WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:00.719 Good morning, church. 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:01.520 How's everybody doing? 00:00:01.600 --> 00:00:02.160 All right. 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:03.680 Welcome to church. 00:00:03.919 --> 00:00:07.200 We're glad you've joined to worship with us here at Legacy on this Sunday. 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:10.080 We're going to be in Exodus chapter 33 in our Bibles. 00:00:10.160 --> 00:00:13.359 If you want to turn there, Exodus chapter 33. 00:00:13.839 --> 00:00:17.039 And we have been working through a series I've titled Leaving the Darkness. 00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:20.399 This is sermon number 85 through the book of Exodus. 00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:22.879 And we'll be done soon, right? 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:25.440 The joke of every preacher, right? 00:00:26.239 --> 00:00:33.359 But we are chipping away verse by verse, chapter by chapter, and another amazing text before us today. 00:00:33.759 --> 00:00:44.159 Really a text I remember when I was a child, and to look on it now and to digest it and really partake of it is just amazing. 00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:48.640 We're going to be covering verses 12 to 23 in the text before us. 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:54.159 The title of the message today, if you're taking notes, is How Can I Go On If You're Not With Me? 00:00:54.799 --> 00:00:57.920 There's a story of about a little boy, maybe you heard this one. 00:00:58.079 --> 00:00:59.119 He was afraid of the dark. 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:03.359 And one evening his mother asked him to run out to the back porch and go get that broom. 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:04.480 Bring the broom in. 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:08.239 And he stopped dead at the door and said, Mama, I don't want to go out there. 00:01:08.319 --> 00:01:09.200 It's dark. 00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:12.560 And his mother smiled and said, Now, honey, you don't have to be afraid. 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:14.079 Jesus is out there. 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:15.120 He's everywhere. 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:16.239 He'd be right there with you. 00:01:16.319 --> 00:01:18.239 Now go out in the dark and bring me that broom. 00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:19.840 The little boy thought for a second. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:21.840 He cracked the door and he looked around. 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:26.799 He peeked out into the dark and he said, Hey Jesus, if you're out there, would you bring me the broom? 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:40.799 The little boy understood something that a lot of grown-up, sophisticated people never quite figure out, and that is, he knew he did not want to step out into the dark by himself. 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:48.560 He wanted to know before he took that step that somebody was going to be out there with him along the way. 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:51.680 And this morning that's what I want to talk about. 00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:55.760 Really, the presence of God, him being with us. 00:01:55.920 --> 00:02:00.159 Not just knowing about him, but him being with us. 00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:05.920 And the big question today is in the title how can I go on if you're not with me? 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:09.199 Or I'm not going on unless you're with me. 00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:11.039 Allow me to set the scene for us. 00:02:11.199 --> 00:02:23.120 Israel has just committed spiritual adultery at the foot of the mountain with the golden calf, the party, the plunge into idolatry while Moses was up on the mountain with God, getting the Ten Commandments. 00:02:23.280 --> 00:02:25.840 They're breaking the law while he's getting the law. 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:32.159 And now the dust is settled, and the people are standing there in the ashes of their own rebellion, wondering, well, what's going to happen now? 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:34.159 And God has good news and bad news. 00:02:34.319 --> 00:02:36.800 The good news, you're still going to the promised land. 00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:42.879 The bad news, chapter 33, verse 3, I'm not going up in your midst. 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:45.680 For you are a rebellious people. 00:02:45.919 --> 00:02:48.639 In other words, you can have the land, you just can't have me. 00:02:48.800 --> 00:02:54.560 And here's what I love about Moses when God offers him the gift, but withholds himself. 00:02:54.960 --> 00:02:58.719 Moses says, as we looked at last week, keep the gift. 00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:03.520 I would rather have God in the wilderness than milk and honey without him. 00:03:03.919 --> 00:03:07.919 I'm not going to the promised land without you, God. 00:03:08.080 --> 00:03:09.840 It's not the promised land without you. 00:03:09.919 --> 00:03:14.319 And we talked about that pretty extensively our last time together. 00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:20.879 The question I want to ask you is, would you rather walk to Canaan alone or stay in the desert with God? 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:23.360 Exodus chapter 33. 00:03:23.439 --> 00:03:25.520 We're going to read verses 12 to 23. 00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:27.599 Can we stand for the reading of God's Word? 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:29.759 We always stand for the reading of God's Word. 00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:34.560 Again, to pay honor to Him, to remember whose word we are reading, not my words. 00:03:34.719 --> 00:03:36.319 They truly belong to Him. 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:39.439 It's His opinion, His ways, His story. 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:45.919 And I like the rhythm and I like the discipline of standing and acknowledging we are reading God's word. 00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:50.000 And, you know, we stand for a bride when she comes down the aisle. 00:03:50.159 --> 00:03:59.120 You know, we stand for the Lord when we read his word and really remember what he has said and allow it to impact our minds and our hearts once again today. 00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:02.080 Look at verse 12 in our text, Exodus 33. 00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:13.120 Then Moses said to Yahweh, See, you say to me, Bring up this people, but you yourself have not let me know whom you will send with me. 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:18.959 Moreover, you have said, I have known you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight. 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:32.079 So now I pray, I pray you, if you found if I found favor in your sight, let me know your ways that I may know you, so that I may find favor in your sight, see also that this nation is your people. 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:37.759 And he said, My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest. 00:04:38.480 --> 00:04:43.439 Then he said to him, If your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. 00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:49.279 Indeed, how then can it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? 00:04:49.759 --> 00:04:59.439 Is it not by your going with us, so that we, I and your people, may be distinguished from all the people who are upon the face of the earth? 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:07.360 And then Yahweh said to Moses, I will also do this thing of which you have spoken, for ye have found favor in my sight, and I have known you by name. 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:11.439 Then Moses said, I pray you, show me your glory. 00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:16.639 And he said, I myself will make all my goodness pass before you. 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:25.360 And I will proclaim the name of Yahweh before you, and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show compassion on whom I will show compassion. 00:05:25.519 --> 00:05:29.040 But he said, You cannot see my face, for no man can see me and live. 00:05:29.199 --> 00:05:43.360 Then Yahweh said, Behold, there is a place by me, and you shall stand there on the rock, and I will come about while my glory is passing by, and I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 00:05:43.600 --> 00:05:49.439 Then I will remove my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen. 00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:50.800 Let's pray. 00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:53.680 Lord, we thank you for this story. 00:05:53.839 --> 00:06:10.399 We thank you for this moment that there was a moment in history in which a man, Moses, your guy, speaking face to face with you, after asking you to go with him, where he asked you, show me your glory. 00:06:10.959 --> 00:06:18.800 And Lord, you've been gracious to reveal your glory to him, to reveal a part of yourself to him and to us today. 00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:37.120 And we pray now, Father, you would be gracious, even as we examine this text, as we work through it, as we look at it closely, Lord, that we would get a glimpse of your goodness and your glory and your presence once again, and that our hearts would cry, Lord, we we do not want to go on without you. 00:06:37.360 --> 00:06:40.079 How can we go on if you are not with us? 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:49.600 And so I pray, Lord, as we now look at your word, please ignite our hearts, help it burn for you, help it hunger and thirst for righteousness. 00:06:49.759 --> 00:06:51.519 We ask it now in Jesus' name. 00:06:51.759 --> 00:06:52.319 Amen. 00:06:52.560 --> 00:06:53.920 You can be seated. 00:06:56.399 --> 00:06:58.639 So picture the tent outside the camp. 00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:04.639 Remember, we saw Moses and Joshua enter into the tent of meeting and meet with God. 00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:15.920 And verse 11, just before our passage today, tells us something staggering: that Yahweh spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend. 00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:20.800 And so this is not formal, stiff, hands folded together, you know, meeting. 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:30.079 This is a conversation between friends, and we're about to overhear, what we're about to overhear is one of the boldest, most tender, most honest exchanges in Scripture. 00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:33.360 Three times Moses is going to ask God for something. 00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:38.000 And each request, he will go deeper than the last request. 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:47.680 First he asks for help, then he'll ask for God's presence with the people, and then finally he'll ask the greatest ask of all show me. 00:07:47.920 --> 00:07:49.120 Show me your glory. 00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:50.560 I want to see you. 00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:52.879 I want to see God. 00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:55.680 Now, what a human doesn't want to see God. 00:07:56.079 --> 00:07:58.959 It is the cry of the atheist's heart, now, isn't it? 00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:01.839 Show me God, and I'll believe. 00:08:02.079 --> 00:08:05.040 Watch on a man who really knows God, praise to him. 00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:08.800 Point number one, if you're taking notes, let me know you. 00:08:10.160 --> 00:08:12.000 Moses says, Let me know you. 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:14.079 Verse 12 and 13. 00:08:14.240 --> 00:08:19.759 Let me know your ways that I may know you. 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:23.199 Look at how Moses opens in verse 12. 00:08:23.439 --> 00:08:25.120 Ye says the word see. 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:27.439 See, you say to me. 00:08:27.600 --> 00:08:31.600 That word see, you could almost translate it something like this. 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:33.200 Now, look here, God. 00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:36.320 That's not disrespect, that's intimacy, that's friendship. 00:08:36.399 --> 00:08:40.799 That's a man who knows God well enough to be honest with him, speak freely. 00:08:40.960 --> 00:08:42.960 And here Moses, see, here's Moses' problem. 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:50.480 God says, Bring up this people, lead a couple million ex-slaves through a hostile wilderness to the land they've never seen. 00:08:50.639 --> 00:08:57.840 Verse 12, you yourself, Moses says, have not let me know whom you will send with me. 00:08:58.799 --> 00:09:00.639 He's like, I can't do this thing. 00:09:00.879 --> 00:09:04.240 These two million people are a headache and a half. 00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:09.120 But Moses has the calling from God, but he's not sure that he has the right companion. 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:11.279 He doesn't know who's going to go with him. 00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:18.799 And I wonder if he had contemplated and wondered what was going to happen with his own brother Aaron, because Aaron allowed for the building of the golden calf. 00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:21.039 And so now there's a question like, who's going to go with me? 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:22.480 Am I in this by myself? 00:09:22.879 --> 00:09:25.519 He kind of said, Lord, that you're not going to go with the people anymore. 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:26.960 What's going on here? 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:33.600 This great calling without God's presence is a burden that no man wants to carry. 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:37.039 And uh, you know, I feel this more than ever. 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:40.799 It's like I'm not, I'm not doing ministry, Lord, if you're not gonna be there. 00:09:40.960 --> 00:09:42.399 I don't, I can't do it. 00:09:42.720 --> 00:09:46.480 You have to be involved, you have to be working, you gotta navigate this thing. 00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:48.720 You gotta clear the weeds out, Lord. 00:09:48.799 --> 00:09:51.600 You have to, you have to navigate this for me. 00:09:51.759 --> 00:09:57.039 Um, a man trying to navigate a ministry by himself on his own strength, you're dead. 00:09:57.840 --> 00:09:59.120 You are dead. 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:00.720 Not gonna work. 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:06.080 You you must depend on God, you must fully depend on him. 00:10:07.039 --> 00:10:09.600 And so notice what Moses does not ask for. 00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:11.840 He doesn't say, give me a bigger staff. 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:16.240 He doesn't say, give me a better strategy or a stronger army or a clearer map. 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:23.039 He says, verse 13, let me know your ways that I may know you. 00:10:23.200 --> 00:10:25.440 You're like Moses, you already know him. 00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:29.679 He says, No, I want to know you deeper. 00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:32.320 I need to know you. 00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:35.200 I want to know you more. 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:46.320 He wants God Himself, not just marching orders, he wants the person, the mind, and the heart behind the orders, that I may know you. 00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:50.159 It sounds like the prayer of Jesus. 00:10:51.120 --> 00:10:59.679 The high priestly prayer that he prays, this is eternal life, that they may know you and Jesus Christ, whom you've sent. 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:03.360 Notice what he's banking on. 00:11:04.159 --> 00:11:06.720 You have said, I have known you by name. 00:11:06.879 --> 00:11:11.519 Moses is praying back to God what God already said about him. 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:14.080 And that's logical intercession. 00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:18.240 The most powerful prayers are the ones that hold God to his own word. 00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:24.960 Not that we are holding him, but his word is transforming us to pray his ultimate will and word. 00:11:25.519 --> 00:11:29.039 Remember, Christian loungery in Mexico, and it was with John Corson. 00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:48.559 He likes one of the tricks or tips he wanted to teach us in praying, he says, brothers, when I pray, I like to pick up the Bible and point to the underlying verse, and I pray like this Lord, you have said in your word, and I hold my finger there, and I'll read it. 00:11:49.759 --> 00:11:55.919 He's praying the covenant, commitment, promises of God. 00:11:56.639 --> 00:11:59.759 And there is nothing more powerful than that. 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:05.039 Church, there is a world of difference between knowing about God and actually knowing him. 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:06.320 Did you know that? 00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:10.080 You can know facts about a person and not know the person at all. 00:12:10.799 --> 00:12:15.840 Know a great deal about a lot of famous people, but knowing about them is not the same as knowing them. 00:12:15.919 --> 00:12:22.480 It's not so much even if I say I know Michael Jordan, it's that Michael Jordan says that he knows me. 00:12:23.120 --> 00:12:24.639 That's what's important. 00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:30.799 You can name drop all you want, but I want to go up to that person and ask them, Do you know this guy? 00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:33.279 No, no, actually, I don't. 00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:35.759 Yeah, yeah, we remember we did this together. 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:37.200 Okay. 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:42.320 The question is, does he know me? 00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:46.080 Knowing facts about a person is not friendship, now is it? 00:12:48.080 --> 00:12:53.759 A lot of us have settled for a religion of facts about a God when the living God offers us himself. 00:12:54.559 --> 00:13:00.000 Moses had the resume, he'd seen the burning bush, the plagues, the parted sea. 00:13:00.159 --> 00:13:01.759 He's he's seen it all. 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:05.919 And still his prayer is, let me know your ways that I may know you. 00:13:06.240 --> 00:13:07.519 Isn't that wild? 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:10.960 He's the guy at the burning bush. 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:16.399 He's the guy that God used to part the Red Sea. 00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:20.159 He's already met with him in the tent of meeting. 00:13:21.360 --> 00:13:30.320 He has experienced God on a very high level, maybe more than anybody on the planet, and his prayer is still let me know you. 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:33.919 Something is hidden, let me know you. 00:13:34.639 --> 00:13:36.720 Reveal yourself to me. 00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:42.720 If you seek me, you will find me. 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:47.840 If you seek me with all of your heart, God says. 00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:10.240 And how much of it was, Lord, teach me your ways? 00:14:12.159 --> 00:14:15.840 Search me, O God, know my heart, try me, know my thoughts. 00:14:16.080 --> 00:14:20.399 See if there be any wicked way in me, lead me in the way everlasting. 00:14:21.600 --> 00:14:23.360 I want to know you more. 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:32.159 The more I know you, the more my heart and mind change to become like your love, your peace, and your rest. 00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:37.360 Some of the biggest problem in our transformation is that we don't draw near to God. 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:43.360 You can read all you want, but if you never actually draw near through the word, you can't change. 00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:45.679 You have to draw near to him. 00:14:46.159 --> 00:14:48.559 You become the people you hang around. 00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:50.480 So hang out with God. 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:53.440 You get close to him. 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:03.600 Yeah, beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone that knows God loves God. 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:07.840 He that knows not God does not know love. 00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:10.000 For God is love. 00:15:12.320 --> 00:15:14.559 There's nothing wrong with asking God for things. 00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:16.399 He definitely invites us to do so. 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:22.879 But if that's all our prayer life is, we're treating the King of glory like a vending machine or a butler or something. 00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:25.120 Moses shows us a better way. 00:15:25.360 --> 00:15:28.000 He asked God to be with him. 00:15:28.559 --> 00:15:32.799 Show me your ways, show me yourself, teach me who you are. 00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:34.720 I want to know you more. 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:37.759 And those are the prayers God delights to answer. 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:43.279 John 17, 3, this is eternal life that they may know you, the only true God, Jesus prayed. 00:15:43.519 --> 00:15:54.799 Philippians 3 8, yes, everything else, Paul wrote, was worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ, Jesus my Lord. 00:15:54.960 --> 00:16:02.960 For his sake I have declared everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ, that I may know him. 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:06.399 Paul counted everything for loss. 00:16:06.799 --> 00:16:08.559 All that he ultimately wanted. 00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:13.279 The whole reason he was doing this whole thing is he wanted to know Jesus more. 00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:24.879 Jeremiah 9, 23, don't boast in wisdom, might, or riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he knows and understands you, says the Lord. 00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:27.600 Knows and understands me, says the Lord. 00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:29.519 Jeremiah the prophet. 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:36.399 A.W. 00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:44.879 Tozer writes in the pursuit of God, to have found God and still to pursue him is the soul's paradox of love. 00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:53.360 To have found God and to still pursue him is the soul's paradox of love. 00:16:55.120 --> 00:16:58.720 Salvation is not just finding God. 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:02.159 But I should say that he found you. 00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:10.480 It's not just finding God, but it is the pursuit of God all the days of our lives. 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:12.240 But that's marriage now, isn't it? 00:17:12.480 --> 00:17:16.160 It's like, oh, I met her, got married, okay, see you later. 00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:20.400 It is the pursuit of the person. 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:24.079 I like that word pursuit. 00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:26.160 And I like the word engage. 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:32.079 Because both of these words involved laser focus. 00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:50.720 Brothers, if you pursue your wife, if you engage her and then engage her and engage her and engage her and engage her and engage her all the days of your life, you'll find her. 00:17:51.359 --> 00:17:52.799 She'll be seen. 00:17:53.039 --> 00:17:54.559 She'll feel valued. 00:17:55.279 --> 00:17:56.559 She'll feel blessed. 00:17:56.880 --> 00:17:59.519 But the same is true with your children now, isn't it? 00:18:00.319 --> 00:18:02.000 For he pursues us. 00:18:02.880 --> 00:18:05.440 Praise God, his spirit pursues us. 00:18:05.680 --> 00:18:06.319 Amen. 00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:09.359 What if it didn't pursue us? 00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:11.440 Oh my gosh, where would we be? 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:15.359 We're running off, destroying our lives per usual. 00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:17.839 Who knows if we'd ever find our way back? 00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:22.799 God pursues his kids. 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:25.599 And we are to pursue our kids. 00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:29.519 Pursuit, engage them every day. 00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:36.160 Just keep engaging them every single day for the rest of your life. 00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:41.359 And you'll be with them through ups and downs, lefts and rights, you'll figure it out. 00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:42.000 J.I. 00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:55.519 Packer, the book Knowing God, what matters supremely is not the fact that I know God, but the larger fact which underlines it, the fact that he knows me and he calls me by name. 00:18:56.000 --> 00:19:05.200 Jonathan Edwards in the Christian Pilgrim, he writes, the enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. 00:19:05.920 --> 00:19:09.119 Knowing him is the deepest satisfaction, not his gifts. 00:19:09.279 --> 00:19:09.680 C.S. 00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:10.640 Lewis. 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:17.519 In mere Christianity, God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from himself because it is not there. 00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:20.400 It's him. 00:19:21.519 --> 00:19:23.759 He is the happiness. 00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:28.400 It's not separated from him, it is found in him and through him. 00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:33.599 Point number two, if you're taking notes, how can I go on without your presence? 00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:40.079 Verses 14 to 16, my presence shall go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest. 00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:41.680 Verse 14. 00:19:42.799 --> 00:19:48.960 My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:52.640 Probably the sweetest words Moses ever heard. 00:19:52.720 --> 00:19:55.200 Like I two million people. 00:19:56.400 --> 00:19:58.319 I need some rest. 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:02.079 These people are driving me nuts. 00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:07.599 Later in the Hebrew, God says, My face shall go with you. 00:20:07.759 --> 00:20:09.119 My presence shall go with you. 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:16.400 He's saying in the Hebrew, my face, face to face, my face will be with you. 00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:18.960 I'm not going to be far from you. 00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:22.160 Not a body part, a nearness, a closeness. 00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:27.119 God is saying, I will not send a substitute, I will not send merely an angel. 00:20:27.440 --> 00:20:30.880 I myself will go with you, Moses. 00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:35.279 But notice something Moses catches that you and I might have missed. 00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:37.359 God says, I will go with you, singular. 00:20:37.839 --> 00:20:43.119 He's promising to go with Moses, and Moses is paying such close attention that he catches the pronoun. 00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:48.960 It's not enough for him because Moses doesn't just want God for himself, he wants God for the whole camp. 00:20:49.039 --> 00:20:51.119 Look at his response in verse 15. 00:20:52.319 --> 00:21:01.920 If your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. 00:21:04.720 --> 00:21:05.839 You feel the weight of that? 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:09.359 Moses is saying, God, if you're not going with us, cancel the trip. 00:21:10.160 --> 00:21:12.319 Cancel this whole thing, keep the promised land. 00:21:12.400 --> 00:21:20.559 We'd rather sit right here in this dusty, Godforsaken wilderness with you than march into a land flowing with milk and honey without you. 00:21:21.119 --> 00:21:24.319 Moses is essentially saying, How can I go on if you're not with me? 00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:25.119 How? 00:21:25.440 --> 00:21:28.400 I can't, I won't, it's not going to work. 00:21:28.559 --> 00:21:29.680 I need you, God. 00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:32.000 I can't go on without you. 00:21:32.640 --> 00:21:38.079 These realizations don't show up in our lives until oftentimes we reach the bottom of life. 00:21:38.480 --> 00:21:41.039 It's when we face great disappointment. 00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:43.119 It's when we lose everything. 00:21:43.279 --> 00:21:44.880 It's when we lose a loved one. 00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:48.960 It's when we fall into sin so great it destroys the life around us. 00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:52.400 It's at these moments the lights turn on. 00:21:53.680 --> 00:21:58.319 Oftentimes we don't realize God is all we need until God is all we have. 00:21:59.279 --> 00:22:03.119 And then We acknowledge him. 00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:05.200 Forget this stuff. 00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:06.720 I need you. 00:22:07.039 --> 00:22:13.599 Moses is crushed that he's supposed to keep leading this people who have built the golden calf and worship it instead of Yahweh. 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:15.039 Would you want to lead those people? 00:22:15.200 --> 00:22:17.200 I got the golden calf people. 00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:20.720 I gotta lead the church in Corinth. 00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:30.960 And the Lord is saying, I'm not going with these people. 00:22:32.559 --> 00:22:33.920 They have broken the contract. 00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:35.519 They have not kept their sight of the covenant. 00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:40.720 Moses is like, Lord, how can I go on if you're not with me? 00:22:41.519 --> 00:22:43.839 I can't do this without you. 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:45.839 We can't do this without you. 00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:48.880 I remember this moment when I first planted the church. 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:50.880 We were just one month into the church plant. 00:22:51.039 --> 00:22:52.079 This is 12 years ago. 00:22:52.160 --> 00:22:54.880 My brother's leading worship right here on stage on Sunday. 00:22:55.039 --> 00:22:57.200 By Tuesday, he has gone in heaven. 00:22:57.519 --> 00:22:58.799 He had taken his own life. 00:22:58.960 --> 00:23:01.039 This is one month in the church plant. 00:23:01.279 --> 00:23:04.720 And I remember praying this prayer, Lord, I can't do this anymore. 00:23:04.960 --> 00:23:08.240 If you don't go with me, I'm not doing this. 00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:10.480 I don't want to do this anymore. 00:23:10.640 --> 00:23:11.680 It's not fun. 00:23:13.759 --> 00:23:18.480 It destroyed the whole church plant, all the excitement, all the momentum. 00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:19.759 Pastor Greg showed up. 00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:20.960 Greg Glory is here. 00:23:21.039 --> 00:23:22.319 The place is packed out. 00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:23.440 All the friends are here. 00:23:23.599 --> 00:23:24.480 All the things are going on. 00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:27.119 That happens one month, 30 days into the church plan. 00:23:27.359 --> 00:23:29.920 And I'm like, dude, just this thing is over. 00:23:30.720 --> 00:23:32.480 And I remember praying that prayer. 00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:35.759 I am not going forward unless you fix this. 00:23:35.920 --> 00:23:37.359 You got to go with me. 00:23:39.440 --> 00:23:45.200 I remember sitting in the pews at Pastor Greg Lorie's son's memorial service, Christopher Lorrie. 00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:57.279 He had just had a daughter and he had one on the way, and he was only 33 years old, and Pastor Greg was stoked to be a grandpa, and his son was a prodigal who had returned to the Lord. 00:23:57.519 --> 00:24:00.000 And so finally everything was working. 00:24:07.759 --> 00:24:13.119 33 years old, car accident, and his son steps into eternity. 00:24:13.279 --> 00:24:20.960 And I remember Marty Goetz was on stage there playing on the piano as the memorial service was going on. 00:24:21.119 --> 00:24:24.319 And he sang, How can I go on if you're not with me? 00:24:24.480 --> 00:24:27.920 Now show me, I pray thee, thy glory. 00:24:28.480 --> 00:24:30.000 It's amazing. 00:24:32.319 --> 00:24:39.200 These low moments, you know, there's no atheists in foxholes, right? 00:24:40.319 --> 00:24:48.880 You know, when war is going on around you and you realize the enemy is coming to slit your throat and drag you to their camp. 00:24:49.279 --> 00:24:52.640 Oh, you you start crying out for God quickly. 00:24:52.880 --> 00:24:55.759 You start crying out to whatever you can. 00:24:56.480 --> 00:24:58.000 Someone save me. 00:24:59.920 --> 00:25:04.160 And when the bottom falls out of life, sadly, I don't know why we have to get there. 00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:06.480 I don't know why it's that way. 00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:07.839 Maybe you're not there today. 00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:08.960 You're in a great place. 00:25:09.039 --> 00:25:11.279 And it let the lights turn on. 00:25:11.599 --> 00:25:15.519 Let them turn on now before the bottom has to happen. 00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:18.079 For me, it's not so. 00:25:18.240 --> 00:25:22.319 I have to reach very low moments and then the lights turn on. 00:25:22.640 --> 00:25:24.000 And I hate that. 00:25:24.240 --> 00:25:25.599 And I try to do the opposite. 00:25:25.759 --> 00:25:29.359 I throw fertilizer on my feet all the time and say grow. 00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:32.559 And it doesn't happen. 00:25:32.799 --> 00:25:34.720 I throw it on my head and I say grow. 00:25:34.799 --> 00:25:35.839 It doesn't happen. 00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:36.559 Come on. 00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:37.039 I had that. 00:25:37.440 --> 00:25:38.160 That was quick. 00:25:38.240 --> 00:25:39.039 It came fast. 00:25:39.200 --> 00:25:40.160 I had to. 00:25:40.640 --> 00:25:42.000 Comic relief. 00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:46.079 I don't know why. 00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:51.599 I cancel people across the table, I have coffee with them and I tell them to grow and they don't. 00:25:51.839 --> 00:25:53.440 I don't know why. 00:25:56.000 --> 00:25:57.440 Who knows where the spirit's going? 00:25:57.599 --> 00:25:58.400 Who knows what it's doing? 00:25:58.480 --> 00:26:00.480 As the wind blows, who knows what God is up to? 00:26:00.640 --> 00:26:02.960 Why does one grow one season and not another season? 00:26:03.039 --> 00:26:04.079 I don't know. 00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:05.519 God knows. 00:26:05.680 --> 00:26:09.839 But what I do know is this you cannot grow without his presence. 00:26:09.920 --> 00:26:12.319 You cannot grow without nearness to him. 00:26:12.960 --> 00:26:17.039 And that is why the lowest times in life are often the times we grow the fastest. 00:26:17.200 --> 00:26:21.759 Because again, we don't realize God is all we need until God is all we have. 00:26:22.720 --> 00:26:24.799 Moses is not trying to blackmail God. 00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:26.160 This is not manipulation. 00:26:26.240 --> 00:26:29.680 This is a man who understands that the presence of God is the whole point. 00:26:29.920 --> 00:26:34.559 Verse 16: what makes Israel different from every other nation on the face of the earth? 00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:40.079 Moses starts hammering reasons why God has to go with them. 00:26:40.319 --> 00:26:45.119 He's like, don't you realize this is what makes Israel different and what makes us different from every other nation? 00:26:45.279 --> 00:26:46.000 It's not their land. 00:26:46.079 --> 00:26:46.880 They don't have any yet. 00:26:46.960 --> 00:26:47.839 It's not their army. 00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:49.519 They were just slaves last month. 00:26:49.599 --> 00:26:50.720 It's not their goodness. 00:26:50.880 --> 00:26:52.640 They just built a golden calf. 00:26:52.880 --> 00:27:00.079 The only thing that sets them apart as Israel and as these people is that you go with us. 00:27:01.839 --> 00:27:08.799 And notice God's promise isn't only my presence will go with you, it's my presence will go with you and I will give you rest. 00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:13.039 And that's what we all want in the end, right? 00:27:13.200 --> 00:27:15.599 At the end of a long day, you just want what? 00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:17.200 You just want rest. 00:27:19.839 --> 00:27:24.880 It's amazing how you can have everything and still not have that one. 00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:28.640 Can't I just have rest? 00:27:31.440 --> 00:27:34.240 His presence produces rest. 00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:39.039 When God is with you, your soul can truly rest. 00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:44.240 And that's what a person needs in the midst of the most difficult times. 00:27:44.400 --> 00:27:46.400 That's what every human wants in life. 00:27:46.559 --> 00:27:51.359 When the creator is with you, you can rest. 00:27:52.240 --> 00:27:55.599 Because he owns it all and he's got it all under control, and you know it. 00:27:55.839 --> 00:27:58.000 And that's the best place to be. 00:27:59.200 --> 00:28:02.400 Here's the tragedy of the American Church in 2026. 00:28:02.480 --> 00:28:05.519 We've gotten very, very good at going into the land without God. 00:28:05.680 --> 00:28:12.720 We got buildings, we got bands, we got the lights, we got fog machines, coffee bars, sermon series, clever titles. 00:28:12.799 --> 00:28:15.119 We got all the things, all the bells and whistles. 00:28:15.440 --> 00:28:20.799