Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. When I was growing up,
it was quite common to hear people stand up in a church meeting
and give their testimony by recounting the moment when they believed.
The teaching was quite prevalent that a person thus believing
should never doubt it again, because after all, once a man
believed, he was saved at that very moment and could never again
be lost. Thus men were cajoled and pled
with to get right with God, give their heart to the Lord, or let
the Lord into their heart. All of this supposedly could
be accomplished by simply believing the gospel, since God had done
everything else. Thus man was presented as a sovereign,
making a choice to allow the Lord to save him. When a man
had made this momentous decision, from that time on he was encouraged
to have faith in his faith. Now such a gospel sits well with
religious men and righteous men, but it is of no use to the man
who finds himself in a lost and undone condition. He hears the
preacher say, Believe, but he realizes in himself no ability
to do so. He hears men talk of faith, but
it sounds like a foreign language to him, because he has discovered
himself to be a sinner incapable of believing anything else. He
knows if he must bring anything to the Lord he is done for. But
oh, when that same sinner hears that Jesus Christ has accomplished
everything necessary to bring wicked men such as himself into
the very presence of God, he finds himself strangely drawn
to this Savior. By a miracle of the gift of faith
being bestowed upon him by God, he expects no other deliverance
than that which is in Christ. In fact, he cannot look away,
because the gaze of the Savior causes his own eyes to be glued
to that blood-stained cross on which he hung, and he beholds
a beauty in him which he is unable to escape. The publican who smote
upon his breast and cried out for mercy was such a man. Now
we do not read that the publican went away from the temple with
a cheerful heart nor happy countenance, but we do read that he went away
to his house justified. The Lord Jesus asked his disciples
if they would go away when he beheld the multitudes departing.
But Peter said, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words
of eternal life, and we believe and are sure that thou art that
Christ, the Son of the living God. Yet Peter was in for some
tough times ahead as he was sifted as wheat, denying the Lord and
being plunged in the blackness of despair. He had little consolation
then in all of his proud boast of following the Lord to the
death. The scripture says their faith is counted for righteousness
when speaking of true believers. Their faith, in all cases, is
not the amount or degree in which they were able to have confidence
in what they believed. Rather, the object of their confidence
is that which is counted as their righteousness. Simply put, that
which is the righteousness of the Lord's elect is the Lord
Jesus Christ Himself. But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. The true believer is not necessarily
confident in his ability to believe, but he is certain of the suitability
of the one in whom he believes. Paul said, for I know whom I
have believed, and testified that he believed him able to
keep him to the very end. When the Lord said to the woman
with the issue of blood, who touched the hem of his garment,
daughter, be of good comfort, thy faith hath made thee whole,
she was comforted by the one in whom she believed, rather
than the fact that she had believed. The same is true of Bartimaeus,
the lepers, and all of those whom the Lord was pleased to
heal. This understanding is vital for a proper understanding of
how the true believer is to be assured of his salvation before
the Lord. It is a common practice among
those who have faith in their faith to be assured by being
reminded that they have believed, made a decision for Christ, or
joined the Church. But such is no consolation to
the true seeker of Christ. He knows himself to be false
and full of deceit, able to be deceived, and unable to present
anything of value to the Lord. He can find no solace in the
soothing words of men, nor can he find comfort in formulas for
believing. But as the Lord is pleased to
give him a clear view of the glory which surrounds the Redeemer
of sinners, he finds sweet solace and assurance in the sufficiency
of this Savior. A true believer might find himself
from time to time with little comfort as to his own election,
but he is never without the confidence that Jesus Christ is the only
Redeemer. As he hears the gospel, his heart
is encouraged. When the Savior is exalted, he
is thrilled. He may walk in a measure of darkness,
but he knows who is the light. Do you trust in the righteousness
of Christ? He is the Savior of sinners.
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