Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. Job was laid low under
the chastening hand of God and made acquainted with his own
inability. This is a common destination to which the Lord is pleased
to bring all of his sons as he works in them the grace of repentance.
By nature, men think themselves quite able to do anything that
they can think of. It is quite common for the religious
nature of men to be stirred up and cajoled into serving God
according to the dictates of whatever religion they choose
to adopt. Some even call themselves Christians.
These same people are stirred up to different levels of devotion
and commitment according to the dictates of their religious tradition,
the fervency of those whose teaching they submit themselves to, and
the level of dogmatism that they find themselves comfortable with.
Some are quite fervent and demonstrative in their practices, while others
prefer a more refined approach to the pursuit of spirituality.
Regardless of what religion is chosen or to what degree it is
pursued, all of man's religion is but a work of the flesh and
has no lasting value beyond the present life, even though all
of it is supposedly designed to prepare its adherents for
the life to come. All of the religion of men is
dependent on the free will and ability of men to obey or accept
its precepts in order for it to be useful. Whether one calls
himself a Hindu or a Pentecostal, a Baptist or a Muslim, they are
taught that they must adopt and follow certain guidelines and
obey certain requirements or it profits them nothing. This
explains the shock that must have gripped the woman at the
well when she compared her religious traditions to those of the Jews
and received this answer from the Lord. But the hour cometh,
and now is, when the true worshipper shall worship the Father in spirit
and in truth. For the Father seeketh such to
worship Him. God is a spirit, and they that
worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. No doubt
the same consternation filled the mind of Nicodemus when the
Lord told him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. One can plainly
see why the Pharisees hated him as he told them, Search the scriptures,
for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they
which testify of me. And ye will not come to me that
ye might have life. I receive not honor from men.
The Lord Jesus Christ laid the ax firmly to the root of all
of man's religiosity and destroyed the supposition that it was possible
through the natural will and ability of men to truly be acquainted
with the true and living God. Apart from the supernatural work
of God in a man, That man can in no wise possess any ability
to grasp or come to any knowledge of God. When Peter made his confession,
the Lord told him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh
and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which
is in heaven. John describes those who have
received him as those which were born, not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. All
men in their natural state possess nothing of value that could render
any aid to themselves in fleeing the wrath that is to come. If
the Lord is not pleased in his sovereign mercy to open a man's
eyes to see him as the Lord of glory and to give him grace to
flee into that one who is as a hiding place from the wind
and a covert from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place,
as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land, then that man
shall surely perish in his sin without help or hope. The Lord
Jesus Christ has accomplished all that is necessary to redeem
his people and deliver them from any and all condemnation. They
can add nothing to what he has done for them by believing or
receiving what he has done. They believe what he has done
for them because he has purchased them by his own blood and has
given them the glorious gift of faith to rejoice in his imputed
righteousness. They receive him because he has
received them and change their mind, heart, and will to embrace
his lordship. They are nothing in and of themselves
except that which He has added to them. They are savored in
the kingdom of heaven solely because of that which He has
wrought in their behalf. The children of God have hope
because He has given it to them. They are set free from the law
of sin and death because He has broken those chains. They shall
never perish because He has given them eternal life. For who maketh
thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou
didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? Are you
a follower of Christ, or of your chosen religion? For a free CD
containing 15 of these radio broadcasts, send an email to
forthepoor at windstream.net