Where is the House

The last of the ten aspects of the universal blessing is the matter of dwelling. Thus, eventually all the blessings consummate in the dwelling. The reason God gives us so many items of blessing is that we may be His dwelling. Why did God save you? It was for His dwelling. Why does He give you grace upon grace? For His dwelling. Why is God doing everything for you today? It is all for His dwelling. All the blessings issue in God's dwelling. This is God's good will, the desire of God's heart. What God wants is a dwelling place.

This is revealed in Isaiah 66:1 and 2. In Isaiah 66:1 we see that heaven is God's throne and the earth is His footstool, but God does not yet have a place of rest. Many Christians think of going to heaven. To them, heaven is a lovely place. But God does not love heaven as much as these Christians do. He wants a place of rest. Isaiah 66:2 reveals that God's resting place is neither heaven nor earth, but man. God is looking to a man. This verse says, "To this man will I look, to the poor and contrite in spirit, who trembleth at my word" (Heb.). This verse corresponds to Matthew 5:3: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens." The kind of man who is God's rest is a man who is poor and contrite in spirit. God's good will is to have this kind of man. God's will is that we would be poor and contrite in our spirit, empty for Him. However, if our spirits are filled with things other than God, we are not poor in our spirit. If such is the case, God cannot have His dwelling with us. Many Christians today are full in their spirit. They are filled with so many things, even fundamental things, that there is no room in their spirit for the Lord. God needs a vacant spirit. His desire is that your spirit would be made vacant for Him. One who is poor in spirit is one whose spirit is vacant, unoccupied, ready for the Lord to come in.

According to Isaiah 66:1 and 2 those who are poor and contrite in spirit are the place of God's rest. No other place in the entire universe, in the heavens or on the earth, is God's rest. As those poor and contrite in spirit, we should be able to say, "Lord, come in. Lord, I'm vacant, unoccupied, ready for You. Come in, make Your dwelling in me, and settle Yourself in me." No matter how long you have been in the church life, you need to pray such a prayer, to ask the Lord to have His dwelling in you. In Ephesians 3:16 and 17 the Apostle Paul prayed that the Father would strengthen us with power through His Spirit into our inner man so that Christ may make His home in our hearts. Paul prayed that Christ would be able to dwell in us. It is not simply a matter of loving the Lord or of serving Him; it is a matter of His making His home in us. The service we render the Lord will not satisfy Him as much as our becoming His dwelling place. We all must be the Lord's dwelling. This is what He desires, and this is what He is seeking. This is God's good will. The uttermost blessing is to become God's dwelling place. His dwelling is also our dwelling. When our God is at rest, we also find rest in His dwelling.