Welcome to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. We are a Bible-Believing Church located
in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. We are proudly part of the Christian Fellowship
Ministries with 3,000 churches around the world. We are a church focused on world evangelism,
discipleship and church planting. Here we will share recent sermons from P.H.S.A. Church
and other sermons from throughout our fellowship. I am Pastor David Bickford and I will be your
host for this podcast. I thank you for listening today and we hope these messages are a blessing
to you and bring you closer to God.
Welcome back to the podcast. So today's message that I put together is called Working in Obscurity.
The subheading is Spirit, Ability and Knowledge and the text we are going to be working from
today is Exodus 31 verses 1 through 6. So it's been a little bit since I've been back.
Obviously I was a little sick last week so I am starting to come out of it now. So I
want to be able to go ahead and jump right in with this and thank you guys for coming
back to the podcast. So we are going to go ahead and read the text first thing. This
is a section of scripture about Oliahab and Bezelel and we will pick it up in verse 1.
It says, The Lord said to Moses, See I have called by name Bezelel the son of Uri, son
of her, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with the
ability and intelligence, with knowledge and 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, Oliahab, the son of Ahisamach,
of the tribe of Dan, and I have given to all able men, that they may make all that I have
commanded you. As you can see my voice is still a little shoddy so I apologize for that.
But what we want to get from this verse of scripture is there is a calling of what to
many would seem as ordinary men, but there is a specific purpose that we are going to
look at this. It is going to be the calling from obscurity. And as an illustration I wanted
to look at the life of Tenzig Norgay. Tenzig Norgay, he was born May 15th, 1914 and he
lived until May 9th, 1986 and he was a Tibetan climber. If you are into climbing at all then
you would have obviously already known about his name, but for those of us that aren't
into climbing that much, it is a pretty interesting tale. So he was like I said, he was a Tibetan
climber and along with the New Zealand's Edmund Hillary, Norgay was one of the first two people
to reach the summit of the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest, which is 8,848 meters
high on May 29th, 1953. So this already kind of gives you the idea of who this person is
now. I mean you might have even heard of Edmund Hillary even if you are not into climbing
because he was the first to summit officially Mount Everest. Norgay was involved in several
earlier attempts on this peak though beginning with his famed 1935 British reconnaissance
expedition led by Eric Shipton, which succeeded in climbing a whopping 26 peaks of over 20,000
feet. His eventual success on Everest garnered him worldwide fame as well as numerous awards
and honors and today he remains one of the most well-known Sherpas of all time. In his
early life, Norgay, you know like a lot of that is very unclear to us about what how
he grew up and stuff like that. From what we can you know garner, he was born sometime
in late May of 1914 and was the 11th of 13 children. Most accounts indicate that he was
born in Tibet and then moved to Nepal as a child to work for a family in the Kumbha Valley
in the village of Khumjung. As a teen, he immigrated to Jarlin or Darjeeling, India
settling in the Sherpa community in the city. At the time Darjeeling was the launch point
for most expeditions into the eastern Himalayas and Norgay became acquainted with a number
of porters, cooks and other Sherpas working for the mountaineering expeditions. So we
always hear about the headliners, those that are at the top of the charts, but the reality
is that there are always supporting characters that make these things happen, that make these
things possible and if it weren't for these critical characters then much of what we read
about in the world or in the Bible could not have happened. Norgay gives us this contemporary
picture of this reality. Many can name the man that first summited Mount Everest, Sir
Edmund Hillary. It used to be a household name but what of the Sherpa guy that had spent
the previous 20 years making that summit possible? In our text we see that God knows that every
part of the body of the church is critical to the success of the whole and that does
not mean that he can't and won't raise up others to fill the void but what it does mean
is that God has a place for all of us within his kingdom. Bezalel the son of Uri, the son
of Hur, the tribe of Judah was called out by God by name. We know the word of God that
he was spirit-filled and that he had the ability and intelligence and knowledge and skills
to fulfill the call that God had placed upon his life. This brings me to my first point
which is filled with the spirit. In 1 Corinthians 12, 4-6 it says there are different kinds
of gifts but the same spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service but the
same Lord. There are different kinds of working but in all of them and in everyone it is the
same God at work. Let's look a bit deeper then. Here we have Bezalel and Aholiab, his
assistant. These were skilled craftsmen. They had God-given and honed talent for carpentry,
metalwork, tapestry and construction. These are blue collar men who lived as slaves in
Egypt and despite their beginnings we can see them being called out in the Bible by
no other than God himself. The reality is that God sees the faithful work done behind
the scenes when you are living a faithful and upright life. Our fellowship is a lay
fellowship. It is a blue collar fellowship but it is a spirit-filled fellowship. In the
Corinthians Paul is primarily speaking about the spiritual gifts that we think of in regards
to the New Testament church, preaching, evangelism, praying for the seek and speaking in tongues
and prophecy and that fact still holds true that God equips his people through the spirit
of his purpose. As important as the spiritual gifts are we must never forget the example
of Bezalel and Aholiab. These two men were spiritually equipped for a sacred purpose.
We need spirit-filled builders and workers to support and uplift the ministry if we are
ever going to be able to successfully build anything. In Jewish history Bezalel is held
in high regard. He is after all the temple building son of Judah. In an article by David
Schrock we can see a correlation between Bezalel building the tabernacle, David planning for
and Solomon building the temple and Jesus the cornerstone of the new and better kingdom.
Each of these figures were enabled by the spirit for the purpose laid before them and
we should then lift up those around us whom are spirit-filled workers whether they be
accountants bookkeepers welders or artisans. Let's take another look at Norgay. At age
19 Norgay was chosen as a porter for Eric Shipton's 1935 British reconnaissance expedition
despite having no mountain experience due to the recommendation of his close friend
Ang Tharke, one of the preeminent sherpas and sitars of the era who had participated
in earlier expeditions with Shipton. The expedition was stymied at 23,030 feet on the North Coal
but also identified a viable alternative route up the western side of the South Coal which
today is used by climbers as attempting to peak from the south via Nepal. Perhaps more
importantly the expedition resulted in what Shipton called a veritable orgy of mountain
climbing. With team members collectively summiting 26 peaks over 20,000 feet 24 of which were
first ascents the expedition also proved the beginning of Norgay's prolific career as a
sherpa which lasted until his ultimate success in 1953 with Hillary. Norgay was a prominent
member of nearly every other Everest attempt in the intervening years including the illegal
1947 jaunt by the Canadian Earl, Canadian Earl Denman from the Tibetan side which was
so woefully unprepared and forced the team a trio of Denman, Norgay and Dawah sherpa
back to the after ferocious storms at 22,000 feet. Among other non-Everest exploits he
served as a sitar a team leader for a Swiss expedition that made the first ascent to the
Kadara-Kadarnath main which is a 22,770 foot summit in 1947. Notably Norgay embarked on
the 1952 Swiss Everest expedition which received rare permission to attempt the climb from
Nepal via the South Coal. Tibet closed to climbers in the 1950s after the Chinese invasion
and subsequent occupation. This was both the first expedition and to seriously attempt
the peak from the South and the first to reach the South Coal through though the effort was
unsuccessful Norgay and Swiss Raymond Lambert reached a high point of about 28,200 feet
on the southeast ridge setting a new altitude record in the process. A second Swiss expedition
later that year post monsoon season also included Norgay and saw the team reach 26,575 feet.
This brings me to my next point which is ability and intelligence. In 2nd Chronicles 1 5 it
says moreover the bronze altar that Bezalel the son of Uri son of Hurr had made was there
before the tabernacle of the Lord and Solomon and the assembly sought it out. Every mountain
climber worth his salt wanted to work with Norgay they would seek him out. Why was this
man in such high demand within his community? Norgay had spent a lifetime to hone his craft
and he was accomplished mountaineer in his own right but probably more importantly he
was able to keep his charges safe. Similarly Bezalel's work and craftsmanship would last
through the ages. Kings knew of him and of his work and it was held in the highest esteem.
It was after all holy and sanctified unto the Lord and it's odd how a few of us can
remember his name if we were ever to be asked. Another similar character we can look at is
Baruch in Jeremiah 36 4 it says then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neirai and Baruch
wrote on a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words the Lord had spoken to him.
Baruch was Jeremiah the prophet's scribe and secretary little is known about Baruch son
of Neirai. A note in the amplified Bible citing second chronicles 34 8 suggests that he may
have been the grandson of Masi'iah who served as the governor of Jerusalem in the days of
King Josiah. Baruch may have been attached to a family of means perhaps a prominent one
he was certainly educated serving as he did as Jeremiah's secretary and trusted with
putting down Jeremiah's words for prosperity we can surmise that he was detail oriented
and performance motivated able to get a lot of work done and get it done correctly. So
clearly we could see that the that he was first faithful to God because it was not safe
being associated with Jeremiah the prophet. He was not well liked by the king of Judah
as well. Even so we also know that Baruch was skilled he was often the mouthpiece for
Jeremiah we can see that when he that he was held in high esteem from the ruling class
of Judah and Jeremiah 43 3 it says but Baruch son of Neirai is inciting you against us at
the head to hand us over to the Babylonians so they may kill us or carry us into exile.
The claim here is that they were actually trying to say that Baruch held influence over
Jeremiah and it wasn't God working through Jeremiah. So here we have a skilled man spirit
filled and following the prophet of the Lord and he is a man of ability and intelligence
but still a supporting character. In fact we see at the end of Jeremiah that he is called
to live a simple life and Jeremiah 45 1 through 5 it said this is a message to Baruch and
it says when Baruch son of Neirai wrote on the scroll the words of Jeremiah the prophet
dictated it in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Hosea king of Judah. Jeremiah said
this to Baruch. This is what the Lord the God of Israel says to you Baruch. You said
woe to me the Lord has added sorrow to my pain I am worn out and groaning and find no
rest but the Lord has told me to say to you this is what the Lord says I will overthrow
what I have built and uproot what I have planted throughout the earth. Should you then seek
great things for yourself do not seek them for I will bring disaster on all people declares
the Lord but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life. Baruch served humbly
and we can assume that he followed the word of God till the end content to live a life
following the one God even after the death of Jeremiah. Baruch is a powerful testimony
of humbly serving God and Christ because it is right even though he was possibly from
an affluent and politically important family he chose to follow God and uses ability and
intelligence for his purpose. Living a life of obscurity for the sake of God's message
brings me to my final point which is knowledge and craftsmanship. So how do we wrap this
all up whether it's Moses and Bezele or Jeremiah and Baruch we can see the importance of living
a spiritual life. We can also see that Moses needed the abilities and intelligence of Bezele.
He needed the knowledge that he and Ohalia had in order to complete the work that God
had ordained. We could also see the immense help that Baruch provided Jeremiah. The knowledge
that they brought to the table enabled the work of God to go forth. We need to esteem
faithful work that is why we do all things under the Lord in Colossians 3 23 through
24. Whatever you do work with all your heart as you work for the Lord not for human masters.
Since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward it is the Lord Christ
you are serving. So as we go back and look at Norgay we can see the Norgay who had already
been to Everest six times at this point was leading was the leading member of the 1953
Everest expedition led by John Hunt. Norgay and Hillary were one of two pairs of climbers
selected to make the summit pushes the other two being Tom Bordillion and Charles Evans.
The later duo made it to just 300 feet shy of the summit on May 26 but turned around
after experiencing issues with their oxygen equipment. Their efforts to break the trail
and cash oxygen however provided vital when Hillary and Norgay made their summit bid two
days later from a bivvy starting at 27,900 feet on the southeast ridge. Hillary and Norgay
reached the summit at the world's highest mountain at 1130 a.m. local time. Following
the successful ascent Norgay and Hillary were catapulted into worldwide fame. Norgay was
awarded the George Medal a UK award for bravery the Queen Elizabeth the second coronation
medal the Order of the Star Nepal and the Indian Gold Medal in addition to numerous
other accolades and honors. In 1954 he became the director of field training for the Himalayan
Mountaineering Institute and later founded trekking the trekking company Tenzig Norgay
Adventures in 1978. Norgay was named one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th
century by Time magazine in 1999. So as you can see with Norgay his reward did not come
until much later in life despite the long hours the danger the cold nights in the mountains
it wasn't until he made it to the top of Evers that he that they received his reward.
We serve a much higher power than anything here on earth and as we labor we labor for
our God our Lord Jesus tells us to store of treasures in heaven in Matthew 620 the laborers
is here on earth but our reward is in heaven and through our legacy here on earth. Bezalel
and Oleh Oholiad were the builders of the tabernacle Bezalel from the tribe of Judah
is the first of the temple builders in the history of Israel even though some of his
work is lost to time his legacy lived on and King David King Solomon and King Jesus Baruch
faithfully served Jeremiah during one of the darkest periods of Israel's history he lived
and worked alongside one of the most pivotal prophets of the Old Testament and despite
his time on earth being rife with trouble his name was recorded in his history of service
is on display to all to you know to us through his work. So as I close it's important to
recognize that you don't have that you that you do have gifts that can be of use for the
kingdom you may have been saying to yourself that you don't have any skills but I bet
you're wrong maybe you haven't spent enough time looking for your gifts or honing your
talents the place to start is by being spirit filled to being filled with the spirit of
the Lord and you do that by giving your life to Jesus Christ and John 3 3 Jesus answered
him truly truly I say unto you unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of
God this is the starting point of wisdom in Proverbs 9 10 the fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy Holy one is insight and we serve an everlasting
Lord in first Peter 1 23 since you have been born again not perishable seed but imperishable
through the living and abiding word of God as you seek out the Lord in your life you
will gain more wisdom or intelligence or your abilities will grow as you apply that to your
life you will realize that your knowledge will grow and increase and God will bless
the work of your hands so I leave you with this thought we know very few of the names
that enabled the people of Israel and the early church to grow we only get to see the
headliners occasionally we get to see a glimpse of those who helped the headliners but we're
never really able to see the second stringers of the third stringers that doesn't diminish
their importance though that elevates it we need the builders the bakers the candlestick
makers we need those who faithfully labor for the Lord those who use their talents for
the kingdom in first Kings 19 18 it says yet I will leave 7000 in Israel and all the knees
that have not bowed to bail and every mouth that has not kissed him we're given a clear
indication that God shelters and hides some of his people from the limelight but they're
still faithful to him and they're ready at a moment's notice to be called into action
because they're faithful to him and with that I want to just go ahead and close if if you
if you're if you could have if I could have every head bowed every eye closed if you're
listening along I just want to give an invitation that if your heart's not right with the Lord
maybe you don't feel you're successful or you don't feel like you're talented enough
or someone's made you feel less than you know important in your life I want you to know
that Jesus Christ knows that you're important you're important to him and that's why he
has the gospel sent out and that's why he commands us to preach the gospel to bring
this invitation to you that if you know your heart's not right with the Lord but you want
to be right with him you can do that by signifying that with an uplifted hand because he can
see that hand so raise your hand if that's you and if you rose your hand then repeat
after me dear Lord God I know that I'm a sinner but I know that you sent your son Jesus Christ
and that he died for my sins I repent of my sins and I accept the Lord Jesus as my Savior
and I give him all the praise and glory of Jesus name amen that simple prayer is what
we call a sinner's prayer and it's it it's the first step it takes you into salvation
you are saved at that point and now you get to grow in Christ and live in Christ to the
rest of your life so the next thing to do is is obviously you know read your word read
a Bible pray which is just talking to God pray to God and then find a good solid Bible
believing church to participate with and to lock in with and have fellowship with brethren
so if you have need help finding that church you reach out because we have 3500 plus churches
globally I'd be more than happy to help you find that church if you're in Samanar and
please come out and visit and I want to thank you for taking the time to listen to me today
even though my voice is horrible and I can't wait for you to come back next time God bless
Thank you for listening to the P.H.S.A. Potter's House Samanar podcast be sure to follow us
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