Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. The carnal nation of Jacob's
descendants is typical of the chosen people of God in their
unregenerate state. In their disobedience to the
law, disregard of his goodness, and rejection of that worship
which alone is well-pleasing in his sight, they demonstrate
what Paul declares, wherein in time past he walked according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience. among whom also we had our conversation
in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others. Until such time as it pleases
the Lord to awaken His people and bring them from darkness
to light, they cannot be distinguished from those who are appointed
unto destruction. Yet the Lord knows them that
are His, and in His own time will separate His wheat from
the tares, manifesting His work in them by the operation of His
Spirit. Even as Paul says, But ye are not in the flesh, but
in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin,
but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. It is this
life which ever separates the children of light from the children
of darkness. Once again, we read Paul's description
of how this light is brought to those who sat in darkness,
yet were not of the darkness. For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in
earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and
not of us. Only as a man is given a clear
understanding of the manner and operation of his spirit in the
sons of God can that man have a grasp of the purpose of the
law and the weakness of any covenant or system of conditional blessing
which might arise out of obedience to that law. For if the blessing
of God upon his children is anywise dependent upon their ability
to keep the law, then they are totally bereft of any hope in
those blessings, because the carnal mind is enmity against
God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be. Paul explains the only remedy
for this problem. For what the law could not do,
in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in
the flesh. He goes on to declare the unfolding
of this remedy to the Hebrews. For this is the covenant that
I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord. I will put my laws into their
mind and write them in their hearts, and I will be to them
a God, and they shall be to me a people. And they shall not
teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying,
Know the Lord. For all shall know me, from the
least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their
unrighteousness, and their sins and iniquities will I remember
no more. The law of Moses has never changed,
nor can its precepts ever be overturned, negated, or counted
as an unholy thing. But this law can never minister
any sort of help to the sons of God, nor can any of their
blessings ever stem from their own obedience to it in any wise. So Paul sets forth the basis
of the hope of the sons of God insofar as any law is concerned.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the
law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free
from the law of sin and death. There is no longer any cloud
of darkness or condemnation which can be held over the heads of
those who are set free in Christ. They are not bound by the obligations
of any law which has not been completely satisfied by Christ.
No longer are they prisoners of the guilt of a broken law,
nor is there weakness in keeping the law of sin and death, any
impediment to the richness of those blessings which are brought
to them through the promise of the new covenant. Truly he has
forgotten their sins and iniquities and remembers them no more. That
which was their weakness has now become their strength. Even
though their sinful flesh remains unchanged, they now have a Deliverer
who is greater than he that is in the world. Paul rejoices in
this very principle when he says, For I delight in the law of God
after the inward man. that which no threat of the law
could ever bring to pass, the Lord Jesus Christ has procured
for those whom he loves. He is their redeemer from the
curse of the law and from the weakness thereof. Therefore,
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are
passed away, Behold, all things are become new, and all things
are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ,
and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. Do wit that
God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing
their trespasses unto them. For a free CD containing 15 of
these radio broadcasts, send an email to forthepoor at windstream.net.