Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. Though the prince of the
power of the air goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom
he may devour, and opposes the establishment of the kingdom
of God at every opportunity, yet even his machinations and
spiteful activities are ordered by the king of kings to occur
in such a way as to bring about the very end which the king desires. Even as he was used in the trial
of Job to accomplish the Lord's purpose to bring a benefit to
Job, in the same fashion the Lord uses the sinful ways of
men to accomplish his purpose in the establishment and furtherance
of this kingdom. We see the persecutions which
were brought upon the church being used as a means to disperse
his messengers and send them out as bearers of the good news
of this kingdom to the highways and hedges. As for Saul, he made
havoc of the church, entering into every house and hailing
men and women, committed them to prison. Therefore they that
were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word. He also used
the sharp disagreement between Paul and Barnabas to cause them
to go their separate ways, multiplying the message which he would send
by their hands. So regardless of the supposed hindrances which
men see, God causes these things to work together for good to
those who are the called according to his purpose. I met a man many
years ago by the name of Prem Pradhan. The Lord had opened
his heart to believe the gospel shortly after World War II while
he was stationed in India. He soon left India where he had
first heard the gospel and returned to his native land of Nepal.
The Lord had given him a burden for his people, and he began
to preach the gospel there. Nepal was a country which had
several dialects, and Prim related how the Lord had revealed to
him that he would be used to bring the gospel of the kingdom
to them all. He had no idea how he would ever get to them all,
and often was vexed in his soul with that burden. It was illegal
there to change one's religion or to influence others to do
so. As you might suspect, he was soon arrested and imprisoned
for six years. During that time in prison, he
came into contact with men from each one of those tribes who
the Lord was pleased to bring to a knowledge of Christ while
in that prison and to sit under his teaching. For many years
in Nepal, practically every church there was established by those
men whom the Lord was pleased to raise up. even though many
of them had to meet in secret. This illustrates the Lord's unshakable
purpose to establish His kingdom against which the gates of hell
cannot prevail. Paul goes on to say that his
own imprisonment was used by the Lord to enable some to boldly
proclaim the gospel, who would perhaps not have been so bold
had Paul still been in their midst. And many of the brethren
in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold
to speak the word without fear. Paul was used mightily of the
Lord to teach many, but that same strong teaching was to some
extent intimidating to some who were fearful of trying to measure
up to him. The Lord took him out of the way. No man is indispensable
to the increase of this kingdom. He raises men up and puts them
down according to his own will. The Lord had a reason for removing
Paul from the churches he ministered to, and he had a purpose in sending
Paul to Rome because he had sheep there as well. Our Lord does
not overcome circumstances. Rather, He is the God of all
circumstances, bringing to pass His desired result according
to His sovereign purpose. Some had evidently begun to preach
boldly to establish their own pecking order and strut their
stuff since they felt that Paul was now out of the picture. Some
indeed preached Christ even of envying strife. But it mattered
little to Paul what the personal intent of these men was, as long
as the gospel was preached. He was not endorsing their error,
nor sanctioning their little preacher games, but recognizing
that Christ is glorified in a true proclamation of the gospel, regardless
of a man's intent. The ministry of all men will
one day be shown to be of such insignificance that the only
glory seen will be that of the Lord Jesus Christ. This will
no doubt be a great shock to those gospel preachers who love
the chief seats and to be given great deference and titles of
respect. The furtherance of the gospel is the work of God, who
calls men from a far country and ravenous birds from the east
according to his purpose. He shall not fail to establish
His kingdom in the earth. Except a man be brought into
this kingdom by the grace of God, he can in no wise enter
into it, nor can he have any understanding of the working
of it, apart from the revelation of Him who holds the keys to
that kingdom and gives them to whomsoever He will. I that speak
in righteousness mighty to save. Have you seen His kingdom? For
a free CD containing 15 of these radio broadcasts, Send an email
to forthepoor at windstream dot net.