Turn back to Isaiah 66. Isaiah
chapter 66. I'm only going to look this evening
at the first couple, maybe three or four verses. Title of the message. is God
dwells in broken hearts. That's where God dwells, contrite
spirit. The Lord makes it very clear
in these verses that He does not dwell in temples made with
hands. God is not impressed in the least
with buildings made of wood, hay, and stubble. He's not impressed
at all. He's not impressed with buildings
that may be made of pure gold. God can only find pleasure, I
thought about this today, God can only find pleasure in that
which has the nature of God in it. That's what he can find pleasure
in, that which has the nature of God in it. Now there was a
time and the tabernacle in the wilderness was a symbol of God's
presence among his people. There was a time when the temple
that Solomon built represented God's presence. It was a symbol
of God's presence, but they were only symbols. They were just
symbols, and nowadays these symbols are gone. They're over with. They were fulfilled in the Lord
Jesus Christ. When he cried, it's finished.
He put away all these symbols and pictures and types. You know,
when our children go to kindergarten, they learn a lot by pictures,
don't they? Vicki bought some books the other
day for Cole and Madison. One of them I was reading to
Cole Saturday. Big alligators on it. Just big
pictures. Few words. Few words, but big
pictures. And there was a time when God
gave big pictures and types of the Lord Jesus Christ. But when
Christ came, those pictures and types were done away. The real
Teacher came. He came in the flesh and He put
these things away. And God is saying here that There's no house that a man can
build that he can be contained in. Solomon said this in 1 Kings
8, verse 27, Will God indeed dwell on earth? He said, Behold,
the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee. Cannot contain thee. How much
less this house, this house that I have built. Solomon knew it
was just a symbol of God's presence. He knew God could not be contained
in a house. No matter how big the house we
build, God cannot be contained in it. Now, notice here in the
very beginning of this first verse, it is God speaking. For thus saith the Lord. Now,
that ought to get our attention. This is God speaking. We must
listen to Him who speaks from heaven. He's instructing us.
He's given a revelation here. No one has any reason to be ignorant
as to who God is and how he's to be worshipped. He's given
us his written word on it. He's given us a revelation of
his greatness. Just a glimpse. Really, we're
getting a glimpse. That's what we are getting. We are just getting
a glimpse. We know in part, we preach in
part, and God has given us a glimpse as to the lattice of his greatness. And then he gives us a description
of the character of those whom he dwells with. God who is so
great and holy. You would think he would dwell
with very influential people, wouldn't you? Total opposite. Total opposite. And what condescension that God
would humble himself to behold and even speak and listen to
words like this. When I say things like that and
I think things like that, I think of what the Lord said to those...
Does this offend you? No. Not if He's given you a contrite
spirit it doesn't offend you. You say, Amen. This is so. Look over at Psalm 113. In Psalm 113, it says in verse 5, Who is like
unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high, who humbleth himself
to behold the things that are what? In heaven and in earth. He humbles himself to behold
things that are in heaven and in earth. And when he speaks, he makes
it very clear that he is not worshipped. He's not worshipped
with men's hands as though he needed anything. God doesn't
need anything from me. He's not in need. I'm the one
in need. He's not. That's what Paul says
over here in the book of Acts, over here in Acts chapter 17.
Paul says this, when he went into Athens and they had that
altar Erected to the unknown God, he said in verse 23, 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
I 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. See, and He'd
give it to all life and breath and all things. You know, Stephen
preached that same message right before they stoned him. He preached
that same message. You know, the disciples one time
over in Matthew 24, our Lord, they were leaving the temple,
and the disciples turned and they said, look at this temple.
Look at the stones. Look how they're laid. And they
were admiring that building that was built by men. And they were
taken up with it. And they were admiring the temple.
And the Lord said, there's coming a day when one stone will not
be left upon another concerning this temple. It's going to be
torn down. It's going to be torn down. How
can a mortal man build a house fit for God to dwell in. How could Whitty build a house
fit that would contain God Almighty? If a man tries, he only displays
his low thoughts of God and his high thoughts of himself. If
he even tries to build such a place, It is only idolatry to build
temples and keep holy days and feasts in this gospel day, because
those things are gone. God is worshiped in spirit and
truth. Listen to John chapter 4, when our Lord was speaking
to that woman at the well. He said, 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." He said, there's coming a time when we will neither
worship in the mountains nor at Jerusalem. Well, where are
we going to worship God? How are we going to worship God?
In the heart. From the heart. That's how. It's
an inward thing. Paul said in Philippians 3, 3,
We are the circumcision who worship God in the Spirit and have no
confidence in His flesh. How can an infinite God dwell
in such man-made objects, be contained in such man-made objects? Not possible. Not possible. And
note the immenseness of God here. Heaven is my throne. Heaven is my throne. Look over
in Isaiah 57, chapter 57. Over here in chapter 57, look
at verse 15. For thus saith the High and Lofty
One. He's the only one that can say
that. That inhabits what? Eternity. He inhabits eternity. Eternity is in Him. Whose name
is Holy. I dwell in the High and Holy
Place. That's where I dwell. And listen. And with Him also. It is of a
contrite and humble spirit. That's who God dwells with. That's
who He dwells with. Heaven, He said, is my throne. Heaven is not His house. Everyone
thinks that God lives in heaven. Heaven is His throne. Heaven
is what He sits on. That's His throne. How immense
is God? How infinite is God? Heaven is
my throne. Who can measure the heavens?
Scientists have tried. They take their telescopes and
they keep increasing their power and they'll find a planet and
then a few years go down the road, they'll find another one.
Then they find another one. They can't reach it. And then
God says, Heaven is my throne. Heaven is my throne. It's His
throne of sovereignty. From there He rules the earth
and skies. From there He rules all things. Heaven is my throne. It's a throne
of righteousness. Righteousness and judgment dwell
on His throne. It's a throne of grace. Heaven
is my throne. And it's a throne of judgment.
He ruleth over all. And listen, this earth that we
make so much of, that we think so much of, that we put so much
time and effort in, He said it's his footstool. This earth, as great as it is,
is nothing but a footstool to God. How dare men to try and make
God a house out of his footstool? How dare him? How dare men to
do that? Where, he said, where would you
establish the place of my rest? Where would you build it? Where
I would rest. Pick whatever planet. Pick the
universe. Where would you build a place for me to rest? Do you
know where he rests? In Christ. Right there. That's the place of God's rest. And then he tells us in verse
2, he 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 tremulous at my word." This is the man
I look to. In John 14.23, the Lord answered and said unto him,
If a man love me, he will keep my words. He'll keep my words. And my Father will love him,
and we will come unto him and make our bode with him. Look over in 1 Corinthians chapter
6. 1 Corinthians chapter 6, look in
verse 19. Now listen. What? Know ye not that your body
is the temple of the Holy Ghost? A temple that God dwells in is
not a building made of wood, hay, and stubble. He says it's
you. It's His church. And He says that your body is
the temple of the Holy Ghost. God dwells in you. which is in
you, which you have of God, and you're not your own, for you
are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your
body and in your spirit, which belong to God." He made it. He built it. That's what I read
in 2 Corinthians, Ephesians chapter 2 to you. We are His handiwork. We are His building. He's building
Himself a temple, and you're it. He dwells in us by His Spirit. God is Spirit, and He dwells
in temples made of Spirit. Men and women born of God. That
which is born of the Spirit, it says, is Spirit. And that's
where God dwells. He dwells in the hearts of men
and women created by the Holy Spirit. Now, He gives here a character.
of those in whom he dwells. He says here, poor. Nobody wants
to be poor, do they? Nobody wants to be poor. But
this poor in spirit, you want to be. You want to be this poor
in spirit. This means poor in spirit. This
means this person has no merits before God, and he knows it. No one has any merit before God,
but most don't know it. He has no righteousness of his
own, and he knows it. He knows that in his flesh dwells
no good thing. That's what Paul said, in this
flesh. He clarified that. He said, in this flesh dwells
no good thing. This person knows that he's bankrupt
before God. If a person's ever been bankrupt,
they know what that is. That means you've lost it all.
A person who is truly poor has nothing and is nothing. He is
nothing. And he's totally dependent on
someone else for all that they need. It's like that impotent man laying
up there by the pool of Bethesda. He said, when the water's stirred,
I have no man. I have no one to take me down
and put me in the water. That's a poor man, isn't it?
That's a poor man. When God makes a sinner to truly
see himself as he is, then and only then is he poor in spirit. Until then, he may be poor in
person, but he's not poor in spirit. He's still proud. But
when God enables him to see him as he is, He'd be like Isaiah,
woe is me. Woe is me. I'm undone. I'm undone. I'm unclean. I dwell
amidst a people of unclean lips. He sees himself to be the lowest
thing on God's earth. That's true. He sees that. He sees himself to be the most
despicable thing alive. The most ungrateful creature
that's ever walked on this earth. That's poor in spirit. This kind of sight of one's true
self will keep down pride. If he lets us see this, if we
see this, if you're born of God, you do see it. It'll keep down
pride. It'll keep down gossip. It'll
keep down backbiting. It keeps down a lot of these
sins of the flesh. when you're poor in spirit. These other things, pride, that's
flesh. That's not of God. To this man
will I look. Do you like God to look your
way? Look unto me and be you saved. But he said to this man
will I look. I'll look in mercy. I'll look
in grace. I'll look in favor. To this man
will I look. He that is poor in spirit, poor
in contrite spirit. He does not look to men of wealth.
We are impressed with that. We think that's real successful.
If God lift His hand, you see how fast men become poor. Like
He did during the Great Depression. He could do that again that fast.
And the rich would become just as poor as everyone else. He
does not look to the men of wealth, men of influence, Men of rank? Or men of religion? This man
will I look, even to him that is poor. The high and lofty one
looks to him that is poor. I know that people have learned,
oh hypocrites, have learned the language of scripture and they
claim to be poor. Oh poor me, I'm just a poor sinner. But in their conduct, it proves
otherwise. Proud and boastful, boasting
of their own sinfulness. That publican didn't talk about
his sinfulness, did he? He didn't talk about, I did this,
I did that. He said, Lord, be merciful to
me, a sinner. Too embarrassed. Too embarrassed to even talk
about his sins. I've been... I've got to watch. I'm going to get on the internet
on this stuff. There's a man that I've run into
from time to time in business. And he wants to tell me how rotten
he was. It needs to change that to is.
It was to is. But he wants to tell me how rotten
he was, how he used to drink, and I mean, he'd start naming
off stuff. You ought to be embarrassed of that. You ought to be just
humbled by the fact that God would even look your way. He learned the language of Scripture.
He learned some language. He's boasting of his past sinfulness,
what to do. But there are a few, there are
a few people that are truly poor in spirit. They're truly broken
hearted over sin. They are truly that way because
the Holy Ghost has made them so. No pretense, it's not pretense. That publican said, Lord, be
merciful to me, this sinner. Remember that woman who came
to the Lord and she wanted Him to heal her daughter, and he
said, it's not right to give the children's bread to the dogs. And she said, I know that. I
know that. But she said, the dogs eat the
crumbs that fall from the master's table. That's poor in spirit.
That's what he said over there in Isaiah 57 with the humble,
contrite and humble spirit. That's who he dwells with. Another
mark of those whom the Lord looks to and dwells in. It says here, and of a contrite
spirit. I looked this up. It means penitent. Truly penitent. Feeling great
guilt. I'm not going to put a measure
on that. We get in trouble trying to measure stuff like that. But
it is feeling great guilt. It is one thing to be poor in
spirit. It's another thing to know it. It's another thing to
know it. And this knowing it is of God. It's of God. It is a real spirit
of repentance. It's a real mourning over sin,
my sinfulness and my sin against Him. Now, this poor contrite spirit
feels as if he would be the last person that God would look to
or that God would dwell in. He knows God would not and is
not impressed with him, not at all. He sees and feels his wretchedness
before God. Yet this is the only one, this
is the only one that God looks to and dwells with. In fact, they are the temple
of God. The very evidence, and I thought about this today as
I was writing these notes, the very evidence of God's presence
in you is this poverty and contrition
of spirit. That's one of the very evidences
of God dwelling in you. Now let me, I want to read what
I wrote because I want, this is why I believe, this is what
happens. When a truly poor person is in
the presence of someone great, someone is poor, I mean poor,
and they are in the presence of someone great They feel and
know their own poverty by the presence of the other one's greatness. You ever been in the presence of
someone that was really very rich? Somebody had a great position
or station in life? Now listen, God makes His gracious
presence known in the hearts of His people by His Spirit.
The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. His Spirit bears witness with
our spirit that we are the sons of God. It is a very humbling
revelation, and he enables us to taste and see that the Lord
is gracious He enables us to really taste and see that the
Lord is gracious, and this makes us see our poverty and creates
in us a true penitent heart by His presence. It's the goodness
of God that leadeth thee to repentance. When you see that, when you see
God's goodness to you in Christ and what He's done for you in
Christ, you think, You think, how could I have been so ungrateful? Look how I've treated His kindness. Look at the ingratitude I've
shown throughout my life. And it truly strikes at the heart.
When Peter preached to them over a book of Acts about Christ and
what they've done to Him, you know what it says? They were
pricked in their hearts. Oh, he enables us to see these
things. A broken heart. How could I sin against one so
good to me? And then here, listen. He trembleth at my word. He's poor. Poor in spirit. He has a contrite spirit. He
has a truly penitent spirit about him. A true repentant spirit.
And he trembles at my word. This man in whom God dwells,
this man whom God looks to, this man truly stands in awe of the
word of God. You know, I watch the Discovery
Channel. They really try to take this book apart. They try to
take it apart. They're trying their best to
disprove it. If you can disprove it, you're
not in trouble. You can get what you can get and say, well, judgment
doesn't mean anything, and this thing's not true. But they're always
trying to disprove it. But the child of God, the pouring
Spirit, He trembles. He stands in awe. He stands in
awe at the Word of God. You know why? Because He believes
every word of it. He believes every word of it.
He believes my word of judgment. He said
he trembles at my word. He believes my word of judgment. Now this is not a slavish fear
he's talking about, but he trembles. Noah, over in Hebrews 11, believed
God. And you know what he did? He
moved with fear and built an ark. He believed the word of
judgment. He believed God was going to
send judgment. And then he believes my word of grace. He believes
the gospel. You don't put question marks
on the... not a believer. A believer does not put question
marks on the gospel. There's a lot I don't understand,
but it's so. There's a whole lot I don't understand, but does
that not make it so? No. He believes with all his
heart. He said, Lord, I believe. Help
my unbelief. He believes with all his heart how God saves sinners,
that Christ is his only hope. The blood of Christ is his atonement
for his sins. The righteousness of Christ is
his acceptance before God. He trembles at my word. He stands in awe of it. He doesn't
read it like just any other book. He opens it because it's the
word of God. It's not the word of a bunch of men writing. It's
the word of God on God. And he doesn't take it lightly,
which is bread. Look over in Deuteronomy chapter
8, and I'll wind this down. Deuteronomy chapter 8, in verse 3, Moses says here, And he humbled
thee, and he suffered thee to hunger. and fed thee with manna,
which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know, that he
might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord
God doth man live. And the poor and contrite spirit
knows that. He knows that. And I pray, I
pray, that God would make us into such
men and women. If there's anything that I could
pray for us, that's the Lord would give us this poverty of
spirit. Make us to know it. Make us to
know it. And make us truly penitent, truly
repentant. Because this, God said, thus
saith the Lord, This is the one I look to, and this is the one. Okay, bye.