Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. We read that the early
believers were first called Christians at Antioch. The term Christian
literally means a follower or imitator of Christ. Being a Christian
is not simply belonging to a religion which adopts the doctrine of
Christ. It is not to be defined by some moral persuasion, political
affiliation, or family ties. Rather, to be a Christian is
to renounce all reliance, effort, or ground of hope which is not
found in Jesus Christ and Him crucified. We often hear this
term applied to our nation, yet no nation upon this earth is
a Christian nation. A nation could have been founded
by men who themselves were Christians, but that term cannot be applied
to that nation any more than a man can be born again by the
power and will of the flesh. 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 everyone that is born of
the Spirit. which were born not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God. We read that there is a name
by which the whole family in heaven and earth is named. The
verse before this one says, for this cause I bow my knees unto
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The name by which the
sons of God are named is the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the
fullness of the Godhead bodily. He has that name which is above
all names. He is the Alpha and the Omega,
the beginning and the end. We marvel at the revelation of
himself to Philip when he said, Have I been so long time with
you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen
me hath seen the Father. And how sayest thou then, Show
us the Father? Yet this was no new revelation,
since Isaiah had prophesied the same thing. For unto us a child
is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon
his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
Thus John speaks of his coming. No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. Christ
came into the world to do the will of his father in redeeming
that people which were given to him in an eternal covenant.
He has been set upon the holy hill of the Lord as the king
and ruler of a kingdom whose government and peace shall be
without end. Yes, beloved, he is that one
of whom the whole family of God in heaven and earth is named.
Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none
other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved. Isaiah writes of a day which
appeared to him to be a great ways off, but which we now see
as a day that has come to pass. And in that day, seven women
shall take hold of one man, saying, we will eat our own bread and
wear our own apparel. Only let us be called by thy
name to take away our reproach. Is this not the desire of every
one of those quickened sons of God, as they are given ears to
hear the glorious good news of Christ? They want to be married
to no other, even if it means being a doorkeeper in the house
of God or eating crumbs which fall from his table. In that
day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and
the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them
that are escaped of Israel. And it shall come to pass that
he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem,
shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the
living in Jerusalem. Oh, he has taken away our reproach,
and there remains no condemnation for those who are called by his
name. He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. To him that overcometh
will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white
stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth,
saving he that receiveth it. No man can know that name, except
he be given a mind to receive it. Jesus Christ, the righteous,
is the hope of those whom the Lord is pleased to call out of
the darkness and into the light. There is no other name by which
they desire to be identified. Do you rejoice in his name? Now
to the Lord a noble song, awake my soul, awake my tongue. Hosanna
to the eternal name, and all his boundless love proclaim.
See where it shines in Jesus' face, the brightest image of
his grace. God in the person of his Son
has all his mightiest works outdone. Grace is a sweet, a charming
theme. My thoughts rejoice at Jesus' name. Ye angels dwell
upon the sound, ye heavens reflect it to the ground. Oh may I live
to reach the place where he unveils his lovely face, where all his
beauties you behold, and sing his name to hearts of gold. For a free CD containing 15 of
these radio broadcasts, send an email to forthepoor at windstream.net.