David? Wilkerson
September 4(th), 2000
He said, "You also built through him and became the dwelling place of God through the Holy Spirit." (F. (2.22) Residence refers to the place to live. In this passage, "residence" originally means permanent residence in Greek.
All believers know that God does not live in a temple or a building built by human hands. On the contrary, the Lord chose to live in man, that is, in the body and mind of his people. Every believer of Christ becomes his temple, residence or permanent residence, and every believer can boast confidently: "God lives in me. 」。 」
God has no other tangible residence, so there is no country, capital (not even Jerusalem) and mountain top; He doesn't live in the clouds, in the dark, in the sun, or in the sun, moon and stars. Of course, the Lord is everywhere, and his presence is full of everything; But according to him, God lives in his people, and those hearts washed with precious blood are his permanent residence.
Why does God live in us? When we give our hearts to Jesus, he enters our hearts; At that moment, the presence of Christ filled all of us. And the Lord has brought us the richness of God's nature, that is, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. He testified, "I am in the Father? If people love me, they will keep my way; My father will love him, and we will go to live with him. (about 14: 20-23)
The eighth chapter of Proverbs gloriously reveals God and his son.
The eternal Covenant between them has something to do with their plan to live among mankind.
Long before the creation of the world, the heavenly father and his son knew that mankind would be their home. He made a Covenant with each other, saying that the Lord would come into the world and dwell in the body and heart of the voters; Let me explain the mystery to you in biblical terms.
The apostle Paul said that Christ is wisdom: "But you are in Christ Jesus because of God, and God has made him our wisdom, righteousness, holiness and redemption. (before forest 1. 1: 30)
The wisdom mentioned in Proverbs Chapter 8 can only refer to Jesus. In verse 30, wisdom says, "At that time, I was a teacher with him, loved by him every day, and always enthusiastic in front of him." How do we know this section is about Jesus? Because only he loves God the Father, and God does not like wisdom, but only likes his son.
We know that even before the world was created, Christ was with God. "Before God created everything, before everything was created, there was me. From ancient times, from the beginning, before the world, I have been established (Proverbs 8: 22-23). Can you imagine the happiness that the Father and the Son enjoy each other? We enjoy the glory of heaven, and our happiness is endless.
Remember, joy happened before Jesus tasted human sorrow; At that time, he had not yet become a physical body, and had experienced a heavy burden and test; He has not suffered human trauma, but has been rejected, laughed at, ridiculed, vomited, and assumed all the sins; He hasn't faced the cross yet, he hasn't tasted the taste of the Father hiding his face, and he hasn't tasted the experience of death.
Later, the plan of the new testament came; According to this plan, God created human beings and gave them free will, but he understood that once people fell, they needed a redeemer. Therefore, God the Father asked his son to be the mediator of the New Testament. The Lord asked, "Are you willing to be a body and a sacrifice to save the fallen mankind?"? Are you willing to accept their sins and save them from the wicked? 」
Jesus fully understood this terrible prospect, so he saw the crown of thorns in advance, and he would be whipped, hated and rejected by God's own people. He saw the cross standing in front of him; However, the Bible says that the Lord is willing to lay down his life for us. After calculating the cost, he replied, "My God, I am willing to do your will;" Your law is in my heart. " (Ps。 40: 8)
My son also said these incredible words: "I am eager to prepare a place for people to live, and I am very happy to live in the world." (Proverbs 8: 3 1) Do you understand what the Lord is saying? Among the many galaxies and countless planets that have not been discovered by human beings, God chose a small earth to live in; Moreover, the person he chooses is his residence, and we are "the place where he can live."
The following is the main point of my message: The Lord knows that he will never enjoy face-to-face happiness and endless communication with the Father. However, he likes living in America and "enjoying life in the world". (8: 3 1) He said, "I will keep some people in my heart, and I will become one with them and meet them. He was filled with joy when he thought of enjoying the sweet traffic with us.
Why does the Lord like people to be his dwelling place?
I believe that he can definitely predict the future. I believe that before we were born, the Lord knew how everyone would respond to the gospel. I don't believe in limited redemption. God did not choose to condemn some people and save others. Jesus died for all, and everyone who comes will be saved; The Lord does not want to sink alone (see Jn. 3: 15- 17, 2 Peter 3: 9); However, if he knew our names in advance, he would also know whether we would accept or reject his sacrifice for us.
Jesus is the noumenon of God, and he also predicts the future. I believe that he saw in advance all the people who accepted him as king in their hearts; Whether we live in China, Russian, American, African countries or any other countries, he knows everyone of us. He is glad that he will stay with us.
Do you remember the day when you were saved by grace? Do you remember the feeling at that time-you made a promise to the Lord and vowed to leave everything behind and follow him? The Lord has seen this before eternity, and he likes you; Even before you were formed in your mother's womb, she knew you would accept him.
David wrote, "But you brought me out of my mother's womb; When I was in my mother's arms, you gave me a heart to lean on. I was handed over to you from my mother's womb; You have been my God since my mother gave birth to me. " (Ps。 22: 9- 10) "Your eyes have seen my unformed physique; I haven't celebrated the day you set, but you have written it in your book. " (poem 139: 16)
When you are not an embryo, God has written down the limbs of your body in his book, and he knows you completely. Jesus, his son, is glad to know that you have become his residence.
Let me give three reasons why the Lord is glad that you are his residence.
1. As the groom, the Lord delights in you; He expects to have close contact with his bride.
The Bible describes many of our identities in Christ. We are called his members, sheep, virgins, children, servants and friends. But the closest description is that we are the bride of Christ; "As the groom delights in the bride, so will your God delight in you." (Isaiah 62: 5)
If you get married, you will remember when you were engaged to your lover; You two are so in love, you count that you will get married in a few days, and finally get married.
So is the Lord. He is so eager to be with you that he agrees to give up perfect communication with the Father. He hopes that one day you will be his bride; In his eyes, this is the cooperation of love; He will be the pupil of your eyes, and you will belong to him completely, so he is happy.
Your groom expects you to enter the inner room every day and be happy with him in front of him; You will spend time together, be isolated from the world, share love with each other and enjoy the sweet intersection; He will be happy to take care of you and be happy for you. "He will be happy for you, love you silently, and cheer for your joy." (Fan 3: 17)
Now please think back to the first time you loved Jesus. You seek him wholeheartedly, read his words with joy, return to God's home with excitement, and express your love and worship to him.
In the eyes of the Lord, every day with you is like a wedding day. He announced: "This is my home, and I want to live in someone who loves me more than anything else. 」
Jenny (Gwen) and I love each other very much. We have never met. We always exchange phone calls three times. We are only human beings, and we have been married for more than fifty years. So, can you imagine the loving relationship that Jesus wants to establish with you?
I am glad to share the secret of my heart with you.
The best way to express your true feelings is to tell your true feelings to your relatives and share things that are not known to outsiders; Just like the groom, the Lord wants to tell you what's on his mind, and he expects you to pour out your heart to him.
Even if it is a flesh-and-blood relationship, people who love each other will do the same; Although Samson's love for Delilah was physical (see Judges 16:4), he didn't hide anything from her, so he told her the secret of his ability and lost his life.
Just as the Lord delights in you, he expects you to be not only his bride, but also his close friend; He saw you praying in the inner room in advance and approached him with all your heart; He can also open his own words to you and reveal to you things that other believers have never seen or heard. "I call you a friend" because I have told you everything I heard from my father. (about 15: 15)
He wants to share with you the deepest mystery of God's nature. He said, "The upright man is close to him. (Prov. 3: 32) It is true that unless the Lord tells those who love him in advance, he will not take major actions; Amos wrote, "The Lord GOD will accomplish nothing unless he reveals his mystery to his servants and prophets." (Mojing 3: 7)
Jesus wants to reveal God's mind to you intimately: What will he achieve in this world and in your life? The glory of the new testament and the holy name? Rong Rong's sacrifice. In addition, he expects you to share with him all your needs and difficulties, pains and failures, hopes and desires, dreams and nightmares; He should be the object of your heart.
3. The main reason is that if the bride loves him, she is happy.
Blessed is the man who listens to my voice and looks up at my door every day and waits by my doorpost. (Pro 8: 34) The Lord tells us, "This is the man I want to live with, and he will rely on everything I say; Every morning, my beloved is waiting at the door to listen to me; He is eagerly waiting for my voice, and everything I say to him is his pleasure. 」
As brides, we should respond to these words: "my dove, you are in a cave of rocks, in the secret of steep rocks;" Please let me see your face and listen to your voice, because your voice is soft and your face is beautiful. " (Ya 2: 14)
David is a believer. He waits for God to listen to him every day. He also rejoiced in what he got, and he witnessed: I will rejoice in your statutes; I won't forget your words. ”(Ps。 Your testimonies are my joy and my counselor. (1 19: 24) "I want to enjoy in your command; This command has always been my favorite. " Because your law is my delight. This section in Hebrew means: "I love your words. 」
I want to focus on the two sentences in Proverbs 8: 34 above-"Look at my door" and "Wait by my door frame". First of all, what does "door" mean here?
The answer given by the poet is: "Give me an open door of righteousness; I'm going in. Thank God. (1 18: 19) I believe that these "righteous doors" are what Jesus called "narrow doors". They mean to learn righteousness from God's Word every day.
These believers are determined to walk the right path before the Lord, and he is excited by all the revelations that lead him to the path of holiness and justice; He said to himself, "I want the truth in me." I know this is not something I can get from books or tapes. I must wait patiently for the Lord to open the door for me. " 」
Every morning, the faithful holy spirit comes to meet this believer and asks him to whisper, "Welcome, friend!" " ! Let me show you something new about God's righteousness today. 」
2. What do you mean by "waiting at my door frame"? This refers to all believers who are afraid and trembling because of God's Word. This sentence comes from Isaiah chapter 6. The prophet stood at the door of the temple, eager to hear the word of God.
When Isaiah stood at the door of the temple, he heard Seraphim singing loudly: "Holy, holy," and the song of praise resounded through the sky; Then suddenly, a powerful voice fell from the sky, loud and clear, shaking everything. Because of the voice of the caller, the foundation of the threshold shook and the temple was filled with smoke. (Isaiah 6: 4)
This loud voice shook Isaiah's heart, stirred his heart and made him know his sin. He cried out, "Woe to me! I am doomed to fail. (6: 5) When the prophet heard the voice of God, he was afraid and trembled.
Isaiah is an example of a man who "waits by the door frame". He is eager to hear the word of God. Besides, when the words come, he is willing to know the sin. God's word describes these people like this: "But what I care about is those who are humble and repent and tremble at my words." 」(66:2)
Before the creation of the world, we saw the Lord rejoicing in us, and he wanted to live in us and make us his dwelling place. He is also glad that we have left all dependence; We seek him every day and get close to him; He will share his secrets with us, and we will also pour out our hearts to him; We rejoice in his way and seek his words in order to get enlightenment about his justice; We are also rejoicing in the inspiration we got from his words.
Does your life fit this description?
The Bible clearly states that the Lord expects us to be his dwelling place. Did you meet his expectations? He wants to spend his life with you. Has your intimacy with him increased? Or, do you often alienate him?
Your groom will attract you to him wholeheartedly, open his heart to you and have a sweet flow with you every day; He is eager to show you many things, including many things that no one knows; He wants to shape your life and let you bear more fruits of the Holy Spirit. He will also eliminate your weaknesses, fears and powerlessness.
Moreover, because of your tears and closeness, you will become the joy in his heart; What you said to him seemed to be what a bride said, "I sat in his shadow with joy and tasted his fruit, which was sweet." "(Song 2: 3)" Please let me see your face and listen to your voice. 」(2: 14)
Before creating the world, the Lord thought that he could establish a relationship with you, so he was happy; However, it's time to enjoy this relationship, but you ignore the Lord; You have time to watch TV, go shopping, surf the Internet, do gardening and so on, but you have no time to be close to the Lord. Let me ask you, do you believe that he will live in the heart of a bride who is tired of him? Why does he continue to live in the heart of a person who has no time to talk, talk or listen to him?
This is a serious warning: the Lord will not live among those who ignore him. You may disagree and say, "but I love the Lord, and I have not alienated him." In fact, if you don't pray or read the Bible for weeks and have no intimate relationship with him in private, actions speak louder than words; You have actually declared: "My actions prove that I don't love Jesus, but my family, career and personal preferences are more important. 」
Be careful lest you turn into a salt field.
God's word clearly warns, "If we neglect such great salvation, how can we escape sin?"? 」？ (Hebrews 2: 3) Ignoring the Lord is very expensive. The Bible warns that if we ignore his salvation, we will become saline soil. Let me explain further.
Ezekiel chapter 47 talks about the river of life flowing from the throne of God, which produces holy water that can heal all things. When it flows through the desert, everything grows, and it flows wider and deeper and becomes drinkable water.
The water flows eastward and goes down to the arabah as far as the sea. The water that comes out will flow into the salt sea and make it sweet. Wherever this river goes, all breeding animals will survive. "(Ezekiel 47: 8-9)
This river of life represents the spread of the gospel, and the good news of Christ, through the twelve disciples, is a trickle at first, and then the gospel is widely spread; The apostle Paul and those who converted to the Lord because of him spread the gospel, which will soon spread all over the world; Now, thousands of servants of God are preaching the gospel all over the world, so this river has now become a drowning water. "Everywhere this river goes, everything will survive. 」(47:9)
The river has been flowing since the sacrifice on Mount Golgotha. Now, millions of people who have heard and accepted the truth have been healed, and the truth of the Lord has awakened them from negligence and laziness; Now their eyes are bright and they are glad in the Lord. They seek him every day, love his words and get close to him; They learned things in the holy spirit that they didn't know before, and got mysteries from God's heart, so they were healed.
What happened to you? Do you have God's healing power to swim in the water? Or, do you let the river flow by you? Please pay attention to what happens in the desert where water can't flow. "It's just a muddy land, a wet land. If it can't be cured, it must be a salt land. 」(47: 1 1)
You may also be guilty of ignoring the Lord, lacking prayer, disobeying God and not reading the Bible. You have heard the way to make people know their sins, and you are excited, but you are relapse and satisfied; Now that you are used to alienating God, you have actually ruined your expectations of God.
What did Ezekiel mean when he said, "It must be a saline-alkali land"? It is completely abandoned-barren, empty, dry and lonely; Think of the Dead Sea in Israel. This is a lake full of salt. No fish can grow in it, and no plants can grow in or around it. It was completely abandoned.
Have you become such a muddy land, a lonely and dry swamp? Can't your life bear fruit for God? Is your daily life empty, boring and lonely? Perhaps you have become a salt field, and the people around you are growing and bearing fruit every day in Christ. They have been healed by the holy water of God. But you don't have the resources they have. You are a Christian in name only.
If this article excites you or makes you feel guilty, I have good news for you:
It's not too late to start over. When the river of God's healing flows, all the dead are healed.
When recorded in the New Testament, the Father and his son had already seen in advance that many people would ignore the Lord, and these people would become more lukewarm or completely indifferent, and finally they would deviate from Taoism and apostasy. Therefore, the father made a contract with the son. If a sheep goes astray or goes its own way, Jesus will chase it and bring it back to the sheepfold.
In fact, fresh water that cures everything can revive the mentally dead. "This water? Until the sea; The water that comes out will flow into the salt sea and make it sweet. (Ezek 47: 8) When the healing water of God began to flow, the surrounding plants flourished. There is a grass here and a small plant there, and the whole garden will soon flourish.
Dear saint, God still longs for you, and he still has plans for your future. In fact, you can live a new life today; No matter how much time has passed, he promised to restore all your ruined lives. "I will make up for what you ate in those years (locusts, etc.). ). ""(Ershu 2: 25)
You can still be his residence, and get his inspiration and learn his mystery; This is your way back: admit that you ignored him because you were busy with all kinds of things and alienated him; Admit that you didn't listen when he called you in the following words.
You sleeping man, wake up and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. "(Christopher 5: 14)
Now shout to him, "Oh, God, heal me; Wake up my spirit, shake me up, and make me out of my deep sleep; I want to change. I know you want to work in me. Lord, I long for your fresh touch. 」
Jeremiah showed us God's heart for those who ignored him: "Come back, apostate Israel; ? Because I am in love, I will never be angry; This is what God said. Admit your sins. The Lord said, treacherous children, come back. Because I am your husband; ? I want to cure your apostasy. " (Leaves 3:12-14,22)
Isaiah even promised: "I will live in the highest and most holy place, and I will also live with those who are contrite and humble, so that the spirit of the humble and the heart of the contrite can be revived." I will not fight forever, nor will I be angry for a long time; ? I created the fruit of lips; May peace and prosperity be brought to people far away. I want to cure him. "(Sai 57: 15- 19)
God is saying to you, "My child, I was angry with you and let you live a lonely life." But now I want to restore everything that the devil destroyed you. 」
Your life can be a garden again, and it's never too late to start over. Let the Lord create a new beginning for you!