Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Let's take our Bible and go to the book of Exodus.
[00:00:04] We're going to be in two separate sections this morning. We'll be in Exodus 25 as well as Exodus 35, 25 and 35. We will read verses one through nine in chapter 25 to begin.
[00:00:34] The reason I'm reading this and want to do a study on this topic and to see for ourselves the principles laid out in chapter 25 and in chapter 35 is because we're approaching the mission conference. And of course, every year and for many, many, many years now, the whole time I've been at Choice Hills Baptist Church since the early, the late 90s. And you know, every year we've renewed our missionary offering commitment in association with our mission conference. And the reason we do that is that every once in a while we need a refresh when it comes to this subject. And Missions is, and I'm sure Brother McElreath and Brother Brown, when they preach at our mission conference in a couple of weeks, they're going to make this perfectly clear. But the work of getting the gospel, the knowledge of God's dear son into the world is at the very core of God's work. It's at the very core of God's desire. I mean, to think that God spared not his own son, right?
[00:01:58] The Lord spared not his own son.
[00:02:02] For him to just be unknown to so many people the world over for whom he died, right? And that's obviously not what he wants. He wants the gospel to go to every creature. And it is essential, it is vital. It is the very core of what it means to be a Christian. That's why we're here.
[00:02:23] At the end of the day, you and I are here. We are on this earth as a child of God, for the name of Christ, to glorify him.
[00:02:35] And so missions is a very important thing. So every year we renew our focus on that. That's the idea. We renew our focus on that. And many of you have come to our church since the last time we did it. And I've been in a lot of mission conferences, as you can imagine, my family has. And I've seen mission commitments and faith promises. Sometimes it's called. I've seen all that. I've seen that done in 10 different ways. And I think the emphasis and the focus has to be set right on this subject.
[00:03:13] And that's what I hope to do. I want to cover what our plan is for our missions commitment this year and describe the heart, really the heart of the matter, which is what we see here in Exodus 25, verse one says this. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart. Ye shall take my offering. And this is the offering which ye shall take of them. Gold and silver and brass and blue and purple and scarlet and fine linen and goat's hair and rams, skins dyed red and badgers skins and shittim wood, oil for the light, spices for anointing oil and, and for 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 thee. After the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it. Would you pray with me this morning?
[00:04:33] Our Lord, thank you for, first of all, for the Lord Jesus. Thank you that you have given us your unspeakable gift. We thank you for the opportunity to serve you, to live for you. We thank you for the fact that you call us Father, you identify yourself as our Father and you call us your children.
[00:04:56] Thank you for your word. As we study the Scripture this morning, I pray that your people will be strengthened. Give us a burden, give us clear direction as we look at our mission offering and our mission commitment and what that means in practicality and what significance that has on the work of our church.
[00:05:15] Help us especially to have the right heart, to have the right motive, and, Lord, to be able to do our offering, our mission commitment with joy.
[00:05:26] And so, Lord, give me wisdom, know what to say to youo people, help them to receive the Word. And we would all, Lord, take in what it says and apply it, and that yout would strengthen us and help, help us in it. In Jesus name, Amen.
[00:05:41] So this is an offering, of course, the children of Israel have just come out of Egypt, Exodus 20, of course, 10 Commandments and the Law and such. And so after the Lord spoke all of these things, and he's introducing them to really a new economy, a new covenant, a new way of interacting with him that had not yet existed, which is with the tabernacle. And if you think about the Tabernacle, and we studied on Wednesday night some time ago, and, you know, it represented the way that the children of Israel served God right. It involved the place of worship, it involved the service, it involved sacrifice, it involved holy days and festivals, it involved just any and every kind, the priesthood and all that they wore and all the different implements and instruments that were used at the tabernacle. So really, the tabernacle and what we read here, the purpose of their offering, it represents everything they're going to be doing to serve God. And that tabernacle and all of that system is going to be taken from place to place as they wander. And then eventually it's going to be taken into the land of promise, the land of Israel.
[00:06:58] And to get it all started, at this point, nothing has been built.
[00:07:03] The service of God has not begun. The service of God is not happening. Right? God has just spoken to them from Mount Sinai. But the tabernacle, the priesthood, sacrifices, holy days, none of that exists, right?
[00:07:21] And so what the Lord says in verse number two, he tells Moses. Now note this. He tells Moses to speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering.
[00:07:31] Now, what you don't see here, what you don't see is the Lord telling the children, individual people, and the children of Israel, you better give now.
[00:07:41] You better give. I know you got some earrings and you got some cloth and you got some stones. I see that ring on your finger. I see those studs in your ears.
[00:07:52] You need to give that. It's a seed offering.
[00:07:57] Just joking.
[00:07:58] You don't see that. What the Lord does is the Lord tells Moses to have an offering, right? It's just that simple.
[00:08:09] The Lord tells Moses to have an offering.
[00:08:13] So the command is not to give. The command is for Moses to provide an opportunity to give.
[00:08:23] But the giving on an individual level, which is what we'll see in a minute, the giving on an individual level is voluntary.
[00:08:33] It's supposed to be totally willingly, right?
[00:08:38] But an opportunity must be provided. And that's what the Lord said to Moses. He says, in other words, take up an offering. So that's the command. Okay? That's exactly what we have going on here.
[00:08:52] That's exactly what we have going on here. Now, there was a purpose for this offering. It wasn't just money to line the coffers of the church. It wasn't money. So our bank account goes high, so we feel better about having a high balance in the bank. No, it wasn't about that. It wasn't about having a treasury for the children of Israel. There was a specific reason this offering was taken. And that applies directly to what we have going on in the next couple of weeks.
[00:09:16] There is a need for something that is. Remember, this tabernacle was the entirety of the children of Israel's service to God. This is the way they served him. This is the way they approached him. We'll see. There is more than that. But this is it, right? This is their claim. This is their identity, their spiritual identity surrounds this. This tabernacle where God himself by his glory and the cloud and the pillar of fire is going to dwell among them. This is significant. It is directly related and applicable to what is the Great Commission to us. In other words, there is a very significant and important job that we have as the church of God and as a local church to be involved in the work of getting the gospel to people around the world who do not know about Christ.
[00:10:19] That is just as significant as this offering here. So there is a good reason we're having this.
[00:10:27] We could just say, and many churches do this, but we could just say, all right, we're just going to take a percentage of our offering and we're just going to give it to missions. And by doing so, we're not going to really focus. We're not going to have a special offering. In other words, we not even going to. I say require, but we're not even going to, like, come up with a plan whereby our mission offering is above our regular offering, our tithes and offering. We're not even going to do that. We don't want to overburden people. We just want to. We just want to. We'll just take out. Take a portion out of what they already give. That's not what happened here.
[00:11:07] That's not what happened here.
[00:11:09] An opportunity was provided for the people of God whose hearts were stirred and moved for the service, for the thing that is the purpose of the offering, to give willingly.
[00:11:24] And that's what we're doing.
[00:11:27] We're focusing on missions. We're focusing on this important duty and task that we have. And we could honestly say, well, you know, we don't need to do that. You know, we'll just take it out. And that way, nobody's burdened. But, you know, not everybody's burdened with an opportunity to give. You know that.
[00:11:45] Not everybody. When you present an opportunity to give and to take part and truly. And I don't just. I know this word is tossed around in politics a lot, but the word invest, you know, we want to spend money, we call it invest, Right? That's what my wife says, you know, going to invest in our future. She jokes around with me like that. We're going to go to the mall and invest in our. Go to, you know, go to the theme park to invest in our future, invest in our family's memories. It's just a Euphemism for spend, Right?
[00:12:15] But in this case, it is an actual investment. Not everybody views that as a burden. Some people want an opportunity. And you know what they lack?
[00:12:26] They lack a chance. Because nobody says, let's jump in and get involved in this. This is what God wants us to do. And there is. Listen, not only that, not only are people getting saved, not only the effect of the missionaries. That missionary Josh Sullivan was actually. Amy. Amy sent me a picture of Josh Sullivan, who was kidnapped in South Africa, right. And is being held for ransom. He was at our church in 2016.
[00:12:52] Somebody, somebody, church has sent money to that guy to put him on the mission field where he's been doing the work of God. And after all of that is over, the Lord is going to look at all of that and it's going to credit our account.
[00:13:08] I'm just saying I want.
[00:13:10] I can't speak for anybody else in this room, but I want a chance to take part in that.
[00:13:17] I'll be honest with you. Look, our family gives tithes and offerings.
[00:13:22] You guys do, too. I get that. I don't want all of our money to just go to keeping the lights on. I want something bigger, right? I want something eternal. Life's about. It's great. I'm glad we have lights. But I want something that's eternal, something that'll last.
[00:13:41] I don't mind the opportunity, right?
[00:13:44] And besides that, this is not a command.
[00:13:49] You see it. It's not a command. I'm getting ahead of myself here. Here's the principle.
[00:13:55] Could God have provided in some other way? Of course he could have, but he didn't. You know what he did? God is the one that came up with this special offering, this voluntary offering to supply the need for the tabernacle. Here's the principle being described here. And this three thread runs throughout Scripture, and this is it.
[00:14:13] God has chosen to use his people as the means that he supplies, the needs for his work.
[00:14:25] He's chosen to use his people as the means he could drop whatever out of heaven. He could have built a tabernacle and just given it to him, but he didn't. He chose to use the means of his people. How is this tabernacle going to be built? It's going to be built because they're going to give offerings, and as a direct result of that, the means.
[00:14:47] So God's service will begin and it will be performed. God has chosen to use these means, and that's true of this church as well. Listen, we don't have. We don't have any wealthy people. You know that we're soliciting funds for them to invest and get returns from our church. No, this is not a. This church is not funded. And its services and its work that it's involved in is not funded by some business venture or some grand set of stocks and their dividends or any kind of fundraising campaigns. We don't solicit, as I said, donations from wealthy people. No, it is funded. Listen. It is funded by the rank and file of God's sons and daughters. By you and by me.
[00:15:40] Just like it was here.
[00:15:42] Just like it was here. No different.
[00:15:47] And practically none of us are wealthy.
[00:15:51] We don't have a lot to give. Right.
[00:15:55] And to be honest with you, Brother Vernon, I'll tell you something. I wouldn't want some gazillionaire in our church that paid for everything.
[00:16:03] I would not want that.
[00:16:06] Because the rank and file, those of God's people, just regular people like you and like me.
[00:16:13] This is how God has chosen to fund his work.
[00:16:19] And many of us, as you well know, you know, have financial struggles ourselves.
[00:16:27] That's just the reality of it.
[00:16:30] And even though that was the case, it's the case with us. It was the case at this time. Yet the tabernacle would be built, the priests would be clothed, the instruments would be made, everything would be provided for. You know where that provision would come from? It would come from every one of God's people who willingly gave to the Lord for this purpose, to make the service of God work, God has chosen to use these means.
[00:17:01] Take a peek. We're going to refer back to this passage several times. Look at 2 Corinthians, chapter number 8, and Philippians, chapter 4.
[00:17:17] 2nd Corinthians 8. Look at verse number 1.
[00:17:29] You might want to put a little piece of paper there to hold this place, because, as I said, we'll refer back to it in a minute.
[00:17:36] Second Corinthians 8. One says, Moreover, brethren, do you to wit, or to know of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia, how that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For to their power I bear record, yea, and beyond their power, they were willing of themselves, praying us with much entreaty, that we would receive the gift and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. You see this? There is a collection being taken up, an offering, if you will, for some poor saints in Jerusalem because of the persecution that's happening there?
[00:18:15] And how is that need supplied by these people in Macedonia, who, though they were struggling themselves, do you see it? A great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty. Yet that did not stop them out of a willingness and a forwardness and an eagerness to be involved and to bless the poor saints in Jerusalem. They were willing, despite their own limitations, they were willing to take part in that because they found it worthy. They found it worthy.
[00:18:53] And so those poor saints were taken care of in Jerusalem. How the people of God.
[00:19:02] This is how God does his thing. This is how God does his work.
[00:19:07] This is it. We do it, or it's not done. They gave an offering or the tabernacle would not be provided for. It's just that simple. It's true of you. It's true of me.
[00:19:18] So that's the origin of the offering. But look back in Exodus 25 at the motive. Verse 2 says this, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart, ye shall take my offering. Look at chapter 35, verse number five says this. Take verse four says, and Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, this is the thing which the LORD commanded, saying, take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord. Whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it an offering of the Lord. Gold and silver and brass. Look at verse number 21.
[00:20:11] Verse 20 says this and all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and everyone whom his Spirit made willing. And they brought the Lord's offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation for all his service, and for the holy garments. And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing hearted and brought bracelets, and he goes on, listen to this. And earrings and rings and tablets and jewels, all jewels of gold. And every man that offered an offering of gold unto the lord, and every man with whom was found blue and purple and scarlet, and fine linen and goats hair, and red skins of rams and badger skins, brought them everyone that did an offering of silver, that did offer an offering of silver and brass, brought the Lord's offering and every man with whom was found shittim wood for any work of the service brought it and all the women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue and of purple and of scarlet, and of fine linen, and all the Women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom, spun goat's hair, and the rulers brought onyx stones and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate and spice and oil for the light and for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense. The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the Lord, every man and woman whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work which the Lord had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses. So the question I want to. You read it just as. Just as well as I did.
[00:21:45] What if somebody wasn't willing?
[00:21:52] The one stipulation was be willing.
[00:21:57] And if somebody was like, I don't want to, then don't offer it.
[00:22:04] You say, is a preacher actually saying, this is a pastor of a church? Yeah, that's it. Second Corinthians is the Second Corinthians 8, 9 is the passage to which it seems like every mission conference goes to that passage. Same thing, voluntary again. The Lord's command was not to give. The Lord's command was to Moses, have an offering those whose heart stirs them up. And my prayer for the mission conference, my prayer for the mission conference above everything else, is this, Lord, would you stir up the hearts of your people?
[00:22:41] Because although money is a part of missions, it is only a part of missions.
[00:22:48] You see, it was required. This offering was not an obligation. It was not a duty.
[00:22:54] If it could not be done willingly, it was not to be offered.
[00:23:00] There should be no mixed motives. It's not a comparison. It's not trying to one up another. It's not trying to make sure that we're, you know, our name's on the list.
[00:23:09] It's not trying to brag about how much we give. And listen, I've been in mission conferences. All that happens, you know, the stories are told about, you know, such and such gave this amount and that. Look, forget about all that.
[00:23:20] This is a matter between you and the Lord. Whether your heart is stirred up to give and to what degree and how God directly leads you as an individual to commit to giving on a weekly or monthly basis. That's what our mission commitment is all about.
[00:23:39] This is not done. To be a church member in good standing, as they might say, this is individual. This is from the heart, and this is between you and the Lord, just like it was here. Nobody's checking up on these people. And for our mission offerings, nobody's gonna. Nobody's gonna send you a, you know, a. You need. It's time to pay your pledge. And nobody's gonna send you anything. Your name is not gonna be on the card. You know, you guys know from last year, you have a card. There's no name. There's nowhere to put your name. Nobody's checking up on you.
[00:24:13] I lost my card.
[00:24:19] I want to tell you something, brothers and sisters. We've got to get away from this idea that I'm only going to do what I'm commanded.
[00:24:27] We've got to get away from this idea.
[00:24:30] Let me ask you a question.
[00:24:32] So God didn't command it? Does everybody see that in the Bible? God didn't command it? He didn't look at an individual and say, you better give. No, he didn't do that.
[00:24:43] But if he did not command it, why would anybody offer it?
[00:24:50] Hey, look, save some dough.
[00:24:54] If I don't have to, I ain't going to.
[00:24:58] But that's not what happened. Why did they do it if God didn't command it? It's very simple.
[00:25:06] These people gave.
[00:25:09] These people gave because that for which they offered was of greater importance to them than that which they offered.
[00:25:19] In other words, the things that they gathered, their personal possessions, all this cloth and all these valuable things that wood and gold and jewels and all these things that they offered. They said, it's very simple. They said this.
[00:25:35] The tabernacle of God is more important than these things. That's it. On an individual basis, they valued the work and service of their God greater than these personal possessions that they had. And that's the question. God didn't say, you got to give it. They didn't have to.
[00:25:57] It became a question of value. It became a question of eternal value.
[00:26:04] Did not our Lord say, lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, Right, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven? So it's really a worldview thing, is having a huge stock portfolio, is that of greater significance than being invested in the work of God? And listen, I'm not making this a binary choice. And I've heard that done in mission conferences, too. You better empty your account, Sister Pam.
[00:26:30] No, it's a matter of your heart, your willingness, your desire.
[00:26:36] And some people, depending on where we're at, whatever our financial situation, whatever it might be, some people don't have anything give way more than somebody who has a bunch. That's God's business. That's between you and the Lord. Here's the thing. It's about valuing eternal things of greater value than the material things. That's all it is. That's what a question is. That's why they gave it when it's not commanded, why do you do it?
[00:27:01] It's just a matter of. It's a function of having a spiritual vision and spiritual values.
[00:27:10] But we also see that faith is involved. What do you mean? Faith is involved?
[00:27:15] Because the moment you start talking about a special offering and a special missions commitment throughout 2025 and ended the first part of 2026, you know, if you commit to, I don't know, $100 a month as an example, if you commit to that, what happens if you don't have it, if you fall on hard times? What happens if you end up needing it?
[00:27:41] What happens if the children of Israel had these things and they fell on hard times and they need to take those jewels and those earrings and those things that are perfectly fine and okay to have, and. And they needed to liquidate those things so they could pay for the doctor, they could pay for the tires on their car or chariot or whatever they're saying.
[00:28:01] They're saying, lord, I trust you.
[00:28:05] I trust you. Look at Second Corinthians again, chapter nine, this time Second Corinthians, chapter nine, verse number seven.
[00:28:30] You're very familiar with these verses, I'm sure, but it says, every man, according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver.
[00:28:43] And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work. As it is written, he hath dispersed abroad, he hath given to the poor, his righteousness remaineth forever. Now he that ministereth seed to the sower, both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, being enriched in everything to all bountifulness which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. Very simple. God's saying, you give, you give to others. God will make sure you're taken care of. That's what this is saying. It is saying that God is able to give you everything you need.
[00:29:28] Now, it's not like a multiplication factor or something like that. Where you give one, God will give you 10. No, no, no, no. But God is able to make you abound. All right. Look at Philippians chapter 4, Philippians 4, 16 says this. For even in Thessalonica, Paul speaking, the missionary, ye sent once and again unto my necessity, not because I desire a gift, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. But I have all, and abound I am full, having received of Epaphroditus, the things which were sent from you. An odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice, acceptable, well, pleasing to God. But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. It could be that that need arose because of the very money that they sent to Paul. Do you understand that that is the practical reality of giving, Be it your tithe and offering, or be it a special offering like we do with our mission commitment. It is a practical reality.
[00:30:40] I'm not going to blow smoke at you. Listen, it might be that the money you give puts you in a difficult financial position.
[00:30:51] But this says, my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
[00:31:03] Because when you send money out, that's money that might be used later. That's just. I mean, this is just basic, right?
[00:31:12] But if you have a heart that wants to, there's an element of faith. Lord, I'm trusting you that if something comes up, I'm trusting you to provide.
[00:31:26] Look at 1st Chronicles 29, if you would.
[00:31:30] This is a different set of offerings, but first Chronicles 29.
[00:31:38] There's one little nugget of a verse I like in this case. They're not offering for the tabernacle but for the temple. David is preparing to build the temple. Verse number nine of chapter 29, first chronicles 29, nine says this. Then the people rejoiced for that they offered willingly. Because with a perfect heart, they offered willingly to the Lord. And David the king also rejoiced with great joy. You know the effect of offering from the heart willingly to God. You know the effect of that is it makes you happy.
[00:32:13] It makes you happy to do it. How many of you like people to do things for you out of duty and obligation? Raise your hand if you love that.
[00:32:25] How many of you wives love when your husband comes and gives you a kiss because you say, honey, can you come give me a kiss?
[00:32:34] Sister Pam, you love that, don't you? No, my wife doesn't love it, I can tell you that.
[00:32:41] No, she wants me to come to her willingly. She wants me to come to her voluntarily. And that's the only way she accepts it. Well, here we are, right?
[00:32:52] Here we are.
[00:32:54] But the result of that is joy.
[00:32:57] God loveth a cheerful giver. Not grudgingly or of necessity. Here's the thing. If you don't want to give to the mission work of the church, nobody's going to make you. We say, well, you know how preachers are. He'll manipulate and he'll arm twist And. And he'll make you feel guilty. I'm not making you feel guilty. I'm telling you it's worthy.
[00:33:18] Brother Jim, it's worthy. Having been a missionary and on the receiving end, I want to tell you it is worthy. People do hear the gospel that wouldn't otherwise. I've talked to them with my own mouth. I've met people who did not know the name of Jesus. I know that that's real. And I was able to go there to be a missionary because this church and other churches like this, small and large sitting money and supplied our physical needs so that we could do that. I'm tell you something, it is worthy.
[00:33:50] Our faith promise, commitment is worthy. It's worthwhile. It's a good work.
[00:33:56] It is as you imagine. I want to promise you, you visit a missionary, it is exactly as it is, as it is described.
[00:34:08] It is worthwhile and the Lord is pleased. In Philippians 4, the Bible says it is a sacrifice of a sweet smell, well pleasing to God.
[00:34:24] We're not doing this to toot our own horn to have a big mission program. No, it's about one thing. It's about getting the name of Christ and his gospel to people that will perish without it.
[00:34:38] That's what it's about.
[00:34:40] Do you want to be a part of that?
[00:34:42] Do you have a heart that's just willing, Lord, if you give it. If you give it, I'll give it, Lord, if you provide, I will do what I can.
[00:34:54] That's all we're asking for.
[00:34:57] It's just an opportunity to take part in that.
[00:35:08] Back in Exodus 25, did you notice all the different items that they could offer? There were all kinds of different colored fabric and gold and silver and brass and stones and oil and spices. And there's food, there's drink, there's.
[00:35:28] There's anything and everything. Thread and wood and all kinds of stuff. There were a variety of items that could be given to the Lord as an offering. You know what that reminds me of? The fact. It reminds me of the fact that everybody could participate. In fact, in Exodus 35, you see that both the men and the women were separately. So it wasn't just like dad was doing it for everybody. No, they were all individually. And that demonstrates that every heart to a person, every heart is willing.
[00:35:59] It's not just dad saying, this is what we're going to do. No, Mom's saying, no, I want to do it. And child says, if I can get some money, I'm going to do it. All the hearts were Individually inclined, all the hearts were willing.
[00:36:11] But it didn't matter. If you had a lot of money or a little bit of money, you might have only had one earring or one little charm or one necklace or one little yard of cloth or whatever the case might be for this. You might have only had one board. You might have had a whole barn full of boards. Who in the world knows? But here's the thing. No matter what you had, you could bring it.
[00:36:30] Everyone, no matter their ability, could bring their offering. It's not a competition here. Nobody even knows what you give. I don't want to know. And I don't know.
[00:36:42] Doesn't matter. It's between you and the Lord. That's what our mission commitment is.
[00:36:47] Some people give one thing, some people give another, but everybody can. If you have a heart, that's the only stipulation.
[00:36:55] If you're willing, if you desire.
[00:36:59] But here's the thing I want you to see. Look at chapter number, chapter 35.
[00:37:19] So he's talking about all these things that will be gathered together. All these personal possessions and items. Verse 10 says this. Notice these verses 35. Verse 10. And every wise hearted among you shall come and make all that the Lord hath commanded. Verse 25. And all the women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands and brought that which they had spun, both of blue and of purple and of scarlet and of fine linen. And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats hair. Chapter 36. Look at verse 2. And Moses called Bezaleel 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. Verse 4. And all the wise men that wrought all the work of the sanctuary came every man from his work which they had made. You know what I want you to see here. The offering was not just stuff. It wasn't just money. You know what it was they gave themselves.
[00:38:22] See that it didn't just bring their money. They say I know how to do this. They had skill, they had time, they had wisdom, they gave that.
[00:38:35] Here, I want you to get this.
[00:38:39] The same willing, forward, eager heart that the Lord's looking for. For this offering is the same willing, forward, eager heart that will send you to the mission field.
[00:38:56] It's the same one that will put you in a place of service for God. It's the same one that will cause and impel you and drive you to give your time and your energy and your skill and your wisdom. That same willingness that will lead you and drive you to give your money for the work of God will drive you to give yourself for the work of God. Same heart. That's what you see here.
[00:39:29] So this is really not just about money.
[00:39:33] Money's a part of it.
[00:39:36] But God wants you.
[00:39:39] He wants you to give yourself to him willing.
[00:40:00] Then there's the purpose of the offering.
[00:40:03] What did the offering go toward?
[00:40:06] And this is my last point. What did the offering go toward?
[00:40:13] Went to make the tabernacle, right? Now, we studied the tabernacle on Wednesday night. Does everybody remember that? That was here.
[00:40:20] Every little thing from the table of showbread to the Ark of the Covenant to the golden candlestick to the tabernacle and all the different layers of cloth and the colors and all of the sacrifices in the holy days. What? Okay, just summarize it down to one thing. What did all of those things typify? What did they all foreshadow?
[00:40:41] What every one of them foreshadowed in some aspect of Jesus Christ and his redemptive work, right? So basically, when they were giving this money to make this tabernacle, in effect, they were giving this money and these items to exalt and magnify the name of Christ. Because the name of Christ, yet unknown at that time, was foreshadowed. It was being preached and displayed through all those instruments and sacrifices and holy days and all that stuff.
[00:41:14] And that is exactly what we're doing. We're just doing what they did in type, in foreshadowing. We're doing in substance.
[00:41:23] We're making a mission commitment to give of ours willingly, voluntarily, so that Christ would be magnified. And that's what our mission money.
[00:41:37] Mission money is not. I mean, helping people's physical ailments and sickness and stuff is fine and good. That's. But the primary emphasis of our mission money, you know that. You know what it is, is making people, making people ready to meet the Lord, making people understand the gospel, Right?
[00:41:57] That's exactly what the children of Israel doing, just in a different form perhaps.
[00:42:08] So I'm going to summarize. To finish, I'm going to summarize what our mission commitment is.
[00:42:14] Three Sundays from now, the 27th of April, we'll take. We'll pass out these cards. And if you desire to, and you have a willing heart, you'll be able to write down on a weekly or monthly basis, it says this. I will endeavor, dependence upon the grace and provision of God to give the amount below through my local church to world missions for Spreading the gospel and magnifying the name of Christ in the earth. And you'll be able to fill it out again, no place to put your name. Every bit of this money that you give on a weekly or monthly basis, which is above your regular offerings, not a part of it, but above it.
[00:42:57] Every bit of this to the penny goes to the work of missions.
[00:43:05] Every bit of it. Missionary love offerings. Putting missionaries in hotels when they visit, or taking them out to eat when they visit, or sent directly to the missionary on the mission field. Every penny.
[00:43:20] This, as I said, this commitment is wholly and completely voluntary. Nobody's going to check on.
[00:43:26] Should be done solely out of a desire to send missionaries to take the gospel to the people that don't have it.
[00:43:34] It's between you and the Lord. As I said, nobody's going to check on you. Nobody's going to collect it. And I want you to understand this. This is the way our church finances works. And just so we're all clear, our church's missionary program is. Is solely funded by this, by every one of you that fills out an offering envelope and puts money in the offering, and you put on the mission section of that offering, whatever you put there, that's what goes to the missionary. Right now we're spending $2,750 per month on regular support.
[00:44:11] That's a blessing.
[00:44:14] And you know, we have, we have. I think if I get a receipt. 16. I want to say 16 missionaries. Off the top of my head, maybe 15.
[00:44:22] But what my desire is, I would love to have these four missionary families, three that are really looking for support. I'm not sure about one, but three especially. I would like to support all three of them and increase what we currently give to the missionaries.
[00:44:40] I'd like to do that. But listen, our entire missionary program comes from this.
[00:44:47] That's just the truth, right, Sister Karen? Am I telling the truth? That's it.
[00:44:54] So our ability to support missionaries is directly related to our willingness and our desire to give ourselves and to be engaged in this work of God in the earth.
[00:45:08] So what we're doing is we're taking our individual faith and we're combining it to create a corporate faith. And that the product is what we're going to do, what we'll be able to do for missions. Now, you might ask, why do I need to fill out this card?
[00:45:23] It's very simple. It's just practical.
[00:45:28] Because when the church knows the likely amount that we'll have, we can plan ahead and make decisions about supporting new missionaries based upon this it's just a matter of practicality.
[00:45:43] Do you have to fill it out? Well, of course not.
[00:45:47] None of this is obligatory. You can say, well, I give to missions. I don't want to fill it out. That's fine. That's fine.
[00:45:54] But this is why we do this to plan.
[00:45:58] Now, as I said, this is different than our regular tithes and offerings. And it's very simple. The reason being is because all the functioning of our church also has to continue. We can't, like, close our church down to send to the missionary, else we won't have a church to send money to the missionary at all. So that's why it says it's above the tithes and offerings.
[00:46:26] So what happens if at some point during the year you don't have the money? You make a commitment basically to yourself and to the Lord. What happens if you don't? I mean, because it's like this, right? Our financial situations are like this.
[00:46:42] Here's what I would say, and this is what I've done. So it's not theory.
[00:46:48] You go to the Lord and you say, lord, I really want to give my mission commitment money.
[00:46:56] Would you please provide it?
[00:47:00] That's it.
[00:47:02] And when he provides it, you give. It isn't that simple.
[00:47:08] You just trust him. If you fall short, you ask him for it, just like that.
[00:47:17] So here's my request of you.
[00:47:25] Our mission conference starts in a couple weeks. Okay?
[00:47:31] Week and a half between now and then. Here's what I'd like you to do. If you're willing.
[00:47:38] I'd like you to take this matter to prayer and say, lord, would you just please direct me as to what amount you would be pleased for me to give to support our missionaries?
[00:47:53] That's it. And whatever he tells you, do it.
[00:47:58] That's all.
[00:48:02] Settle on. Find that thing, that number the Lord wants you to give. If you have a willing heart, and you write that down on that card. And you, by the grace of God and by God's provision, you give that throughout this year and we'll send that to missionaries so that they can take the gospel to people.
[00:48:22] Let's pray.
