Face to Face with God
Quote; “It was the mighty Counselor who was enshrouded in the pillar of cloud and fire, and who was beholding the encampment of His people. It was He who corrected them in their evil ways, and encouraged them to trust in the living God to lead them safely to the Land of Promise. They were continually under the eye that never slumbers nor sleeps, and yet they murmured against Moses, the man whom God had appointed as their visible leader, and to whom Jesus Christ talked face-to-face, as a man talketh with his friend. Notwithstanding the fact that the Lord wrought through His servant Moses, yet when the enemy tempted them to evil surmising, jealousy, and faultfinding, they did not resist his temptations and stand firmly for principle. {CTr 108}
Quote; “And now the thunders ceased; the trumpet was no longer heard; the earth was still. There was a period of solemn silence, and then the voice of God was heard. Speaking out of the thick darkness that enshrouded Him, as He stood upon the mount, surrounded by a retinue of angels, the Lord made known His law. Moses, describing the scene, says: “The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; He shined forth from Mount Paran, and He came with ten thousands of saints: from His right hand went a fiery law for them. Yea, He loved the people; all His saints are in Thy hand: and they sat down at Thy feet; every one shall receive of Thy words.” Deuteronomy 33:2, 3. {PP 304} Sometimes when one reviews this event, one starts to wonder if it was really actually God the Father, who descended on Mt Sinai to outline to his people what was what in this marriage contract. If one reviews this as a “Marriage,” then there are so many intimate and sweet characteristics, that one can clearly see a similarity, Israel married God the Son, and God the Father was the Preacher, and in Revelation, this same concept is again expounded, the redeemed (Israel) marry Jesus Christ and live with him in his city of ‘Peace,’ New Jerusalem, “Face to Face with God.”
Quote; “Encouraged by his success, Moses ventures still further—a holy boldness he possesses, until it reaches a point that is incomprehensible to poor, finite human beings. The servant of God has been, through prayer, approaching nearer and nearer to God, and now [makes] a request such as no mortal human had ever dared to make, “I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.” Will God thrust aside His servant now for his apparent presumption? The third time the answer comes, “I will make all my goodness pass before thee.” Oh, what condescension on the part of God! That hand that made the worlds takes the mighty man of faith and puts him in a cleft of the rock, that He may show him His glory, and make all His goodness to pass before him. . . {CTr 117}
Quote; “While [you are] trusting in your heavenly Father for the help you need, He will not leave you. God has a heaven full of blessings that He wants to bestow on those who are earnestly seeking for that help that the Lord alone can give. It was in looking in faith to Jesus, in asking of Him, in believing that every word spoken would be verified, that Enoch walked with God. He kept close by the side of God, obeying His every word. And the record comes down along the line to our time, “Enoch walked with God.” His was a wonderful life of oneness. Christ was his companion. He was in intimate fellowship with God. {CTr 54}
Genesis 32:30 “And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” Exodus 33:11a “And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.” Deuteronomy 5:4 “The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire,” Deuteronomy 34:10 “And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,” Ezekiel 20:35-36 “And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face. Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD.” 1 Corinthians 13:11-13 “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these [is] charity.” Quote; “Prayer does not bring God down to us, but brings us up to Him. It makes us realize more and more our great needs, and hence our obligation to God and our dependence upon Him. It leads us to feel our own nothingness and the weakness of our judgment. God has made earnest prayer the condition of the bestowal of His richest blessings. {HP 213} True prayer elevates us upwards into God’s presence, ‘Face to face,’ and heart to heart, and with repentance and restoration, we again become ‘One with Him,’ and once more this is marriage terminology. 1 John 3:2-6 “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.” Psalm 24:3-4 “Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.” We need to scrub up, purify our thoughts deeds and actions, for should we fail to repent and to live righteously, unless we clean up our actions, we will never be able to experience, “Face to Face with God.”
