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IV. THE
MATERIAL USED, AND WHO FURNISHED IT?
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 goats' hair, and tams' skins
dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood,.
oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and
for sweet incense, onyx stones, and stones to be
set in the ephod, and in the breastplate."
(Ex. 25:3-7.) The gold used was a little more
than one ton, four hundred pounds; the silver,
four tons, four hundred pounds; the brass, about
the same weight as the silver. Then there were
the textile fabrics, blue, purple, scarlet, fine
twined linen, and goats' hair; and rams' skins
died red, and badgers' skins; and shittim wood,
the amount of which we are not told. Each of
these things has a spiritual significance, as we
shall see in pursuing our study of the
tabernacle.
Who furnished the material?
"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." (Ex. 25:1) In these words we
learn 'from whom God can or will accept
anything; and surely the knowledge of this truth
is of vital importance in these days, when men
have so far departed from it.
Before God could or would
accept any thing from them they must be of
" the CHILDREN OF ISRAEL," brought
into that relationship by birth, thus
standing as God's recognized earthly people.
Being recipients of this wonderful grace, they
could, then, show their appreciation of it by
giving to Him in return,-giving, not to become
His, but because they were His. Recognizing
their relationship to Jehovah, they could then
furnish the material for His dwelling place in
their midst.
Oh, dear reader, are you
numbered among God's heavenly people?
Have you been BORN FROM ABOVE? Listen to what
the Lord says, "Verily, verily, I SAY UNTO
THEE, Except a man be born from above (margin),
he cannot see the kingdom of God. .. . Marvel
not that I said unto thee, ye must be born
again." (John iii. 3, 7.) Before God can
accept any thing from you, you must be
brought into this blessed relationship with
Him.
You may be very respectable
and exceedingly religious, yet be as ignorant of
the new birth as was Nicodemus.
A person once asked me to go
to see a man who was near death, saying,
"You will find him a religious
Pharisee," and so I did. I read to him this
portion of Scripture, and tried to show' him all
that Nicodemus was as a man, with all he had
been doing in order to be right with Go4, and
how Christ, in a few words, showed him that all
his doings did not avail any thing; that
he" must be born again."
The man looked at me, and, in
an angry tone, asked, "What more could he
do for salvation?"
"Ah"' I said,
"my dear friend, that is where he made a
terrible mistake. He was, and has been, doing
too much. He must now stop his doing; stand
still; own his helplessness, and then look, not
at himself, but at an object that would impart
life to him; and the blessed Lord drew his
attention to a scene with which he was very
familiar,-'And as Moses lifted up the serpent in
the wilderness, even so must the Son of
Man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in
Him, should not perish, but have eternal
life."' (John 3:14-15.)
With a sad heart I had to
leave that dying man clinging to his works, like
a dead man clinging, when he sank, to the last
thing he could lay hold of, though it were only
a straw. Oh, my dear reader, are you still
entertaining the thought that you must do something
to obtain life? What had the bitten Israelites
to do? Look and live. Not even life for
a look, but life in a look. Yes, the
moment they looked at God's remedy, they got natural
life; the instant you look to Christ-to Christ
ALONE,-not Christ and something
else,-that instant you will be made a
recipient of eternal life. .0, look and
live! Then, being "born from above,"
you will get a place among God's heavenly people;
and not until then will you be allowed to give
to Him.
I know there are many who
will try to get you, while still unsaved, to
give to various religious movements, leaving the
impression on your mind that God will accept
from you, and that it will be so much put to
your account. Heed them not; flee, flee from
their presence, and listen to what God
says,-" The SACRIFICE of the wicked is an
abomination to the Lord. … The WAY of the
wicked is an abomination to the Lord. . . . The
THOUGHTS of the wicked are an abomination to the
Lord." (Prov. 15:8, 9, 26.) Look at those
three things, the "SACRIFICE" of the
wicked, his "WAYS," and his
"THOUGHTS, all, all "an abomination to
God;" all defiled with sin. The word of God
gives no uncertain sound on this important
question. In Rom. viii. 7, 8, we read,"
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God:
for it is not subject to the law of God, neither
indee4 can be. So then they that are in the
flesh CANNOT PLEASE GOD."
A large number of persons who
were "in the flesh" came to Jesus one
day and said to Him, "What shall we do,
that we might work the works of God? Jesus
answered and said unto them, This is the work of
God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath
sent." (John vi. 28, 29.) Yes, dear unsaved
reader, your first work, and the only
work ACCEPTABLE to God, is to cast
yourself - a lost, ruined sinner - upon Christ
as a Saviour, accept Him, believe on Him; and
the instant you do, you will be accepted in Him
and have eternal life.
God says, "It is more
blessed to give than to receive." He, in
His infinite grace and mercy, wants to take the
place of giver, and He wants you to be a
receiver. "The less is blessed of the
better." (Heb. vii. 7.) Are you "the
better," that you want God to accept
something from you before you accept from Him?
Oh, give Him His proper place, the place He
delights to fill! Mary gave Him that place; she
had the "one thing needfu4" that
is, a capacity to receive; then she chose "that
good part," that is, to sit at His feet
as a receiver and give Him His proper place as a
giver. Oh, how precious to the soul to know God
as a giver!
We are told that at the time
of the Reformation, when Bibles were very
scarce, a little girl, passing through the
printing-office where they were being printed,
picked up a small piece of paper and read,
"God so loved the world that He gave"
. This was all, but it brought new light to her
heart; it presented God as a giver. She read it
over and over again; she put it in her bosom,
and daily she would take it out and read it. It
wrought a marvelous change in her thoughts about
God, and now her life became a life of joy. Her
mother noticed the wonderful change in her
daughter's life, and one day asked her the cause
of it. She drew out the slip of paper and handed
it to her mother, saying, "There, mother,
that is the cause." They came to the
conclusion that it must be a portion of God's
word. They procured a Bible, and after much
searching discovered the verse, and were
overwhelmed with joy when they read what He
had given :-" For God so loved the world,
that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,
but have everlasting life." (John 3:16.) I
am exceedingly anxious that you shall
know God as a giver. When the prodigal came
home, had he anything to offer his father that
he could accept? All he had was a ruined
character, a misspent life-a life of shame and
sin; but with an open confession of this on his
lips, coming from a broken heart and a crushed
spirit, he threw himself into the outstretched
arms of his father, and allowed his father to
occupy the place of a giver. Here the less was
blessed of the better. The best robe, the ring,
the shoes, the father's bosom to nestle in, the
father's home, with the fatted calf and feasting
and dancing,-expressions of joy,-all, all were
his the moment he took his place as a needy one
who had nothing to give, and accorded his
father his proper place as a giver. Was it not
the delight of the father's heart to minister
bountifully to that dear son? Oh yes; and it is
the delight of GOD'S heart to
minister to all who come to Him as needy ones.
Come, then, at once as a sinner; come with your
need; come as you are; come with your sins in
one hand and Christ and His work in the other,
and say, truthfully,
"Just as I am,
without one plea,
But that Thy blood was
shed for me,
And that Thou bid'st me
come to Thee-
O, Lamb of God. I
come."
and Christ says, "Him
that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast.
out." (John 3:37)
Here, then, is God's own
people, sheltered by blood, redeemed by power,
brought to Himself, now offering to Him
willingly from the heart,-offering to Him out of
their abundance or out of their poverty. Be it
little or be it much, if it were nothing but a
handful of white goats' hair, it was accepted.
"And they came, every one whose heart
stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit
made willing, and they brought the Lord's
offering to the work of the tabernacle of the
congregation, and for all His service, and the
holy garments. And they came, both men and
women, as many.. as were willing. hearted, and
brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and
tablets, 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 badgers' skins,
brought them. Every one 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." (Ex. 35:21-24) "And
they spake unto Moses, saying, The. people.
bring. much more than enough for the service of
the .work." (Ex. 36:5.) What. beautiful
grace! not merely enough, but "much
more than enough !" No fairs or
festivals, no unholy, unscriptural means used to
obtain it, but the blessed outflow of willing
hearts their persons stripped of ornament
bracelets, earrings, and jewels, all willingly
given up to prepare a sanctuary for Jehovah. May
the Lord grant, at the present day, more of this
blessed grace unto His people!
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