If you would turn with me to
Exodus chapter 35. We often say that God always
brings to pass in time what he purposed in eternity. And this
is equally true concerning his people. Everything that God has
purposed for his children, God brings to pass in time by making
his people willing to do what he purposed and willing to do
what he commands them to do. The Lord Jesus said this, he
said, no man can come to me except the father which sent me draw
him. And then just a few sentences
later, the Lord added, and no man can come unto me except it
were given unto him of my father. Coming to Christ for salvation
is by God's drawing and by God's giving. There are many who think
that because a man or a woman believes in election and believes
in predestination and in the sovereignty of God in salvation,
that they don't believe that man has a will. Would God's word
say, and let him that is a thirst come and whosoever will, let
him take up the water freely if man didn't have a will? I
believe a man and a woman has a will, just not a free will.
Man's will is in bondage. Now listen to me, man's will
is in bondage to his or her nature. That's why the Lord said, you
will not come to me that you might have life. By nature, we
are dead in trespasses and sin, and we don't have the ability.
That's why the Lord said, no man can come. We don't have the
ability to come to God because we're dead. We don't have the
will to come to Christ for life. God has to make us willing in
the day of his power. It's God who gives sinners a
willing heart. And that's why Paul said, for
it is God, which worketh in you both to will and to do of his
good pleasure. Philippians chapter two, verse
13. Now in Exodus chapters 25 through
31, it's been a few months now, but we saw
how that God gave Moses the pattern of how all things in the tabernacle
should be made, along with all the tabernacle's furnishings.
And we saw how all of those things beautifully pictured Christ.
that God meant for them to. And now before us in chapters
35 through 39, God brings all those things that he purposed
to pass, and he does so by his own sovereign power and grace. The children of Israel did everything
that God purposed, and they did everything as God purposed. And what a lesson that is for
us. because everything that God purposed in heaven and in eternity
shall be accomplished here on earth in time." As far as the
construction of the tabernacle, it was God that gave the instructions. And it was God who provided the
materials. And it was God who gave the men
and women of Israel willing hearts to do and to finish the work.
That is so obvious in the verses before us tonight. And that's
why God gets all the glory. Everything that was needed to
build the tabernacle and its furnishings, God provided. The
talent and the craftsmanship to carry out the work was God's
gift to the men and women who did it. Look at verse one here
in chapter 35. And Moses gathered all the congregation
of the children of Israel together and he said unto them, these
are the words which the Lord hath commanded that ye should
do them. "'Six days shall work be done,
but on the seventh day, "'there shall be to you a holy day, "'a
Sabbath of rest to the Lord. "'Whosoever doeth work therein
shall be put to death.'" Now this was a serious, serious matter. And I'd have you to notice that
at the very beginning here, mention is made of the Sabbath. He says
a rest to the Lord, in which no work was to be done. The very
serious thing to work on the Sabbath. If you did, you'd be
put to death. Now the spiritual significance
of this is before we're able to do any work for God, we must
find rest in Christ our Sabbath. Before we can bring anything
to God, we must first receive from Him. Every chosen child
of God is made to begin by resting in Christ. Before we can enter
into the service of God, we must first rest from all our works
by faith in the Lord Jesus. God sees to it that Christ has
all the preeminence, and that word means excellence. Christ
has all the excellence. Christ has all the supremacy.
That's what the word means. We can't serve God in any capacity
until God brings us to rest from our vain works of self-righteousness
and believe on Christ and His finished work. Now that's what
true rest is. We're about to see the children
of Israel do all these works to build God's tabernacle according
to the pattern that God purposed beforehand to be done. And this
is the work that God enables his people to do. And this work
of building the tabernacle is so important because it pictures
and it typifies God equipping and preparing his elect people
to preach the gospel. which is the only means God uses
to call out His redeemed people. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. The man's not gonna
be saved out in nature or out on a boat fishing. God uses preaching,
the means of preaching to save those that believe. Now what
went on in this tabernacle in the wilderness was the only means
and the only way that a holy God would and could keep from
consuming Israel and his wrath. That's what it pictures. It was
a place where God accepted the people's sacrifice and their
offering unto him. But God begins by commanding
his people that they rest on the Sabbath day, picturing Christ,
our Sabbath day of rest. Christ fulfilled the law for
his chosen people. We know that. You hear that all
the time. We talk about that a great deal.
Well, that's the blessing of the gospel. Christ is doing for
us what we can't do for ourselves. So Christ fulfilled the law for
his chosen people. And the scripture is very clear
that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. That's
the only way that you and I are gonna obtain the righteousness
that God requires from us. And that's perfect righteousness.
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. Since he's
the end of the law for righteousness, he alone is our righteousness.
and he's alone our acceptance with God. No other way will God
accept a sinner like you and I, except in Christ. And it's
only in Christ that we can rest, goes hand in hand. It's the only
way we can rest with any assurance that we're accepted of God. And
it's great rest because I'm not constantly concerned or worried
about doing something that might cause me to fall in displeasure
with God. If I'm in Christ, He's forever
pleased with Him, and I'm safe and secure in the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's the only place true rest
is ever found. God gave us the law, and you
know this, to show us our inability to obtain righteousness by the
work of it. And Paul is very clear, for by
the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. No flesh
will be saved. We're justified by the faith
of Jesus Christ. It's because of Christ's faithfulness
that we have rest, that we have confidence, and that we have
assurance. Now the tabernacle and all its
furnishings, as we've seen so many weeks there in a row as
we went through those things, pointed to Christ, who is our
rest. And when Romans 8 says that the
righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us, we know that it's not
by our doing, while our works are filthy rags. Christ is the
righteousness of the law. No other but He could keep it. No other but the Lord Jesus could
satisfy God's justice. And without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission. There's no forgiveness. That
word remission means cancellation of debt. And it took the shedding
of God's blood to accomplish that payment for our sin. The
wages of sin is death in Christ, God in the flesh. He died to
pay our wages of sin. And that's the gospel, the gospel
of substitution. We rest in Christ. God does not
require anything from us that he's not provided for us in Christ. Isn't that the most wonderful
thing you ever heard? That's what we see in the building
of this tabernacle. Before we can do anything in
the way of service to and for God, we've got to rest alone
in Christ. And that's why that's mentioned
right off here in the beginning, right in the beginning of chapter
35. Now look at verse three. It says,
you shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the Sabbath
day. Here, God forbids even the kindling
or the starting of a fire on the Sabbath day. Why? What's
the big deal about that? Well, the reason becomes apparent
when you really consider the reason for fire. A fire provides
light for direction. A fire provides comfort from
the cold. A fire provided protection from
wild beast. A fire provided preparation for
food. A fire provided many things that
Israel needed in their life. But Christ is all those things. and we're to rest in Him. This
teaches us that there's only one thing that we rest our souls
upon. And that is Christ, our Sabbath
day rest. He's our rest. He's our righteousness. He's our sanctification. He's
our redemption. He's the light that directs our
steps. He's the light that enlightens
our paths in order for us to see. He's our protection. He alone provides all that we
need to eat, to live, to watch, and to walk in this world. All
our provisions for this life and for the life to come comes
from Christ and they're found only in Him. Now, let me show
you something concerning this. Hold your place here in Exodus
and turn with me to the book of Isaiah chapter 50, if you
would. Like I said, hold your place.
We'll come back to Exodus 35, but I want you to see this. Isaiah
chapter 50, verse 10. Isaiah says, who is among you
that feareth the Lord? that obeyeth the voice of his
servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light. Let him trust
in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God." Now, here's the
warning, verse 11. He says, behold, all ye that
kindle a fire. Behold all of you, what he's
saying here is behold all of you who enlightened and warmed
yourselves, rejecting Christ, the light of the world, and despising
that glorious light of his gospel, loving darkness rather than light.
That's men's condemnation in this world. This is the condemnation.
The light has come into the world and men love darkness rather
than light. He says, behold all of you that kindle a fire. He
goes on to say, behold, all of you that compass yourselves about
with sparks, all of you that kindle a fire started struck
by the spark of flint in and of yourselves, you have no heat,
you're soon burned out, denoting the short-lived pleasures and
comforts of the creature. He says, behold, you who walk
in the light of your fire and in the sparks that you've kindled,
those who of you who take comfort and satisfaction in your own
works and in your own doing, rejecting Christ and His righteousness. Resting in something that you've
done instead of resting in what Christ has done for you. This
is a warning here. Don't reject Christ and His righteousness
while trusting in your own work and righteousness. He says, this
shall you have of my hand. God says, this is what you're
gonna receive from me if you do. You shall lie down in sorrow. Instead of being justified, instead
of having peace with God, you're gonna be pressed down in sore
distress. You're gonna die in your sin.
You're gonna enter into everlasting condemnation and death because
Christ is our rest. You see, dear friends, true rest
is knowing that God accepts us only in Christ. And I mean to
be redundant. We need to get a hold of that.
True rest is knowing that we live under God and that we can
do absolutely nothing for ourselves that would appease God in any
way. Christ has made unto us all that we need. Christ has
made unto us all that God requires. Why would we look anywhere else,
especially within? what rest I find in knowing that
my salvation is not dependent on me, but dependent on one who
is both able and willing to provide to God for me that which I cannot. David wrote in Psalm 37 verse
23, he said, the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and
he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not
be utterly cast down for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.
Now we fall a thousand times a day, I know, but if we belong
to him, the Lord holds us by his hand. David said, I've been
young and now I'm old. He said, but I have never seen
the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread. God is going
to take care of you. Matter of fact, he's out to do
you good always. David goes on to say he's ever
merciful and he lended and his seed is blessed. You're blessed
in him because you belong to him. God is your father. We haven't began to serve God
until we've ceased from our works and rested entirely and completely
in the Lord Jesus for all things in this life and in the life
to come. And what a wonderful revelation that is. And secondly,
I want us to see that God gives us everything that we need in
order for us to serve him. Back in Exodus 35, if you would,
look at verse four. Exodus 35 verse four, and Moses
spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying,
this is the thing which the Lord commanded, saying, take ye from
among you an offering unto the Lord. Now look at this, whosoever
is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the
Lord. Now notice there it said offering
of the Lord. Here in chapter 35, we see that
all Israel gave with a willing heart was the Lord's to begin
with. That's so with us. Everything
that we have is a gift from God. You say, well, I worked hard
for that. Well, God gave you the ability to work. God gave
you your job. God gave you the good sense to
work and keep a job. It's all His, it all belongs
to Him. And then in verses six through
19, we have listed all the possessions that they were to bring as an
offering to the Lord, to make up the tabernacle and the furnishings
within. And again, what a picture we
have of the gospel here. Now, let me say it again. Everything
that God requires of us, God provides for us. and everything
that God required as an offering from Israel, God had given them. Even the willingness to give
and to offer these things was a gift from God. Look at verse
21. And they came, everyone whose
heart stirred him up. Now look at this. And everyone
whom his spirit, the spirit of God made willing. If you're willing,
it's because God made you willing. And they brought the Lord's offering.
That's the Lord's offering. It's not our offering to Him.
It's His to begin with. They brought the Lord's offering
to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation and for all
His service and for the holy garments. And as I said, this
wasn't Israel's offering, it was the Lord's offering. Look
at verse 22. And they came, both men and women,
as many as were willing-hearted, and they brought bracelets and
earrings and rings and tablets, all jewels of gold. And every
man that offered, offered an offering of gold unto the Lord.
Now, who was it that has their heart stirred and made willing? Verse 21 says, everyone whom
God's spirit made willing. It takes the power of God to
make us willing. Well, he has to give us life
in order to make us willing. Matter of fact, the people of
Israel's hearts were stirred up and made so willing that they
gave too much. When have you ever heard a preacher
in modern day religion go, y'all have given too much? Just hold
back on your giving, you've given too much. You won't hear that
from most poor people. But that's what they did. Matter
of fact, look at chapter 36, verses five and seven. And they
spake unto Moses saying, the people bring much more than enough
for the service of the work which the Lord commanded to make. And
Moses gave commandment and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout
the camp saying, let neither man nor woman make any more work
for the offering in the sanctuary. So the people were restrained
from bringing for the stuff they had was sufficient for all the
work to make it and too much. When God does a work in a man's
heart, He'll give all. You don't have to shame people
into giving, they'll give. And I'm so thankful for this
group of believers. You're so giving, you're so generous.
What a blessing. That's a good sign that the Lord's
done something in the man or woman's heart. Now we know that
we love God because He first loved us, and we delight to give
because He first gave to us and nothing so moves the heart as
contemplating the love and the mercy and the grace of God to
undeserving sinners. And that's what we are. We're
undeserving of the least of his mercy and grace. But when we
think about God's mercy and grace to us, the undeserving creatures
that we are, it's just a delight to give back to the Lord, isn't
it? Not out of obligation, but out of love for Him that loved
us and gave Himself for us. Now back in chapter 35, I want
you to look at verse 10. It says, and every wise hearted
among you shall come and make all that the Lord hath commanded. Verse 11, the tabernacle, His
tent, and is covering his tatches and his boards, his bars, his
pillars, and his sockets, and so on and so forth. It just goes
right on down through several verses. We see here by the repetition
of that word, his, that these are Christ's possessions. They're
all his. And again, we have listed all
the things that got purpose to be made, which he told Moses
in the Mount. And then again, we see the two
principal workmen. Do you remember that in our study?
Bezalel and Aholiab, along with the workmen that they taught.
If you remember these two men, they typify the Lord Jesus who
builds his church. Those they taught, picture those
who have been taught the gospel of Christ. Look at verse 30,
it says, and Moses said unto the children of Israel, see the
Lord hath called by name, Bezalel, that means in the shadow of God. The son of Uri, Uri means light. The son of Hur, Hur means free. Of the tribe of Judah, the word
Judah means praise. Verse 31, and he, God, hath filled
him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and
in knowledge, and on all manner of workmanship, and to devise
curious works, to work in gold and in silver and in brass, and
in the cutting of stones to set them apart, and in carving of
wood to make any manner of cunning work. "'And he, God, hath put
in his heart that he may teach "'both he and Aholiab, the son
of Ahissamach, "'of the tribe of Dan,' verse 35, "'them hath
he.'" God, God did this. God filled with wisdom of heart
to work all manner of work of the engraver and of the cunning
workmen. and of the embroiderer, in blue
and in purple and scarlet and in fine linen, and of the weaver,
even of them that do any work, and of these that devise cunning
work." Look right on into chapter 36, verse one. Then brought Bezalel
and Holiab and every wisehearted man, in whom the Lord put wisdom
and understanding to know. how to work all manner of work
for the service of the sanctuary according to all that the Lord
had commanded." Well, that's a picture of Christ, isn't it?
If you turn over a few pages to Exodus chapter 39, look at
verse 42, Exodus 39, 42. "'According to all that the Lord
commanded Moses, "'so the children of Israel made all the work. "'And Moses did look upon all
the work, "'and behold, they had done it as the Lord had commanded. "'And as we know, their hearts
being made willing by God, "'even so had they done it, and Moses
blessed them.'" Isn't that amazing? Who are these people that Moses
blessed? Well, they're the same ones who
repeatedly murmured against God and against Moses in the wilderness.
They're the same ones who had Aaron to make a golden calf and
then gave their allegiance to it. They're the same ones that
murmured against God and said, you delivered us out of Egypt
to just let us die here in the wilderness. What made these same
people now so willing? No, the question is who made
them that way? The same one who does us. God
makes us willing in the day of His power. My, my, and it's here
that we see them doing exactly what the Lord purposed to be
done, and they did it willingly. And so will you. If you belong
to God, you'll do what God gives you to do, and you'll do it willingly.
Whatever God purposed from eternity for His elect to do or to give
in His service, God brings to pass by the power of His might. These are good works which God
before ordained that we should do. And again, I'll tell you,
it's a God who worketh in you and in me to will and to do of
His good pleasure. The gold and the silver Israel
brought was given to them by God. Do you remember that? Israel
was were slaves in Egypt. They had no possessions. Where
did they get these things that they now gave to God? They got
them from God. In Exodus chapter three, verse
20, God said, and I'll stretch out my hand and I'll smite Egypt
with all my wonders, which I will do in the midst thereof. And
after that, he'll let you go. And not only will he let you
go, but I'll give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. And it shall come to pass that
when you go, that when I deliver you out, you shall not go out
empty. But every woman shall borrow
of her neighbor, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels
of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment. And ye shall put
them upon your sons, and upon your daughters, and ye shall
spoil the Egyptians." Why, as Israel left Egypt, people just
coming up handing them stuff. When a sinner believes and knows
that everything they have was given to them by God, when they
see and when they understand that God has provided everything
for them in Christ, everything that they need to be accepted
and redeemed, they will give willingly and they'll give cheerfully. It's just a fact. Everything
we have belongs to God and it's just on loan to us. Paul wrote
in 2 Corinthians 9 verse 7, every man according as he had purposed
in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity. We don't give because we're under
some kind of law to tithe. No, for God loveth a cheerful
giver. And God is able to make all grace
abound towards you, that ye always having all sufficiency in all
things. And I'll add that that sufficiency
is being in Christ and what he's done for us. He said that you
may abound unto every good work. And it all goes back to Christ
who is our rest. Every believer gives as they
purpose in their heart. We freely give as we freely receive. We don't have the spirit of the
world, but the spirit, which is of God, that they might know
the things that are freely given to us of God, 1 Corinthians 2.12. So one last thing, and I'll finish.
How can we rest and serve at the same time? Have you ever
thought about that? How do we rest and serve at the
same time? Well, I want you to turn with
me to Hebrews chapter four and look at verse 10. This is how. Hebrews chapter four, verse 10. Hebrews four, look at verse 10. For he that is entered into his
rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from
his. Let us labor, therefore, to enter
into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of
unbelief." Well, I thought we ceased from our works. Well,
we did. But now we can labor. What do we labor for? We labor
to enter into that rest. And it is a labor sometimes,
because we, man, we're just so prone not to rest in Christ. We're our own worst enemies,
aren't we? You see, all true service to God arises from a
revelation of God's glory and our accomplished redemption in
Christ. We're not laboring to accomplish our salvation. Christ
already accomplished it. We're not laboring ignorantly
like Israel of old trying to establish our own righteousness.
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believes. Now in our relationship with
God and Christ, we're made one with the Father. The Lord said
that in the Gospel of John. Believers are not laboring to
pay for their sins. I wish everybody knew that. There
are folks in religion who are in such bondage, trying to do
more and more so that God will forgive them for their sins.
They're already forgiven in Christ if you belong to Him. Christ
bore our sins in His own body on the tree. We had no sin. We're made the righteousness
of God and healed. But hear me on this. If you don't
hear anything else tonight, hear this. didn't need man's assistance
in building the tabernacle. Well, God doesn't need us for
anything. He's God. He spoke the universe
into existence. The tabernacle wouldn't have
been any big deal for him. He could have just snapped his
fingers and the tabernacle would have been there. God spoke the
world into being by just simply saying, let there be and there
was. But this is why, listen to me now, this is why God used
Israel to build the tabernacle in the wilderness. God condescended
to use the very sinners whom he delivered out of the bondage
of slavery to establish his place of worship and teach His people,
that it was by a sinless sacrifice and a spotless offering of shed
blood, offered by a high priest, put upon a mercy seat, that that
would be the means that God would save His people from their sin.
He's teaching Israel the gospel in the building of the tabernacle,
and He's teaching us the same thing. And that's still God's
means of saving sinners. We preach Christ and Him crucified. The Lamb of God shed His sinless
blood upon the mercy seat for His elect people. And Christ,
who is our great high priest, He offered that sinless sacrifice
and offering of Himself to God in the holiest of holies upon
that mercy seat. And God accepted it. We're accepted
in Christ the beloved. The work began with a revelation
of God's glory on the mountain of Sinai when God gave His law. And then that work proceeded
with a Sabbath rest given in Christ through His person and
His glorious work. And then this work comes from
and is accomplished by a willing and stirred up heart that God
made willing in the day of His power. It's all of the Lord,
all of it, salvations of the Lord. God has not revealed these
things to those who are wise and prudent in their own sight,
but friends, he's revealed them unto babes. I'm so thankful to
be a babe in Christ, a child of God. What does a child do?
He trusts in his father with all his heart. I'm so thankful
that the Lord has been pleased to reveal these things to you
and I. And I know this, I'm willing
because he made me willing and it took his power to do so. Aren't
you thankful?