Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. It is in the midst of their
poverty that the Lord is pleased to call unto those whom He loves.
There is no good thing that dwells in any of them, and apart from
His mercy to keep them from falling, they would surely abandon Him.
Yet He remains faithful. Just as Lot was vexed with the
unrighteousness that surrounded him in Sodom, so too are the
sons of God perplexed as the Lord is pleased to grieve them
with the same. Complacency is rooted in our
flesh and it is quite the evidence of his mercy bestowed when men
cry out to him on account of their own wickedness and that
which they are daily surrounded and afflicted with in mind and
soul. The true repentance of the sons
of God, mourning for their sin and the uncleanness of their
flesh is that which is the gift of God. This is that repentance
not to be repented of mentioned by Paul to the Corinthians. This
gift is prophesied by Zechariah. And I will pour upon the house
of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit and grace
of supplications. And they shall look upon me whom
they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth
for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one
that is in bitterness for his firstborn. And we see the same
demonstrated in the book of Acts. When they heard these things,
they held their peace and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also
to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life. Him hath God exalted
with his right hand to be a prince and a savior, for to give repentance
to Israel and forgiveness of sins. So the sons of God have
been made partakers of the inheritance of the saints. A man cannot gain
an inheritance of any kind except it be bestowed upon him. Men
cannot earn an inheritance nor be worthy of it, since the one
from whom he receives the inheritance is the one who labored to gain
that which is bequeathed. Such is the gift of salvation
bestowed upon the saints through the labors of him who bore their
griefs and carried their sorrows. This is an inheritance in light.
Paul says, "...who hath delivered us from the power of darkness,
and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son." There
can be no greater contrast than that which exists between darkness
and light. To be without Christ is to be
without light. There can be no fellowship that
is companionship between darkness and light, be ye not unequally
yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath righteousness
with unrighteousness, and what communion hath light with darkness?
This then is the message which we have heard of him and declare
unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at
all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness,
we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light,
as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.
And the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all
sin. The sons of God are made to enjoy
His blessings as they are illuminated by the gospel of the glory of
the blessed God, who has saved us and called us with a holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to His own
purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of
our Savior, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and hath
brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
The appointment of the sons of God unto salvation is set by
Him before the foundation of the world, but their illumination
takes place in the present time, for this is the day of salvation.
The gift of hearing is granted unto all those who are granted
the gift of faith, and it is as they hear the gospel that
they are reconciled unto God. To be reconciled unto Him is
the work of His Spirit in bringing them to repentance. By His grace
they throw down their arms of rebellion and cry out to Him
for mercy. It is then that hope is wrought
within their breast, as they see by the gift of faith his
suffering, death, and resurrection as more than simple facts, but
rather the only grounds upon which they expect to be brought
into the presence of a holy God. Paul recounts the beginnings
of his journeys from darkness to light. And it came to pass
that as I made my journey and was come unto Damascus about
noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about
me. And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto
me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Thus repentance was
granted unto him, as he was brought face to face with the one who
was crucified, and he believed, calling upon his name. This was
no random occurrence which took place on that Damascus road,
but was the result of a divine appointment, which he could not
escape. We have redemption through his
blood. Have you seen that light? For a free CD containing 15 of
these radio broadcasts, send an email to forthepoor at windstream.net.