Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. The preaching of the gospel is
the declaration of Christ's purchase, that is redemption, of a bride
for himself. As such, the preaching of it
is an announcement of good tidings or good news. It is the manifestation
and proclamation of the immutable love of the Lord for his people,
which he has demonstrated in the earth by the giving of himself
in their behalf. He speaks of the absolute deliverance
of a people. Sadly, the gospel has been reduced
to a mere proposition or offer by most preachers of our day.
They tell us that Christ died to purchase salvation for all
men without exception, yet in reality procured the salvation
of none. They tell us that a man can make
the work of Christ effectual for themselves by an action of
their own. This is to deny the actual purchase which Christ
made of his bride, which he loved from before the foundation of
the world. This type of message juxtaposes the cause of salvation
and makes it dependent on an action of the redeemed rather
than the finished work of the Redeemer. If Christ has purchased
the salvation of his elect, then their salvation is procured apart
from anything they could ever do or fail to do. They are certain
to be the recipients of that which he has bought with his
own blood. By his own blood he entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. This is not
a difficult concept to grasp. If you go to the grocery store
and purchase a sack full of groceries, they are yours without dispute.
There are no other conditions which must be met in order to
take those groceries home, nor is the ride home in any wise
dependent on what is in the sack. The purchaser and the payment
of the purchase price has settled the issue once and for all. This
is exactly what we see in the Declaration of Boaz as he announces
for all to hear that he had purchased Ruth to be his wife. We see here
a picture of the Lord's redemption of his bride. He made this declaration
so that there might be no disputing the matter in time to come. For
if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling
the unclean, sanctify to the purifying of the flesh, how much
more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit
offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience
from dead works to serve the living God? Number two, he would
declare his love for and identify with a woman with a heathen ancestry
and a lineage of wickedness. Ruth was a Moabite. Moab was
the progenitor of her family, and he was the product of the
incestuous union of Lot with his own daughter. The Lord Jesus
Christ came into the world to save sinners. He has declared
his love for them and his intention to save them. Number three, he
declared his love for a woman who had been married to another.
Ruth was the wife of Malon, to whom she had willingly given
her heart in the land of her nativity, and who had died, leaving
her abandoned unto destruction. In like fashion, though the bride
of Christ was betrothed to him before the world's foundation,
she embraced her carnal love of sin, being made subject to
the law of sin and death. The love of Christ for His bride
transcended her impurity, and He has not only purchased her
with His own blood, but He has cleansed and sanctified her with
the same, that He might present her as a chaste bride before
His Father's face, 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 declared his intention to
raise up seed unto Malon, that was Ruth's first husband, that
the name of the dead be not cut off. Were it not for the fact
that his mercy is bestowed upon the human race by redeeming a
remnant out of this benighted world, then humanity would cease
to exist because of sin and death. It is in this sense that the
scripture speaks of his dying for the sins of the whole world.
Because of his purpose, Christ arose triumphant over death on
the third day and became the first fruits of them that sleep.
Who but Christ could resurrect himself? For he alone hath immortality. Those wretched sinners who are
the objects of his grace shall live forever in his presence
because he has given them eternal life. The first man is of the
earth, earthy. The second man is the Lord from
heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy.
And as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
And as we are born in the image of the earthy, we shall also
bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that
flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Neither doth
corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. For the trumpet
shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and
we shall be changed. If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor at windstream.net.