Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. The Lord God of heaven
and earth leaves nothing to chance, and is not ashamed to declare
the same to men. Remember the former things of
old, for I am God, and there is none else. I am God, and there
is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from
ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, my
counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure, calling a
ravenous bird from the east, the man that executed my counsel
from a far country. Yea, I have spoken it. I will
also bring it to pass. I have purposed it. I will also
do it. I am the Lord, and there is none
else. There is no God beside me. I girded thee, though thou
hast not known me, that they may know from the rising of the
sun and from the west that there is none beside me. I am the Lord,
and there is none else. I form the light and create darkness.
I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. It may appear unto men that events
unfold in the earth in a random fashion, yet the Lord plainly
declares that such is not the case. How foolish of men, then,
to have any consideration of the salvation of sinners to be
according to chance and opportunity. To believe such, one can have
no consideration of the total depravity of men, nor of their
inability in their flesh to approach unto Him. who only hath immortality
dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no
man hath seen nor can see, to whom be honor and power everlasting.
Amen. How much more wicked is it then
to consider that men have the power to give God a chance, as
if he is waiting idly by, just hoping that someone would give
him permission to save them? I cannot even describe the complete
absurdity of such consideration. Nothing about the salvation of
sinners is according to chance, most assuredly not in any wise
that men would be the ones dictating the terms of such and letting
God do anything. The Lord's salvation of sinners
is always on purpose and according to His purpose and certainly
not theirs. He sent His Son into the world
for this very purpose. He shall save His people from
their sins. He said that He came to seek
and to save that which was lost. Nowhere does he even imply that
he is waiting for the chance to save them. Rather, he declares,
my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and
I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. He sets the stage
upon which he brings salvation unto men, and not vice versa.
We see him going through Samaria to save the woman at the well.
We see him going to Zacchaeus' house after calling him down
from the sycamore tree. We see him passing by the very
spot where blind Bartimaeus sat, or the woman with the issue of
blood. We see him meeting Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus.
Did any of them give him a chance to save them? Or did he not cause
all things to work together for their good and his glory in bringing
salvation to them? It has become an increasingly
common thing to hear some say that Jesus Christ died to give
men the opportunity to be saved. They tell us that his death makes
salvation a possibility for all men if they will but take advantage
of it. The devils in hell could not have devised a more twisted
and corrupt consideration of the shedding of his precious
blood than this. He has not shed one drop of that
blood in vain. He has not made the salvation
of those he died for a possibility. but rather a certainty. 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. Opportunities and circumstances
are dictated by him who knows the end from the beginning, and
who shows mercy to whom he wills, and hardens those he has appointed
under wrath. Nay, but O man, who art thou
that replies against God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Had not the
potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel
into honor and another to dishonor? Does not such knowledge humble
the heart of a proud man and cause him to fall upon his face
before him? The sweet and comforting words of the gospel assures that
man who feels his need of Christ and trembles to consider standing
before the God of all the earth without a mediator that Christ
has shed his blood for sinners and bids them come unto him.
A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not
quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. He is not waiting
for the opportunity to save them, but rather he is determined to
save them from before the foundation of the world. He will lose none
of those for whom he shed his blood. For the promise is unto
you and to your children and to all that are far off, even
as many as the Lord our God shall call. Do you hear him calling? For a free CD containing 15 of
these radio broadcasts, send an email to forthepoor at windstream.net.