Thesis: Is there any value in a continued search of what you already know?

Introduction:
1. Ralph Kramden was the loveable big oaf of a city bus driver, portrayed on television by Jackie Gleason in the 1950s and 60’s, he found it real easy to put his foot in his mouth and keep it there.
2. When asked why he didn’t treat Alice in the same romantic way he did before he married her, he replied, “Why keep running after you catch the bus?”
3. His misguided philosophy illustrates what is all too often the case in modern marriages.
4. This philosophy has also found a place in the relationships that some Christians have with God.

Body:
I. The tragedy is this:
A. In Christianity, as in any marriage, giving up the pursuit weakens the relationship.
B. Four times in the sacred text, it is said of Moses that he encountered God “face to face” (Num. 12:8; Exo. 33:11; Deut. 5:4; 34:10).
I speak with him face to face, Even plainly, and not in dark sayings; And he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid To speak against My servant Moses?" (Numbers 12:8)
So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle. (Exodus 33:11)
C. Can you imagine how satisfying it must have been for Moses to be closer to God than anyone else (Deut. 34:10)?
The LORD talked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire. (Deu 5:4)
But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, (Deuteronomy 34:10)

1. One might be tempted to think that Moses would rest in that satisfaction.
2. You might be thinking that it could get no better than this.
3. To borrow the phrase from Ralph Kramden, Moses had “caught the bus.”
II. Why did Moses keep running?
A. It seems that the closer he became to God, the more he pursued Him.
B. In Exodus 33:18,
And he said, "Please, show me Your glory." (Exodus 33:18)
C. Having already experienced “face to face” communication with God, Moses requested more. “Please, show me Your glory,” he asked.
1. Today, we live beneath our privileges given by God himself.
2. We actually weaken our relationship with God when we stop seeking Him
3. We know that, at least in some sense, we have already found Him.

Conclusion:
1. Nothing compares to knowing God, not human wisdom, power, or wealth (Jer. 9:23-24).
Thus says the LORD: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight," says the LORD.
(Jeremiah 9:23-24)
2. Let not the fact that you have pursued and found Him before; keep you from pursuing Him still.
a. Seek Him today.
b. Then seek Him again, forevermore.

Invitation:
But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)

By Gary Murphy

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