Ex 25:2, "Tell the sons of Israel to raise a contribution for Me; from every man whose heart moves him you shall raise My contribution. 
	In this morning’s reading, we have the detailed instructions given to Moses regarding the construction of the Ark of the Covenant and the mercy seat and the table of preparation and the service ware for the tent of meeting. This was to be the physical location where God would meet with His people. This was to be the honored, earthly type of the tabernacle that is ours in Jesus Christ for all of eternity. That is why the specific detail and aspects were comprehensive and meticulously thorough. 
	In the very beginning of these instructions is a most poignant and vital truth from God’s heart to those involved in the gathering of the wherewithal to make His tabernacle a reality. Please note the exact requirement from the Lord for the contribution to be raised in order to construct these elements. "Tell the sons of Israel to raise a contribution for Me; from every man whose heart moves him you shall raise My contribution. Moses was only to take the offerings from those whose hearts were so moved to make this donation. 
    	There was to be absolutely no pressure to contribute and no requirement of any kind. It was only to be constructed through the materials that were offered because the people were so moved and wanted to give their goods and monies and gold and precious resources unto the Lord. This was not like the sacrifices and tithes that were necessary for the sake of maintaining a semblance of following the requirements of the Law. God’s dwelling place on earth was to be strictly built and maintained because the people wanted God to have His dwelling place in their midst. 
	This is a vital truth that God set before Moses because He knew that Moses, in his love and respect and understanding of the necessity of God’s presence would most certainly have impelled the people to give and to give some more. However, God forbade that earnest compunction of the giving from the treasury of the people. Rather, God wanted only that which each person desired to bring in order to build His place of meeting. This was ever to represent the fact that when God and man met together in this reality of God's presence, it would be because His people wanted to meet Him there and to abide with Him through the longing of their hearts and not because of any forced manner. 
	When Moses presented this request from the Lord for those elements required to build the tabernacle, Moses did so just as instructed by the Lord as we read in Ex 35:5-9, if you would please follow along. Ex 35:5-9, 'Take from among you a contribution to the Lord; whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as the Lord's contribution: gold, silver, and bronze, and blue, purple and scarlet material, fine linen, goats' hair, and rams' skins dyed red, and porpoise skins, and acacia wood, and oil for lighting, and spices for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense, and onyx stones and setting stones, for the ephod and for the breastpiece. 
	This was a very detailed list given to the people, yet they were to only give as their hearts were so moved. God knew what was needed for the full development and building of this meeting place and its every detail. He also knew that there would be many individuals so moved to give with all their being unto this immense and vital construction. It was not just for the physical fabrication of the tent of meeting, but what was necessary in the hearts of His people to so freely offer all that was needed to do so. 
	Their response is recorded in Ex 35:21-29. Please read this in order to understand how the hearts were so moved to contribute to bless and honor the Lord with thes precious elements and riches. Ex 35:21-29, And everyone whose heart stirred him and everyone whose spirit moved him came and brought the Lord's contribution for the work of the tent of meeting and for all its service and for the holy garments. Then all whose hearts moved them, both men and women, came and brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and bracelets, all articles of gold; so did every man who presented an offering of gold to the Lord. And every man, who had in his possession blue and purple and scarlet material and fine linen and goats' hair and rams' skins dyed red and porpoise skins, brought them. Everyone who could make a contribution of silver and bronze brought the Lord's contribution; and every man, who had in his possession acacia wood for any work of the service, brought it. And all the skilled women spun with their hands, and brought what they had spun, in blue and purple and scarlet material and in fine linen. And all the women whose heart stirred with a skill spun the goats' hair. And the rulers brought the onyx stones and the stones for setting for the ephod and for the breastpiece; and the spice and the oil for the light and for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense. The Israelites, all the men and women, whose heart moved them to bring material for all the work, which the Lord had commanded through Moses to be done, brought a freewill offering to the Lord. 
	Please make very careful observation of the fact that it is repeated over and over again that the contributions were only given by those who were so moved to make such a freewill offering. The key is the word "freewill". There was no aspect of this which could be other than freely and willingly offered to the Lord. Nothing was being forced. Nothing was being demanded. Nothing was being attached to the fulfillment of this giving. It was done strictly and earnestly because the people who so gave wanted to give because their hearts impelled them to give and to give and to give again.
	They did not do so because they were seeking to be absolved from their sins. They did not do so because they were intimidated by some just requirement to give. They did not empty their treasuries of this wealth from guilt or shame or to try to earn some level of spirituality or to show how fabulously wealthy they were. There was no duty attached to this offering. There was no promise of blessing or of gain of any kind. These were truly gifts for no other sake than because they wanted to bless the Lord and so they gave and they gave and they gave again. This was the matter of free will honor and praise and worship unto the Lord God Almighty in a most practical manner. They did not receive tax benefits nor did they receive acclamation or proclamations of their gifts by little brass plaques hanging on the tent posts. They simply were so moved to honor God in the dispensation of their wealth as of use only in order to give back to the One Who had so blessed them. 
	During the time of the travels in the wilderness, the Israelites gave sufficiently to build the tent of meeting with all its interior altars and accoutrements. It was a tabernacle that could be taken down and then set up as they were traversing the wilderness regions. Once they were brought into the Promised Land, there was a deep desire to build a permanent structure for the tabernacle of The Lord God Almighty. King David wanted to do this with all his heart, but his hands were stained with blood as a warrior king. Therefore, when it was time to build the temple, it fell to Solomon, the son of David, to complete that tremendous task. 
David, however, was the one who began the collection of the necessary funding and materials, and he urged the people to give according to the manner in which their hearts were moved. Again, as with the tent of meeting, the temporary tabernacle, what was given was to be freely given without compunction or requirement so that the temple would be one that was created with willing hearts who wanted God to be present with His people. 
	Please turn in your Bibles to 1 Chron 29:1-20, and let us read together this remarkable passage of giving hearts. 1 Chron 29:1-20, Then King David said to the entire assembly, "My son Solomon, whom alone God has chosen, is still young and inexperienced and the work is great; for the temple is not for man, but for the Lord God. Now with all my ability I have provided for the house of my God the gold for the things of gold, and the silver for the things of silver, and the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, onyx stones and inlaid stones, stones of antimony, and stones of various colors, and all kinds of precious stones, and alabaster in abundance. And moreover, in my delight in the house of my God, the treasure I have of gold and silver, I give to the house of my God, over and above all that I have already provided for the holy temple, namely, 3,000 talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and 7,000 talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the buildings; of gold for the things of gold, and of silver for the things of silver, that is, for all the work done by the craftsmen. Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the Lord?" Then the rulers of the fathers' households, and the princes of the tribes of Israel, and the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, with the overseers over the king's work, offered willingly; and for the service for the house of God they gave 5,000 talents and 10,000 darics of gold, and 10,000 talents of silver, and 18,000 talents of brass, and 100,000 talents of iron. And whoever possessed precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord, in care of Jehiel the Gershonite. Then the people rejoiced because they had offered so willingly, for they made their offering to the Lord with a whole heart, and King David also rejoiced greatly. So David blessed the Lord in the sight of all the assembly; and David said, "Blessed art Thou, O Lord God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Thine is the dominion, O Lord, and Thou dost exalt Thyself as head over all. Both riches and honor come from Thee, and Thou dost rule over all, and in Thy hand is power and might; and it lies in Thy hand to make great, and to strengthen everyone. Now therefore, our God, we thank Thee, and praise Thy glorious name. But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from Thee, and from Thy hand we have given Thee. For we are sojourners before Thee, and tenants, as all our fathers were; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope. O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided to build Thee a house for Thy holy name, it is from Thy hand, and all is Thine. Since I know, O my God, that Thou triest the heart and delightest in uprightness, I, in the integrity of my heart, have willingly offered all these things; so now with joy I have seen Thy people, who are present here, make their offerings willingly to Thee. O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, preserve this forever in the intentions of the heart of Thy people, and direct their heart to Thee; "and give to my son Solomon a perfect heart to keep Thy commandments, Thy testimonies, and Thy statutes, and to do them all, and to build the temple, for which I have made provision." Then David said to all the assembly, "Now bless the Lord your God." And all the assembly blessed the Lord, the God of their fathers, and bowed low and did homage to the Lord and to the king. 
	Please note the reality so expressed by David in his prayer. "Blessed art Thou, O Lord God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Thine is the dominion, O Lord, and Thou dost exalt Thyself as head over all. Both riches and honor come from Thee, and Thou dost rule over all, and in Thy hand is power and might; and it lies in Thy hand to make great, and to strengthen everyone. 
David knew that all that he had, all that anyone has, comes from God. Nothing can be claimed as ours in any measure. We can never assert any credit for anything that we have because it all comes to us through the grace and the mercy and the provision of God. Therefore, as we see everything in this truth, it becomes a pleasure to give back to the One Who has so freely given to us. 
	Again, hear the heart with which the treasuries of the king and the families of Israel were so manifestly and joyfully presented to The Lord. Now with all my ability...moreover, in my delight in the house of my God, the treasure I have of gold and silver, I give to the house of my God... offered willingly... Then the people rejoiced because they had offered so willingly, for they made their offering to the Lord with a whole heart... But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from Thee, and from Thy hand we have given Thee... I, in the integrity of my heart, have willingly offered all these things; so now with joy I have seen Thy people, who are present here, make their offerings willingly to Thee... And all the assembly blessed the Lord, the God of their fathers, and bowed low and did homage to the Lord...
	Our cheerful and joyous and free will offering unto the Lord of all the treasuries of our hearts, including the return of those elements of precious riches with which He has graced us in abundance, will always elicit His being blessed. It will present to Him the fellowship and honor that we desire to have Him in our immediate presence. We will continue forward with this reality into the New Testament next time, Lord willing. So be it!
	Tell the sons of Israel to raise a contribution for Me; from every man whose heart moves him you shall raise My contribution. Amen.

This morning’s benediction is 1 Thess 1:2-4. We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you; Amen.