Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. Zechariah said that at evening
time it shall be light. Christ is indeed the light of
the world, and more particularly the light of his people, to which
he is pleased to reveal himself. The people that walked in darkness
have seen a great light. They that dwell in the land of
the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. Paul testified,
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. In another place,
Peter said, We have also a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto
ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth
in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day star arise in
your hearts. The manifestation of this light
never varies. He is the same light, when he
said, Let there be light, as he is said to be in the ages
to come. And the city had no need of the
sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it. For the glory of
God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. The people
of God are given light by Him and shall reign as the kings
and priests He has made them to be. He is their light, and
they are unable to see more clearly, only as it pleases Him to remove
their darkness, since they have no innate ability to see anything
apart from His light. Through the ages to come they
shall see him, because he shall have removed their darkness once
and for all. The elect of God are accepted
of God only because they are in Christ, and they shall stand
in his imputed righteousness forever. They only have a reflected
light, of which he has always been and shall always be the
source, even as the moon is but a reflection of the light of
the sun. For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given
to the Son to have life in himself. He is that One who only hath
immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach
unto, whom no man hath seen nor can see, to whom be honor and
power everlasting. Amen. While we read that Christ
has the Spirit without measure, yet we as the sons of God are
given all things by measure, whether it be His spiritual gifts
or the gift of faith itself. 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 hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
Paul further admonished and reminded the Corinthian believers of this
fact with these words, 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? The Lord gave his apostles a
mandate to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every
creature. It is through the foolishness
of preaching that God has been pleased to save some who are
identified as those that believe. This salvation is described as
that wherein life and immortality are brought to light. The preaching
of the gospel does not produce light, nor does it confer life
to dead sinners, nor is there any power at all in the ability
of men to preach it. Yet it is that which God has
ordained to inform those that sit in darkness of the great
light that has now shined in a dark place. Paul testified
that he had no choice but to preach the gospel, even alluding
to being sent as a representative of Christ to declare the glorious
message of reconciliation to those whom God is pleased to
give ears to hear it. He hath given to us the ministry
of reconciliation, to wit that God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and
hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. The purpose
of preaching the gospel is primarily to exalt the name of Christ in
the display of His redemptive work which He has accomplished
by taking upon Himself the sin of His elect and imputing His
righteousness to them by the means of His substitutionary
atonement. For He hath made Him to be sin
for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. This is that wherein all of our
boasting is to take place. 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. We are not
sent to try to persuade men to fulfill some formula or offer
up obedience to the Lord. but rather to declare the unsearchable
riches of Christ, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for
the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God, to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness,
that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth
in Jesus. Christ is all. If you would like
a free transcript of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor at windstream.net.