The Grace of Presence
By Grace We Grow; By Grace We Serve • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 74 viewsNotes
Transcript
Moses has been to mount Sinai - He met with the Lord for 40 days where God wrote His commandments on 2 tables of stone with His finger.
As Moses was on the mount, the children of Israel grew impatient and decided to make a golden calf and state the calf was God who brought them out of Egypt.
Moses came down from the mount, angrily threw down the tables of stone that God had written upon, and began to deal with the people of Israel.
Ground up the calf, put it in the drinking water, drew a line in the ground and asked, “Who is on the Lord’s side?”
Those that refused to stand for the Lord, about 3,000 men, lost their lives that day.
God spoke with Moses, and said:
And the Lord said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it: And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way.
Go to the Promised Land
I’ll still give you the Promised Land, I’ll send an angel to help you, but I’m not going with you any longer.
The people of Israel mourn when they hear these words. They take off their ornaments, jewelry, as God instructed and waited to see what the Lord would determine to do.
They had seen:
God protect them
God provide for them
God speak to them
All of this was in jeopardy because of their love for gold and impatience.
Moses, decided that he needed to talk with God. He took the tent they used for a tabernacle (before the tabernacle God designed was built) and walked far away from everyone else. Erected the tabernacle and was determined that he was going to speak to the Lord.
His heart was heavy. Moses knew he couldn’t lead the people of Israel without God’s help. He knew that he wasn’t strong enough, wise enough, or powerful enough to help all these people with heavy hearts and many needs.
He knew he needed the grace of God!
He knew he needed the
Marrying Holly
David born
Pastor of SBC
This church wasn’t started off of the personality of a man, but of the grace of a mighty God.
Without God none of this would be possible!
Personal Dependence upon God’s Presence
Personal Dependence upon God’s Presence
And Moses said unto the Lord, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.
Moses was distraught at the thought of doing this alone
God:
You told me to lead these people out here and here we are
Now You are going to send an angel to help us - who is this angel?
I don’t know him. I know You!
You told me that I found grace in Your sight. You called me by my name. You said You know everything about me, and here I am and now You state that Your coming along any more?!
Moses pours out His complaint before the Lord
There are times in life that we deem unfair or unjust:
Maybe you come in here and see the smiling faces, the cheerful countenances, and the joyous songs. Your heart is hurting and longing for the answers?
God knows what we need through salvation - It’s His grace that helps us to see the needs of our heart and God uses His favour to help us see that only He can take something that is damaged and broken like we are and make it right
Street preaching - John - I feel like a burden has been lifted off of me!
Maybe life has gone differently than you anticipated. Everything one day seemed perfect and peaceful, and the next moment the clouds rolled in, the thunder began, the lightning began to crash around you, and the storm began to darken everything around you
It’s in those moments as children of God that we need to do exactly what Moses did - GO TO THE LORD and pour out our hearts to the LORD - HE can handle the questions, the problems, the trials
Moses then begins to empty his heart:
If I have Your grace, Your help, Lord, show me what You want me to do, I need to know You better
The more I know You, the more grace I will find
Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
Moses understood that the closer he came to the Lord, the more grace he would find
The better we know the Lord, the more grace we will find in Him
And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.
God said, I’ll be with you, Moses. I won’t leave you.
In the presence of God, one will find rest!
If we do things in our own strength and our own way, we will not find rest.
If we obey what the Lord instructs, there is rest found in Him
Rest comes through God’s presence!
Congregation Dependence upon God’s Presence
Congregation Dependence upon God’s Presence
And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.
Moses asked God to consider His people in vs. 13
Now, Moses begins by stating, If You don’t go with me, then please don’t carry US any further.
Moses had learned that when he placed his dependence upon God that God enabled the congregation to follow
Our personal dependence upon the Lord enables us to lead our homes and the influences around us to the Lord
How are people going to know that Your grace helped us if You don’t come with us?
We shall separate
Perfect tense - We will continue separating
Plural - Not just once, but we’ll continue separating
From what others are doing around us:
Molech - idol that was shaped to hold it hands out
Young children or babies upon the burning hands and the music and bands around them would begin to play so loudly they could not hear the children screaming in pain until they died
To the LORD!
God offers a better way!
God would not demand a sacrifice, but rather provide The Sacrifice - His Son Jesus Christ
And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.
God responded in an incredible way
Moses what you said, is what I’ll do!
Moses requested the presence of God that would bring grace to him and the Israelites
God said, I’ll go with you. I’ll go with My people.
You have found My favour!
As a father, one of the greatest joys I have is when my children want to be with me. They want to play a game, talk, take a walk, or even just drive to/from church.
I love it when my boys want to be with me.
That’s what Moses did! God I want to be with you! Don’t leave us! We love You! If You don’t come with us, then we’re not going anywhere!
I love the reassuring statement at the end - I KNOW THEE BY NAME
Moses, I know who you are and what you need. I know you. I’ll care for you.
SBC, we have seen God work mightily over the past 7 years. There have been times when we drifted away from desiring the presence of God. May we run back to this today!
As we yearn to draw closer to God; the more grace we will see with God.
May I implore each man here to draw close to God.
May I implore each woman here to draw close to God.
May I implore every teenager to draw close to God.
May I implore every family to draw close to our God.
May I implore each of you, as part of SBC, to draw closer to God.
God’s grace comes from His presence. May we continue in the knowledge of God!