Turn to the Word of God in Matthew chapter 1 and then Exodus chapter 25, and let's stand as we listen to the reading of the Word itself, an act of worship which requires our attention and our submission. Matthew chapter 1, as we consider the great theme in Exodus of the tabernacle, the theme of God's nearness to his people, his imminence, that he is the God who is Emmanuel, God with us. You see that that is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Now, the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. After his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. And Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary, your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet saying behold the Virgin shall be with child and bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel which is translated God with us. Exodus chapter 25 the first nine verses. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, that they may bring me an offering. From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart, you shall take my offering. And this is the offering which you shall take from them, gold, silver, and bronze, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen and goat's hair, ram skins dyed red, badger skins, and acacia wood, oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense, onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate. And let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it." The grass withers, the flower fades, the Word of God endures forever. Turn to Exodus chapter 25 and look at the beginning to look at a larger section in the book of Exodus concerning the tabernacle. Perhaps it's a word that you're not even familiar with. It's not a word we often use anymore. But the tabernacle was certainly a central part of Israel's life and a very significant part of the Exodus, simply if we look how much of the book of Exodus is concerned with that particular structure. We're here at chapter 25. in the book, and from here really to the end of chapter 40, we will, so about 15 chapters in essence, though there's the interlude of the rebellion that we're going to deal with in chapter 31 and following. Though there is that interlude, in essence, even there, the theme of the rest of the book of Exodus will revolve around this particular structure which we call the tabernacle. Before we study that in detail, I often do want to ask you a question. What are you willing to give for the increase of the worship of the living God? What are you willing to give? For many, religion is about getting something, about finding inner peace, about satisfaction of conscience, meeting other people, common goals and purposes, a sense of belonging, all these other things. For true Christianity, for true religion then, which is true Christianity, It's not about getting, though we do receive much in the gospel, but it's also fundamentally concerned with giving. What are some of the things that Christians are called to give? Ultimately, we are called to give worship to God. That is the most basic category under which we are to live, to offer ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service of worship. We have public corporate worship here where we're gathered as the body of Christ. We have private worship where we pray and read the word on our own. And then all that we do in a very real sense is to be done quorum Deo before the face of God. And that gives us the biggest category as God has come to us in grace and mercy in Christ Jesus. We offer ourselves all that we are and all that we have back in service to Christ. We are his bond servants and we are called to willingly lay down our lives for him. But sometimes that comes in particular ways. particularly pointed ways. That's a broad category, but let's put some flesh on the bones. We're called to care, for example, in the acts of giving. That's what I'm thinking about. We're called to care for the needy. If we want to define true religion, James does. Pure and undefiled religion before the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. But that middle phrase there, the care for orphans and widows in their distress, reminds us that we as a body, there's a diaconal ministry, there's a ministry of mercy, and that we are called to look out for the needs of others and be ready to give of what the Lord has given to us. And this is one of the ways that we glorify God. There's another kind of giving that we see in the scriptures, and that those are gifts that are given particularly and especially for the propagation of the worship of God. which would include gifts that support the preaching of the word, the missionary enterprise of the church, and things like corporate worship and the gathering of God's people. These are also gifts that the church is to give. Paul writes, particularly the church at Philippi, how they supplied his needs especially so that he might be able to continue the work of the mission of the church, going into all nations and preaching Christ and him crucified. They supplied for Paul's needs. He writes about this in Philippians chapter 4, verses 15 through 17. And you can give in different ways. You can give time. You can give your time and use your talents in the service of Christ and His Church, and you can give of your goods, your treasure. You can give to the needy, as I said earlier, and you can give to the advance of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. Very simply put, there is a real connection in the Scriptures between what you have received, both in salvation in Jesus Christ and in this world's goods, and what you give in return gladly to the Lord out of what he has given you out of gratitude for him. There's a connection between those two things and the one is the barometer of the other. Very simply, the measure of your Christianity can in a very real way be shown by the way you use the gifts God has given you, particularly and pointedly, time and money. If you review 2015, one of the ways you can look at your commitment to Christ is to look at your day planner or your Google calendar on your phone and see what you did all year. Another way is to say, what has the Lord given me gifts and abilities in and how did I use them for the advance of the gospel in the service of other believers. In other words, what God has given me. Or another way, if you tally your checkbook at the end of the year, where did my money go? How did I use the things that I've been blessed with as I have in mind the Lord Jesus Christ and his kingdom? These realities are a symbol barometer of your heart. And your perception then of what true needs are in this world and what is truly valuable is measured by how you use the things you've been given. The parable of the talents has this at the heart of it. Now we've come, I said, a moment ago to a major shift in the book of Exodus. a shift that focuses on the tabernacle, a unique structure in a sense which defines Israel as a nation apart from all other nations, an intricately designed structure whose architect is God himself, but a structure which God has ordained that Israel labor to build in their gifts and in their talents and in their time. that they participate in. God would give the instructions, he's the architect, he's the architect of all the details, but he calls Israel particularly to, in a sense, participate in this great work of him drawing near and manifesting his salvation into Israel and to the nations in this structure, the tabernacle. We're going to look at a few things as we Consider this theme, particularly the offerings given for the tabernacle. But we're going to ask some questions before we get to the idea of giving or the participation of Israel. We're going to ask the question first, what is the tabernacle? What is it? Why is it important to Israel? What does it teach us? Actually, that's the first two questions. What is the tabernacle itself? What's the structure? Define what this was. Then what was its purpose? Why was it important to Israel? Why did God give it? What did it symbolize? What did it mean for Israel? What does it mean for us? How are we to think of it? And then thirdly, as it was designed, And defined by God, we're going to see that it was built and supplied for by Israel, and that is instructive for us. So anyways, the structure itself, its purpose, and then Israel's participation in the building of the tabernacle and how that's instructive for us. Well, what is the tabernacle? What was it? The word is first mentioned in verse 9. You see there, according to all that I show you, that is the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it. In this little sentence, we have first a word that needs to be defined, tabernacle. What was it itself? It's connected to a Hebrew verb, the verb that is to dwell or to live. There's two verbs that we often associate with the dwelling of God. One of them has to do with his majesty and the other one has to do with his nearness, his imminence. And the word that's linked to the word tabernacle in the original has to do with God dwelling nearby, his intimate dwelling with his people, his being close to them. The noun itself is the Hebrew word miskan, and it has the idea of dwelling nearby, a dwelling place, and particularly this tent, this tabernacle, the dwelling place of God near to his people. Well, what was it? If we were to unpack the whole next section, we would get into all the details. We're going to look a little bit more at the details and why they're significant in the coming weeks in broader categories. But let me give you an overview of what the thing itself was, just so you have it in your mind. Take a little step back. Moses is receiving these words, having ascended to the top of Sinai after six days of waiting before the peak, just below the peak with Joshua. On the seventh day, the Lord has called him up into the cloud of his special presence. And the rest of the Book of Exodus is going to be, or the rest of Moses' time on the mountain, is going to be basically to receive instructions, carefully detailed instructions. Verse 9, according to all that I show you, the pattern just show you shall make it. Moses is receiving detailed instructions on how to build this structure. He's been ushered into the presence of God. Verse 18, so Moses went up of chapter 24, into the midst of the cloud, up on the mountain. He was on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights. But he's given reasons to build this tabernacle there. Rather, he's given instructions. He's up on the mountain for two reasons. The first one is to get instructions to build the tabernacle. It has an outer court. It's about 150 by 75 feet. And in the outer court, there is something called the bronze seat, the bronze altar of offering. Then there is the tabernacle proper, that is the tent or temple itself. And that was about 45 feet long and about 15 feet tall. That's the tabernacle proper. And it was divided into two portions. The first, so 45 by 15, the first 30 feet was the holy place where the table of showbread and the, the golden lamp stand and the altar of incense were in a place that was called the holy place. Then there was a veil which separated the most holy place from the holy place and in there was a piece of furniture called the Ark of the Covenant where there were two cherubim on either side and it was the throne, the dwelling place of God. And that place could only be entered, we'll learn later, by the high priest on the Day of Atonement to bring the blood of the sacrifice to sprinkle on the mercy seat. On the ceiling and the drapery that made the tent itself, this was a portable structure that could be dismantled and carried and erected again as Israel moved through the wilderness. There were to be woven pictures of cherubim, of angels. This structure then was given to Israel to be the center point or the center place of their worship and their communion with the living God. Now, the second reason Moses went up on the mountain was to receive the tablets of stone, and they're even linked to the tabernacle. He was to take the words of the covenant that were declared from Sinai in the Ten Commandments. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage and everything that follows. Two copies of those from Sinai and place them in the Ark of the Covenant so that the terms of the Covenant there were next to the throne of God as he dwelled with his people in the midst of the camp. Inside of the heart of the tabernacle was the heart of the terms of the covenant itself. Again, the whole construction was portable. It was made of beams and covers and skins and carrying poles, even for the ark itself, so that that structure could go wherever Israel would go. God himself, in the next chapters, reveals plans for the structure that would occupy the heart of the camp. Dimensions, materials, furnishings, activities, all carefully defined by God. Again, in the coming weeks, we're going to look at more detail on some of those. But today, we're going to look at the big question, what was the purpose of the tabernacle? Verse 8 tells us, and let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell with them. God had this sanctuary made in order that he might dwell with his people. But what is the symbolism of this sanctuary? If you go back in your Bibles to Genesis chapter 1, you think back to the beginning. Think back to the six days of creation where God made all things out of nothing by the word of his power, space of six days all very good, the cosmos, the universe. The world and everything that dwells in it, the heavens, the earth, and the seas. The centerpiece of all of that was a place where Adam and Eve dwelt, the Garden of Eden. And where Adam and Eve, in a fruitful garden, dwelt in the presence of God, under his smile and blessing, in perfect communion. What happened? Because of rebellion and sin, they were cast out of the garden. And an angel with a flaming sword guarded the way to the tree of life. Nobody could return to Eden. You remember that after that, the world descended into sin, greater and greater, and worse and worse, rebellion against God. until the intentions of man's heart were always and only evil continually. Genesis 6, 5 says, men were wicked, there was violence on the earth, and God destroyed the world with the flood. And with the flood, that original sanctuary, Eden, appears to have been washed away. And now we have a world that appears not to have a sanctuary and God dwelling with men. But then God begins to come. to his people with promises. As a matter of fact, the first thing man does is he tries to make a new tower to reach heaven, to reach God. Out of that rebellion, God again judges the earth and scatters the people. Abraham then is chosen by God, and God begins to manifest himself too, and in a sense dwell with Abraham as the beginning of the promises that are realized here in the tabernacle. It is not a world without the presence of God. Even after the flood, no one knew that as he offered sacrifices at Ararat and the smoke arose to God and God was pleased with its aroma, but then in Abraham's life you have the the altars and the presence of God and the promises of God. And you have intimations of God coming near to dwell and build a house. You think of Jacob as he was laying there at Bethel and he says, he sees the vision of the ladder and the angels ascending and descending and God above on his throne and humanity below. And he says, this is none other than the house of God, Bethel. God is dwelling here with me. God is drawing near. And we've seen that Sinai itself and the great covenant ceremony at the mountain is a manifestation of God drawing near, of coming on his mountain by his presence, making it holy, defining the terms of the covenant, drawing his people to himself, giving them a mediator, and dwelling in the midst of the camp of Israel. We've seen the word of God and the law given and the covenant ceremonies and the cleansing with blood. But now we're at a point in Exodus where we have a tension. Sinai is here, Canaan, which is home, the land of promise, is there. How then will God continue to dwell with his people? Will he leave them behind? No, Sinai is so significant in that what God does in descending on the mountain and drawing near to his people in covenant mercy, though it is in his holiness and power, In the building of the tabernacle, there is the pledge that God will never leave or forsake his own, but that he will be God who is Emmanuel, God with them. The tabernacle, in a sense, makes the realities of Sinai permanent for Israel. You remember what happens at the end of Exodus? We're going to get there later. Remember the glory cloud? was promised that a pillar of fire and a pillar of cloud would lead Israel all through the wilderness. You remember that cloud was at the banks of the Red Sea, protecting them from the Egyptians. You remember the cloud descended on Sinai in Exodus chapter 19 and overshadowed the mountain. And you remember the cloud is described again here at the very end of Exodus chapter 24, Moses enters the cloud. That cloud, when the tabernacle is finished, will come from Sinai and it will fill the tabernacle so that the glory of God will always be in the center of the camp, at his throne, at the Ark of the Covenant, in the center of his worshiping people. and he will never leave them or forsake them. It becomes like a portable Mount Sinai. Again, verse 8, and let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. It becomes a permanent Bethel, the house of Gil. becomes a visible symbol of the promise that God will dwell with men that there is it's it's it's a promise that what Adam and Eve had in Eden there will be a restoration of perfect communion in without sin through the blood of sacrifice and all of its furnishings you see this the lamp is a picture of the tree it's made like a tree like one of the trees of the garden there is the cherubim there over the Ark of the Covenant and even woven into the the coverings over the tabernacle. There are pomegranate fruits that are on the dress of the priest, reminding them of the fruits in the garment. Later, those would be built into the permanent temple itself. It is, in a sense, a symbol of God, again, dwelling in and inhabiting the creation that he made for the purpose of communion with men. It becomes the meeting place between a holy God and a sinful humanity. It becomes the centerpiece of the covenant of grace, the promise of his presence through sacrifices and the blood of atonement. In the coming weeks, we'll see the whole thing points to Jesus Christ, to God with us, to the offering for sins, to the light of the world, to the reality that the word became flesh and dwelt or tabernacled among us, John 1, verse 14. It is the promise visibly made of the restoration of all things. through the covenant of grace and a God who seeks and saves sinners. Now let's take a step back. Make sense of the first verses, verses one through seven and their import for us. And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to the children of Israel that they may bring me an offering. He says, tell them to bring me an offering. Now, where would they get these things? Some people ask, where would they have gold and silver and bronze and jewels? Do you remember what happened when they left Egypt? The Egyptians gave them all their treasures. And Israel went out of the land, though they were slaves, they went out rich. Now, why did God give them these things? So that they could make themselves rich? He gave them these things in preparation for the day that he would dwell among them in his tabernacle and make his presence known according to his design. Tell them now to go back to those bags of treasure and bring to me all that is needed that I might dwell in the midst of my people. Tell them to bring an offering. And not just any kind of offering, this notice is a free will offering from everyone who gives it willingly with his heart, you shall take my offering. It's not compulsion, but from everyone whose heart is moved by who I am and what I have done for you and what I'm about to do in building this tabernacle, come and bring your offerings. And then they're all described here. And this is the offering you should take gold, silver, bronze, All things of value, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, goat's hair, ram skins, oil, spices, onyx stones. Bring me gold and jewels and precious stones and the wood and everything that had to build this sanctuary and make it according to my particular instruction. Now there's two great wonders here in that simple command. Two astonishing wonders. The first, is this, that God had ordained that his people would participate in the building of this sanctuary. He had given them everything that they needed in order that they might give, it all came first from him, but he had ordained that they would participate in its building. And it wouldn't just be in its giving. Later on in their time and their talents, men and women, the whole congregation, working together to build this structure according to the design of God, according to the provision of God, using their time and their gifts and their talents and their treasure in the service of God. And he says, do it with a willing heart. Though the tabernacle, we read in Hebrews 8, 2, was a copy of heavenly things. It didn't descend from heaven here. Israel was called to labor in its construction. It's very interesting that there's an echo of this same scene. David, though he was not allowed to build the temple, in 1 Chronicles 29, his heart was so involved and willing in the project of building the temple. dwelling place for God that what he did before he died is he had Israel collect everything that was needed the gold and the silver and the jewels and the wood and the stones by free will offerings that he encouraged for all of the people and then he says this he's astounded that God would give him and the people the honor of participation listen to what he says to the Lord in prayer that day now therefore our God We thank you and praise your glorious name. But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as willingly as this? For all things come from you and of your own we have given to you. David recognizes that there is a privilege in participation, in giving, which God himself at first supplied. Who are we and who are my people that we should be able to participate in the building of the temple? And the same wonder and privileges here. Israel is participating in the building of the house of God. There's awe here. God is doing a great thing. Who are we to participate? And then there's the wonder of the response of Israel. If you go to chapter 35, you see what they do in response. In chapter 35, Moses is now down from the mountain. He's dealt with the rebellion. He now says the words that he was told to say in chapter 25 to the people. Take from you an offering to the Lord. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering to the Lord. Look at verse 20 and 21. all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses then everyone came whose heart was stirred and everyone whose spirit was willing and they brought the Lord's offerings for the work of the tabernacle of meeting for all its servants for the holy garments. Verse 29 they brought a freewill offering to the Lord and then in verse 36 And they spoke to Moses saying, the people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the Lord commanded us to do. So Moses has to make a commandment that they cause to be proclaimed throughout the whole camp. Let neither man or woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. In other words, they were flooded with everything needed to build the sanctuary of God as their hearts were moved by the forgiving grace and mercy of God. What's the present equivalent for us, for you and for me? What is God doing in our day that invites our participation and sacrificial giving? The tabernacle points to Jesus God with us, but the New Testament also tells us that Christ is the head, the chief cornerstone of a new building, a new temple, First Peter 3, made with living stones, which are you and I, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. The place where he promises to dwell. Remember in John 14, Jesus said, the Spirit's going to come, he's going to work in your hearts, and he's going to make your hearts a home for the Father and the Son. As Paul writes to the church at Corinth, he says multiple times that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit, that God dwells in you. that God is doing a work that the old tabernacle was a faint picture of, and then the temple even was a faint picture of, that in and through the finished work of Jesus Christ, the mediator of the new covenant, there is a new dwelling place of God being built and established in the world today as we speak. And even as the tabernacle in Exodus chapter 40 was filled with the glory cloud of the presence of God, in Acts chapter 2, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ was filled with the glory cloud of the spirit of God. And we are God's building in the present age. And the work of missions is the work of the growth of the temple of God, the tabernacle of God in the present age. And this is the work to which we are called to participate in the giving of our time, our talents, and our treasure. This is the great work of God. When you see a church gathered for public worship on the Lord's Day, this is a manifestation of the temple of the living God that he is building in the present age by the preaching of the word. When you think about the work of missions and evangelism, this isn't a social project. This is a divine project according to divine appointment, divine rules, divine instructions revealed from heaven, but in which the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ participates by prayer and by giving and by sending to the ends of the earth. In the simple picture in Exodus chapter 25, the simple question is, where are our hearts And how are we participating? There's a final glorious end to this picture of the tabernacle. It's in Revelation chapter 21. This should excite the believer. When the heavenly tabernacle comes to earth and we hear this declaration, the dwelling place of God is with men. That's what the present age is preparing for. And that's what every Christian should be praying and laboring towards. These great realities centered in the New Covenant, in the Old Covenant pointing towards, in the New Covenant founded on the person and work of Jesus Christ, the blood of the cross, his rising again, his ascension into heaven, and all that he's doing in the present age. What's the present equivalent of Israel's giving? It's your giving. Think about what God has given you in this life, and then ask yourself the question, what is my heart willing to do with it? What is the nature of your tithes, offerings, your labor for Christ's church, your thoughts of the needs of others, diaconal needs of others? Is there a sacrificial investment of your time and treasure with the recognition that God gave it to you just like he gave the plunder of the Egyptians to Israel? Not to glorify your own name, but to make the name of Jesus great in all the earth. That's why he gave it to you. When we have an offering here in worship, it's an act of worship. We give in faith, believing. that we are supporting the mission of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ in the glory of the name of Christ to the ends of the earth. We are driven by the awe and wonder of the gospel. I have been brought near to God. This place is none other than the house of God where he meets with his people, and my desire is to see that the nations would come streaming to Zion and that the name of God would be made great in all the earth. So I will give, and it's an honor, to take what God has first given me and give it to him. Do you have this impulse? The psalmist in Psalm 107, when he was meditating on the works of God, he said this again and again. This was his refrain. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness and his wonderful works to the children of men. When you walk through the streets of Greenville, when you drive, When you fly somewhere and you see city after city through the window of the plane, maybe some of you do, does your heart ever long to see men give thanks for the wonderful works that God has done for the children of men? Do you ever long to see that the glory of God would be made great in all the earth? And then does your mind ever go to think this, what has God given me? in order that I might see that end advanced in the present age." And then, are you willing to give it sacrificially? Again, the marvel of the response to this command of God was that they gave so much that Moses had to say, we have enough. Think about our age. It's probably people emailing you like they're emailing me every other week. I don't even know how they got my email address for political contributions. And they're probably good and well to give those. I'm not allowed to give them because I'm a Canadian, so I don't reply. So I'm exempt from that right now. But there's people asking for your money. There's a world that's ready to separate you from your money or your time for all sorts of pleasures. There's all kinds of competing interests. Do you think first about this one, the glory of God and his name in all the earth? Do you think about the need of our day, revival, renewal, the preaching of the word and that a nation would turn back to Christ, that the world would bow the knee before the Lord Jesus? I want you to notice this recurring theme. From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart, you shall take my offering. If you read Exodus 35 and 36, They responded, from the heart, from the heart, from the heart. Jesus said this, related to the same theme. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. And then he says this little phrase, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. What you do with what God has given you in this life is an indicator of the state of your heart. In our age of affluence, temptation, and many other things, be careful. The simple question is, where is your heart today? time and your treasure. Be willing to give it up in order that the preaching, the advance, the kingdom of Jesus would be your first priority in all that you do. Let us pray. Lord our God, we would pray with David long ago. Who are we, your people, that we should be able to offer willingly to you. For all that we have has first come from you, and all that we give, we are only giving back to you. Stir up in us, we pray, willing hearts to make the glory of your name and the building of that new temple of living stones through your ordained means, according to your word, would be our first passion. Lord, give us a love for your church and a love for the one above all who is the chief cornerstone, the king and head of the church, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the fulfillment of all that was promised in the sacrifices and in your presence with your people, who is God with us. We pray that you would move us to be obediently sacrificial in our giving to you. Forgive us, we pray, and bless us for Jesus' sake, amen.