A SERVING HEART
Exodus 35:29-35 (KJV)
The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the LORD, every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work, which the LORD had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses.
And Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, the LORD hath called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah;
And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in 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, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of cunning work.
And he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.
Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work, of the engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of them that do any work, and of those that devise cunning work.
Exodus 36:1-3 (KJV)
Then wrought Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted 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.
And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, even every one 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 withal. And they brought yet unto him free offerings every morning.
No sooner had Moses preached to Israel God’s plan for the Tabernacle, and they had responded with free will offerings, than God called and gifted a man to do the work of construction.
God said of Bezaleel that he was:
· The son of Uri
· The son of Hur of
· The tribe of Judah
Which means that he is in the family from which Boaz, Jesse and David comes.
· The man God gifted to build the Tabernacle
· Is in the heritage of Jesus Christ
The construction of the Tabernacle, the Bible says, is made according to the pattern of things in heaven.[1]
The work could not be done just by human skill and ingenuity.
This wasn’t the kind of thing that could be accomplished by human:
· Reasoning,
· Logic or
· Opinion
There might have been someone who thought they could do the work better.
There might have even been someone who could have done it in a manner more pleasing to the eyes of men.
None of that mattered.
This was God’s work!
I think it happens all of the time that people get their noses bent out of shape because something at church wasn’t done just the way they thought it should have been done.
Listen, it doesn’t matter whether you think things could have been done better at the church house.
· This place belongs to God.
· Things need to be done here the way God orders it
The people gave with willing hearts and then God found,
I. A CALLED HEART
Exodus 35:30-33 (KJV)
And Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, the LORD hath called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah;
And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in 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, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of cunning work.
Check it out.
The Bible doesn’t say anything about Bezaleel being
· Talented,
· Trained or
· Skilled
What the Bible does say is that he was called and that he was filled with the Spirit of God.
It is a huge mistake letting the wisdom, training and skills of the world assume direction of the house of God.
And it is destroying churches all around the world!
A. Bezaleel was called of God
A God called man is a unique person.
· He has confidence, but it is not bravado
· He has a determination, but it is not stubbornness
· He has conviction, but it is not pride
· He has passion, but it is not ambition
· He has persuasiveness but it is not charisma
· He has oversight, but it is not leadership
He is called.
He is chosen of God.
The word called is associated with being accosted or summoned.
Someone called may not have and probably wasn’t looking for the position.
To this day I am certain God could have picked someone much better talented for the ministry.
But then Paul, to his dying day, believed he was the chiefest of sinners, and his only qualification is that God counted him faithful, putting him into the ministry.[2]
The men Jesus called to be the Apostles were, in the eyes of the educated and leadership of Israel, ignorant and unlearned.[3]
Some of the most amazing preachers of the Word of God were:
· Former prisoners
· Former football players
· Former soldiers
· Former railroad men
· Former bar room musicians
Some of them never finished high school.
Some of them would not have been accepted into Heartland Baptist Bible College because they couldn’t have kept up their grades.[4]
Bezaleel was called of God.
Notice the people didn’t get to vote him in either.
God called him – not the people.
B. Bezaleel was filled with the Spirit of God
The word, filling, has to do with abundance.
To be filled with the Holy Spirit requires at least three things:
· Emptiness of the world
· Surrender and obedience to the Lord and
· The will of the Lord
In Acts 13 Barnabas and Saul were sent forth by the Holy Ghost in verse 4. It was many days later, while in Paphos, that Saul was filled with the Holy Ghost and his name was changed to Paul.
God found first, a called heart.
God found
II. A TEACHING HEART
Exodus 35:34-35 (KJV)
And he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.
Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work, of the engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of them that do any work, and of those that devise cunning work.
We have introduced here an associate of Bezaleel, Aholiab.
He’s from a different tribe of Israel
· Bezaleel seems to be over the work of stone and metal while
· Aholiab is over the work of embroidery and weaving
Bezaleel also seems to be over Aholiab.
Everyone that I can read after believes that he is a subordinate of Bezaleel.
Aholiab is introduced as having the same filling as Bezaleel.
What I think is interesting is that both of these men appear to be teachers of their craft.
They were called to their work, not trained in it.
But they became teachers of their work.
1 Timothy 3:2 (KJV)
A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
One of the qualifications of the pastor is that he is “apt to teach.”
I don’t know a God called preacher who doesn’t want to teach.
I know several preachers who have little or no formal training.
But they still want to teach.
Some of them haven’t finished high school, but they still like to teach.
· They teach the Bible in Sunday school
· They teach others how to teach Sunday school
· They teach their children how to live for God
· They teach preacher boys about the ministry
2 Timothy 2:24-26 (KJV)
And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
It’s a motivation thing.
Not everyone is called for the pastorate, for the oversite of the House of God.
Not everyone is called to facilitate and equip others for the work of the ministry.
But those who are called are apt to teach others to do the work of the ministry,
Ephesians 4:11-12 (KJV)
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
God found a called heart
God found a teaching heart
Finally, God found
III. A WISE HEART
Exodus 36:1-2 (KJV)
Then wrought Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted 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.
And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it:
What I want you to notice here is that
· Bezaleel and Aholiab were called of God
· They then began to train and
· Wise hearted men, got started in the work of the Tabernacle
It wasn’t just one or two who built the Tabernacle.
It was every wise hearted man.
A wise hearted man
· Won’t have to be in charge
· Won’t have to give you his opinion
· Won’t have to fuss and feud over details
A wise hearted man
· Won’t complain that his name isn’t posted
· Won’t expect to be recognized for the things he does
· Won’t quit if things don’t go his way
· Won’t even probably tell you that things aren’t going his way
A wise hearted man
· Will submit to the men called of God
· Will do their work to the best of their ability
· Will show up on time every time
Bezaleel and Aholiab could never have accomplished what God put in their hearts to do without these wise hearted me, whose names we will only learn whenever we get to heaven.
When it came time to build the Tabernacle after the heavenly pattern
· God found a called heart
· God found a teaching heart
· God found a wise heart
And the result of all of that was
IV. A SERVING HEART
Exodus 36:3-4 (KJV)
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 withal. And they brought yet unto him free offerings every morning.
And all the wise men, that wrought all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from his work which they made;
A church, operating after the heavenly pattern, is filled with serving hearts.
It’s called, “the service of the sanctuary.”
We call our meetings, “services.”
Jesus said, John 13:13-17 (KJV)
Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.
If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.
For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.
If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.
Do you want to be a happy Christian?
Lay aside:
· Your pride
· Your insecurities
· Your laziness
· Your willfulness
Lay aside whatever it is that keeps you from serving others.
· Pick up whatever tool you need.
· Let your pastor teach you whatever training you need.
And get involved in the work of this ministry.
[1] Exodus 25:9 (KJV)
According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.
Hebrews 8:5 (KJV)
Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.
[2] 1 Timothy 1:12 (KJV)
And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;
[3] Acts 4:13 (KJV)
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
[4] When I was the Exec V.P of Heartland, I fought to keep certain students in the school whose grades were not high enough. They are today very fruitful pastors and missionaries.
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