that but look at Exodus chapter 36 verse number 1. The Bible says, Then Betheliel and Aholihab and every wise hearted man in whom the Lord put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary according to all the Lord hath had commanded. And Moses called Bezalel and Aholiab, and every wise-hearted man in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, even everyone whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it. And they received of Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary to make it with all. And they brought yet unto him free offerings every morning. And all the wise men that wrought all the work of the sanctuary came every man from his work which they made. And they spake unto Moses saying, the people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the Lord commanded to make. And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing, for the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it. and too much. Let's pray at this point. Heavenly Father, we do thank you. Again, just to be in the house of God, thank you for the choir singing the special songs, and we do thank you for your blood that was shed for us on the cross of Calvary. We thank you, Lord, for your many promises. Thank you, Lord, for your blessings in our life. We do pray, Lord, for those that are still sick this morning, those that are still recovering. Help them, Lord, to be all the way on the mend, to get better, be able to be back in the house of God. And I just pray, Father, we thank you again for those who are able to be here, Lord. Thank you for an opportunity, Lord, to simply tell you thank you, that we love you, that, Lord, you're beyond good to us. Lord, you are the greatest thing that ever happened to us. Lord, your blood has made the difference in our life. Lord, we ask you that this morning, Lord, you just work in our hearts as we preach through the word of God this morning. Would you hide me behind the cross, Calvary? God, you empty me out of myself. Fill me with the spirit of God. Use me one more time for your glory. And Lord, if there's somebody here that needs to get saved by the grace of God, I pray, Lord, today would be that great day, God, where they'd simply put their faith and trust in you, God, and you'd save them for all eternity and change their lives. We do thank you, Lord, for those that you've saved around here recently. Thank you for those who followed in Believer's Baptism, Lord. Thank you, Lord, for the work that you're doing here at South Haven Baptist Church. Thank you, Lord, that our church is still alive. Lord, you're still meeting with us. You're still helping us. We thank you for that this morning, Lord. We love you. We thank you in Jesus' name, we pray. amen and amen you may be seated this morning thank you so much for standing as we've come to Exodus chapter number 36 towards the end of the book of Exodus we were in the pretty much the beginning book of Exodus last week as we continue along this line building and that really that is the theme for this year the Lord has put in my heart and and we're going to go a little bit more depth than that on next Sunday exactly how are we going to build and and and how do we build and why do we build but the past few weeks we've kind of dealt I don't want to say on the negative side of things but on the on the the side you can't you can't you got to deal with both sides of the coin this morning and and you got to learn how to how to watch out for one and how to work in the other as well, but we've looked at this idea of building pragmatically, or me just building whatever seems good to me, without consulting the Lord, without asking the Lord for help, without asking for guidance. I just make the decisions and expect God to bless it. We understand there's great danger when we decide to build our lives that way. then last week we looked at this idea of just building for the world building for worldly goods and worldly means and worldly success and worldly recognition and how shallow and how discouraging that process is for when Israel was done building for Pharaoh all they had left was a bunch of stubble and I don't know about you this morning but when I leave this world behind I don't want to leave with just a handful of stubble. I want to leave having done what God has created me to do, what God's purpose for my life is, and I want to give him everything I have this morning. So we looked at the dangers of building pragmatically, the dangers of building this world but as we come to Exodus chapter 36 God has tasked Moses and the people of God in a construction project in a building project and and here's the thing God did not take their consensus God did not come to them and say hey here how shall we go about this rather God has said here is what I want you to do here's what I want to develop in your life here's what I want you to build here's what I want you to construct and really the choice that you have is are you going to do that or not and the reality is this morning that is the same conditions that it is in our life. God desires to do a great work in every person's life. God desires to save everybody. He's not willing that any should perish but we also understand that there has to come a point every person's life to make that choice on whether or not they are going to trust the Lord. Not just in salvation but as our Christian life continues are we going to let God build in and through our life something that brings glory to him. And so in Exodus chapter 36 he has tasked them with building what we would call the tabernacle. And within the tabernacle was the Ark of the Covenant. And this building project was not because God wanted to see how good of constructors they are, for God knows our frame. He knows the numbers of the hairs on our heads. He knows our thoughts before we even think them. He knows what we are capable of and what we are incapable of. I preach, I just believe the Lord is trying to figure out how much he can trust me with. No, he already knows. but he's come in Exodus 36 and he is not trying to see how good of builders are, but rather he has put this into their hearts and given them the command to build because he desires a place to dwell with them. Could we just stop just for a second this morning and we ought to say hallelujah that the very God of heaven, the one that spoke the worlds into existence, the one who holds the seas in his hand, the one who is above time and space and all of that this morning, desires to dwell with you and I. What is man that God aren't mindful of him? Well, who am I that God would want to spend time with me and yet he is willing to? And so we come here and God said, I want you to build this tabernacle with the Ark of the Covenant within it, and it is going to be a place that I will dwell with you. Aren't you glad this morning that we serve a God who is not playing hide and seek with us? He's not over here saying, I hope you can find me. Can you find me? Can you see me? No. He said, here, I want you to build it. I want you to build it just like this. I want you to set it up right there, and when it's set up, Show up and I'll show up with you. Aren't you glad this morning that when you pulled into 4391 Peach Orchard Road, that the lights were still on, the doors were still unlocked, praise God for heat and air conditioning, all that was here, but can I say this, Paul, when I showed up, before they went, well, Ms. Norm was in the parking lot waiting on me, but normally, there's nobody else here. I'm glad this morning, when I show up here, he's already waiting on me. and he was waiting on you this morning. He has given us a place that we can come and meet with him and more importantly him meet with us. We come here this morning and God has said I want you to build this. And so the past few weeks we've learned on how not to build our lives. But how do you and I build a life for the Lord? Or how do you and I build something for the Lord? Now, whatever your something is, it could be different than what my something is. How do I build my family? For the Lord. How do I build a ministry? For the Lord. How do I build relationships and friendships? For the Lord. How do I build my life? for the Lord. Now we have to realize this morning it is not of our strength, it is not of our might alone, it is not of our ability, and said preacher I got real big bootstraps, I'm real good at pulling myself off, well you might as well kick your shoes off because that's not how this thing works. But we come here this morning and God has put it in their heart to build this thing. that they might have a place to dwell with him. Let me ask you this one. Has God put anything in your heart to build for him a life, a relationship, a purpose, a goal, a dream that brings glory and honor to him? Say, preacher, how do I know that I'm building something for the Lord? How do I know that's what I need to do? How do I know that I'm doing that? What we'll see here this morning in Exodus 36, the end result is greater fellowship with God. not a greater independence from God. In essence, this morning, we are not building something so we can step back and say, God, look what I have done. Look what I have accomplished. Aren't you proud of me? But rather, we are building something through his strength and his power. And when we get to the end of it, our fellowship with God is deeper than when we began. and we're not pulling away from him and leaning upon our own works, our own abilities. So preacher, how do I do that? I believe every Christian can build something wonderful for the Lord by noticing and then giving the same kind of effort that is found in the book of Exodus. Notice number one, this morning there was a considered effort. There was a considered effort, verse number one. In verse number two, we are reintroduced because really they're in the previous chapter, but some of us, this may have been the first time you ever heard these fellas' names. Matter of fact, they really don't have any children's church stories. If you teach Sunday school, you may know who these two fellas are, but they're not household names. No one writes a song, dare to be a holy ab. Little Bezalel, pull your plane. These are, they're not well-known names, but yet these are men who do a great work for God. The Bible said their names are Bezalel and Aholiab. Those are interesting names who in the previous chapter are described as great craftsmen. These men know their way around saws, they know their way around hammers, they know their way around chisels, they know how to build and craft and make wonderful things. They're not just guys who dabble in it on the weekend. They're not at Home Depot trying to get a weekend project done. These are men who know the ins and the outs. We would call them masters. of their craft. These are the guys that know all the secrets. These are the guys that know all the shortcuts. These are the guys who have been around and they know how to do things. These are the guys that if you are around them, the smartest thing you could do is get up underneath them and learn from them. Instead of standing there saying, I know how to do that better than you. These men know what they're doing, but they've come to realize their skills and their abilities are more than just secular things. They're more than just means to earn money. They're more than just means to gain notoriety. It's more than just a job in training to them. They've come to realize that which they have learned how to do and that which they have the knowledge and understanding of and what they've acquired over the years, God is going to use to build the tabernacle, to build the Ark of the Covenant. The very skills they acquired and learned would be the same skills that they would use to build something for God. Let me ask you this one, when it comes to those skills, those abilities, those things that God has allowed you to learn, have you come to the understanding this morning that God has not allowed you to learn those things just so you can possess them? just so you can make money on a job, just so you can have a well-known name or be known for your craft, but rather God has given you, each and every one of us, unique gifts and unique abilities that we might come together and build something for the glory of God. Somehow these fellas came to understand that. Now here's the interesting thing. They didn't have no burning bush in the desert like Moses did. They didn't have the ability nor the privilege to be in the presence of Pharaoh like Moses had. Matter of fact, they hadn't even been on the mountaintop, meeting with God like Moses had. Yet somewhere they came to understand that God, and consider this thought, that God has something greater than just making stuff to make stuff. God has a greater purpose behind this. came to this consideration, to this understanding, we might not be a Moses, we might not be an Aaron, but the Lord still wants to use us to build something great for him. Can I encourage this one? You may never preach behind a pulpit. You may never sing the special in the church. You may never make it into the choir. You may never teach a Sunday school class. You may never go to the mission field. and become a missionary. You may never, whatever we often put down as serving God and gets the credit and gets the recognition and gets the acknowledgement this morning, you may never be a pastor, you may never be a preacher, you may never be a Sunday school teacher, but God desires to build something with your life. God desires to use you. Oh, preacher, I'm just a nobody. Preacher, I got a few little skills here and there. Can I say you turn those over to God and consider the fact that he wants to use somebody like you? There's no telling what he could build with your life and how he could use you. These fellas came to that consideration. They just came and said, you know what? I consider this thought that God wants to use us. Old Bezalel and Holyab, I'm not even sure I'm saying their name right, but God had chosen them. God had picked them. God said, those men right there can build something for me. But I gotta think, how do they come to that consideration? And so, one of the things I enjoy doing is researching and looking up the meaning of Bible names. I may not be able to pronounce them, but praise God, I can figure out what they mean. Bezalel, you know what his name means? I'm in the shadow of God. And Holiab, he says that I'm in my father's tent. What are you trying to say, preacher? How can I come to the same consideration that they came to? Well, if you're in someone's shadow and you're in someone's tent, you're real close to them. Preacher, how can I figure out what God wants to build in my life? Get used to and purpose in your heart that you're gonna stay real close to him. And he'll begin to reveal those things to you and to show you. And one of these days, he'll call your name and say, here's what I want you to build. Here's what I wanna do with your life. Here's what I'm willing to do if you'll just put in the effort. Have you ever considered the Lord wants you to build something for him using the very things he blessed you with? I'll tell you what, preacher, I'd love to do something for God, but I don't have a million dollars. Join the club. Preach, I'd love to do something for God, but I didn't graduate high school. Preach, I'd love to do something for God, but I've got a past. Preach, I'd love to do something for God, but I don't have this and I don't have that. Do you realize this morning the only thing you need is God? He can take care of everything else. He'll put you in jobs that you don't deserve. He'll put you in places that you never dreamed of. He'll let you do things that you thought there is no way I could achieve that on my own. But when you consider this thought, he wants to use you to build something for him. Boy, it'll change the way you live your life. It was a considered effort. Notice number two this morning, it was a conscience effort. It was a conscience effort. Preacher, how do you spell conscience? I don't know. I just know I got one, amen? Look at verse number three this morning of Hebrews, Exodus 36 this morning. And by this they received of Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary to make it, and they brought yet unto him free offerings. How do you give something that is free? It's not that they were giving something that was free, but they were giving it freely. Notice here this morning it was a conscience. Let me ask you, were you ever accidentally given too much in the offering plate? I mean, you was like writing your check out if you do that. And right there where that little part where you're supposed to write the numbers, you was going to write 10. But as you're writing 10, someone bumped your elbow and it turned into 1,000. Preacher, I wouldn't mean to give that much. Put you in an awkward spot. You ever accidentally done that? Most probably say, no, Preacher, that's never happened. Because you don't accidentally give things. You give things out of a conscious heart. Notice here this morning, when it came time to build the tabernacle, we'll find out as you read the book of Exodus, you'll go back in Exodus 35, it was built completely and entirely out of things that were given by the children of Israel. In essence, Holiab and Bezalel, they didn't have to go down to Lodz and get nothing. Praise God for that, amen. They had to go to Lodz to get some, they had to quit. especially if it was Lowe's on Peach Orchard. Not naming any names. If you work there, I'm sorry. But they didn't. Everything that was supplied and needed for the tabernacle came from the children of God. From the gold, to the wood, to the badger skins. There was some rednecks in Israel somewhere. Heard they need badger skins, got about four of them at the house. I'll bring them up tomorrow. Got Skullcan in his back pocket. Amen. Y'all probably don't think like that when you read your Bible, but sometimes I do. But he comes and everything was supplied by them. But nobody got up and accidentally gave their golden bracelets into the offering. I didn't mean to put that in there, Moses, can I take it back, please? Notice the description that is given here in verse three this morning. Free offerings this morning. If you go back to Exodus 35, 21 through 28, you'll find that the tabernacle was completely built by supplies from Israel. And it's interesting, it goes down from the gold to the badger skins to onyx stones. Everything is supplied by somebody in Israel. Here's the thing this morning. We have grown up in a generation and a time where we think that we have to rely on everybody else. We have to rely on the world to meet our needs. Can I say this? When the very God of heaven owns the cattle of a thousand hills and the hills thereof, he shall supply all of my needs according to his riches and glory. He has grace for every need that you have this morning. He has the ability to give you what you need if you'll trust him. But the easy thing is to let me go out and broadcast my business so somebody can help me out here. Notice here this morning the Bible said when it come to giving they had stirred hearts. That's what it says in Exodus 35, and their hearts were stirred within them to give unto this building project. And what are you trying to say, preacher? I'm trying to say when it comes to giving to God, don't give emotionlessly. I'm not saying give with too much emotion. I don't wanna let go of it! Learn to be a cheerful, God loves a cheerful giver. God enjoys a cheerful giver. but learn, you're not paying some bill. You're not paying some tax. You're not walking into the DMV and giving them 37 cents so you can drive your car. Not $37, excuse me. You're not paying a bill, you're not paying a tax. You're giving to the work of God, not just financially, but your life, your ability, your skills. The Bible said their hearts were stirred within them. Let me ask you this, when was the last time your heart stirred to do something for God? And for God to do something for you, to build something out of your life? Not only were their hearts stirred, but the Bible said they had willing spirits. God isn't gonna pull that gift from your tightly squeezed fist. May I remind you this morning, God doesn't need your gift. But if you'll give it to him, and you'll lay it down for him. He'll do far more with it than you ever could. They had willing spirits. They were willing to give. Moses wasn't walking around Israel knocking on the tent door saying, hey, have you given today? Have you done what you're supposed to do? No, they were beating Moses out there. I don't know how to explain it, Moses. I was praying last night and God put it on my heart to get rid of these earrings. I got them from Egypt, but I don't need them no more, so I'm gonna give them to the building project of the Lord. Someone was sitting at the house, the Bible said, I think it was, I can't remember if it was the priest or who it was, one of the leaders, a judge or something like that in Exodus 35, the fellow that got all the money, right, he's got all the power in that, so he's got the prestige, sitting at his house one night, man, I got this onyx stone, I don't know what I'm gonna do with this. God said, why don't you give it to me? I said, sounds like a good idea. So he gave it to the building project. There's that willing spirit, he had a stirred heart. Here's the thing, if you truly want to build something for the Lord, it won't be just giving or it won't be just doing your best. It'll be giving your best. Could you honestly say this morning that you've been giving your best to the Lord? Giving him your best that you have. All those items, the people who gave them, gave with this realization, it was the best thing I could do with that is to give it to Notice this was a conscience effort. It was considered effort. Point number three, it was a continued effort. It was a continued effort. Look at verse number three, the Bible said, and they brought yet him free offerings a couple mornings in a row. Every now and again, when the choir was in tune with the Holy Ghost of God, every morning, By a show of hands, how many would say, preacher, not every morning's a good morning. Sometimes it's just morning, preacher. I remember walking into the cabinet shop one day. I said, hey, good morning. He said, what's so good about it? I don't know. But it was a continued effort. Now this morning, it'd be wonderful about the end of the message. Altars are full. People are saying, preacher, I want God to build with my life. I wanna build something for God. And that'd be wonderful this morning for the altars to be full and for people to say that's what they wanna do. And I praise God if that would happen this morning, but what about tomorrow? What about Tuesday, Wednesday? What about when the snow comes? Are we still gonna have that desire in our heart They say, Lord, here I am again. I'm giving you of myself. I'm giving myself to you, Lord, that you might build something and allow me to build something for your glory. This wasn't a one-time commitment, a one-time action, a one-time decision. The Bible says they came every morning with an offering. Think about it this way. Some Israelite has already given something of great worth in their home. And maybe it was their golden bracelets. Maybe it was the badger skin that they'd been stored up. Whatever it was, they came and that first day, they laid it down before Moses and before the builders of the tabernacle and ultimately giving it to the Lord, they thought, man, this is wonderful, this is great. And they go back home and all of a sudden, they reach up on their ears or they see something else within their tent or within their home and they say, I haven't given all. I bet the Lord could use that. How about I give that to him too? And so they go out the next day and they would come back and they'd have that next item, they'd place it down and say I'm giving that to the Lord just to go home for it to happen again. Here's the thing this morning. How much of your life does God want? All of it. And sometimes we'll give him a great portion of it. We'll make a great decision for him. And Lord, I'm gonna do this for you, and we do. And all of a sudden, God begins working another area of life. And we gotta make that decision, am I gonna give him that too? Am I gonna continue to give him what he desires out of my life? Every morning, someone was saying, I want to build something for the Lord, or Lord, I want you to use me to build something for you. Do you realize this morning, you're gonna have to make that decision every morning too? It's great to make it on Sunday morning, but every morning of our life, we're going to get up and say, Lord, I want to build something for you. And I want you to use me to build something for you. Why is that so vital, preacher? Because the mornings that we don't purpose in our heart to do that, guess what? We won't. If we don't purpose in our heart, first thing of the day, saying, Lord, my life is yours. Use me to build something for your glory. If we don't, we won't. And he got up every morning and said, I've got something else to give. Well, let me ask you, preacher, when do I get a stop? When is my last morning of giving? Only when you're commanded to. Verse five through seven, they had too much stuff. Obviously, this wasn't a Baptist church. They had more than enough. But notice this, they only stop giving when Moses said, hey, we don't need no more. We already have too much. See, sometimes in our life, we like to call the stopping point. Lord, I feel like I don't need to do anything else. I feel like, Lord, this is good enough, but I'm just gonna stop right here. Can I encourage you that you don't draw the stopping point? Let God do that in your life. Let God cruelly say, stop. You don't have to do anything else. Don't go any further in that sense. You have done enough. Only when you're commanded to. Well, let me ask you, has God commanded us to stop giving of ourselves to him? Well, how do you talk about Romans 12 one? I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercy of God that you present your bodies, what a living sacrifice. Holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Let me ask you, I'm gonna ask you a real tough theological question this morning. Are you alive? Is everybody here still alive? Well, guess what? You're still a living sacrifice. As long as you're alive, you're to be giving yourself to the Lord. It was a continued effort this morning. Let me ask you, have you made the choice to let the Lord build something in your life? Have you continued to make that choice? Then last this morning, we see there was a completed effort. There was a completed effort. Take your Bible, turn to Exodus 39 this morning. Exodus 39, couple chapters over. So preach what happens between Exodus 36 and the end of Exodus 39. There's a whole lot of building going on. a lot of manufacturing, a whole lot of creating and putting together and making the Ark of the Covenant, and building the tabernacle that God has told them to give. We come down to verse 42 of chapter 39, and the Bible says, According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the children of Israel made all the work. And Moses did look upon all the work, and behold, they had done it as the Lord had commanded them, even so had they done it. And Moses blessed them this morning. Thankfully, the Lord wasn't just giving them busy work. Right, the Lord is like, listen, I need y'all to take care of this because I don't want you to go get in trouble, so I'm just gonna give you some business. How many of y'all enjoyed having substitute teachers when you were in school? Hey man, my kids are homeschooled, they have no idea what that is. I love substitute teachers. Let me ask you, did they ever teach you anything? Yours might have, but mine never did. Why, what would they do? When that substitute teacher came in, they'd go into that room, they'd pull out that cart with that big old television on it. When I was in high school, the television was in the corner like that. It was high tech, amen? VCR. They'd pull that thing out and they'd put that VCR in, or they'd put that VHS tape in that VCR. And we'd have to, the teacher, the substitute teacher would say, all right, take your paper number one to 15. And I want you to write 15 facts about this video. Well, Modern Day Take came up with a modern day solution. If I hurry up and write 15 facts, I can get 45 minutes of sleep. So I'd hurry up and write 15 facts about the VHS. Fact number one, this movie is on a VHS. Fact number two, you put the VHS in the VCR player. Fact number three, it is on the television. Fact number four, it is about, and so I'd write them down quick. Fact number five, I am at Cross Creek High School. Fact number seven, I skipped six. I'm talking about two minutes into this thing, I had all my facts wrote down. It's nothing but busy work. I wasn't gonna learn nothing. The only one that I watched and paid attention to was when they were talking about was the lunar landing real or fake. That's the only one that caught my attention. The rest of them, I slept through them, drool on the desk, all of that good stuff. Because it was just busy work. I wasn't learning nothing. And here, when God tells them to build us, God isn't giving them busy work. God isn't just trying to keep them occupied because God has nothing else better to do. God has given them the task, put it in their heart to give and to build because God desires to see it to come to completion. In essence this morning, God, he that hath begun a good work in you will complete it. He desires to work in your life and through your life and allow you to work for him that he might have his goal accomplished. In verse 42 and 43 of chapter 39 of Exodus, they have done that. They have constructed all of the obstacles, objects, and instruments needed for the tabernacle and the ark of the covenant. I mean everything, the mercy sits have been made. The staves have been made. Tents have been made all of that has been put together all that is good to go in Moses looks over and Moses blesses them in Moses declares that they are Done essence there was an obedience to their effort. They did it as the Lord commanded I preach I tell you what here's what God wants me to do I know God desires out of my life, but I feel like preach if I do it this way It'd probably be better if I did it my way Take that thought grab it up and throw it away as far away from you as you can Because any moment we step outside of God's plan, in God's purpose, in God's way, and step into our own ways, disaster's about to happen. All thy ways acknowledge him. Lean not on thy own understandings. Right, we see here tonight there was an obedience to effort. They did it exactly what they were supposed to do. Exodus 36 to 39 is only three chapters in your Bible, but if you've done any kind of craftsmanship, any kind of building anything, you know that you can't build a house in one day. You know that you can't do fine details in 20 minutes. So there was a day after day after day after day, not of just giving of stuff, but also obedient effort given by these men who were building the tabernacle. Can I say this morning, it does us no good. It benefits no one when we're obedient one day out of the week. And we do our own thing, everything else. It must be done God's way. In chapter 39, that's what they did. They did it as the Lord commanded. They trusted God's plan. Now look over at chapter 40, verse 33 through 35. Majority of chapter 40, Moses has taken that which has been built and constructing it. He is putting it together piece by piece. It is being laid down exactly how it's supposed to be done, laid out how it's supposed to be done. Things are getting put where they're supposed to be put. Then you come down to verse 33 of chapter 40, the last chapter of the book of Exodus. the work. Completed it. The task has been done. Verse 35, and Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation because the cloud abode thereon and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys. Verse 35, and Moses was not able to enter in to the tent of the congregation because the cloud of their own and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Now let me ask you this morning, pop quiz. What were the names of those two men? Most of us already forgot. Bezalel and Aholiab. Preacher man, you're good. I was studying. I knew the question I was gonna ask at the end of the service. And we only made it four chapters over, y'all don't forget their name. It wasn't about them. It wasn't about their glory. It wasn't about their names being remembered. It wasn't about what they built for their own sake. Then we come into chapter 40, Moses puts it all together and he can't even go into it. Why? God's glory is so wonderful that day. Moses said, I can't even step, there's no room for me in there. God gets all the glory for this. I can't step in there and take credit, because this is all God's plan. Preacher, what does the completed work look like in the Christian's life? Is that when you're done building, nobody sees you anymore. It's not about your recognition. It's not if your name goes down in the portals of history. It's that when you're done, all they can see is the Lord and His glory and His greatness and His might. Boy, I wanna build a life. I wanna build a family, friends and relationships and a ministry that is great enough so people can look at me and say, look what you've done. But when they look at what God has allowed me to build and be a part of, they'll look at it and say, man, you serve a great God. You serve a wonderful God. Most of you know, a few years ago, we went through that miscarriage with David. And I remember going in there and talking with the doctor. My wife had talked with the doctor and just heartbroken, discouraged, downtrodden. We prayed and the Lord blessed us. And boy, did he bless us with Shiloh. She's a blessing and a half, all my kids are. But she is, boy, she is something else. But I remember when we found out, Miss Becky went back to the doctor. But we prayed, y'all prayed, sought the Lord, desired it greatly. made those commitments to the Lord, or I'll raise her up, or we'll raise them up in the loving admonition of the Lord. God, we'll raise them up to love you. Made all those promises and meant them and still do. Prayed, Lord, would you, Lord, if it be your will, just bless us with another child. Found out, went to the doctor. My wife went in and I still, I don't think I was still allowed to go in yet. due to COVID restrictions, but somehow in conversation, all that we had got to do for the Lord, what the Lord had done through us. My wife's daughter looked at her and said, your God has heard your prayers. What are you trying to say to a preacher? When you do something for God, you don't take the credit for it. You really don't get the recognition for it. He does. I wanna build a life that when it's looked at and observed and talked about years down the road, they don't talk about how great I was. They talk about how great he is and what he's able to do in a life that is willing to give its effort to the Lord. Let me ask you this one, where's your effort at? Do you wanna build something for God or let God build something through your life? It's gonna take a conscious choice. Consider the fact that God wants to. Continue in that daily. And when it comes to the end of it, just lift up your hands and say, look what the Lord has done. Don't fight him for the glory. You don't deserve it. He does. Let's all stand this morning, every head bowed, every eye closed.