228. My faith has found a resting
place. My faith has found a resting
place, not in device nor creed. I trust the ever I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died
and that he died for me. Enough for me that Jesus saves,
this ends my fear and doubt. A sinful soul, I come to Him,
He'll never cast me out. I need no other argument, I need
no other plea. enough that Jesus died and that
he died for me. My heart is leaning on the word,
the written word of God. Salvation by my Savior's name. His blood. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died
and that He died for me. My great Physician heals the
sick. For me it's precious blood he
shed. For me it's life he gave. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. that he died for me. Hymn number 46, hold for a thousand
tongues to sing. For a thousand tongues to sing
my great Redeemer's praise. The glories of my God and King,
the triumphs of His grace. My gracious Master, And my God,
assist me to proclaim, to spread through all the earth abroad
the honors of thy name. Jesus, a name that charms our
fears, that bids our sorrows His music in the sinner's ears
to his life and health and peace. He breaks the power of canceled
sin. He sets the prisoner free. His blood ? His blood availed for me ? Hear
Him, ye deaf, ye phrasers dumb ? Your lucent tongues employ
? Ye blind, behold your Savior come ? And ye be lame for joy
? Glory to God and praise and love be I'm going to read verses
1 through 11. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri,
and the son of Hur, the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him
with the spirit of God, and wisdom, and understanding, and knowledge,
and all manner of workmanship, to devise cunning works, to work
in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in cutting of stones,
to set them in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.
And I, behold, I have given him Ahoy-le-ab, the son of Ahasuerus,
of the tribe of Dan, and in the hearts of all that are wise-hearted,
I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded
thee, the tabernacle of the congregation, the ark of the testimony, the
mercy seat that is there upon, and all the furniture of the
tabernacle. the table and its furniture, the pure candlestick
with all its furniture, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt
offering with all its furniture, the laver and its foot, the claws
of service, the holy garments for Aaron, the priest, and the
garments of his sons to minister to the priest's office, and the
anointing oil and sweet incense for the holy place, according
to all that I have commanded thee, shall they do. Let us pray. We praise you and thank you for
great grace for ruined and wretched sinners who have no hope and
no help in this world save for you. We thank you, Father, for
the shed blood of Jesus Christ that put away our sin by the
sacrifice of himself. We thank you that you made him
to be unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. We're thankful that in the course
of our days you sent someone to tell us the truth about Christ,
about you and about ourselves, and how it is that you saved
sinners. We praise you for that greatness,
for that kindness and tenderheartedness. We thank you that you pity us
as children, for we are pitiful. You know our frame, you remember
that we're dust. Father, we Pray tonight for those
who are sick, those who are going through trials, those who have
lost loved ones. Pray for those who are going through trouble
with a heart and mind. Thou knowest every case. Pray
you'll be tender and merciful to them. Fix their hearts and
minds upon Jesus Christ. We pray for your help tonight,
Father. We gather here that you might open your word to us. enable
me to preach the gospel, enable me to say the right things concerning
you. May we worship you in spirit and in truth this day. We pray
in Christ's name. Amen. Now this passage reveals the calling and anointing
of those who will manufacture all the furniture and the fabric
and the utensils that will be employed in the ministry of the
tabernacle. all the elements have been described since chapter
20 of Moses or Exodus since Moses has gone up on the mountain with
the Lord for these 40 days these elements have been described
we've been looking at all of them for the last many weeks
now comes the time for them all to be made and put together and
so the Lord calls an anoints artisans to do the work These
men chosen were of the tribes of Judah and the tribes of Dan. These tribes were not of the
Levitical line who were designated as ministers in the tabernacle
but are called to build the elements of the tabernacle and the tabernacle
itself. When Jacob blessed his sons in
Genesis 49, he sent forth Judah as a picture Jesus Christ is
he to whom the brethren will bow and praise as the young lion
coming back from the prey as the old lion who can rouse him
up as the one who sits upon the throne with the lawgiver between
his feet until Shiloh come. He describes Christ and Judah
as the Savior and we know Judah twice in the book of Genesis
became surety for one of the brethren, for Simeon And he describes Dan, the last
thing said about Dan when he describes his son in Genesis
49 is Dan was waiting on the salvation of the Lord. So the
tribe of Judah is the savior, the tribe of Dan is the one waiting
on the salvation of the Lord. And these two, these who minister
in the tabernacle are not, the Levitical line is not the
builders of the tabernacle, these two who minister in the tabernacle
are the ones that's gonna build it. The tabernacle. The tabernacle means to dwell.
And we know that that speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ in John
chapter one. And the word was made flesh and
dwelt among us. That's the word tabernacle. And
tabernacle among us. We beheld his glory as the only
begotten of the Father. The tabernacle will later become
a temple. And the temple is a picture of
the church, which is built by Christ. It's his church, and
he's the builder thereof. Over in Zechariah, it speaks
of the branch of the Lord being set forth who is both king and
priest, and he has something that he's going to do in Zechariah
chapter 6. says in verse 12, And speak to
him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold
the man whose name is the branch. Now that is used four times to
describe the Lord Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. He shall
grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of
the Lord. Even he shall build the temple
of the Lord, and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and
rule upon his throne, and he shall be a priest upon his throne,
and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. We know
this is the Lord Jesus Christ because he's the only one who's
ever been both king and priest. He's king of kings and lord of
lords. He's the most high priest under God. Our great high priest
who stands before God as our intercessor even to this day. So he's the one that's going
to build the temple. And he speaks of himself as the temple over
in John chapter 2. when the pharisees ask for a
sign of who he is, he takes them to that thing which is so precious
to them, the temple of Jerusalem. He says in John chapter 2 verse
18, they then answered the Jews and said, what sign showest thou,
seeing that thou doest these things? He had done great things.
He went into the temple, he planted a a whip of cords, he had run
the money changers out of the temple and said, this is my father's
house, this is the Lord's house, this is a house of prayer, and
you turn it into a den of thieves, what gives you the right to do
this thing? So Jesus' answer said, destroy
this temple, and I'll raise it up in three days. And it says next, it says, Then
said the Jews, Forty and six years were this temple in Babylon
without rearing it up in three days, but he spake of the temple
of his body. Speaking of his death, his burial,
and his resurrection. And we know that the temple is
the church. We know that the body of Christ
is the church. It's his mystical body. You are
the body of Jesus Christ. That's what it says over in Ephesians
chapter two. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 19,
he says, Now therefore we are no longer strangers and foreigners,
but fellow citizens with the saints in the household of God,
and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets,
Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom all
are a building fitly framed together groweth into a holy temple, in
the Lord, in whom ye also are built together for inhabitation
of God through the Spirit." God lives in His people through His
Spirit. It is called His temple. It is
called His body. It is the body of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The church is His body, and the
building blocks are the apostles' doctrine. This church is built
on the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, Christ in Him crucified.
He is the headstone. He is the cornerstone. He's the
stone that the builders refused that the Lord has made the head
of the corner. He's the foundation, the only foundation laid which
men can lay upon. He's the pinnacle of that building,
with shoutings of grace, grace unto it, so it says of Zerubbabel
in Zechariah 5. It is Judah, Christ, that builds
the tabernacle, the church, but also involved in the building
of it is Dan who waits for the salvation of the Lord. This reveals
that God is a God of means. He is a God of means. He uses
those He has created to accomplish His purpose. I know when people talk about
sovereignty they talk about almost anything abstract. God's all powerful and He can
zap this and make that happen. He's going to use what He has
made to do His bidding. He always has. He has created
even the evil one for the day of destruction. He has created
those who oppose Him and those who love Him. I heard the day
of a family used to know here who's now said they don't believe
in God at all. One thing to do with God. When
asked about that I said, well you need to look at your watch
and say they said it right on time. Everybody is part of God's
employment. Everybody serves Almighty God. All His creatures, everything
that hath breath, that writhes and wriggles upon this earth,
serves God in His purpose. Will serve His purpose in grace,
or he serve his purpose in wrath, but they will serve his purpose.
Now these two, Judah and Dan, are a means to build this thing
called the tabernacle, which will be the dwelling place of
the children of God in the 40 years that they're about to embark
in the wilderness. Some have said they don't know
whether this tabernacle was ever raised. I don't know either.
Not much is said about it after this. This is set forth and all
of it points to the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that. This reveals
that God is a God of means. He uses people. He's created.
This passage declares that in spades and reveals not only the
building of the tabernacle but also the ministry. Also the ministry
of the tabernacle which is the church. Those who build and minister in the House of God are there
and employed thusly by the sovereign God. In this short passage of
Scripture our Lord makes it very clear that this building, this
ministry, is His work and the Church of the Living God is His
building and His ministry and His work. He says in this short
passage of Scripture, I have called I have filled, I have
given, I have put, and I have commanded." He said, I have done
all that. I have called them, I have filled
them, I have given to them what they need, I have put them in
the place they are supposed to be in, and I have commanded them
what they are to do. This is the ministry that belongs to
God and how He will use His church and His people to do this. wisdom
and knowledge and understanding and skill given these men are
for a singular purpose, the building of the tabernacle. That's what
they're there for. This demonstrates that the work
that the child of God does is the life that he's been given. It's the job he's been given.
Does he be able to define what he's doing for the Lord? Don't
even try. Don't even try. His function
in the world is his function in the ministry of the church.
This week Stan got a promotion. I'm so glad he did. He's been
wanting that for a long time and worked hard to get him. He
deserves to get that promotion. When he goes out there and looks
through that transom and cites a line for property to make sure
that people are living on their own land, not encroaching on
somebody else's or something. You know what he's doing? He's
doing the Lord's work. Yes, he is. It's life. What you
do when you get up in the morning, taking care of your loved ones,
taking care of your neighbors, doing what you do. You say, well,
that doesn't have anything to do with religion. No, it doesn't.
It has to do with the Lord's work. Your function in this world is
the function that God has appointed to you, has appointed to you,
and it has to do with the ministry of the church. what he does,
he's been able to do and equipped to do, he's been called and filled
and given, he's been put somewhere and commanded to function in
his ordained position. That's the way it is in the Church
of God. What does it say in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 10? You are
his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which
God has foreordained that you should walk in them. Will a child
of God have good works? Yes, he will. Will he necessarily
know what they are? No, he won't. Why? Because he's
not paying attention to those things. His life is not one of
let's be religious. His life is one of getting up
in the morning, going to work, taking care of the family, going
to bed at night, doing what he does, doing what he does. Over in Romans chapter 12, our
Lord talks about functions in the church. Romans chapter 12 he said everybody's
given a job and over in the Corinthians you know it talks about the church
being a body a living body the church is not an organization
it's not a business the church is an organism it's a living
breathing thing and each thing has a function and the functions
don't operate against each other the eye doesn't say to the foot
I wish I was a foot the eye operates as an eye. That's how it's described
in 1 Corinthians. That's how the body's described.
There's no schism going on. Paul was saying all that because
there were tons of schisms in the church at Corinth when he
wrote that letter. But he's saying that's not how
it all works. They work together. They fit
together. We just read that it was fitly framed together into
the temple of the Holy God. But in Romans chapter 12 Paul
says in verse four, so for as we have many members in one body,
and all members have not the same office, that word there,
office, is function. Well, what is he talking about?
Well, he said, so we being many are one body in Christ, and everyone
members one with another, we're all together in this thing. He
said, having been gifts differing according to the grace that is
given to us. whether prophesy or preach, if
you're a preacher, preach. If you're prophesying, let us
prophesy according to the portion of faith that you've been given,
of ministry. Let us wait on ministering, or
he that teacheth on teaching, or he that exhorteth on exhortation.
You know, that's a job in the church. The person who has it
probably doesn't know he has it, but you know what he does?
He exhorts the brethren, strengthens them, encourages them, You don't
know it, but that's a function in the church. He that giveth,
that's a function in the church. He that giveth. Let him do it
with simplicity. What does that mean? Without
anybody knowing. He that ruleth with diligence. He that showeth mercy. I mean,
that's a function. There's some people that are
more merciful than others. Some people, no matter what you
do, they'll always forgive you. They'll always take you in. They'll
never turn your back on you, never hold a grudge against you.
They'll always show mercy. Show mercy with children. These
are functions in the church. We don't think of them as jobs.
We don't think of them as offices. We don't even think of them at
all. But everybody in the body of
Christ has a particular function. Differing function according
to the grace that God has given them. and our Lord said the most
uncomely and quietest and most unrecognized parts are the most
important. I'm the most recognized person
in this church. I stand before you. I'm not the
most important one. Evidently the one who prays quietly
and nobody knows about, who shows up, loves his brother quietly,
gonna make a big show of it, That's the important part. That's
using the body as an analogy. We like the face. Oh, we used
to like it. Don't like it so much anymore,
but we used to like it pretty good. The face is what people
see. See the frame, they see that.
Did you know, you could get your face ripped off, torn up, lose
an arm, a leg. All these things can take place.
You can still function. why? Because the uncomely parts
that you don't see is what keeps things going. Your liver, your
heart, your pancreas, your lungs. And they're not that good looking,
I've seen them. They're uncomely, but oh, how
important they are. Everyone has a function in the
body of Christ. Everyone. Everyone. Many in religion
feel that the works of a child of God are those things that
fall squarely in a religious or sacred realm, a visible and
recordable deed, perhaps, that someone can see and make note
of. But the function of the child of God in the ministry of the
gospel is simply this, his life, his life, his everyday existence. He is unaware, or rather does
not seek to account of his works. He lives, employs the skills
and wisdom and knowledge that he's been given in the place
of God that God has put him. His life is hid, it says in Scripture. So don't go asking him what his
Christian life is like, because he don't know. It's hid with
Christ in God, and that life will place him where he belongs
in the ordained work that he's been equipped to do. and he will
do it. He will. And he'll not stop to account
that it is anything other than what he does. These men had a function in the
church to build the temple. They didn't outshine Moses. They
didn't outshine Levi. This is what they did. This is
what they did. and it's the Lord who's chosen
the work. And the Lord has chosen who does the work. The context
declares that He's called by name. That's what He said, I'll
call by name these men. I'll call them by their name.
This is the language of electing grace, the election of grace,
the language of the shepherd and the sheep, the language of
the Savior and the saved sinner. Look over at John chapter 10. John chapter 10. John chapter 10 verse 3 says
this, to him that is to Christ the porter openeth and the sheep
hear his voice. He calleth his own sheep by name
and leadeth them out and leadeth them out. He calls his sheep
by name. Then in verses 14 through 18
it says he laid down his life for those sheep. He said I am
the good shepherd and know my sheep and I am known of mine.
As a father knoweth me even so I know my father and I lay down
my life for the sheep. other sheep I have which are
not of this fold, them also I must bring." He's talking about the
difference between the Jews and the Gentiles. They shall hear my voice and
they shall be one fold and one shepherd. Therefore if my father
loved me because I lay down my life that I might take it up
again. No man taketh it from me but I lay it down by myself
and I have power to lay it down. I have power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of my father. Then those who
oppose him and don't want anything to do with him and don't believe
him he deals with later on in the chapter verse 27 he says
my sheep hear my voice and they follow me I know them and they
follow me and I give to them eternal life and they shall never
perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand my
father which gave them me is greater than all and no man is
able to pluck them out of my father's hand I and my father
are one the proof that he has chosen them he said I will call
them I'll call them by their name I'll call them how are people
called? they're not called to the front
by the preacher they're not called to walk an aisle they're called
one way and one way only they're called to the preaching of the
gospel of Jesus Christ and that call is only heard by the one
who's called the preachers voices heard by everybody out there
but the one who's called is the one who hears the voice my sheep
hear my voice our Lord said this our Lord said this in second
Thessalonians Paul said this in the Thessalonian church in
reference to those who would not come who despise the gospel
of Jesus Christ whom God had sent a delusion that they would
believe a lie who love not the truth he said but that's not
your case to the church at Thessalonica. He says, But brethren, beloved
of the Lord, we are thankful to God for you, beloved of the
Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the spirit and belief in the truth.
For unto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. He called you. And when he calls,
he said, I call my sheep by name, and they follow me. When you're
called of God, you will follow. Because he is called, the means
by which he is called is the source of what has been given.
They are called by the gospel. They were given by the gospel
of wonderous things. A thing called faith. So many
people have no idea what it is. They all think they have it.
They talk about, well, I got my faith. You do? Well, good
for you. All of God's children have a
faith that God has given them. They don't call it their faith,
they call it faith. God-given faith. By grace you are saved
through faith, and that not of yourself. It's a gift of God,
not of works, lest any man should approach it. How do you get that
faith? Through the gospel. Paul said,
I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God and
the salvation of everyone that believes. For therein is the
righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. The faith that God gives includes
some things. It includes wisdom. For Christ
is made to be their wisdom. It includes knowledge because
all knowledge is found in Jesus Christ. He is the spring of all
knowledge and understanding. And understanding, light, is
put in the heart with an unction from on high that makes God's
people know everything. even having the mind of Jesus
Christ. And he's been commanded to do
what God will do to that which will build the church. He's been
commanded to do that. He commanded his people in Matthew 28 and
19 to do it. All authority is given to me in heaven and earth.
I command you, go into the gospel. Go into the world and preach
the gospel to every creature. I baptized him in the name of the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit. No man or woman can call or choose
themselves for their function in the ministry. No church can
appoint that function. They cannot fill themselves or
give themselves what they need, or endow themselves with wisdom
and knowledge, nor command themselves. They can't. This is the work
of the Lord that ensures its complete success. When the Lord
said to Simon Peter, Whom do men say that I am? Some of the
disciples said, Well, some say you're Jeremiah. Probably because
he wept. Jeremiah was the weeping prophet. Some say you're Elijah, raised
from the dead. He said, well, whom do you say
I am? Simon Peter said, thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God. He said, blessed art thou,
Simon and Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this
to you, but the Father which is in heaven. And upon this rock,
what rock? Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
on this rock I will build my church and the very gates of
hell will not be able to withstand its force in this world. You
have a function. Don't go trying to figure out
what it is. Like old Augustine of Hippo said,
love Christ and do what you will.