Ex 36:1+2, "Now Bezalel and Oholiab, and every skillful person in whom the Lord has put skill and understanding to know how to perform all the work in the construction of the sanctuary, shall perform in accordance with all that the Lord has commanded." Then Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every skillful person in whom the Lord had put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him, to come to the work to perform it. 
	The last time we dealt with this passage, we concentrated on the manufacture of the Tent of Meeting, and concluded with the building of the Temple by Solomon. Everything was provided in order that God would have the dwelling place that He designed and ordained within the community of the people whom He had chosen and rescued from their slavery to Egypt. 
	This time and next, we want to consider the manner in which God gifts His wisdom and understanding to His creation in order that they would be enabled to bring glory to His name. The fact is that God has created mankind with the ability to know and to understand and to reason and to think. All the other creatures live by instinct. Humanity, alone, was formed by God to be able to use wisdom and knowledge to understand the universe in which he has been created. 
As God so informed Job, in Job 38:30, it is from God that mankind is endowed with these realities. Through the recorded question, God instructed Job as to what He had created within humanity. Job 38:30, "Who has put wisdom in the innermost being, Or has given understanding to the mind? 
	The Prophet Isaiah, in Isa 28:23-29, picked up this theme that God has instilled wisdom and understanding within humanity, specifically targeting the farmer who knows, because of the inner working of God, what to do and how to do it. Isa 28:23-29, Give ear and hear my voice, Listen and hear my words. Does the farmer plow continually to plant seed? Does he continually turn and harrow the ground? Does he not level its surface, And sow dill and scatter cummin, And plant wheat in rows, Barley in its place, and rye within its area? For his God instructs and teaches him properly. For dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge, Nor is the cartwheel driven over cummin; But dill is beaten out with a rod, and cummin with a club. Grain for bread is crushed, Indeed, he does not continue to thresh it forever. Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually damage it, He does not thresh it longer. This also comes from the Lord of hosts, Who has made His counsel wonderful and His wisdom great. 
	This truth of the fact that farmers are endowed with what we often refer to as “common sense” was a key factor in the example given by Isaiah. God makes known within the being of mankind the things that make sense in terms of how to live life on this earth. It is a gift from God to all men, whether they honor God or not. He has instilled it into the very fabric of humanity in order that man would know that there is a need for Someone far outside himself. 
	The Psalmist brings this to light as he called out to God in Ps 51:1-13. In this passage, he made known the fact that only God can truly deal with the issues that plague the Psalmist’s knowledge of what was wrong in his life. 
Ps 51:1-13. Be gracious to me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Thy compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. Against Thee, Thee only, I have sinned, And done what is evil in Thy sight, So that Thou art justified when Thou dost speak, And blameless when Thou dost judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, Thou dost desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part Thou wilt make me know wisdom. Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness, Let the bones which Thou hast broken rejoice. Hide Thy face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Thy presence, And do not take Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation, And sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Thy ways, And sinners will be converted to Thee. 
	This is true understanding evident within one who has the common sense to know that things have gone awry in his life. It was most obvious and apparent to him that he had displeased the Lord God Almighty and had sinned and needed to be cleansed from that sin. This is true wisdom and understanding and knowledge that will lead to finding real life and contentment and satisfaction in the walk that we have on this earth. The other reality that is seen is that this will lead us to declare the truth unto others…Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation, And sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Thy ways, And sinners will be converted to Thee.  
    	When we are brought into that living relationship with God, finding the true life that was always God’s plan and purpose with His creation, we want to share it with others. Our inner sense of wisdom and understanding recognizes their need to know the truth. We are brought to the place where we willingly and earnestly share what we have been taught with others. The Psalmist knew this course of action, as we have read, and gave himself to it because he also had the understanding of what mankind had chosen to do with that inner need for a relationship with God. 
	This is recorded in Ps 53:1-3. Ps 53:1-3, The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God," They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice; There is no one who does good. God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men, To see if there is anyone who understands, Who seeks after God. Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one. 
	The full measure of this highlighted turning away from God is echoed later in Scripture by the Apostle Paul in Rom 1:18-25. Please open to it so we can read it together. Rom 1:18-25, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 
    	The Apostle describes how mankind in general has absolutely turned away from the wisdom and the understanding that God has instilled of Himself into the depths of their beings. Humanity has replaced that longing for God with all sorts of foolish and demeaning cravings and deceptions in order to try to fill the evident void. Rather than worship God, humanity is worshipping that which The Lord has created. In this deception of the human mind, the wisdom and the understanding that God has given has become twisted and deformed and corrupted.
	As a result, the Apostle, in Rom 3:9-18, makes very evident the truth of the consequences of such activity against the knowledge of God. Rom 3:9-18, What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, "There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one." "Their throat is an open grave, With their tongues they keep deceiving," "The poison of asps is under their lips"; "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness"; "Their feet are swift to shed blood, Destruction and misery are in their paths, And the path of peace have they not known." "There is no fear of God before their eyes." 
	All the wisdom and the understanding that God has put into the heart of man, through the gift of His creative process has been turned away from the glory of God and changed into the stupidity of human madness and folly. Rather than knowing God, and obeying His command to give glory and honor to the Creator, man has chosen to disobey and exalt himself and his pitiful creations. The puny and the maligned are elevated over the magnificence and the awesomeness and the perfection of that which was ever intended to express man’s heart of thankfulness to the Lord.
	Consider again, the passage of our reading, specifically focusing on the fact that the skills and the understanding are to be used in accordance with what the Lord commands. …every skillful person in whom the Lord has put skill and understanding to know how to perform all the work in the construction of the sanctuary, shall perform in accordance with all that the Lord has commanded.
	Tying together what we have read this morning, we listen to the words of Our Lord Jesus Christ in Matt 28:19+20 as He commissioned His disciples to go forth and to declare the Gospel throughout the world. Much as the Psalmist was caused to teach others about the joy of the salvation of God, so are we to teach others as we receive the wisdom and the understanding of the gift of our salvation. Matt 28:19+20, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. " 
	This was carried forward in the early church as we read in Acts 6:2-8, if you would open to it. Acts 6:2-8, And the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, "It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. "But select from among you, brethren, seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. "But we will devote ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry of the word." And the statement found approval with the whole congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch. And these they brought before the apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on them. And the word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith. And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. 
	As the congregation grew with all its practical needs and issues, the church sought to make itself fully honoring to the Lord in the manner in which all the members functioned together. There was the need for study of the Word and for prayer by those who were teaching and instructing and spreading the Good News. At the same time, there were the needs of the widows and the many who required the various ministries of assistance and encouragement and practical necessities. Therefore, the Church, as a whole, sought after the guidance of the Lord in terms of choosing those who were willing and able to serve the needs of the whole body. These men, much as those of this morning’s passage, worked skillfully in obedience to the commandments of the Lord for the sake of the entire Christian community. Notice that their service allowed the disciples to minister freely and as a result …the word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith. 
	This was the manner in which the whole body of believers gave themselves and their talents to the commandment of Christ in His commission to …Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you… 
    	We will continue, next time, Lord willing with our consideration of how the Lord gives wisdom and understanding this should always bring forth His honor and glory in those who recognize and obey Him. So be it!
"Now Bezalel and Oholiab, and every skillful person in whom the Lord has put skill and understanding to know how to perform all the work in the construction of the sanctuary, shall perform in accordance with all that the Lord has commanded." Then Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every skillful person in whom the Lord had put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him, to come to the work to perform it. Amen.

This morning’s benediction is Isa 40:3-5. A voice is calling, "Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. "Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken." Amen.