When God Chooses a Man

[0:00] Exodus chapter 31 this morning. Last week we finished chapter 30! The idea being that what was brought into that tabernacle and used for God's service was holy unto Him and we can spot if something's coming into the church and if it's a counterfeit, if it's counterfeit Christian culture was the term I used last week.

[0:47] And the way we asked some questions, one of them was, does it match the Word of God? Because the Word of God tells you exactly what it's supposed to look like and that holds true for worship and service in the local church.

[0:59] Does it match the Word of God? Secondly, has it been used in the past? Because all those, the candlestick, all the instruments, all of the table, all of that was anointed with the holy oil in the past and God was pleased and blessed it and it would be all over any work of God.

[1:15] But if something's coming into church today that's a counterfeit, you'd be able to spot it by checking and saying, does it match what's been used and blessed of God in the past? And the third thought was, is it connected to the flesh or to a stranger being likened to the world?

[1:32] Which was right there in our text last week. Because we only want what God wants in His church. We only want what God blesses. And we don't want something to creep in the doors or to find its way in and start to leaven the whole lump.

[1:46] We need to keep it out. And so by the grace of God, we'll keep our guard up and we'll stay in the word of God and do our best to be certain that we're not allowing something counterfeit to be offered before the Lord.

[2:00] So here we are in chapter 31 and God is going to inform Moses of the man and of the crew that is going to head up the operation of drawing up and building the tabernacle and its furniture and all of its accessories.

[2:15] And so we'll start in chapter 31 and read the first 11 verses. The Bible says, And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, See, I have called by name Bezaliel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur of the tribe of Judah.

[2:30] And I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom and in understanding and in knowledge and in 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 and in carving of timber to work in all manner of workmanship.

[2:46] And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, 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 and the ark of the testimony and the mercy seat that is thereupon and all the furniture of the tabernacle and the table and his furniture and the pure candlestick with all his furniture and the altar of incense and the altar of burnt offering with all his furniture and the laver with his foot and the cloths of service and the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons to minister in the priest's office and the holy, I'm sorry, and the anointing oil and sweet incense for the holy place according to all that I have commanded thee shall they do.

[3:34] Now we've already studied individually these items that he just goes through the list. Now we're going to get the glimpse of the man that God called to set over this operation.

[3:45] Understand, this is a, man, this is an extreme undertaking of what's being done here. This nation is barely a nation.

[3:56] They've just been brought out of Egypt just a few weeks or months ago at the most. They have never been ruled by a king. They have never lived in their own land. They've never had their own holidays and flags flying and celebrating.

[4:10] Like this is, that is not on the table. They've never had these things. This undertaking though, this building of a tabernacle is going to give them an identity and these pieces that are going to be fashioned and built are going to be revered and they're going to be treasured by this people for generations and generations to come and the best part is that through this system and this building, God himself, God of heaven and glory is going to come down and dwell with these people through a covenant that he established with them and he's going to do it on the mercy seat behind the veil in this tabernacle in the cloud in the fire and all that presence is going to be understood and known and this is a big, big deal.

[5:03] The importance of this project is absolutely enormous and I want to point out from the text that we read that when God wants such a great work to be done, he does three things.

[5:17] We've already studied, I think probably back at the beginning of chapter 28, that when God wants a work to be done, he uses the willing and the wise and the working.

[5:30] He uses those people, he's seeking them to do his work. But now I want to show you that he reveals in this text his part of the equation, that is what he's going to do in helping and assisting in getting this project done.

[5:46] It's the same situation, but this time we're looking at it from what God says he'll do on his end. And before we look at that, understand something, know something, that God has never exempted himself from something that he calls or demands of his people, something that he desires to see.

[6:04] He doesn't exempt himself from it. He has a part in it and he will always do his part faithfully. If there's any fault to be found, if there's any mission unaccomplished, it's definitely the fault of the man.

[6:19] But God is faithful and he will do his part. And here in this chapter we see the side of God working in getting this done. First thing I want us to notice is in verse number 2. It says at the beginning, See, I have called by name Bezaliel.

[6:35] I want you to see that God will first, he will call a man. He'll call a man. Moses is not taking bids from all the tribes of Israel who wants to manufacture the tabernacle.

[6:48] They're not casting lots to see who the lot falls upon. They're not taking votes to see who's the wisest and the greatest craftsmanship and who's done this in the past, who has experience.

[7:00] None of that takes place and it doesn't have to take place. You know why? Because God called a man and he said, This is my guy, Bezaliel. I got one picked out already.

[7:12] There's a great thing here is because when God calls the man, there's no need to question or to give your opinion. Moses doesn't have to say, God, are you sure? Moses doesn't have to say anything.

[7:23] And the people, it doesn't matter what the people think because God called a man and he called him by name. This is something, when God wants a work to be done, this is where he starts.

[7:35] He calls a man. He determines who the man is and says, That's my guy. Now, what do we take from that? Well, I mentioned already the opinion of the people is really kind of void because God made the decision already.

[7:53] The opinion of the people or even Moses or even Aaron, these key figures and leaders that went into Pharaoh, all of these, nobody asks them what they think. Nobody sits around and says, Well, I just don't think he's qualified.

[8:06] I mean, who's Bezaliel? Are we sure that he can do this? This is where God is going to sit on the mercy seat. Are we sure he's up to the task? Some might say, Well, I don't like the way his kids act.

[8:19] I'm not sure if he's qualified or if he even has the experience to do the job. People talk, people talk, people talk. I don't know if I like his personality. I don't know if this is really up his alley.

[8:34] And the truth is, none of that matters because with God, it's been settled. I have called by name Bezaliel. The job belongs to him.

[8:46] Think about Moses. God called Moses. He called him back a good while. And when he called Moses, Moses was met with resistance right away.

[8:57] And it was partly his fault because he was assuming that God was going to do something. So he went and tried to interact with his people and stand up for them. And they turned on him and said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us?

[9:11] And Moses takes off for 40 years and he comes back. And when he meets with them and shows them the signs and things aren't going the way they expected them to go, the people turned on him again and said, God judge between you and us and find out that we were fine before you got here.

[9:26] Now things are worse off. But God called Moses. It doesn't matter if the people think it's going better or worse. It doesn't matter if they think that who made you a prince or...

[9:37] God did. That's who. The people chided with Moses and they argued against Moses. They berbered with... And God called Moses. There's another man, Aaron.

[9:50] We already looked at Aaron and I gave you a message on why I believe God chose Aaron. He chose Aaron and his sons perpetually to minister in the priesthood. And as time goes on, the people stand up against them and say, You take too much upon you for all the congregation's holy.

[10:06] Why do you think you're the ones that are set up higher and holier than we are? And that chapter, if you get into that one, that ends bad for the people because God called Aaron.

[10:17] Keep your place here and flip over a verse in Hebrews, chapter 5, just so you see this. It ties right into this thought about Aaron and God calling a man.

[10:27] Hebrews chapter 5. What a thing for these people of Israel, these certain Levites, to stand up against Moses and Aaron and accuse them of taking too much authority or responsibility upon themselves.

[10:51] Where the truth is, they didn't take anything upon themselves. They received it from a holy God. Notice, I'll just read you verse number, I guess I got to start at verse 1.

[11:03] Every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins who can have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the way for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.

[11:19] And by reason hereof, he ought, as for the people, so also for himself to offer for sins. And no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.

[11:34] Aaron didn't say, hey people, I got this. I'm pretty good at doing this. No. God chose him and called him. Same with Moses. Same with Samuel. God called Samuel, and there's so many others, Gideon and Joshua and Jeremiah from the womb, all of these men.

[11:51] But God called Samuel to be a judge over Israel, and there came a time in his ministry that Israel said, we don't want any more of you. We don't want your sons after you.

[12:01] We want a king. And Samuel took it before the Lord, and God said, Samuel, don't sweat it. They have not rejected thee. They've rejected me.

[12:13] And when the people were chiding against Moses, they weren't chiding against the leader, the man Moses. They were chiding against God's called man. Turn to Acts chapter 5.

[12:24] I'm going to show you some sound advice from a man named Gamaliel, this doctor of the Jewish law. When the Jews had taken the apostles of the Lord, and they were forbidding them to preach in the name of Jesus, and they were telling them that they filled Jerusalem with their doctrine, and they need to put a stop to it.

[12:43] Peter preached to them, told them, he said that God exalted Christ, but you've killed him. And so in verse 34, a man, a wise man stood up and had something to say.

[12:57] In verse 34, then stood up there one of the council, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had a reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space.

[13:10] He's like, let them go, let them go, put your hands off them, just leave them be. And he said unto them, ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men. For before these days rose up Thodius, Thodius, Thodius, Thodius, boasting himself to be somebody, to whom a number of men, about 400, joined themselves, who was slain, and all as many as obeyed him were scattered and brought to naught.

[13:36] Why? Because he boasted himself. He did it. After this rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him. He also perished, and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed.

[13:49] And now I say unto you, refrain from these men, and let them alone, for if this counsel or if this work be of men, it will come to naught. But if it be a God, ye cannot overthrow it, lest happily ye be found even to fight against God.

[14:08] That's sound advice. Sound wisdom from a man. God calls a man. And when God calls a man, God doesn't ask for your opinion.

[14:21] And when God calls a man, he makes the decision and it's settled. And what God does, says, Moses, I'm not asking you to choose. I didn't need your opinion or input.

[14:32] Aaron, I didn't ask anything of you. I have chosen, I have called by name. And he gives Bezalel and says, he's my guy. He's going to be the one that does the work. And so, if God calls a man, it's settled.

[14:51] And you'd be wise to get behind him or get out of the way. Anybody that chided against Moses, a lot of them met an early death.

[15:03] People that murmured and complained and thought they had better ideas, it didn't end well for them. And this is not me making any threats against anybody or trying to promote myself.

[15:14] This is not anything personal. Nothing. It's just coming out of the text. This is what God does when he wants a work to be done. He calls a man and he says, that's my guy.

[15:24] So get behind him. And I'll lead him. You get behind him. You have a lane. Stay in it. And if you get out of it, you're disobeying me.

[15:35] You're fighting against me. You're murmuring against my choice and my decision. And it doesn't mean that every man that is called surrenders to the call.

[15:47] I'd say there's a lot of men that haven't surrendered to a call God's given them. Some run from that call. Jonah's your obvious Bible illustration of running from a call of God.

[15:59] Men do that still today. I also say that just because a man's called of God doesn't mean that he lives worthy or walks worthy of that calling. In truth, men at best, vanity.

[16:11] And what are you going to say to that? It takes something special of God. But when God calls for a work to be done for his glory, he first, he calls a man and he calls them by name.

[16:25] And so now there's something else that the Lord God does. Come back in Exodus chapter 31. If you kept your place, Exodus 31. And look at verses 3 through 5 because God also will equip the man.

[16:41] He will equip the man. The Bible says, And I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom and in understanding and in knowledge and in 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 and in carving of timber to work in all manner of workmanship.

[17:06] God will call a man and God will equip the man. He will equip him with the gifts and the tools to accomplish the task or the calling. He doesn't look for a man that has the skills for the job and then say, Okay, you're my guy.

[17:23] No, he calls the man by name and then equips him. Why is that? Well, so that the man can be dependent upon God and rather than trust in his own arm of flesh and say, I've got this.

[17:37] I've been doing this since I was born. I can handle this. No, God equips the man. Think about Moses. We've studied Moses extensively in this book.

[17:47] We've seen that Moses was learned. He was educated in Egypt. He was mighty in words and in deeds and he was a leader long before he was ever asked to be a leader.

[17:59] God had already trained him for this. Then he went and spent 40 years leading flocks in the wilderness. What in the world? What a contrast. You can't tell me that God doesn't equip the man for exactly what he calls him to do.

[18:17] He equips him for that very service that he required. He did it in Moses' life. And here he's empowering the man, Bezaliel, by filling him with the ability to comprehend and understand and to do the work.

[18:31] And this is going to be according to an extremely high standard. This is not being made for man or for a king but for God and for his holy people.

[18:43] The standard is holiness. In verse 3, it says that, I have filled him with the Spirit of God. Now, there's much debate about this but your King James Bible does not have a capital S there.

[18:56] I don't believe it's referring to a person when it says the Spirit of God. but rather, he identifies that Spirit that he's filled him with saying in wisdom and in understanding and in knowledge.

[19:09] Now, if you do have a capital S, it's because a publisher has taken liberty that the translation has a small s on purpose and some publishers take liberty to say, well, it says Spirit of God, we believe that's the Holy Ghost so we make it a capital S.

[19:25] Some people do that. If it does, sorry. But it's a small s and it's the Spirit of wisdom, the Spirit of understanding, the Spirit of knowledge and a manner of workmanship to do all of these specific things.

[19:38] He's filled the man, I don't believe it's with the person of the Holy Ghost, but with spiritual gifts from God of wisdom. He's enlightened of understanding and knowledge and ability and skill and construction and in building this holy sanctuary.

[19:55] Flip back just a few pages at chapter 28 and notice what he said in verse 3 when he's talking about making these holy garments and these holy garments are part of that list that we just read that these men are going to be overseeing.

[20:09] It says in verse 3, Thou shalt speak unto all that are wise-hearted whom I have filled with the Spirit of wisdom. I don't think that's the Holy Ghost at all.

[20:23] I think that's a Spirit of God that is a Spirit from God, a Spirit of wisdom come from God. I think it's explained that way very clearly. Look at chapter 36.

[20:34] One more thought on this. One more verse. And I know people say otherwise. They say it's the Spirit of God and maybe we can't divorce the wisdom and understanding and knowledge and cunning skill from God's Spirit.

[20:47] But it is a small S and that's what we'll stick with. Chapter 36 and notice here verses 1 and 2. Then wrought Bezaliel and Aholab and every wise-hearted man in whom the Lord put wisdom and understanding to know, there's knowledge, how to work all manner of work.

[21:09] God did that. In verse 2, Moses called Bezaliel and Aholab and said, every wise-hearted man in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom. And so back in chapter 31, God is equipping the man in a spiritual manner in putting into the man the gifts of the tools to accomplish the task.

[21:30] God gave these men that we've read by name these gifts to oversee and to do this great work. And therefore, He imparted several needed qualities to enable them to accomplish this unique undertaking, this holy task.

[21:46] This was not learned in a classroom. They did not learn this back in Egypt or in the wilderness. This is something God gifted them. I've called Him, I have put my spirit in Him or the spirit of wisdom, understanding, knowledge, etc.

[22:02] Pretend you're Bezaliel or any of those men. You've never done anything like this before. You've never built a tabernacle for God.

[22:14] This is not something that was done back in the old land. They didn't grow up building tabernacles or fashioning these furnitures and working with gold and silver and precious stones and cutting them and setting them.

[22:28] These are unique items that they are going to produce and they have to be perfect and they've never seen them before in their lives. The pattern was shown to Moses in the mount.

[22:42] The description was written down and delivered to these men. And now the responsibility falls on their shoulders and it's on their hands to do the work.

[22:53] And so where he falls short in understanding and envisioning and being able to draw up and diagram and detail the work, God put that spirit of wisdom in him, of understanding.

[23:06] I have gifted him with knowledge. He knows what he's doing, Moses. He knows what he's doing. Why? Because when God calls a man, God equips the man for the task or for the ask.

[23:21] When God called the apostle Paul, he pulled him aside and he revealed some truth to him that others had previously never heard of. It was hidden from them. The very apostles of Jesus Christ that walked with him for three and a half years and worked miracles and heard him preach and slept by his side and prayed with him and was in the sea and he saved their lives and they spent private time.

[23:46] They never heard about things that the apostle Paul was preaching. And it was so confusing to them that they said, hey, you need to come down to Jerusalem and we need to have a sit down and talk about this because what we're hearing does not match our experience and we are the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[24:05] And so Paul comes down and he explains to them, Jesus Christ revealed this to me. And he says in Galatians chapter 1, the gospel that he preached that was delivered to him, he didn't receive it of men, neither was he taught it, but by revelation of Jesus Christ.

[24:23] The point being, when God called Paul to preach the gospel, he equipped him with that gospel message by revelation, including giving him the grace to deal with what comes with that gospel message.

[24:38] And so Christian, this morning, it doesn't matter if God has called you to an office in a local church or a position of leadership or service or if God's just calling you to train up a child in the way he should go.

[24:50] God will call and God will equip with the tools and the gifts and the inner man to do the job for his glory. And he's even put it in writing, just like he did for Bezalel.

[25:04] In 2 Timothy chapter 3 in verses 16 and 17, we know that all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. But in verse 17, the reason, one of the reasons or what the scripture can do in a man's life, the man of God, is that he can be thoroughly furnished unto all good works because he has with him in his hand the scripture, all scripture.

[25:32] And if the man has all scripture that's called, then he can be thoroughly furnished to do what the job is calling him to do. And if God calls you to do something in the home or something in the church or in the Sunday school or in the nursery or some work for God, he'll equip you with the message, with the parameters, with the details, with the truth to do the work.

[25:58] God will call a man, God will equip that man. And there's one more thing from our text back in Exodus 31. Would you come back there in chapter number 31 and notice in verse 6, God will assist the man or that is, God will give him help.

[26:20] In verse 6, and I, behold, I have given with him, with him. Bezalel is called by name. He is the guy. But I've also given with him somebody at his side, a holiab.

[26:36] And I gave some others too. I've put wisdom in some other wise-hearted people to do, some of them were women. We could read that later on where they spun with their hands.

[26:47] They're making these, the veil, they're making these hangings, all of these massive, massive pieces that go under the tabernacle covering and surrounding it. There was a lot of work to be done.

[26:59] And God gifted certain people to do certain tasks within this. And the thought here is that when God calls the man and God equips the man, that God also assists the man.

[27:11] Because Bezalel had never done anything like this. What he's been called to do, this is brand new to him. But God saw to it that the man that he called and the man that he gifted did not have to do this task alone.

[27:28] He had help. Otherwise, this is a supremely significant as well as overwhelming task. And he did not have to do it alone. He gave him somebody to share the burden.

[27:40] He gave him somebody to bounce his ideas off of. Somebody to offer him some advice or maybe to double check his measurements or to handle the lesser menial elements of the overall project.

[27:54] God did that. He gave him help. God always does that. God did that from the very beginning with the very first man that he created and he gave him dominion of the whole earth and then he said, make a help meet for him.

[28:11] Give him help. Because God will assist the man. He'll give him help. Flip over to 1 Samuel chapter 10. I want to show you an example of somebody who was called and equipped but he was a little bit intimidated and afraid and shy.

[28:29] 1 Samuel chapter 10. So God gave him some help. after Israel rejected Samuel and his sons and they wanted a king, God gave him a king.

[28:43] A man that God chose. The people didn't choose him, God chose him. And this man had a clean slate. This man was little in his own sight.

[28:56] He was humble. What you think of with King Saul, that was not yet. He was innocent. God picked him and said, okay, anoint that one.

[29:07] And now he's the man. And he was intimidated. He was hiding. He was not sure that he was qualified for this. And so look at verse 25 of 1 Samuel chapter 10.

[29:21] I'll start in 24. Samuel said unto all the people, See ye him whom the Lord hath chosen? That there's none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted and said, God save the king.

[29:32] Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom and wrote in it in a book and laid it up before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house.

[29:44] And Saul also went home to Gibeah. But notice this part right here. God did something. God did part of what he does. And there went with him a band of men whose hearts God had touched.

[30:00] But the children of Belial said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him and brought him no presence. There was people against that king. There was people that despised him and talked about him behind his back.

[30:15] But when God calls a man and equips a man, he gives him help too. And he said, Yeah, all you sons of Belial with your bad attitudes and your meh, meh, meh, meh all the time, there's a couple men that I've touched their hearts.

[30:32] And those men chose to follow Saul from that day forward. Those men were an encouragement to him. When he wasn't sure he should be the king, he didn't have it inside of him to be the guy.

[30:46] God put some men behind him to follow him and submit to his leadership. God did that because that's what God does. He gave him some help to stay by his side.

[31:00] While there's others despising and speaking against him, Saul can now start going forward and it's really good stuff what he does right at the beginning with that people and when he takes a stand against, I forget the guy's name, I'm not going to go back to it.

[31:17] He wants to take out their right eyes, you remember that. God says, I have called by name Bezalel. He'll call a man. He doesn't ask for opinions. He'll call a man.

[31:29] I'll fill the man. I've given him help too. Those are the three things God does. He does those three things. Some takeaways before we go home this morning is that when God calls the man by name and doesn't ask for Moses' or Aaron's or anybody's opinion, don't gather or the princes of the tribes, let's have a converse.

[31:52] No. When God calls a man, God knows what he's doing. It would be our job then to acknowledge that, recognize it, and trust that he knows what he's doing.

[32:07] It's not, when God calls that man, he doesn't call other people to criticize him or to critique him, but it's their job to get in line and recognize this is God's work.

[32:19] God calls the man. Secondly, God may call you. He may call you to do something for him. He may put a burden or impress upon your heart a need or an opportunity.

[32:32] And he may, if the Lord does it, you'll know it. The Lord does it and it's unmistakable. But the thought here is that if God calls you, you have nothing to fear.

[32:44] This is the holy, almighty God telling you, I got something for you to do. I want you to do it. Understand, he will equip you. He will give you help.

[32:54] You're not just thrown out on an island by yourself to figure it all out. So you can take confidence and trust the Lord. If he is dealing with your heart, you can surrender to him and say, yes, Lord.

[33:10] Another takeaway is maybe that God is not calling you to some major position, so to speak, some office in the local church, some calling to go overseas or build some ministry.

[33:22] Maybe it's a lesser position that God would have you serve in. I want you to understand and believe this with all your heart. Just because it's looked on as a lesser position does not mean that it is in any way of lesser importance.

[33:36] If God gives you something to do, it is your service to him. And so, as Solomon said, do it with thy might. Do your best for the glory of God.

[33:50] If God gives you an opportunity to serve him, then serve him as unto the Lord and not unto men. If it's just fulfilling your place in the home, then do it for the glory of God.

[34:07] Depend on him to enable you for strength, for wisdom, for an understanding heart, to raise up a child or to make smart and wise decisions or to resist the lust of your flesh and learn how to deny the temptations and the voices that will lead you astray.

[34:27] If it's an opportunity to work with children or to take a turn in the nursery as I mentioned earlier or to go door to door or to provide a meal for somebody or to do some manner of service under the umbrella of a local church, do all to the glory of God, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

[34:51] Take advantage when you have the opportunity because when God calls, God equips and God aids or assists.

[35:01] He gives help. You can trust that he'll do that for you. A lot of Christians have an opportunity to serve and their initial carnal response is intimidation and fear.

[35:15] I can't do that. I've never done that before. I don't think I'm qualified to do that. I'm trying to take that off the table for you this morning and show you that if God gives you the opportunity, you say, yes Lord, you surrender and allow him to grow you into that.

[35:31] You know, some people, I know some people that you probably do too, a few, you know some people that have taught Sunday school classes for 30 years. 40 years. Like, I've grown up around these people.

[35:43] I never understood it until later in life that when they started, they were just a young married couple people. They didn't have experience, they didn't have 30 years experience.

[35:57] But when I view them, I think, oh man, they know what they're doing, they've been doing it forever. And they're really good at it. And they are. But they weren't always. But God gave them an opportunity and they took it.

[36:09] And he enabled them and grew them and gave them the spirit of wisdom and understanding and knowledge. And he gave them the ability to do the job for his glory. And eventually they became great.

[36:23] And so when God gives you the opportunity, whatever it is, you say, well, I've never witnessed to somebody, I've never led anybody to Christ. That's not a reason not to try. If God gives you the calling to do it, then let him equip you.

[36:38] Get your nose in the Bible. Learn how to lead somebody to Christ. And gain confidence that God will be with you and give you that help either by his spirit in his word or with a partner that can train you up and help you to go.

[36:56] Don't neglect opportunities. This little life is going to be gone and it's going to burn up most of it. And what are you going to do then?

[37:08] You're going to wish you would have taken advantage of the opportunities God placed in your life. And so my challenge to you today is do not come with excuses. Do not come with what God's working with complaints or criticism but rather surrender whatever level this needs to hit you at.

[37:28] Surrender to what God is doing. He does a part. When he calls for a work he does his part. It's going to be our job then to surrender to it and to be faithful in our lane so that God can get the glory and so that the work can get done.

[37:46] Father this morning I want to thank you for the word of God and thank you for the example here in this time. It's going back a lot of years but the thing fits our lives right here where we sit.

[37:59] I want to thank you for the calling of Bezalel and for what you showed us here that you do some things and it's our job to recognize it and get behind it. And so Lord may we be faithful may we be obedient to your word and Lord may each person here find something they can do for you and allow you to lead them and give them opportunity and give them the courage and the wisdom to say yes to it.

[38:25] And it's my prayer that your people would be busy and find themselves about the business of God. Lord may we put down some things in this life that would distract us or things that would busy us away from your work and give our all to your service.

[38:48] Lord I pray you give courage because I know I needed it. There's times in my life still today and I need courage. I pray you give courage to these men and women before me that you're dealing with their hearts in different areas.

[39:01] Give them the courage whatever it would be. Give them the spirit of wisdom. Give them the knowledge and understanding to devise the works that you call them to do.

[39:14] I know you're faithful I know you do your part you always do. So give us the courage and the strength and the surrendered heart the humility to do ours.

[39:27] This morning before we take off I want to give you an opportunity to respond in your own mind and heart to the Lord and just to consider is he dealing with your heart about some of this stuff?

[39:40] Is God dealing with your heart about doing something for him? Has God been dealing in your heart about just surrendering to your role and to your place?

[39:54] A lot of Christians say no God a lot of Christians say I can't. What about you? Is that you? I can't.

[40:05] I'm not worthy. I don't know. You think Bezalel knew? But God gave him the spirit of knowledge. He wants a willing heart.

[40:18] That's your job. A willing heart. Willing to work. Willing to serve. Willing to put your desires and your flesh down. Willing to be nobody so that Jesus Christ can be lifted up.

[40:34] If God's talking to you answer him. God help us together to stay in line to be in submission to our Savior in the word of God and may he alone do wonderful glorious work in this local church in our individual lives so that the Lord Jesus Christ seated at the right hand of the Father can get some praise and can get some glory.

[41:13] If God's dealing with you I invite you to come. Some have come. You're invited to come. Spend some time in prayer. Stop. Amen.