God speaks to us from His Word. This morning we will read two particular places in God's Word. Our Old Testament reading is from Exodus 31. And Exodus 31 will be our, the text we will focus on this morning will be the focus and the substance of this morning's sermon. So Exodus 31, we'll read the entire chapter. The Lord said to Moses, see, I have called by name. Bezalel, the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood to work in every craft. And behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men ability that they may make all that I have commanded you, the tent of meeting, the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is on it, and all the furnishings of the tent, the table and its utensils, the pure lampstand with all of its utensils, and the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering with all of its utensils, and the basin and its stands, and the finely worked garments, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons for their service as priests, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense for the holy place. According to all that I have commanded you, they shall do. And the Lord said to Moses, you are to speak to the people of Israel and say, above all, you shall keep my Sabbath. For this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. You shall keep the Sabbath because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. Therefore, the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever, It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made the heaven and earth and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed. And he gave to Moses when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone written with the finger of God. This is the word of the Lord. And our New Testament reading, New Testament lesson from the book of Revelation towards the very end of Revelation, chapter 21, we'll read verses 22 through 27. And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light. And its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. And its gates will never be shut by day. And there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it. Nor anyone who does what is detestable or false. But only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray. Eternal Father, who has spoken in various times and in various ways to Your people in the past, but in these last days You have spoken to us by Your Son, the incarnate Word. Father, we pray that You will open the mouth of Your servant to proclaim that Word and the power of the Spirit We pray that this same spirit will open the hearts of its hearers that are here assembled, that they might receive your holy gospel, and that you would write on their hearts your holy law, even as you have promised. All of this, gracious Father, we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Savior. Amen. A child might ask, might say to her parents, mom, dad, may I cross the street? A good parent would hopefully respond to her and say, if it is safe, certainly you may cross the street. It is not forbidden. And in daily life, we put this into practice all the time. We may do things that are not forbidden of us. We may do things that are not forbidden. But God's worship is not daily life, is it? We may not apply this same principle to God's worship. May we do this is not the question we should be asking when we understand what we do in God's worship. Instead, the question we are to ask is what has God commanded of us? We don't ask what is forbidden, we ask what has God actually commanded us to do? Right, since God is God, he alone has the right to determine how he is to be worshiped. He alone has the right to determine how he wants to be worshipped. Now, we have to remember where we are or where this particular text, Exodus 31, falls within the broader context of the book of Exodus. If we look back at the end of chapter 24, Moses has gone up to the top of Mount Sinai. And he has been on the Mount Sinai. We read there in verse 18 of Exodus 24, Moses entered the cloud. He went up on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights. And so Exodus 31 is kind of the end of these 40 days that Moses has been on the mountain. From chapter 25 to here to chapter 31, these contain God's detailed instructions for the tabernacle. And we read in the beginning of chapter 25, verse 8, God says, let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell in their midst. And so for the next few chapters, from chapter 25 through 31, God is giving these instructions for his tabernacle. And a repeated theme throughout these chapters in the Lord's instructions for his tabernacle is that his people must do this work. They must do these things. They must do this work according to his way. They must follow God's way. God says in Exodus 25 verse 9, you have to do this exactly as I show you. Concerning the pattern of the tabernacle and all of the furniture, so you shall make it exactly as I show you. God is saying to Moses. God determines the way. That this work should be done. He sets the standard for the way to which he is to be worshiped. And we hear this again in chapter 31. Notice what God says at the end of verse 6. They shall make all of this as all that I have commanded you. And a very similar conclusion at the end of verse 11. According to all that I have commanded you, they shall do. But friends, God has only placed a call upon how we are to worship Him, but He has also determined how we are to live before Him. Right? He has not given specific instructions for every detail and every decisions of our lives, but He has determined the way in which we are to live before Him. The way in which we are to worship and live before Him. You see, friends, it is not enough for the willing hearted to follow the whims and the fancies of their hearts, of our hearts. Doing the Lord's work means doing the Lord's will. All that I have commanded you. And yet we know that we are very good at resisting doing the Lord's work in the Lord's way. We prefer to do things our way. It's a lot easier to do things our way. We resist doing God's work in God's way. Now, a question we might ask if we understood what we're saying here, that we must do the Lord's work in the Lord's way. Does this mean what you're saying, Pastor, is that God is opposed to creativity? God is opposed to art. Is that what we're saying here? No, certainly not. God loves your creativity. He wants us to glorify Him with the gifts and the creativity that He has given to us. In the visual arts, in music, as we hopefully saw this weekend, in architecture. These are good things. God loves beauty. John Calvin of all people said the following, all the arts come from God and are to be respected as divine inventions. But when it comes to his worship, when it comes to his tent, the whims, the fancies, the preferences, and the creative imaginations of the people must yield. Our work and our worship must conform to the Lord's will, to His way. We must do the Lord's work in the Lord's way. And this morning we see in Exodus 31 that the Lord's way is firstly the way of God's Spirit. The way of God's Spirit. Secondly, we'll see the way of God's rest. And thirdly, we'll see the way of God's Word. So firstly, we see here in verses 1-11, the way of God's Spirit. Who's going to make all this stuff? All of the furniture, all of the things, the tent, the tabernacle. Who's going to sew the fabric for the tent? Who's going to shape and form the gold, the silver, and the bronze, right? The altar, the Ark of the Covenant. Who's going to build all the wooden poles and the furniture? Who's going to carve the stones that are going to go into the breastplate of the high priest? Who's going to fashion and sew together the glorious and holy garments of the high priest? Who's going to do all this work? Could God have just dropped these out of heaven, given to them, to God's people as a gift? Certainly He could have, but instead He chose certain people. who were gifted in these areas to do this special and unique and amazing work. And these two individuals are so important that Moses took the time to remember their names. These two men, Bezalel and Oholiab. And notice here how God speaks about Bezalel in verses 2-3. See, I have called by name, Bezalel, the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And notice especially what God says through Moses in verse three. I have filled him with the spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship. Now imagine Oholiab. He has received a commission from God himself. It's my understanding that you guys are working on a possible expansion to the sanctuary, to a building project. And when you do a building project like that, you probably hire an architect. And so in that instance, you would be the client and you are commissioning the architect to do this work. And so in a similar way here, we see that God, we might say, is the client. He is commissioning Oholiab to do this work in his way. No one in all the nation of Israel could substitute for Bezalel and Oholiab. The Lord chose these men because of their own specific background and skills. They knew how to do these things. They had skills in this particular type of work, this craftsmanship, this artistry. And notice that God promises that he's going to fill Bezalel, and I think we can assume also Aholiab, with the Spirit of God. Now, there's been a lot of confusion in the church in the present day, in our own day, about what it means to be filled with the Spirit of God. If we understand properly what the grammar of verse three is trying to tell us, It implies that the filling of God's Spirit is really enhancing gifts and abilities that Bezalel already possessed. God's Spirit is enhancing the gifts and the skill that Bezalel already possessed. And notice the skills that Moses lists, that God lists for us in verses 4-5. Artistic designs. to work in gold, silver, and bronze, cutting of stones for setting, and carving wood to work in every craft." What a talented man. God is going to use him. And so it's the filling of God's Spirit that makes him capable of any sort of work to which God assigned to him. And so that Bezalel's tabernacle work would be up to God's standards. We hear that Bezalel is going to be assisted by this man, Oholiab, we're told in the beginning of verse 6. And behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Asimahak, of the tribe of Dan. And we'll hear later that both of these men, and if we read on in Exodus in chapter 36, these two men are going to lead, we might say, a guild of craftsmen to put all of this work into place. To complete this once in a lifetime, literally a once in history, really, unique building project. But even though these men are blessed with God's Spirit, they are not free to follow their imaginations and creativity beyond the bounds of God's way and His will. Remember how God concludes in verse 11 to this section. They must do according to all that I have commanded you. They shall do. Now we have to understand, God doesn't reveal all the specifics. He doesn't say that the cherubim have to be of this design, of this length, of this height. He doesn't give all the details. He doesn't say the particular patterns of the garments of the high priest. And so some things were obviously left up to the artists, who were free to exercise their creativity, their giftings, to make things that are beautiful for God's temple. that are within the bounds of obedience to God. In order to fulfill this divine function, God's holy dwelling had to be made by the best artisans as well as with the finest materials. And it's very interesting, right? The same spirit who had created all creation is the one who would be equipping these men with the skill they needed to build the tabernacle. But the way of God's spirit will always agree with the will of God. The spirit will never contradict God's prescribed way of worship and service. What can we understand? What is it we understand by this we read here in the way of God's spirit? Well, especially we understand it in what we're thinking about this weekend of Pentecost. Brothers and sisters, in Christ, on this side of Pentecost, you have a greater filling of the Holy Spirit than Bezalel ever had. You have been filled with God's Spirit. That Spirit is guiding you in a similar way as He guided and enhanced the skills of Bezalel. God the Holy Spirit guides us and works within us to fulfill the vocations that He has set before you. Not all of us are called to be artisans and craftsmen. Some of us are. But the same Spirit enhances the skills that you already possess. May we pursue our callings, our own vocations within the limits to the honor and glory of God according to His will and according to His way. Secondly, we hear in Exodus 31 this morning is the way of God's rest. Right after Bezalel and Aholiab are commissioned to do this incredible work, we hear some familiar words. If we've been reading through Exodus, these words are not new. Verse 12. And the Lord said to Moses, you are to speak to the people of Israel and say, above all, you shall keep my Sabbaths. You shall keep my Sabbaths. God repeated this command in Exodus 16 when he gave the manna. The people were not to gather manna on Saturday. And then very clearly, where else do we hear this command, boys and girls, in Exodus? In the fourth commandment, in Exodus chapter 20. And so if God repeats something this many times in one book, we can safely say and conclude that the Sabbath is important to God. And we can say if it's important to God, then it should be what? Important to us. Now, repeating the Sabbath here might seem strange. It might seem a little bit out of place. Why put it here after this divine commissioning for these men? And as we'll see, this is the very conclusion of Moses' time on Mount Sinai. Why this emphasis on the Sabbath at this point? Well, it actually makes a lot of sense in this context to remind Israel, remind those men and women called to do this work, that there needs to be a Sabbath. Now, I've learned a lot of value in keeping a to-do list. If I don't keep a to-do list, I will forget, you can ask my wife, easily forget things that I need to do. God has just given Moses, He's just given Bezalel, Oholiab, He's given them a very long to-do list. They have all these things they have to do now. This work will require many hours of sweat and labor. Again, God didn't just drop it down out of heaven. It's going to require work, time, energy, sweat. People are going to get injured. hit themselves in the finger with hammers. It's all of this that goes into making things. But even during this supremely important work, the people could not forsake the way of God's rest. Even though they were doing the Lord's work, doing it according to the way, To His way, the craftsmen, the seamstresses, the carpenters, they needed to rest every seven days. Verse 15. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. This was the Lord's way to work. to follow the way of God's rest. And notice here that God's way of rest is really patterned off of God's own work. His own work of beauty and creation. All right, boys and girls, remember how many days did it take God to create everything, the heavens and the earth? It took him six days. Again, we might think of another hypothetical. Could God have done it instantly? Yes. Why did He choose to do it then in six days? To teach us something. To teach us something. We hear that in verse 17. The Sabbath is a sign forever between me and all the people of Israel. That in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed." We are called to follow God's own pattern of work and rest. Laboring six days, we rest one day following God's own example. Think about it. One Saturday morning, Remember, again, in the Old Testament, the Sabbath day was Saturday, okay? One Saturday morning, Bezalel wakes up. He sees these beautiful gemstones on his table. Surely, surely these precious stones will adorn the breastpiece of the high priest. Surely God won't mind if I just do, just carve a few names of the tribes of Israel into these stones. Not according to the way of God's rest. No one was permitted to say that the exceptional nature of the work in hand allowed to make adjustments to God's way. As ever, God's work must be done in God's way. You see, brothers and sisters, there's no project at work, there's no deal that needs to get closed, there's no soccer game, there's no playoff game that is more glorious, more beautiful, more majestic than meeting with God in worship. Than being fed by His Word being seated at His table. The way of God is the way of God's rest. Thirdly, we see this morning at the very conclusion, the very last verse of Exodus 31, is we see thirdly and finally the way of God's Word. We've seen the way of God's spirit, we've seen the way of God's rest, and finally we see this morning the way of God's word. Verse 17 are the last words that God gives to Moses on the mountain. But before Moses can go back down the mountain to the people, God has one last thing to give to him, something that God had long ago promised that he would give to Moses. the tablets of the testimony, verse 18. And God gave to Moses when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone written with the finger of God. So really verse 18 of Exodus 31 is the conclusion to this whole episode beginning back in chapter 25. These tablets, We often think of these as two tablets, and obviously we're told there that there's two tablets. And these tablets will be placed in one particular place. They're going to be placed in the Ark of the Testimony. They are placed in the Ark as the documents, as the covenant documents between God and Israel. These tablets will one day be placed with inside the ark of the covenant. If we turn back just a few chapters to chapter 26, I'm sorry, chapter 25, we hear in verse 16 where these tablets are to be placed. Exodus 25, 16. You shall put these tablets into the ark of the testimony that I shall give you. Now, why two? Well, commonly, if you've seen Sunday school printouts that we put up in our Sunday school rooms, one tablet has the first four commandments on it. The other tablet has the following six commandments of our obligations to our neighbors. And that's a helpful way for us to understand it, and that's the way our catechism actually understands the two tablets, the two tables of the law. But it's most likely that both of these tablets were full copies of all 10. So there were two copies of all 10 of God's commandments written on both of the tablets. This was common in the Old Testament world. When you made a covenant, when you made a treaty with another king, with another nation, you would make two tablets. One copy you would keep, as a record of your obligations. Another copy would be given to the other party so they could remember their obligations. And so one copy of the tablet would be for God as a witness against Israel. Another copy would be for the people as a reminder of their obligations. And remember, on these tablets are the ten commandments, the ten words. God's word that revealed to us the way they are to worship God in the first four commandments and the way they are to love and serve and honor their neighbors in the last six. These words are God's words. The way of God's word. Now notice, it's interesting, they are written on stone. Right, boys and girls, one of the benefits of using a pencil is that you can erase. As one of my professors says, pencils have a built-in humility reminder. These words were not written in pencil, partly because they didn't have pencils, but also because it is written in stone. They couldn't be erased. You couldn't go back and make changes. And not only are they written in stone, but Moses tells us that they are written with the very finger of God. The words carved deep into these tablets are not the words of men about God. They are the very revelation of God Himself. God's Word was the standard for His people. And brothers and sisters, God's Word is still the standard for our worship, it is still the standard for our living. The church is called to shape its worship not according to the tastes, preferences of the pastor, the elders, the worship leader, or the congregation. The principle that continues to govern the worship of God is not what may we do, but what has God commanded us to do. And the Word of God tells us that God honoring worship includes prayer, the ministry of the Word, preaching, and the amazing and glorious ministry of the sacraments. Brothers and sisters, what does this mean for any of us this morning as we come to a conclusion? Well, God has revealed a particular way that we must live before Him according to His Word. God has revealed a very particular way in which we must worship Him. And yet, friends, we all know that we are not living according to God's way. We don't want to live according to the way of His Spirit. We don't want to live according to the way of His rest. We often think we know better than God's way. And we don't want to live according to the way of His word. And so we know that we have all failed in thought, word, and deed to live by God's way. But let's remember again where these tablets will be placed. Where had God commanded them to be placed? Remember in the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark is specifically referring to the box that will hold these two tablets of testimony. But remember what goes over the box, what goes on top of the box? A solid gold lid. with two cherubim. And that lid is called, has a very specific name that God gives to it. It is called the mercy seed. A better translation is the place of atonement. The atonement cover. And what would happen on that atonement cover once a year? The high priest would come in on the day of atonement and would do what? What would he sprinkle on that solid gold lid? Blood. The blood of atonement on the day of atonement. And so you see, brothers and sisters, it is in the grace, it is in the mercy, it is in the love of God that He provides. He provides a cover of atonement, a cover of perfect reconciliation. That the blood can satisfy His justice. The blood of another satisfies for all of the ways we have not kept His way and His will. And our God, who has revealed this amazing and provided the atonement cover over the ark, the same God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, sent His Son to be the propitiation, to be the atonement for all of our sins. And so we see, brothers and sisters, it is under the perfect blood of the atonement, it is under the perfect blood and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, that we have that hope of eternal rest. In that tabernacle, that temple which will never fade away. That amazing, beautiful image that we heard in Revelation 21. And I saw no temple in the city. For its temple is the Lord God, the Almighty and the Lamb. And they will bring into this temple the glory and the honor of the nations. Loved ones, that is our hope. That is what the blood of Jesus Christ has shed and promised for us. And we, again, we partake of that. We have a foretaste of that every Lord's Day when we gather here for worship. That is our hope. That is our joy. And until that day comes, we rely on His Spirit. We rely on His Spirit to live every day of our lives according to His way. To Him be the glory now and forever. Amen. Let's pray. Father, If we considered what we've heard in your word this morning, we know, if we're honest, that we have not lived and worshiped according to the way that you have revealed to us in your word, that we have spurned the work of the Holy Spirit. And yet in your great mercy, O Lord, you have provided a perfect atonement, a perfect propitiation, a perfect reconciliation to you through the death, the life, and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so, Father, as we look to Christ, as we look to what he has done for us and completed for us, We pray that as your spirit works in us, that we would indeed worship you according to your way and that we would live lives that honor you as we love and love your rest and love the way that you have revealed to us in your word. Father, we ask all of this for the glory of your name and for our growth and grace. We ask it in Jesus name. Amen.