Turn to Isaiah 66. I'd like for
us to look at the first four verses of this chapter, mainly
the first two. Title of the message, To Whom
Does God Look? To Whom Does God Look? Let me
read the first four verses. Thus saith the Lord, The heaven
is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house
that you build unto me? And where is the place of my
rest? For all these things hath mine
hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord. But
to this man will I look, even to him that is poor, and of a
contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. He that killeth an
ox is as if he slew a man. He that sacrifices a lamb as
if he cut off a dog's neck. He that offereth an oblation
as if he offered swine's blood. He that burneth incense as if
he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own
ways. and their soul delighteth in
their abominations. I also will choose their delusions,
and will bring their fears upon them. Because when I called,
none did answer. When I spake, they did not hear.
But they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which
I delighted not." Now it's evident from this first verse that God
does not dwell in temples made with hands. God is not impressed
with buildings made of wood, hay, and stubble, as you and
I are impressed with them. God is not impressed with buildings
made of pure gold, All the gold and all the silver, all the precious
stones are His. Why would He be impressed with
them? They're His. He made them. Someone wrote this,
God can only find pleasure in that which has the nature of
God in it. Now there was a time when the
tabernacle and the temple that Solomon built represented God's
presence. They were only symbols though,
let's not mistake that, they were only symbols. And now those
days are over. That was kindergarten. We are
past kindergarten. Even Solomon said in 1 Kings
8.27, Will God indeed dwell on earth? Behold, the heaven and heaven
of heavens cannot contain Thee, how much less this house that
I have built." Now notice in this chapter, this is God speaking. And when God speaks, we must
listen to what He has to say. This is God speaking from heaven
to us. He's giving us a revelation of
His greatness, of the character of those whom He dwells with.
It is evident that God hates pretense. He hates hypocrisy.
But He gives the character here of the ones that He looks to
and dwells in. And notice what condescension
here, as we go along, that God would humble Himself to behold
and to even speak to worms like you and me. Not to mention to
even look upon us. When He speaks, He makes it very
clear that He is not worshipped with men's hands. That's what
Paul speaks of in Acts chapter 17. Let me turn over to Acts
chapter 17 and read some verses here to you out of Acts 17. Acts 17, and let me look in verse
24. Paul, well let me go back to
verse 22. Then Paul stood in the midst
of Mars Hill and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in
all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by and beheld
your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To the
unknown God, whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, Him declare
unto you, God that made the world, and all things therein, seeing
that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples
made with hands. Neither is worshipped with men's
hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life
and breath, and all things, and hath made of one blood all nations
of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined
the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation."
God is not worshipped with men's hands, the things that we make. The disciples pointed out to
the Lord once the beauty of the temple. You remember that? We
looked at that not too long ago. They pointed out to Him the beauty
of the temple, the stones, and the way they were laid. And the
Lord told them that He would destroy that earthly temple,
and that not one stone would be left upon another. Here's
a question. How can a mortal man build a
house fit for God Almighty to dwell in? Who can build that
size of a house? If a man were to try this, he
only displays his low thoughts of God and his high thoughts
of himself. It is out of idolatry to build
temples and keep holy days and feasts in this gospel day we
live in and to think that God is impressed with it. Listen
over here to John 4. The hour cometh, and now is,
when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit
and in truth. For the Father seeketh such to
worship Him. God is Spirit, and they that
worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. How can
an infinite God dwell in such man-made objects and be pleased
with it? He cannot. He cannot. I want
to point out something here on the immenseness of God. Heaven
is my throne, He says. Heaven is not His house. It is
His throne. He sits upon it with great ease. Who can measure the heaven of
heavens? None. None. None can measure
the heaven of heavens. Yet God declares it to be His
throne. It's His throne of sovereignty.
There He rules over all. It's His throne of righteousness.
It's His throne of grace. It's His throne of judgment.
Heaven is my throne. And the earth, He says, is my
footstool. How dare men try and make God
a house out of His footstool? Who would do that? How much low
thoughts of God you would have to have to do this? Where would
we establish the place where he may rest. That's what he says
here in verse 2. For all those things has my hand
made. Where are you going to establish
a place for my rest? I made all these things. Stephen
even quotes this in Acts chapter 7. Now verse 2 tells us where
he dwells and to the man he looks to. But to this man will I look,
even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth
at my word. In John 14, verse 23, Jesus answered
and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words. And
my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make
our abode with him." The Scriptures teach us that
God is Spirit and dwells in temples made up of spiritual men and
women. The Scriptures teach us. that
which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. God dwells in the hearts
of men and women created by the Holy Spirit, not things created
by men." Now notice the character of those
whom the Lord dwells in. He describes them in this verse,
also described in this verse as a work of grace. Here's their
character. Poor in spirit, he has no merit
before God and he knows it, like the publican. He has no righteousness
of his own and he knows it. He knows that in his flesh dwells
no good thing, as Paul said, in my flesh dwelleth no good
thing. He knows that he's bankrupt before God. A person who is truly
poor in spirit has nothing and is nothing, and is totally dependent
upon the Lord for all that they need. When God makes a sinner
to truly see himself as he is, then and only then is he poor
in spirit and fit for God to dwell in. This sinner sees himself
to be the lowest thing on God's earth. This sinner sees himself
to be the most despicable thing alive. the most ungrateful creature
to have ever lived on the earth. And this kind of sight of one's
true self will keep down pride, it'll keep down gossip, it'll
keep down backbiting, because it will not allow those things
to grow. And he says, to this man will I look. This man is
poor in spirit, poor in contrite heart. God does not look to men
of wealth. What do you have that you didn't
receive? God has given to everyone what they have. God does not
look to men of influence, rank, religion. This man, He says,
well, I look to even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit. I know that people have learned,
now listen, this is important. People have learned the language
of Scripture. And many claim to be poor in
spirit. They claim to be a sinner. Oh,
what a sinner I am. But in their conduct, and in
their conversation, they prove otherwise. I know people who are rich in
purse. I know people who are wealthy,
but they claim to be poor. They're hypocrites. They're not
poor. I know they got a lot of money. And there are people who
claim to be poor in spirit, but they're not. They're not. And you just listen to them talk
after a while. They start to backbite. They're proud. They
start to talk about what they've done. That's not poor in spirit. God doesn't dwell in that heart.
But there are a few that are truly poor in spirit, for the
Holy Spirit has made them so. There's no pretense with them.
It's like that woman who ate the crumbs which fell from the
master's table. Like that publica said, Lord,
be merciful to me, the sinner. Now know the mark of those whom
the Lord looks to and dwells in, and of a contrite spirit,
that means a penitent spirit, they feel their sins, they feel
their guilt. It's one thing to say that you're
poor in spirit, it's another thing to know it. This knowing
it is of God. This is a spirit of repentance.
Now this poor, contrite spirit feels as if he would be the last
person that God would look to or dwell in. He sees and he feels
his wretchedness before God. Yet this is the only one God
looks to and dwells in. In fact, they are the temple
of God. And the very evidence of God's
presence is their poverty and contrition of spirit. Now, when
a truly poor person is in the presence of someone great, they
feel and know their own poverty by the presence of the other
one's greatness. When we stand in God's presence,
when He makes Himself known, His greatness makes us feel our
littleness. His holiness makes us feel our
sinfulness. You'll never know that until
you're faced with God. Then God makes His gracious presence
known in the heart of His people by His Spirit. For the love of
God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. And His Spirit
bears witness with our spirit that we are the sons of God."
We'd never believe it. We would never believe that we
are the sons of God if it were not for the Spirit of God witnessing
to our spirit that we are His. And then He enables us to taste
and see that the Lord is gracious. And this makes us see our poverty
and creates in us a contrite, a penitent, a repentant spirit. And then it speaks here of brokenhearted.
How could I sin against one so good to me? It is the goodness
of God, the Scripture said, that leadeth thee to repentance. And here, listen, here's another
mark of the character of the ones that God dwells in. "...and
he trembleth at my word, stands in awe at my word. He believes
my word, and that's why he trembles." Does God's Word make you tremble? Does it make me tremble? Well,
the one whom God dwells in, God's Word makes him tremble. That man believes my word of
judgment." Noah believed God and moved with fear and built
an ark. When we believe God, when we hear the Gospel, we believe
God against ourselves, the judgment of God against ourselves. Just
as Noah moved with fear and built an ark, we with fear move and
flee to Christ, who is the ark. And this man in whom God dwells
believes God's Word of Grace, the Gospel. He believes the Gospel
with all his heart. He believes the Gospel. He believes
the Gospel of substitution and satisfaction. He believes the
Gospel. And he trembles at my Word. He doesn't take the Word
of God lightly. It's his bread. He trembles at
my Word. Now let me close. I pray that God would make us
into such men and women who tremble at His Word, poor in spirit,
contrite spirit. This is the man He looks to in
mercy, grace, love, kindness, and favor. Now in verse 3 and
4, Any worship that does not come
out of a poor and contrite spirit is an abomination to God." This
is what he's saying in these two verses. Any worship that
does not have the blood and righteousness of Christ alone for acceptance
is an abomination. The offering up of an ox was
as much an abomination to Him as the slaying of a man, because
it was offered without faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now in the day we live in, to
offer up anything to God as acceptance apart from Jesus Christ, or even
to add to Christ, the man might as well offer up swine's blood.
False religion is nothing but an abomination to God. And he
says here in closing, if they choose this way, after hearing
the gospel, God said, I'll choose their delusion. I'll choose their
delusion. Man hears the gospel, turns and
leaves and walks away from the gospel, says that's not so. God
said, I'll choose that man's delusion. But I pray, oh how
I pray, that God Almighty would make us, by the work of His Spirit
and grace, of a poor and contrite spirit,
because that's the man whom God looks to. That is the man whom
God dwells in. All right. May the Lord bless
his word.