Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of commercials for Zion's Tour. All men are born
enamored with their own free will. No one ever has to instruct
another on his right and ability to do as he pleases. It usually
comes as quite a shock when God is pleased to teach a man by
his spirit that the will that he thought was free is actually
a total bond slave to sin. Those who have not been taught
the true nature of sin think they can simply avoid sin by
their own choice or religious transformation. But those who
have been enlightened by the Spirit of God are quite convinced
that in their flesh dwells no good thing. And they are brought
to realize that unless the Lord delivers them from it, their
own sin will ultimately bring about their certain destruction.
This was the lament of Paul as he cried out, O wretched man
that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
In the fourth chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul lays the axe to the root
of all human boasting by saying a few simple words, for who maketh
thee to differ from another? Now, it would seem logical that
men would delight in the grace of God, but the reality is that
the natural man hates the doctrine of grace because it totally strips
him of any place of boasting except in that grace. It takes
away any thought of merit in any endeavor which he might consider
to be of value in his own actions. It does the same thing in the
man who is born again by the Spirit. He is taught, first of
all, that he cannot boast in faith, since faith is the gift
of God. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not only
is the initial work of granting faith all of grace, but the subsequent
operation of it is as well. Being confident of this very
thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform
it until the day of Jesus Christ. They are taught that they cannot
boast of their maturity in Christ. For I say through the grace given
unto me to every man that is among you, not to think of himself
more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly,
according as God had dealt to every man the measure of faith.
He is pleased to grant great faith to some and weak faith
to others, but he is the one who grants the measure that he
sees fit to give, and the faith of all, whether great or small,
has the same singular object. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. That according as it is written,
he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. The man who is born
again by the Spirit cannot boast of his knowledge. We know that
we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity
edifieth. Regardless of all that we think
we know, we are still sadly deficient. And if any man think that he
knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.
Whatever level of true knowledge that we might possess is only
that which He is pleased to teach us. 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. He cannot boast of His earthly
station in life, God is pleased to give some much of this world's
goods, and He is pleased to withhold it from others. Let the brother
of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted, but the rich in
that he is made low, because as the flower of the grass he
shall pass away. While the men of this world may
think that they have made themselves rich, that man who is instructed
by Christ knows that all he might possess is merely the gift of
God. He cannot boast of his faithfulness.
Peter had to learn this lesson the hard way, since he made the
boast that he would stand with the Lord even if all others forsook
him. The Lord used the sifting of the devil to teach Peter that
apart from the Lord upholding him, he would surely fall. Now
unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present
you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.
To the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion
and power, both now and ever. Amen. Finally, if a man's born
again, he has only one place in which he must ever boast.
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and
I unto the world. He cannot boast in his election,
because he might be mistaken. He cannot boast in his religious
ties, because he might be deceived. He cannot boast in his brethren,
because they might forsake him. But oh, even the weakest of those
who feebly call upon his name shall never be confounded. They
are those who have fled for refuge to him who ever lives to make
intercession for those who come unto God by him. The Lamb who
was slain for sinners is their only hope and expectation. In
what do you boast? If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor at windstream.net.