Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. The most common message heard
from pulpits, radio, and TV is centered on telling men that
they have the ability to choose to follow Christ whenever they
make their minds up to do so. The scriptures are reduced by
these Bible thumpers to a book which describes a moral code
by which men should shape their lives and a guidebook to order
their finances, marriages, and practically any endeavor which
they in their free will desire to pursue. The Pharisees of Christ's
day thought the very same thing. They were avid scholars of what
the Bible said and even wore scriptures upon their bodies
much in the same fashion as we see folks parading around in
t-shirts with scriptures, religious slogans, or the Ten Commandments
on them. If the Pharisees had thought
of it, they might even have put the name of their synagogue on
their robes so as to advertise their assembly. Yet the Lord
told the Pharisees, Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think
ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me.
And ye will not come to me that ye might have life. They were
convinced that they were followers of the truth because they felt
that they had it within their own power to perform acts of
righteousness which would be pleasing unto the Lord. Yet the
Lord told them that they were blind and naked because they
thought they could see and do the will of God. They revered
the Scriptures, but they missed the whole subject of the Scriptures,
which is Jesus Christ. I recently read a survey that
said more than 60% of the United States claims to be a church
member of one sort or another. This is almost twice the number,
percentage-wise, of those who made the same claim at the start
of the 19th century. Yet we are, as a nation, almost
totally ignorant of the true message of the gospel. Few of
those who claim to be Christians have any concept of the reality
of what the new birth is. Most think that they can cause
themselves to be born again by making a decision for Christ
as an act of their own free will. They are led down the path of
this darkness by a multitude of leaders who are ignorant of
the gospel and think that Christ died to make salvation a possibility
for all, rather than an absolute purchase of redemption for some.
Paul could clearly see the necessity of grace, since being slain by
the power of the Holy Ghost while on the road to Damascus, he was
brought face to face with Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, through
no power or action of his own. Therefore he was compelled to
write, For who maketh thee to differ from another? And what
hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive
it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it? He
went on to say, But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his
grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain. But I labored
the more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace
of God which was with me. He plainly understood that it
was the grace of God and nothing else that not only brought him
into the kingdom of God, but enabled him to do the mighty
acts and deeds which were in reality wrought in him by the
Holy Ghost. Glorying in oneself comes to
an abrupt end when a man is taught that all of his salvation and
its fruits from beginning to end is the product of God's grace. For by grace are ye saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained,
that we should walk in them. It is quite common for men to
act in the flesh as though they have reason to consider themselves
of greater value in the church than another. This was demonstrated
in the epistle which John wrote to the church in which Diotrephes
was a member. He thought that since he was
in a position of authority that he ought to be considered more
highly than other brethren. It is not uncommon to see those
who have been given teaching gifts grow puffed up and think
it acceptable to lord themselves over the brethren, often taking
titles such as bishop, elder, reverend, pastor, or whatever
to give them status. Yet all of those whom the Lord
sees fit to call are partakers of the same benefit, whether
given the tongues of men and angels or only a small measure
of faith, whereby he struggles to digest the milk of the word
and sometimes chokes upon the meat. Grace demands that he who
would be greatest must be the servant of all. He who would
be a leader of the Lord's sheep must do it by example and not
decree. He who would be a teacher must
be easily entreated, not impatient with those of lesser understanding,
and never seeking to subjugate those who are inheritors of the
same grace as he. Grace is that which makes the
wealthiest beggars, and beggars to be the wealthiest of men.
It is that which humbles the proud and that which lifts the
poor in spirit. Rejoice, dear brethren, for if
we are indeed the sons of God, we must be partakers of the same
benefit. If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor at windstream.net.