God's Presence — Francois Carr

Well, we have come to the end of our time together here in Lighthouse Gospel, our first few meetings that we are together. I'm looking forward to the day of tomorrow. God is starting to stir my heart.

It seems that every meeting is different, and every congregation is different, the crowd is different, and God has a different message for us in a time like this, not just for you in Canada, but also for us back home in South Africa.

But I do want to thank you for the time that I was able to spend with you, and thank you for the invitation, and the spoiling, Brother Henry and Miss Tina, the foods and the picking up at the airport and the driving around, and for you that came so faithfully every night to listen to me.

The first few days was terrible for myself as I was responding in my body back from the jet lag, and I tried to get my mind wrapped around from the Afrikaans to the English. The first couple of meetings is always difficult because I try to speak in English and my mind is not quick enough for the translation from Afrikaans, so sometimes I get excited and then I forget what I was saying, and it sounds funny the way it gets out.

And as I was listening to some of you guys speak in Canada, I realized that you also speak funny. So I've heard about low German, and I know there's high German, and I remember some folks down in South Carolina, they speak Pennsylvania Dutch, and some of the words sound the same, so I'm sure that the Lord has a way of dealing with all these issues up in heaven, but I think some down here in the earth, it's a nightmare for many of us to get to know one another and to learn.

And then you get the cultures as well, which is completely different. But it's so good to be with you and to see the faces of people that I've met the very first time many, many years ago, and how we all have grown and become old, and the kids have become young teenagers, and some got married, and I saw the babies.

I follow you every now and then on Facebook, and I see the pictures that you place there, and I can see that the families are just growing and growing, and it's great to see that, especially if they make a mark for the Lord where God has placed them here in Canada.

Moses and Aaron After the Golden Calf

Ever since Sunday morning, we'll look at the life of Moses very briefly, and some of his encounters with God. And I want to close our time together tonight by looking at these few verses of Scripture that we have read together.

You know, as we look at chapter 32 and the beginning of chapter 33, we realize when God broke the fellowship that he had with Moses up in the mountain to send him down to go fix the problem that was there at the moment with the golden calf, because God said, this people that you brought out, they have sinned against me.

You have to go down. In other words, you need to go down and do something about that. So Moses went down, and God showed him a few things. But then as he was going through the motions, and the Lord started to deal with him and spoke to him about what happened towards the end of chapter 32 and the beginning of chapter 33, and the Lord said to Moses that he will bring the people into the promised land just as God has promised, and God will keep on providing for them day by day with the manna and the quail by night.

He will protect them with a pillar of cloud in the morning and a pillar of fire by night, but that God will not go with them. And sometimes we confuse the presence of God with God's promises and God's protection and God's provision for us in our everyday needs that we have.

And I want to leave you tonight in our first time that we were together, the first crusade here, the services and revival, just with a thought of how to go deeper to the next level with God and to deepen your walk, maybe to empower your service, and just leave you with some thoughts that you can go back home with and think about that.

Because I believe from tonight onwards, for the rest of your life, you will always have this question in your mind towards the end of the service, the question, the difference between the two brothers, Moses and Aaron.

But in the book of Exodus chapter 33 verse 7 and onwards, I want us to look at the life of Moses and his brother and the difference between the two of them. And the message and the verses of Scripture and the points behind me will speak for themselves, and you will have to make a decision in your mind and your heart in that moment in how deep you want to go with God and how close do you want to get to Him for the rest of this year and even towards 2015 and the years to come.

If God and the Lord Jesus tell us to come and send us the end times. Now in 1918, there was a man, his name was Duncan Campbell. In the war, the first world war in Europe in that time, he was in the war as a young Christian.

But there was a time in 1918 as he was lying surrounded with soldiers in the mud that was wounded with blood, and he was praying a prayer in that moment, he said, Lord that you would make me as holy as you can make a saved sinner in that moment.

And God heard his prayer and touched his heart in such a way that he had to ask the Lord to stay his hand because of the blessing that he was experiencing with God in that moment. And for the next five years as he was traveling throughout Scotland and Ireland, God used him mightily as a revival speaker, preaching on revival, filling up the audiences and the halls and the sanctuaries and God just working in the hearts of all the people around Scotland and Ireland.

But then Duncan Campbell got married and he got some kids and he became the pastor of a local church. And for the next 24 years, he was pastoring three different churches in Scotland. But something happened on the 15th of November in 1947.

He wake up at five o 'clock in the morning to have his quiet time, but especially to prepare for a meeting at a conference that he was scheduled to preach called the Keswick Convention in that time in Scotland.

And he sort of liked the idea that they invite him to become the keynote speaker because he was the revival preacher that God used so mightily in the years gone by. But as he was sitting in a study preparing the message that he was scheduled to preach, he heard that someone was singing in the background.

And as he listened to the singing, he realized that his teenage daughter, her name was Sheena, that she was singing. So he stopped what he was doing and he walked towards the place where he heard the music and the singing come from.

And as he walked inside, he saw that she was sitting there. And as she looked up to him, she said, Dad, but isn't Jesus just wonderful? And as he looked at her, he said, Honey, but why are you sitting here so early in the morning and singing?

But she said, Lord, but the Lord wakes me up every morning for the last couple of days now at four o 'clock. And I'm just sitting here and I'm just reading through scripture and I'm just praying and I'm just singing and worshipping the Lord Jesus because isn't Jesus just wonderful?

And as he looked at her, he realized that God is stirring her heart. And then she asked him a question. She said, Dad, I have to ask you a question that God has put within my heart for the last few days that I don't want to ask you, but I have to ask you, when was the last time that you were kneeling next to a sinner in the streets around this church?

You are a very famous preacher in Scotland. You have a major and a mega church on a Sunday morning and people come from all over to listen to your messages that you preach and the place is packed out and you are a conference speaker.

But when was the last time that you were kneeling next to a sinner accepting the Lord Jesus as his savior? And Duncan Campbell said that question shook him to the heart in such a way that as he left for the conference, there was a man, his name is Dr. Fitch.

He was scheduled to preach at nine o 'clock and Duncan Campbell by eleven o 'clock and Dr. Fitch stood up and he said this morning, I'm not going to preach to you. I'm just going to share a testimony with you of what God has done in my soul.

And in that moment, God used that testimony sort of to enforce the message and the question that Sheena was asking him in that moment about when was the last time God used him to lead a sinner unto Jesus.

So he left the conference and he went back to the place that he was staying and he said to his wife that he doesn't want to see anybody, but he just wants to spend some time with the Lord in prayer. And as he was struggling through a verse of scripture, Psalm 94, verse 14, late that evening around two o 'clock the next morning, as he was still praying, he heard somebody just come into the door in that moment.

That was Sheena. But Duncan Campbell in that moment was struggling with God. He said, Lord, how can I say yes to God and resign as a pastor from the church, traveling all over Scotland once again, just like many years ago, preaching the message of revival?

I just promised Sheena a new dress and a jacket. And then she looked at him, she's only 16. He said, Daddy, whatever the cost might be, just say yes to God. And if you are concerned about my jacket, Mama will take the old one and fix it up as if it's new.

Just say yes to God. Then he made the surrender and that was the beginning of Duncan Campbell's preaching once again in 1949. And God sent revival to Scotland. So why do I tell that to you in this evening?

What is the reason that I brought this up in this moment? You see, there was a moment in the life of Duncan Campbell. Oh, we don't know how to go back now. We just see how do we go back? There we are.

These things are so clever, it seems to me. I've got no idea what I've done, but I need to get this on because I want to show you something. You see, Duncan Campbell was used by God. But then there was a moment in his life that he became satisfied and content.

He became the pastor, which was okay. And then because he was content, he became complacent. He became boasting upon the fact that he was the preacher that God used in revival so many years ago. And he was a successful pastor in that moment.

But God had to work behind the scenes to get his attention once again in the life of a 16 year old because Duncan Campbell was going through the motions. You see, sometimes we can get so satisfied with the fact that God provides and God promises and God gives to us on a daily basis.

But we have lost the very thing that we are praying for. And that's the presence of God in our lives and through our lives. I want you to see this tonight and I've got the slides up because I want to show you a picture before we get to the message that God has put within my heart.

Moses and Aaron’s Different Encounters With God

I want you to see the difference in just a couple of things from the life of Moses and his brother Aaron. The only thing I want you to see is the following in Exodus chapter three. As we have looked at that on Sunday morning, there was the calling of Moses.

Moses had a very special and unique encounter with God. God called him at the bush that was burning and gave him a specific commission as to go back and lead the people out of bondage from Egypt. And then God spoke to him.

But one of the reasons why Moses said he could not go is because he could not speak well. We know that he lied to God. So God said, listen, but there is your brother Aaron. I know that he could speak very well.

So I want you to see the following. First of all, that Moses met with God. Moses heard the voice of God. Moses encountered God. Moses received a commission from God. But then this Aaron at the same time also heard the voice of God, also had a commission from God and also somehow had a unique encounter with God.

And how do I know that? You know, if you haven't seen your brother for 40 years and somehow God tells you to walk in the desert in this direction for the next couple of days in the desert to somebody which you haven't seen for the last 40 years, you need to know this is God sending you into the desert.

So there was two brothers that heard the voice of God and had a specific and unique calling upon their lives. The one was to go and lead the people out of bondage, out of Egypt. And the other one was to be the companion of his brother as he was doing so.

Two brothers heard the voice of God, met with God and commissioned by God. And then from chapter five onwards, you can read in your own time, they start to see the power and the glory of God on a daily basis.

And if you read Exodus chapter five in your own time, six, seven, eight, nine and ten, you find on a daily basis God spoke to the two brothers personally on a daily basis and they see the power of God through the plagues.

Day after day, after day, after day, then they heard the voice of God and then they came to the Red Sea and chapter 13, if you read that in your own time, day after day and then the miracle of the the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire and then the Red Sea that was open right in front of them, another miracle.

And then as we look at the next, you find chapter after chapter just going through the motions, chapter 15, the water of Mara, chapter 16, the bread coming from heaven, chapter 17, the water coming from the rock.

And then there's the the war against the Amalekites that they conquered. Then there was a cloud coming down upon them. And then in Exodus chapter 24, something amazing start to happen. I want you to turn there with me before we get to the message, if you want to.

Day after day, week after week, two brothers heard the voice of God, saw the miracles of God, saw the power and the glory of God coming down in their midst. Then chapter 24. Now the Lord said to Moses, come up to the Lord, you and your brother Aaron and your two sons and 70 of the elders of Israel and worship from afar.

And Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but they shall not come near, nor shall the people go up with him. But then look at verse nine. Then Moses went up to the mountain and he took his brother and his two sons and 70 of the elders and the deacons of Israel.

And they saw the glory of God. Verse 11. God did not lay his hand upon them, so they saw God and they ate and they drank. Something amazing happened here. God called them into his presence. And as they climbed the mountain halfway up in the mountain, they were sitting there at the feet of God by having a fellowship meal and saw the glory of God.

Seventy of them, but two brothers once again, Moses and Aaron. And if you read onwards, God tells Moses to come up even higher into his presence and stay there because God wants to reveal to him the tabernacle of the wilderness and what is supposed to happen upon the earth.

He tells him about the resources. He tells about this companions. He tells about the staff and and all the things that's going to happen and all the you know, the about the Levi's and about the the holiest of holiest and about the courtyard and about the lampstands and all the things he talked about.

Moses from chapter 25 onwards, about those detailed things inside the place of prayer. And even about the duties of his brother, Aaron. But sending his brother down to the camp. To wait upon Moses and then chapter 32, as Moses was having fellowship with God, I believe with my whole heart tonight that maybe the fellowship that Moses was enjoying of God might have taken longer than 40 days because as God was speaking to Moses in that moment, God stopped the conversation in verse seven and said, and the Lord said, Go get down for your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.

They've turned away quickly, I shared about that already on Sunday morning and Sunday night, if you remember on the messages. So there was the golden calf and they missed and the fellowship of God was broken.

The Place of Meeting Outside the Camp

But I want to share with you five things tonight. The difference between the two brothers from this point onwards, and you see from now on, you will see there's a few steps into the glory of God and you can choose tonight at what step will you stop either at the beginning tonight or in the days to come, going higher and higher and higher until you see the glory of God coming down in revival.

And that's the choice that you will have to make tonight. But before we get there, I want to show you a picture. Look at the picture. And I was in Israel last year in June with a group from South Africa.

We came to a place just north of Eilat, a place called Timna. And we will remember that place. It's a typical place. There's a there's a tabernacle in the wilderness about the same replica that was made in times of Moses and there it stood.

And I asked the lady a question as I was reading through the life of Moses and studying about I want to know where was the tent that Moses was living with his wife. So I got this picture and that's what I realized what they told me.

So if you look at the picture behind you at the moment, you can see there's a in the center part, there's a tabernacle in the wilderness with a purple color in the front. And there is the enclosed area of the courtyard, and then you find the holiest and the holiest of all inside the center right in the front of that, you can see people standing there in two different groups of people.

Then you find around that circle, you find some tents. So those are the tents of the Levite people. Later on, you must remember when God spoke to Moses about this on the mountain, that center part was not there.

The tabernacle in the wilderness that came later. It wasn't there the moment God spoke to them on the mountain in chapter 24 for chapter 33 in the beginning. But that's the line. That's the outline of the camp in that moment.

You have to understand this to understand the message from now on for the next few points that God has put in my heart. So there is a center and around that is the Levites, the people that will serve inside the temple.

And if you look beyond that, you find it looks like a mountain or maybe like a small little hills kind of thing. But that's the other tents of the tribes of people free to the north, to the east and the west and the south.

That's why the rest of the people were living. So I started to look at it by asking a question, but where was the tent of Moses that he was living with his wife? And that's what I realized. If you look towards the bottom of the right hand side of the picture, you'll find that there's a little tent in the front there.

That was the tent of Moses. And just behind him, there was a few more tents that you can see towards the end of the screen. That was the tents of his brothers, the sons of Aaron and her and Joshua and all those other bigger part of the circle around, because they also come from the Levite tribe in that moment.

If you look at the next picture, it looks like that. Here is Moses standing with his rod. You can see his hand. He's standing at his tent. You can see the tent lines. It looks towards the purple color because that's where you find the tabernacle in the wilderness.

That was the place where Moses was living with his wife, his home, his bedroom, his kitchen. That's the place where Moses lived. Now, imagine the cloud is lifting and now the cloud is moving. Shall the people of Israel pack up their tents and they follow the cloud?

Am I right? And now the cloud is stopping someplace. And now they know they have to find a circle in the side and keep it open because that's what God wants them to have in the beginning, because that's the place of the tabernacle later on that will be coming.

So they start to form the circles around it and then they start to pitch up their own tents where they live with their wives and their family members. And once that is finished, once that is finished, that the tent is standing and inside the kitchen is his mama is happy because the microwave and the stove are connected in his working.

And the bedroom is fine and all the cupboards inside and the linen and the clothing is hanging perfectly when you look at the kids room, she's satisfied and she's happy. And then Moses outside start to walk around a little bit of things and and to make sure that the connections in the house is fixed, too.

Otherwise, there's no wireless in the house. Am I right? Because that's the way we live. But when this is all finished. And the flowers is planted outside and the grass is OK. The Bible tells us a different story.

I want you to see that the difference between the two brothers and how this thing moves now. There we are. The difference between the two brothers begins, first of all, with a place of meeting. You see, the Bible tells us an amazing verse of scripture.

He said Moses took his tent in verse seven and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp and called it the tabernacle of meeting. Some translation speaks about the tabernacle of the wilderness, but that if you look in the Old Testament, this speaks of a meeting place.

Can you imagine for a brief moment when the camp is just been pitched up in the pillar of cloud has stopped and they start to build their tents and the house is finished and mama's happy and you satisfy that everything is in place in that moment.

Moses's tent. And on his shoulders and now Moses is walking. He goes past the Levites and go past the other tribe areas and he finds a place outside the camp, the Bible tells us, and he pitched up the tent outside and called this this is a place of meeting with God.

Because that's what Moses did. You saw the picture. So Moses, when his tent was finished, he took another tent and he walked and pitched up and he said, this is the place where we're going to meet with God.

I want you to look at that for from my perspective in this tonight, just for a couple of things that God has put upon my heart. That's just verses of scripture. The place was outside the camp because of the business you saw inside the center of the camp.

There was a lot of business of people. You can just imagine if you are sitting there where you find Moses to be all the people standing around, they would come to your tent the whole time to greet you and shake your hand and just to talk with you and maybe pray with you.

But there's constantly people around that. So Moses found a place away from the business of life. But there in the center of around the tent of Moses, that was also the place where they sinned against God with the golden calf.

So that place was outside the business of life and outside the way from sin. Because we cannot meet with God at a place of sin. Am I right? Separated from sin and failure. The place was asking time and commitment from Moses because he had to walk.

Can you imagine taking a tent and walk, walk past of all the people we tend to think is just a small little camp. But, you know, 600 ,000 people, the tents, look at one caravan and trailer today with a tendon.

And you take 600 ,000 of those and even beyond that, you stretch them out. You talk about two, three kilometers. So Moses had to make some time to walk there. In his schedule and commitment. To the outside, the place was also the birthplace of God's presence because it all started here.

And we will see towards the end of the message and all these points are messages for a different time. The place asked only for one man to begin with. Every one of you here tonight. Could become the birthplace of revival in Canada.

Tonight, but I have a question. Where is the brother Aaron? You must remember now. God called the brother Aaron, he gave him a commission. He heard the voice of God. He saw the glory of God day by day by day for weeks in a row, and then at one time he climbed halfway up in the mountain and I was sitting at the feet of the Lord and having a meal and and showing the glory from a distance and then heard the voice of God even speaking to him and said, listen, go down and wait in the camp until Moses is coming back.

And in that moment, God started to speak to Moses. But now the pillar of cloud is moving from one spot to another and as it stopped and Moses take a tent and Moses is walking to a place to meet with God.

I'm asking the question, where is the brother? He's just sitting at his tent. Oh, I can just imagine for a moment, Aaron. Maybe building his tent and the dining room is fixed in the kitchen and the sitting room and and the microwave is connected and the wireless is working and even the TV is fine and and the dogs is sorted out kind of thing.

And and then there's nothing else to do. So he takes a newspaper, start to read through a newspaper, maybe a magazine and maybe do a couple of emails and maybe some Facebook inscriptions and maybe looking some YouTube kind of things.

Whatever the case might be. How long can you answer emails on a daily basis and it's finished? But then he's just sitting there while Moses is making a commitment to meet with God once again, because Moses started to touch something upon the glory and the presence of God, seeing that on the mountain and wanting to have more.

Oh, he was just sitting at the tent. You know, God just appoint me as the high priest. It's OK if I go into the presence of God once a year. You see, many Christians is like that tonight. It's enough to go to church on Sunday morning and Sunday school and maybe come back on Sunday night and maybe a prayer meeting on Saturday night and maybe some more throughout the week.

But but that's about it, because Christianity for many people is about going to church and go through the motions of religious activities without meeting with God. So where is the brother? He's just sitting in his tent.

You see, the beginning of going higher and higher and deeper and deeper in your walk of God is to find a place where you can meet with God. Many folks are just sitting at their homes. Irrespective of what you are doing, I want you to see the second thing, the difference between the two.

Using Access to God’s Presence

Moses was making full use of the access that God was giving to him. Look at verse seven through 10 again. So Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp and call it a tent of meeting.

It came to pass that everyone who sought the Lord went out to the tabernacle of meeting, which was outside the camp. Look at verse nine. It came to pass when Moses entered into this place of meeting. That the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the meeting.

Can you imagine that? You know, Jesus said that the way into the holiest was there not in the book of Hebrews. But the moment when Jesus died on the cross of Calvary and the veil was cut into half, he opened the way for you and for me to enter into the holiest of holiest every second of the day.

And the high priest could only enter there once a year. But ever since that moment on the cross and Calvary, you and I have access to enter into the very presence of God. So Moses was making full use of the access that God is giving to him.

And how do I know it? As you walk into that place of meeting, the cloud came down and stood next to him. When was the last time God came and stood next to you when you were praying? We have access. You see, for many people, Christianity is all about activities and things that we need to do and services that we have to attend.

And Andrew Murray used to say it so wonderfully, he said many people have exchanged intimacy and fellowship with God, with Bible reading and prayer. The question is not this morning or this evening. Have you read your Bible this morning in your quiet time?

The question is, did God came to stood next to you when you were reading your Bible this morning as you were sitting there? Because that's the ultimate. That's the ultimate. Moses, as he was entered into that place of meeting, God came down to stood next to Moses in that moment.

Moses found himself at the right place. If you read the same passage in the book of Numbers, chapter seven, verse eighty nine, you find that it speaks about that moment that God came down and you heard the voice speaking to him from the mercy seat of the of the ark of the covenant inside the tabernacle of meeting place in that moment.

But but he speaks about that moment as Moses came to hear that voice. He was at the right place to hear the voice of God. Where is the right place? Ah, it was at the place of meeting. But where is the brother?

Oh, the high priest, the one who was there on the mountain with God, having fellowship and a meal with God, saw the glory of God day by day at the Red Sea with the manna and the quail and the plagues.

He find himself at the wrong place. Sitting. At his tent, maybe this time. He would tell his wife and said, Mama. Bring us the grandkids. I want to tell them a story. Now, as they come to grandpapa and as they were standing before Aaron, he started to tell the story of that day where God used him so mightily in Cairo, just on the River Nile, the banks.

And as you lift up the rot of Moses, now God changed the water into blood. Ah, grandpa, that's an old story. Tell us something new. We've heard that before. Maybe that day, as I was walking in the desert, maybe that day as I was standing with Moses on the mountain and we lift up his hands like this and how God sent victory as we were conquering the Amalekites.

Oh, grandpa, that's an old story, too. Tell us something new. He has got nothing new to tell. He's just sitting at his tent while Moses is making fresh memories of God, finding himself at the right place where he was able to hear the voice of God.

When was the last time you heard the voice of God at your place of prayer? You see, Moses was at the right place at the right time, but Moses also at the right frame of mind, he came with a heart and a mind that was fixed upon God.

And responding to whatever God was telling him. If you look at his life in context. Then Moses came with the right disposition, that's a listening heart. Because you cannot hear the voice of God if you don't have a listening heart, a heart that is in tune in hearing the voice of the Lord when he speaks to you.

You know, some time ago when I came to the States for the very first time with my wife in that time when I was in Canada, when I was with you, that was the first time that I was preaching in Canada many years ago.

And I remember as we were leaving this place, it was their last stop on the way back home to South Africa. You would remember, Henry and Dino will remember. We came to New York and they drop us off. I think Ben and Margaret drop us off at the airport on Monday morning and there was a delay and eventually we made the flight because of the snow and the weather.

We had to sit and we were stuck in Toronto for some time after they left. But eventually we got on the plane and we got to New York and we came to New York on the way back home. But we spent two days in New York.

We went to the ground zero and my wife wanted to see that. But I remember we walk away from ground zero, we came to Madison Square. And I went to stand in Madison Square in New York, in the city center of New York.

And I stood there like this. My wife thought I was crazy. I just stood there. She said, what are you doing? I said, Mama, I'm listening. She said, to what? I said, to the noise of a cricket. A cricket?

I said, yes, I want to hear the noise of a cricket. She thought I was nuts. You know why? I was reading one time a man tells a story. His name is Dr. Peter Lord. One of his books that he said there was a young student that was studying about insects.

And he came to the pastor. He said, Sir, did you know that there are 200 types of crickets in this world? He said, no, I only see a black one and a brown one. He said, no, there are more than 200. Did you know that?

He said, no. And he said, you know that when they make a sound, you can hear it with your ear. A significant sound of a cricket. You guys live around here in Canada in snow, you don't probably hear these kind of things like we do in Africa and some parts way down in America.

He said, but do you know that when two crickets come together to mate, they make a different sound. Can you imagine 400 sounds made by a cricket? It's amazing, isn't it? That you can hear with your ear.

If your ear is tuned in to listen to the noise of a cricket. So he tells a story about about a red Indian from America walking one day in the city center of New York. And he came to the place where he stopped.