reset has to get you back to orientation to the God who is your salvation, not the people who are saved around you. [chuckles] How fast? I just had a friend in ministry completely ruin his life by some bad decisions. How fast are people now ready to leave the faith because someone they followed failed? How fast? My leader left and he did-- Well, I guess if he can't live right, I can't live right. How fast? Who are you really anchored to, God or him? How fast?
I just think we need a master reset back to who is and not who can be. I want to give you some points because I'm ready to shoot my three now. I've warmed up. Now, I'm ready to shoot my threes. If you're taking notes, please write this down; three ways to get closer to God. This entire message is about master resetting you to God. Not to Embassy City Church, but to God. The church is His body but He is the God of the church. We want to make sure that we are connected to Him even when we cannot be connected to each other. We find this in our friend, Moses.
Three ways to get closer to God. Please write this down. Point number one; become curious about who He is. I don't care how long you've been saved. You still need to be curious about who God is. I'll never forget my mom who has been saved- oh, Lord have mercy- 50-something years. I think my mom has been saved around 53 years. We both got saved when we were 20 years old, so she's been saved for 53 years. My mom has been saved 53 years and to this day, she will tell you something like this in that Birmingham, Alabama, Southern kind of twang, "Baby, what I know about the Lord wouldn't fill the eye of a needle." I know she can out quote everybody in this entire church. I know she has studied the word of God and lived the word of God, preached the word of God, devoted her life to God. She says, "After 53 years of walking with the Lord, what I know about God would not fill the eye of a needle."
Are you still curious about Him, or do you think you know it all? [chuckles] Has God become so familiar to you that you actually believe there's nothing left for you to learn about God, you have seen it all, you have done it all, you have experienced it all and now you're kind of bored? The manna no longer awes you. The water from the rock no longer stuns you. The memory of walking across the Red Sea on dry ground is becoming faint in the recesses of your soul, and so now church don't hit the same for you. You take or leave the weekend message.
[mimics] Oh, you caught him on YouTube? I didn't see that weekend. It's just not that big deal. It's just another-- I already heard it. I don't read my Bible during the week anymore. My devotion time- I've done all the devotionals on New Version, and I've clicked on all of them that I like and so I'm done. Are you still curious about who the God of the universe is, or do you think you know it all?
Here's what it says in Exodus 33:12. "One day, Moses said to the Lord, 'You have been telling me take these people up to the Promised Land, but You haven't told me whom You will send with me. You told me, I know you by name and I look favorably on you. If it is true that You look favorably on me--" And let me pause before I say the next thing.
The next thing I'm about to tell you is something that's profound to me because what is said about Moses, earlier on up in the verse, is that Moses was actually talking to God in the Tent of Meeting face to face, as the Scripture says, "As one talks to a friend." The manifest presence of God was stuffing Himself down into a tent to meet with a guy named Moses. These two people were close. The God of the universe and Moses were very close. Scripture says, "As friends." They met face to face. Here's what Moses says, even though-- Okay, I'm going too fast. Okay, I got you, Holy Spirit. Let me calm down. I'm too hype.
How many people in here got a BFF? I mean, you got a best friend-friend. You're like, "This is my person. This is my BFF. I've known them since junior high. I've known this from elementary school." How many people, by show of hands, your BFF and you have known each other longer than 10 years? You've known each other longer than 10 years, okay. All right, you've known this person longer than 10 years. Have they said anything to you in 10 years that you haven't heard? Are you still surprised by them? Are you still intrigued by them, or do you think you've known it all? When is the last time you've just asked them some questions? [mimics] Hey, I know your favorite thing to eat back in college used to be a Sonic burger, but has your taste changed? Have your preferences changed? Do you think you know it all already?
Moses is considered a friend of God, and this is the next thing he wants to know, "Let me know Your ways. If it is true that You look favorably on me, let me know Your ways." Why? "So I may understand You more fully." [chuckles] I am not done learning from You. I am not done understanding You. I am not done soaking You up. I am not done experiencing what this relationship is supposed to be like. I'm still curious. You spoke to me out of a burning bush and I'm still curious.
You brought miraculous plagues upon Egypt and I'm still curious. You told me to hold up my staff and You split the Red Sea, and I'm still curious. We came over on dry ground and I'm still curious. You made water come from a rock and I'm still curious. Manna came from heaven and I'm still curious.
You became a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, and I'm still curious. You've met me inside the Tent of Meeting and I'm still curious. You're telling me that You're going to take us into the Promised Land, and I'm still curious.
I want to know some more. Not that I can brag or boast about it. Not that I can get up and preach and act like that I have a revelation nobody else has, just for me. If I never get to share it with anybody else, I want to know You more so I may understand You more fully and continue to enjoy Your favor. [exclaims] [claps hands]
"Remember that this nation is Your very own people." That last part is getting to me; so that I may understand You more fully and continue to enjoy Your favor. It's hard to not take somebody for granted when you don't understand where they're coming from. You know when you start taking people for granted? When you cease to understand where they're coming from. Why are You doing this? I don't even deserve this? This grace that You keep giving me, I don't even deserve it. I'm curious as to why You continue to bless me in spite of me.
I'm curious. You know everything about me. You knew my thoughts afar off. You knew what I would be doing when You found me. You knew what I would be doing in the relationship which-- You knew what I would be doing next week. I shocked myself, I didn't know I was going to do that. You knew it, but Your grace is still with me. Your mercy is still with me. Your lovingkindness is still with me. Your blessings are still with me. You're still healing me? You're still speaking to me? You're still waking me up in the morning? Great is thy faithfulness. I have no idea how this is happening, but I'm still curious. [chuckles] [exclaims]
I don't ever want to not be curious about the God I serve. I never want to go into a devotion time thinking, "I know where this is going." I never want to show up to a weekend service and think, "Yes, the presence of God is always here. Yes, you feel that? That's right, he's here. We knew it. Dad's home."
I never want to not be honored. [chuckles] I never want to get to the point that this is something that I think is just automatically going to happen. I want to stay in awe. You only stay in awe if you stay curious. That's good. Point number two, please write this down. Point number two; never choose his presents over his presence. Never choose his presents over his presence. P-R-E-S-E-N-T-S, presents, over his, P-R-E-S-E-N-C-E, presence.
Here is the way Moses broke that down. "The Lord replied, 'I will personally go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest. Everything will be fine for you." Then Moses said--" [chuckles] This is a great-- Take me back to 14. I want to go slow. This is so good. "The Lord replied, 'I will personally go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest. Everything will be fine for you." Period. This is the word from the Lord.
If any of you got this word, would you feel secure? Would you feel safe? Would you feel at peace? [mimics] Man, the Lord just told me He's going with me personally, and He's going to give me rest. "Everything will be fine for you." Amen. We would just shout, "Amen. Thank you, Lord. He's going with us." Write it in the journal; God said He's going with me.
Here's Moses response; if You don't go- if You don't personally go with us, don't make us leave this place. Here's Moses response; [mimics] I heard You, but I just want You to know something. If You don't go personally with us, don't make us go. [chuckles] How will anyone know that You look favorably on me- on me and on Your people- if You don't go with us? For Your presence among us sets Your people and me apart from all other people on the earth.
Moses is talking romantic right now. Some of y'all need to write this down. Your spouse would be like, "Word? Really?" Here's what he said. He said; [mimics] I want to get something cleared up right now. I'm grateful that You just gave me Your word that You're going to go with me, but here's what You need to know. If You don't go, I don't go. Period. If You're not going, I'm not going.
Don't tell me to go over there. I need You to be with me. Every step of the way because here's the thing, without You being with us, we are nobodies. [chuckles] The only thing that separates me and Your people from everybody else in the entire world is that You are with us. That's the only distinguishing factor; You're here. That's all that matters.
People asked me over the summer; what was it like to preach in an empty building and nobody was in the building? I said somebody was in the building.
Well, I know but the congregation, and the COVID locked everything down, and you couldn't have nobody in the building with you. I said somebody was in there with me. I said it's His church. His people were not here, but He most certainly was here because if He's not here, I'm not here. If He's not going to be here, I'm not going to be here. If He's not speaking, I'm not speaking. [chuckles] If He's not going to come into our worship experience, we're not having a worship experience.
See, this is what I'm trying to get some people back to. Is He more important than everything else, or is everything so important it doesn't matter if He's there or not? Is He more important than everything else, or is everything else so important that you don't care? Let me modify it. You don't even notice if He's there or not? Are we so-- [exclaims] I feel it, I'm going to say it, deal with it. Are we so hell-bent on having a great production that no matter if He comes into it or not, we're okay as long as it meets our standard?
We sang the songs we wanted to sing. I gave my illustration the way I wanted to give it. The people responded the way I thought they would. This was a great weekend. Was God there? I don't know, but we had church. Was God present? Did you hear Him speak? No, but we had a great time. What did the preacher talk about? I don't know, but [exclaims] he was preaching.
We had a great praise break. We had a little shout. We had a little dance. Did He say anything to you? Listen, I don't even show up for Him to say nothing. I just like to be with my people. [chuckles] Scripture does not say; I was glad when they said unto me, let me go hang with Temeka, -Bobby, Scotty, and Michelle. I was glad when they said unto me, let me go hang out in my small group with my friends. "I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the presence of the Lord." Moses made it very clear; I don't want You to give me Your stuff if You don't give me You. I don't want to show up to experience any of Your stuff if You're not going to be there with me.
Let me give you an example of what this might feel like. This would feel like an absentee father who always gives you an extravagant gift on your birthday, but they mail it to you. [mimics] Can't be there, honey, but I know you wanted that new bike so I got it for you. Next year; can't be there, honey, but I know you wanted that horse so I got it for you. Can't be there, honey. I know you wanted that convertible Bentley. I got it for you. Great present, right? Daddy, I haven't seen you in seven years. I would rather give every single present you gave me back if you would merely show up and be present.
Let me tell you something, if you fall in love with the presence of God, the preacher ain't got to be that good. You fall in love with the presence of God, the worship ain't got to be that good. You fall in love with the presence of God, the lights ain't got to be that good. You fall in love with the presence of God, the aesthetics don't need to be that good because if You're here, nothing else matters. If You're here, everything's going to be okay. If You speak, I'll get through another week. But if everything else is right and You're not here, then it don't even matter.
Which brings me to point number three, write this down. [exclaims] I'm on one today. I feel this thing. [sighs] [claps hands] All right, three ways to get closer to God. Point number one; become curious about who he is. Point number two; never choose His presents over His presence. Write this down. Point number three; ask Him for it. Ask for an experience with Him. If you haven't had one in a while, ask. [chuckles] If the only touch of God that you really feel you had was like in your youth group about 15 years ago, time for a new one. [chuckles] Just ask Him for a new experience.
Here's what Moses said. "The Lord replied to Moses, 'I will indeed do what you have asked, and I will look favorably on you and I know you by name." That should have been enough for Moses. I mean, Moses had a staff that turned into a snake that turned back into a staff. Moses put his wand- his wand- his little staff--
I made him a magician real quick.
Moses took his little staff and turned water into blood, frogs came, and darkness covered the earth; I mean, all kind of stuff happened in Egypt with this staff that was in his hand. God was doing all of it. We already talked about the Red Sea. We talked about the miraculous things that happened in the wilderness. Here go Moses- this is verse 18, I love you, Moses- Moses responded; [mimics] then show me Your glorious presence, since You're with me.
Since you ain't, you know, because you're talking about You're going to be here and stuff. Since You're talking about You look favorably on me and You love me and all this kind of stuff, show me something then. Wait a minute, Moses, you haven't seen enough? Yes. You haven't seen enough? I want another experience with You. I saw the Red Sea. I want another experience. That worship experience was amazing. I want another one. That word You gave me was awesome. Do it again, Lord. Show me Your glorious presence.
Here's the thing that I love about God. God said Okay.
What if God has been waiting for you? What if God has been waiting for you? You've asked Him a whole bunch of questions. This whole year, you've been asking Him questions. Maybe you haven't asked the one question He's been waiting for you to ask. You've asked if He's going to provide. You've asked if He's going to move. You've asked if He's going to open up that door.
You've asked all these other questions, and He's just sitting there; [mimics] Anybody going to ask about Me? Anybody want to know a little bit more about Me. Anybody curious? Anybody want My presence here? Does anybody want an experience with Me? Are you satisfied? Have you become so programmed to the routine of the church that because you ain't been in this building on Sunday, you forgot to ask Him to show up? As if the only place He could show up was in this building.
The only difference is YOU. If we don't have You, Lord, we don't have nothing. We need You. We want You. We must have You. If we have nothing else, we've got to have You. The only difference is YOU. The only reason why this church is still around is because You're around. [chuckles] We need You.
Would you bow your heads and close your eyes. What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message? My hope and my prayer is that as soon as this video cast stops that you would just throw up your hands and say show me Your glory, in your bedroom; show me Your glory, in your kitchen; show me Your glory, in the living room, in the dining room, in the car. God, show me Your glory. The only reason why I'm here is because of You. The only reason why I'm sane is because of You. The only reason why I'm living and not simply existing is because of You. We need You.
Holy Spirit, I pray that through this message we would all be drawn closer to God. That those that are near to You would become nearer. Those that are far would come close. I pray for anyone that's listening to the sound of my voice that has not given their life to Jesus Christ; I'm telling you, this is the day that the Lord has made and you can rejoice and be glad in it in a way you've never done before. You do that simply by opening up your mouth and confessing that Jesus is Lord and God raised Him from the dead. If you would articulate that, believe that in your heart, confess it with your mouth, you are saved.
God, thank You for those that have come into the Kingdom. Thank You for those of us that are committed to upsetting the world. We won't take another step without You. In Jesus Name. Amen. I love you guys so much. I'll see you next week.
