Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. All will admit that when
the scripture says Christ will build his church, it does not
mean he will cut stones and hammer nails. He is nonetheless the
master builder whose edifice arises unto his glory and cannot
be destroyed. I will build my church and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it. He has established
himself as that sure foundation, upon which his kingdom arises
and cannot fall. For other foundation can no man
lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Therefore thus
saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone,
a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth
shall not make haste. Now if this building, of which
he is both the foundation and the builder, is not constructed
of literal stones and lumber, then of what does it consist,
and for what purpose is it raised? The materials of which he is
pleased to build his church, thereby establishing his kingdom,
is that people which he foreknew and chose in Christ from before
the foundation of the world. He does by his own power bring
his children out of darkness and into the light, and establishes
them as a habitation of his spirit. Ye also, as lively stones, were
built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. This is a spiritual
house which cannot be viewed through carnal eyes, but is made
manifest to those who are called to be a part of it. The Lord
made this feature of his kingdom quite plain to those Pharisees
who believed that they had it in their power to dwell in the
presence of the Lord by their acts of devotion and obedience. And the Father himself which
hath sent me hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard
his voice at any time nor seen his shape, and ye have not his
word abiding in you. For whom he hath sent him ye
believe not. Every kingdom upon the earth
has a currency with which trade is carried out in it. Our nation's
currency has a motto written on it saying, In God We Trust.
While we might wish that that were true, the fact is that we
as a nation are in absolute rebellion against the true and living God.
We despise His way and trample upon His precepts daily. The
currency of the kingdom of God, however, is faith, and the motto
written upon it in bold letters is, Christ is all. One cannot
do business in this kingdom without that money, which a man cannot
obtain through human effort, but is only bestowed on its inhabitants
by the gift of God. This is a glorious welfare state,
wherein the citizens of it have their every need supplied by
him who is the king. Peter refers to this kingdom
as a spiritual house, while Paul speaks of it as a building fitly
framed. In the construction of Solomon's temple, the sound of
man's tools were not heard, and the house, when it was in building,
was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither,
so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron
heard in the house while it was in building. By this in type
and foreshadow, we are made to understand that this building
of the Lord is not constructed by the endeavors of men, but
rather of stones fit and prepared beforehand to be placed in an
exact location according to the purpose of the master builder.
This building rises and is sustained not by the carnal washings and
trappings of the religion of men, regardless of how scriptural
these practices might be deemed to be by those who promote such.
But Christ being come and high priest of good things to come,
by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands,
that is to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the
blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling
the unclean, sanctify to the purifying of the flesh, how much
more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit
offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience
from dead works to serve the living God? The redemptive work
of Christ on behalf of those whom He has loved from before
the foundation of the world is the framework of this building.
To ignore this is to dwell in a building which is already condemned.
Thus Paul declared, For I determined not to know anything among you,
save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. But God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the
world is crucified unto me and I unto the world. Do you dwell
in this fitly framed building, not made with hands, or in one
of your own design? On Christ the solid rock I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand. For a free CD containing 15 of
these radio broadcasts, send an email to forthepoor at windstream.net