Abounding Grace

Guest (Male): Pastor Ed, challenging us to bring our best to God. God wanted things to be beautiful. He wanted things done with excellence. He wanted to be worshiped with the best. Not necessarily the best that you don't have, but the best that you have.

Bring what you have to the Lord. Bring your best to Him. Bring your best attitude, bring your best heart, bring the best that you have. Just come as you are and watch the Lord work in your heart.

Guest (Male): Hi there, friend, and welcome to Abounding Grace. Pastor Ed Taylor will complete his study in Exodus today. In these final chapters we're about to look at, the tabernacle is being constructed.

Now, God went into great detail when describing to the people how He wanted His tabernacle built, and for good reason. It was to be a portrait of Christ. So, it's also good to note that the people heard the instructions and obeyed them completely.

Pastor Ed Taylor: Chapter 37 verses 1 through 9, the Ark of the Covenant is repeated. The ark with the mercy seat overlooking, speaking of Jesus, our mercy seat where we run today for our help in time of need.

The tabernacle pointing by faith of this old covenant community of a coming Messiah and Savior. Each time they'd see these beautiful colors, they'd smell the sacrifices. They'd remember the Ark of the Covenant overlaid in gold with the mercy seat would be speaking of the quality of Jesus, the Messiah to come.

Verses 10 through 16 was the table of showbread. It had 12 loaves there reminding the priest of the people of whom he was serving. One loaf for every tribe. But even more, the loaves reminded us of the bread of life, Jesus giving us our sustenance by faith.

Verses 17 through 24, the golden lampstand. What did Jesus say? "I am the light of the world." And this would be what lit the inside of the tabernacle. And of course, verses 25 through 29, the altar of incense and the holy anointing oil.

Oh, that we would be people of prayer and consecration. People that would lean upon the Holy Spirit and the power of the Holy Spirit. It's not by might, not by our own power, but by the spirit of God. It's His power and His strength.

Chapter 38 verses 1 through 7, the altar and the burnt offerings. The first thing you would see when you walk into the outer court was this altar of burnt offerings. Each time you would see this, you'd be reminded that the only way to approach God was through the sacrifice of an innocent animal.

You would see the blood there. It was a very bloody scene. Each time, you would be reminded of the price that must be paid for our sins. The bronze altar was made by the offering of the women and their polished brass mirrors.

In the New Testament, the women are reminded, and I think applicably for men as well, that don't let your beauty just be outward, but inward. Let the beauty that you carry in life and the handsomeness, men, that you carry in life be inward, not just outward.

And isn't the world so opposite? It's so upside down. It's so fake and so phony. It's not even real. The longer we go in the culture we're living in right now, there's so many things we're not even going to be able to tell the difference between what's real and what's not real. It's already happening.

And as you navigate in, here as a pastor and as a brother, as a dad, as a grandfather, let me give you some advice. You go into the world where you're not going to be able to tell what's right or wrong. You need a paper Bible. Because this is right all the time.

You need something that's printed, not connected to the internet. The battery won't wear out and it's yours. It's highlighted, it's circled, it's starred. You've got little dates here when the Lord spoke to you. You have everything that you need with this book.

This book here has 30 years of mileage on it. 30 years of notes. 30 years of, "Hey, this is where I turned to. This is what I look to." It's never let me down. It always tells me the truth and it always reminds me of a God who loves me.

And you need this in a world where you can't tell the difference between right and wrong, where you get confused on YouTube and you get confused on TikTok and you get confused with some of the images put out by AI. It's just the world we're in. We're not going to change it. This is the world we're in. You have to embrace it.

We were born to be alive in this time. This is the time. It does no good to complain about it. It does no good to say, "I wish we lived back in the black and white times." You don't think there was sin back then or their own issues? Sin has been with us since the garden.

And so we may want other times, I get it. This is real challenging. But if you get caught up in all the challenges, you're going to forget why God has you alive today. And God has you alive to reach people with the gospel and to love them in Jesus' name. That's something that AI and computers could never do like you could do.

Can you imagine the power? You can send somebody an email and you can send a text message and you can WhatsApp someone and you can send a DM. You can use a lot of tools to reach out. But isn't it different when you're looking someone in the eye and you hand them a card and you say, "Come to church with me"?

It's different. I'm telling you right now, it's different. Whether you agree with me or not, you should test it and you'll come back and say, "Oh yeah, you're right, pastor. It's different." Because you're right there. You're connected with them.

This is what God made you for, people to people. There's only two things that are eternal: people and the word of God. The souls of men and the word of God. That's what we get to take into eternity. That's it.

Isn't it great we get to invest our lives in the word of God and people. And so just start loving people, start inviting people, start praying for people. How do you approach a stranger or how do you approach someone in an awkward situation?

By the way, these situations with people, they're only awkward until they're not. It won't be awkward forever. You get a couple under your belt and you think, "I like this. I like connecting with people. This is amazing. This is great. I like being rejected. Lord, yes! Planted a seed. I planted a seed." And you walk away rejoicing.

But here, let me give you the question that most likely will open the door for you. Ready? You can jot it down, but you don't need to. You'll remember it. Here's the question: "Is there anything that I can pray for you about?"

That simple. You can use any kind of variation. Try to stay away from a yes or no. "How can I pray for you?" is a better way. If you ask that, it is more open-ended. But you know in the conversation how to approach it depending on how the conversation is.

You see somebody sitting there and they're crying, you have permission to go and approach them. You have permission. You don't need to ask anybody. You can go and be safe, of course, be wise, but you have permission.

"Hey, you know what? I just want you to know there's a God in heaven that loves you. And He's sent me to you right now. How can I pray for you?" And 99 percent of people are going to go, "Yeah, pray for me. This just happened. I just got this news. I don't know what's going to happen. I just wanted to be alone right now, but at the same time, I didn't want to be alone. And I'm so glad you're here."

You'd be amazed the responses you get back if you just do it. Just take the step of faith. Weren't you just praying earlier today for steps of faith? You were praying for yourself. You thought you were praying for someone else, but you were actually praying for yourself. "Lord, give me faith. I want to step into people's lives."

There's a whole world to be saved. Can you imagine what would happen if just double the amount of our church got saved in Aurora? What that would change in our city? What if triple the amount? And we're not even a very big church. Would that change the city, yes or no? It would.

It would change the neighborhood. It would change the street. It would change the workplace. And we get to be a part of it. But the enemy gets us off on things, we get all distracted and we get upset. Just keep your eyes on the Lord.

Let these times in church remind you of His faithfulness. So much in God's economy is symbolic, and you see it with the tabernacle. But it's also beautiful. God wanted things to be beautiful. He wanted things done with excellence. He wanted to be worshiped with the best. Not necessarily the best that you don't have, but the best that you have.

Bring what you have to the Lord. Bring your best to Him. Bring your best attitude, bring your best heart, bring the best that you have. Just come as you are and watch the Lord work in your heart.

Notice in chapter 38 in verse 8, this was the bronze laver. This is where the regular washings would take place of the priests. Then verses 9 through 20 was the outer court of the tabernacle. Verses 21 through 31 was the summary and the accounting of everything that came in.

With all the stuff coming in and being given, Moses keeps an inventory, keeping everyone accountable because all of this stuff that was brought to the Lord belongs to the Lord. And He deserves our best, even our best accounting. I know it might seem menial and tedious, but it's not when things belong to the Lord.

Chapter 39 verses 1 through 31 were the different pieces of clothing. The priests were different than all the people. They had special clothes that set them apart. But the clothes didn't make the man, the man was made to wear the clothes.

Just putting on priestly garments did not make you a priest. It's the same today, just saying you're a Christian, pretending you're a Christian, play-acting you're a Christian doesn't make you a Christian. You must be born again.

Only priests could wear the priestly clothing and it be accurate. You can't pretend. It is sinful to put off an air, to put on a face, to present yourself as one thing. Jesus even gave that parable about where your garments are.

You can't come in unless you have the garments that are given to you. You can't just put them on. They have to be given to you, the righteousness of Christ. But you can put on a face and you could put on airs, but Jesus calls that hypocrisy.

Don't think that if you just put on the outward, that's what makes you. It's the other way around. God makes you, and then He clothes you. You have to take off the clothes of the old man and put on the new man, the Bible says.

In chapter 39 verse 32 through 43 was the final inspection of Moses. He looked it over. Verse 32, "Thus all the work of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting was finished. And the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so they did."

And they brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent, all its furnishings, clasps, boards, bars, pillars, its sockets, the covering of rams skins dyed red, the covering of badger skins. They're bringing all of these things.

Verse 42, "According to all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did all the work. Then Moses looked over all the work, and indeed they had done it." Mark that. You want that to be the testimony of your life. "Indeed you did it."

Isn't that a different definition of hearing Jesus say, "Well done, good and faithful servant"? And here's what it sounds like: you did it. They did it. They brought all the resources, all the ingredients. They brought everything. They brought more than enough.

Then they obeyed and put it all together. They bring it to Moses. He looks over it as that representative of God and there it is. The Bible says they did it. And just like the Lord commanded, verse 43, just so they had done it, and Moses blessed them.

Here's the principle that you've heard me say many, many times: God blesses obedience. That's the blessing here. God blesses obedience. He does not bless disobedience.

You may have areas of your life where you're disobedient, where you're cutting corners, you might be a hypocrite, the things of the flesh that we really need to reckon the old man dead and deal with. But you're not in that space right now. You're just doing your own thing, kind of made a way, you made an excuse, you've got a reason.

And then I say, "Well, God blesses obedience. He doesn't bless disobedience." You go, "No, no, pastor, I'm living blessed right now." In your mind, you're processing right now. "Well, I don't know if that's so true. I mean, I see it here in Moses, but I don't have everything..."

I am talking purposeful stuff here, not accidental stuff, not stumbling. You're driving, you didn't mean to cuss, and somebody cut you off and you cuss. I don't mean that. I mean stuff you know about. Stuff you've been planning.

Plus stuff that you're in right now and you're just so convinced in your mind, but you're self-deceived. You go, "Well, I'm experiencing blessings. I still got this, I just got a raise." Let me explain what's happening to you. God is blessing you in spite of your disobedience. Not because of it.

He's blessing you because He loves you. He loves you as a child. You've been adopted into His family. The goodness of God, Paul would ask you, "Don't you know that the goodness of God leads to more disobedience?" No, no, no.

The Bible says, Paul asks the question to the Romans, "Don't you understand that the goodness of God leads to what? Repentance." So you're experiencing blessing, but don't think that God's blessing your sin. Don't think that God's blessing your compromise.

Don't think that God's blessing that area of your life where right now God's brought it to the surface just from a little study where we just summarized all these verses and look, here you are hearing from the Lord. Why? Because He loves you and He cares for you.

There's a principle that we'll never get out from under, not one of us. No one in the world will ever get out from under this: what you sow is what you reap. If you sow to the flesh, we're going to reap corruption. But if we sow to the spirit, we'll reap everlasting life.

Moses blesses the people and what a joy it was to experience it because they were obedient. They're not always obedient, are they? They don't always have this perfect resume. But I'm sure if we had a chance to interview them personally, they would say, "But I love the Lord. What I'm doing, I don't want to do. And what I'm doing I don't want to do, and what I don't want to do, I do."

It's like what Paul said in Romans chapter 7. "Who will deliver me from this body of death?" And then what? The deliverance comes from where? "God! I thank God! I thank God that He sent Jesus Christ." That's where the deliverance comes.

In chapter 40, they set up the tabernacle. Verses 1 through 33, they get it all set up and it's a beautiful sight. It's been about a year now since they've left Egypt. On the anniversary of their redemption, the tabernacle is set up.

"Then the Lord spoke," verse 1, "On the first day of the first month, you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. Put in it the ark of the testimony, partition off the ark with the veil, bring the table." There is a whole process that they're following.

Verse 4: "You shall bring in the table and arrange the things that are to be set in order on it. You shall bring in the lampstand and light its lamps. Verse 5, you shall also set the altar of gold for the incense before the ark of the testimony, and put up the screen for the door of the tabernacle.

You shall set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. And you shall set the laver between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar and put water in it. You shall set up the court all around and hang up the screen at the court gate.

Take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and you shall hallow it and all its utensils, it shall be holy. You shall anoint the altar of the burnt offering and its utensils and sanctify the altar. The altar shall be most holy. You shall anoint the laver and its base and sanctify it.

You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tabernacle of meeting and wash them with water. You shall put the holy garments on Aaron and anoint him and sanctify him that he may minister to me as priest.

You shall bring," verse 14, "his sons and clothe them with tunics. You shall anoint them as you anointed their father that they may minister to me as priests. For their anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations."

Thus Moses did according to all that the Lord commanded him, so he did. And it came to pass in the first month of the second year on the first day of the month that the tabernacle was raised up. So Moses raised up the tabernacle, fastened its sockets, set up its boards, put in its bars and raised up its pillars.

He spread out the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent on top of it, as the Lord had commanded Moses. He took the testimony and put it in the ark, inserted the poles through the rings of the ark, put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and he brought the ark into the tabernacle, hung up the veil of the covering, partitioned off the ark of the testimony as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Verse 22: he put the table in the tabernacle of meeting on the north side of the tabernacle outside the veil, and he set the bread in order upon it before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses. He put the lampstand in the tabernacle of meeting across from the table on the south side of the tabernacle, and he lit the lamps before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

He put the gold altar in the tabernacle of meeting in front of the veil, and he burned sweet incense on it as the Lord had commanded Moses. He hung up the screen at the door of the tabernacle, and he put the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting and offered upon it the burnt offering and the grain offering, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

He set the laver between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar and put water there for washing. And Moses, Aaron, and his sons washed their hands and their feet with water from it. When they went into the tabernacle of meeting and when they came near the altar, they washed as the Lord had commanded Moses.

And he raised up the court all around the tabernacle and the altar and hung up the screen of the court gate, so Moses finished the work. About a year now since they came out of Egypt. And I love how God keeps His calendar. His years are measured by spiritual accomplishments.

They began their year in the month of redemption. It was their spiritual birthday. That's why I like to celebrate my spiritual birthday. It was such a dramatic change for me. I believe my spiritual birthday is more important than my physical birthday, although that's important because I wouldn't have a spiritual birthday if I didn't have a physical one.

But my spiritual birthday means more to me than my physical birth. That's why when I ask how old I am, I have two numbers. I have a natural birth, what's on my birth certificate. But I also have a spiritual birth. And so now I'm getting kind of old. I'm in my 30s! I've been saved now 34 years in the Lord.

It's such a glorious thing to be saved, to have my life anointed with the oil of God, to see God take something and make beauty from ashes. To receive me by His grace. What did I do to deserve God to reach out to me? What did I do exactly for God to pinpoint me and invite me and adopt me?

I have that testimony. I look at my own physical adoption. I was adopted by my parents. What did I possibly do to earn adoption with all those kids in the nursery? I had poopy pants and I cried a lot. And I wasn't a good-looking baby either, so I had nothing working for me.

But what did I do to earn my parents' favor? What could I possibly do? I had nothing to offer. They chose me by their own will, their own choice, even as God did. And they chose me with love. My physical parents chose me with love and they didn't even know me yet. And they loved me as their own.

And yet God in all His knowledge, He knows everything about you: past, present, and future. He loves you. And He sent Jesus for you. It's just a beautiful thing to think of the faithfulness of God in our lives.

Guest (Male): What a great note to end this study of Exodus with: the faithfulness of God. And this is Abounding Grace with Pastor Ed Taylor. We hope you got a lot out of this study in Exodus. If so, please do tell.

You can email us at the website aboundinggraceradio.com. That's also the place to turn to catch what you may have missed in the series. Another option is the Calvary Church app. You know, storms come and go in our lives, and when the storm hits, there is something you need to know.

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You can also order the book online at calvaryco.store. You can also make a donation to the ministry online at aboundinggraceradio.com. And thank you in advance for helping us reach people with the love and truth of Jesus Christ here on the radio and the internet. Tomorrow, we're going to begin a new study in Galatians. See how Jesus has set us free as you join us the rest of the week.