Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. Until his dying day, Peter testified
of the central truth of the gospel, which was revealed unto himself
and the other apostles, most especially James and John, on
the Mount of Transfiguration and at other times during the
Lord's ministry. Paul was his one born out of new time, and
even though he was not physically present during the Lord's days
of ministry, yet he testified of having been a witness of the
resurrected Christ and having been taught directly by him after
being struck blind by him on the road to Damascus. There are
numerous clowns and charlatans who have arisen over the years
claiming to be apostles or having some special power not generally
seen. They each manifest their deception by having some agenda
which promotes themselves and not Christ alone. It matters
not what a man may speak about, or how learned and persuasive
he may be. If the central point of all that
he has to say is not to exalt and honor Christ alone, then
he fails the first basic test of a true apostle, even if he
can produce miracles or unexplained oddities. The glory of God revealed
in the unfolding of the redemptive work of Christ is that which
is the sum and substance of true gospel preaching. The preaching
of the gospel is not an exercise in persuasion, whereby we try
to convince men to take some action. It is not an offer of
benefit for those who are willing to agree with it and accept some
premise as being true. Nor can the success of its proclamation
ever be judged by the amount of visible response which it
generates. Its power and success is in its declaration that Jesus
Christ is the Lord of heaven, earth, and hell, and that His
dominion is without end, that He has triumphed over sin and
death, and has both declared and purchased the liberty of
every captive for which He came to bring deliverance. It is the
clear pronouncement that He has saved His people from their sins,
and that there is therefore now no condemnation to them, nor
can they ever be brought into bondage by either sin or the
law, which is the strength of sin. Peter plainly understood
that Christ is the center and sum of the gospel. God, who at
sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers
by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his
son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he
made the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory and the
express image of his person, and upholding all things by the
word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat
down on the right hand of the majesty on high. being made so
much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained
a more excellent name than they." Peter said that Christ is the
one with whom the Father is well pleased. In eternity, eternity
cannot be measured in any sense. The word eternity only appears
once in the King James Version. The high and lofty one that inhabited
eternity, whose name is holy, I dwell in the high and holy
place. It seems clear enough from the scriptures that eternity
is the sole habitation of God, the unique dwelling place of
the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. It is rather glorious to contemplate
the eternal love of the Father for His Son, and the delight
which the Son has always been to His Father. He is that one
who is the apple of His Father's eye, elect and precious. He said
that Christ is the one with whom the Father is well pleased in
the decree to redeem that people, which He chose and gave to Christ
before the foundation of the world. The decree and purpose
of God cannot be separated from His eternal nature. He changeth
not. His declarations cannot be dated,
nor can man in any wise presume to be able to go beyond that
which He has declared and revealed to us in the pages of Holy Writ.
Before the first Adam of this creation, of which we are now
part, was ever brought forth, God did indeed choose and elect
people to be the objects of His love, and hid them in the bosom
of His Son, with whom He is well pleased. He did decree to create
this world as a place where the beloved Son would come, and purchase
the eternal redemption of those people, which He declared were
His before the world's foundation. He said that Christ is the one
with whom the Father is well pleased in the actual redemptive
work of Christ. This world is the realm into
which Christ has come and demonstrated his purpose to save his people
from their sins. In order to accomplish this purpose,
it was necessary for them to be plunged into the blackness
of sin by Adam's disobedience. But glory to God who loved his
son, the Redeemer, and as he hath life in himself, he is able
to give that life to all of those who are the objects of his love,
for which he has now shed his precious blood. But this man,
after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on
the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be
made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor at windstream.net.