Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

The House Of The Lord

We're going to pick up tonight again on that subject and allow the Lord to minister to us concerning that great gift, the grace of God, and the love that was shown to us that, while we were yet sinners, He loved us, and He sought us out, and that is the good news. But we're going to deviate just for one service this morning with something that was just going over in my heart, and prior to coming into service just going over this and felt I'd go ahead and share. As we're finishing up some of the work here in the back and to look at what we're doing and why we're doing it and the spirit that the Lord is speaking to us.

Let's turn to the book of Exodus. I think it's important that we don't lose sight of what is happening here as we're working in the house of the Lord. And not only the work that's gone on-the work that's taken place here in the auditorium, the sanctuary, and all of the great effort that's been made by some of us, and over the years the work that's taken place here; it's interesting. We were able to share with some of those that were up here working many of the events of years gone by, and now with the bookstore being changed, that last little bit of exposed cinderblock and fluorescent tubes going the way of all fluorescent tubes and able to bury that. But the spirit that's behind it, and to carry it not only from the work that's taken place physically over the years as we built the gymnasium and the education building, and now the remodeling of those; enough time has gone by (or the refurbishing, I should say), and the additional work of adding the air conditioning, the work here in the back offices. A lot of years and a lot of work have been put into this. And we ought to ask ourselves really continually, "Why is this being done and why am I choosing to participate in it?" But I want to take it one step further than that and have it deal also with the preparation of how we come into the meetings. Are we coming prepared to worship the Lord? I want to carry it a little bit this morning into our own spiritual house, because our bodies, our lives, are the temple of the Holy Ghost, and to talk about that preparation and how much emphasis is being put on beautifying our lives for the glory of God.

A couple of practical things I'll start off with, and that's the fact that we're a casual congregation here. Some people are surprised when they come to visit us, and we don't wear coats and ties. At the same time, you can take that relaxed and casual environment and overdo it. And so, we've had to comment a number of times that just because we're casual doesn't mean that we don't honor the Lord. We don't come in here with these rubber flip-flops on, and cutoffs, and tank-tops. You think, "Well, I do!" Well, you shouldn't! We're coming to worship the Lord. The Scripture talks about the preparation of how we come into His presence, and everything we do is to bring our best before God. Now, when I talk about "best," I'm not talking about fashion. And so, we don't want to contrast the two. But I think Exodus speaks toward it the best.

Let's turn to Exodus for just a moment, to chapter 25, and look at the original building of the tabernacle and, in the process, see the context of this. How many of you realize that a lot of what Moses was receiving from the Lord when he was on the mountain went beyond the Decalogue (or the Ten Commandments)? God spent a lot of the time in those forty days and forty nights with Moses telling him how He wanted His house built. Isn't that interesting? A lot of that time in the presence of God didn't have anything to do with the moral law that was being handed down. Now, we know about the Levitical ordinances that were put forth, but He was talking about how they were to conduct their lives. And at the center of all of their lives was the tabernacle of God. The presence of the Lord is the focal point of Israel. And in every one of our lives here this morning, the presence of the Lord has become that focal point to us. We've committed ourselves to worship, and serving, and communion seven days a week as we meet up here daily for prayer and for fellowship. Many of us are here on a daily basis, others that are not here quite that often, but that are here and making great effort in allowing this community to be knit together. That is the focal point of our existence.

In chapter 25, the Lord is speaking here with Moses, and He says, "Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering (verse 2)." I want you to get that in your notes. Every man that gives it, number one, willingly with his heart, that's acceptable.

I was sharing with Chuck, concerning the work that we've been doing that I really want to make sure that our hearts are right in what we're doing here. I understand that there's an obligation or a commitment, a unifying that's taken place over all of these years, and we've worked hard to see that accomplished here in our fellowship. And because of that, we're willing to help one another, and when we're called upon and asked to do something by friends or by those who are in positions of oversight, then we respond accordingly. That obedience is very good, but I want you take it one step further and understand that what the Lord is looking for is a willing heart. It's one thing to do something when you're asked; it's another thing to be looking for things to do. "What can I do to honor God? What more is it that I can do to empty myself, present my body a living sacrifice (as we've been studying), holy and acceptable unto God?" Because if it's not in this kind of an attitude, it's not accepted of the Lord. The work may get done, but there's nothing that GOD has accepted, there's no eternal consequence. Now we're not talking about serving God to get crowns, and stars on our crowns, and all of these things. But we are talking about what is acceptable unto God. And if it's not a willing heart, if it's not a cheerful heart, the work may be done, but it's not acceptable of God and so, every one of us should examine our own heart as to why we're doing many of the things. We all have found ourselves out sharing the gospel, but it's been done out of obligation, hasn't it? There's no reward for that. We need to understand that when we minister grudgingly, and give of our lives grudgingly and not willingly, there's no reward in the sense of being accepted of God. Somebody could have gotten saved, and we have no reward for it because our hearts weren't right. And so, as we examine in our giving of ourselves to the Lord in this study that we're in, and offering our bodies up, is it willing or is it grudging? Is it grace, or is it works? That's what we're talking about in the spirit of serving the Lord.

He goes down and begins to give a little bit of detail here, and we won't read that (concerning the rams' skins, and the oil for the light, and the onyx stones), but He says then in verse 8, "And let them make me a sanctuary…" Grab hold of that. "And let them make me a sanctuary…" You're going to see that this place was the place that God chose to put His name. Does the Omnipresent God, the God Who can hold the oceans in the hollow of His hand, the God whose span, Scripture tells us, covered the universe, He Who is invisible—can He somehow be contained within a house, a church, a building, a tent in this case? And the answer to that is yes. There's a place that God says, "I have chosen to put My name." The thing that's neat is this: He can be in all of them at once! Isn't that good news? Aren't you glad that God's not visiting some of the churches now in Hawaii and we're left here by ourselves? Because where two or three are gathered together in His name (what does the Scripture say?), He's here in our midst, praise God! And so, the Lord is here, but He has chosen to physically and geographically manifest Himself. So when the shekinah glory would come down upon the tabernacle, the presence of God was there. It was that place where He had chosen to put His name. Now, more importantly, we know that He dwells within these temples, doesn't He? And because of that, in the New Covenant, many people thought, "Because I'm the temple of the Holy Ghost, and God dwells in me, there's no more indication of a geographical gathering." If that were the case, He would have never called His church into community. He would have said that each one of us was an entity unto ourselves, that He would visit us in our tabernacles. But He's called us into community, and He's told us how to come corporately in the New Covenant and to worship together, how to pray together, how to let the gifts of the Spirit manifest within our midst so that everything could be done decently and in order.

God's here in this place this morning. Do you believe that? And it's not just in our lives individually. It's a place that He's chosen to put His name. Why? Because we’ve chosen to gather here to worship Him. He didn't supernaturally say, "I want this plot of ground for My glory." We chose to come together in this place and have committed it unto the Lord. We've sanctified it. This place has been sanctified by the fact that we've chosen to call it "the sanctuary of God, the house of the Lord." It was started originally by God. He said, "And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them." And so God ordained this to happen, and here now historically all of these thousands of years later we still are building edifices whether it's the smallest little lean-to somewhere in Africa (where we have some more good reports we'll be sharing with you tonight from what's taking place in Africa and the ministry that's going on there; it's an exciting time). I can still remember some of the buildings we preached in in Haiti that were unbelievable. I guess maybe buildings that were 10x16, and we would have fifty people in there! Talk about close fellowship! It's amazing. We saw the same thing when we were ministering in Korea. Churches that here would be designated as seating two hundred over there could seat a thousand. Well, they didn't even sit many times they just came and were crammed into the building with standing room only. But it was a place where God had chosen to put His name.

And He says in verse 9, "According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it." It's interesting that God was involved in the building. He was the architect of this thing, it was to be built according to His standards. We all have heard some of the different typology that was in the sanctuary, and that the whole tabernacle speaks of and is typical of the redemptive work that was going to take place in the person of Jesus Christ. As you do a detailed study, you begin to understand what all of the different colors represented, and I think some people get a little carried away with that but it is a great study. You can understand the royal aspect and the redemptive aspect of the different colors, the dyes, the gold, the silver, the sockets that were used of silver, and all of the different specific details that God had ordered. Could there be any deviation at all? "Let's not use silver; it clashes with our color scheme! Don't you understand the fad today is thus-and-so?" There was no deviation to what God said He wanted. Why? Because it all represented Jesus. It was typical of the redemptive work of God that was going to come, and it could all be seen in this building.

And there can't be any deviation today of the preparation of our own hearts, our bodies being the temple of the Holy Ghost, the cleansing that needs to take place on a daily basis as we wash ourselves with the water of the Word, the Scripture says. So many of us are quick to forget the daily preparation of our lives. And I think that it's obvious that those of us that so easily neglect the spiritual tabernacle, we can then lose sight of the respect and honor for the visible tabernacle of God. Now, don't misunderstand what I'm saying. I'm not saying that you don't do something when you're asked. I'm talking about how aware are we of the privilege of coming into His presence, of serving in the house of God? The Scripture says, interestingly, in Psalm 84:10—turn over there for just a moment if you would—these words as the psalmist is speaking. Now remember, the great praise that comes from the heart of the psalmist and the worship of all of the Psalms, the making of God big in the proclamation of these spiritually gifted individuals as the Holy Ghost moved upon them. Psalm 84:10 says, "For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." Here's the spirit that we're looking for. Would you rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord?

We were talking in our deacons' meeting Friday night. We're going to meet with and bring some information to many who are working as greeters and different things. Some were making observations, and I'll give you an extreme case. The two greeters are standing there just visiting with each other while visitors are walking by, never even seen! This was observed by a deacon. Two greeters who were talking to each other and the visitors weren't even addressed. They're visiting with one another and say, "You're old hat, man! We see you every week; just find your own way!" It's not that they're lost. Greeters are there to do something; they're there to greet. Now, if all of your greeting is going to one person and you're talking about who knows what, are we doing our job as doorkeeper in the house of the Lord? Are we doing it as unto the Lord? Do we realize that what's been given us, this responsibility to make God big in our midst is unto Him and not unto men? Why are we doing what we're doing? We don't have to do that. Why did we choose to do that? To honor God, to give our best in making people here that are coming into our midst (I'm talking about people that have been coming here for twenty years!) greeted. "Praise God, it's good to see you!" Are we going to take for granted that they're going to show up every week? The fact that they're here every week—does that mean that they don't need to be recognized in some way, or greeted, or honored? I'm just using that as one of the different aspects. We talked about the ushers, of some that come into the midst, whether it's you as regulars or some of our visitors, and the ones in the back just kind of point to a chair. Why not usher them? Because, after all, your title is not called "pointer." And so, you usher them in. Why? "Because I'm a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord." Beloved, do you understand the privilege (whatever the task is) of serving in the holy tabernacle of God. Is it that important to you anymore, or is it commonplace? Is it the presence of God that's here, or is it "church"? So the spirit that was here that you're going to see in just a moment, as Moses—now remember this is the guy who just came down with the glory shining from his face to such a degree that they couldn't even look upon him, he had to veil his face. Why? Because he had received plans for the house of God. That's only one aspect, but we need to understand the context. The psalmist says, "I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God."

Psalm 26:8, the psalmist speaking again, "LORD, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth." It was geographical. There's something about setting off those boundaries and marking a place that we believe we're going to encounter God. Now He's with us always, He said He'd never leave us nor forsake us. We're the temple of God, He dwells within us. He speaks with us individually, He communes with us and we worship Him on a daily basis. We pray without ceasing. The incense that was offered by the priests goes up from our own lips and our own hearts continually on a daily basis. But there's a place that He's chosen to put His name, a place that we come and honor Him. "Lord, I have loved Thy habitation and the place where Your honor dwells."

In Psalm 122:1, "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord." You know I just can't wait to get there! I can't wait to get into that spot. I don't know about you, but I go through the day in prayer and meditation but there's something in those evenings when I just walk through the doors in the evening to come up to this specific spot that I pray. As soon as I walk in my spirit just is refreshed instantly. The anticipation, the visitation, the place that's been marked and set aside. It's a time of refreshing and a time of communion with God that's special. It's because this is the place that's been designated where He's chosen to put His name. I'm not saying you can't have good fellowship with the Lord in your car as you're driving to work in the traffic jam. There are many places that God encounters us and speaks to us. I'm talking about a specific place where He's chosen to put His name. Why? Because we’ve chosen it. It's the house of the Lord, and we need to recognize it for what it is.

We've had special days set aside where we call everybody to come, and the young adults have come out primarily. The young adults get a lot of the extra privileges of working. (I think we need to start calling the old adults as well as the young adults.) One of the things we've done just recently was to go around in springtime and all of the different weeds that were growing, and we had a weed-pulling contest or whatever. Some of these things that are taking place, and that's great; but I wonder how few of us have just been walking up the sidewalk Tuesday after prayer and saw a weed in the house of the Lord and said, "That doesn't have any place here," and without anybody asking us, because we want to honor God, because of the privilege of being on this holy place where we should be taking the shoes off our feet, worshiped Him without being asked, without someone else having seen it and pointed it out to us, because I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. Oh, the willingness to help is phenomenal, but what I'm talking about is taking this from law (works) to worship and understanding the magnitude of this.

Go back to Exodus for just a second. In chapter 35, after Moses having made the mandate in 25, we begin to get a little more insight into what's going on. Chapter 35 of Exodus. For your notes, you can look at verses 4 through 29 (we're not going to read them all). "And Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord commanded, saying, Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the Lord; gold and silver, and brass (verses 4-5),"

Now, we've talked about the remodeling, the work that's gone on here, and the monies that were spent. We've talked about the Joash chest. Someone was asking me Wednesday how we mark these things. I just mentioned that whether it's your envelope, or check, or whatever, just put "Joash" on it, and we'll know where the designation is. Many of you have given offerings and haven't designated it, and so these numbers we've given you, I'm sure, are not totally accurate. You've always given and it's something that's a blessing to see, and it's an honor to God. We're not even talking about that part of it. We're talking about the spirit here in verse 5: a willing heart. I'm not going to get into the logistical part of this and the specifics. But I do want you to see that there's a great designation made in the Scriptures (and I think this is important for us to see) of monies that are given to the house of God. Everything that hasn't been given¾ we've shared to this point¾ I can't even remember what the numbers were Wednesday. But of accounted for monies, I think we were somewhere around thirty-something percent of what we've spent on much of the work on the house of the Lord, and what's come in. We haven't specifically asked for anything. We haven't said, "Look, you guys, we need to get some more money in here. We've spent more money than has come in." We haven't done that. And we've been wrong for not doing that, because nowhere in the Scriptures do we see that the tithe or other offerings were to be used for this purpose. I've meditated on that just a little bit and wondered, Okay, Lord, now speak a little more clearly. What is the reasoning here? Why is it that this one area is distinct from the other distinct areas? The tithe is very distinct. What is the tithe for? The tithe belongs to the Lord. And He chose then, of course, for the tithe to be given to His priesthood. The priests, then, received that (the Lord) as their inheritance. They're a people separate that didn't have any inheritance within the land such as the rest of the tribes of Israel. Levi was set apart. And so, there was a portion to the Levites, a double portion to the priests. The Levites were actually the inheritance of the priesthood. And so, there's that distinction made over here.

There's another very clear distinction that had to do with honoring God in the maintaining of the house of the Lord. Totally distinct. We see it within Joash. We see it here in the original building of the tabernacle. Now, throughout Scripture there's time when there's been either the neglect of the house of the Lord or the subsidizing based upon the people's awareness of God and the presence of God. But that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about what God had originally established. His original intent was this: that those of a willing heart would bring an offering and God's house would be honored—a willing heart, and God's house would be honored. He talks about some of the things that were to be done, and He says in verse 10 (this is a very interesting aspect of it), "And every wise hearted among you [not 'every wise guy’] shall come, and make all that the Lord hath commanded;" In other words, He's saying there are people among you that have talents. Now, we don't all have the same talents; but what He's saying here is to make sure that those among us that have talent¾ how many of you believe that God has gifted you with a talent of pulling a weed? Now we know that there is some skill involved, you have to get the root out. For some of us it requires great effort of bending over. But there's a wise hearted among us, and He said there are going to be skilled laborers. Much of what's done is of a skilled nature, and some of it's just grunt work. Those who have developed different skills we need to understand where those skills came from. "Well, they came because I'm just a little more coordinated than others, I'm a little more intelligent than others. I'm a little more superior to others." And we fail to realize that everything we have, we've received from the Lord, and it's to be used for the Lord. The skills came from God. The strength to be able to serve came from God. And He said, "Look out those that are skilled [that word wise hearted is talking about "skilled"), and they shall come and make all that the Lord has commanded."

Then verse 21 tells us what began to take place. "And they came [and they came, and they came], every one whose heart stirred him up…" Let me ask you a question this morning. When you see something that needs to be done or you've heard an admonition of what needs to be done does your heart leap within you or does it say, "Oh man, something else we have to do?" Does your heart leap within you? Does your heart stir you up and say, "I'm getting an opportunity to go into the house of the Lord! I'm getting an opportunity to serve in the kingdom of God! Here's another opportunity for me to give, because I've so freely received?" Does your heart stir you, or is it a burden? I shared with the guys the other day, I saw a sign-up thing. So I asked them, "Could you all fill me in a little bit here. I want to make sure that I understand what's going on." In some of our meetings I was hearing that we're having volunteers that are working in the school, and praise God. And I knew there was work going on and some of the work that was taking place at the ball field, and we were having weeds that were being pulled. And then I saw a sign-up saying that if you can wash windows, please sign here. I said, "I'm seeing a lot of calls for volunteer help, and I want to make sure that this is being used properly. I want to make sure that everyone who's on paid staff is not using their time looking for volunteers, that everyone who's on paid staff is doing their job, and doing all that can be done, and honoring God in the midst of it. We've done a lot, there are a lot of demands that are placed upon the congregation. I want to make sure that they're not being used in a way that could maybe more efficiently be orchestrated." So we went through, and I began to hear the schedules and how many people are working here in the school and how many days they're working, and how long, and whatever, to make sure that you’re not being abused. Don't misunderstand when I use that word. I'm not talking about that I think the staff is going to abuse you purposely in any way. But that's my job, to see that everyone is ministered to and cared for. So we began to look at all of those different areas. In the process of this there was a little bit of confusion, thinking well maybe we just need to not say anything." Whether I sent mixed signals in this or not isn't the issue. I shared, "You know, if we ask, it gets done, but man, how I would love to see hearts being stirred, and people standing in line saying, ‘What can I do to help?’ Not an obligatory thing, not a community responsibility, but a worship to God."

"And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made him willing, and they brought the LORD'S offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation." We've had people here who are skilled, people that have skills that we've really needed, and we've asked them and it's very obvious that they didn't have this heart. It was a drudgery. If you'd ask them, it would be forever and a day before it got done. I said, "Don't even ask them anymore. I'd rather pay some secular guy twice as much money as he's worth than to have somebody in our midst grudgingly using their gift." Beloved, you need to understand something. We don't look for volunteer help just to save money. That's part of it, because there's only so much money, isn't there? And we have to decide, then, where we're going to use that money. If you sit down and really figure out where we've used it over the years, you'll find out that the excess money—the millions and millions of dollars in the last number of years of excess money that we've had—the vast majority of it (and I won't speak a percentage because it would just be a guess, goes into our children and all that we do to subsidize education—the preparation, the facilities, the different things that have been given. The staff that is here (or I should say the overstaffing that we have here) to be able to bring about not only care, not only good care, but abundant care of this fellowship. And so, the monies we're saving go into those areas. We don't need everybody that's working here to do the job. But the fact that we are overstaffed should mean that everyone here is not only being cared for, but cared for abundantly. And I hope you feel that way. What we're looking at is realizing that as each one gives willingly as each one ministers to the Lord, everything that you give, we don't have to hire out. We could pay, and do pay, people for work that does go on up here but I refuse to pay anybody among us that demands pay. If you're going to require payment from the house of the Lord, then I'll go hire some secular guy and pay him. You say, well, we need money too. Sure you do. And that's why we all have jobs and the different things that God's called us to do. But the whole biblical principle is if it's ministry, you provide the ministry and God will provide the resources. It's something that's offered up, it's not something that's demanded. It's part of the spirit.

The Scripture goes on here and speaks toward this in a really interesting way. It says in verse 22, "And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold: and every man that offered offered an offering of gold unto the Lord. And every man, with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, and red skins of rams, and badgers' skins, brought them (verses 22-23)." And you go down and read, and it talks about all the women that were wise hearted, and they were able to spin and work with their hands, and they brought that which they had spun, both blue and purple. We all know and we've emphasized the fact that all of the work that goes on around our own homes, and we lived in sealed homes, and the house of the Lord was in disrepair, and that's not the case here. But there was some neglect up to a point, and we said, "We're just not going to let that happen; we want to honor God with our giving."

It says in verse 29 that the children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the Lord. What was the offering? It wasn't only the gold and the bracelets, and the earrings. What was it? It was the skills that the people had that they brought. They were a willing offering, verse 29 says, those "…whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work…" When it has to do with what we want to do, when it has to do with going out to the mall, or running to the pool, or playing golf, or whatever it is that excites us. Can we get that done in a timely manner, and then things that you were intending to do at the house of the Lord are still waiting to be done? The priority of worship, and the priority of honoring God, and the gifts that He's given us.

Do you want to know a visitation of God? Look at verse 31 for just a second. Do you want to have God's anointing upon you? Check this. "And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship;" Do you want to be supernaturally good? Do something for God. Do you want to pull weeds in a way that you've never pulled weeds before? Do you want to pull weeds that, man, when they come up, some Chinese man is missing something on the other side? God's supernatural involvement in what you're doing because it's being done for His glory? Do you want to lay down the purest bead of caulk you've ever put down? Do you want the anointing of the Holy Ghost upon every stroke of your brush? The next time you get a little weary in stroking that brush, remember that you're doing it with the strength of God, and for the glory of God, and with the anointing of God, when you're doing it in His house. When you're working down the street, you're doing it as unto the Lord, but you're doing it for a buck. And that begins to be the real issue of what we're talking about: the privilege of coming into God's house and having His spirit come upon you to do the work. What's it worth to know the visitation of God, to move in a way that glorifies the Lord.

Look over at chapter 36 for just a second, and look at this phenomenon that doesn't happen often. In chapter 36, the Scripture tells us that Moses calls the overseers and those that have been gifted and called. "…every wise hearted man, [verse 2 says] in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it:" Moses then put into their hands all of the offerings, verse 3 tells us, that had been brought, "...And they brought yet unto him free offerings every morning." Willing hearted people whose hearts had stirred them up, people filled with the Spirit to be about the business of God. "And all the wise men (verse 4), that wrought the work of the sanctuary, came every man from his workplace and said to Moses (verse 5), "The people are bringing more than enough. The people are bringing more than we can use. The people are standing in line out there wanting to be used, and we can't find anything for them to do." Moses then made a commandment and said, "Proclaim it throughout the camp, let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing (verse 6). For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much" (verse 7).

What happens when we're touched with the reality of the presence of God? What happens in the heart of men and women when we realize the privilege of service and not the drudgery? What happens when it becomes worship and not works? Then there's more than enough, there's never a shortage. The opportunity of coming and when we come what kind of a heart are we moving in? And are we willing to be doorkeepers? Can we do the things that are not visible? Do we keep score and report at the next home fellowship group how many weeds we pulled while no one was looking? Do we have the attitude that's so prevalent in our society today that somebody will do it? I'm guilty of that. I purposed three times to pick that box up at the corner of Cromwell and never did it. Did you all see that box laying up there? There was a box that was on the street on Tuesday. And I was busy I had an appointment I was coming to. The box was in the middle of the road, and I said, "I need to throw that thing in the back there and trash it." Then I thought, "Man, I've got some people waiting." (I think it was Tuesday I can't remember if it was the guy who was going to resurface these sidewalks or who it was.) I went by and said, "I'll get it on the way back." I don't know if I ever went back, but I'm sure I did. The next day I came, and it was raining, and it was sitting over on the gutter. Actually, it was sitting on the drain. I said, "I need to throw that thing in here and get rid of it." It started raining harder, and I thought, "I'll get it when it's not raining so hard." Yesterday I drove by (this is the fourth or fifth day), and it was sunny. I was really in the flesh at that moment, because what entered my mind was, "I didn't drop it, let somebody else pick the thing up!" It deteriorated from, "I should pick that up" to "Let somebody else do it" in just four days! I may stop and have Janet get it on the way back this afternoon.

Willing hearts, the glory of God, worship and not works, is what the Spirit is speaking about.

Let's finish this morning with one other aspect that I think is important for us. I Chronicles 29, the king is speaking here, the man that had another spirit in him, and a man after God's own heart. Verse 3 says, "Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my God, I have of mine own proper good [that's an interesting comment, isn't it?], of gold and silver, which I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, Even three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses withal:" You can look, if you would, at chapter 22, verse 13. "Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which the Lord charged Moses…Now, behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the Lord an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and of brass and iron without weight…" That amount is about four billion dollars. Over and above that was set out of his own pocket David gives ninety million dollars in this particular verse. What prompted him to do that? The other monies were raised, the corporate giving, but he says, "Out of my own proper good." What caused that? "Because I have set my affection to the house of my God." There can't be affection without personal involvement.

I was sharing with the guys the work that's been done over the years. I was sharing that years ago back in what's now the conference room we were having a work day and a young man¾ some of you will remember him; his name is Stuart¾ came to help. We were going to do some painting. I turned around and looked, and I've never seen anything like this before. Stuart was going to paint. We had just opened a fresh gallon of paint for him. He stuck the paint brush down to about his first knuckle. I turned and he was standing like this looking at the wall with paint dripping off his elbow. And I said, "Stuart, put the brush down, we need some donuts from Seven Eleven." God had not ordained him to paint. Some of us like to tear stuff up. There used to be a cinder block wall right back there where those people are sitting until I removed it with a sledgehammer. I do that well. I saw in the Baltimore church as we were looking down through their storage area I took out a number of those cinder block walls with a sledgehammer. We built a fire escape in the Baltimore church. I remember being here 5:00 in the morning putting on door closures on the third floor of the education building, because the inspector was coming at 8:00, and school started at 8:15. Some of you were here for that. And some of you have had that privilege as you worked in this auditorium and worked late into the night and had to go to work the next day. But you were refreshed. You were worshiping your God. Anything less robs you and Him. It's the message that He's ordained to glory in His name. Let's make sure we have willing hearts.

Father, we thank you for the word of God. We ask you that as it pertains to the giving of the gold and the silver as it pertains to the giving of the talents that you've given us and blessed us with. You're the source and it's for your glory. Where are we in our worship? In the Old Covenant as they came and brought too much and we contrast it with this study we've been in of the free gift, Jesus, of your blood and your broken body. And we study that where sin abounded grace did much more abound. Hebrews says much more. If they could give that much with much less what should we give with much more having been given to us? When they could respond under the law how should we respond under grace? How thankful should we be! Called into the sanctuary of our God. Make it real, Lord. Don't let it become common. Don't let us lose sight of how valuable our communion is and our fellowship. Not around the picnic, a movie, a ballgame, but our fellowship around the tabernacle of God to where we can sit and talk and fellowship and talk of the good things of God while we're serving in your kingdom and in your house. Then you are glorified to the best extent that can be done in the natural. Thank you for that privilege, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Let's stand before the Lord this morning. As Gary plays for us, we'll take a moment to worship the Lord. Many of you, especially the young adults are busy up cutting out trees and different things in the ball field and that's great. Those were things to be done so that the children and the wives could have some shade. I told Jeff, "No more games up there until the work is done. Tell them that after we cut all this junk up, then we can play." Some people say, "Man, that's a hard taskmaster!" No, that's just priorities. Somebody said the other day, "We're having trouble getting somebody to do something." I said, "Go close the gym, it's Monday night, close the gym, and tell everybody up there bouncing the ball to come down here and get a brush (unless they're Stuart, then send them to Seven-Eleven)." There are priorities. It's not a have-to, it's a get-to. It's a privilege. The hours the men have put in. Chuck's not up here all these hours because he's getting paid overtime. He's not getting an extra dime in his salary. It's because the work needs to be done. Richard, who battles respiratory problems—last Tuesday, it was nasty. He was in the attic crawling on his stomach. You can't even raise up. Over the bookstore the space is so small you have to crawl through there. He was running some wires. Why? So you could have mood music in the bookstore. Jim LaRock is down here from Baltimore, we're working Tuesday night until eleven or twelve o'clock and then he has an hour plus drive home. And you were where? Don't misunderstand. For every one of these men, it's a privilege. This isn't belly-aching. This is not saying anything other than just pointing out that to be in His presence is the privilege of serving. You just do the work to the glory of God. As He works on this sanctuary now, the temple of God, everything that we've talked about is to be applied to this temple: the diligence, the priority, the privilege of His indwelling. It's never a drudgery when you've encountered His presence.

Let's sing this together and just worship Him this morning, and ask Him to do the work in us, and to give us willing hearts to build the spiritual and the physical tabernacle of God.

Lord, just do the work in our hearts, and cause us to be a people that understand the principles of the tabernacle of God and the presence where you've manifested yourself spiritually. And you will manifest yourself literally in our midst as you bring strength and an anointing to do the work. Lord, when we understand that it is that anointing that's carrying us what a time of refreshing and what a privilege to serve. Father, make it real and we ask that you would be glorified in Jesus' name. Amen.

Before you go, turn to somebody and say, "It's good to be in the house of the Lord."

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