Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. The glory and mystery which
surrounds the eternal God is revealed in no small part by
his absolute faithfulness to uphold the covenant of redemption
which is found in Christ Jesus the Lord. Paul reveals the true
nature and receptor of this covenant of promise in his letter to the
Galatians. Now to Abraham and his seed were
the promises made. He said, not into seeds as of
many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. Though
the spiritual offspring of Abraham are the benefactors of this covenant,
yet it is quite clear in the Scriptures that he to whom the
promise is made is Christ alone. I will declare the decree the
Lord has said unto me, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten
thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee
the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the
earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a
rod of iron, thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's
vessel. Those who are hid in Christ are those who reap the
blessings which the Lord will bestow upon His children because
of Him in whom they stand forever justified, sanctified, and blessed. He is their covenant head who
has purchased for them an eternal redemption by His own blood shed
in their behalf. Paul describes the many difficulties
and hardships which he outwardly faced, in afflictions, in necessities,
in distresses, in strikes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in
labors, in watchings, in fastings. By the grace of God, he declared
that such things were useful in the ministry of the Word.
The sons of God are also beset with troubles that arise from
within, such as conflicts, doubtings, fears, and other inward trials
of various kinds. For the flesh lusteth against
the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary,
the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that
ye would. The Lord, in His sovereign mercy, is pleased to lift up
a standard against this flood of troubles. The Lord Jesus declared
this standard when He said, Now is the judgment of this world.
Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if
I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This,
he said, signifying what death he should die. Our Redeemer has
come and has triumphed gloriously over all of the enemies of the
children of God, which were given to him from before the foundation
of the world. He alone is that covenant head
who has led captivity captive and given gifts unto men. What
shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him
up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us
all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who
is He that condemneth? It is Christ that died. Yea,
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long.
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For
I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So
regardless of the troubles which beset God's children from within
and without, the Lord is faithful to uphold them in the midst of
these difficulties. He will never leave them nor
forsake them. So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the
west and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall
come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard
against him. And the Redeemer shall come to
Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob,
saith the Lord. As for me, this is my covenant
with them, saith the Lord. My Spirit that is upon thee,
and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart
out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out
of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth
and forever. This is the fruit of the everlasting
covenant, which is clearly manifested from the beginning. 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? And for this cause
He is the Mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death,
for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the First Testament,
they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. Is Christ your standard?