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.

This concept of God's dwelling and of our dwelling with Him is found throughout the Old Testament and the New. Throughout the centuries and the generations, God has been desiring a dwelling place. Sorry to say, most of God's people have not seen this. But today in His recovery He comes to us again and again regarding His dwelling. I am not speaking something that I have not experienced myself. Whenever I have opened up the Bible during the past twenty-five or thirty years, I have mainly seen one matter—God's dwelling. In many chapters of the Bible, God's desire for a dwelling place is covered. This is the desire of God's heart, His good will. If you are blessed with the good will of Him who dwelt in the bush, you are the most blessed person.

In a sense, even today the Lord is still in the bush. Look at the situation throughout the earth. What is there except bush? Where is the tabernacle? Many cannot even see the shadow, much less the reality. But how we must worship the Lord that in His recovery we not only see the shadow, but we are in the dwelling. We can say, "Lord, praise You! With us You are not in the bush. You are in Your dwelling."

We have seen that the Lord blessed Joseph with the good will of Him who dwelt in the bush. Who is this One who dwelt in the bush, and what is His good will? If we do not interpret this verse in the way we have, then how should we interpret it? By reading the entire Bible, we can discover who it is who dwelt in the bush and what His good will is. The One who dwelt in the bush is no doubt the One who called Moses to build the tabernacle for Him. He lived in a bush, but He expected to have a tabernacle built of precious materials. That was His good will. The children of Israel were blessed with this good will. Do you believe the Lord delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt simply that they might be saved? Their deliverance was not merely for their salvation, but for God's dwelling place. Everything God did to them and for them was for the purpose that the tabernacle might be erected among them. After the tabernacle was set up, the glory of God came down and filled it (Exo. 40:34). At that time, the children of Israel were the most blessed people on earth, blessed with the good will of the One who dwelt in the bush, the One who now dwelt in the tabernacle. Thus, the tabernacle became the greatest blessing to the children of Israel.

It is the same today. The Lord's good will is to have the church. Because we are in the church, we are the most blessed people. Before the church came into existence, the Lord certainly was in the bush. Practically speaking, before the church came to this locality, the Lord was in the bush. He surely was not in a tabernacle. But today the church is here, and we can say, "Praise the Lord! He is no longer in the bush. Now He is in the tabernacle, and we are here with Him. We and God are neighbors. We are today's Benjamin dwelling in safety by the Lord. Hallelujah!" What could be better than this? As long as I have the dwelling of the Lord and I am in it, that is sufficient. This is the experience of Benjamin, Joseph's younger brother.

Benjamin is a good match to Joseph. Likewise, the church is a good match to God's blessing. Throughout the years, God has blessed you. You simply cannot deny that you have been under His blessing. But the purpose of His blessing is for the good will of the One who dwelt in the bush, and this good will is to have the church life as His dwelling. Today, God can boast to the enemy, Satan, "Satan, look, today I have a place of rest. My resting place is the church. Once I said that heaven was My throne and the earth was My footstool, but I had to ask where My rest was. Satan, I tell you, the church today is My resting place. I am satisfied, and My chosen people are satisfied also."

Many of us can testify that since the day we were saved, we have never been as satisfied in our spirit as we are in the church life today. This is not to say that the church life is perfect. No, it is not perfect. But here in the church life we are satisfied. We passed through many places without being satisfied. We did not find satisfaction until we came into the church. On that day we said, "This is home. I am satisfied." The reason we sense that we are home and are satisfied is that the church is God's tabernacle, God's dwelling. The Lord is no longer in the bush, but in the tabernacle. How happy I am that we are under the universal blessing and that we are God's dwelling!

This blessing is universal, and this dwelling is eternal. The church life will last forever. The old heaven and the old earth, including the old environment, will be terminated, but the church life we are in today will last forever. This is the eternal dwelling. I assure you that when you enter into eternity, you will recall your experience in the church life. You may say, "Oh, I can never forget what I experienced in the church life." Wait, and you will discover that this is true. Deep within, we have the full assurance that the church life is eternal.