“The Gift That Keeps On Giving”

Introduction Have you ever taken the credit for something that you actually had nothing to do with? I know I have. If we can be honest friends, sometimes we are guilty of taking the credit for the things that we didn’t have anything to do with.

We sometimes get the “big-head” when things go right in our lives. We can feel ourselves a little too much when everything goes our way. We feel like we are responsible for the good things and good achievements in our lives, when in reality, it was nobody but God.

The reason why good things happen in our lives is because of the presence of God. God’s presence is something that we need in our lives. And sometimes, we underestimate just how much of a gift God’s presence really is.

The fact of the matter is that we are here today, alive, where we are in life today, not because of our own knowledge and intelligence. Not because of our popularity or our social status, but because there is somebody who is with us.

See, God’s presence is the gift that keeps on giving. We can rest assured that no matter what we go through or no matter where we are, time after time again, God is with us, and allow me to talk to you today for a few minutes about the gift that keeps on giving.

Text Context

Here in this 33rd chapter of Exodus, we are introduced to Moses, but not for the first time. We all know Moses. This is the same Moses that God spoke to through the burning bush. This is the same Moses that wrote the ten commandments on Mount Sinai. This is Moses.

Ever since he was chosen to lead the Children of Israel out of slavery and mistreatment, Moses has been on this journey to lead the Children of Israel to the Promised Land, which is the Land that God said he would give them. But, the children of Israel had sinned against God.

Moses had already written the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 and given them to the Children of Israel, and one of those Ten Commandments is that they should not make and worship any idols. But guess what…..they did just that.

Back in Exodus 32, Moses had left, and the Children of Israel thought he would not return, so they go to Moses’ brother and partner, Aaron and they ask him to make them gods who will go before them. And they end up taking gold earrings and combining them to make the gold statue of a calf, which is basically a young cow.

This was a sin against God, and Moses was willing to lay down his life for them, in order to prevent God from burning his anger on them, but God did not let him take their sin and put it on himself. Moses himself was a sinner, so he could not carry the sins of others, because one day Jesus Christ would come and die, carrying all the sins of the world on his back.

When we get to Exodus 33, we meet Moses at a critical point in his life and in his journey of leadership. He has led the Children of Israel from Egypt, through the Red Sea, and through the wilderness, and they are now at the near point of the Promised Land.

We see that God tells Moses and the Children of Israel to go up into the Promised Land, but God said that he would not go with him, because of their sin, otherwise he might destroy them. The text tells us that when they heard this, they began to mourn and grieve.

Can you imagine what it would be like, in the world we live in today, if God took a day off. If God was not with us. The Children of Israel are going to the land that God promised land, but they are going without God, and because of this, they are mourning. I don’t know about you, but I am sad just at the thought of going anywhere or having anything without God.

As we continue to go forward in this text, we see that Moses pitches a tent outside of the camp that he was in, and he calls it “The Tent of Meeting”. Anyone who wanted to talk with God could go into the tent. This shows that God was very serious about not going with the Children of Israel up to the Promised Land, but God had not completely abandoned them.

When Moses walked into the tent, God’s presence was there and the Lord spoke to Moses, and this shows that God’s presence was still available to them, but in order to take advantage of it, the people had to leave their camp and come into the tent to talk with God.

Let me let you know that this is a reminder to us today that God makes his presence available to those who make an effort to seek him. That's why we read our Bibles, thats why we come to church, that's why we set the atmosphere for worship, so that we would feel God’s presence.

Although Moses had experienced all types of incidents with God, like the burning bush, the parting of the Red Sea, and other events, all of that old news, because when we get to verse 12, we see that Moses wants a new, fresh, and deeper understanding of God, and so Moses asked God to teach him his ways, so that he would truly know him and find favor with him.

Might I suggest to you that we have to be like Moses, who already knew who God was, but still wanted a deeper understanding of him. We can go to church and sing, and serve as an usher, and do all of the things, but we’ve got to know God on a deeper level. He asks God to remember that this nation is his people, and in response, God tells Moses that his presence will go with him, and he will give him rest.

Moses then made his point clear. He told God that if his presence does not go with them, he asked God not to send them there to the Promised Land, because he knew that the presence of God is the thing that separated the people apart from the rest of the world.

Later on in this chapter, Moses will ask God to see his glory, and since God is pleased with Moses, he will allow Moses to see his back, because Moses would not be able to see and handle all of God’s glory, and this concludes Exodus 33. 

Body of Message

I don’t know about you, but I believe that God’s presence is a gift that keeps on giving, and as we look we see three factors that we need to consider about God’s presence, and these factors show us how his presence is the gift that keeps on giving.

God’s presence is a promise.(v. 14)

Verse 14 says “The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” The children of Israel sinned against God, and that meant that even though God had delivered them out of slavery, they were not willing to accept him and they did not actually have him in their hearts, and God said that he would not go with them to the Promised Land.

Can you imagine what it would be like if after all of the mistakes we made, God left us? Can you imagine if God stopped going with us, because of the mistakes we have made? God's love and presence is God’s promise to us, even when we fail or make mistakes, his presence is still with us and offers us comfort and hope. Even though we make mistakes, he does not leave us.

The fact that God’s presence is a promise, and that he stays with us despite our mistakes, suggests that the Lord is faithful. See, the Lord is faithful and will always stay with you, but you’ve got to stay with him.

Right now, Moses is somewhat upset and confused with God. Moses is looking at him and he is pleading with God. He is asking God to teach him his ways, and Moses is already feeling some type of way for what the Children of Israel did, and so Moses could have given up. He is in a moment of distress and confusion.

Moses could have quit and told God to find somebody else, but here it is in verse 14 where God assures Moses that his presence will go with him. Let me suggest that we have God’s promise, even when we are faced with moments of uncertainty. God’s presence is a promise to us and we have to trust in it, but I’d like to suggest to you that in order for us to truly and fully trust in the promises of God, we’ve got to let go and let God.

Moses is at a critical point, and he’s faced with uncertainty, but God assures him that his presence will go with him. This is a very encouraging promise, but in order to trust in the promise of God, Moses has to let go of that distress, let go of that uncertainty, and let God.

EX: Back in Shreveport, we have something called indoor rock climbing. Y’all its so fun. We have this building with fun rock climbing walls, trust me y’all, its so fun to me. I remember the first time I went rock climbing. When I went for the first time, I was so nervous. There was a man who was helping my father and I, so I asked him “f I get to the top of this wall, how will I get back down?” And he said to me “Don’t worry. While you are climbing, you will have a harness on, and the harness is attached to a rope, so when you get to the top, all you have to do is let go, and when you do, the rope will lower you down easily and slowly. And when I started to climb and I eventually got to the top, I let go, and just like he said, the rope lowered me down easily.

And I'd like to suggest that that is just like God’s promises. Brothers and sisters, faith and fear cannot live in the same place. Faith and uncertainty cannot live in the same place. Even when we are in those moments of confusion and we are at a critical point in our lives, we have to let go and let God. God promise us that his presence is with us, and when we simply just trust in them, and when we trust in his promises and we let go of that distress and uncertainty, he will not let us down. We have to trust in God’s promise. 

God’s presence is essential.(v. 15)

Verse 15 says “Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.”” Moses again is at a critical point in his leadership journey. He is near the Promised Land, but he recognizes that in order for them to go into what God has for them, he needs God’s presence.

He recognizes that God’s presence is essential. When I was preparing this point, I looked up the word “essential” and the word “essential” means “a thing that is absolutely necessary and extremely important”. An essential is something that you need to do or something that you need to have that is very important.

You know, when we get ready to travel somewhere, the most important things that we we have to pack are our essentials, which is our toothbrush, deodorant, undershirts, etc., and that is because those things are extremely important for us to have, and if we go anywhere without them (especially our toothbrush and toothpaste and deodorant), then things won’t be very good and we won't feel our best.

And I believe that that is what Moses is dealing with here. He understands that God’s presence is essential, and that in order for him to successfully go up into the Promised Land, he needs God’s presence.

Friends, let me let you know that we cannot do anything without God. We can have all of the achievements in the world, but if we think that we can do anything without God, it can lead to pride, arrogance, and overall spiritual weakness, and let me let you know that this is not what God has for us and not what he wants us to do. We cannot do anything without God.

The fact of the matter is that we need God and can’t do anything without him. Moses tells God that there is no point in sending them up there if his presence does not go with them. Moses had no faith in the people’s ability to thrive. Moses would rather be in a desert with God than be in the Promised Land without him. This speaks to us. Moses would rather have God, than the Promised Land.

May I suggest to you that God is not looking for lukewarm believers. He is not looking for half on, half off christians, but God is looking for some ride or die christians, and let me let you know that we have to be ride or die Christians. God is looking for some Christians that will stick with him, no matter what. Some christians that will stay with God and stay faithful to him. Some Christians that would rather have God than all of the material things in the world. Christians that would rather have God’s presence.

We have to recognize that God’s presence is essential. We need God’s presence. Moses knew that he could not go into what God had for his people, without the very thing that was keeping him up, which was God’s presence.

EX: Young Christians, I believe that today in this generation that we live, other young people need to know that following God and trusting God is an amazing thing. There is a story of a kite that was flying and the kite and began to talk. The kite said “If only I could get rid of this string. If this string was not holding me back, then I could fly. I could fly high above the clouds. I could fly as high as I want too. If only I could get rid of this string that is holding me back. I am limited by this string.” One day, the kite got exactly what it wanted. The string broke, but instead of the kite flying high and soaring above the clouds, it came crashing down. See, what the kite didn’t realize was that the same string that it thought was limiting him was keeping him up. Cutting the string did not make the kite more free.

Brothers and sisters, believe it or not, we are like that talking kite. We think that we don’t need that string. Like we can fly high and make it on our own strength. We feel like we can make it without church, without reading God’s Word, without talking to God, but the truth is that we need God’s presence. God does not give us the gift of his presence because he thinks we aren’t strong, but we have the gift of his presence because he knows that we cannot go on and do what he wants us to do without having him with us. God’s presence is essential. 

God’s presence sets us apart.(v. 16)

Moses says in verse 16 “How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” Having God’s presence means that you are different and set apart, and we see examples of that in the Bible.

David was a young man who had God on his side when he was getting ready to fight Goliath. Joseph was set apart and had God with him when he went from the pit to the prison, and then to the palace. David had God and his angels who were looking after him when he was in the lion’s den, and he was even able to kick his feet up and chill. You are set apart through God’s presence.

God’s presence makes the difference in our lives. Moses asks God two questions in this verse. He first asks God “How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us?” I don’t know about y’all, but I am encouraged by the fact that God loves us so much, that he sends his presence with us to set us apart from the world, even when we don’t deserve it.

We all have flaws and imperfections, and we don’t always do what is right and fair, but the thing about God’s presence is that his presence sets us apart to live a life that reflects him. His presence sets us apart, not so that we would think that we are the perfect picture, not so that we would brag and boast, but so that we would walk in the fruits of the Spirit and so that we would live a life that is according to God's will and his word.

Moses secondly asks God “What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” I like this today, church. I like how Moses says “what else will distinguish me and your people”.

Friends, keep in mind that these are not just regular old everyday people. These are the Children of Israel…God’s chosen people. They are not just normal and ordinary people, but they are extraordinary, because they are God’s chosen people. Young Christians, let me remind you that you are set apart. You are not just normal, you are not just ordinary, you are not just regular, but you are different. You are set apart by God and his presence.

EX: On Friday, I was scrolling on Instagram, when something about the Harry Potter book series came on my feed. It was basically a breakdown of what the books were about, and I became interested so I read a little bit about it. Now personally, I have never seen the movies or read the books, but while I was scrolling on Instagram on Friday, it just popped up on my feed, and so I became interested to know a little bit more. Now for those of you who know the Harry Potter series, you know that the conflict of the story is Harry’s battle with Lord Voldemort, but while I was reading, I found out that Harry also struggles with being set apart and being considered special. He wishes he were just normal, like everyone else. Sometimes we struggle with this same feeling. I know sometimes, I feel like I’m not a normal, everyday teenager. And sometimes when we feel this feeling, we try to do everything that we possibly can to fit in, but I’d like to suggest to you today that you are not normal. You are not regular or ordinary, but you are extraordinary. You are a child of God who is set apart by God’s presence. 

When you go out into the world and face the challenges that are presented to you, you oughta walk with your head held high, knowing who you are and knowing that the presence of God sets you apart. God’s presence sets us apart.

Conclusion

The presence of God is the gift that keeps on giving. Anytime we are faced with the challenges and the difficulties of life, God is with us. God’s presence is a promise. That means that God never falls back on his promises, and when we trust in this promise and when we let go and let God, he will not let us down. God’s presence is essential. That means that his presence is something that we need in order to do what God wants us to do, because it is the very thing that keeps us up and keeps us going. But then, God’s presence sets us apart. This means that we are not just regular and ordinary, but we are Children of God, and what makes the difference in our lives is the presence of God. Thank God for the gift that keeps on giving.