Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. Charles G. Finney began preaching around
1825 in upstate New York. He instituted many of the unscriptural
practices of modern evangelism. He was of the opinion that men
had a completely free will and could influence God to pour out
his blessings upon them by an adoption of morality and a devoted
life of prayer. He believed that men were the
cause of their own salvation and brought their own faith to
God rather than receiving it from God. His message was widely
and happily received, and for a season appeared to usher in
a new era of spiritual prosperity. Yet as in all endeavors of the
flesh, the glory of God took second place to the glory of
men and their accomplishments, and the lasting effects of his
error remain with us today in the rank and file of so-called
Christendom. One of his more egregious errors, which persists
in the minds of many today, is that men can, by their own efforts,
prayers, and devotion, cause God to pour out His blessings
and send revival. We certainly believe in the constant
need of God's people for revival and hope to join with Habakkuk
in imploring the Lord for such. O Lord, I have heard Thy speech
and was afraid. O Lord, revive Thy work in the
midst of the years. In the midst of the years, make
known. In wrath, remember mercy. We often find ourselves in a
cold and indifferent frame of mind due to the weakness and
wickedness of our own flesh, and only because he works in
us both the will and to do of his good pleasure do we desire
with David to see thee as we have seen thee in the sanctuary.
We delight in the words of the psalmist who sought the Lord,
saying, Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts, cause thy face
to shine, and we shall be saved. Quite in contrast to Finney's
appeals to the natural man to cause God to hear him through
much praying, the psalmist makes all of his appeal to the Lord,
recognizing that unless the Lord is pleased to turn us again,
we cannot even desire his presence, much less call upon his name
in such fashion as to compel him to hear us. The man who does
not recognize that all of his blessings, faith, obedience,
and true prayers are the gift of God, which are bestowed according
to a sovereign pleasure, is a man who is not acquainted with the
God of the Bible. O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in
himself. It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
Left to himself, every man will be consumed by his own corruption.
The psalmist's prayer is not to an imaginary deity whose blessing
is dependent upon man's effort and endeavor. Rather, his appeal
is to the Lord God of hosts. This literally means he who has
all power and is the commander of the hosts of heaven as well
as those of the earth. As Nebuchadnezzar learned, all
the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing, and he
doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand or
say unto him, What doest thou? He is not a god who waits upon
the activity of man's free will, but rather is the one who causes
his people to be willing in the day of his power. The psalmist
desires the presence of the Lord himself, as he says, cause thy
face to shine. This is exactly what Paul describes
to the Corinthians when he said, For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. There is no other avenue of blessing
to the sons of men than that which arises in and through a
knowledge of Jesus Christ as the Savior of sinners and the
Lord God of heaven and earth. Paul willingly cast off all of
his religious and cultural traditions for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ. I count all things but loss for
the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom
I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but
done that I may win Christ and be found in him not having mine
own righteousness which is of the law but that which is through
the faith of Christ the righteousness which is of God by faith that
I may know him and the power of his resurrection. Then the
psalmist brings forth the conclusion of that work which he desired
for the Lord to perform. We shall be saved. He understood
that what the Lord undertakes to perform will be done, and
the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. One of Finney's errors
was to define salvation as something which men participate in. Yet
the psalmist clearly states, but the salvation of the righteous
is of the Lord. He is their strength in the time
of trouble. Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain
that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh,
but in vain. The blood of Jesus Christ his
Son cleanseth us from all sin. Have you been cleansed by Christ?
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