Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. The only one worthy to manifest
the purpose of God in the earth was the Lord Jesus Christ. He
has loosed those seven seals of that book which John saw,
and is seen as the one who had already prevailed. And they sung
a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and
to open the seals thereof. For thou was slain, and hast
redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue,
and people, and nation. By his own power and might he
has determined the means whereby he would justify the elect, and
by the same power he has accomplished in time that which he determined
to be done in eternity, that he might present it to himself
a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
but that it should be holy and without blemish. He has not just
attempted her redemption, nor has he merely set the wheels
in motion and is awaiting the outcome of what will take place
according to her free will decisions. Some think that men walk in obedience
to his commands because of their own volition, and they spend
great amounts of time cajoling men to follow him. They use every
tactic in the book from shame to reward to try to stimulate
men to obedience. Some have a little more spiritual
outlook and contend that he creates in men a holy nature, which in
turn causes them to walk in obedience to him. The problem with this
view is that even the warmest of our thoughts is but cold as
ice. The truth is that even those
whom he has redeemed are yet weak in the flesh, and cannot
even so much as call upon his name, except that he should undergird
them with strength and power. And therefore he not only commands
his children to follow him, but he performs in them all that
he requires of them. For it is God which worketh in
you both the will and to do of His good pleasure. Do we lack
love for our brethren? He alone can make us to love
them. Do we neglect the place of prayer? He alone can stir
our souls to cry out to Him. Does our pride rise up within
us? He alone can humble our pride and bring us down to His feet
in repentance. Do we lack understanding? He alone can open our minds and
fill our hearts with His truth. Do we find our faith to be weak?
He alone can give us faith. Do we have no joy? He alone can
cause us to rejoice. Whatever He has called us to
do, He will perform. Faithful is He that calleth you,
who also will do it. We often think of a performer
as someone who is an entertainer or who puts on a display for
someone to observe. The scriptural meaning of perform
is to accomplish, to finish, or complete. The scriptures say,
he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it. So we
could paraphrase what he is saying as whatever he starts, he will
finish. Oh, what a glorious thought! That one who began a work in
our behalf before we ever even drew breath or had our first
thought shall bring to pass exactly what he determined to do for
us. Even though we perish, he shall not fail to accomplish
that which he has begun. If he is my performer, it does
not matter how weak I may be. We should all like to boast of
having great faith, and there are even some who claim to possess
it in great abundance. Yet the truth is that we quite
often find ourselves crying out to him, Lord, I believe, help
thou mine unbelief. But it makes no difference, for
if he is our performer, even the very devils of hell shall
tremble at our reproach. My strength is made perfect in
weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities,
that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take
pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions,
in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I
strong. If He is my Performer, it does
not matter whether I live or die. Paul said, For whether we
live, we live unto the Lord, or whether we die, we die unto
the Lord. Whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. Though
our bodies be filled with disease, and all of the great physicians
and healers have given up on us, yet if He be our Performer,
we shall live forever. If he is my performer, it does
not matter whether men approve of me or not. No one likes to
be an outcast and have men speak ill of him. But if he is our
performer, we care not what the world should say or do. If you
were of the world, the world would love his own. But because
you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the
world, therefore the world hateth you. If he is my performer, it
does not matter that I feel condemned for my sin. For if our heart
condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things.
Our acceptance in the courts of heaven is not in any way predicated
on how acceptable we may feel, but our acceptance is based solely
on our performer. To the praise of the glory of
his grace, when he hath made us accepted in the blood, in
whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sins according to the riches of his grace. Is Christ your
performer or do you have your own righteousness? For a free
CD containing five of these radio broadcasts, send an email to
forthepoor at windstream dot net.