Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. A certain lawyer inquired
of the Lord what he might do to inherit eternal life. The
Lord replied by asking him what the law said. He then answered
by correctly summarizing the law in its two tables. The Lord
then plainly told him, Thou hast answered right. This do and thou
shalt live. When confronted with his own
obvious failing to keep that law, he then reverted to the
common default of the natural man. But he, willing to justify
himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor? The Lord
then set forth the parable of the Good Samaritan. Men will
either deny the veracity of the law, or when that fails, will
seek to excuse themselves by claiming that they do not understand
it. In all cases, they will seek to convince themselves and all
who will listen that they have a good reason for disregarding
the precepts of the law. Some even imagine that they do
keep it and wonder how they could possibly be considered as lawbreakers.
It is impossible for a man to comprehend the separation that
exists between himself and the holy God, apart from the grace
of God to strip him of his excuses and to confess his inability
to approach unto God and his devilish rebellion against his
precepts. Great grace is illustrated for
us as the Lord humbled Job before him, causing him to put his hand
over his mouth, saying, I have heard of thee by the hearing
of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee, wherefore I abhor
myself and repent in dust and ashes. Job was then a man without
any excuse. We see the same scenario on the
Damascus Road as Saul of Tarsus, who breathed out threatenings
and slaughters against the people of God, was now brought down
upon his face to confess the lordship of Jesus Christ. He
had excused himself of wrong as he held the coats of those
that stoned Stephen and convinced himself that he was doing good
by obtaining letters against the disciples of Christ. Yet
he was stripped of all that justification in his own mind when the Lord
convinced him of the truth which heretofore he had kicked against
and defended himself. All such pretense was now purged
from his mind, and he had no excuse. This is the essence of
repentance. True repentance does not exist
where men seek to make excuses for their actions or justify
themselves in their own eyes. True repentance is a perfect
work which is the product of the Holy Ghost, convincing men
of their own sin. The only perfect righteousness
which is found in Christ and judgment which is to come. The
Lord sent Jonah to Nineveh to preach unto them the necessity
of repentance, yet forty days in Nineveh shall be overthrown.
On that journey the Lord saw fit to bring Jonah to repentance
in a very unconventional but effective manner, as he prepared
a fish for Jonah's passage there, even though Jonah had bought
a ticket going the other way. In the belly of that fish, he
caused Jonah to come face to face with his own limitations
and complete inability to deliver himself from what he supposed
would be his own tomb. In the midst of that darkness,
the Lord convinced him of sin, righteousness, and judgment.
And he cried out, but I will sacrifice unto thee with the
voice of thanksgiving. Salvation is of the Lord. Though the Lord spared Nineveh
according to his mercy, it was unto Jonah that the Lord revealed
his sovereign will. We see the natural depravity
of Jonah as he, though an object of the Lord's mercy, did begrudge
that same mercy shown to those he despised. Yet it seems that
the Lord did all of this to soften the heart of Jonah, even though
such is not spelled out in the book. Why else would he have
written this account but to show the Lord's mercy in retrospect?
Yet the underlying reason for this account was not the sparing
of Nineveh or even the softening of Jonah's rebellious heart,
but rather to illustrate the resurrection of the only begotten
Son of God as he triumphed over death and hell. For as Jonah's
was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall
the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart
of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this
generation and shall condemn it because they repented at the
preaching of Jonah's. And behold, a greater than Jonah's
is here. The resurrection of Christ is
at the very center of the preaching of the gospel. There can be no
gospel preaching where the resurrection of Christ is not unequivocally
declared. For if he did not rise from the
dead, then his death on Calvary's cross, while noble, could not
have procured redemption for his people. Now is Christ risen
from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept.
Has the Lord granted you repentance unto life? You can have no hope
in the resurrection apart from it. For a free CD containing
15 of these radio broadcasts, send an email to forthepoor at
windstream.net.