Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. Those who would oppose
the preaching of an absolutely sovereign God are generally willing
to believe anything but the fact that God is the decider of man's
destiny. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. This could
not possibly be correct according to them. They don't mind him
being in charge of the weather, the planets, or even the outcome
of the lottery or the football game. But oh, he can't be in
charge of the destiny of men. That's un-American. It's not
what Grandma believed. It's, gasp, unfair. We're supposed
to believe that it would be much better if God had chosen to save
none and left the choice up to us. Yet the Lord plainly said,
No man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my
Father. There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after
God. And you will not come to me that you might have life.
So the natural man is willing to strain at a gnat and swallow
a camel by ignoring what he said in John 6, 40. No man can come
to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him. In order
to correctly understand any passage of Scripture, we must have four
things. Number one, the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Number two,
an accurate copy of the Scriptures. Number three, a willingness to
receive His truth. And number four, an understanding
of the context of the passage as it relates to the whole of
Scripture. In 1 Timothy 2, 1 through 6, Paul gives instruction to
Timothy that prayer should be made for all men. Now it is necessary
that we understand who all men are. If he means all men individually
and without exception, then it would be necessary to remove
1 John 5, 16 from the Bible because the Lord specifically said there
are some not to be prayed for. Nor should we pray for those
who are already dead, nor give thanks for those who are false
teachers, etc. Clearly, the all is limited by
the context in which it is given to all types and ranks of men,
those in authority as well as those who are not. The Lord never
instructed his disciples to be instigators of insurrection,
nor the overthrow of political systems. Rather, we are to pray
for those in places of authority, that we may be able to lead lives
of quietness, peace, and worship. When we clearly understand all
in its proper context, then we can see that the absolute purpose
of God is to save men from all walks of life. Under an oppressive
earthly regime, like the early church was under the Romans,
we can see Paul's wisdom in reminding them that the Lord's hand is
not shortened in any wise, because it is his purpose to save men
of every nation. Cornelius and the Ethiopian eunuch
are good examples. God will save all of those whom
he intends to save, not one more and not one less. He goes on
to say that Christ gave himself a ransom for all to be testified
in due time. If this meant that he died to
purchase everyone, then it would have to follow that such would
ultimately be manifested. If that were true, then there
would be no separation of the sheep and the goats on the day
of judgment. So clearly the all includes only those who shall
ultimately be displayed as the trophies of his grace. In 1 Peter
3.9, the whole verse reads, The Lord is not slack concerning
his promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering
to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should
come to repentance. Those who roll this scripture
out usually conveniently leave out the portion of the verse
which clearly identifies all as usward, that is, the sons
of God. When it is included, it's quite
clear that there is a word, usward, that defines who it is that the
Lord is not willing, should perish. He loves his elect people, us
of the usward, so much so that he is not willing that any of
them should perish, but shall bring all of them to repentance.
None of his elect will be abandoned to die in a state of unrepentant
darkness, but he will in mercy call each one according to his
purpose. It is not possible that one should perish for whom Christ
shed his precious blood. For whom He did foreknow, He
also did predestinate to be conformed in the image of His Son, that
He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called,
them He also justified. And whom He justified, them He
also glorified. What shall we then say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared
not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall
He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died. Yea, rather, that is risen again,
who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession
for us. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? For a free CD containing 15 of
these radio broadcasts, send an email to forthepoor at windstream.net.