Gifted for a Holy Work - Gifted with a Holy Rest.

Exodus 31 NASB95

1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 3 “I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship, 4 to make artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in bronze, 5 and in the cutting of stones for settings, and in the carving of wood, that he may work in all kinds of craftsmanship. 6 “And behold, I Myself have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the hearts of all who are skillful I have put skill, that they may make all that I have commanded you: 7 the tent of meeting, and the ark of testimony, and the mercy seat upon it, and all the furniture of the tent, 8 the table also and its utensils, and the pure gold lampstand with all its utensils, and the altar of incense, 9 the altar of burnt offering also with all its utensils, and the laver and its stand, 10 the woven garments as well, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, with which to carry on their priesthood; 11 the anointing oil also, and the fragrant incense for the holy place, they are to make them according to all that I have commanded you.” 12 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 13 “But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. 14 ‘Therefore you are to observe the sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. 15 ‘For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall surely be put to death. 16 ‘So the sons of Israel shall observe the sabbath, to celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.’ 17 “It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed.” 18 When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.

Introduction

I’m sure many of you have heard of IKEA. There’s one on the north side of Dayton that Rachel and I have been meaning to visit sometime. If you’re not familiar with IKEA, it’s essentially a home goods and furniture store that is known for sending you home with furniture that you need to assemble yourself. (They’re also known for their meatballs if you didn’t know. I’ve tried them they’re quite good.) Maybe some of you have done it. All the pieces and screws and fasteners are in the box with a set of instructions that anyone speaking any language can use to put it all together. Depending on what you get and how handy you are it might take a couple minutes to a couple days to put it all together. I think it used to be a novelty, but it’s becoming even more common place now. If you want to go one step further there are carpenters and woodworkers who will just sell you a set of plans so you can go build your own furniture. There’s no labor provided and no materials just the plans. Some people would find it frustrating, but some people really enjoy that sort of thing. I might be one of them.

I’d like us to see that as much we may often expect perhaps even enjoy being left to finish the job ourselves in our ordinary lives, that’s not the way God works with us. At the conclusion to chapter 30, God has provided Israel with a very detailed set of instructions. As an American you might expect that to be all you get. That’s getting to be pretty normal these days. Is this the point where God says, “Good luck.” and we’ll see how Moses and Israel do on their own? No, that’s not it at all. God’s provision goes beyond the instructions! There is no place where he leaves the rest to them.

The same goes for us today! I’m afraid at times there’s a tendency for us to ask, “What is the will of God for my life?” What is the Lord calling me too? Perhaps, “What is the Lord calling us to as a church?” If we do well we look to the instructions God has given us. We open His word, but I’d encourage us to go one step further. In addition to, “How is God calling us?” Let’s be asking, “How will the Lord provide for us?” I’d like to emphasize that close relationship between God’s calling and God’s provision from the text here this morning, and as we go we’ll look at some real practical considerations.

When God calls his people to build His temple, He gifts them with all the means of accomplishing the work. Nothing is left out.

Gifted with Skill to work

Gifted with Support to work

Gifted with Instruction to work

Gifted with sanctification: the work of God

Gifted with skill to work

Let’s start in Moses’ shoes for a moment. You may have noticed by now how repetitive those words have been throughout God’s instructions, “Now the LORD spoke to Moses...” Moses has been the recipient of all of these instructions but he’s not the one given the calling to do all the work? I don’t know about you, but if I were Moses, I’d have a tendency to immediately turn around and try to be the expert. I’m the one with the instructions after all. I’m the one who talked with God on the mountain surely I’m the one with the know how to get the job done, but that’s not the case.

God has provided Moses with instructions and provided the calling to do the work to someone else. A man named Bezalel.

Exodus 31:2 NASB95

2 “See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.

Simple observation that we need to recognize right off the bat. God is not beyond giving us instructions from His word that we can’t accomplish on our own. God is faithful to provide us the means and the skill to do the work, but that provision may be found in someone else. Let’s not assume that God’s faithfulness to us means, “I have all the skill to do the work.” God’s faithfulness to us means we as the church have all the giftings necessary to answer God’s call and follow His instructions.

Consider Moses for another moment. Moses is one of the greatest prophets of all time. God used him to part the Red Sea and bring plagues upon Israel. He’s been appointed to deliver the law of God to the people of God, and yet we must recognize, not even Moses was given every skill and gifting. Even Moses needed Bezalel in order to answer the call God had given Moses.

This might make us a little uncomfortable at first.

It’s like that group project you had to do in high school or college. Anyone have to do one of those? As soon as a portion of our grade is dependent upon somebody else’s work we tend to get a little uncomfortable right. If they slack off then that hurts me! If their work isn’t up to par then my GPA might be affected. It’s not an unwarranted concern. At the end of the day there are slackers out there, and there are those who are actually concerned with getting a good grade that end up doing a large portion of the work.

At the end of the day we might conclude that the best way to not get burned is just to do it ourselves, but that’s simply not how God intended us to answer the call he’s laid upon our lives. God has given other people, not ourselves, skills and giftings that we need.

Let’s take this another step there in verse 3.

Exodus 31:3–5 NASB95

3 “I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship, 4 to make artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in bronze, 5 and in the cutting of stones for settings, and in the carving of wood, that he may work in all kinds of craftsmanship.

—-

Let’s connect the dots here. God gave Moses instructions but not the skills - the calling to craft and build the tabernacle was given to Bezalel and in accord with that calling God gave him the gifts by the Holy Spirit to do that work. In this case Bezalel, by the Holy Spirit, is given all the gifts of a craftsman in order to make sure every feature of the tabernacle is expertly made to the glory of God.

Frankly, I really wonder what that was like for Bezalel. Was he like a semi-competent carpenter one day and then the next he woke up and he realized he had skills he’s never had before. “I didn’t know how to do that yesterday!” I don’t know, but in the end we should recognize God’s explicit involvement and His provision of skill in accord with His calling. We can’t separate the two. To separate God’s calling from His provision is to admit, “God has left us alone to do it by ourselves without the skills to do the work.” Let’s not be tempted by that assumption and trust in God’s faithfulness to provide in accord with His calling. What does that look like?

Firstly, in one way or another we are all Moses.

God has provided us all with very explicit instructions in His Word, and there are certain gifts we don’t have. Let’s not convince ourselves that simply because God has not provided me with those gifts that we are somehow left to figure it out on our own or unable to do it at all.

In a very fundamental sense God has instructed all of of us to put off the works of sin and put on the works of Christ. Even there in the most fundamental of instructions we are not intended to follow those instructions alone. God’s provision for us in calling us from sin may very well be provided in the giftings of those around us. God’s provision for us in calling us into greater holiness and sanctification is very likely provided in the giftings of those around us! Go to them, seeking the provision of God in the giftings of the body of Christ!

In another sense the Lord has provided the elders and myself with very clear instructions, “Shepherd the flock of God among you...” That is a calling that comes with necessary giftings, but that doesn’t mean we are gifted to do everything in the church. Part of our job as Shepherds much like Moses is to look for the giftings and callings which the Lord has provided everyone and make sure those are used for the good of the body.

We’re all like Moses in some sense. Don’t hesitate to look for the giftings and skills of the Holy Spirit in those around you to follow the instructions God has given you.

Secondly, in one way or another we are all like Bezalel.

As Christians we’ve all been given the Holy Spirit, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Maybe you’ve never thought of it this way, but consider how the Lord might be guiding and directing those around you with His Word. The Holy Spirit’s gifts in you may very well be essential in God’s plan for those around you!

I’m afraid there’s a growing thought that God’s “calling” is this nebulous identity that we must search for and one day it will drop from the clouds and all will be clear. “I found it, I’m called to be *insert role or position or title.” Bezalel didn’t arrive at his position out of nowhere. There was a clear need amongst the people of God, there was a clear gifting, and an evident call. Very often that’s what it looks like for us, and very often it looks very ordinary.

When we’re looking for God’s call upon our lives let’s just start with two questions.

What are the needs of the church or the community?

What gifts and skills do I have that can help meet that need?

Often that looks very simple.

There’s a need in the church for a lawn to be mowed.

I have the gift of two arms, the time, and the strength to help.

Perhaps that’s the calling of the Lord right there.

In faithfully joining our gifts to the needs of the church, very often callings and roles become self-evident.

Two simple points of application here.

Don’t hesitate to look for the skills we need or the church needs in someone else.

Let’s be slow to look for callings and quick to look for how our gifts and skills can meet needs in the church today. Very often in that ordinary faithfulness callings become very apparent.

As we follow the narrative God’s provision doesn’t stop at the provision of skill it’s followed by gifted support.

Gifted with support to work

Exodus 31:6 NASB95

6 “And behold, I Myself have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the hearts of all who are skillful I have put skill,

—-

When a task as important as building the dwelling place of God comes along it isn’t trusted to one gifted individual. Bezalel isn’t in a position where he’s the only one with the skill to do the work. The LORD appoints others with the responsibility and grants them skill as well!

Bezalel is in a position of leadership, he’s in a position of oversight, but the work doesn’t start and stop with Bezalel.

There’s a certain kind of worldly wisdom that tends to think surrounding ourselves with people of high competence poses a threat to us. If someone with a lot of skills and gifting gets close to me they may take my job. I may have to share the spotlight. If there are too many cooks in the kitchen then everyone is just going to walk over each other trying to get anything done.

The result is a lot of gifted people who never actually work together. If the goal is to have the spotlight then worldly wisdom makes sense, but having the spotlight isn’t the goal.

Our goal as the church is to advance the kingdom of Christ for His glory and not our own. The goal of Bezalel, Oholiab, and all these other skilled workers isn’t to establish for themselves a successful contracting business for themselves. They’re here to establish a dwelling place for God among His people. That’s our goal as the church, and in pursuit of the that goal we actually ought to be looking to surround ourselves with people who are gifted like us! We should be looking for the support of skilled brothers and sisters who’ve been appointed the same task we have. That’s not a threat to us.

There are some very explicit instructions to the church along these lines in the New Testament. Let’s talk about eldership for just a moment. God never intended for the gathering of believers to be led by a singular gifted executive.

As Paul and Barnabas are visiting churches and uplifting disciples they’re appointing a plurality of elders over every gathering, every church.

When Paul starts his letter to Titus he encourages him to appoint multiple elders over every city where the church is gathering.

Each of these elders is qualified mind you. Paul makes that very clear in his letter to Timothy. These are all gifted men. They’re all able to teach. They’re all gifted managers in some form. They’re all men of high character and mature in their faith. They may have distinct roles at the end of the day, but there’s a common shared gifting of God entrusted to each of them in their call to shepherd the church of God.

Now we recognize most of us will never be elders or pastors, but the principle still applies. Two practical considerations for us here even

Beware the spotlight. We shouldn’t find ourselves comfortable in a position where we’re the only ones who have it figured out. We shouldn’t find ourselves comfortable in a position where we’re the only ones with the gifts the church needs. For some there might be a good feeling that accompanies isolation. It feels good to be the only one on the podium. It feels good to have all the freedom to make decisions unchecked by those around us. In truth isolation should be a warning sign to us!

Seek the support of gifted brothers and sisters. On a personal note, I told Rachel very early on in the pursuit of a place of ministry that I wouldn’t accept a lead pastorate unless there was an eldership in place to support me in that initial season. By God’s grace I’ve had the privilege of serving with these gifted men for the past year. Again, it doesn’t need to be the pursuit of a ministerial calling. If the Lord gives you the gift of children, seek the wisdom and godliness of brothers and sisters who’ve raised their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. If the Lord gives you the gift of teaching, seek the fellowship of other gifted teachers to cooperate with in that pursuit.

God is glad to give the church good gifts. Very often those gifts are found in more than one in the gathering. Let’s seek those people out, support one another in the stewardship of our gifts, and ultimately seek the advancement of the kingdom of God together. Furthermore, let’s seek to develop the gifts of those around us. If you have the gift of hospitality, find someone who may have a desire to grow and develop that gift and do it together. If you have the gift of service, find someone else to serve with you so that they can grow the skills and gifts they’ve been given. If you have the gift of understanding and knowledge, share it with someone! Read a book with someone else who has a growing gift of understanding.

If I were to summarize everything up until this point very simply.

There are people who aren’t gifted like us who need the gifts we’ve been given.

There are also people who are gifted like us who we should partner with and support in the building up of the church.

Let’s add another facet of God’s provision to this building project we’re taking on.

It’s certainly plain, but easily forgotten if we’re not careful as we’ll see in the text.

Gifted with instruction to work

From the end of verse 6 to the end of verse 11 the emphasis is the instruction and command of God.

God has appointed these men, given them skills for what purpose,

Exodus 31:6–11 NASB95

6... that they may make all that I have commanded you: 7 the tent of meeting, and the ark of testimony, and the mercy seat upon it, and all the furniture of the tent, 8 the table also and its utensils, and the pure gold lampstand with all its utensils, and the altar of incense, 9 the altar of burnt offering also with all its utensils, and the laver and its stand, 10 the woven garments as well, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, with which to carry on their priesthood; 11 the anointing oil also, and the fragrant incense for the holy place, they are to make them according to all that I have commanded you.”

—-

I’ve had the opportunity in years past to participate in a number of residential remodels, and very often in those scenarios, especially larger projects, a set of blueprints has already been made. An architect has drawn up a set of detailed plans for a house or an addition that the homeowner likes and the architect has approved. It’s going to stay standing at the end of the day. That part I don’t have to worry about as the carpenter. It has the architects signature on it. My job as a carpenter is to follow the blueprint. Frame the walls to the dimensions and instructions provided me. Now suppose the homeowner comes up to me and says, “You know I don’t really like that one detail, can you move that wall over there?” Let’s suppose I’m a fairly skilled carpenter. Just because I’m a skilled and gifted carpenter that doesn’t give me the authority to alter the blueprint. That’s the architects job.

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Being given gifts and skills to be instrumental in the building of the house of God doesn’t give us authority to edit the blueprint. There’s no point in the building of the tabernacle that you’re going to hear Bezalel say, “I know what the Lord commanded, but I think this is going to look nicer...” It’s simply not going to happen. There’s no point where Oholiab is going to take a survey from the people of Israel as to what they think the Tabernacle or the Ark of the Covenant should look like. Like we said last week, there’s an appropriate sense in which Israel might be able to say, “This is the tabernacle of Israel”, “This is the temple of Jerusalem.” … but at the end of the day it’s God’s house. It’s God’s commandment, His instructions, His will that guide and direct the skills of the builders.

It’s stating the obvious, but that’s good news for us. When it comes to advancing the kingdom of God and building his church we don’t gather together as a group of gifted individuals with no blueprint. There’s no question for us at the end of the day, “Is this going to stand the test of time?” “What’s going to happen when a storm comes and really puts this building to the test?” “What if an earthquake comes and gives this house a real shake, I really hope that blueprint we came up with was a good one.” We don’t have to worry about any of that! We have the blueprint. We have the instructions and the signature of the architect is right there. This is the Word of God. We shouldn’t be surprised to hear such promises like,

“upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”

It wasn’t Peter’s or the other disciple’s ingenuity and gifting as apostles that guaranteed the endurance of the church. It’s the church of God built upon the Gospel of Christ and the Word of God, empowered by the Spirit of God that assures us of it’s endurance... If we desire for our kingdom work and the building up of the house of God, His church to stand the test of time we need be careful with how we answer the question, “How do we build the tabernacle of God? How do we build His church? How do we advance the kingdom?”

Answering those questions begins with opening the instructions we’ve been given. When we realize we have a gift from God sometimes it’s easy to just get busy without actually looking to the blueprint. Lets build something! Anything! And if we’re not careful our eagerness to get busy turns into a work of our own liking rather than God’s liking. A work of our own wisdom rather than the wisdom of God - A work aligned with our own standard rather than the standard of God. Now let’s be honest, God’s instructions don’t tell us what the color of the carpets should be. God’s Word doesn’t tell me how long my sermon should be. (Though there is a subtle warning about people falling asleep and falling out a window in Acts) There’s room for wisdom. There’s room even for what we like and enjoy. But before we ask, “What do i prefer?” or “What is wise?” We need to ask, “What does the blueprint say?” “What has God instructed us to do and how has He instructed us to do it? Then when we think we find the answer look again! If you were entrusted to build your own house over your head and your attention to the details determined the safety and well-being of your family at the end of the day I’m betting we’d all be taking second and third and fourth look before putting that wall up. And then we’d ask someone else to look with us! Hey, do I have this right? What do you think?

So what does that mean for us practically?

For us as a church we hope to be supporting and sending people on the mission field. We want to see the gospel advanced, churches built, and disciples made. There’s a lot of kingdom building go on on the mission field. Paul uses the analogy explicitly as the gospel is spreading in the early church. When we engage in the work of missions or evangelism and we ask, “How?” Where do we look? There’s a temptation to begin with, “What works?” Our culture of productivity and efficiency can come to the fore pretty quickly. There’s a time for asking, “What works?” There’s a place for wisdom and discernment, but that’s not where we begin. We begin with the blueprint. How has God instructed us in His Word to advance the gospel, build His church, and establish the kingdom? When we think we have a clear picture let’s look again, then look again with someone else who’s gifted in the work we endeavour to do.

Maybe you’re not called to international missions. Not many are, but no matter what our ministry in the church looks like we need to be looking to the Word to give our gifts instructions to follow. As you come to understand your giftings, how those giftings serve the church, perhaps add a study question to your Bible reading. “How does this passage inform how I should serve the church?”

All in all let’s be attentive to God’s instructions as we seek to implement our gifts He’s given us.

One final provision of God in the building of the tabernacle. One we’ve seen before, but with new emphasis this time.

Gifted with sanctification: the work of God

This may seem a bit disconnected, but it’s an important reminder to every laborer. As all these gifted men attend to the work of building the tabernacle, there’s a reminder: Don’t forget to rest!

Exodus 31:12–13 NASB95

12 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 13 “But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

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If you’ve been with us for the entirety of Exodus, you may be counting by now. Isn’t this the third time we’ve talked about the Sabbath? If that’s you, you’d be right! This is the third time and not the last. You’ll notice though if you look at each of the previous instances of the Sabbath a different emphasis to each.

The first time was in the context of the Manna that God was going to provide. He instructed Israel to collect enough on the 6th day because they were not to collect anything on the Sabbath day. In the Sabbath was a call to trust God to provide for the needs of His people.

The second time was in the context of servants. The sabbath was to be observed in love to ensure even the servants and the animals had a day of rest. The Sabbath was never intended to deprive our neighbor of our love for them. The Sabbath is for our good!

Here though we catch another nuance to the Sabbath, notice those simple words at the end of verse 13, “that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.”

There is one piece of the work that God must do. It doesn’t matter how gifted Bezalel is. It doesn’t matter how faithful he is to the instructions he’s been given. God is the one who sets apart His people as holy to Himself. And God intends that reminder to be a lasting reminder that they can’t forget.

Whoever does not observe the Sabbath, will be cut off from the people of God. (vs. 14)

They will be put to death (vs. 15)

There’s also no end to this reminder. It’s a perpetual covenant! “It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever” God says (vs. 16-17)

There’s no room for anyone to conclude, “Thanks to Moses we are the holy people that we are.” “Thanks to Bezalel for giving us this tabernacle that we may be the holy priesthood that we are.” “Look at the gifts of these men. Look at their faithfulness to the instructions that were provided to them.” “Look at Aaron and His sons who offer sacrifices for us.” These gifted men called of God, these are what set us apart from the rest of the nations. The Sabbath reminds them every week. No matter how faithful. No matter how gifted. No matter how instrumental these men may be. It is God who sets apart His people as holy.

Again this is good news for us! Our holiness, our position of righteousness, our sanctification, that is God’s work! I would hope that we would surround ourselves with gifted faithful men and women. God uses those people in our lives for our sanctification, but at the end of the day the glory and praise belongs to the Lord. Should you find yourself instrumental in someone else’s life. Should you lead someone to Christ. Perhaps you labor with someone to overcome a particular sin struggle in their life. Perhaps by God’s grace you plant a thriving church one day in the jungles of the Amazon, no matter how gifted, no matter how faithful, It is God who saves. It is God who sanctifies. It is God who redeems and makes us holy.

At the end of the day, nearly all of our kingdom work is comprised of looking outside of ourselves for the means to do the work.

Even amidst the gifts we’ve been given, there are people in the church with gifts we don’t have that we very much need.

There are brothers and sisters with similar gifts God has provided to support us in the work and foster our gifts to maturity.

As gifted as we may be we also need to be working according to the instructions we’ve been given. The Word guides and directs our gifts according to the will of God.

And most importantly, we look outside of ourselves to our God who has set us apart as holy. He is the one who saves. He is the one who sanctifies. Amidst all our labor, let’s be praying for the work that only God can accomplish.

Let’s Pray.