I have entitled this message,
The True Temple. The True Temple. The place where
God actually dwells. Now, he says in verse 1 of Isaiah
66, 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? You see, the living
God cannot be contained in a building. He's God. He is omnipresent. He is everywhere at all times. You can't go someplace where
God is not. He said, David said, if I make
my bed in hell, Thou art there. That's what David said. You can't
go anywhere where God is not. He is a spirit. What would you
erect for him? What kind of building would you
build him? Would you erect him a building in heaven? Well, it's
his throne. Would you erect him a building
on earth? It's his footstool, he says. Listen to this scripture
from Acts 17. The Lord 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. The Lord can't be contained in
a building. You know, Lynn and I were driving home Monday evening
from Ashland. We went to see my mom and dad
and her father and got to visit some
with Henry and Doris, see how they were doing, and they were
doing very well. And we were driving back and we saw the most
spectacular sunset I've ever seen. We were awed by it. And
we were in a temple at that time that was infinitely more beautiful
than any man-made temple. The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof. And what a temple we enjoyed. Now, let me say this about the
building that we worship in. and the buildings we worship
in. They are important. I believe that the place we need
to worship God ought to be nicer than the home we live in. I believe
that. No expense was spared in the
building of the Old Testament temples, and the people gave
willingly toward it. And every one of us, every one
of us should care more about this facility than we do our
own homes. And if something is going to
be neglected, let it be in our home rather than this place.
These buildings are important in that sense. And I'm so thankful
for the care that you give to this place and all the work that's
done to keep it up. I'm so thankful for that. This
is very important. That being said, this is just
a building. Even the Old Testament temple
and the Old Testament tabernacle could not contain God. They were
symbols of his presence and his blessing. He cannot be contained
in a building. There's no such thing as a holy
place. You know, you come into a place,
every place is holy in the sense that the Lord belongs to the
Lord. And you can't come into a building
and say, this is a holy place. It's ludicrous. And that's what
the Lord is saying in verse one, when he says, thus sayeth the
Lord, the heaven's my throne and the earth is my footstool.
Where's the house that you build unto me? And where's the place
of my rest for all? Look what he says in verse two,
for all those things have my hand made. What in the world
can we give to the Lord? He made everything and he still
says, if I were hungry, I wouldn't tell you. The cattle on a thousand
hills are mine. What can we give the Lord? He's not looking to buildings
men have built in his honor. But look what he says in verse
two. Here's his true temple. This is the place he looks. Verse
two. For all those things have mine hand made. And all those
things have been, saith the Lord, but to this man will I look. Now, here's who the Lord looks
to. Not the buildings we make Him. He says, what can you make
Me? But here's what God pays attention
to. Here's what He looks to. Here's what He's interested in.
Here's what He approves of. To this man will I look. Now, aren't you interested in
this? I want to find out what kind of man it is that God looks
to. Here's the true temple. Here's the true temple. To this
man will I look. Here's the man that has my presence.
Here's the man that I pay attention to. And it's not everybody. It's
not everybody. Look how he describes this person. Even to him that is poor. And of a contrite spirit. And he trembles at my word. Now there is the man the Lord
looks to. And I'm really thankful for this
description of the man the Lord looks to. I'm thankful for what
he doesn't say. He doesn't say to this man will I look to the
strong, to the rich, to the famous, to the educated, to the worldly
wise, to the self-righteous. He doesn't say I'm going to look
to that man, does he? I'm thankful for what he doesn't say. He says
to this man, this is the God of glory. The God of heaven who
humbles Himself to behold the things on earth. What a stoop
this is. But He says, to this man will
I look, even to him that's poor, and of a contrite spirit and
trembles at My Word. Now, let's read verses 3 and
4 real briefly because this is a contrast to the man described
in verse 2. This is talking about man's religious
activity. And look what it says. He that
killeth an ox for sacrifice is as if he slew a man. This is
how God views it. 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. The Lord says, this is how I
see what they're doing. They're offering these sacrifices.
They're offering this incense. They're doing these things. But
this is how I view it. He says at the end of verse three, yea,
they've chosen their own ways and their soul delights in their
abominations. He says in verse four, I will
also choose their delusions. And I 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 my eyes and chose
not that which I delighted, which I delighted not. Turn over to
2 Thessalonians for a moment. I want you to look at this scripture
with me. And this is the opposite of this
man that's poor. contrite. Second Thessalonians,
Chapter two. God says, I'll choose their delusions
for them, these people who he's actually speaking of as being
proud. Second Thessalonians, Chapter two, beginning in verse. Nine. Even him who's coming is
after the working of Satan with all powers and signs and lying
wonders and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them to
perish. Because they received not the
love of the truth that they might be saved. And for this cause,
what cause, because they received not the love of the truth that
they might be saved for this cause, God shall send them strong
delusion. Remember that passage, he said,
I'll choose their delusions for them. God will send them strong
delusion that they should believe a lie that they all might be
damned. who believe not the truth, but have pleasure in unrighteousness. So when we look at these verses
three and four, God says, I'll choose their delusions for him.
He's saying he's offering this contrast. God looks to this man
who's poor and contrite. But this person who's the opposite
described in verses three and four, God says, I'll choose their
delusions for them. He's offended by their actions
and their religion. He's offended by man's religion.
But oh, this is the man he looks to. And this is the man I want
to be. This man who is poor and of a
contrite spirit who actually trembles at the Word of God. Now, God says, here's the man
I'll look to. Here's the man that I'll consider. Here's the
man who will catch my attention. Here's the man that I'll approve
of. Here is the man I will accept. Now, I want to remind you before
we consider what this thing of being poor and of a contrite
spirit and trembling at His Word, I want to remind you, you and
I are not allowed to take a promise in the Bible to ourselves unless
we fit the character of the one the promise is made to. Now,
the only way I can take this promise to myself if the Lord
is looking my way and considering me and looking to me is if I
personally am poor If I personally am contrite in spirit, if I personally
tremble at his word, now is that true concerning me? God says to this man, well, I
look to him that is, first of all, poor. What's that mean? Is that talking about destitute
of money? Well, it's not really talking
about that. Remember how our Lord said, Blessed is he that
is poor in spirit. For theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. He's talking about someone who is poor in spirit. When you're
poor, that means you are destitute. That means that you have before
God nothing that you think could commend you to his favor. Not
one single thing. You are bankrupt. If all God's
grace required was one penny's worth of merit, you couldn't
come up with the goods. That's what it is to be poor.
You do not have anything to recommend you to God. You can't even muster
up the poverty of spirit. You can't even come up with the
right attitude. I mean, you hear about being poor in spirit. I
can't even come up with that. I do not have anything, nothing
to recommend me to God. When you're poor, that means
you have no righteousness. When you're poor, that means
you have no merit. You don't have anything. You
really believe this. You don't have anything that
can recommend you to a holy God. You are totally dependent upon
the charity of God. Here's the bottom line. When
you're poor, you really believe that you're a sinner. Do you
really believe that you're a sinner? Do you really believe that? Now,
when the Bible uses this term, sinner, a sinner is somebody
who all they do is sin. That's what's meant by sinner.
Do you really believe that about yourself? You may believe it
about me, but do you believe it about yourself? That's the
question. Blessed are the poor, the poverty
stricken in spirit. This is the man the Lord looks
to, the poor in spirit. Now, why is that? Why is that? Why does the Bible say, blessed
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven? Because
it doesn't seem like there's anything desirable about being
poor on the surface, does there? Who wants to be poor? I'd rather
be rich in spirit. I'd rather be happy all the time
and upbeat and all those things. What is this thing about being
poor in spirit? Why does our Lord say blessed are the poor
in spirit? It really is simple. Now listen
to me real carefully. It's only as you are nothing
that Christ is all to you. And if you're poor in spirit,
you know what I'm talking about. And if you're not poor in spirit,
you can't understand this. It is only as I have no righteousness
at all of my own that I can trust him as my righteousness before
God. If I have anything of my own,
I can't trust him as my righteousness before God. If I have anything,
he can't be all. It's only as I have nothing,
nothing before God that I really believe that He is all. Do you know it's easy to trust
Christ as my righteousness before God when I don't have one? It's
easy, isn't it? I tell you, when things get complicated
is when we have something. Our Lord said, blessed. You're
blessed of God. God gave you that spirit. God
gave you that attitude. Is there anybody here that's
truly a sinner before God? Nothing more? I'm in a sinner.
God revealed that to you. He did something for you. Blessed
by God are the poor in spirit. David repeatedly said of himself,
I'm poor and I'm needy. And you know, even while I say
that, my heart condemns me for not feeling it the way I want
to feel. Talking about poor, I can't even come up with the
right feelings. I am totally dependent upon the charity, the
free grace of God. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Now, look at this next description.
This is the man God looks to. Isn't that wonderful that the
Lord looks to this person? And I'll tell you why it's so
wonderful, because I'm this person. I'm this person. And that means
the Lord's looking at me. If you're poor, take this to
yourself. Don't say, well, it means everybody's mean. No, it
doesn't. Everybody that's poor. Look what
he says next. To this man will I look, even
to him that's poor, and to the contrite spirit. Now, what is interesting about
this word is it's not the word that's generally translated contract. Let me show you how this word
is used in the scripture. Would you turn with me to Second Samuel, chapter
four? Second Samuel, chapter four. Verse four. And Jonathan, 2 Samuel, chapter
four, verse four, and Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son that was
contrite of feet. See that word lame? That's the
exact same word that's translated contrite in our text. He's lame
on his feet. Look over in 2 Samuel, chapter
nine. Here's this wonderful story of
Bathibosheth. And David said, In verse one,
is there yet any of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness
for Jonathan's sake? Now, that one we just read of
who was lame on both of his feet was the son of Jonathan, and
that's who he's talking about. And there was of the house of
Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they had called
him unto Ziba, when they called him unto David, the king said
unto him, Mark thou Ziba? And he said, Thy servant is he.
And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul that
I may show the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto
the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, but he is worth much. He's lame. He's contrite on his feet. Now, when the scripture says
this is the man I look to, to him that's poor and of a contrite
spirit, the word is literally a lame spirit, a maimed spirit,
a disabled spirit. Mephibosheth couldn't walk. He
was unable to walk. He was laying on his feet. And
so when the Scripture speaks of being contrite, it's speaking
of a disability. It's speaking of an inability,
unable to do anything. Unable. Unable to keep God's
holy law. Unable. Now get that, unable.
Unable in and of yourself, what you are by yourself. Unable to
believe the gospel. You don't even know what it means.
Unable to repent of your sins. Unable to let them go. Unable
to change. Unable to be good. Unable. That is what the word means.
If I'm contrite, that means I'm unable. There's an inability
to do anything. An inability to see. An inability to think. Unable.
Unable to understand the Word of God. Totally dependent upon
God's grace because of an inability. Totally dependent, once again,
upon the charity of God. Lame. Now, this is the man God
looks to, the lame person. Now, would that describe you? Would that describe you? I'm
not asking you if you believe in the doctrine of total inability.
I'm sure you do. But do you believe you're completely
unable, apart from the grace of God, to do anything but sin? Inability. Now, God says to this
man will I look, this man that is lame. You know, it's a blessing
to be lame. It's a wonderful gift of God's
grace to be lame. And we'll see why in a moment.
But look what he says next. I love this. In our text in Isaiah
66, to this man will I look. even to him that's poor and of
a contrite spirit. And he trembles at my word. He trembles at the word of God. You know, this is what you've
heard of the Quaker denomination. You know, this is where this
is supposed to come from. tremble, they would quake at
the Word of God. And this is what they claim.
Now, as soon as you call somebody a Quaker, or if they call themselves
a Quaker, they cease quaking, haven't they? But anyway, that's
where the word came from, the Quakers. They tremble at the
Word of God. Now, I want you to listen to
this statement very carefully. What you and I really believe
about God, when God views us, how we really view God Himself,
His person, is seen in how we view His Word. And that's what
tells what you really believe about God. How you respond to
His Word. He said, to this man while I
look, even to him that's poor and of a contrite spirit who
trembles, he shakes in fear at My Word. The awesomeness of the
Word of God. Do you believe this book is the
Word of God? You know, I really believe that this is God-breathed,
God-inspired. I can't prove that to anybody,
and I don't feel any need to. I know it's so. God wrote this
book, and I am in awe at the power and majesty of this Word. It's the Word of God. And I tremble. Now, have I ever started shaking
when I read the Scripture? I don't know whether I have or
not, but I know I have in my heart. I certainly have in my heart just being overcome
with the awe and the greatness of it. This is the word of God.
And there's a fear toward the word of God. You know, I fear
abusing this book. I'm scared to death about taking
this book and use it to try to prove things rather than to believe
what it says. It's a scary thing to take the
word of God and say, well, I'm going to prove what I believe.
I'm going to go to the word of God and prove it. That's not the way to come
to the word of God. I don't come over the Word of
God using it as a textbook to prove what I believe. I bow to
what it says. This is the Word of God. And
there's a fear. I fear. I fear lest I don't really
believe. That scares me. These things
scare me to death. I don't want to be guilty of
that. I tremble at the Word of God. I tremble at the holiness
of it. I tremble at God the Word. I
tremble at the Lord Jesus Christ, His awesome majesty. I tremble
at the Gospel message. It's such a holy message. It's
such a glorious message. And I tremble that I don't tremble
enough. I tremble. It's a respect and a reverence
for the Word of God. Now, the Lord said, this is the
man I look to. The man who's poor. Now, where do you and I
fall in here? This is the man I look to. The
man who's poor. He doesn't have anything. He's
not only poor, he doesn't have the potential to be anything
but poor in and of himself. He's not going to get rich. He's
unable to be anything but that. And he trembles. He has a true
respect for my Word. This is the man God says I look
to. God says, I looked at this man.
You see, this man has life. This person I'm describing, he
has the life of God in his soul. He feels what others do not feel.
He tastes what others have no appetite for, the word of God. He smells what others do not
smell. He smells the sweet savor of
the gospel, and he smells the stench of his own sin. Somebody
that doesn't have life can't smell that. It doesn't make any
sense to them. He hears what others do not hear. He hears
the good news of a complete salvation that's in Christ. He hears that.
He sees what others do not see. He sees the perfect suitableness
of Christ to save a sinner like him. He sees that. He rejoices
in it. He has the life of God in his soul, and God said, this
is the man I will look to. Now, when I think about that,
I'm being as honest as I know how to be. I'm poor. Are you? I'm contrite. And I do tremble at his word.
I believe this is the word of God, so this promise is for me.
God looks to everybody who fits this description. I don't ask
you if you can come up to this. I ask you if you can come down
to it. Can you fit this description?
Poor. Now, you know what do you get?
Do you have anything? Unable. And you do believe the Word of
God. You tremble at the Word of God. And there's such joy in this,
what sweetness there is to be able to say, I'm a poor sinner
and nothing at all. But Jesus Christ is my all in
all. You know, there's such comfort in that. I can't get too down
if you believe that. If you're nothing and he's all,
what else could you want? You have all. That's a sweet,
precious place to be. Now, I want to close by showing
you some scriptures about this. Would you turn to Psalm 51? This
thing of being poor and having a contrite spirit and trembling
at his word is better than any supposed sacrifice we can bring
to God. Look here in Psalm 51. Verse 16. David says, For thou desirest
not sacrifice, else I give it. Thou delightest not in burnt
offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit. A broken and a contrite heart,
O God, thou wilt not despise. Do you know the heart is the
one thing that is at its best state when it's broken. It doesn't work. Is your heart
broken? I'm not talking about broken
because of a lost love. That's not what the Scripture
is talking about here. It's talking about broken over sin. It's no good. It doesn't work.
Now, when the heart is broken, God says, I won't despise that
heart. I won't look away from it. That's the heart God looks
to look at Isaiah 58. This is where this broken heart
is, where God actually dwells, this is his temple here in Isaiah
chapter 58. I've got verse 15 and there's
not 15 verses in Isaiah 58. I'll find it. You might know, is it 57? I'm sorry,
Isaiah 57. Look in verse 15. For thus saith
the high and lofty one, that inhabiteth eternity, whose name
is holy. I dwell in the 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. That's who he dwells with. The
God of glory dwells with this person. These are the ones Christ
came to heal. He said, the Spirit of the Lord
is upon me. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted. Now,
would you turn to Psalm 34? This is the last scripture I
want us to look at. Psalm 34. Verse 18. The Lord is nigh. Very near unto them that are
of a broken heart. You know what's interesting is
that broken hearted person feels like the Lord's real far away.
They don't feel like the Lord's near them. They feel so far and
separated. But yet the scripture says the
Lord is not this one. I never will forget hearing somebody
saying, and I believe it's true, the closer you think you are
to God, the further you are away. And the farther you feel, the
closer you are. Do you believe that? Well, the
Scripture certainly says that. He is nigh unto them that are
broken hearted. And it says next that he saveth
such as be of a contrite spirit. He saves these people, these
people who are broken hearted, who are of a contrite spirit.
What are they broken hearted over? Sin. Sin. David said, My sin is ever before
me. It's always there breathing on
me. I'm conscious of it. Sometimes more than others. Sometimes
I'm as hard-hearted toward it as I can be, and I'm miserable
when I'm like that. My sin, my sinful nature is always there
ever before me. And yet this passage of Scripture
says, He saveth such. This is who He saves. Now, this
is the kicker. This is the best part of this.
He saves these people. He saves them from their sin.
And that's what salvation is. Salvation is salvation from sin. My sin. I'm saved from the penalty
of my sin. I never have to pay the penalty
for it. Christ paid the penalty. I don't have to. There is therefore
now no condemnation. to them that are in Christ Jesus.
I'm saved from the penalty of sin. And bless God, I'm saved
from the power of sin. Hey, are you brokenhearted? How
did you get that way? You didn't used to be. How did
you get that way? That's the Word of God as a hammer
breaking the hard heart. He saved you from the power of
sin. There was a time when you saw no need to be saved from
the power of sin. You do now. Why is that? He saved
you from the power of sin. And bless God, one of these days
he's going to say from the very presence of sin, well, I won't
even I'll be just like Christ. He saveth such as be of a lame
spirit and a broken heart. That's who the Lord saves. Now, this salvation that we're
speaking of is not for everybody. Lord doesn't save everybody.
If He did, everybody would be saved, wouldn't they? But everybody's
not saved. The Lord doesn't save everybody. Who does He save?
Who does He look to? His salvation is for those who are poor, lame, and they tremble. They really believe the Word
of God, and they bow before it. And the only one who can make
somebody like that is the Lord Himself. You don't meet many
sinners, do you? I mean, for the most part, if
you'd go out and talk to people about this. How negative. How morose, how, you know, I
mean, that's just. Well, you're not going to draw
many people that way. I just don't see any glory in
this message. But if you're a sinner, a real
sinner. This is good news to you, the
Lord save us. I think of that hymn, a sinner
is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost hath made him
so. May the Lord enable us to be
nothing but sinners looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's
pray together.