Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. Satan knows the nature
of men and uses it to his own, as he supposes, advantage. Paul
was quite aware of his devices and warned about those who were
duped into promoting these deceptions. For such are false apostles,
deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles
of Christ. And no marvel! For Satan himself
is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no
great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers
of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works.
These deceivers have a form of godliness, but deny the power
thereof. There is no shortage of those
who speak cunningly devised fables, nor of those who will readily
receive these deceptions. One of the safeguards which the
Lord has put in place for the benefit of His children is the
local assembly, where each part of the body is seeking to supply
that which the body is in need of. This ministry of the saints
one to another is that means whereby the saints are strengthened
and encouraged in sound doctrine, which helps each to identify
the tellers of fables. Let the prophet speak two or
three, and let the other judge. If anything be revealed to another
that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. For ye may all
prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted. Where no counsel is, the people
fall, but in the multitude of counselors there is safety. The
Lord warned his disciples of those deceptions which would
come in the earth. For there shall arise false Christs
and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders,
insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Yet he also comforted them with the knowledge that those whom
he would guide into all truth would not be deceived. The greatest
and most cunningly devised fable that has been forced upon the
unsuspecting religious men of this world is any message which
does not have Jesus Christ and Him crucified as its only component. Any other message is superfluous
and will ultimately lead men away from Christ to embrace numerous
competing doctrines. All other doctrines are useless
apart from the firm foundation of the redeeming work of Christ.
Another cunningly devised fable is that God loves every person
in the earth with the same degree of love. This flies in the very
face of the scripture which declares, Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. The stark and simple truth that
the Lord loves a particular people of his own choosing forms the
very basis of the purpose for which Christ came into the world
as the Redeemer. He came to save that people which
were given to him in the eternal covenant of redemption. For them
he prayed and died. I pray for them, I pray not for
the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they
are thine. And for this cause he is the mediator of the New
Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions
that were under the First Testament, they which are called might receive
the promise of eternal inheritance. Yet another cunningly devised
fable is that men have the ability to have faith as a function of
their own will and choice. 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. To deny that faith is the gift
of God, quite apart from any work of the will or flesh, is
to deny the necessity of the redemptive work of Christ. To
assert that by having faith as a product of his will, a man
denies his need of Christ's work and or his sovereign prerogative
to show mercy to whom he will. Another cunningly devised fable
is that we must wait for some future date to see the Lord sitting
upon the throne of his kingdom. He came into this world as the
lion of the tribe of Judah with the specific purpose of saving
his people from their sins. As a triumphant king, he has
made a show of all of his enemies openly. To think that he must
wait to occupy some earthly throne in order to be a king is to fail
to see that his kingdom is one of righteousness, which he has
demonstrated by the redemption of those whom he has loved with
an everlasting love. Another cunningly devised fable,
which Peter speaks directly of, is to deny that Christ alone
is the revelation of God in the earth. God, who at sundry times
and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by
the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son. whom he hath appointed heir of
all things, by whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness
of his glory and the express image of his person, and upholding
all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty
on high. Christ alone is the true message
and messenger of God. Do you hear him? For a free CD
containing 15 of these radio broadcasts, send an email to
forthepoor at windstream.net