GOD'S PREPARED ABODE
GOD’S PREPARED ABODE
Psalm 107: 7; Psalm 122:1 - 9; John 1: 35 - 39
I want to speak, the Lord helping me, about the divine dwelling; where it is and what it is. One may speak of where it is from having heard about it, but to speak of what it is one has to experience being there. Some things in Scripture are left undefined, because God would have us reach them and find out for ourselves; so that there is comparatively little said about what is spoken of as eternity; there is very little said definitively about what we speak of as union. These things have to be discovered in our souls’ histories, and so, beloved friends, I read the passage in John.
This passage in John presents a desire on the part of certain ones affected by the testimony, the word of the Baptist, as regards Christ, that they should know where He dwelt: “Where abidest thou?” This was a great desire to have, and one that fits in with John’s narrative, because the aim of his narrative is to bring about spirituality in the saints. He presents certain features of the testimony and then he presents the results of what was set before those who hear; that is, he would call our attention to the effect of God’s work in the souls of His people. So these two, who heard John and were affected by what he said, are presented as wrought upon by this testimony of John so that they follow, and the Lord sees them following. He turns around and sees them following. John makes a great deal of movement. The Lord takes great account of what goes on in souls.
After an address or ministry the Lord watches souls; and time and opportunity is given that the effect may appear; so in this instance. “Jesus having turned, and seeing them following”; that is, He looks at the effect of the ministry. I admit it [p. 247] was the ministry of a wonderful minister, of whom the Lord Himself says: “He was a burning and a shining light” John 5:35; indeed the Jews themselves rejoiced in it for a season, not permanently. He was profoundly affected by Christ, as this gospel presents: “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light”, John 1:6. He witnessed to Christ, as one who was deeply affected by Him, and he passed on that impression in the words: “Behold the Lamb of God!” Two of his disciples heard John speak; apparently they had not discerned who was there. Often things are before our eyes and we see them not.
The point in John is spirituality in the disciples brought about by ministry, the effect of an impression of the Lord. They heard John speak. It is important to listen to ministry. These two heard him speak. John stood, his work was done we may say; but he calls attention to Christ: “Behold the Lamb of God!” He said it looking upon the Lord “as he walked”. We are not told where He was going, but that He was walking. We may gather from the sequel that He was going to His abode. In another place later we are told, “Every one went to his home, but Jesus went to the mount of Olives”, John 8:1. His abode was a spiritual one. If He sought remnant affections He would go to Bethany. We are not told where His abode was geographically, because it is a spiritual reference.
Then He sees these two following and says to them, “What seek ye?” Ah, beloved, the Lord puts such questions to us. He is presented in ministry, and He would bring out what the effect is on you, and the effect will be a desire to know where He lives. What I had in mind in coming to John at the outset was that he speaks more of spiritual abodes than [p. 248] any other evangelist. Luke presents the house more in connection with the mediatorial work of God; so for the prodigal the best robe is brought out; it does not say he goes in; the heavenly thing is brought out and put on the believer here; that is, provisionally, and the fact that it is here is the wonderful testimony to what God is. The elder son can hear the music and dancing; it is not exactly what is going on in heaven. This house is what men may see and take cognisance of; it presents the goodness and grace of God; it is an adjunct and essential to it; the believer finds a provisional home there. John presents what abides; there was desire in this passage and the Lord formally speaks of it later. “In my Father’s house there are many abodes”; John 14:2 we do not get that in Luke, “I go to prepare a place for you”; that is, they will not be in any way strangers there.
In referring to this I will go back for a moment to the types, and the passage in the Psalms referring to God’s way, a right one, as is said. In the book of Exodus what we find is that God guided the people by His strength unto the abode of His holiness, and then further, “Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in”, Exodus 15:17. For Thee; that is, God’s dwelling made for Himself. If I think of God in His absoluteness He inhabits eternity. My tiny mind is not capable of taking that in; I bow to it. As I look into space I cannot compass it, nor can the most clever astronomer. He is simply lost: and it must be so: and more so when it comes to God Himself. He dwells in light unapproachable; when I bow to that it enters into the worship of my soul; when I reach a state not bounded by time I cannot compass that. A prepared place; it is found in John 14 and Exodus 15. In preparing, God is thinking of us. “The place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee”. This cannot [p. 249] refer to Him in absoluteness, it refers to Him coming out in revelation in Christ; so there is that which is compassable by the believer. “The Word became flesh” John 1:14; faith can take that in.
Think not of the dwelling only, but of Him who dwells there. These two disciples ask, “Where dwellest thou?” “The place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee”. God made it for Himself. Solomon built a house for God. God had dwelt in a tent. He said, “Let them make me a sanctuary: that I may dwell among them”, Exodus 25:8. Think of the grace in that; and every Israelite could contribute to it; the tabernacle was a provisional dwelling-place for the wilderness. Exodus 15 speaks of the dwelling that God prepares. It really enters into the right way. “He led them forth by the right way”. Do you murmur in the wilderness? I can understand young believers, because one has been such; that is an advantage older ones have. As somewhat advanced in years I do not forget what youth is. Older Christians do not forget what the beginnings of Christian history are, nor does God; so He led them forth by the right way; and what is that way? It is the wilderness. Do we grumble at it? Are we discouraged in it? God will keep you in it till you bow and discover it is the right way.
Let me point out one or two features of the way and see how much grace, as well as discipline, there is in it. God did not lead them in the way of the Philistines. Why not? Grace: they could not fight such a people at the outset. God takes account of young believers and does not present to them such difficulties as they are not equal to. No, He leads them the other way in. They were not attacking, but escaping an enemy; and for a rearguard action great skill is required. Few generals can tell what their opponent has in mind. In Elisha’s day the king of Syria was defeated time and again, because [p. 250] the prophet could tell what he had in mind. The Lord being “a man of war” knew what was in Pharaoh’s mind; he thought the wilderness had hemmed Israel in, but it was the way of escape. The lines of communication are there.
Satan says, as it were, young man, or young woman, You will never be content with what you find among these people. Moses says, I will suffer affliction with them. Young people think of having a happy time, social gatherings, but Moses did not think of that. The saints are an afflicted people, a poor people. They have to learn to wear the same shoes for forty years! Is there anything for the flesh in that? That is what you are coming to. Moses, as the Spirit of God comments, chose “rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season”, Hebrews 11:25. So God led them in “the right way” and that way was through the wilderness. God guided them by His strength unto the abode of His holiness. You have God in the wilderness. I speak to the young; they are largely the objects of attack. Of course, Satan attacks the old also, as the Lord’s charge to Peter shows: “Shepherd my sheep”, John 21:16. Straying is found in the old ones and one sheep straying carries others away. This was seen when Peter said, “I go a fishing”; others go also. That is what sheep do; and if the shepherd does not interfere they all go. The lambs stay near the sheep; they need nourishment and protection from the wolf.
The enemy’s attack is largely against the young, and he would magnify the terrors of the wilderness that they might turn back; so as the wilderness hemmed them in, they would turn back to Egypt — the lure of moving pictures and so on. Satan is constantly seeking to allure young people on these lines. God led them the right way, “that they might go to a city of habitation”. We see troubles arise in [p. 251] the very passage where we read the celebration of Jehovah’s victory. They began to murmur and found no water or food and would go back to Egypt. But at Elim they found twelve wells of water and threescore and ten palm trees. They had a time of refreshment, and go on in the strength of that. Presently Moses gives an account of their experience to his father-in-law “all the travail that had come upon them by the way, and how the Lord delivered them”; Exodus 18: 8. Trouble is worth while if we get the deliverance of God in it. Old Christians cannot count these occasions, there are so many. They were not only delivered from the hand of their oppressors, but delivered from all their troubles. We discover day by day that every deliverance brings in a fresh feature of God; thus we learn to know Him better.
“There no stranger-God shall meet thee,
Stranger thou in courts above,
He who to His rest shall greet thee,
Greets thee with a well-known love”. (76:10)
We only know Him as we find Him and we can find Him every minute of every day of the forty years journey. “In all their afflictions he was afflicted”. In Moses and Aaron they had a king and priest; they typify Christ who enters into all our trials sympathetically. Every trial, every hot sun that fell on the desert sand, all were felt by Himself. The Angel of His presence was there. Moses says, “If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence”, Exodus 33:15. Jehovah says, “My presence shall go with thee”, and the ark went before them in the way, the Rock followed. “They drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them”, 1 Corinthians 10:4. Think of the grace of God. “That Rock was Christ”. Think, too, of having the company of God Himself and Christ; also the saints are there. “He led them forth by the right way”, and “like a flock”.
[p. 252] There were probably two millions of them; literally viewed, it was one of the most marvellous achievements in the history of the world. The Psalm dwells upon it poetically and depicts the dwelling place of Jehovah among them. “But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: ... And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary”, Psalm 78: 52 - 54. “Thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth. Before Ephraim, and Benjamin, and Manasseh, stir up thy strength”, Psalm 80: 1, 2.
There is one other feature in the wilderness that I must refer to, namely, the construction of the Ark; it was not in Egypt, but it came in the wilderness. I refer to the place Christ acquires in the heart as the power of God. It is said in the Psalms that God “delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy’s hand”, Psalm 78:61. Christ as the Ark is Jehovah’s strength and His glory. Has Christ come into your soul in that light? When the Israelites were to move forward the Ark went before them to seek a resting-place, and Moses said: “Rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee”, Numbers 10: 35. The Rock was behind them to slake their thirst and the Ark went forward to meet the enemy. Do we appreciate Christ viewed thus? There can be no fear of any kind of combination in the wilderness. The Ark answered to all that. The acquirement of the knowledge of Christ as the Ark prepares for the passage of the Jordan; we cannot pass otherwise. They go into the city of habitation; this refers to the divine dwelling. No true believer wishes to live in a city in which God is not found. He not only built it as Abraham saw it, but He dwells in that city.
In Psalm 122 the Psalmist says: “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord”, It is blessed to be led, when God is leading; the Ark goes before, but what about your going? The house is not built in fields or in the desert, but in the city. “Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem”. Are you prepared for that? Is that the city you are after? “Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem”. Then follows a description of the city, it is “compact together”. Modern cities are not that; they are scattered, as London and New York. Jerusalem is compacted, it is divinely built, according to divine dimensions. The Psalm goes on to say, “whither the tribes go up ... . to give thanks unto the name of the Lord”; every one is actuated by divine love. A believer moved by love is comely, or stately, in his going; Proverbs 30: 29. It was beautiful to see the tribes encamped or marching with the Ark, figure of Jehovah’s strength, but it is beautiful to see the tribes go up by themselves; this brings in mutuality, which is one of the most beautiful thoughts in Christianity. This gave it all the value in the eyes of the Psalmist.
No one who loves the Lord would have less than all the saints. We need all; as to this we need enlargement. The Ephesians had love to all saints. The epistle to the Ephesians says, we are raised up together and seated together, not one is left behind. If He brings us there it must be all. I love to think of the rapture — the Lord takes us all. He brings us there; but the other side is, we go, and the twelve tribes go up for a testimony in Israel; or, as is “Israel’s custom”. That is, the saints viewed in the light of John’s gospel are spiritual and their custom is to go in for what is spiritual. These two ask, “Where dwellest thou?” And they went therefore and saw where He abode, and they abode with Him that day. We can understand that in the case of Mary Magdalene, the same desire would be hers; and also in Lazarus. The Lord said, “Loose him,
and let him go”, John 11:44 and where was he found? In Bethany at the table where a supper was made for Christ. It was now customary, we may say, for him to be present on all such occasions. How slack the saints are in allowing themselves to be denied their privileges, The custom in Israel was to be with God on every possible occasion. How lovely to hear them say, “Let us go into the house of the Lord”, the place of love. The house of God as seen in 1 Kings presents it to us. There were folding-doors. God can throw all into one great room, as it were; it is a place made for Himself and we are brought into it. We can understand the Psalmist saying, “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord”.
The apostle John speaks much about the habitation. He tells of the city in Revelation. He is the most careful of all writers to give the sense of what he is saying; he interprets things. Speaking of the holy city he is careful to say that he saw “no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it”, Revelation 21:22. Think of the immediateness of God; there is no distance there. God and the Lamb are there; think of being brought into it, dear brethren; going now is our side. Think of the immediateness of it: “The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof”. The Lamb is the suffering One; the one we know here in the wilderness is the light of that city; He sheds His rays there. Truly it is a “city of habitation”.
John’s gospel rightly understood prepares us for it; it specially induces spirituality. He suggests things to us. He says of Jesus, “We beheld his glory, the glory as of an only begotten with a father”, John 1:14. What a suggestion! How the soul rests in the presence of [p. 255] that, the declaration of God by One in His bosom! “The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father”. Do you ask John what He looked like? He would say, “Come and see”. What food there is in that for the soul! John 20 is especially fraught with spiritual suggestions. Mary was in the position to receive these. The Lord revealed Himself to her and made known to her the wonderful relationships in which the saints then stood. With the light of these relationships she went to the disciples and was merged with them. They were Christ’s brethren, and God was His Father and theirs, His God and their God. In the light of that the disciples are together, and the doors were shut. If the doors of your heart are not shut, there is no seeing the Lord. Mark it is not door, but doors; all these things have a meaning. May God bless His word.