It's not unusual for little children
to raise questions to their moms and dads and grandmas and grandpas
about God. It is not unusual for a little
one to ask, where does God live? Where does God dwell? I want
to deal with that subject this evening. You know, it's interesting to
give you a couple of passages that are quite interesting along
the lines of this subject. One of them is found in Exodus
chapter 20, where it says that Moses entered into the darkness
where God dwelt. God dwelt in the darkness. What are we to understand by
that? Well, we're to understand that
the darkness that God dwells in is full of mystery. There's so much we don't know. Surely as you study the person
of God, the being of God, and the Trinity of His persons, the
Father, the Son, and the Spirit, surely you find yourself lost
in wonder and amazement at this glorious being that we speak
of that is our God. He dwells in darkness that can't
be penetrated. And listen, since He dwells in
darkness, if we're to know anything about Him, He's got to reveal
Himself to us. Can any by searching find out
God? Does any man naturally seek after
the Lord? Well, no, because we read in
Romans chapter 3, there's none that seeketh after God. And God
dwells in this impenetrable darkness. He has veiled himself with darkness. Now usually darkness in the Bible,
or at least quite often it means sinfulness or even error, apostasy. But darkness also presents the
idea of that which is unknown. that which is mysterious beyond
our ability to comprehend. We can't enter into the darkness. That's where God dwells. You
can't figure out God. If you're waiting to believe
the gospel with this idea, well, I've got to know more about God. Listen, all that you'll ever
know about God in this life is going to be just a very, very
little His ways are beyond our comprehension. In fact, in Romans 11 we read
that His ways are past finding out. His purpose, His being,
all of His attributes leaves us knowing that we are absolutely
ignorant of God. He dwells in darkness. And yet
you go to the New Testament and you read in 1 Timothy chapter
4, He dwells in light to which no man can approach unto. Yes, He dwells in darkness, mystery,
unknown, has to reveal Himself, but He also dwells in light. that's too bright for us to enter
into. That light, our Lord revealed
something of the light of His glory to His three favored disciples. And the Scripture says there
on the Mount of Transfiguration, even His very clothing was white
and glistering. And his own being was brighter
than the noonday sun. And they couldn't look on him. Listen, you go up, you lift up
your heads on a bright, cloudless day, and you try to look at the
sunshine. Well, you can't do it for long.
Well, think what must be the glory of Him who created the
Son. He not only dwells in light,
He is light. In the Old Testament tabernacle,
in the Holy of Holies, from the mercy seat there arose this bright,
bright light. It's called the Shekinah, that
glory of God. How bright was that glory of
God! It illuminated, as it left the
top of the tabernacle, it illuminated at night all of the camp of Israel,
two and a half million people. The glory of God lit upon them. And this is a light to which
no man can approach. In fact, we read in the book
of Isaiah chapter 6, Isaiah said, in the year that King Uzziah
died, I saw the Lord, I saw Him high and lifted up. And there
were the cherubim, the seraphim. And he said, they hid their faces
from the Lord, from His glory with their wings. What is that
glory? That unapproachable light. The holiness of God. The purity
of God. Ah, he dwells in darkness and
he dwells in the light. What do we know about this God? We know he's spirit. He is invisible. He fills all
things. He is without the limitations
of a body. as we have limitations due to
a body. The Bible oftentimes refers to
the various portions of the body of the Lord. The hand of the
Lord is not shortened, it says, that he cannot say. The mouth
of the Lord hath spoken it. The eyes of the Lord search all
the earth. The arm of the Lord, the ear
of the Lord, But we're not to understand by those things that
that's a description of the nature of God. Those various expressions
are just used to accommodate our feeble, feeble, frail, puny
understanding of the Lord. So the Lord has to speak in language
that we somewhat understand and grasp. As you read the Bible, you cannot fail to notice that
never once did God ever command any physical or visible or tangible
representation of His being. Never. Even under all the types
and the shadows of the Old Testament age, that age of ceremonial worship,
nothing was ever given as a representation of God. All the figures, all the types,
all the pictures of the law of God represented the work of redemption
through our Lord Jesus Christ, but nothing represented God. And when Israel had Aaron fashion
a golden calf, And Aaron said, these be thy
gods, O Israel. That provoked God to anger. And Moses came down from that
mountain, and he was one upset preacher. Because that law God
was giving him, they're already breaking it. A bunch of idolaters. God is Spirit. I know He influences
everything, but don't think that God is a
mere influence. He's much more than that. There is nothing and there is
no one to whom we can compare God. He's a very real God, dwelling
in the perfections of His own nature, Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. Being a Spirit, He is and He
must be, therefore, omnipresent. He is everywhere. Everywhere. He cannot be confined
to one location. He fills all things. Joe read to us there from Psalm
139. Whither shall I flee from the
presence of God? If I go up to heaven, thou art
there. And then he says, Behold, if
I go down to hell, That is worthy of a behold there. And nobody's
going to be surprised to find God in heaven. Yes, God is in
heaven. If I go up to the heavens, God
is there. But he said, if I go down to
hell, behold, you're there too. In the essence of his being,
by his very power, by his providence, He's everywhere. There's no escaping
His presence, for He fills all things. As God is eternal, unlimited
by time, so He is omnipresent, unlimited by space. I want you to go to, hold your
place in Isaiah 66. Go to Jeremiah 23. Let me just
show you this real quick. Look at Jeremiah chapter 23.
Here's the context. It is in the context, these words
are given in the context of false preachers who were lying to the
people. They didn't set forth salvation
by grace. They didn't set forth redemption
by the blood of an innocent victim dying in the stead of the guilty.
No, not at all. They cried peace, peace to the
people when there wasn't any peace. And here's what the Lord
says. Look at verse Jeremiah 23, 23.
Am I God at hand? That is, am I a god near, saith
the Lord, and not a god far off? I'm near and I'm far off. He says, can any hide himself
in secret places that I can't see him? Jonah, go on down and hide yourself. Go to Tarshish. Hide yourself
in Joppa. Here's what you're going to discover.
God's there too. You can't escape His presence. Can any hide himself in secret
places that I shall not see him, saith the Lord? Do not I fill
heaven and earth? What a statement! Do not I fill
with my presence all of heaven and all of earth? God's presence
fills it all. Doesn't that give you some idea
of how little we are? We're nothing. We're nothing
in the sight of God. In all of these things He spoke
into existence. But go back to Isaiah 66. Let me read my text, lest I get
too far from it. Isaiah 66. Thus said the Lord,
will you not hear? Surely you will hear, if the
Lord has something to say. O children of God! O unbeliever! Hear! God has something
to say! May we be like Samuel, speak,
Lord, for thy servant heareth. Hard to get people to, when it
comes to the Bible, when it comes to the things of God, it's kind
of hard to get them to shut their mouths and open their ears. Really,
God has to do that. Thus saith the Lord, speak, Lord. The heaven, that's my throne, And the earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you will
build unto me? And where is the place of my
rest? Mr. Spurgeon gave this illustration. He said that he met this man,
and this man related to him an incident. of what had happened
to him. He was a believer in the congregation,
but he wasn't a well-educated man. But he loved the gospel
of God's grace. He loved the Lord Jesus. And
he said he was being mocked by an infidel, by a man who denied the very
existence of God. And the man said, this infidel
said to this poor, rather uneducated believer, your God that you worship,
is He a great God? Or is He a little God? And the man had read in his devotions,
Isaiah 66 and verse 1. He said, my God is so great,
that the heavens cannot contain Him. And yet He makes Himself
so little that He can dwell in me. That's pretty good, isn't
it? He's so great! He's so great! The heaven of heavens can't contain
Him. Not the first heaven, not the
second heaven, not the third heaven. All of them together
can't contain God. And yet, He dwells in me because
you see it says in the second verse, for all those things hath
mine hand made, Isaiah 66 too. And all of those things have
been, saith the Lord, but to this man will I look, even him
that is poor, not financially poor, but poor in spirit. Convinced by the Spirit of God,
he has nothing to contribute to God for his salvation. He's
absolutely spiritually penniless. To this man will I look. To him
that is poor and of a contrite spirit, he's got a broken heart
over his sin. He trembles. at the Word of God. God fills the universe, and yet
He dwells in His people. He says here, Heaven is His throne. There He sits, infinitely, gloriously exalted,
above all blessing and above all praise. Be sure you read it right. Heaven
is his throne, but it is not his house. It is his throne. It is the throne of absolute
dominion. It is the throne of absolute
sovereignty. Who sits on a throne? The king. What does the king do seated
upon his throne? Whatever he wants to do. And
none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? He does his will in the armies
of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. Whatsoever the
Lord pleased, that did he in the heavens, on the earth, in
the seas, and in all deep places. God says, I will do all my pleasure. It is the throne of justice. How can God save sinners? Well, it's got to be in a manner
that is consistent with His justice. God is not going to lessen His
demands. not even to show mercy to his
elect. If he forgives us, if he says
we're righteous, it's got to be done in a manner that honors
the integrity of his justice. That's why salvation is by the
substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus. Because God, in justice,
dealt with His Son in the stead of His chosen people. And all
of the sins, all of the iniquities, Isaiah 53, 6, of the people of
God were heaped upon our substitute, the Lamb of God. And He bore
our sins away. I said this morning about the
lamb that was burnt Roasted, rather. Roasted over
the fire. That fire symbolized the wrath
of God, the judgment of God, the penalty for sin. His was
a penal sacrifice. It was punishment meted out by
God Himself upon His Son. I'll tell you a good question
to ask people who have difficulty with the gospel of God's free
and sovereign grace. And I've asked it many a time.
Do you believe there's anybody in hell for whom Jesus died?
You want to just cut to the chase. Get right to the issue. Is there
anybody suffering the wrath of God in whose stead the Son of
God has already suffered the wrath of God? And if they say,
yes, there are people for whom Jesus suffered the wrath of God,
but now they're suffering the wrath of God, well, I would then
respond, well, you have an unjust God. You see, salvation has got
to be in a manner that is consistent with law and justice, where the
law has been satisfied and the penalty has been served. but then the guilty go free.
It can't be that a man's debt would be paid and then God later
on will say, now you owe a debt. No, I don't owe a debt. Christ
paid my debt. I'm debt free. This is a throne of justice and
it's a throne of grace. A throne of grace. You see, heaven
is God's sanctuary. It is where He reveals Himself
to us in the person of His Son. That is, He sent His Son from
heaven above. And He says the earth is His
footstool. And what this paints, this is a picture painted that
needs to be painted in our minds. of One who is so great that He
sits on the heavens and He props His feet up on the earth. Now how great is that God? People talk about pitiful God. How God wants to do things but
men won't let Him. He's got His feet propped up
on this earth. And He does all of His will on
this earth. In fact, He created this earth. He created all things. But specifically
this earth where He would bring to pass the great drama of redemption. In heaven He purposed all things
and on earth He executes His purpose in the salvation of His
elect. This is where the Son of God
had to come. He had to come to earth to die for creatures who
were sinners against God. This is his footstool, this earth. Where does God dwell? Well, he
dwells in heaven. I'll tell you secondly, where
does God dwell? Where has he dwelt? who dwelt
at the tabernacle in the wilderness. Go with me back to the book of
Exodus. Let me see if I can make good
on this. Exodus chapter 25. Exodus chapter
25. And we'll be getting into this
within the next, not this next Lord's Day, but the one following
about the tabernacle and how the pictures, the typology is
so glorious. But God says this after speaking
to Moses and telling the children of Israel to bring an offering. This is the purpose of the offering. Look at verse 8 of chapter 25.
God says, and let them make me a sanctuary,
and this is amazing, that I may dwell among them. What was the purpose of the tabernacle
in the wilderness? That God may dwell among the
children of Israel. Later he will dwell, of course,
at the temple. There are so many verses on this,
and all I did was I took concordance, looking up all the verses that
have to do with God's dwelling, where God dwells. And you'll be amazed if you attempt
to do that, How many times the Word of God says that he dwells
between the cherubim. That's where he dwells. There's
that tabernacle, the holy place, and then the holy of holies back
there where was the Ark of the Covenant. And on top of that,
the mercy seat. And God says, that's where I'm
going to dwell. How do we know? You see that
bright light coming out of the top of the tabernacle? You trace
that bright light back, if you could enter in and see, of course
it'd kill you to do that. But you'd find out that comes
forth from the Ark of the Covenant and the mercy seat on top. And God says to Israel, that's
where I'll meet with you, at the tabernacle. And of all of the earth, the
earth's a big, I know in comparison to some of the other heavenly
bodies and planets, the earth certainly isn't the largest,
but it's a pretty big earth. Pretty big world. But for all of the earth, there's
only one location where God would meet with men and men could meet
with God. Oh, that's a too narrow-minded
preacher. You think it's too narrow-minded? Take it up with
God. There's no worship of God anywhere else in the whole world. Maybe that's the reason it's
called a narrow way. A narrow way. There aren't many
ways, many doors, many beliefs, many religions, many avenues
to God, just one. We say, what about the Egyptians
or the Assyrians or name any group of people, any nationality
who lived back then? Well, what about them? They are
all godless. They are all idolaters. And the
only reason that Israel worshipped, a few of them worshipped God
was because to those people He revealed Himself. Had he not
revealed himself, they would have been caught up in idolatry
as well, as eventually they were. He dwelt at the tabernacle. That
was God's dwelling place. And of course, that tabernacle
in the wilderness, it portrayed our Lord Jesus and His entire
work of redemption. by a high priest who went into
the holy of holies once a year on the day of atonement, but
not without blood, that's Christ our high priest. The sacrifice
upon the brazen altar, that's Christ our Passover. That brazen altar is also Christ
our altar. We don't have an altar in here.
There is no altar on earth. This is a table. It's not an
altar. Don't come down here and bow
to this table. You may as well go out and bow
to a tree. Or bow to a rock. This is not
an altar. We have an altar and He's in
heaven. And His name is the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's our altar. The golden laver,
Christ is the fountain open for washing. cleansing, the golden
candlestick, Christ is the light of the world, the table of showbread,
Christ is the bread of life, the altar of incense, Christ
is our intercessor and he is our acceptance, the ark of the
covenant where the law of God was kept perfect and unbroken,
that's Christ the perfect servant of God, the mercy seat, that's
Christ our propitiation, That is, Christ, the satisfaction
of divine justice. Where does God dwell? Thirdly,
He dwells in the man, Christ Jesus. Go to John 1.14 with me. I know that you're quite familiar
with this verse, but it'll bear reading many, many more times. John 1.14. and the word, John has been speaking
about this one who is the incarnate word. The full language of God,
all of God, from A to Z, came down here. The person of his
son and the word was made flesh. I can't comprehend that at all.
You can't either. Once again we find ourselves
scratching our heads in wonder and amazement. How can this be? He who says heaven is my throne
and the earth is my footstool, he leaves his throne and he comes
down here to his footstool. Made flesh. not giving up His deity, certainly
not, but robing it with our humanity. And He dwelt among us. The word
is tabernacled. You know that. Tabernacled among
us. And in the minds of the Jews,
when this was said about our Lord Jesus, He tabernacled among
us. And then we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. The minds of the Jewish listeners
would immediately have gone back to the tabernacle in the wilderness,
when the Lord tabernacled there. And the teaching is that Christ
in this world He has this tabernacle over His deity as it were. There was a joining of the two,
deity and human flesh, and there's no divorce ever. There's no separation
of the deity and the humanity of our Lord Jesus. Well, Jim,
I don't understand how that can be. Well, you've joined me, and
you join all the others who've studied Scripture. How can this
possibly be? God joined to man? Deity wrapped
up in human flesh joined together? And what God hath joined together,
let not man put asunder? And John says, we beheld His
glory. Just like the Israelites in the
wilderness, they beheld the glory of God in that Shekinah glory. So the three favored disciples,
they beheld the glory of the Son of God on the Mount of Transfiguration. But unlike the tabernacle in
the wilderness and the temple as well, which was full of laws,
Do's and do not's. This one who tabernacled in the
flesh, he's full of grace. And he's full of truth. The glory of God, it shines forth
brightly from this man, Christ Jesus. We read, as we will be studying,
of course, the tabernacle within the next couple of weeks. We'll
begin to study it on Sunday mornings at least. The greatest glory about the
Jewish church was the one who tabernacled in their midst. And you see, God did not tabernacle. He didn't dwell in the tent of
Moses. And He didn't dwell in the tent
of Aaron. He had a tent all His own. And it was right in the middle. And all the camp of Israel knew
that's where God dwells. Because I see that bright light
coming out. They had God himself in their
midst. And all of that pointed to and
was typical of our Lord Jesus and his body joined to his divinity. And as the ancient Jews went
to God's tent, If they wanted to worship God, so we come to
God through Christ Jesus, our Savior. There's no other way
to worship God. Well, Jim, what about these religions
that deny the deity of the Lord Jesus? Well, it's just falsehood. That's all that is. Well, don't
you think you're being unkind to people who don't see it the
way we see it? Hey, it's true not because this
is the way we see it. This is the way God says it.
That's why it's true. You see, if you deny Jesus of
Nazareth being God incarnate, then there's no way for you to
come to God. You have no way. You have no
access. I am the way, the truth, the
life. No man cometh unto the Father. No man cometh unto the
Father, Christ said. But by me. It means you can't come. What about
people who call on Allah? They can't come to God. What
about people, religions who deny the deity? of Jesus of Nazareth. They can't come to God. You closing
the door on them? No, it's already closed to them.
The only one who can open a closed door is that one who is the door
himself, Christ Jesus. He'll have to open the understanding,
open the intellect, open the heart like he opened the heart
of Lydia. We read in 2 Corinthians 5, God
was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. You read
in the New Testament, you read in the Gospel narratives of this
man Jesus of Nazareth. You read of his birth, you read
of his life, you read of his miracles. That man who traversed
the streets and went into the villages and the cities in Israel,
in Judea, in Galilee, that man who was dressed sort of like
a peasant, who did not have anything of this world's earthly goods,
that man was God in the flesh. That's what the truth is. And
that man dying on a cross, hanging there suffering, bleeding, dying,
crowned with thorns, nails in His hands and His feet. Having
been spit upon, He's just a gory mess. You mean that's God hanging
on that tree? That's exactly what I mean. If
He's not God, He can't save anybody. But if He's not man, He can't
suffer, bleed, and die. So He's got to be both. Where does God dwell? Well, He
dwells with each one of His people. So we read, Christ in you, the
hope of glory. How can that be? He's so great
that He fills all the heaven. And yet, like that fellow said,
He's so little, He can dwell in me. And He does. Paul said in Romans 8 and 9,
the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. And our Savior said in his high
priestly prayer in John 17, I in them, that's what he said, I
in them and Father thou in me, that they may be made perfect
in one. that the world may know that
thou hast sent me and that thou hast loved them as thou hast
loved me. And again in that prayer, John
17, 26, and I have declared unto them thy name and will declare
it, that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them
and I in them. Where does God dwell? He's with
you. Are you a believer? He's with
you. That's the reason we refer back
to that song, No, Never Alone. You're not alone. The Lord is with you. The Lord
is with you. Where does God dwell? I'll give
you this conclusion. He dwells with His churches. Those churches in Asia Minor,
those seven churches. Where was the Lord to be found?
With them. He's dwelling with them. Wherever the saints of God gather
together, the Lord is among them. Find me a congregation of believers,
blood-washed believers, people who are robed in the garments
of God's salvation. clothed with the garments of
Christ's righteousness. People who believe God as He's
revealed Himself in His Word. People who believe the Savior
who suffered, bled, and died and rose again that God might
be just and justify. People who've been born again
by the power of the Spirit of God and have been brought to
believe the Lord Jesus and glorify God in creation, providence,
and salvation. You show me those people. You
point them out to me. And I say, God dwells among them. Oh, we honor where you preach.
God dwells over there. And this is what is so thrilling. When we come together as a body
of believers, he's in the midst. He who fills the universe with
His presence. He comes and He takes up His
abode with His church. No wonder the psalmist said in
Psalm 9, 11, Sing praises to the Lord which dwelleth in Zion. He dwelleth in Zion. E.T.H. He's always with us. It's a blessed
promise of the Lord. Where two or three are gathered,
where I've gathered two or three together, I'm in the midst. That's what He says. I'm in the
midst. And every time we get together
to worship, we do declare the doings of God. sing praises to the Lord which
dwelleth in Zion, declare among the people His doings." That's
what we're occupied with, declaring the doings of God. His doing
of creation, His doing of providence, not luck, not fate. Our president
said the other night something about he believed in fate. I
don't believe in fate, I believe God. Not fate is blind, fate
is cold. Fate has no heart. Fate doesn't
exist. Fate is an idol, just like luck
is. We believe God, who governs all
things. He's directing all things to
the end that He's appointed, and we declare His saving glory. He dwells here with us. Been with us a long time, ever
since the congregation was founded. Got a couple of folks here that
have been here for many, many years. The Lord hadn't forsaken His
people. He never will. He's taken up His abode in us
and among us. And every time we come to these
doors, we come in to visit with the Lord. To visit with Him. Set forth His glory. The magnificence
of His person. Lord, take the things that have
been spoken. And refresh the hearts of your
people. We're lost in wonder and in amazement
at your greatness. And we're so thankful that you
have showered us with grace through the doing and the dying of your
dear son. And he who gave himself for us
ever lives intercede for us, and by His Spirit, He said, I'll
never leave you. Oh, what a blessed promise. I
will never leave you. You who are my people, He says. I'll never leave you. I'll never
forsake you. So that we may with boldness
say, I'm not going to be fearful of anything. O blessed God, receive our praise
and our thanksgiving this evening. For Jesus' sake, amen.