I invite you to turn with me to Exodus 31. Exodus 31, I'll be reading to you the first 11 verses. Exodus 31, verse one. The Lord said to Moses, See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting and in carving wood, to work in every craft. And behold, I have appointed with him Ohaliab, the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men ability that they may make all that I have commanded you. the tent of meeting, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is on it, and all the furnishings of the tent, the table and its utensils, and the pure lampstand with all its utensils, and the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin and its stand, and the finely worked garments, the holy garments for Aaron, the priests, and the garments of his sons for their service as priests, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense for the holy place. According to all that I have commanded you, they shall do." Let's bow together in prayer. Father, we remember what you said and what our Lord spoke to Satan when he was be tempted, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Forgive us, Father, for thinking too often that we can live by bread alone, Our physical appetites drive us so often. We eat our meals every day, but we often forsake spending the time with you and your word that we need. But here we are, you've brought us here this morning. Nourish us by your word. Help us to feast on it. Way beyond anything that I could say or do, may you, by your Spirit, be at work in us, even now as we look at your word, that we might behold wonderful things out of your law. Teach us, Father. Instruct our hearts, we ask in Jesus' name, amen. Exodus 31, the text that calls to work the skills of Bezalel and Ohaliab, along with some others who have been called by God to construct the tabernacle. As we've been looking over these passages in Exodus, we've been given loads of detail about the tabernacle, how it was to be designed and built. And this brings us to those who will be its builders. The human instruments God will use to build the tabernacle are laid out here for us. But I think the real lesson that is here for us is something quite personal as a church. I think there's a great lesson for us in this. in that God, as he calls Bezalel and Ohaliub and the others to serve him, equips them with skills that otherwise might look ordinary. and they're for an extraordinary purpose, but plenty of others have skills for the very types of things that are detailed here, but there's something that sets them apart for the work that they are going to do. And the thing that sets them apart, that allows them to be instrumental in the building of God's tabernacle, the very place that he is going to dwell on earth amidst Israel, the thing that sets them apart is not that they have skills for this kind of craftwork, It's that they are filled, particularly Bezalel, with the Holy Spirit. That is what allows him to be an appropriate instrument for building God's house. And that's what we'll see applies to us. We see the significance of being called to be God's workers, filled with the Holy Spirit, and used of him to build his house. God is basically, in these chapters of Exodus, creating an environment in which he can dwell among his people. He redeemed them out of slavery in Egypt. They belonged to him. He bought them. They were covered over with the blood of the Passover lamb to be spared from the destroyer. They were led out of Egypt by the mighty hand of God. And he has called them to himself, having given them his law. And now he's preparing for them to have God himself dwell in their midst. This is an actual event in actual history. If you had a camcorder set up, you could have seen and heard the process of this unfolding. 3,400 years ago, the God who created all things, saved the people out of Egypt in accordance with the promise that he made to Abraham, that Abraham would have descendants more enumerable than the stars of the sky or the sand on the seashore. And in fulfilling that promise, and in fulfilling His plan for the world, He is making a people, the people He has chosen, and preparing for them to have Him live among them. And that reality would dominate Israel's life. The fact that the God of the universe was going to be among them would dominate their worship, their living, everything about them would be dominated by the fact that their great God King lived in their midst. Not only would their lives be dominated by that in the sense of their obligation to their king, but in the sense of the provision that the king gives to them being in their midst. He would pour out blessing upon blessing, provision upon provision, protection upon protection, as his people lived in accordance with his ways. They would be the most protected people of all peoples. They would be the most provided for people of all peoples. But to have God live in such close proximity to his people required some painstaking preparations. God is not indifferent as to how his glory is revealed and revered. Hence, these very detailed instructions about how the tabernacle was to be built that we've seen over the last chapters. The design of the tabernacle, the dwelling place of God, was given with great detail. Every piece of the furniture in the tabernacle designed by God with detailed instructions. All the colors, manufacturing, placement of items had been given by God. It was all described by Him. Basically, He provided for Israel this very usable blueprint for how the tabernacle complex was to look. But now the question comes up, how is it going to be built? The question what should it look like and how is it going to function have been answered, but how is it actually going to be built? We have to remember some crucial facts, one of which is that the God who gave this design for the tabernacle is the same God who spoke the universe into existence just by his word. He is the God who said, let there be light. And there was light. In my home, if I say, let there be light, I have to get up and flip a switch. God spoke and it existed. And he went on. to create all the kinds of plants, flowers, trees, fish, birds, land animals. He is the brilliant mind and brilliant manufacturer of the human being with its intricate skeletal, muscular, vascular systems. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. This is the same God who continues to sustain the process of life, being knit together in the mother's womb. As you see the advance of the baby inside a womb, you can watch its progress now with ultrasound. You see the amazing coming together of a life inside the womb. And you realize that there is no human hands that is creating that. That is God knitting together through the processes that he's established in his world. We can monitor it, we can study it, but we cannot create it like he does. This is the God with all creative and manufacturing power at His fingertips. Even from His mouth, He speaks and it comes to being. And as we think about His capacity for creating, it's not really relevant to even say whether something is easy or hard for Him. Easy and hard are qualifiers for people who have limitations. God has no limitations according to His character. Our God's manufacturing capabilities have no limits. He does as He wills. And so to create this tabernacle that He has designed would be neither easy nor hard for Him. He could just do it according to His ways. He could say, let there be a tabernacle and there would be a tabernacle. Nothing could resist His will. But instead, He went through this lengthy process of giving detailed instructions and communicating these designs, not to build the tabernacle, but by divine fiat, but rather to be made by people who are made in His image. The tabernacle would be constructed by the next greatest creators in the universe, mankind. Mankind's creative and manufacturing genius is rooted in the fact that we are made in the image of God, And it's also obvious by everything we see around us. Almost everything. We may look at some natural realms and be amazed at this structure that animals are able to make. Perhaps you've seen one of those anthills that are on display where you can kind of see a cross section of the amazing structure that ants are capable of making. We saw something just this last week at a museum of science that our family went to and saw one of those anthills and you see the tunnels, you see all of the different kinds of ants and the brilliance of this mechanism of it all working together, the queen, the guard ants, the worker ants, and they're able to get it all working together and create this amazing structure. But as soon as we left the Museum of Science that we went to in Boston, we went into a kind of different anthill. You look all around you and you see this amazing structure of system of freeways and buildings and tunnels. And once you get over the terror of driving in Boston, you realize that there is this amazing network of human ingenuity. Everything almost intersecting in different ways from the highways to the tunnels, to the trains, to the bridges. And after you consider just those basic structures, you can move on to the sociological structures that those things are meant to inhabit. All the cars traveling, and the buildings housing people, and the bridges being driven over are being driven over by the likes of architects, and engineers, and attorneys, and accountants, and taxi drivers, and pilots. all this amazing functioning web of how humanity operates to a degree of complexity that goes well beyond an anthill. And you see something of the genius implanted in mankind. You see the building capacity of humans all around us. But as God sets his plan in motion to have his tabernacle constructed, he's not just throwing a design to mankind and say, build it because of your inherent genius. He has much more to say in the matter than that. This is not a matter left to man's genius. He's not after a city that reflects man's glory. He is rather after a dwelling place that reflects his own. Man is bent on taking our skills and building something that puffs us up. Remember Babel? As mankind gathers and builds a tower that wants to reach the heavens and basically display our own glory and God has to stoop down and look at our creation, but then scatter us by different languages lest we go on in our pride. Man is bent on taking something to use it to show how great we are. but still God takes his designs for this tabernacle and gives it to man to make. But how do we know it will be built in accordance with his plan rather than turn into something like Babel? There are two ways. for how this plan can be handed into the hands of men who will build it without it going down the roads of Babel. The first is that God sovereignly chooses the ones who will build it. And the second is that God completely equips the ones who will build it. So from the choice of those who build it to the equipping of those who build it, God is in control. God chooses sovereignly who is going to build his tabernacle. You see that in verse two. The Lord, excuse me, verse one. The Lord said to Moses, see, I have called by name, Bezalel, the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And God says, see to Moses, he's issuing this declaration that he is making an appointment for an office or a role. You hear this kind of language when Pharaoh speaks to Joseph in Genesis 41, 41, see, I have set you over all the land of Egypt. Or when the Lord says to Moses in Exodus 7, 1, see, I have made you like God to Pharaoh and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. It is the language of appointing for a particular role or office. But then he goes on, see, I have called by name, Bezalel. This indicates there is an active selection by the Lord of a specific individual. He knows who He wants and He sovereignly chooses the one He wants. The Lord does something similar in Isaiah 45, when he is before Cyrus even exists, appoints Cyrus a king, a Gentile king, to be the human instrument through which God will bring Israel back from exile. Isaiah 45 verse 4, the Lord says, for the sake of my servant Jacob and Israel, my chosen, I call you, referring to Cyrus, I call you by your name. I name you, though you do not know me. I am the Lord and there is no other besides me. There is no God. I equip you, though you do not know me. God's sovereign choice of individuals for his purposes is one of the divining characteristics of our God. He chooses those whom he wants for his purposes. And in this case, he chooses Bezalel. It is his sovereign choice. He chose this man by name for this task. He would be the foreman of this construction. It's not as though God chooses him because he receives Bezalel's resume and sees, you know what? This is way better than the other 2 million that I've looked at. You might be tempted to think that God looked at Bezalel, saw something in him that made him stand out from the others and that's what made God choose him. Well, God did look at a resume in a sense, but the impressive part about the resume is that every skill that Bezalel had was because God gave it to him. So God controls the building of His tabernacle, not just by sovereignly choosing those who will serve Him in that capacity, but secondly, by God completely equipping the ones who will serve Him in that capacity. It says in verse 3, And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood to work in every craft. Then he goes on, not only Bezalel is going to be working in this, but also Ohaliab. But listen to the way God describes this one as well. And behold, I have appointed with him Ohaliab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And then he goes on to describe the equipping of others. And I have given to all able men ability that they may make all that I have commanded you. God says of Bezalel, I have filled him. God filled Bezalel with all the requisite equipment or skills for the job of building the tabernacle. No detail was left out. He had everything he needed from the hand of God for the job. But the main point from which all of those skills flow is that God filled him with the Spirit of God. That's the main thing. All of those skills, the ability, the intelligence, the knowledge, the craftsmanship, the devising of artistic designs, the ability to work in those different materials, came from the presence of the Spirit in his life. The Spirit of God. This is the third time that phrase has been used in scripture so far. It's referring to none other than the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, the Spirit who regenerates, inspires, the one who knows the mind of the Lord. The first time this phrase is used is in Genesis 1-2, as God is creating the world. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and then Genesis 1-2 says, the earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. The Spirit is there, completely necessary for the creation that's about to come about, hovering over almost in the sense of ready to give birth to this creation that's about to happen. It shouldn't be surprising to us that the Spirit shows up here again in this new creation, as it were, the tabernacle, the presence of God on earth. There is the Spirit being involved in the construction of the presence, the place of the presence of God. The second time that the phrase, the Spirit of God is used in scriptures in Genesis 41, 38, After Joseph interprets Pharaoh's dream about the years of plenty and the years of famine, Joseph proposes, here's how to navigate that. Here's the plan for what you should do, how you should reserve grain and prepare for the years of famine. Pharaoh was astounded by that and he says to his servants, can we find a man like this in whom is the spirit of God? As Joseph Wisdom was on display, even a pagan king recognized there's something distinct about this guy. He has the spirit of God. And now here for the first time in scripture, someone is explicitly said to be filled with the spirit. And it is the person who has oversight of the construction of the physical dwelling place of God on earth amidst Israel. To be filled with the Spirit of God in this instance for Bezalel comes with some very practical results. He is going to now have ability, intelligence, knowledge, and all craftsmanship. These provide the skills that are necessary for the construction of the tabernacle, constructing the mercy seat with the cherubim, graven on them, or to weave the cherubim into the curtains, or working with the various materials of the tabernacle, setting the stones into place. This is Bezalel's gifting by the Spirit. Now I'm not a skilled physical worker, though I have great admiration for those who are. I try to do some work and I'm able to get things together and make it work, but I cut a piece of wood and another piece of wood and try to join them, and they'll stay together, but they don't look good. But I watch somebody else do the same exact kind of cut that I do, and they make it look beautiful. That's a craftsman. And I love watching craftsmen work, those who are skilled in their labor. It's fun for me to watch those who are good at what they do do their work, when they're able to make things work and look beautiful. Sometimes we watch videos of those who have that kind of skill, like a watchmaker who can create that watch with the minuscule parts working together in harmony to tell exact time. Or again, a woodworker who's able to get his joints to flow seamlessly together, or a jeweler who's able to get those jewels set into the settings so perfectly, and yet it's strong and holding the gem there, and it's beautiful. Or perhaps you've seen someone who's a gifted chef, and you could have the same ingredients they do, but what they do with those ingredients tastes nothing like what you have. I would have liked to have seen Bezalel work, know Haliab and the other men of ability, to be filled with the Spirit, to have his life and his abilities under the Spirit's control. to have skill, which is also translated wisdom. And it means insight and understanding into what he is doing, so that as he receives the plans of the tabernacle, he can respond rightly. put those instructions into practice, or the ability, which is the capacity, as one commentator defines it, to choose a right course of action, when, as would inevitably arise in creating such a complex series of objects and garments, there would be problems of translating inner vision into practical proposals, or knowledge, which is defined as having information about the techniques to be employed and the characteristics of the materials. God chose sovereignly and equipped completely so that His tabernacle would be constructed exactly as He wanted it to be constructed. I think One of the kind of fascinating aspects of this idea of Bezalel or Haliab and these other men of ability constructing this tabernacle is we can imagine any kind of crew receiving these instructions for the tabernacle and being able to work with wood, work with the gold and the silver and the bronze But there's something that sets this work apart. It is the mingling of the divine and the human in the accomplishment of God's will. And this, I think, touches on something of the mystery of the Holy Spirit. The text does not tell us exactly how the Holy Spirit produced these very practical skills in these men. But it's undeniable that it's only because of the Spirit that Bezalel possesses the skills to accomplish this task. It is because of the presence of the Spirit in his life that he can do this work. But I imagine as Bezalel worked on the tabernacle, he would work hard. He would sweat. He would labor. He would problem solve. He would give instruction as a foreman to the other workers, to Ohaliab and the other men of ability. And as he gave instructions or as he worked by the Spirit, I don't think that he glowed when he was under the influence of the Spirit so that people could say, oh, Bezalel is under the influence of the Spirit right now as he's making that cherubim. Or as he gives an answer to one of his workers, you know, how do I weave this gold into this fabric here? And then Bezalel's tongue kind of lights up with fire because he's under the influence of the spirit. You know, Bezalel's on fire right now. And then he goes back to normal Bezalel. I think the point here is much more organic processes we see in our world because Jesus himself gives the analogy of the spirit working like the wind. You can see the effects of the wind, but how it works is a mystery to us. You don't get the how details, you just get the results. That's the way the Spirit works. And perhaps you've experienced this in your own life where you don't get this sudden flash of inspiration necessarily, but you know that by the Spirit's power, it is He who works in you to accomplish the purposes of God in your life. The Holy Spirit is at work, and yet the work that Bezalel and the others do looks very, very human. Working with hands, with materials of the natural world to construct something that is divine, by the power of the divine. And that's really what sets this whole work apart, because God is fulfilling His design using capacities that He's put into this human by His Spirit. And this really brings us to the purpose of this passage. Why is this passage here? That's a question we always need to ask ourselves when we study a portion of Scripture. Why is this passage here? What is this doing in God's Word? And we can't answer that by guessing. We can't answer it rightly by guessing, I should say. We answer it by looking at the text, the context, and the whole of Scripture. And we need to know this answer before we can properly try to think about how it applies to us. And briefly, I just want to mention what this passage is not about. Now, I bring this up because one of the commentaries I've been reading in my study of Exodus, which I've drawn heavily from and been very helped by, devotes a lengthy chapter to these 11 verses explaining that these verses are an affirmation of the calling of artists. The commentator says that this passage teaches at least four fundamental principles for a Christian theology of the arts. One, the artist's call and gift come from God. Two, God loves all kinds of art. Three, God maintains high standards for goodness, truth, and beauty. And four, art is for the glory of God. Now, I think you could argue those points in some way and draw implications from this text, but that's not what this is about. This text is not to affirm the artistic abilities of those in this congregation. I appreciate the artistic abilities of others. Once again, it is something I don't possess. And so when others have it, I just kind of think that's magic. I love looking at the skilled work of an artist who can create beautiful paintings and sculptures. And certainly the tabernacle is a beautiful structure and has artistic elements in it. But this is the commissioning of a very specific individual called by name for a very specific responsibility. And it's difficult to draw the line from that act of authorization of Bezalel to construct this tabernacle to the authorization of Christians to create art. Not to say art is illegitimate, it's just to say that's not what this text is primarily about. Nor is this text, as John Calvin and Abraham Kuyper proposed, that this verifies that natural gifts are a part of God's common grace. One commentator says, both Calvin and Kuyper see in the spirit's role a paradigm of his role as the source of human talent in general, whether that of a skilled laborer or a military genius. Don't think that the gifts of Bezalel and Ohaliab are what we would call common grace. Common grace being something that is given to all of the world from God. This is not referring to the natural talents and abilities of construction workers or of anyone who has an ability to do anything in this world that's productive. That's not what this text is about. Don't despise the gifts of unsaved architects or scientists or engineers or artists who create wonderful inventions that relieve suffering to people or promote common good. But this is not what this text is about. This text is not for the functioning of normal, everyday society. This is for the functioning of a redeemed people with God as the center of their life, culture, and worship. There were other societies that built other shrines or tabernacles or temples with gold and silver and stone and did so with great skill and ability. There were others that built religious objects that may have been more elaborate or even more expensive than the tabernacle. Consider, for example, the Taj Mahal, which is described as a jewel of Islamic art of India. It's probably more ornate than the tabernacle was, more elaborate, likely took longer, upwards of 20 years, with more expensive materials. By today's equivalent, $35 billion. It took skilled workers. who were able to work much better than I could, for sure. The point of this text is not that other people don't possess construction skills. The point is that only Bezalel, Ohaliub, and those other men of ability were sovereignly chosen by God, filled with his spirit, and given the skills necessary to build the dwelling place of God, the true God, on earth. And so the purpose of this text is to show that God's presence among his people comes by his design and is accomplished through his spirit working in people chosen by him. Let me put it another way. God's house must be built according to God's design by people chosen by God who are filled with God's spirit. Now let's try to draw some application or connection. We have no responsibility or obligation to build a physical tabernacle. We don't have to weave cherubim into purple veils. We don't have to construct an arc of the covenant because we belong to the new covenant. And in the new covenant, Paul very specifically tells us where God's tabernacle or temple is, 1 Corinthians 3.16. Do you not know, speaking to the church, do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's spirit dwells in you? New Testament's unabashed in telling us that the temple of God now is God's redeemed people. And in belonging to the new covenant, everyone who is part of the new covenant is filled with the spirit. Jesus promised this, John 14, 17. He says, even the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him, you know him for he dwells with you and will be in you. Paul describes how everyone who is in the church has been joined to the church by the Spirit. 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verses 12 and 13. For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. "'For in one spirit we were all baptized into one body, "'Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, "'and all were made to drink of one spirit.'" This reality of the spirit in the new covenant is so important that Paul says, if you don't have the spirit of Christ, you do not belong to Christ. Romans 8, 9. You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if in fact the spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the spirit of Christ does not belong to him. The church then is God's dwelling place on earth now by the spirit. Well, then how is God's house built? How is God's house built now? How is God's house to be built according to God's design by people chosen by God who are filled with the Spirit? Well, first and foremost, the foundation of the church is Jesus Christ. And Jesus, from the very beginning, Matthew 1.18, was conceived by what? By the Spirit. And Jesus, as he begins his ministry in Luke 4, 1, it says that he was full of the Holy Spirit and returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. And so here we have Jesus, the God-man, full of the Spirit. And do you know what he said about the church? Matthew 16, 18, he said, I will build my church. The Messiah. Sovereignly chosen by God and equipped by God to build God's building amongst his redeemed people. It'd be worth your time to turn over to 1 Corinthians 3, verse 9. Here Paul brings it into the realm of the apostles 1 Corinthians 3, verse 9, for we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder, I laid a foundation and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now, if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become manifest, for the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. Listen to this. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. You hear the language here, those of laborers, of workers, of Paul being a skilled master builder, the foundation being Jesus Christ and building upon that with different kinds of materials. Clearly, he is understanding that that language of the tabernacle is being applied to the church, being built upon the foundation of Christ. Return over to Ephesians chapter 2 verse 19. Paul continues this idea. He says, so then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him, you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. We're being built together, a dwelling place. How? Well, by people who are filled with the Spirit, building upon the foundation of Jesus Christ. We see clearly that God no longer dwells in a building, but in His people, in His redeemed people, redeemed from sin. He dwells amongst us. He dwells in us by His Spirit. And through that Spirit, He is growing us constantly into the dwelling place for God by the Spirit, so that we're constantly being built up as living stones, built upon another as the place where God dwells. And that growth happens now through the edification that comes through His Spirit-filled people. And that includes every one of you who has the Spirit. 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 11, speaking of spiritual gifts, says, all these, all these gifts are empowered by one and the same spirit who apportions to each one individually as he wills. You hear that? Sovereign choosing of the impartation of gifts from the spirit. And the purpose of these gifts, 1 Corinthians 14, 12, So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church. This is phenomenal. It means that everyone who belongs to the new covenant has the Holy Spirit and it is God's dwelling place as the church. And the way that dwelling place is built up and constructed is by people who have the Spirit spiritually endowed gifts for the building up of the church. Just want to wrap up with a couple of thoughts for how this works practically. There are lots of groups of people in this world. There are groups of people that are composed of really impressive people. And they may have more ornate buildings that they meet in than the church does. They may be groups of people that have bigger bank accounts than the church does. Maybe groups of people that are better dressed, or more tech savvy, or even have more natural skill and ability than the church has. It may even have a group of people that have lots of skills that look akin to what the church should have. Skills of leadership, and skills of teaching, and skills of mercy. You may even find that there are hospitals that have doctors and nurses that are full of mercy and kind of general goodness one towards another in the way that they care for people's physical needs. There are organizations that have incredible human leadership, organizations that have incredible human teachers and communicators. Organizations that can construct amazing buildings and amazing places to meet and have these brilliant ideas. But here's the point. There is no group of people on earth, save those who are filled with the Spirit, that can have any part of building up God's dwelling place on earth. It is only the redeemed people filled with God's Spirit who can build up God's place of dwelling on earth. That's it. So don't be discouraged when you see other people out there in the world who have better gifts of teaching or communication or service or are more merciful than you are. The point is, If you are in Christ, you have the Spirit, and He has given you a gift sovereignly bestowed on you because He sovereignly chose you. And only that kind of person has any role in building up the dwelling place of God on earth amongst His redeemed people. The best hospital, the best organizations in the world, the most gifted natural people in the world cannot do that. Only God's Spirit-filled people can do that. So then, how are you doing that? How is the Spirit at work in you for the building up of God's dwelling place on earth, His church? Don't be discouraged if your gifts aren't elaborate. if your gifts don't seem to be as extreme or as amazing as people out there in the world. Remember, God protects the building of his dwelling place by sovereignly choosing those whom he wants to do it and by equipping them completely for what he wants done. So how are you a part of that? That's something for you to reflect on, to seek the Lord for how he would use you for the building up of his church. That's why he gave you the spirit and the gifts that he gave you is for the building up of his church. Let's pray. Father, thank you that you have looked on a people like us insignificant in ourselves really, nothing to commend ourselves to you, but you and your sovereign grace have chosen us. Not only have you chosen us, but you have equipped us for some of the greatest work that could even be imagined. Help us, Father, to be faithful and to do this by your Spirit and to your glory. Give us strength, give us wisdom, skill, ability, And may you be glorified so that your church looks exactly how you want it to look. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.