Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. Recently, I have read several
articles whose main thrust was to tell men how friendly God
is and how much He wants to be friends with them. According
to them, He is just waiting patiently for them, like Mr. Rogers, to
let Him be their friend. Their thought process is that
if they just let men know what a great guy He is, that many
will be persuaded to give Him a chance to be their friend.
The main problem is that they do not understand the rebellion
which is in the heart of man by nature, which causes him to
despise the way of God. As it is written, there is none
righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth.
There is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of
the way. They are together become unprofitable.
There is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is
an open sepulcher, with their tongues they have used deceit.
The poison of asp is under their lips, whose mouth is full of
cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed
blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way
of peace have they not known. There is no fear of God before
their eyes. The other problem is that they
have a fundamental lack of understanding of who the God of heaven and
earth is. God has no needs. Nothing can be added to him,
nor can anything be diminished. He does not need friends. He
dwells in the light into which no man can approach. He is immortal
and invisible. Until a man has something of
an understanding of the basic character of him who rules in
the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,
it is impossible that he can grasp the great gulf that exists
between mortals and he who inhabits eternity, stretching out the
heavens like a curtain and covering himself with light like a garment. It would behoove a man to become
friends with him, but such is an impossible task, and one which
is quite outside the realm of his natural desire or of his
ability to gain entrance into his presence by his own effort
and will. While we encourage sinners to
seek him, we understand that the only time that they will
is when he is pleased to give them grace to do so. This is
exactly what he told Nicodemus. Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. The wind
bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth.
So is every one that is born of the Spirit. We do read in
the scriptures that both Abraham and Moses were called the friend
of God. Yet neither Abraham nor Moses
sought the Lord to become his friend. Rather, he called Abraham
out of heathen darkness and made him a great nation according
to his purpose. Moses was delivered from death as a baby at the hands
of Pharaoh's henchmen and ultimately raised up to a place of prominence
in Pharaoh's house. all the while in heathen darkness.
Yet in his own time, the Lord called Moses and equipped him
to lead Israel out of bondage. In all of his dealings with Abraham
and Moses, the Lord was always the one who determined the course
that they would take. And it was they who benefited
from his kindness in using them to fulfill his purpose and magnify
his name in the earth. He befriended them quite apart
from any overtures on their part. They were made willing in the
day that he reconciled them unto himself. Normally those men who
become friends share a common interest and enjoy one another's
company. They mutually agree to befriend one another. Men
do not seek friends from among those who despise them and who
oppose their actions. Yet we find that the Lord has
shown himself to be the friend of those who have the least claim
of ever gaining his affection by their actions. and are actually
opposed to him. The Pharisees were quite moral
and upright men, according as men would judge, who went about
with great religious fervor, much praying, and giving honor. Yet the Lord did not identify
himself as their friend. Rather, he is the friend of sinners.
Those who have no religious fervor, those who recognize their spiritual
poverty, those who have great need of faith but find none in
themselves, those who confess that his law was just and good
but find in themselves no ability to walk according to its precepts,
those who cry out for mercy but know that they deserve none,
these are those among whom he will be found. This faithful
saying led us on, well worthy to be believed, that Christ into
the world came down, that sinners might by him be saved. Sinners
are high in his esteem, and sinners highly value him. Are you a sinner
in need of a Savior? Christ is mighty to save those
who are his friends. For a free CD containing 15 of
these radio broadcasts, send an email to forthepoor at windstream.net.