Would you turn to Exodus chapter
35? I have entitled this message, Stirred
and Willing. Stirred and Willing. Now, it was time to get the materials
together for the tabernacle, and it was very costly. God could
have simply created what was needed. He's God. He's not worshipped with men's
hands as though He needed anything or needs anything, but He gave
men the privilege to give toward this. Giving is a privilege,
a blessing of grace. Truly, it's more blessed to give
than to receive. Those are the words of the Lord
Jesus. There was a specific type of person who was called upon
to give. Let's read the description in
the Word of God. Look in verses 4 and 5, 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 here's who's called
upon to give, whosoever is of a willing heart. Let him bring it, an offering
of the Lord, gold and silver and brass. Look in verse 21. And they came, everyone whose
heart stirred him up. and everyone whom his spirit
made willing. And they brought the Lord's offering
to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation. Verse 22.
And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing-hearted,
and brought bracelets and so on. Look in verse 29. The children of Israel brought
a willing offering unto the Lord every man and woman whose heart
made them willing. Look in chapter 36 beginning
in verse 2, and Moses called Bezalel and Eloab and every wise-hearted
man in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, even everyone whose
heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it. And they
received of Moses all the offering which the children of Israel
had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary to make
it with all. And they brought yet unto him free offerings,
willing offerings is the word, every morning. And all the wise
men that wrought all the work of the sanctuary came every man
from his work, which they made. 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
of 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." Now, we see in this passage of Scripture who it was that
was called upon to give to this glorious, blessed task. Everybody who was willing-hearted. Everybody whose heart stirred
them up. Now, not everybody's heart stirred
them up. And not everybody was willing.
Everybody who was, gave. Those who were not, didn't. Now,
what was the difference? Why were some willing and some
unwilling? Because some were willing and
some were unwilling. Do you know that people do exactly
what they want to do? Now, you can just write that
down. People do exactly what they want to do. There were some whose hearts
were stirred, overcome with thanksgiving, and a zeal for the glory of God,
how gracious He had been, and they wanted to give. Now in these
willings in our text, I think this is very interesting, three
different Hebrew words are used that are translated willing,
and they all come out of the same root word. One word means
magnanimous, generous, liberal. The other word means voluntary. The other word means spontaneous. And these three words describe
what willingness is. It's first of all voluntary.
If you're willing, it's because you want to be willing. That's
your desire. You volunteer to be willing.
It was spontaneous. It wasn't crafted. It was spontaneous. It came from the heart. And it
was magnanimous and generous. And there were others who obviously
did not have this attitude. They did not give in this matter
because they didn't want to. Their heart didn't stir them
up. Their heart was not made willing. You know, you can't
make yourself willing if you're not willing, can you? The spontaneous
motion of their heart was to not be willing. And I got to
thinking about this. If I am not willing to give,
you know what? I shouldn't give. The Lord doesn't
want it. You think the Lord wants an unwilling
gift? It's not like he needs anything. And he doesn't want
anything that's unwilling. If you're unwilling to give,
don't give. That's a scary thought, isn't
it? To be unwilling. Now, you can write this down.
People do. Let me repeat that. You can write
this down. People do what they want to do. You do what you want
to do. I do what I want to do. Now, I know there are other factors.
There are other variables. Pressure, guilt, hope for reward. There are different variables
that influence our decision, but it's still true in the final
analysis. We do what we want to do. These people who gave toward
this did so because they wanted to. But why is that? Let's take
it a step further. Why is that? Why these two different
responses? Now, if you're a believer, you
know the answer to this question. If you want to, you know why
you want to. If you're willing, you know why you're willing.
You don't have any problem with this. You understand this. Psalm
110.3 says, thy people shall be willing in the day of thy
power. Now there's where my willingness
comes from. The day of his power, thy people shall be volunteers
in the day of thy power. Now this concept blows my mind. It's glorious to think about. The Lord is able to make people
willing. Only the Lord can do that. I
can't make you willing. You can't make me willing. But
the Lord can make people to where they're actually willing. Isn't that awesome and glorious? Notice it said, thy people shall
be willing. Psalm 110.3 says, thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. What power it takes to make somebody
willing. Let me show you what power it
takes. Turn to Ephesians chapter 1. The same power that was exerted
in raising Christ from the dead is the power that's exerted in
making someone willing. Look here in Ephesians 1 verse
18, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened. that you may
know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches
of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the
exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe according
to the working of His mighty power which He wrought in Christ
when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right
hand in the heavenly places." Now, in this thing of the Lord
making somebody willing, The same power that was exerted in
raising Christ from the dead is that which makes His people
willing in the day of His power. Only God has this power. Philippians
2.13 says, For it is God which worketh in you both to will,
did you catch that? Both to will and to do His good
pleasure. This is the work of God. Would you turn with me for a
moment to Luke chapter 10? It's a very interesting passage
of scripture beginning in verse 10. He says to his disciples, into
whatsoever city you enter and they receive you not, They are
unwilling to receive you or your message. Go your way out into
the streets of the same and say, even the very dust of your city,
which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you in your rejection,
your willing rejection of the truth. Notwithstanding, be sure
of this, that the kingdom of God has come nigh unto you. But
I say unto you, these are the words of the Lord Jesus, I say
unto you that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom,
Sodom, that city of great wickedness whom the Lord destroyed with
fire and brimstone from heaven, those sinners of Sodom will have
it better on the day of judgment than these people who willingly
reject the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Woe unto thee,
verse 13, Chorazin, woe unto thee, Bethsaida, for if the mighty
works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which had been done in
you, they had a great while ago repented sitting in sackcloth
and ashes, but it should be more tolerable. For Tyre and Sidon
on the judgment then for you, and thou Capernaum, that's where
the Lord did most of his miracles, which are exalted to heaven,
shall be thrust down to hell. Now he says to his disciples,
he that heareth you, heareth me. And he that despiseth you,
despiseth me, and he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me.
Now the 70 return again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils
are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them,
I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto
you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the
power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Notwithstanding in this, rejoice not that the spirits are subject
to you, but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven."
That's talking about the Lamb's Book of Life, God's elect. Now
in that hour, Jesus rejoiced in spirit, seeing these people
who rejected, seeing these people who received. In that hour, Jesus
rejoiced in spirit and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord
of heaven and earth, that you have hid these things from the
wise and prudent and have revealed them unto babes, even so, Father,
for so it seemed good in thy sight. Now, these people in our
text, in Exodus 35, without coercion, without compulsion, without being
manipulated freely and voluntarily out of the spontaneity of a loving
and stirred up heart gave magnanimously to the construction of the temple.
And that is because God in his omnipotence made them willing
in the day of his power. Now isn't that a great blessing
of His free grace to be made willing? David understood this
as the work of God. Turn to 1 Chronicles 29 for a
moment. Now something very similar took place in 1 Chronicles 29.
This was when the people gave for the temple, verse 9. Then the people, 1 Chronicles
29, verse 9, then the people rejoiced For that they offered
willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly
to the Lord, not manipulated, not... guilt-ridden, but they
did what they wanted to do. And David the king also rejoiced
with great joy. Wherefore, David blessed the
Lord before all the congregation, and David said, Blessed be thou,
Lord God of Israel, our father forever and ever. Thine, O Lord,
is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory
and the majesty, for all that is in the heaven and the earth
is thine. Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted
as head above all. Both riches and honor come of
thee. And thou reignest over all, and in thy hand is power
and might, and in thy hand it is to make great and give strength
unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank thee and praise
thy glorious name. But who am I, and what is my
people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this
sort? For all things come of thee and
of thine own hand. Have we given thee? You see,
David recognized this is of the Lord. This ability to offer so
willingly, this is the gift of God's grace. Now, what I want
to spend the remainder of our time doing is see what the Bible
has to say about this subject of willingness. Willingness. You know, many have debated over
whether everything's just fixed. Everything's fixed. There's no
will involved. Everything is just, you're just
going through this motion of fate. Fate has fixed everything.
And some say, no, people determine what they're going to do. Well,
what's the Bible have to say about this subject? And the only
way we can get a true answer is from the word of God. What
does the word of God have to say about this thing of willingness? Now, according to Genesis chapter
one, verse 27, Man was created in the image of God. Now what does that mean? Man
was created in the image of God. Genesis 1, 27 says, so God created
man in his own image. After the image of God created
he him. That means man in his original
creation bore the likeness of his creator. That's all that
means. Man looked something like God. Man was made something like God. That's what that means. Man,
he said, we created in our own image. He was made a living soul
with consciousness, the power to think, and the power to reason,
which is the intellect. God has an intellect, a vast,
infinite intellect, but man has an intellect too. He's able to
think and he's able to reason. Adam was given affections, the
ability to feel, the ability to feel love, the ability to
feel peace, the ability to feel anger, the ability to hate something,
feelings, affections. God has affections. He loves. He hates. And man was created
in the image of God, in the original creation. God has a will. He doeth according to his will.
In the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,
and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou?
God does his will. God's got a will. He's got the
power to perform His will, and He always does His will. His will is always done. He does
what He wants to do. Isn't that who God is? He hath
done whatsoever He hath pleased. That's who God is. And men have
a will, the ability to choose. That's how Adam was placed in
the garden, made in the image of God. Adam was created upright,
and he lived in fellowship with God, but he was only given one
rule. Turn with me to Genesis chapter
2. Genesis chapter 2. Now, in the garden, here's what...
I believe that Adam had an upright nature, he had an innocent nature,
but he didn't have a holy nature. Now, the reason I believe that,
true holiness is immutable. If you're truly holy, you can't
become unholy. It can't be. God can't become
sinful in that sense. He's got a holy nature. So Adam
in the garden, he was made upright. That's what the Scripture says.
He was made upright. But as far as a holy nature, I don't believe
so. An innocent nature, a righteous nature, but not a holy nature.
But he was given this one rule here in Genesis 2, verse 15.
And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of
Eden to dress it and to keep it and the Lord God commanded
the man saying of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely
eat have whatever you want but of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it for in the day thou
eatest thereof thou shalt surely die now notice he didn't say
if you eat of it you'll die he didn't say anything like that
did he? He said, in the day you do eat, you shall surely die. Could God have prevented Adam
from eating that fruit? Everybody here knows he could.
Of course he could have, but he didn't. It was all a part
of his glorious purpose of grace. You see, it's a good thing that
Adam fell because God has manifested his mercy, his love, his forgiveness. We wouldn't know anything about
forgiveness if Adam never fell. We wouldn't know anything about
the grace of God if Adam never fell. We wouldn't know anything
about mercy if Adam never fell. What a glorious thing it is to
be saved by the grace of God. What a glorious thing it is to
be accepted in the beloved. We'd know nothing of that if
Adam didn't fail. If Adam didn't fall, so this
was all part of God's plan. It was all part of God's purpose.
But I want us to understand this. When Adam ate of that fruit,
it's not because God caused him to do it. It's because he did
what he wanted to do. Now let's look at the temptation.
Look in Genesis chapter 3. He freely, as an act of his will,
uncoerced, ate of that fruit. God didn't cause him to do it.
He did what he wanted to do. Now let's look at what took place
in the temptation of Adam in chapter 3. Now the serpent was
more subtle, deceitful, than any beast of the field which
the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea,
hath God said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Now right off the bat he changes what God said. He changes it. The Lord didn't say you can't
eat of any of these trees. He said there's one tree, but he
already changes it. Now let's go on reading verse
2. And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit
of the trees of the garden. No, he didn't say that. But of
the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God
has said you shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it,
lest ye die. Now I think this is interesting.
I believe this is where touch not, taste not, handle not started.
God never said anything about touching it, but Eve adds this
to the equation. We're not even to touch it. Oh,
don't add anything to what God has said. Let's go on reading. Verse 4, And the serpent said
unto the woman, You shall not surely die, for God doth know
that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes will be opened,
and you shall be as God's, knowing good and evil. Now let's think
about this temptation he's presenting her. He says, Eve, There's no moral virtue in your
obedience. You're just doing what you're
programmed to do. You have an innocent nature. It's natural
for you to obey God. There's really no moral virtue
in your obedience. But if you eat of this tree,
All of a sudden, you'll know good and evil, and you'll be
able to make the choice between good over evil, and that'll put
moral virtue in what you're doing. You'll be like God. You see,
God knows the difference between good and evil, and He chooses
the good, and that's what makes Him glorious. If you do this,
you'll be like Him. And you know, Eve thought, that
sounds plausible. You know, it does seem like there
would be moral virtue in choosing the good over the evil. You know
what He was tempting Eve with? You'll have a free will. And
that's where your virtue will come from. You'll have a will.
You'll choose the good over the evil. This is what's going to
make you like God. That was the temptation. This
is what's going to make you like God. Your will will control your
goodness. And that's going to make you
like God. So what did she do? She said, it sounds good to me.
She ate of the fruit. She gave her husband to eat.
And we know from the scripture that at that time they both died. God said, in the day you eat
thereof, you shall surely die. They ate and they died. Now,
we know they didn't die physically. We know that. But they died spiritually. What is death? When you're dead,
you can't perform the functions of life. You can't see. You can't
hear. You can't smell. You can't feel. You can't taste. You're dead.
A spiritually dead person cannot perform the functions of spiritual
life. They see no glory in the gospel.
They can't really hear the gospel. They can't hear the glorious
sound. They can't feel the glories of God's grace. They can't taste
His grace. They lack the ability. They can't
even come to Christ. Now here's what spiritual death
means. Listen real carefully. This is
so important that you and I understand this. Ephesians 2, 1 says, And
you hath He quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. Dead. You know what that means?
That means I'm totally unable, totally unable to do that which
has something to do with spiritual life. And here's the verse of
scripture that nails this down. John chapter 6 verse 44 says,
no man can come to me. Except the Father which has sent
me, draw him." I lack the ability. It doesn't say no man may come.
It says no man can come. He lacks the ability. I have
no spiritual ability. That's what dead in sins means.
There's nothing I can do to save myself. I'm totally dependent
upon the grace of God. Totally depraved. That's what
spiritual death means. Totally depraved. Now that doesn't
mean everybody's out committing crimes all the time. Although,
if God took his hand off of you, there's no crime you and I wouldn't
commit. You believe that? There's no You and I would be
as bad as the devil himself apart from the restraining grace of
God. I realize that, but that's not
what total depravity really means. It's just not talking about everybody
going out and doing all these wicked crimes. I'm thankful that
we do have order in our society and so on. I'm thankful for the
laws of the land that will keep us in line. But what that means
is man in the totality of his being, his intellect that he
had in the garden is darkened He's spiritually stupid. His
affections have gone wrong. He hates what he ought to love,
and he loves what he ought to hate. His will has become under
the dominion of sin, under the control of sin, and under the
power of sin. Now, men do what they want to
do, But that want to is dictated by an evil nature. The will is
enslaved to sin. The Lord said, whoso committed
sin is the servant, is the slave of sin. The essence of man's
depravity, the essence of man's sinful nature is seen in his
will. He will not because he cannot
and he cannot because he will not. All men by nature by choice,
by choice and by practice are alienated from God and enemies
of God. That's what the scripture teaches,
and you heavy quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins.
Now obviously the teaching that man's will is free is ridiculous. It's not taught in the scripture.
Your will is controlled by your nature. God doesn't have a free
will. He can't choose to sin. His will
is controlled by His nature. He cannot lie. That's what the
Scripture says. God who cannot lie, He doesn't
have a free will. His will is controlled by His
nature. And man's will is controlled by a sinful, evil nature. He can't choose against His nature. It's not going to happen. If
there ever was a time when man did have a free will, it would
have been in the garden. If there ever was a time, that's
what it would have been. And man went the direction of
his free will, and you see what happened? And now there's no
such thing as free will. And you cannot have been taught
of God if you believe free will in this sense. Because if God
has taught you, He's taught you that you're a sinful, evil person,
unable to do anything good. Has God taught you that? Has
God taught you that? Do you really believe that? Do
you really believe the Lord Jesus Christ is your only hope? You
know salvation doesn't come by man's will. Turn with me to John
chapter 1. John chapter 1. This is a familiar scripture.
Verse 12. But as many as received him,
To them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name, which were born, not of blood, verse
13, not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of
God. Turn to Romans 9. This is talking about the elect,
verse 11, for the children, Jacob and Esau being not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of
God, according to election, might stand not of works, but of him
that calleth. It was said unto her, The elder
shall serve the younger, as it's written. Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? Is God unfair in loving one and
hating the other? God forbid! For he saith to Moses,
I'll have mercy on whom I will have mercy. and I'll have compassion
on whom I will have compassion, so then it's not of him that
willeth. Do you read that? It's not of
him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that
showeth mercy. Now because God is gracious,
and we've been talking about man and the depravities of his
will and so on, but because God is gracious, he wills to be gracious. And he has of his own will chosen
a people to be saved. Aren't you thankful for that? He willingly gave His Son to
save His people, and the Son came willingly to live for them
and to die for them. Our Lord wasn't forced to do
this. He was doing what He wanted to. When He kept the law for
me, He did it because He wanted to. When He laid down His life
for me, nobody took it for Him, from Him. He did what He did
willingly. He came there to do His Father's
will and to save every one of His people willingly. And of
those people that he willed to save and willingly gave his son
for, he makes them willing in the day of his power. Now it's true, I don't make myself
willing, but it's equally true, he's made me willing. He's made
me willing. What power is involved in actually
making somebody who was unwilling, willing? Isn't that glorious? Only God can do that. This is
what the Bible calls grace. Willingness. The word is actually volunteer.
Who wants to be saved by pure, free grace? I volunteer. Who wants to be made just like
Christ? I volunteer. Who wants to be made my servant
so much so that you'll not have your own will but you're only
going to be doing my will, whatever my will is? I volunteer. Thy
people shall be volunteers in the day of thy Who is willing
to be saved in such a way to where Christ gives all of the
glory and none goes to them? Right here, I'm raising my hand. I volunteer. Like John Newton said, if God
commissioned two angels for two different works, one to rule
an empire and one to sweep the streets, they'd both volunteer
and they wouldn't care which task they got. Now let's close by looking at
2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9. I'm not going to make much comment, I
just want to see the issue of willingness and grace. Verse 1. Moreover, brethren, we do you
to wit or we want you to know of the grace of God bestowed
on the churches of Macedonia. How that in a great trial of
affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty
abounded under the riches of their liberality. For to their
power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power, they were
willing of themselves, praying us with much entreaty that we
should receive the gift. Hey, you preachers try to cajole
and Manipulate and guilt people into
giving you he said They begged us to do it They the willing
of themselves they begged us to to receive the gift Paul felt
bad about he says man You're all too poor for this. No, you
take it. We will we want to do this They were doing this out
of the deep poverty For to their power, verse 3, beyond record,
they were willing of themselves, praying with us with much entreaty,
that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship
of the ministering of the saints. And this they did not as we hoped,
but they first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto
us by the will of God." Isn't it wonderful to just belong to
the Lord? I love that, just belonging to the Lord. In so much that
we desire Titus as he had begun, so he would also finish in you
the same grace also. Therefore, as you abound in everything,
in faith, in utterance, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your
love to us, see that you abound in this grace also. And I speak
not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness, that's the
willingness, same word, of others, and to prove the sincerity of
your love. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that
though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you
through his poverty might be rich. and herein I give my advice
for this is expedient for you who have begun before not only
to do but also to be forward or willing a year ago now therefore
perform the doing of it what you're willing to do do it that
there as there's a readiness to will so there may be a performance
also out of that which you have for if there be first a willing
mind it's accepted according to what a man hath and not according
that he hath not. I mean not that other be eased,
and you burdened, but by an equality, that now, in the time your abundance
may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may
be a supply for your want, that there may be an equality, as
is written, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he
that gathered little had no lack, but thanks be to God, which put
the same earnest care in the heart of Titus for you. Look
in chapter 9. For as touching the ministering to the saints,
as it is superfluous for me to write to you, for I know the
forwardness, the willingness of your mind, for which I boast
of you to them of Macedonia and Achaia, which were ready a year
ago, and your zeal hath provoked many. Yet if I sit at the brethren,
lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this behalf, that
as I said you may be ready. Lest, happily, if they of Macedonia
come with me, and find you unprepared, we, that we say not ye, should
be ashamed in this same confident boasting. Therefore I thought
it necessary to exhort the brethren that they would go before unto
you, and make up beforehand your bounty, whereof ye had noticed
before, that the same might be ready as a matter of bounty,
and not of covetousness. But this I say, he which sows
sparingly shall reap sparingly. He which sows bountifully shall
we reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposes
in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity,
because it's a duty. For God loveth a cheerful giver,
a hilarious giver. That's what the word means. You
enjoy it. You're laughing. You enjoy it so much. And God
is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you always having
all sufficiency in all things may abound to every good work. Now, is this not a great part
of Christian liberty? You do what you want to do. That's
what Christian liberty is. It's doing what you want to do. You know, most people's religion
is a very unhappy thing. It's people doing what they really
do not want to do. It's bondage to them. And not
getting to do what they really want to do. Bill Clark, missionary for so
many years to England, been dead about 10 years, but he had this
statement that I think is wonderful if it's understood correctly.
Here's the rule of the Christian life. Trust Christ and do what
you want. But, well here's the Here's the
issue. If you really trust Christ, He's
changed your want to. He's changed your willer. And
I know what you want to do. I can say to anybody and everybody,
trust Christ and do what you want to do. I know what I want
to do. Well, let's pray together.