Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. Christ Jesus is the one
who has prevailed to unveil all of the mysteries of God, which
he has ordained to reveal unto men. Weep not! Behold, the Lion
of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open
the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld,
and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, and in
the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb, as it had been slain.
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book,
and to open the seals thereof. For Thou wast slain, and hast
redeemed us to God by Thy blood, out of every kindred, tongue,
people, and nation, and hast made us unto our God, kings,
and priests, and we shall reign on the earth. Isaiah was given
more messianic prophecies than any other of those men whom the
Lord sent into the earth. Yet he had very limited understanding
of the things which he wrote, and confessed with the other
Old Testament prophets that these things were written for those
to come. Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched
diligently? Who prophesied of the grace that
should come unto you? Searching what, or what manner
of time, the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify,
when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and
the glory that should follow? unto whom it was revealed that
not unto themselves, but unto us did they minister the things
which are now reported unto you, by them that have preached the
gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven,
which things the angels, that is, the messengers, desire to
look into. He was told to write of him who
was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief, and we hid as it were our faces from him. He was
despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our
griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes
we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray.
We have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid
on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so openeth
not his mouth. He was taken from prison and
from judgment, and who shall declare his generation? For he
was cut off out of the land of the living. For the transgression
of my people was he stricken. While Isaiah was given the gift
to write of those sufferings and the great anguish of our
Redeemer, yet Jeremiah was given the gift to experience in a limited
measure those very soul sufferings which are recorded for us in
the book of his lamentations. Jeremiah was sent to warn the
nation of Israel of their coming judgment and captivity by the
Babylonians. But the Lord shut up the ears
of Israel, that they would not hear his word, even though it
was an utterance from the Lord. Whereas Isaiah was given to prophesy
of the glory of the coming king and his redemptive work, Jeremiah
was called upon to endure great rejection and sorrow at the hands
of those to whom he was sent. We are not then surprised that
he is known as the weeping prophet. His sufferings were experienced
with each of his emotions and felt by each of his senses. While
he records those things that he experienced, we are blessed
to understand that he was but an illustration of the sufferings
of that prophet which was to come. His heartaches were in
part, and he was upheld in the midst of them, whereas Christ,
our prophet, priest, and king, was brought into hell itself
in our behalf, as he endured the wrath of God poured out upon
his head. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He hath put him to grief, when thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin. Jeremiah recorded the very thoughts
of Christ when he spoke of the affliction and misery which was
visited upon him as he knelt in the garden of Gethsemane.
This is indeed that bitterness of soul and mind which is described
by Jeremiah as the wormwood and the gall. It is interesting to
note that Matthew records that the soldiers gave Christ, as
he hung on the cross, vinegar mingled with gall. Our hearts
are made to worship Him as we consider Him that endured such
contradiction of sinners against Himself. Sinners whose love can
ne'er forget the wormwood and the gall, go spread your trophies
at His feet and crown Him Lord of all. Do you own Him as Lord
of all? For a free CD containing 15 of
these radio broadcasts, send an email to forthepoor at windstream.net.