Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. If one were to summarize
the gospel and reduce it to its lowest common denominator, it
would be Jesus Christ. He is the sum and substance of
all that the Father has revealed unto the sinners which inhabit
planet Earth. When Simeon beheld the infant
Christ, he said he could now die in peace, because mine eyes
have seen thy salvation. Joseph was instructed to call
him Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. He
is exactly suited to meet the needs of those he came to redeem.
He is efficient, that is effective and capable, and sufficient,
that is ample and satisfactory for all that His people lacked
and could not perform. He is that one who has fought
our battles and well deserves the crown of praise, which is
the delight of His people to render unto Him. For in Him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in
Him, which is the head of all principality and power. He is
our sufficiency. The primary purpose of Christ's
work was to bring glory to the Father. His elect surely benefit
from being the objects of His love and the recipients of His
amazing grace and mercy. Yet His fundamental purpose in
the scheme of redemption is His own glory. If we fully understand
that, then we can rejoice in His sovereign grace and delight
to see Him exalted in the earth in the proclamation of the gospel,
rather than turning it into an exercise of trying to produce
results and persuading men to believe it. He came into the
world in order to magnify His glory in the redemption of sinners,
and He accomplished exactly what He came to do. The proclamation
of that truth is what He sends His preachers into the world
to do. He said if He were lifted up,
He would draw men unto Himself. His hand is not shortened, save
by many or by few, and all that the Father hath given Him will
come to Him. And no power in heaven, earth,
or hell can overturn His purpose, nor tarnish His glory. He said
he was the vine. Therefore every vine on earth
is placed here to bear witness unto him. Every time a grape
is picked, there is a testimony to that work which he came to
accomplish. Every time a bottle of wine is enjoyed or a peanut
butter and jelly sandwich is eaten, he is magnified as the
one who is the producer of fruit. The vine is the source of all
life for the branches. The branches receive their sustenance
from him and would soon wither and be worthless if cut off from
him. We are the branches and have no strength nor life of
our own. He said that without him we could
do nothing, yet in his strength we can do all things. The branch
cannot attach itself to the vine. A branch must either grow out
from the vine or be grafted into it by the skillful hands of a
vine dresser. In either case, it is the vine
which controls the connection. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. The branch cannot stay attached
nor strengthen its attachment by its own power. Only the vine
has the necessary power and life to sustain this affection. Being
confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good
work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. He is
faithful to maintain his vineyard, being both the vine and the vinedresser. All fruit that is seen on the
branches is the produce of the vine. There are many who are
convinced that the fruit of the Spirit springs from their own
volition, but he who works in us both to will and to do of
his good pleasure is the producer of such. Keep in mind that it
is called the fruit of the Spirit and not the fruit of the believer.
The fruit is the evidence of his work in us and not vice versa. Any branch that does not produce
fruit is useless and only worthy of destruction. Let no man think
himself to be connected to the vine if there is no fruit being
produced. Those branches which are attached
by him and to him will produce fruit according to his purpose.
All others will be cast away. Multitudes believe themselves
to be Christians because they have made the decision to be
or have made a public profession of faith. One cannot become a
true follower of Christ except by the divine work of the Spirit
of God in quickening and rebirth. A good man out of the good treasure
of his heart bringeth forth fruit, which is good, and an evil man
out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which
is evil, for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I
say? Do you follow the way of Christ? You will perish without
him. For a free CD containing 15 of
these radio broadcasts, send an email to forthepoor at windstream.net.