Sermon: Spirit-Filled Craftsmen (Exodus 35:4-36:1)

From The Local Christendom Podcast with Aaron Ventura · 38:54

Show by Aaron Ventura

Spirit-Filled Craftsmen Sunday, November 8th, 2026 Twenty-fourth Sunday After Pentecost Christ Covenant Church – Chehalis, WA Exodus 35:4–36:1 (NKJV) Prayer O Father, we thank You for Your Son, who came down from heaven and pitched His tent among us. We thank You for Your Holy Spirit, who moves in the church, and stirs us to love and good works for the building up of the body. Build us now we ask, for the glory of Christ Jesus, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God forever, Amen. Introduction Last week we heard from the Apostle Paul that God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7). And here in Exodus 35, we have a premiere example of cheerful giving. We learn from Exodus 38 that the Israelites gave 29 talents of gold and over 100 talents of silver for the work. And if we convert those numbers to USD, it comes out to something like $135 million that they gave to build the tabernacle. Moreover, the Israelites gave so much material, that Moses has to tell them to stop giving. It says in Exodus 36:5-7, The workmen said to Moses, “The people are bringing much more than is needed for the service of the work which the Lord commanded us to do.” So Moses issued a command, and they circulated a proclamation throughout the camp, saying, “Let no man or woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing any more. For the material they had was sufficient for all the work and more than enough to do it. Now that is what spirit-filled, joy-filled generosity looks like, we give until we are told to stop giving. And when it comes to the giving of thanks to God and worship to God, the Bible tells us that that is never to stop! It says in Psalm 34:1, I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth. And in Hebrews 13 it says, Therefore by [Jesus] let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. And so the building of the tabernacle is an outward expression of the spiritual offerings that we are to freely give to God. The Israelites gave gold, silver, bronze, and precious materials. And we are to give to God what is most precious to us, our own heart, our soul, our mind, our strength. God has no need for any of our stuff, for He is the creator and giver of all that we have, but when we give ourselves to God, God in return gives Himself more fully to us. Spiritual goods increase the more that you give them away. Love and truth, knowledge and mercy, cheerfulness and gratitude, multiply the more you give them to others. And so as we continue to physically work in this building, renovating, remodeling, beautifying this space, all of it should be ordered towards the spiritual building up and beautification of Christ’s body. As I told you early on this series, it would be a great shame for us to be an ugly people in a beautiful space. It would be a great shame for us to have a warm sanctuary and cold hearts. Because when God’s Holy Spirit fills you and indwells you, He moves you to do what pleases Him. He inflames yours heart with love. As David says in Psalm 119:32, I will run the way of thy commandments, When thou shalt enlarge my heart. And so this morning I want look at some of the ways that God’s Spirit moves His people to build. 1. So first, we’ll rehearse the history and context of the building of the Tabernacle, 2. And then we’ll look at two ways God stirs us to build His House. First Recall the Context of the Construction of the Tabernacle Back in Genesis 12:7, God promised to Abram, Unto thy seed will I give this land, (referring to the land of Canaan). A few hundred years go by and in Exodus 1 we are told, The children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them. However, the land that they are living in is Egypt, not Canaan. And because they are so fruitful, they are perceived as a threat to Pharoah. And so Pharaoh enslaves them, he tries to murder all the newborn Hebrew boys, but God rescues the infant Moses, and 80 years later He sends Moses back to Egypt to bring the Israelites into the promised land. After ten plagues and the Passover, Israel comes up out of Egypt, they cross the Red Sea, they eat miracle bread from heaven, they drink miracle water from a rock, and they receive The Ten Commandments while encamped around Mt. Sinai. This brings us to Exodus 24, where Moses goes up into the mountain for forty days and forty nights. And while he is there, God gives to Moses the blueprints and instructions for building God a house or sanctuary, a place to live amongst His people (and this is what Exodus chapters 25-31 describes). Meanwhile, back in the Israelite camp, the people are starting to wonder whether Moses is ever coming back. And so at the same time that God is giving to Moses divinely inspired instructions for how to live with Him and receive His blessings, the…

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