Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. The Lord will not share
his glory with any. Any message which does not have
the exaltation of Christ as its main goal through the proclamation
of that work which he has performed for sinners in obtaining eternal
redemption for them cannot be the gospel of the glory of the
blessed God as Paul described it. The Lord spoke of both the
death he would die and of his subsequent magnification in the
preaching of the gospel when he said, and I, if I be lifted
up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. We see this
illustrated quite plainly as Philip met the Ethiopian eunuch
whose heart the Lord had prepared. Then Philip opened his mouth
and began at the same scripture and preached unto him Jesus.
Just like those Jews that heard Peter on the day of Pentecost,
this Ethiopian inquired about the course he should take. Philip
then told him the only requirement to being baptized in the name
of Christ. And he confessed, I believe that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God. This interaction is quite different
than the modern-day persuaders who present the gospel as an
offer which a man may choose as easy as picking out a pair
of socks at Walmart. They use every trick in the book
to get folks to take them up on this offer, assuring them
that their salvation depends upon their activity and not solely
on that which Christ has done. The underlying error in this
travesty is an ignorance of the faith that saves. The common
thought promoted by the offerers of salvation is that the faith
which enables a man to be saved is an activity which arises out
of his free will choice to follow Christ. They believe that a man
is justified when he believes, making faith to be a subject
which men are encouraged to produce. The scripture is quite clear
that the action of faith is the gift of God. For by grace are
you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is
the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. More
importantly, though, by the grace of God, we are made to understand
that the action of faith, while present in all of those who believe,
is not the actual basis or grounds of their justification. Rather,
the one who is the object of that faith is the justifier.
The sons of God believe that they are justified by Christ,
who is their salvation. The action of faith is wrought
in the sons of God by him who makes his people willing in the
day of his power. Just as Abraham believed God,
so too do all of those who are called out of darkness and into
the glorious light of the gospel, which they are made to hear and
believe. Abraham was not justified by
the act of believing. Rather, he was justified by the
one in whom he believed. Belief in itself is of no real
value if the object of one's faith is misplaced. The Lord
healed the physical ailments of ten lepers in a village on
his way to Jerusalem. Only one out of the ten returned
to give him thanks, glorifying God for his deliverance. The
Lord recognized his praise and thanksgiving, which was not to
be seen from the other nine. In this account, we are taught
the nature of saving faith. This one leper who returned to
give glory to the Lord recognized from whose hand his healing had
come. Many of those who, when asked about the basis of their
salvation, will tell us that they believed when they were
ten years old, or they can recount some time and place when they
supposedly gave their heart to the Lord. It is rare, however,
to find those who simply give glory to God for snatching them
as a brand from the burning, confessing that apart from His
mercy they would surely perish even now. This one leper recognized
that his healing was of greater value than simply being set free
from leprosy, for he gave testimony that he was set free in mind
and heart as he worshipped at the footstool of Christ without
being told to do so. The Lord testified, Thy faith
hath made thee whole. The other nine evidently believed
that there was at least the possibility of their healing, as they went
to the priest just like the Lord told them to. Their belief, however,
did not make them whole. Only the one who returned, glorifying
God, manifested that he did not simply believe, but that he recognized
the one from whose hand his healing came. The faith which made him
whole was Jesus Christ, who is the object of all saving faith,
in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will, that we should be to the praise
of his glory, who first trusted in Christ, in whom ye also trusted,
after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation, in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed
with that Holy Spirit of promise. which is the earnest of our inheritance
until the redemption of the purchased possession under the praise of
His glory. Is Christ your faith? For a free
CD containing 15 of these radio broadcasts, send an email to
forthepoor at windstream.net.