Let's read this. 37 and 38, 39 of chapter one. And the two disciples heard him
speak, and they followed Jesus. And Jesus turned and saw them
following, and saith unto them, what seek ye? And they said unto
him, Rabbi, which is to say, being interpreted, Master, where
dwellest thou? And he said unto them, come and
see. And they came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him
that day, for it was about the tenth hour. The Lord never asks questions
in the scriptures to seek information. He's not in need of information.
He knows everything. He knows the end from the beginning.
He's seeking to see the hearts of his people revealed that we
might be comforted. The Lord Jesus Christ brought
these people to himself. They came and they saw and they
abode with him that day. And it seems as if they abode
with him the night. It is a great question, isn't
it, that they were asked, and a remarkable answer they gave. You think of all the other things
they could have said, and their answer, their question to him
is, where dwellest thou? Where do you dwell? Where can
I be in your presence? Where can I be in your company? The Lord prayed before he went
to the cross of Calvary, that extraordinary prayer in John
17. In verse 24 he prayed, Father, I will that they also, whom thou
hast given me, be with me where I am. that they may behold my glory
which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me before the foundation
of the world. Dear God, the Father, answer
that prayer. doesn't he? Let's pray. Our Heavenly
Father, we do just pray that you might open your word to us,
that we might see your dear and precious Son, we might behold
him, our Father, that we might be drawn yet again into the wonder
of being in his company and abiding with him. Teach us where you
dwell, our Father, that we might be in that glorious company,
for we pray in Jesus' name. Where dwellest thou? Where dwellest thou? See, all
true disciples want to know where he dwells. Where does he live?
Where does he reveal himself? Where does he make himself known?
His kingdom's not of this world. He has a spiritual kingdom. Where
dwellest thou? He, of course, didn't have a
place to lay his head. He didn't have a fixed abode
in these three years of his ministry. So where can I be in your presence? He's like others, and like Jacob
before him, spent nights sleeping in the wilderness. I need to
know. I want us to ask that question. Where dwellest thou? And I want
us to see from the scriptures where the answer is. And it's
an important question to ask, isn't it? Because the reality is where
he dwells is not where most of religion think he is. You might
recall when the Lord Jesus was that young boy in the temple
teaching those people and they go on their journey back and
it's remarkable, they go for a couple of days and they wonder
where is he? And in Luke 22-44, it's typical of so many people,
they, his parents and all the others in that company, supposing
him to have been in the company. They suppose that he's in their
company. And if you went to every church
in this land and throughout this world and asked them whether
the Lord Jesus Christ is there with them and that they are truly
worshipping him, they would say he is. The reality is a supposition
is not good enough for a child of God. We actually have to know. We know. We know. We know where
he lives. The Jews said we have Abraham
as our father. We're in God's family. We're
God's chosen ones. We're the special ones. And yet
the Lord Jesus Christ told them that they were children of the The great religious crowds and
extraordinary religious traditions and history and all of those
things are not enough. The good opinion of multitudes
is not enough. We need to know, where is he? Nothing other than
the reality of his presence will comfort his true disciples. We want to know where he lives.
We want to know where life dwells. We want to know where light is
revealed. We want to know where righteousness dwells. We want
to know where grace and truth are. We want to know where the
kingdom is. We want to see him in his glory. We want to love
his appearing, as Peter said. We love his appearing. We love
his appearing. We love his appearing in eternity
as our surety. We love his appearing. in all
of the Old Testament Scriptures. We love His appearing in types
and shadows. We love His appearing in promises
and we love His appearing on the cross. We love His appearing
in this world in all that He did. We want to be in His presence. I want Him to be there as one
who stands in my place. I want to see Him there. Where
does He dwell? Where does He dwell? Where does
He dwell? As the hymn says, once it was
a blessing, now it is the Lord. Once it was a feeling, now it
is his word. Once it was his gifts I wanted,
now it is the giver I own. Once I sought for healing, Now
Himself alone. So let's just briefly look at
seven particular places in the Scriptures where we know that
He dwells. We don't have to guess where He dwells. He dwells in
the Scriptures. The Scriptures testify of Him.
We must begin at the beginning. We must begin in the Word. The
kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. We need to
have him not just be in the scriptures, but be revealed to us in the
scriptures. He's hidden these things from
the wise and prudent, and he's revealed them unto babes, and
he's revealed them in his scriptures. We need to see him in his word,
because anything other than a description of him in his word is not where
he abides. So we won't know where he dwells
apart from what he says in his book. We won't know where he
dwells apart from the word of truth. We're not interested in
the speculation of men, we're interested in him speaking to
us. So we want to come to his scriptures
and we want to see that his scriptures, I love what Paul says in Acts
24 verse 14, he says, this I confess unto thee, that after the way
they call heresy, Acts 24 verse 14, the way they call heresy,
the way they call a choosing, they say that we've made a decision,
we've made a choice to be separate from them all. The way they call
heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers. believing all
things that are written in the law and in the prophets. The Lord Jesus Christ is in the
scriptures. The Lord Jesus Christ, as we
know from so many passages of scripture, is seated at the right
hand of God the Father. That's where he dwells, doesn't
he? He dwells on the throne of this universe. He's seated. who he speaks in Hebrews 1, these
are amazing words, aren't they? God, who at sundry times and
in diverse manners, spake in times past under the fathers
by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us by his
Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom he also
made the worlds, who being the express bringing the brightness
of His glory in the express image of His person, and upholding
all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself
purged our sins. He sat down, He sat down on the
right hand of the Majesty on high. He's in that place. He's sat
down, hasn't he, where he has all authority. Everything that
wriggles in this universe is wriggling according to his determinate
counsel and foreknowledge and decree. He's sat down. What happens when you sit down?
The work is finished. He's sat down. His work is done
for the day, as it were. It's finished. Sins have been
put away. The children of God, before God,
are all justified in Him and they have no sin. And He's there
as our intercessor. He's there as our representative
before God. God looks to His Son. And he sees us as holy, righteous,
and unblameable, and unapprovable as his Son. The work is finished. Who is he that condemneth? Well,
you might condemn yourself and other people might condemn you,
and the law of God might condemn you. It is Christ that died.
Yea, rather, is risen again, and even is at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us. So our God dwells in
the scriptures, and he reveals himself, and he reveals his character
in the scriptures, and he reveals himself as an absolute sovereign
monarch of all of this universe. He dwells in the scriptures.
He dwells in the throne of heaven. Turn with me to Psalm 80, it's
a glorious verse, Psalm 80, chapter one. Give ear, O shepherd of Israel. Here we have the shepherd gathering
his sheep together. Thou that leadeth Joseph like
a flock, Thou that dwellest between the cherubim, shine forth. He dwells between the cherubim.
And what on earth is that a reference to? What's between the cherubim? The mercy seat is between the
cherubim. That's where he dwells. He dwells
there, having gone into the holy of holies with his own blood.
Romans 3 tells us exactly what he was doing and what exactly
all of this means, isn't it? He dwells between the cherubim.
He dwells where the mercy seat is. That was the place, wasn't
it, where once a year the high priest went in and he saw the
Shekinah glory of God. God dwelt there, and he could
go into his presence only, only the high priest could go into
his presence, and only could he go into that place with blood. Romans 3 tells us, doesn't it? Romans 3. Verse 21, but now the righteousness
of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophet, even the righteousness of God, which is by the faith,
the faith of Jesus Christ under all and upon all them that believe,
for there is no difference. There is no difference. You might
think that there's some difference. There is no difference. No difference
between the person who thinks they are the most holy in all
of this creation and the one that all of those who think themselves
most holy is in the deepest gutter. There is no difference, God says. for all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has
set forth to be a propitiation, to be a mercy seat, to be between
the cherubim to be between them through faith in his blood to
declare his righteousness. It's a declaration of him being
righteous and all of us believers being righteous in him to declare
his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of
him which believeth in Jesus. When he dwells between the cherubim,
he's revealing himself as the just and the one who justifies
all of those who have been granted faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
He takes his own into the holy of holies. He takes his own into
the dwelling place of God. It is that mercy seat, on that
mercy seat, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. paid for all their sins. He says,
I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and I'll remember their sins
no more. I love that story of the publican
and I like reading it often, doesn't it? But the two men went
to the temple that day, the Pharisee and the publican, and they both
poured out their hearts to God. One was bragging, Lord make us beggars to declare
his righteousness. Now the very law of God and the
very justice of God demand the salvation of everyone that he
died for. He takes us in to that place. I love that story of Ruth. It's a remarkable story, isn't
it? Of Ruth. And she pleaded to abide, didn't
she? She says to Naomi, where you
go, I will go, where you lodge, I will lodge. Thy people shall
be my people, and thy God my God. And where thou diest, I
will die, and there I will be buried. Lord, do so to me, and
more so, if aught for death, part thee of me. She wanted to
be in the company of the children of God. And eventually she meets
Boaz and she's brought in and Boaz says to her, with love, love in his heart,
for she who would be his bride, he said, the Lord recompense,
chapter two, verse 12, the Lord recompense thy work and a full
reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings
thou art come to trust. That's the wings of the mercy
seat. She'd come to the mercy seat. The kinsman redeemer was
going to take full responsibility for all that she had lost, all
that her husband had lost, all that her mother-in-law has lost.
And she, like all recipients of grace, I love what she then
says, she says, let me find favour in thy sight. You've given me
all this, let me find more grace. You've given me grace. I'd like
some more grace, please." And of course, she ends up not just
marrying Boaz, but bearing a son, who is a glorious, glorious son. So our God dwells. He dwells. He dwells in his word, he dwells
at the mercy seat, he dwells seated at the right hand of God
in heaven. Noah and I were reading this
verse the other day in Isaiah chapter 57, we hear where God
dwells. Turn with me there if you can
for a minute. To dwell with Him is to dwell
with Him in all of the glory of His character revealed. He
says in verse 15 of Isaiah 57, for thus saith the High and Lofty
One, that He inhabiteth eternity. If you think you have a clue
about what that means, you are doing very, very well. It's a
remarkable description of our God, isn't it? That He inhabits
eternity. He inhabits all of eternity, including the eternity
that is right now, whose name is Holy. I dwell in a high and
holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit
to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the
contrite ones. He's high and lofty. and he inhabits eternity and
he dwells in a high and holy place with him. Of course, the
with him, the one who has fully been contrite, the one that has
been fully humble, is the Lord Jesus Christ. But all the Lord
Jesus Christ does, he does this in us, and we dwell with him
there. And to revive the heart of the
contrite ones, His purpose of dwelling is to lift up the broken
down, the broken hearted, a broken heart that will not despise. If you go down to verse 19 when
you're still in that chapter, The result of all this, he says,
I create the fruit of lips, of the lips. Peace, peace to him
that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord, and
I will heal him. Our God dwells in his word. He dwells on the throne of this
universe. He dwells in a high and holy
place, and he dwells with his people there. Where does our God dwell? He dwells where two or three
are gathered together. You might recall, see in Matthew
chapter 18, the promise of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'll gather
them. See, he does the gathering. It
is his job to do the gathering. We long for people to come and
be gathered with us. But he does the gathering. He
says where two or three are gathered together, I'm in their midst. I'm in their midst. Does it matter whether we feel
his presence or not if we have his promise? He says he's in
the midst of his people. He walks in the midst of the
seven golden candlesticks. They are gathered. And what happens
when he gathers? And what happens in a church
where he reveals himself in all of his glory, in all of his sovereignty,
in all of the success of what he's done? It's remarkable, isn't
it? I've read these verses often
to you, but in Ephesians chapter 2, in chapter 3, we hear of God's
estimation of the church. He says in verse 18 of chapter
two, You are now therefore no more strangers and foreigners,
but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of
God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets.
Jesus Christ, himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom all
the building fitly framed together, groweth unto a holy temple in
the Lord, in whom ye also are built together. for a habitation
of God. It's a habitation of God. I don't
see it. I don't feel like it. But he's
promised it. He's promised it, hasn't he?
He's promised that there is a place where he gathers. He gathers
his people together. And the remarkable thing is that
people say, well, we don't need to gather any longer, and there's
a great movement amongst professing Christians to have what's called
church online. And even these days, you can
actually do communion online. And no doubt, once you've done
communion online, or you might have to do baptism online. People
say that that's a congregation. Well, a congregation congregates.
A congregation congregates. It's been a movement that is
growing, and in these difficult days of COVID, it's grown at
a pace. But nevertheless, we need to
know what God says about the gathering of his people together.
He brings his people together. He brings his people together
in public worship. Where do you dwell? Where can
we dwell with you? The Lord Jesus says to those
apostles, you come and see. And they came, they came, and
they had fellowship with him. When he gathers his disciples
together, he's in their midst. And the remarkable thing about
public worship is that it's extraordinarily private worship. And I don't
need to know the dealings that God has with his people as he
unfolds his word to the hearts of his people and causes his
people to look away, causes his people to behold the glory of
the Lord and the beauty of his character. But I still remember
the impact of messages that I heard years and years and years ago,
and I can remember how the Lord spoke to me and spoke to me personally. I don't want to miss out on His
presence, and I don't want to miss out on His promises, and
I don't want to miss out on His blessings. We're made, I love
what Ephesians 2.19 says, but now in Christ Jesus, you who
were sometimes afar off, you're made nigh by the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. So he dwells, he dwells in his
word, he dwells on the throne, he inhabits the praises of his
people. He dwells in the heart of his
people. While you're there in Ephesians, over in verse 17 of
chapter three, This is Paul's prayer for these
people. For this cause, let's go back
to verse 14. For this cause, I bow my knees
under the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole
family in heaven and earth is named. We bear his name, the
Lord, our righteousness is his name, and it's our name that
he would grant you according to the riches of his glory. to be strengthened with might
by his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith. He dwells in the hearts of his
people. That was his great promise, wasn't
it? That he's come, he'll come and reveal himself to his people
and he'll abide with them. He says in John 14, verse 20,
He says, at that day you shall know that I am in my Father,
and you in me, and I in you. Now that's just the most extraordinary
and remarkable promise, isn't it? That he's with his people,
he's in his people. It's Christ in you, the hope
of glory. I no longer live, says Paul,
but Christ liveth in you. new heart, it's a new heart that
he gives. He dwells in you, Christ in you. He grants us faith and love and
repentance and it's all because he dwells in his people. Where does he dwell? Psalm 22
verse 3 and we'll close 2 verse 3, you know that this is
the psalm of the Lord Jesus Christ from the cross of Calvary. Isn't it extraordinary that when
the Lord Jesus Christ was hanging there naked, suffering the scorn
of religious men, suffering the abuse abandoned by all, Didn't he? My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping
me and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime,
but you thou hearest not in the night season, and I'm not silent.
But thou art holy. The cross is a display of every
attribute of God and it shines most. All of those attributes
shine with His holiness. But thou art holy, O thou that
inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our God inhabits the praises
of Israel. We read earlier in Isaiah 57
verse 19 that He creates the fruit of lips. And the fruit
of our lips, Hebrews 13, 15 says, the fruit of our lips that give
thanks to his name, we are thankful to all the character of God. As John said earlier in this
epistle, didn't he? For those who received him, for
them that believe on his name, believe on all the character
of God revealed in this book and revealed especially in his
son. It's them that believe on His name. They're born of God.
So we praise Him for His name. We praise Him for His sovereignty.
We praise Him for His holiness, His justice, His faithfulness.
We praise Him for His immutability. We praise Him for being the one
that makes these extraordinary promises and then fulfills those
promises in the hearts of His people. He dwells in the praises
of His people. dwells where he is praised for
all of the glory of his holy name and remarkably if you go
to the songs of heaven where he dwells there he is praised
where he dwells there he is praised may God cause us to praise his
name here This is the one place in all of this existence where
we have the opportunity to praise his name with his people here
and to live by faith in his glorious faithfulness. John was just a
voice. God's people lift up the voice
together. God's children speak the pure
language of sight. You dwell on the throne of this
universe, but you never dwell alone, our God. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we pray.
that you would continue to do your gathering in ways that cause
your children to look in faith, Heavenly Father, in what you
are doing, to be as witnesses as John was that bear record
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Behold the Lamb of God that taketh
away the sins of the world. Oh, our Father, cause us to be
praising people us to have lips that are thankful to your holy
name, cause us to look to the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ
for all of our cleansing and for all of our acceptance into
your presence. We praise you, our Father, that
where our great high priest goes, he carries the names of all of
his own on his breast. in the hearts and lives of his
people. Bless your word to our hearts, our Father, and cause
us to behold the Lamb of God, for we pray in Jesus' name, and
for his glory. Amen.