A Life of Loving Obedience to Jesus

[0:00] Please take your Bibles and turn to the book of Exodus. If you're visiting with us, pull up that black Bible, start in Genesis and Exodus, and find page 69, Exodus chapter 36.

[0:22] Exodus 36, page 69 on that black Bible, and that chair in front of you. Exodus chapter 36. Yes, that's right, folks. We will read about three chapters this morning.

[0:34] Just over three chapters. I'll start reading chapter 36, verse 8, and we'll finish to the end of chapter 39. This is the part of the Bible where you kind of read and kind of skim and kind of fall asleep in, you know?

[0:46] As you're doing your yearly reading, this is the part. It kind of goes downhill from there, right? So you hit Exodus and you get to this part, and you go, oh, like, oh, wait, look, Exodus chapter 40. Wow, that's awesome.

[0:57] What in the world Leviticus? Oh, my. So. But we will read it out loud. I will, that is. Exodus chapter 36, starting in verse 8, and I'll read to the end of chapter 39.

[1:10] I timed myself. It takes about 15 minutes to read this out loud. So here we go. All in one breath. Just kidding. Okay. Chapter 36, verse 8. And all the wise men among those who were performing the work made the tabernacle with 10 curtains of tightly spun thread, and blue and purple and scarlet with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman.

[1:32] Bezalel made them. The length of each curtain was 28 cubits, and the width of each curtain, four cubits. And the curtains had the same measurements. And he joined five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he joined to one another, and he made loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set.

[1:50] He did likewise on the edge of this curtain that was outermost in the second set. He made 50 loops in the one curtain, and he made 50 loops on the edge of the curtain that was in the second set. The loops were opposite each other.

[2:02] And he made 50 clasps of gold, and joined the curtains to one another with the clasps, so the tabernacle was one piece. Then he made curtains of goat's chair for a tent over the tabernacle.

[2:12] He made 11 curtains in all. The length of each curtain was 30 cubits, and four cubits the width of each curtain. The 11 cubits had the same measurements. And he joined five curtains by themselves, the other six curtains by themselves.

[2:26] Moreover, he made 50 loops on the edge of the curtain that was outermost in the first set. He made 50 loops on the edge of the curtain that was in the second set. And he made 50 clasps of bronze to join the tent together, that it might be a unit.

[2:39] He made a covering for the tents of ramskin, and a covering of tahish leather from above. Then he made the frames for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing upright.

[2:51] 10 cubits was the length of each frame, and 1 1⁄2 cubits the width of each frame. Therefore, there were two styles for each frame, fitted to one another.

[3:03] Thus he did for all the frames of the tabernacle. And he made the frames for the tabernacle, 20 frames for the south side, and he made 40 bases of silver under the 20 frames, two bases under one frame for its two styles, and two bases under another frame for its two styles.

[3:22] Then for the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, he made 20 frames. And there were 40 bases of silver, two bases under one frame, and two bases under another frame. And from the rear of the tabernacle to the west, he made six frames.

[3:36] And he made two frames for the corners of the tabernacle, at the rear, and they were double beneath. And together, they were joined going into one. Thus he did with both of them for the two corners.

[3:48] And there were eight frames with their bases of silver, 16 bases, two under every frame. Then he made crossbars of acacia wood, five for the frames of one side of the tabernacle, and five crossbars for the frame of the other side of the tabernacle, and five crossbars for the frames of the tabernacle for the rear side of the west.

[4:07] And he made the middle crossbar to pass through in the center of the frame from end to end. And he overlaid the frames with gold, and made the rings of gold as holders for the crossbars, and overlaid the bars, crossbars with gold.

[4:20] Moreover, he made the veil of blue and purple, scarlet, and linen of tightly spun thread. He made it with cherubim, the work of a wise workman. He made four pillars of acacia for it, and overlaid them with gold, with their hooks of gold.

[4:34] And he cast four bases of silver for them, and he made a screen for the doorway of the tent, a blue, purple, scarlet, and linen of tightly spun thread, the work of a weaver. He made his five pillars with their hooks, and he overlaid their tops, and their bands with gold.

[4:49] But their bases, five bases, were a bronze. Chapter 37. Now, Bezalel made the box of acacia wood. Its length was two and a half cubits, and its width, one and a half cubits, and its height, one and a half cubits.

[5:01] And he overlaid it with pure gold inside and out. He made a gold molding for it all around. And he cast four gold rings for it on his four feet, even two rings on one side, two rings on the other side of it.

[5:12] He made poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold. And he put the holes into the rings on the sides of the box to carry it, and he made an atoning place of pure gold, two and a half cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide.

[5:26] He made two cherub beams of gold. He made them of hammered work at the two ends of the atoning place. One cherub at one end, and one cherub at the other end. He made the cherub beam with the atoning place at the two ends, and the cherub beam had their wings spread upward, covering the atoning place with their wings, with their faces toward each other.

[5:44] The faces of the cherub beam were toward the atoning place. Verse 10. Then he made the table of acacia wood, two cubits long, a cubit wide, and one and a half cubits high. And he overlaid it with pure gold, and made a gold molding for it all around.

[5:57] He made a rim for it of a hand breadth all around. He made a gold molding for its rim all around, and he cast four gold rings for it, and put the rings on the four corners that were on its four feet. Close by the rim were the rings, the holders for the poles to carry the table, and he made the poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold to carry the table.

[6:14] And he made the utensils which were on the table, its dishes and its pans and its bowls and its jars, with which to pour out libations of pure gold. Verse 17. Then he made the lampstand of pure gold.

[6:26] He made the lampstand of hammerwork, its base, its shafts, its cups, its bulbs, its flowers were one piece with it, affixed to it. And there were six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand from one side of it, three branches of the lampstand from the other side of it, three cups shaped like almonds, a bulb, a flower, and one branch, three cups shaped like almonds, a bulb and a flower in the other branch.

[6:46] So for the six branches going out of the lampstand, and in the lampstand, four cups shaped like almonds, its bulbs and its flowers, and a bulb was under the first pair of branches coming out, and a bulb under the second pair of branches coming out, and a bulb under the third pair of branches coming out.

[7:01] For the six branches coming out of the lampstand, their bulbs and branches were affixed to it. The whole of it was a single hammered work of pure gold. And he made its seven lamps with its wick trimmers and its trays of pure gold.

[7:14] He made it in all its utensils from a talent of pure gold. Verse 25, Then he made the altar of incense of acacia wood, a cubit long and a cubit wide, square and two cubits high.

[7:24] Its horns were affixed to it, and he overlaid it with pure gold, its top and sides all around, and its horns. And he made a gold molding for it all around. He made two golden rings for it under its molding on its two sides, on opposite sides, as holders for poles with which to carry it.

[7:40] And he made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. And he made the holy anointing oil and the pure fragrant incense of spices, the work of a perfumer, chapter 38. Then he made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide, square and three cubits high.

[7:57] And he made its horns on its four corners, its horns affixed to it, and he overlaid it with bronze. And he made all the utensils of the altar and pails and the shovels and the basins, flesh hooks and the firepans.

[8:08] He made all its utensils of bronze. He made for the altar a grating of bronze network beneath under its ledge, reaching halfway up. And he cast four rings on the four ends of the bronze grating as holders for the poles.

[8:20] And he made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze. And he inserted the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar with which to carry it. He made it hollow with planks. Moreover, he made the laver of bronze with its base of bronze from the mirrors of the serving women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting.

[8:38] Verse nine. Then he made the court. The south side of the hangings of the court were of tightly spun thread, 100 cubits, 20 pillars, and 20 bases of bronze, the hooks of the pillars and their bands of silver.

[8:53] And for the north side, 100 cubits, their 20 pillars and their 20 bases of bronze, the hooks of the pillars and their bands of silver. And for the west side, hangings of 50 cubits with their 10 pillars and their 10 bases.

[9:07] The hooks of the pillars and their bands were of silver. And for the east side, 50 cubits, the hangings of one side, 15 cubits with their 3 pillars and 3 bases. And so for the other side, on both sides of the gates of the court, hangings of 15 cubits, their 3 pillars and their 3 bases, all the hangings of the court, all around of tightly spun thread.

[9:26] And the bases for the pillars of bronze, the hooks of the pillars and their bands, of silver, and the overlaying of their tops of silver, and all the pillars of the court were furnished with silver bands. And the screen of the gate of the court was the work of the weaver, blue, purple, scarlet, linen, tightly spun thread.

[9:44] And the length was 20 cubits, and the height five cubits, corresponding to the hangings of the court. And their four pillars and their four bases were bronze, their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their tops and their bands of silver.

[9:59] And all the pegs of the tabernacle and of the court all around of bronze. This is the appointed things for the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, as they were numbered according to the command of Moses for the service of the Levites by the hand of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.

[10:13] Now Bezalel, the son of Uriah, the son of Hur of the tribe of Judah, made all that Yahweh commanded Moses. And with him was Oholiab, the son of Ahasamach of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a wise workman, and a weaver, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen of tightly spun thread.

[10:28] Verse 24. All the gold that was used for the work and all the work of the sanctuary, even the gold of the wave offering, was 29 talents and 730 shekels according to the shekel of the sanctuary.

[10:38] And the silver of those of the congregation who were numbered was 100 talents and 1,775 shekels according to the shekel of the sanctuary. A beka head, half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary.

[10:50] Each one who passed over to those who were numbered from 20 years old and upward were 603,550 men. And the 100 talents of silver were for casting the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the veil.

[11:03] 100 bases for the 100 talents, a talent for a base. And of the 1,775 shekels he made hooks for the pillars and overlaid their tops and made bands for them. And the bronze of the wave offering was 70 talents and 2,400 shekels.

[11:18] And with it he made the bases to the doorway of the tent of meeting and the bronze altar and this bronze grating and all the utensils of the altar and the bases of the court all around and the bases of the gate of the court and all the pegs of the tabernacle and all the pegs of the court all around.

[11:32] Chapter 39. Moreover, from the blue purple scarlet he made finely woven garments for ministry in the holy place as well as the holy garments which were for Aaron just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

[11:45] He made the ephod of gold of blue purple scarlet of linen of tightly spun thread and he hammered out gold sheets and cut them into threads to be woven in the blue and the purple and the scarlet of tightly spun thread the work of a wise workman.

[12:00] They made attaching shoulder pieces for the ephod it was attached at its two ends and skillfully woven bands which were on it was like its workmanship of the same material of gold blue purple scarlet and linen of tightly spun thread just as Yahweh commanded Moses.

[12:14] Verse 6 And they made the onyx stones set in gold filigree they were engraved like the engravings of a signet according to the names of the sons of Israel and they placed them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod memorial stones for the sons of Israel just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

[12:28] He made the breast piece the work of a wise workman like the workmanship of the ephod of gold blue purple scarlet of linen tightly spun thread it was square they made the breast piece folded double a span long and a span wide one folded double and they mounted four rows of stones on it the first row a row of ruby topaz and emerald the second row a turquoise a sapphire and a diamond the third row a jacinth an agate and an amethyst and the fourth row a beryl an onyx and a jasper they were set in gold filigree when they were mounted and the stones were corresponding to the names of the sons of Israel there were twelve corresponding to their names the engravings of a signet each with its name for the twelve tribes and they made on the breast piece chains like gold of twisted cordage work and pure gold and made two gold filigrees and two gold rings and put the two rings on the two ends of the breast piece and they put the two gold cords and the two rings to the ends of the breast piece and they put the other two ends of the two cords on the two filigrees and put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front of it and made two gold rings and placed them on the two ends of the breast piece on its inner edge which was next to the ephod furthermore they made two gold rings and placed them on the bottom of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod on the front of it close to the place where it joined above the woven band of the ephod.

[13:45] And they bound the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord that it might be on the woven band of the ephod and that the breastpiece might not come loose from the ephod just as Yahweh commanded Moses.

[13:58] Then he made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue. And the opening of the robes at the top of the center is the opening of a coat with a binding all around its opening that it might not be torn. They made pomegranates of blue, of purple, and scarlet, of linen, of tightly spun thread, of the hem of the robe, they also made bells of pure gold and put the bells between the pomegranates all around on the hem of the robe, all turning in a bell and a pomegranate all around on the hem of the robe for the service just as Yahweh commanded Moses.

[14:26] They made tunics for the finely woven linen for Aaron and his sons and the turban of fine linen and the headpieces of fine linen and the linen breeches of fine twisted linen and the sash of tightly spun thread, blue, purple, and scarlet, the work of the weaver just as Yahweh commanded Moses.

[14:45] And they made the plates of the holy crown of pure gold and inscribed it like the engravements of a signet holy to Yahweh. And they fastened a blue cord to it to fasten it to the turban above just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

[14:57] Verse 32. Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was completed and the sons of Israel did according to all that Yahweh commanded Moses so they did. And they brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tents, and all his furnishings, his clasps, his frames, his crossbars, his pillars, his bases, and the covering of ram's skin, the covering of tehish leather, the screening veil, the box of the testimony, and his poles, and the atoning place, the table, all his utensils, the bread of the presence, the gold lampstand with his arrangement of lamps, and all his utensils, and the oil for the light, and the gold altar, and the anointing oil, and the fragrant incense, and the veil for one doorway, excuse me, for the doorway, the tents, the bronze altar, and its bronze grating, its poles, and all its utensils, the laver, and its stand, the hangings for the court, its pillars, and its bases, and the screen for the gate of the court, its cords, and its pegs, and all the equipment for the service of the tabernacle for the tent of meeting, the woven garments for ministry in the holy place, and the holy garments for Aaron, the priests, and the garments of his sons to minister as priests.

[16:03] So the sons of Israel did all the work according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses. And Moses saw all the work that they had done, and look, they'd done it, just as Yahweh commanded.

[16:16] This they had done. So Moses blessed them. Thus speaks God's word. There's a part in a certain movie where one character was given another character instructions on how to set up a bomb.

[16:43] So he said, you have to do this, and you do this, and you do this, and then you push this button. Whatever you do, don't push that button. So he said, repeat what I said.

[16:55] Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. But no, don't push that button. So throughout the movie, it's like this little comical time where trying to relate the instructions. You have to get these instructions right, you have to get these right, or you automatically set off the bomb and everybody dies.

[17:11] That's not good. So this is how you do it. Just like this, like this, like this, like this. Immediate sudden death is definitely a motivation to follow instructions exactly, wouldn't you say? I would probably agree with that too.

[17:24] But there's a stronger motivation to obedience. There's a stronger motivation to obey instructions to the T. It's the same motivation that we looked at last week.

[17:38] So when we come to this part in the book of Exodus, Exodus is the Christian life displayed through historical narrative. When we come to this part, we see that this is supposed to be the Christian life displayed, historically displayed.

[17:51] It's a life of loving obedience to Jesus. If there's anything you get out of this, this morning, it's that statement. If there's anything that you will come, you take away from this passage this morning, it's this.

[18:05] A life, the Christian life, is a life of loving obedience to Jesus. Or to put it in a statement for you. It's a life of precise keeping, instruction following, love motivating obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ.

[18:25] It's exact, thorough, meticulous, I dearly love you obedience to our Lord. That's the kind of obedience we're talking about. I mean, it's simple.

[18:36] This is the construction of the tent of meeting and making the attire worn by the priests. It's actually almost verbatim from chapter 25 verse 10 of Exodus to chapter 30 verse 10.

[18:53] It's almost verbatim. You have some switching around of things. Some things are done first versus others just for time purposes and stuff like that. But really, it's like verbatim.

[19:04] And as you go through that from chapter 25 to chapter 30, you know, it talks about worship God and His terms, the tent of meeting, God providing the way by which to regain paradise.

[19:17] He was going to be with His people through the tabernacle, but He needed sacrifice because we're separated from Him. We live holy lives realizing we're dependent upon Him and then the need for an intercessor, that's the priest and the role and the garments that they would wear, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

[19:32] But why all this repetition? To bore the readers? No, not at all. God's specific commands were followed specifically and very carefully.

[19:51] In other words, they followed Yahweh's instructions to the letter. That's what the text is making clear. That's why it's repeated verbatim from chapter 25 to chapter 30 in Exodus.

[20:07] That's why it's verbatim. Exactly what it says there, that's what they did. Do you see how many times I said? What the Lord said, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. Just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. Exactly what He said to do, that's what they did.

[20:21] That's the point. To the lengthy, detailed account plus, it showed how vital and significant the tent of meeting was as God's dwelling place with His people.

[20:33] How was God going to be with His people? The tabernacle. And this is how important it was. The repetition directs us as readers to the significance of God being with His people and the people's obedience to His commands.

[20:54] I mean, don't you not see this in the Christian life? The fact that Jesus is with us and His Son. And there's loving obedience that we have towards the Son. Right?

[21:05] That's the Christian life. And so this is good for us because obviously it's a mandate to us as we put on your New Testament glasses that we obey everything that Yahweh commands us.

[21:21] We trust and obey. Oh, I think we sang that song, didn't we? Because God asks us things to do that we really don't want to do.

[21:37] I know maybe you don't deal with that. But I do. I know I'm not really speaking, you know, I'm speaking just for myself, not for any of you here. But for a few people like me, God asks us to do things and we don't want to do it.

[21:54] Ed Welch says this in his book, A Banquet in the Grave. He says this, quote, Simply put, we don't like being told what to do by God or others.

[22:06] Unless it is something we want to do already. And he says this, excuse me, Too often, our obedience to the Lord is a happy coincidence where our desires and His commands happen to intersect.

[22:20] End quote. That's so true. What should our prayer be? What should our desire, our longing, our want, what should it be?

[22:33] That's why we read Psalm 119, oh, how I love your law. It should be, mighty God, you're my creator and father. You have every right to have me live any way you desire and I owe you my obedience.

[22:52] It's the wise and godly person who loves to have God tell him or her what to do within the context of his love. Keep in mind the context of this.

[23:06] Keep in mind the context of this obedience. obedience. It's within the relationship that they had with Yahweh. Doing things God's way is so much more attractive.

[23:19] They got that. At least at this time. At this moment. At this point. But remember the whole trajectory of we have God delivering His people and then He showed them grace and mercy.

[23:35] This is why they want to be obedient to Him. We need to come to the place where we believe this. What God says in His word and we embrace it and we say God your commands are good.

[23:52] We have a loving relationship with our Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Father now because of who Jesus is and what He has done on our behalf. And the greatest display of His love is in the gospel is in the cross.

[24:05] And because of His great love for us it spurs at least it should spur us on towards obedience. And it's vitally significant to get this order right.

[24:20] Because if you switch it you're a legalist. If you switch it you're probably not a Christian. You understand that.

[24:31] If you switch that order I'm going to do so I can have a relationship. No. You have a relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ so I'm going to do.

[24:46] It's not about just doing the task or duty. If it is simply just out of duty then the Christian life has no passion no joy no drive no motivation it's just legalism.

[25:01] You just have right doctrine and there's no love. The love that the Father has for us and His Son motivates us to obedience.

[25:15] It's the only thing that's going to motivate you to obey God. It's the only way it's going to motivate you to do what God says to do. Remember the trajectory the direction of Exodus.

[25:30] God delivers them from Egypt you're my people I'm calling you to live a holy life here's how you're going to do it. Oh and then that whole thing with that golden calf situation that happened the besetting sin of Israel their idolatry.

[25:45] And then there's a threat of abandonment right? The Lord says I'm not going with you and what did the people do? They repented. They were broken. God forgive us.

[25:57] And then the intercessor comes in Moses and because of that intercession God shows His love grace and mercy. He gives the promise of His presence and they're like whoa they're so struck by God's merciful grace.

[26:12] They give and they obey. They trust and they obey. Is that not the Christian life? And once again we have this topic that comes up which we've dealt with weeks before many different times.

[26:33] Once again the topic of desires comes up. What do you really want to do? When our desires conflict with Scripture we don't always live according to what we say we believe.

[26:48] Isn't that true? Our lives betray what we really believe or really our true allegiances. You see this with addictions. You see this with alcoholism, drugs, pornography, food, take your pick.

[27:08] What we really believe or how we live our lives it shows what we really believe. It shows to whom or to what our allegiances lie. Oh Jesus, reign, reign in me Jesus, just don't conflict with what I want.

[27:28] Don't mess with my desires because once you start messing with those desires then obedience comes into play.

[27:39] Or it just so happens that maybe God's commands coincides with me obeying. Oh that's good but just don't conflict with what I want. Don't conflict with what I want.

[27:51] That's why there's differences and discussions and conflicts between spouses and your marriage, parents to their children, between siblings, between members in a church, between your neighbor, across the street.

[28:06] see, this is why obedience to the Lord is a desire issue which is really a worship issue. The heart of worship is a relationship with the one true God, giving Him the honor He deserves and obeying and depending upon Him.

[28:24] It's inherent within what I really want. What do you really want? Unless we're focused, unless what's planted is our commitment and drive for Jesus Christ, you won't obey.

[28:43] You'll obey your little standard. But one little thing that comes up in Scripture, one little thing that comes up in that teaching lesson, one little thing that comes up in that sermon, that's where I put the line.

[28:56] You've gone cross, you crossed that line buddy, don't you cross that line because now it's conflicting with what I want. God wants all of us.

[29:11] He just doesn't want part of you. Again, Ed Welch, quote, God wants more. He wants us to know Him, serve Him, fear Him, and love Him. Somehow God must be bigger than our own desires, so big that we worship Him alone.

[29:25] You see that? You tell that to someone who's in with alcohol, with drugs, with pornography, or food, or anything. Comfort, peace, security, that becomes their God.

[29:37] And God says, you need to want me before all those things. Look at the actions that displayed their desire to love Yahweh.

[29:49] You see this? I mean, look at the actions that display their desire for Yahweh. That's why we read Psalm 119. Because in Psalm 119, as we seek Yahweh, we seek His word.

[30:03] When we seek His word, we seek to obey Him. By the way, there's still an introduction. We haven't gotten to the text yet. Psalm 119, verse 16.

[30:16] I shall delight in your statutes, I shall not forget your word. Verse 17, that I may live and keep your word. Verse 22, take away my reproach, for I observe your testimonies. Verse 32, I shall run the way of your commandments.

[30:31] Verse 40, I long for your precepts. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, all throughout the 119, Psalm 119. Because he says, I've sought you, so I'm going to seek your word.

[30:43] I've sought you, so I'm going to obey your word. Because seeking God is seeking His word. So when we truly know the Lord Jesus Christ, we worship or love or obey Him, when our lives are comfortable and when our lives are not so comfortable, when life is hard.

[31:04] I know you might not have a hard life today. Maybe you do. I think you're struggling with life right now. This is a time when God's calling you to love Him.

[31:17] Israel feared Yahweh. There's awe, devotion, there's worship, joy comes in obeying the one whom we love, the one who means everything to us. Because, and Welch once more, whatever wins our affections will control our lives.

[31:35] What you want most will control what you do. What we want most controls what we do. That's what He's saying.

[31:48] Because we move into action, and we move into action because of our beloved. We need to be moved by someone who's much more beautiful and who is our true lover.

[32:04] And when that happens, friends, your obedience will last. It will last. We come to the place where we just admit, Lord, I care about my desires more than yours.

[32:22] so please help me. I need you to help me. Is this not a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ?

[32:39] I mean, what perfect obedience. And the obedience, what drove it was His connection, His relationship, His fellowship with the Father.

[32:50] I do what the Father says. I was sent by the Father. I do what He says. And yet that came into conflict when He's in the garden, right? Father, if it's possible, let this cup pass from me.

[33:05] But then what does He say? Not my will, but let your will be done, right? I mean, here's Jesus. Here's a picture. He obeyed the Father and everything, even going to the cross to die for sinners.

[33:18] Even going to the cross to die for us. So that you can now come. So you, if you're sitting here today and you're unsaved, you don't know Christ, you can come to the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.

[33:32] You can come. So all these instructions are repeated as a way to show how vital it was God dwelt with His people and Israel's love for Him. So we're going to go verse by verse, just kidding.

[33:45] some of you start stressing out. I want to point out some things though. Chapter 38 verse 24 and following, but just notice how much, how valuable this was to them.

[34:09] The gold, almost 2,200 pounds of gold, that's over a ton. 4 tons of silver, 2.5 tons of bronze. Do you see the importance of the tabernacle to them?

[34:21] I mean, this is not just, you know, pull out your pocket, throw in chump chains. I mean, this was serious. They took this seriously. Go back actually to verse 8 of chapter 38.

[34:36] This is a stark like, right here. Stands out from the text as well. Chapter 38 verse 8. Moreover, he made the labor of bronze with its base of bronze from the mirrors of the serving women.

[34:49] You see that? Women would, others as well, would look at themselves using bronze.

[35:01] They didn't have like our, you know, modern day mirrors type thing. They would use bronze to see their reflection. So these women gave their mirrors to be used to build a bronze altar.

[35:22] I mean, you see their generosity, but you see how they're willing to give up a personal luxury as a way to show their desire to obey Yahweh. Look, this is the only thing that's going to drive it, friends. God may call us to give up personal luxuries and or comforts as a way to display our desire and actual loving obedience to Him.

[35:41] Obedience to our Lord calls us to give up our desires and our wants because the person that we really want, the person that we really desire is God. God is the gospel.

[35:58] A couple other things I want to point out to you as well. In chapter 39, interesting, in verse 32, it says, all the work of the tabernacle of the temple meeting was completed.

[36:12] This kind of reminds us of Genesis chapter 2 where the Lord says, the Lord God made everything, all that was made. And even as they brought all these things to Moses and the sons of Israel, they did all the work according to all that Yahweh had commanded.

[36:30] Moses from verse 42, Moses saw all the work and looked, they'd done it just as Yahweh commanded. They obeyed and Moses blessed them for it.

[36:41] Again, parallel expressions from Genesis chapter 1 and Genesis chapter 1 verse 31 and Genesis chapter 1 verse 22 and verse 28. Why? Why is that important? God because the tabernacle remember is the tangible thing as being used, as being built as this was the first step to regaining what they lost in the garden.

[37:07] It was here, it was this tabernacle, this thing because God wanted them to regain paradise. And so he worked in time to bring it about because he was going to bring about the tabernacle, the temple.

[37:22] What does John chapter 1 verse 14 say? And the word became flesh and tabernacle dwelt among us. He's the tabernacle. So pure and simple, Israel fully obeyed all of Yahweh's commands.

[37:41] We are called to do everything God commands us to do. We should not skip anything, take shortcuts, or do things to circumvent what he commands us to do. Now realize this may be a long, tiresome job, but it will be well worth it in the end.

[38:00] We obey Yahweh because we're worshiping Yahweh on his terms and it's vitally important we worship God on his terms, not on our terms. We come to God on God's terms.

[38:12] And what motivates this worship, what motivates this obedience is his great love and grace, his mercy and compassion towards us. So what thing or things have you disobeyed God?

[38:27] What is winning your affection now? Is it the Lord Jesus or is it someone or something else? In what ways are you obeying?

[38:40] Praise God for his grace that you are because it's only by his grace that you will obey. Remember, the point of this, of all this, we have a loving relationship with our Father through the Lord Jesus Christ.

[38:55] He is our Father now because of who Jesus is and what he's done on our behalf and the greatest display of his love is the cross. And because of his great love for us, it spurs us on to obedience.

[39:11] It's a life of precise keeping, instruction, following, love, motivating, obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. Exact, thorough, meticulous, I dearly love you, obedience to our Lord.

[39:23] That's what you see here from this part of Exodus. That kind of obedience driven by their love for him and really by his love for them.

[39:37] Let's pray. Take a moment to thank the Lord. We do thank you Father. That you show us your great love.

[39:52] Your great love you showed us in the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet so many times our desires conflict with that.

[40:05] So many times our desires, as we have mentioned many times before in the song, prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.

[40:16] Why do I do those things? Sin is so irrational. I want what I want when I want it.

[40:30] God, we admit that our desires for what we want takes precedence over you. Oh God, please help us. Oh God, please change us.

[40:51] Take some time if you would, please. We'll have a time of silence for you to ponder. You take time to think.

[41:05] Take time to let your mind dwell on these things from what we've seen in Exodus, on these principles, this truth. And then after a few moments, we'll do our time of giving, which we do, part of our service.

[41:23] We'll sing two more songs, our closing prayer. let this be a time for you to focus, to ponder from what we've seen about who God is and what He's done for us and the loving obedience He calls us to have.

[41:41] again. Bye.

[41:52] Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.