Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. The death of Samuel is
recorded in three words, and Samuel died. Let's examine those
three words. And Samuel died. Though we have
all been guilty of missing and being late for earthly appointments,
there is one appointment which we shall not avoid or be tardy
in keeping. And as it is appointed unto men
once to die, so shall all flesh taste that fate and shall not
escape. Job said, For I know that thou
wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.
So while it may be true that the Lord could return in our
lifetime, yet if he does not, then it is certain that we shall
die, even as Samuel, and all flesh that is gone before us.
One day someone will read these words, and blank died, with our
name in the blank. And Samuel died. Samuel was a
mighty prophet who spoke the word of God plainly and faithfully.
Yet just like all mighty men who came before and after him,
he died. A man's position or usefulness
does not preclude his appointment with death. No matter how faithful
or blessed a man may be, God will not overturn the sentence
he has passed on sinful flesh. Some teach that Christ paid for
the healing of our bodies from fleshly ailments by receiving
the stripes upon his back. Such an idea is appealing to
the religious flesh of men but has no basis in fact. We believe
that Christ actually and exactly accomplished what he intended
to do in his suffering and death on this earth. The fact that
sickness and disease remains in the true sons of God means
that he did not intend that every disease which befalls his children
should be healed, or else what he did is ineffectual or at best
partially successful. Sickness and disease are but
a foretaste and sometimes the forerunner of death. Even the
true sons of God are not exempt from its ravages. No man is indispensable
to the ongoing of the kingdom. Therefore, all men must die. And Samuel died. Death and life
are both the providence of God. He is the giver of life and the
administrator of death. No one ever dies until the time
appointed by Almighty God. Man that is born of a woman is
a few days and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower
and is cut down. He fleeth also as a shadow and
continueth not. And dost thou open thine eyes
upon such a one and bringest me into judgment with thee? Who
can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one. Seeing his
days are determined, the number of his months are with thee.
Thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass. God owns
death just like he owns the devil. Neither one has any power outside
of that which he directs and allows. I am the Lord, and there
is none else. There is no God beside me. I
girded thee, though thou hast not known me, that they may know
from the rising of the sun and from the west that there is none
beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none
else. I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create
evil. I the Lord do all these things.
Death is but a tool in the Lord's hand that he uses to administer
judgment on the wicked. God is angry with the wicked
every day. If he turn not, he will whet his sword. He hath
bent his bow and made it ready. He hath also prepared for him
the instruments of death. He ordaineth his arrows against
the persecutors. He uses death to manifest his
judgment, for the wages of sin is death. He uses death to show
the contrast between the kingdom of flesh and blood and the kingdom
of God. The people which sat in darkness
saw a great light, and to them which sat in the region in shadow
of death, light is sprung up. He uses death to manifest to
an unbelieving world his power. Then said Jesus unto them plainly,
Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not
there to the intent ye may believe. God uses death to bring about
the reconciliation of his people. We were reconciled to God by
the death of his son. He uses death to plainly demonstrate
that by the works of the law, no flesh can be justified. And
the commandment which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. He uses death to display the
true freedom of the children of God. For the law of the spirit
of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of
sin and death. And finally, he uses death to
manifest the glory of redemption. Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
Will your death be an entrance into the glory of Christ's kingdom
or merely a portal to your everlasting destruction? For a free CD containing
15 of these radio broadcasts, send an email to forthepoor at
windstream.net.