Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. There has been a concerted effort
on the part of religious counterfeiters over the last hundred years to
convince men that it is by an act of man's free will that he
can become a child of God and a follower of Christ as well.
There are even classes taught with the intent of instructing
men and women on how to be the followers of Christ. The vast
majority of those who call themselves Christians are convinced that
they became so by their free choice in cooperating with the
supposed plan of salvation, having made a decision to be saved as
a result of an emotional plea to come forward or raise their
hand at the close of a religious meeting or in response to the
presentation of some well-meaning soul winner. Many of these same
folks have been convinced that they are now the followers of
Christ because someone else has assured them that they are. God
is quite able to call His own children in His own time by whatever
means or lack thereof that He may see fit to use. He alone
can cause a man to become a follower of Christ, and He alone can keep
those whom He calls from falling without the aid of men in any
way. While there are many imitation
followers of Christ, there are also those who are the true followers
of Christ. They can be known by the fact
that, number one, they have one allegiance. Christ is the only
one that they will follow. My sheep hear my voice, and I
know them, and they follow me. Since he knows them, he calls
them by name, and he leads them in and out where they find pasture.
The sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name,
and leadeth them out. And when he put forth his own
sheep, he goeth before them. And the sheep follow him, for
they know his voice. And a stranger will they not
follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of
strangers. They seek one source of truth. Even as Peter said,
Thou hast the words of eternal life. His followers are not seeking
out prophets, gurus, and seers, but they desire to hear Christ.
They are those who shall not be turned aside from following
Christ by those who are false Christs and deceivers. When he
calls, they answer. When he called the 12 by name,
he did not request that they make a decision. He simply said,
follow me, and they were compelled to do so. It is no different
with any other of his sheep. He calleth them all by name,
and they all hear his voice. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. They can be known by the fact
that they follow him not for loaves and fishes. The cry of
the counterfeiters is to try and persuade men to follow Christ
for the benefit that it will be to them. They promise blessings
in this life and an escape from hell and that which is to come.
The religious multitudes are seeking their own benefit, but
the true followers of Christ do so because they can do nothing
else. Even as Job of old expressed
the necessity of his trust, though he slay me, yet will I trust
him. They follow him because they
are his sheep. He said to the Pharisees, but
ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep. As I said unto
you, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow
me. The Lord did not come into the
world to make goats into sheep, but to gather the sheep of his
own pasture. those which were given to him
before the foundation of the world, which are those he came
to seek and to save. The elect of God were with him
before the foundation of the world. There has never been a
time when he did not love them with an everlasting love, nor
that he was not united to them as their elder brother and redeemer.
They have been His before the mountains were brought forth
or the seas were placed within their bounds. It is for them
that He came into the world and subjected Himself to the sentence
of death in their behalf. They follow Him because He loves
them. We love Him because He first loved us. He has manifested
that love by His actions. But God commendeth His love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. They love one another. This is
really the truest test of whether or not a man is a follower of
Christ. If we do love him, we will love the brethren. By this
shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love
one to another. Those that do not cherish the
people of God cannot be his followers, regardless of their creed. Do
you love the people of God? If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor at windstream.net.