It will interest you to know
that the tabernacle in the wilderness existed and then, in the purpose
of God, it was replaced by the temple that Solomon built. Here in 1 Kings chapter 8, now
the temple has been built It is ready to be dedicated to God. This is about, for those of you
kind of interested in the history of things here, this is just
about 500 years since the exodus out of Egypt. It's been that
long, about really 490 some, but we'll round it up to 500,
a little easier number for us to remember. God brought them
out of Egyptian bondage by the power of His own omnipotence
and by the blood of the Passover lamb. and having our Lord himself,
having conquered all of the captors of his people, he released Israel
and of course then they went through the Red Sea and then
to Mount Sinai and then they began their wilderness journeys
and then years go by and then God gives them a king, King Saul,
and then he was replaced by King David. And then King David died,
he passed away, and now his son Solomon reigns in his stead. David wanted to build the house
of God, he wanted to build the temple, but it wasn't for him
to do, but rather God used him to accumulate all of the things
that would be necessary to build this temple in Jerusalem. You'll also, I think, find it
interesting that when this temple was finished and when they came
together here in Chapter 8 to be dedicated unto God, they also
brought that tabernacle in the wilderness with them. And they
put most of it in storage in the treasury. You say, what was
the reason for that? Because, listen, there was only
one place to worship God. That still remained. You couldn't
worship God at the tabernacle and the temple. And so the tabernacle
then was folded up, except for some pieces of furniture, and
they were stored in the treasury of the temple. because God will
only be worshipped one location. Just one location. Of course,
the picture is He can only be worshipped through our Lord Jesus.
It doesn't matter what age it is, what year it is, what century
it is, God can only be approached and we can only be accepted by
God one way, and that is through the Lord Jesus Christ. And of
course, that tabernacle in the wilderness that we've been studying
about back in Exodus, that pictured our Lord Jesus, as well as this
magnificent temple that was erected by King Solomon. Here's the feast of the dedication
of the temple. He has finished building it according
to the specifications that God gave him. And as they were bringing
up the Ark of the Covenant, the Ark of the Covenant, this time
was at Gibeon. They're bringing it back, they're
bringing it back to Jerusalem. And as they do, they offered
multiple sacrifices to God. Look here in chapter 8, and look
at verse... Well, let me read verses 4 and
5. 1 Kings 8, 4 and 5. And they brought up the ark of
the Lord and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the
holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those did the
priests and the Levites bring up. and King Solomon and all
of the congregation of Israel that were assembled under him
were with him before the ark. Watch this. Sacrificing sheep
and oxen that could not be told out for number of multitude,
numbered for multitude. And if it was like when they
brought the ark of the covenant back in 2 Samuel 8, If it was like that, every six
steps, they offered a sacrifice to God. When they brought Him
from Gibeon unto Bethlehem, unto the city of David, They took
six steps, offered a sacrifice. Six more steps, offered a sacrifice. This is what you never get away
from in the Old Testament. Without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission of sin. There's got to be a sacrifice
offered to God. The innocent must die for the
guilty if the guilty are gonna live. And as they moved that
Ark of the Covenant to Bethlehem, They took six paces, the Scripture
says. And the reference, if you're
looking for it, is in 2 Samuel 6 and verse 13. Let me just double-check that
since I've already given you a wrong reference already. Yeah,
2 Samuel 6 and verse 17. Six paces offered a sacrifice. Six paces offered another sacrifice. And it may very well be, as they
brought the Ark of the Covenant up from the city of David, which
was Bethlehem, as they brought that Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem,
most likely, and this is what most of the commentators say,
they took six steps and offered a sacrifice. In fact, they offered
so many animals that you couldn't number them all. They couldn't
be counted. It's like rivers of blood flowed,
all typifying the bloody sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. And
as we get further into the eighth chapter of verse Kings now, as
we get further into this, of course, Solomon stands before
the people and he lifts up his heart to God in prayer. Look
at verse 22, 1 Kings 8, 22. Solomon stood before the altar
of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel.
Remember, God had said, and I'm going to show you this back in
Exodus chapter 29, God said, that's where I'm going to meet
you at the place of sacrifice. That's where God met the congregation. You want to meet with God? Do
you want God to meet with you? It has to be at the place of
sacrifice, that is, where God's Lamb. You have to meet God at
His Lamb, in His Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ who was sacrificed
for us. And so, verse 22, Solomon stood
before the altar, the brazen altar, in the presence of all
the congregation of Israel, and of course he spread forth his
hands toward heaven, and he said, Lord God of Israel, there's no
God like thee in heaven above or on earth beneath, who keep
his covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee
with all their heart. Here he praises the God of sovereignty,
the God who rules, the God who reigns, He acknowledges the mercy
of God. God is a merciful God. He's merciful
to us through the Lord Jesus. And then he says in verse 24,
who has kept with thy servant David my father that thou promised
him. Thou spakest also with thy mouth
and has fulfilled it with thine hand as it is to this day. He prays the God who keeps his
promises. The God of covenant grace. The
God who promised that He would be merciful. The God who promised
that He would keep His people safe. The God who promised that
He would meet with them at the place of sacrifice. Verse 25,
Therefore now, Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my
father, that thou promised him, saying, There shall not fail
thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, so that
thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me
as thou hast walked before me. And now, O God of Israel, let
Thy Word, I pray Thee, be verified, which Thou spakest unto Thy servant
David my father. Now here's a verse I'm drawing
your attention to especially. Verse 27. But, but, will God indeed dwell on
the earth? Will God indeed dwell on the
earth? And then he says this, Behold,
be astounded, be amazed, the heaven and heaven of heavens
cannot contain thee, or how much less this house that I have built
it. The heavens can't contain God. And will you dwell on this earth? Will you dwell in this house? Will you dwell in this temple
that we have built, Lord? He isn't questioning whether
God will dwell on the earth. More, it's a statement of amazement. Of amazement. Will God indeed
dwell on the earth? This is amazing. This is astonishing. This is astounding. The God of
heaven and earth. The God who fills all of space
and time. The God who's everywhere. David
said in the Psalms, if I ascend to the heavens, thou art there.
If I descend to the earth, thou art there. And then he says,
behold, if I go down to hell, thou art there. No wonder he
began that by saying, whither shall I flee from thy presence? Where shall I go from thy presence?
God is everywhere. He's everywhere by His own omnipotence. That is His power. He made all
things. He keeps everything going. Don't
worry about, well, will man destroy the earth? God reserved that
for Himself. He has power to create and only
He can destroy. And He not only has all power
And He dwells on the earth in all power, but also in all providence. All providence. And I've defined
providence for you on many occasions. It's God bringing to fulfillment
everything that He has purposed. That's what providence is. And
so everything that unfolds every day is according to the purpose
of God. This is the God of unlimited
power. This is the God of providence. This is the God who maintains
his creation. This is the God who does his
will among the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth. And none can stay his hand or say unto him, what
doest thou? We read in Romans 11, for of
him and through him and to him are all things, to whom be glory
forever. Amen. You know, there are roughly
about 8 billion people on this earth right now. And here's something absolutely
mind-boggling. God Almighty governs every single
life. You know, the Lord said, even
the hairs of your head are numbered. Eight billion people. The hairs of everyone's head
are numbered. How many birds are there in the
world, do you think? Well, it's gotta be millions
and millions, maybe billions, I don't know. But the scripture
says, not one sparrow can fall to the ground without your heavenly
Father. Are you not much more valuable
than a sparrow, than a little bird? He who made all things for His
glory. He maintains all things, especially
in the life of His people. The reason this earth continues
The reason this world goes on is because God's people are here.
We are the salt that preserves the earth. When we're gone, God
has no more use for this earth. God ordained that this drama
of redemption, of reconciliation, of the salvation of sinners,
it take place on this earth. The earth exists for God's glory
and for His people. And when all of His people have
been brought to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
earth will have used up its neediness. That's why businesses in this
world exist. To provide work, labor, income
for the people of God. You see, all things exist for
God's glory, for God's pleasure, and for the good of His people.
And God, who is everywhere, governs all things. He's everywhere by
His knowledge. He's everywhere by His power.
He's everywhere by His providence. He's everywhere by His omniscience
or His knowledge. The eyes of the Lord are in every
place. Beholding the evil in the good.
That's Proverbs 15, 3. You think of that. The eyes of
the Lord are in every place. In the remotest part of the world. Where even no human eye has ever
beheld something. Maybe nobody's ever lived there.
God beholds that too. He's everywhere. Yet, God is
especially in heaven, that's His palace. That's His throne. No wonder the psalmist said,
look down from heaven and behold from the habitation of thy holiness
and thy glory. Not only is His throne in heaven,
but heaven is His throne. Isaiah 66, verse 1. Thus saith
the Lord, the heaven is My throne, and the earth is His footstool.
And we're not surprised at all when God says He dwells in heaven.
That is His throne. But here's what's shocking and
amazing, that He would dwell on His footstool. I'm not amazed that He dwells
in heaven. Everybody knows that. Anybody
who's got good sense knows God's in heaven. God's in heaven, you're on the
earth, let your words be few. Everybody knows God's in heaven.
Ask the little child, where's God? He's in heaven. But the shocking thing, the amazing
thing is that He would come to this earth that is cursed. And
He's the one who cursed it. As a result of Adam's transgression,
Adam's fall, God told Adam, cursed is the earth for your sake. Will
God come to a cursed place? Will he dwell on a cursed earth? Will God indeed dwell upon earth? and let the answer to that question
ring out through all the universe. Yes! Yes, He will! He has! He does! He will yet dwell on this earth. He dwelt on this earth in the
very person of His Son. which brings me back to Exodus
chapter 29. And you'll remember in our studies,
and I might just direct you to this verse, first of all, in
chapter 25 and verse 8, and then I'll go back to chapter 29. Chapter
25 and verse 8, and we've read this several times, so perhaps
you've committed this to memory God said to Moses to tell the
children of Israel, he says, and let them make me a sanctuary
that I may dwell among them. Will God indeed dwell on the
earth? He said, you build me a tabernacle.
That's where I'm going to dwell. That's where I'm going to dwell.
Now go back over here to chapter 29. Ron read this to us just
a few minutes ago. Look at verse 45 and 46. Chapter 29, 45 and 46. And I will dwell among the children
of Israel. He came to dwell not only on
a cursed earth, but among a sinful people. on the earth that's cursed. And I will dwell among the children
of Israel, and get this, and will be their God. The God of a reverent people,
the God of a holy people, the God of a people who walk with
you every day, the God of people who are sinners by nature, by
choice, and by action. But I'm gonna dwell among them. And he says this in verse 46,
and they shall know, they gonna know who I am. They shall know that I am the
Lord their God, that brought them forth out of the land of
Egypt, the God who redeemed them. I'll tell you, when God comes
to dwell with somebody, He's going to teach them of redemption.
He's going to teach them what it costs to release them from
their captivity. When God the Holy Spirit comes
to you, when He comes to me, when He comes to anybody to convict
them of their sinfulness, He will make you to understand that
God is God indeed, that I am the Lord, their God, and He will
make them to know that He is the One who brings people out
of captivity. My friends, we're in captivity
to Satan, to sin, to the world. We're in a mess, we're in a bondage,
and the thing of it is, we think we're free. We have no idea of
what kind of condition we're in, what kind of shape we're
in. We're in bondage, we're in captivity. Go ahead and brag
of your free will all you want to, but your will is subject
to God and it's also subject to the devil. He holds men captive
at His will, is what it says in 2 Timothy chapter 2. You can speak of the free will
of man all you want to, but it's just foolishness. It's in direct
violation of the Word of God that tells us that the will of
man is in bondage. Read the book. Bondage of the
will. The bondage of the will. Our
Lord looked at the Jews of His day and said, You will not come
to Me that you might have life. You will not. You will not. And nobody ever will until He
makes you willing in the day of His power. God said, I'm going
to teach you that I'm the one who redeemed you. That, look at this next line,
that I may dwell among them." Will God indeed dwell with men? Will God indeed dwell on the
earth? Hallelujah, yes. And we know
all of this tabernacle is a picture of our Lord Jesus. Go with me,
we've looked at it before, but would you please turn to John
chapter 1 again? And I think I have, I know I've
quoted this several times, but I want to read it to you, because
I'm talking about, will God dwell on the earth? Will God dwell
on the earth? That's the question. And when
King Solomon stated that, he stated it not questioning whether
the Lord would or would not. It's just a question of utter
shocking news. This is the most amazing thing. And without controversy, this
is how I began the service by quoting their reading to you
from 1 Timothy. And without controversy, great
is the mystery of Godliness. What is that? God was manifest
in the flesh. God in the flesh dwelt here in
the person of His Son. Now look here. Look at verses
1 and 2 first. John 1, in the beginning was
the Word. He's the whole alphabet of God.
He's from A to Z and everything in between. He is the full revelation of
God. In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in
the beginning with God. Now go to verse 14. And the Word,
this same Word, this Word was made flesh And guess what? Dwelt among us. Where? On the earth. What kind
of earth? A cursed earth. Among what kind
of people? A sinful people. He dwelt here. And John said,
we beheld His glory. This is what I want and this
is what I pray that God will reveal to all of us, to you who
are watching and all of you who are here, to see the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ. We beheld His glory. Have you
beheld His glory by faith? What is that glory? The glory
as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth? Will God indeed dwell among men? Yes. And this is even more remarkable
when you consider what He came to do. Not merely to heal the sick,
though He did that. And not merely did He come here
as a teacher, though never a man spake like this man. He spoke
as one having authority. and he went through the cities
and villages of Galilee and Judea preaching the gospel of the kingdom
of God. But his teaching and his preaching,
they were not the principal thing that he came to do. Why did God
of heaven dwell on this earth? Hear him say, Luke 19.10, the
Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." Here's how the apostle says it
in 1 Timothy, and without controversy great is the mystery of... Excuse
me. Let me go to the reference. I'll
get these mixed up here. Go to 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy chapter
1. 2 Timothy. 1 Timothy chapter 1. 1 Timothy
chapter 1. And this is a faithful saying.
This is a believable saying. Here it is. And it's worthy of
all acceptation. What is it? That Christ Jesus
came into the world. Will God indeed dwell on the
earth? Yes! He came down here. For what
purpose? To save sinners. That's why He
came. To save sinners. Oh, He healed?
There's no question about that. He healed everybody who came
to Him for healing. And there's no question about what, He was
a great teacher? But He came to save. He's the
kinsman redeemer who came to save those who are kin to Him. Kin to Him in that He's bone
of our bone and flesh of our flesh. Why did God dwell on this
earth? Well, He came to honor God's
law. And He came to pay a debt we couldn't pay. He came to pay a debt we couldn't
pay. He came to endure the wrath of
God that would have sunk our souls to the lowest part of hell. He came to rescue the perishing. Us. He came to satisfy the just
demands of His own law. He came to justify. He came to
make things right between us and God. God is right where He's
always been. We left God. Who's going to restore us? David
said in Psalm 23, He restoreth my soul. How did He do that? By His bloody death upon the
cross of Calvary. And therefore He arose from the
dead. He came as our surety. As our
surety. Not as our guarantee. A guarantee
is... Well, I'll give you an illustration. Ethan, after he got back from
the Middle East last year, he wanted to get a car. Well, he
hadn't established credit, and so they were going to kind of
sock it to him on the interest rate for his car payments. And
I said, listen, I'll sign the note. No problem. But I signed it as a guarantee. In other words, I'm the backup.
I'm the backup. If He can't pay, if He can't
pay, I must pay. Our Lord Jesus didn't come as
the guarantee. He came as the surety. He wasn't
the backup. He wasn't the backup. Well, if
they can't pay, I'll pay. There was no way we could pay.
That's an impossibility. He came as the surety of the
covenant. The covenant of grace. And all
the responsibility to settle our indebtedness to divine justice
was laid on Him. And He paid it all. He's the
surety of a better covenant. And He's the only way by which we
can come to God. This one who dwelt on the earth. Go back to Exodus chapter 29. Let me show you just a few more things. Exodus 29. Now we know where
God would dwell. He'd dwell here at the tabernacle. And what was going on at the
tabernacle? What happened at the tabernacle
every day? Well, Brother Ron read to us
in verse 38. And this is that which thou shalt
offer upon the altar, two lambs of the first year day by day
continually. You see, here's where God dwells. And we learn this from over in
1 Kings 8. All those sacrifices that were
offered, too many to even be numbered. Where does God dwell? He dwells there where the blood
makes a propitiation to His justice. What is propitiation? Satisfaction
of divine justice. And here, before the Lord says,
I'm going to dwell with you, and He says it two times right
here toward the end of this chapter. First of all, He says now every
day, this is what you do. You start the morning off killing
a lamb. In the evening, verse 39, kill
another lamb. Look at verse 40. With the one
lamb, a tenth deal of flour, mingled with the fourth part
of an hen, a beet, and oil. What is that picture? That's
the body of our Lord Jesus Christ. The bread. The bread. He says, put the lamb up on the
altar, the brazen altar, and offer it to me with the bread. That picture is His flesh ripped
wounded and bruised and beaten for us. And he says, then the
fourth part of a hen of wine for a drink offering. That's
His blood. His blood. Don't approach God without blood.
You've got to have blood. And he says this at verse 41,
In the other land, during the evening, do everything the same
way. Bring the bread. Bring the wine. That's a picture
of our Lord Jesus. Where does God dwell? Right there
at the sacrifice. That's where God dwells. You
want to come to God? Anybody here want to come to
God? You come by way of the sacrifice, that's where you'll find Him.
Where does God dwell? In the sacrifice, who is the
Lord Jesus Christ Himself. but nowhere else. He said, I'll
meet you there, won't meet you anywhere else. That's the reason
when Solomon dedicated the temple that they disassembled the tabernacle
and they took the tabernacle into the treasury of the temple
and hid it away so that people would know there's still just
one place to worship God. God never compromises that rule. Don't you try to compromise it
either. Christ said, I'm the way. I'm
the way. There's one gate into the tabernacle. There's no other way. You want
to come to God? You want to worship God? You want to be accepted
by God? You come His way. His way is
the appointed way of the Lord Jesus Christ. Will God indeed
dwell on the earth? And you know something? He dwells in you. He dwells in
you. He dwells on the earth still
by His Spirit. He dwells in His people. We read
Christ in you. That's what it says. Christ in
you. The hope of glory. He dwells
in you. He dwells in you. And one of these days, He's coming
back. And you know what the Scripture
says? He's going to dwell on this earth, be a new heaven and
a new earth. Listen to Brother Job. He says,
I know that my Redeemer liveth, and He shall stand at that latter
day, where? On this earth. He's going to
make a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. He's going to dwell on this earth
with His people. and will always dwell with him." Will God indeed dwell upon earth? And my heart with worship and
with thanksgiving cries out, oh yes, oh yes. Will you dwell with me? Oh yes. He said, I'll take up my abode
in you. I'll be your God. You'll be my
people." Isn't that wonderful? He came to this cursed earth
amongst a people who didn't even want Him to come. Didn't want
Him to dwell here. He came unto His own and His
own received Him not. We don't want you! Go back! He said, I've come to save. And
He did save His people. By His sacrificial atonement,
God raised Him from the dead, took Him back to glory, said,
sit here at my right hand until I make you enemies of your footstool.
And He dwells with us. Bless His holy name. Let's pray. Thank you, Father, for the gift
of the Lord Jesus. That one who tabernacled among
men, and that One who makes us to be His tabernacle as He dwells
with us by His Spirit. Will God indeed dwell upon earth? And our hearts with overflowing
thanksgiving cries out, oh yes, oh yes. For God was in Christ
Jesus reconciling the world unto Himself. We bless You today,
Father. We worship You. And we thank
You for the Son of Your love, the Son of Your grace, the Lord
Jesus, our Savior and our Friend. To God be the glory, for Christ's
sake, Amen.