In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of preaching the word of God with enthusiasm and eagerness. He criticizes a young preacher who lacks enthusiasm in his preaching and suggests that he should not be in the ministry if he does not love studying the word of God. The preacher uses the example of Bezalel, who worked diligently and eagerly in building the tabernacle, to illustrate the kind of attitude and passion that should be present in doing God's work. He also highlights the need for Christians to be fully persuaded and eager in their service to God, citing Paul's words in Romans 14:5.

Now, friends, we come today to this 36th chapter of the book of Exodus, and very candidly we return back to the instructions that concern the tabernacle. You see, he's not going to let us get away from that. Before it was the instructions how to build it, now we see that they're building it according to the instructions. And as we have it in our book, that the tabernacle is God's portrait of Christ. It reveals Him. And now we want to see that and see the total picture. And that's the reason we wanted you to have the tabernacle, the chart we have right before you. And I'm going to begin reading here. "...then wrought Bezalel, and Aholiub, and every wise-hearted man, in whom the Lord put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the Lord had commanded." Now, practically a whole crew, I would be afraid to venture the number, but it must have been a very large number of folk who were engaged in building the tabernacle. The man in charge was Bezalel. And verse 2, I read, "...and Moses called Bezalel, and Aholiub, and every wise-hearted man, in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it." Now, I want you to notice something that's very important here, and it's essential for the work of the Lord. Now, if you have accepted an office in your church grudgingly, they came to you and asked you to be a deacon, and you said, Oh, well, if you can't find somebody else, then I'll do it. Or use that same excuse when they ask you to teach a Sunday school class, or to sing in the choir, Oh, I'll do it, you know, that attitude. Well, if that's the way you're going to do it, don't do it. God can't use it. It's no good for Him. Here are men that are actually to carve out these beautiful articles that are to be used. And this is not a job they're on. They are not watching the clock. They don't belong to the union. They don't work just a certain number of hours a week. They are not just doing this because it's a duty. Not because they have to. They've been slaves, and now they're slaving again. But how are they slaving? Well, they're slaving now because they want to. Before, they didn't want to. They're doing it now because their heart's in it. And that's the way that you do God's work. I had a young preacher that came to me, and he told me, he said, You know, I like the minister, but I just don't like preaching. I just don't care for that. And I suggested he get out of the ministry. I said, the ministry's no place for a man who does not love to study the Word of God. And if you can't do it with enthusiasm and give it out with enthusiasm, why, you ought not to do it. I listened to a preacher, actually a young preacher, and he was formerly in a class of mine. He was a student. And he gives me a lot of credit, but he ought not to. I don't want the credit. I listened to him preach. What a hassle. What an effort. What lack of enthusiasm. Why, my friend, if you can't do it with eagerness and enthusiasm and with a great deal of verve and vigor and vitality, then don't do it. God doesn't want it. Notice how Bezalel, you hear him talking and see him rushing to the job. You say, my, where is he going? To a football game, a baseball game, or to some social? No, he's going to work. He's doing it for the Lord. And you know if folk came to church next Sunday in your church and mine like that, the whole town would be coming out to see what in the world's happened in the church. It'd be a revival. God's work is to be done with enthusiasm. We're to do these things that way. And that is Christian conduct, by the way, and I frankly think that's the only thing that we're to do. We are to do it with enthusiasm. Paul said in Romans 14, verse 5, let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. That's the way that he's to do anything. You're to be fully persuaded. I'm doing this because I want to do it. I'm eager to do it. Woe is me, Paul says, if I preach not the gospel. This is something I want to do. Those 300 of Gideon went down to the water. They didn't lap it up. They just put their hands in it and threw it up at their mouth. And they said, where are those Midianites? We want to get to them. I tell you, that's the kind of enthusiasm we need in the church today. We have too many dead saints. And I mean they're dead before they buried them. And that's the thing that makes it bad.