Episode Overview: In this episode, Charlie Mitchell delves into the profound spiritual lessons available during challenging times, drawing from Exodus 19 and the encounter of Moses and the Israelites with God at Mount Sinai. The theme of the episode is about embracing the 'darkness' or challenging periods in our lives as opportunities for deep spiritual growth and intimacy with God.
Practical Application:
1. Choose Your Path: Listeners are urged to reflect on their spiritual journey and decide whether to draw closer to God in their difficulties or retreat in fear and discomfort.
Key Takeaways: 1. Spiritual Significance of High Places: Mountains and high places in scripture often symbolize places of divine encounter and spiritual transformation. 2. Two Paths at the Mountain: Charlie presents the contrasting reactions of Moses and the Israelites to God's presence on the mountain. While Moses approaches God despite his fear, the Israelites hold back, illustrating the choices we face in our spiritual lives. 3. The Radiance in Darkness: Despite the fearful manifestations of God's presence like thunder, lightning, and smoke, there is an invitation to experience the radiant presence of God if one chooses to step into the 'darkness' or the unknown with faith.
Relevant Scripture:
Exodus 19: The encounter of Moses and the Israelites with God on Mount Sinai, highlighting the fear and awe of meeting God.
Exodus 20: The continuation of the Sinai encounter, showing the different responses to God's presence.
Psalm 18 and John 8: These passages are used to illustrate the concept of God's protective and enlightening presence even in dark times.
Conclusion: "Night Vision: Finding God in the Dark" serves as a powerful reminder that our darkest times can also be the most transformative. Charlie Mitchell invites listeners to not only endure these periods but to actively seek God in them, promising that such pursuits lead to deeper faith and spiritual maturity. This episode challenges listeners to confront their fears, embrace the opportunities for growth in trials, and to find the light of God’s presence in the darkness.
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Tune in for more episodes of the Charlie Mitchell Teachings Podcast, where we explore the deep connections between everyday struggles and spiritual truths, helping you navigate life's challenges with biblical guidance. Subscribe and share to help others find strength and direction during their dark times.
Episode Overview: In this episode, Charlie Mitchell delves into the profound spiritual lessons available during challenging times, drawing from Exodus 19 and the encounter of Moses and the Israelites with God at Mount Sinai. The theme of the episode is about embracing the 'darkness' or challenging periods in our lives as opportunities for deep spiritual growth and intimacy with God.
Practical Application:
1. Choose Your Path: Listeners are urged to reflect on their spiritual journey and decide whether to draw closer to God in their difficulties or retreat in fear and discomfort.
Key Takeaways: 1. Spiritual Significance of High Places: Mountains and high places in scripture often symbolize places of divine encounter and spiritual transformation. 2. Two Paths at the Mountain: Charlie presents the contrasting reactions of Moses and the Israelites to God's presence on the mountain. While Moses approaches God despite his fear, the Israelites hold back, illustrating the choices we face in our spiritual lives. 3. The Radiance in Darkness: Despite the fearful manifestations of God's presence like thunder, lightning, and smoke, there is an invitation to experience the radiant presence of God if one chooses to step into the 'darkness' or the unknown with faith.
Relevant Scripture:
Exodus 19: The encounter of Moses and the Israelites with God on Mount Sinai, highlighting the fear and awe of meeting God.
Exodus 20: The continuation of the Sinai encounter, showing the different responses to God's presence.
Psalm 18 and John 8: These passages are used to illustrate the concept of God's protective and enlightening presence even in dark times.
Conclusion: "Night Vision: Finding God in the Dark" serves as a powerful reminder that our darkest times can also be the most transformative. Charlie Mitchell invites listeners to not only endure these periods but to actively seek God in them, promising that such pursuits lead to deeper faith and spiritual maturity. This episode challenges listeners to confront their fears, embrace the opportunities for growth in trials, and to find the light of God’s presence in the darkness.
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Tune in for more episodes of the Charlie Mitchell Teachings Podcast, where we explore the deep connections between everyday struggles and spiritual truths, helping you navigate life's challenges with biblical guidance. Subscribe and share to help others find strength and direction during their dark times.
Hey, family. I hope you are doing well. I am praying that you are blessed today, wherever you may be watching from. I just want to say welcome. And so if you would, please grab your Bible, grab whatever you got. Maybe you got an iPad, maybe you got it on a phone, maybe you got a paper Bible. Whatever you have, I want you to open up your Bible because that's where we're going to be spending our time. And when you open your Bible, I want you to turn to Exodus chapter 19. I want to continue in our journey through a series we've entitled Night Vision. And Night Vision has been a series that we walked through because we felt like as we entered all the different things that we are in that, that no matter what has happened and no matter where you are right now, it is almost this odd nighttime experience that we are collectively having. And so as you turn to Exodus 19, as you get settled into place, let me pray for us and we will begin. Jesus, I pray that this would be a rich time. This would be a beneficial time. This would also be a time of growth and development as we've been disrupted from our norms and traditions. God, I pray that this will be a time where we grow deeper in our knowledge of you, our intimacy with you and in relationship with one another. I pray all of this in Jesus name, amen, I believe that there are lessons to be learned during this disruption. There are lessons to be gleaned in the midst of this nighttime season. And I want us to make the most of it while we have it. And so in Exodus 19, what we'll see is we were, we're going to get a picture of two different paths. We're going to look at Moses and we're going to look at the people of God, the Israelites, when they are faced with an encounter with the living God. And I believe God is laying this invitation before us this morning, this week, this month, whenever you hear this, that he is laying this invitation before us. And if we're not careful, we'll diverge on one pathway or the other. I want, before we look at this text, to be reminded that when you see a mountain or you see a high place in the scriptures, it is typically, that is where people believe it would be a meeting place with God. High places in mountains in elevated spaces. They were thin spaces where the supernatural would meet the natural. Where the divine would meet the mortal. Where the immortal, where the eternal would meet ordinary men. And so every time you see in the scriptures, if you, if there's a, they would tell you it's a high place or a mountain or they're ascending, it meant that they were going to experience something that was not normal. And here we find our, ourselves at the base of a mountain and we're being invited up. space or we'll be invited downward into our base desires and our base habits and those things that would probably come most natural to us. And my question to you is which path will you take? You've got to ponder the question, which path will you take? While there is still time well before the dawn fully breaks, which path will you take? And I want to invite us into that journey. Exodus chapter 19 verses 16 to 20 is where we'll start. Here is what it says. On the third day, when morning came, there was a thunder and lightning, a thick cloud on the mountain, and a very loud blast came from a ram's horn, so that all the people in the camp shuddered. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke because the Lord came down on it in fire. Can you imagine this? How, how the Lord himself actually descended down onto the top of a mountain? It's smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain came down. Shook violently as the sound of the Rams horn grew louder and louder. Moses spoke and God answered him in the thunder. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai at the top of the mountain. Then the Lord summoned Moses to the top of the mountain and he went up. Let's go a little bit further to Exodus chapter
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we're going to see the response of the people. All the people witnessed the thunder and the lightning and the sound of the ram's horn and the mountain, the mountain surrounded by smoke. When the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. You speak to us and we will listen. They said to Moses, but don't let God speak to us. Or we will die. Moses responded to the people, don't be afraid for God has come to test you so that you will fear him and not sin. And the people remained standing at a distance as Moses approached the total darkness where God was. And let's go a little further to Exodus chapter 32 verse 1. When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain. They gathered around Aaron and said to him, come make God's for us who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we don't know what happened to him. So let's start over. So we're at the base of the mountain, and we hear darkness, we hear thunder, we see the smoke billowing up from all around the mountain, and the mountain is violently shaking, and what is natural happens to the people. And it would happen to us as well. The people are fearful, Moses is fearful, because this is something that we've never seen or we've experienced before. The actual presence and power of God resting in a physical place. This is beyond belief. Like, I don't know about you, but I've never experienced the fullness of an earthquake. I've felt tremors before. But if you've ever been in an earthquake to feel the way the earth moves, it's a, it's a daunting. Feeling it's a humbling feeling or to be in the midst of a thunderstorm and to see the, the trees bending to and fro in the wind, in the, in the rain and the thunder and the lightning. Or to be in the midst of a brush fire where the fire and the flames and you feel the heat and the smoke is bellowing up and going, and you can smell it. You can feel all the different things. Listen, all of this is happening at the same time right now, okay? All of this is happening right now in this text. Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke because the Lord came down on it in fire. The smoke went up like a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently. Then the ram's horn grew louder and louder, and Moses spoke to God, and God answered him in the thunder. Okay, so this is crazy. All right. This is unusual and I want you to know, and I to know, listen, we are going through an unusual time right now. This is unusual. Everything is shaking around us. Some of us, we are nervous about our health. Some of us are nervous about our finances. Some of us are nervous about the future. This we are being shaken to the core. And in the midst of this, it is a question, what will you do? Because we see what happened. Then the Lord summoned Moses to the top of the mountain and he went up. One pathway in the night is this, enter into the darkness. We've been invited to enter into the darkness. Moses is invited to step into the darkness. Stepping into the darkness will mean what? Moving into the unknown, moving into the place where our fears and our identity and our pretensions and all of our things that we do to prop ourselves up in the daylight, the smiles and the safety and the security. It means Going into a place where we've got to put all that aside because none of that is going to stand up to the pressure that we feel right now. But God is saying, come into the darkness where I am. Come closer into the darkness. Don't just stand at a distance and, and, and wail and cry, cry and holler and be fearful. But he said, come, come where you hear my voice. God calls Moses to go deep into the darkness. Not just peek in, but come in and be covered up by the darkness. We know that the sun is going to rise again. But, but, but, before we get there, do not miss the invitation to meet God in the darkness. You may not get another season like this again. You may not get an opportunity like this again, listen, don't miss the invitation to meet God in the dark. We don't have the traditions right now. We don't have our preferences right now. All we have is the word of God and the presence of God and the people of God. And you have to make a decision as to whether or not you want to fully experience God in the night. As I've said before, so much happens at night. So much happens in the dark. So much significance in the scriptures happens at night, dreams, vision. Calling fervent prayer. New revelation and power come at night, but only here's the key. Only if you let go control and power and security and preferences, God is asking you like, listen, I know this ain't what you're used to, but I'm calling you to come closer to me where it is even more. Uncertain. So Moses goes up. One of the keys we have to, we've been invited into is you gotta enter into the darkness. You can take it or you can leave it. Second thing happens. All the people witnessed the thunder and the lightning, the sound of the ram's horn. I'm at Exodus 20 right now. And the mountains surrounded by smoke. When the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. You speak to us and we'll listen. Pastor Charlie, you go up on the mountain. Pastor Trevor, you go up on the mountain. Whatever, whoever, Mama, you go up on the mountain. Daddy, you go up on the mountain. But I'm staying right here. Grandma, you go up on the mountain. Sis, you go up on the mountain. But I'm not staying back there. That's too much for me. You asking too much. I've gone through too much in this time. Moses responded to the people, don't be afraid for God has come to test you so that you will fear him and not sin. God wants to show off his power before you. God wants to draw close to you and rather than you drawing close to him, you've stepped back from him and the people remained standing at a distance as Moses approached the total darkness where God was. Here's the second thing you've been invited into. And this one is not going to be as pleasant as the first one. Sometimes you have to go alone. You must be willing. to go into the darkness alone. You must be willing to go into the night alone. You must be willing to go into the secret place alone. You must be willing to go into your prayer closet alone. You must be willing to fast by yourself. You must be willing to get up early and study and read the scriptures by yourself. You can't always go with a group. The people remained standing and Moses went on ahead. And what, what, what happens is we are in such a culture where we're dependent upon people's likes, their responses, their approval. We got to take, we got to take everything as a committee decision and we, we post things so that people will like us. And this is one of those things where it's like, God wants you to walk closer to him. He wants you to go deeper with him. He wants you to draw up and get more intimate with him. And you're sitting here waiting for what everybody else is going to do. Well, what is this other church going to do? Well, what is my mama going to say? And what is my family going to think? And all of those things. And God is like, I ain't got time for you to figure out what they going to do. This is about me and this is about you right now. And the people remained and Moses approached the total darkness where God was. God is there in the total darkness, but if you stay where the people are, you'll never get to fully experience him. Yes, you've been set free at this point in the story. The Israelites have been set free from slavery. You know that, right? So they're in the wilderness and Pharaoh's not chasing them no more. He's been crushed. But now he's saying, I want y'all to be with me. And we like, I don't know if I want to be with you because this is, this is a lot. And I'm telling you, in the total darkness is where God is. And then you won't always get affirmation. You see, how did the people ultimately respond? How did they ultimately respond? You got to go to Exodus chapter 32 to see. So we've seen Moses. So let's, let's, let's double back. Moses hears, sees the cloud come down, the fire, the wind, the rain, the hail, the thunder, the lightning, the loud noise, the violent shaking, and rather than stay in his fear, he steps into when God calls and summons him. He went alone. And he went into the darkness. Now let's see what the people did in response. When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, Come, make gods for us who will go before us, because this Moses, the man who brought us from the land of Egypt, we don't know what happened to him. And so rather than drawing closer to God, They settled for a cheap and shiny guy. So here's, here's the two pathways. Remember I told you, there's two pathways we can take. There's the pathway of following the invitation to go deeper into the darkness with God. And then there's the pathway of settling for the temptations that arise at night. You know, temptations arise at night, don't you? Rather than the raw power and presence of God, they settled for a new, shiny, glittery God that they could control. The Golden Calf was a God that they could control, that they could tell what to do, and how to do, and where they wanted to go, and He would submit to their will. But the God of the mountain and the God of the darkness is a God that you don't have control over. That is not safe. That is unrestrained. And you have to be willing to submit to His will and His way. Up on the mountain where Moses was, he learned how to flourish. God gave him the law, how they could dwell in community together. He showed them what it was like to be a human. He showed them what it was like to be holy. He showed them what it would be like to walk in community with the presence and power of God. And rather than the presence and power of God and flourishing, he settled for a golden calf. And what Moses is going to come to realize is what you have to realize, what I have to realize is that we will fall short. When Moses came back down off the mountain, he realized that these people don't want God, they want whatever they want. And you know, it's the same for me. I don't want this unrestrained God that dwells in the darkness. I want the God that'll do what I want Him to do. I want the God that will submit to my will and my comfort and my preferences. And God is like, I don't know about who that is. But if you bow down to him, you will never flourish. You will never live up to what I have created in you to be. You will never experience the fullness of my power. Because you've settled. And what are the two temptations that we've got to be careful of? Here's one. Passivity. Passivity is, I'm just going to stick my head in the sand, I'm not going to change, I'm not going to go up the mountain, I'm just going to stay where I am. It is not safe to stay where you are. Do not keep looking for what is normal. Do not keep looking to go back to where we were. Do not do that. That's my encouragement for you. That's what passivity will do. Passivity is disobedience because God invited you, but you're saying, nah, I know what's best for me. And the other temptation is religion. And what is religion? Religion is constructing a God around me and my preferences and how I like to do things. And that ain't the God of the scriptures. So if you're in a hurry, if you're disappointed and going, God, I want to, man, why aren't you, you know, my will, you know, my plans. And God is going, listen, no, no, no, no, no. Don't try to put me in your box. You dwell with me. I don't dwell with you. But if you come with me, all that I have promised, all the ways in which I imagined that life should be, you can begin to start that journey. And I want you to know, what will you find in the midst of the darkness? What happened to Moses when he went up on the mountain? What happens when you enter into this dark place? Because it can seem like, Charlie, you're just inviting us to go into this unknown. And I am. Part of it is unknown, but part of it is known. Psalm 18 actually gives us a glimpse as to what is on the other side of the darkness and the light. Psalm 18 verse 11, verse 13 and following says, there is a light. He made darkness, his hiding place. God made darkness, his hiding place, dark still on clouds, his canopy around him. So his hiding place is the darkness all around him. He shrouded himself in darkness, this dark stormy cloud. From the radiance of his presence, his clouds swept onward with hail and blazing coals. The Lord thundered from heaven, the most high made his voice heard. But oh, in the middle of the thunder, in the lightning, in the coal, in the hay, in the hail, from the radiance of his presence. In the middle of the storm, in the middle of the violence, in the shaking, in the middle of the darkness, there is this bright radiance where you actually get to experience the fullness of God's presence. And I know you probably heard it said like this. This is the secret place that God wants to bring us into. This is the quiet place that God wants to draw us into. But we get so caught up in the hype, in the fanfare, and all of the stuff going on, the commotion, that we miss. The radiance. What is radiance? Bright light that expands forward. But so all you see is the darkness, but you don't know that right behind it in the eye of the storm is the peace and the presence and the power of God. And all you will get in the midst of it is bright light. And who is this light? What is this light? What is it? Jesus spoke to them again in John chapter 8, I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. Are you looking for light this morning? Are you looking for light this morning? Are you like, man, I'm so tired of the dark news. I'm so tired of the text messages that are saying, I'm so tired of the conversation being what it is. I'm so tired of the racism and the murder. I'm so tired of the violence. I'm so tired of the noise and the wind and the hail and the violence shaking. I'm so tired of that. Step into the darkness because if you step into the darkness, you'll actually get a new glimpse of who Jesus is. I wish I could take you to the passage where Jesus was transfigured and what happened. It says that after six days he invited them up on the top of the mountain and when they had gotten up to the top of the mountain, Jesus was transfigured and what happened when he was transfigured, his face began to glow like a light in his face and he just showed off all the radiance and the power of God. What happens in the middle of the storm in the thin space up on the place where you walk to get to God, you will get to see him in new and exciting and profound ways. This is the invitation. Will you take the invitation or will you do it like most of us do invitations that we get in the mail, put that thing on the counter and say, ah, it's too much work. So much work to get up at night. It's too much work to get up in the morning. It's too much work to call somebody and ask them to pray for me. It's too much work. Or I just like it the way I do it. I ain't doing that. I'm not connecting with no bunch of people. I'm doing me by myself and you know what, I'm going to just wait until we can go back to it. I'm going to just do how I want to do it. Oh, okay. Is that right? You might miss out on the radiance of God's presence. To grow in Jesus. means to grow in Jesus right now means stepping into the dark place with him. And in the midst of the dark place, the radiance of his light will shine on you and all the things that you are looking for. The light that you are looking to find the presence that you are looking to find the margin that you are looking to find the peace that you are looking for is right there in the middle of the storm. That's the invitation will you take him up on it? Let me pray for you. Jesus, I thank you that you invite us into the darkness. It is scary and we wanna put you on a little small box. Nice little churchy box where we can keep you nice, safe, and tucked in our front pocket and we'll call you when we need you. But God, you're the god of the mountain. You're the god that shakes violently. But in the midst of the violence, in the midst of the hail, in the fire, in the coal, in the wind and the rain is the radiant presence of God is the still small voice of God and God. I pray that you would give us the courage to leave the crowd behind to leave the preferences behind and meet you in the secret place. In Jesus name. Hey, I love y'all and I pray you have an incredible week peace.
