Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. Confidence is a wonderful
state of mind if the foundation upon which one builds his confidence
is sure and steadfast. However, a confidence which is
built upon a false foundation will be the source of the greatest
sorrow a man can know. The Lord Jesus said, And everyone
that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall
be like a nun to a foolish man, who built his house upon the
sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the
winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great
was the fall of it. There are many foundations laid
today in the religious world, but there is only one that will
endure the test of time. For of the foundation can no
man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. For every truth
that is laid down in God's Word, Satan has produced many counterfeits
which appear on the surface to be sound. But like termite-eaten
wood, these fakes cannot support any weight or endure testing.
Woe be to those who sleep on the enchanted ground of false
confidence. The sobering thing is that there
are many teachers who have gone out into the world spreading
false hope by repeating a counterfeit message they have been taught
by others. who were either deluded themselves or devilish deceivers,
whose intent is the destruction of men. Those who call themselves
Christians are not immune to these deceptions. Yea, I tell
you, they are the very ones for whom these deceptions and false
hopes are designed. There are many totally false
religions in the world today who deny that Jesus Christ is
the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. They
are easy to identify and therefore pose no threat to the would-be
followers of Christ. No, it is the more subtle deceptions
that bring destruction among many who would identify themselves
as believers. These are the false hopes we
wish to identify for the sake of the Lord's people. For it
does not matter how right a man is on many subjects, nor how
confident he may be in what he believes. If the basis upon which
he stands is anything other than Jesus Christ and him crucified,
then that man's religion is false and his hope is in vain. Some
of the grounds for false hope and confidence are sound doctrine. It is very important that we
be structured by sound teaching, that we may have a strong foundation
on which to stand. Yet there are many who are confident
of their standing in Christ because they hold to this doctrine or
that. Dogmatic adherence to doctrinal teaching is not an evidence of
faith, whatever that doctrine may be. A person can be steeped
in doctrinal truths and yet have no standing in Christ. Some men
of wise opinions boast and sleep on doctrine's sound. O Lord,
let not my soul be lost on this enchanted ground. Then there
is the ground for false hope which is built on profession
of faith or decision for Christ. We're admonished in the scriptures
to confess Christ before men. Multitudes of well-meaning soul
winners go about convincing others that they can be saved by repeating
a prayer or stating that they believe in Christ. Thus, unconvicted
and non-repentant men are assured that they have a standing in
Christ simply because they have made a decision to be. The Lord
said, Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter
into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my
Father which is in heaven. Our confidence must be built
on Christ himself and not on our decision to believe. Only
God can work such a work. Another false hope is faith without
works. Good works are simply the result
of true faith. I will show thee my faith by
my works, but wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without
works is dead? There is no such thing as having
faith and manifesting no evidence of it, for it is God which worketh
in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Vain is
the confidence of that man who believes himself to be standing
in Christ and yet has no love nor obedience to his commandments.
And then we have the false hope of baptism or church affiliation.
These two subjects are not related except that those who are the
sons of God by new birth into the kingdom of God are admonished
to be baptized and to be part of a local church. Yet many seem
to place great confidence in these activities as though they
were synonymous with having a standing in Christ. Our confidence must
rest in Christ and Christ alone, not our faith, not our profession,
not our doctrine, nor our church connection. Flee from those who
encourage men to have confidence in anything else. I know whom
I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that
which I have committed unto Him against that day. Upon whom or
what does your confidence rest? For a free CD containing 15 of
these radio broadcasts, send an email to forthepoor at windstream.net.