if you would, Exodus chapter 31. I want to preach to you tonight on accomplishing a work for God. Accomplishing a work for God. Exodus chapter 31, verse number 1, And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship. And I, behold I, have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahizamak, of the tribe of Dan, and in the hearts of all that are wisehearted, I put wisdom that they may make all that I have commanded thee, the tabernacle, the congregation, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is there upon, and all the furniture of the tabernacle, and the table, and his furniture, and the pure candlestick with all his furniture, and the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering with all his furniture, and the laver in his foot, and the clause of service, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons to minister in the priest's office, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense for the holy place, according to all that I have commanded thee shall they do. Let's pray. Father, we love you tonight. We thank you for being good to us, Lord. We thank you for taking care of us. I thank you for bringing everybody here tonight and bringing us here safely. Thank you for the good news from doctors, and Lord, we pray that you would just continue to be with everybody that's sick, everybody that has those issues, Lord, comfort their hearts, guide their doctors. I pray you'd give full recoveries and peace in the soul in the meanwhile. And Lord, we pray now as we get into the word of God that you would just open this thing up to us, make it real, make it applicable to our lives, speak to hearts, help somebody tonight, Lord. I ask You, please, to help somebody. I don't want to see anybody quit, Lord, anybody fall out of church, anybody backslide, anybody mess up. And Lord, I pray You'd help them to grow. And I pray above all things that Jesus Christ would be glorified and honored tonight with the service that we have. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, on Sunday morning, we talked about work ethic a little bit, and we were talking about it on the job. Actually, a little more than a little bit. We talked about it for quite a while. And tonight, we're going to talk about work ethic for the Lord. Not just your secular work, but talk about spiritual work. Let me say this, the two of them do go hand in hand. As a born again Christian, you can't divorce anything you do from God. Once you're saved and the Spirit of God indwells you and lives in your heart, then everything you do, you're supposed to do is unto the Lord. So you can't really divorce the two, but everybody looks at things in a strange way when it comes to spiritual things. Everybody looks at, there's this, my secular life, and then there's my spiritual life. And when you talk about working for the Lord, everybody starts to think spiritual life. And really, the two, again, do meet. They can't truly be separated. But what I want to do tonight is help you with the spiritual side of it, because for some reason, people are very intrigued by the spiritual. I mean, the lost world's intrigued by the spiritual, with the vampires and demons and Halloween and all the rest of that stuff. They're intrigued by that. You want to get listens up on your website, post stuff on the billboard signs out on the highways about a Revelation series. People show up. People like that stuff. And on the spiritual side, saved people really like to consider the spiritual gifts and the spiritual work and spiritual calling. It's a very common thing for people to ask a preacher, you know, well, how would I know what my gifts are? How do I know what my calling is? I want to do something for God. I want my life to count for something. I really want to, you know, see what I can do, how I can make a difference, and what God has for me. I just want to know, here it is, My purpose. What is my purpose? Oh, we'll answer that tonight. The Bible answers it tonight. Can I say this? People aren't too interested in punching a time clock for Jesus. When they say, what's my purpose in life? They usually mean, what is it that I can do that's gonna make a difference that others will see that'll make me feel good and make me feel fulfilled and help me to realize that God's on this and I've got the power of God on my life and look at the difference that I'm making. And what if God says, what I want you to do for me is punch a time clock? What I want you to do for me is go to school and get good grades. What I want you to do for me is just be faithful with exactly what you've got in your life right now. That's your gift. That's your calling. That's my will. You want to be in the center of my will, go to work in the morning. Yep, I figured it'd go over just like that. I wish you could see it from my perspective. It's like, oh yeah, reality. Well, I'm sorry, but God is a God of reality. Let's take a look at Exodus chapter 31 and see if we can get some help about this. If you and I want to accomplish a work for God, you want to find out your purpose with the Lord and for the Lord, you want to do something spiritual with your life that's going to outlast you and make a difference, then the first thing you and I need to realize is we've got to have wisdom from God. See verse number three. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom and in understanding and in knowledge and in all manner of workmanship. Wisdom is crucial if you and I are ever going to accomplish anything in our lives for God. You've got to have wisdom. Proverbs says, get wisdom and with all thy getting, get understanding. You and I ought to make sure that we go after wisdom, that we desire wisdom from God, that we seek God for wisdom. If you want to accomplish anything, you've got to have wisdom. Notice God picks a man in verse number two. He says, I've called by name, Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur of the tribe of Judah. God Almighty saw this man, knew this man and said, I have specifically picked a specific person for a specific job. This is his name. This is his family's name. This is his tribe. I know this guy and this is the guy I want for this specific job. Can I tell you something? God knows your name. God knows who you are. God knows your lineage. God knows your parents. God knows everything there is to know about you. God knows the number of hairs on your head. God knows you better than you know yourself. That, to me, is a weird thought. Let's let that sink in a minute. God literally, God Almighty, knows me better than I know me. You ever feel misjudged by somebody? I like to watch and try to figure people and things out. And I've watched people talk before. And one person is talking and the other person's listening, and you can see a total disconnect. You can see it. Or you can see two people talking and they're like, they're talking. They're in each other's heads. They're tuned into the conversation. There's a connection, right? You ever see that disconnect? You ever say something to somebody and be watching them and go, they're not getting what I'm saying at all and feel a little bit misunderstood? Have you ever said something to somebody and have them respond negatively to you? And you're like, no, that's not what I meant. No, how did you take, where'd you get that? That's not what I meant. It's a really weird feeling and a bad feeling to feel misunderstood. You know something, God Almighty understands you. God understands you perfectly. Actually, in this communication, in this relationship, you're the one misunderstanding yourself when God Almighty gets the point. And I believe this with all my heart, God Almighty desires to let us know some things about ourselves, and usually we miss what He's saying. People will self-justify, self-defend, claim self-righteousness, even in argumentation against God, God knows you. So therefore, you and I ought to make it our business to get to know God. I said all that to set it up for this, the name Bezalel means in the shadow of God. In the shadow of God, that's the meaning of that man's name. Now, I got to thinking, when God's sitting in heaven and He's speaking to Moses here and He's giving Moses directions and He says, alright, now, here's all these things you got to do. We've been going through it for weeks now. Here's how it's to be set up. Here's all the intricate details. And God's giving Moses this stuff. Moses is getting some of it. Moses is getting more than you and I realized he was getting because God's been talking to Moses for a very long time and only gives him a little bit to put down for us. There was a lot of communication going on between God and Moses that isn't written down there. So Moses has a grasp on some things, but not all of it. Because looking from the New Testament back, we can see all that God was doing and what a powerful thing this is when God's telling him how to make the tabernacle and how to make the furniture and how to organize it. All that stuff, man, it's powerful what God is showing us. So this is a big deal to God. And he says, I have an important job and I want Bezalel to do it. Why did God pick him? You know why? I think the secret to why God picked him is in his name. He's a man who had been abiding in the shadow of God. Look at verse three. He says, I and I have filled him with the spirit of God in wisdom. and in understanding and in knowledge and in all manner of workmanship. Where does wisdom come from? From God. You know what God tells you and I in the New Testament in Ephesians chapter 5? He says, be filled with the Spirit. We're talking about accomplishing something with your life for God. How am I going to ever accomplish anything? I got to have wisdom. How am I going to get wisdom? I better get filled with the Spirit of God. How do I know whether or not I'm filled with the Spirit of God? That's a good question, isn't it? How do I know that I'm filled with the Spirit of God? God said, be filled with the Spirit. Are you filled with the Spirit? Most of the time when somebody says, yes, I'm filled with the Holy Ghost, you're like, okay, they're usually not. Most people that are filled with the Holy Ghost don't even realize they're filled with the Holy Ghost. And most of the time with us and the way our pride and our heart works, the second we realize we're filled with the Holy Ghost, guess what? We sprung a leak. Why? Well, I'm filled with the, oh man, I'm really full of God today. There he goes. He's not going to leave us, but you ain't filled anymore. That's a scary thought, ain't it? Keep your finger here in Exodus chapter 31, please. Let's look at Psalm chapter 91. Psalm chapter 91. I memorized this chapter years ago while I was in Bible college. This one, this one struck me. Just reading through my devotions and I remember this passage of Scripture just jumping out at me. You know what this is? This is a passage of Scripture in Psalms not written by David. You know who wrote this one? Moses. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. What's Bezalel's name? In the shadow of God. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in Him will I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust. His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flyeth by day, nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. Not to get too personal here, but could you possibly put in there bad news from the doctor? Bad news from the bank? Bad news from the employer? You're dwelling in the shadow of God. Man, there's a peace that'll flood your soul because you're close to him and you know him and you're in his shadow. And you know, come what may, he said he's gonna take care of you. And guess what he's gonna do? He's gonna take care of you. A thousand shall fall at thy side and 10,000 at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most high thy habitation. It's where you're living, who, where, how. You're living with God. There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling, for he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder, the young lion and dragon shalt thou trample under feet. Because he has set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him. I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him, and I will be with him in trouble, and I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation. What a powerful passage of scripture that is. You know what's the most important thing in the life of any believer that wants to accomplish something for God? The most important thing? Abiding in that shadow. learning to walk with God, learning to get close to God. Back in Exodus 31, please. The feeling of God's Spirit comes from abiding in God's shadow. It comes from walking with God come hell or high water. It comes from determining that no matter what happens in my life, whether good or bad, whether trouble or not, whether pestilence or not, I'm abiding by Him, I'm walking with Him, I'm staying under His shadow, I'm drawing nigh to Him, That right there will get you through no matter what comes your way. That'll fill you with God's Holy Spirit staying close to Him. You stop and think about men who accomplished something for God besides Bezalel. How about Joseph? You think he accomplished something? Joseph, God uses him to change the world. in his generation. How in the world did that man wind up from being a nobody to being a leader in the world, number one, the second man to Pharaoh, the world's superpower of the day? Hang on a second. Do you realize that is literally impossible? Humanly speaking, there's no way Joseph could have ever gone from where he was to where he wound up. How'd he get there? Well, you'd think, you know, God loved him and God blessed him and God promoted him and God made him rich and God did all this stuff and he just skated his way through all the way up there into the palace. But you know the story. Nothing could be farther from the truth. That man right out of the gate as a teenager starts getting abused, beat up, mistreated, sold into slavery, lied about, put in prison, and everything that man did, in Genesis chapter 39, you know what it says? It says the Lord was with him. You know what Joseph was doing all that time? He was abiding under the shadow of the Almighty. Joseph made his walk with God the most important thing in his life, more important than the fact that he was in prison, more important than who lied about him, who hurt him, how far down he was, how much of a failure he seemed to be to the world. He made God everything to him, and in that prison cell, God was there, and God promoted him, and God took him from there all the way to the palace. Because he abided under the shadow of the Almighty, he wound up accomplishing a work for God. You can't get that in Bible school. You can't sit there and take the notes and pass the tests and take the Greek class and accomplish a work for God because of your degree. The degree that man had to have was a degree called trouble. The degree that man had to have was a degree called pain. The degree that man had to have was a degree called humility. The degree that man had to have was a degree called abuse. The degree that man had to have was a degree called failure, heartbreak, disappointment, complete and utter and total loss. And through all those tests, All those exams, he got an A, he got a 100%, he got a 4.0. You know why? Because he said, I'll pass this test, I'm a Biden. I'll pass this test, I'm a Biden. I'll pass this test, I'm a Biden. God, I got nothing else, I might as well stay with you. How about Job? You know the story, I don't have to preach all the way through it. How about David? His path to the throne, It was a painful, heartbreaking, I mean, man, I was reading through that in my devotions here just today. I mean, unbelievable. God, should I go down and help, starts with a K, Kiliah or whatever, a city, you know, God, should I go help him? Yeah, go help him. He turns to his guys, hey, we're gonna go help him. His guys all throw a fit about it. Because they're running from Saul. They're like, we're gonna go down there and fight the Philistines? So David goes back to God. God, should I go, should I go save him? God says, yeah, go save him. So he goes down there and he saves him, right? Then guess what? Saul hears that David went down there and fought the Philistines and saved a city in Israel, and so Saul's coming after David. So David says, God, can I hang out here? Or are the men of Goliath, I think it is, or whatever, are they going to turn me over to Saul? God says, yeah, they're going to turn you over. Whoa. I just came in and saved them. And what are they going to do? They're going to betray me. and all the way through that process of David running from his father-in-law for nothing, constantly being hunted like a dog for nothing, there's other betrayals going on when David goes out at the command of God and saves cities in Israel, and those people then turn around and are gonna turn him over to his enemy. In other words, I saved your life, your wives, your children, your homes, and what you're gonna do for me in return for that is you're gonna have me killed. You know what David learned a little bit about? Heartbreak. Betrayal. Disappointment. And yet David accomplished so much in his life for God. You know why? He knew a little bit of something about abiding under that shadow. Not only does God pick Bezalel, but God picks another man in verse number six, Aholiab. And behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahizamat of the tribe of Dan, and in all the hearts of all that are wisehearted, I put wisdom that they may make all that I have commanded thee. Aholiab's name means the father is my tabernacle. God says, I'm going to pick a man for a very important work. His name is Bezalel. Bezalel, I want you. Why? Well, we see why. God says, I want another guy to help you. You know what his name is? His name is Aholiab. You know what his name means? The Father's my tabernacle. Aholiab got picked by God to do something and to accomplish something for God. Do you know why? Because he is saying, I'm going to dwell where God is. The Father is my worship. The Father is my dwelling. The Father is my place. The Father is everything to me. He'd been dwelling by God and God picked him. Funny thing about this work. It's a constructive work. See in verse number seven, he says, the tabernacle, the congregation, the ark of the testimony, the mercy seat there upon all the furniture. And he runs all the way down through there, all the way through verse 11, spelling out all the things that God wants these men to do. So here's a couple of men filled with God, filled with the Holy Ghost of God, faithful with what God had already given them. The way to accomplish something for God is not to go be something you're not. It's to be what you are because he knows you better than you know yourself. Some people think they're something that they're not. Hello. So how do I know what I am? Well, what do I got? So to make this like, make sure you're not missing the point. I have four daughters. I have one wife. Amen. Hallelujah. Right? I'm responsible for those things. I have a home. I have two vehicles. I'm responsible for those things. My oil needs to be changed. I know that I have to go change my oil because I can't blame God when my engine blows up because I didn't change my oil and God expects me to change my oil because God gave me that vehicle. So literally going to get my oil changed and taking care of that vehicle is something that I truly ought to do because God gave it to me. See how everything in the Christian's life turns into something spiritual? That's important. I got two dogs. Guess what? God expects me to do something with those dogs. To take care of them, to feed them, to give them a good place to live. God said, the righteous man regard the life of his beast. I'm not making this up. That's spiritual. If I ever want to accomplish something for God, you think God's going to let me accomplish anything for him if I don't feed my dog? You know, you can't feed a dog. You're going to go feed my people, but you can't feed a dog. I'm sorry, is that too practical for you? I mean, I know this is totally uninspirational. That stupid guinea pig tonight, man. A couple of years ago at Christmas, we got him a guinea pig. One of my daughters loves that guinea pig and it has become hers. Because the rest of them ignore it and she takes great care of it. But I've seen her over there picking at her water bottle. And so I went over, it was empty. I got to tell Lily to fill that water bottle up. And I feel like the Lord said, fill it up, she's thirsty. Filled up her water bottle, hung her water bottle on her thing. There you go, girl. Why? Because I'm responsible for that guinea pig. Sorry. Take care of what you got. You want God to load it up on you and bless you and use you, and you want God to make something out of your life and all. We want God's blessing and we want to turn things around, but we don't want to take care of what we actually have already in front of us. I don't think it works the other way. I literally don't believe it works the other way. I don't believe God's gonna honor a man with more when that man doesn't do, he may get more, but I said, God's not gonna honor him with more. If he ain't doing with what he's got, what are you supposed to do? Remember the parable of the talents? The guy that took what he had and doubled them, God said, take from them and give it to him. God loaded him up with some extra. Praise the Lord. A blessing. Why? Because he'd been faithful with what he was already given. These men are getting called out of God and getting a chance to do something for God because they've been faithful. And then God gives them a work that's a constructive work. I mean, this is a real constructive work. He says, here's exactly what I want you to do. God provides these men with His work and with the way He wants His work done. Isn't that a blessing? You know why? Let me make sure that you understand what I'm saying. It's a blessing because so many people just like, if I only knew what God wanted, if I only knew exactly what God wanted me to do, I want to buy a house. If I only knew if God wanted, I want to get a car. I want a better job. I want to marry this person. I want to have kids. I want to, you fill in the blank. If I only knew exactly what God wanted me to do, Then, okay, look, when God gives a man a job, God spells it out for him. Well, God hasn't spelled anything out for me. I think that's the problem. What do you mean, preacher? If you're sitting there saying, God hasn't spelled anything out for me, then you're saying you have absolutely nothing in this world. I mean, you don't have a house at home to clean. You don't have a job to go to. God's already given you some things and told you what to do with them. See, when you obey what God already told you what to do, God will give you the next step. But you don't get the next step until you're faithful with the first step. These men now are given a very constructive work. God has put wisdom in them. Why? Because they had a heart for wisdom. See verse six, and in the hearts of all that are wisehearted, right around the center of the verse there, I have put wisdom. What? What do you mean you put wisdom? They're already wisehearted. Yes, this was a group of people who already had a heart for wisdom. They wanted wisdom. They desired wisdom. So God said, okay, those people that have a heart for wisdom, they already got a little bit, I'm gonna give them some extra. I'm going to dump a little more on that boy because he wants wisdom. He's got a heart for wisdom. He's seeking wisdom. I'm going to give him some extra that nobody else has because he's got a heart for it. And God said in all those that had a heart for it, I put more in to go help them. God's work is constructive. God, man, God will help you get the job done. You'll know it's God. Can I say this? Many are destructive. Many are destructive in their work for God. And that's how you know it ain't God. Now, I'm gonna preach on this stuff and you can say, well, we're not guilty of that and praise the Lord, I don't think you are, but I'm gonna preach on it so that we know it and we feel it and we keep that flesh under control, all right? Can I tell you this? When we start in church criticizing, bickering, complaining, personality issues. That is not the work of God that is destructive to the work of God. Look, we don't have to hang out with each other on Friday night, be the best of friends and have everybody over for dinner. But when we walk through that door, we should all be family in here. Personalities aside, whether you like somebody or not aside, whether they comb their hair the right way, and wear the same kind of clothes, and whether they match or don't match, or whether they, you know, to this or to that, or not enough this, not enough that, that's all out the door. Why? Because we're here to be edified and built up in Jesus Christ and not to have a social club, not to pick at each other, but to have something constructive done in our lives. And it's very hard for the Spirit of God to speak to hearts and to help people when people are hurting each other's hearts with their mouths and their attitudes and their spirit. When we're stabbing each other in the back, it's hard for the Holy Ghost of God to heal up the issues we got in our lives. And that goes on way too much in church. And you know it ain't the work of God. Amen, amen, amen. Thanks, Pricer. Good preaching. Appreciate the encouragement. Thank you. Folks, when God's work is going, God provides. He provides the skills. We already saw that. Look at verse 4, "...to devise cunning works, to work in gold and in silver and in brass and cutting of stones." What? God put the wisdom in them to do something that was cunning and beautiful. They're accomplishing something great with their life. And guess where it's coming from? Man, Brother Solomon, man, they can really sing. Man, they can really play. Man, that was a blessing. Man, did you see what a good job they did on... Man, the kids really like that Sunday school teacher. That's where it's all coming from. It's coming from Him. He provides the skill. You know, something else God provides, and I've learned this over the years. The few that it's been, I've learned this. He provides the people. Verse number six, he says, God didn't just call out Bezalel and Aholiab, God called out a bunch of other people to go help them. They're accomplishing something together for God. God provides the skills. God provides the people. God provides the materials. In verses 7 through 11, God tells them exactly what they need. Can I say this? God will take care of you. God will take care of the church. When we're trying to serve God, God will meet your needs. Period. Period. I don't have time to even get into it, because I'm going to wrap this up quick. But I'm telling you, I have tested this. I've tried it. And I am not a health and wellness prosperity gospel preacher. You know that. But I've tried this, man. I've tried it, and if it wasn't for God, we wouldn't have kept our house. If it wasn't for God, this work wouldn't be here. I'll tell you, all I need in life is Him. I've learned that. I mean, it's nice when He gives more than that. Amen. But all I need in life is Him. If you got God, you got everything. He'll provide. You know something else God provides? This one got me. This one stirred my heart up, because this shows you how awesome God is. Look at verse 12. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. Now wait a minute, a bizarre insertion from verses 12 through 17, a bizarre insertion of the Sabbath. Now for those of you that may not get this whole picture yet, look at verse 16. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations for a perpetual covenant. We don't have to observe the Sabbath. Okay, that's clearly taught in the New Testament. All these things are a picture of something to come. And man, I mean, God showed me some really good stuff in the New Testament over in Romans today, just good stuff about that whole picture and what God was doing with all that Old Testament law and why it's gone now. You don't have to worry about that. Here's what I found interesting. verses 12 through 17, this very seemingly out of place insertion of God saying, make sure they take a break. Where are all the other commandments? Why just this one? You know why? God knew something. When those people get working for me, and they're filled with my Holy Spirit, and they love me, and they want to do something for me, and I give them clear directions on what to do and how to do it, and they get started, and they see that God's in it, and they see that skill's coming out of this, and it's a beautiful thing, and man, I mean, when God gets them moving, what they'll do is their spirit will carry them past where their flesh is able to go. So I want you to make sure that in my work, you stop for a break. You know what God was doing? He was looking out for them. The work of God does not destroy the lives. Listen to me. The work of God does not destroy the lives of the people doing the work. We have seen an entire generation, and it's largely my generation, of people leaving the church once they grow up through the elementaries and junior high and high school and they move on and they become an adult, make their own decisions, they just are leaving the church. Because the church became so oppressive in their lives. Sunday school, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. We got Thursday night or Tuesday night visitation, door knocking. We got Saturday visitation for bus ministry. We got work days. We got parties. We got this, we got that. We got all these things going on to where literally it's like every single day of the week. There's never a day to just enjoy a day of salvation. What are you doing today? Something spiritual? Nope. I'm going to Cedar Point. I'm going to scream like a girl. I'm like, man, hallelujah. It's a riot. We went with the kids, and we get on there, and before the thing even go, I'd be like, ah! Ah! Just being totally crazy. I could care less what anybody thinks, amen, including my kids. I'm having fun. You realize God's work should never become so oppressive to us that it becomes a burden? He said, my yoke is easy and my burden is light. God wanted to make sure that while His people were doing the work, that the work was constructive, not just to the end goal of what God wanted done, but constructive for the people doing the work, that they could do it over the long haul, faithfully, with joy, with the power of God in it, with some refreshment in it, with some excitement in it. I don't ever want to get to the point where I'm burned out for God. If I burned out for God, I wasn't listening to Him. I wasn't obeying Him because that ain't His will. He's never trying to oppress people. Now too many people use that as an excuse not to do anything. And that just goes all the way back to the beginning point. They're not abiding in His shadow. They're not filled with the Spirit. So I'll just leave it alone because they ain't got a heart for it anyhow. You can't push people to serve God. You can't push people to do something. You say, Hey, we have an opportunity. I mean, I made one announcement on Sunday morning, we need a little bit of help on this and that, and we got flooded with help. Well, there you go, man. Hallelujah, that's the right spirit. That's a blessing. That's the Holy Spirit of God. And God will guide, God will direct, God will help. There ought not be frustrated bitterness in the work we do for God. When you begin accomplishing something for God, it ought to be something that's flowing out of your soul. It ought not be, I have to. Something's wrong. Take a break. Amen. I've preached this before, man, people look at you like, huh? What are we going to do about workers? I'd rather have the workers still in my church 10, 15, 20 years from now than work the workers until they crack and have nobody left in my church. It ain't unspiritual to say, can I take a break? It might be God. So the work God gives is construction, wisdom is crucial, but the last thing is the words of God have to be communicated. If you and I are going to accomplish anything for God, the words of God have to be communicated. See verse one, and the Lord spake. Look at verse 11. He says at the end of the verse, according to all that I have commanded thee, shall they do. Verse 12, and the Lord spake unto Moses. Can I tell you something? If you're going to accomplish anything for God, you have to know when God is speaking to you, and how He's speaking to you, and that He spoke to you. You can't accomplish anything in your life for God without hearing from Him. How are you going to know what He wants? You're not going to know. There's going to be no way to know. You know how God speaks? One of the ways God speaks? Through preaching. God says, Moses, I'm giving you my words, you go give the people my words. Preaching is still something God expects out of the church. The Bible still says God chose the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Preach the word, be in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. You know what God expects from us? To be a church that's all about preaching. But can I say this? It's not enough just for the preaching to go on. It's not enough. I know one thing for a fact. I've gotten over myself. I know for a fact that when I get up and preach, not everybody in the room is sitting there with bated breath, hanging on every glorious word coming out of the amazing preacher's mouth. I know for a fact when I get up and preach that there's some people that aren't here at all, just in body. You know how I know that? I sat there for years, I get it. Amen, amen, amen. So I'm not even bitter about it. I know for a fact your mind wanders. Not everybody, but I'm sure some. Can I tell you something, Christians? If you're really going to accomplish something for God in your life, then when the Bible is opened and being preached, you have to make a decision to say, God, I want to hear something from you. Can I ask a rhetorical question that I don't want answered? I want you to ask it between you and God. Before you came in here tonight, was there any point that you just threw up a quick prayer and said, God, give me something, please. God, show me something, please. God, speak to me tonight, please. Or do you just come in and sit down? That's a good question, isn't it? Can I tell you anytime that I've said, God, speak, God, speak, God, speak. Man, some brand jackass gets up there and I'm like, wow, that was the Lord. I mean, God used a jackass in the Old Testament, didn't He? If God can use one to speak to Balaam, God can use one to speak to me. It don't matter who's up there. If I ask God to speak, He'll speak, man. I've turned on the TV, there's a TV evangelist, like, man, I get more fired up sometimes listening to those guys than I do a good Bible-believing preacher, just because there's all the junk coming out of his mouth, so the Holy Ghost is going, no, that ain't right, that ain't right, that ain't right, see that, see that, see that? I'm like, whoa, man, I'm just so much stronger in my faith now because of all that foolishness coming out of his mouth. Hey, when you want to hear from God, you'll hear from Him. And that's how to accomplish a work for God with your life. You have to hear from God yourself, like we were talking about right before the service. He said, I let other people do the work for me, but, you know, I turn on the TV or the radio or whatever, you know, listen to a preacher, but nothing's like sitting down and opening up the book and hearing from God myself. You got to hear from God if you're going to accomplish anything in your life. Preaching is crucial. These people didn't just hear, you know what they did? They acted on what they heard. They went to work. They were given directions. Look at verse number 18. He gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone written with the finger of God. You know what I get out of that? When God gives you something, it is preserved. God wrote that thing in stone with his finger, and he said, here, I spoke to you. It's clear. It's locked in. It's plain. It ain't fancy. It's solid. I spoke to you. When God gives you something, you know it's God, it's clear, it's definitive, it's plain, it's obvious. I have a hard time sometimes getting the, you know, your palate, your taste buds, I have a hard time sometimes with some of these testimonies of, you know, how God called me to this, that, and the other, and this big dramatic thing about this circumstance and this thing, and then a guy cut me off with a license plate that said, and I knew God was sending me to, I have a hard time with some of that. I'm not, you know, whatever. You know, settle it between you and God. None of my business. You know what I want? I want something solid. I don't want to be cut off by a license, you know, somebody, a license plate said Colorado, so God called me to Colorado. You know. I was driving on the road one day and it was wintertime and I was freezing and One of those digital signs show the beach in Florida. See what I'm saying? When God speaks, you know it's God. When it's Him speaking, if you're one seeking Him to speak. Do you know what David said? When thou settest seeking my face, my heart sent unto thee, thy face, O Lord, will I seek. You want to accomplish something for God in your life? You got to hear from God. You know how to hear from God? You got to want to hear from God. And if you want to hear from God, guess what's going to happen? You're going to hear from God. See, duties never conflict. I want to accomplish something for God in my life. Don't you? And I don't find it particularly glorious running around doing the mundane duties of life. I don't find it particularly exciting I like knowing what my gifts and my callings are. I like it when I feel God get in something and, man, it's just charged. But that is literally probably one one-hundredth of the Christian life in all reality. Ninety-nine percent of the Christian life is a mundane, day-to-day, in-and-out drag. And it starts when you're a little kid sitting at school, learning to do right and work hard. And the exact same thing happens when you're an adult and it comes time to go punch in the time clock and get back to work and do a job you don't want to do. You want to know what your gifts and callings are? You want to do a great work for God? I'll tell you how to do a great work for God. Psalm 27, please. We'll be closing here. We're not even going back to Exodus. Psalm 27. You want to do a great work for God? Want to accomplish something for the Lord with your life? You know, some of you older folks, you encourage me so much. And you know why you encourage me? Because you've said, and quite a few of you, you've said to me, I wish I'd have started younger. I wish I'd have started younger. That's a blessing. That's a blessing for some that started younger. And that get used to the mundane drag of serving the Lord and going to church and doing right. And it's not always, you know, showers of blessings all the time. It can be pretty much a drag at times. There's a lot of disappointments in serving the Lord. There's trouble. And you older folks say, man, I wish I'd have started younger. That's a great thing. That's a great testimony. And I appreciate that. But let me say this about that. It don't matter how old you are. God knows when you started and where you were at and what's in your background and where you're at now. And you can become such a powerful, powerful servant of Jesus Christ in your 40s and 50s and 60s. You can become a powerful testimony to some of these young people that need to see your testimony so that they'll stay faithful. You can accomplish something in your life for God. And these little kids sitting in there, in here with their whole life ahead of them, And they're in a generation that thinks life is all about something that's not even real. We better equip them with some reality. We got no idea what some of these young little kids could turn out to accomplish for God. But you know what we have to learn to do? I just quoted it to you, but I want you to see it. Psalm 27.8. When thou saidest, seek ye my face, my heart said unto thee, thy face, Lord, will I seek. What's your gift and calling? What can you accomplish for God? Well, a lot of you may not even know. But there's one thing God just said to you by the power of the Holy Spirit in the perfect Word of God. Do you know what He said? Seek my face. And you know what the start to accomplishing something for God is? Saying, alright Lord, I'll seek your face. What does God want me to do with my life? God wants you to seek His face. What am I supposed to be, become, do? Where am I supposed to go, marry, this, that, X, Y, Z? You fill in the blank. God wants you to walk with Him. And literally, all the crazy things, I mean, if God wants you in Papua New Guinea, witnessing to some tribal people, you will wind up in Papua New Guinea, witnessing to some tribal people, leading hundreds of people to Christ, if that's God's will for you, if you'll just say, okay, God, I'll seek your face. Okay, God, I'll walk with you. You know what God wants from every person in this room? God wants to walk with you. You know what God wants from these little kids? God wants these little kids to get up in the morning without their parents prodding them and telling them, and God wants to see some little kids open up their Bibles and read their Bibles. Even if it's just 10 verses, God wants to see some little kids on their knees next to their bed tomorrow morning without their parents telling them to do it. God's telling everybody in this room, seek my face. And very few people actually do. So that's why most people don't ever accomplish anything for God. Because we want the end and we don't want to start at the beginning. Let's stand to our