Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. Paul admonishes the children
of God, those he refers to as the children of life, to be sober,
putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet,
the hope of salvation. It is this helmet, which is the
very protection that enshrouds the believer's mind, giving him
peace in the midst of all manner of difficulty and trials that
would otherwise completely beset him as he traverses this lowland
of sin and sorrow. God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear though
the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into
the midst of the sea. The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge. The Lord is as real to the believer
in the present age as he shall be through the ages to come.
That man who has been born again by the Spirit of God has been
given the Spirit of a Son, which cries, Abba, Father. Though he
does with great anticipation and delight contemplate that
life which is yet to come, when this mortal is put on immortality
and he is freed from this corruptible flesh, yet he enjoys the sweet
consolation of hope in the present time. This hope is, in its substance,
no less an authentic possession of joy than that which shall
be his in the ages to come, when all veils are removed and he
sees his Lord face to face. It is this hope that is the salvation
of the elect, for we are saved by hope, to whom God would make
known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the
Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. The hope
of God's people is Christ, while the very basis of their hope
of eternal life rests upon the complete atoning work of Jesus
Christ in their behalf. The fruition of that hope is
made manifest to them in His very person as He sends His Spirit
to dwell in each one. Know ye not your own selves how
that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? They
have no expectation of being accounted as righteous according
to the law, except in the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ
as their substitute. Yet the very grounds upon which
they are enabled to rejoice in that work done for them is the
operation of his Spirit in them, which causes them to have hope
in his mercy, which endures forever. This is a sweet consolation indeed,
which though sometimes hidden in part, yet they are never forsaken.
And confess with Job, though he slay me, yet will I trust
in him. The children of God are given
grace to hope in him and no other. This hope is their consolation
when sin has overwhelmed them. There is no child of God who
is not a sinner. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves
and the truth is not in us. There is no greater bitterness
that could ever grip the soul of one of God's little children
than that which is illustrated in Peter's denial of Him. When
by all rights Peter should have been cast off by the Lord, yet
his eye gazed upon Peter at the very acme of his disobedience
and brought him to repentance. And Peter went out and wept bitterly. This hope is their consolation
when the troubles and trials of this life threaten to destroy
them, and they are brought face to face with their own mortality
and the frailty of this flesh. Paul was taught this very principle
when given his thorn in the flesh, and he said, I have learned in
whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. I know both how
to be abased and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all
things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both
to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ,
which strengtheneth me. This hope is their consolation
when the darkness of the grave overshadows them, and the pains
of death shake these trembling houses of clay. The sorrows of
death compassed me, and the pains of hell got hold upon me. I found
trouble and sorrow, then I called upon the name of the Lord. Oh,
I was brought low, and he helped me. Dying grace is not needed
until such an hour as death beckons with its chilly hand, and the
grave opens its mouth. Yet in just such an hour as that,
he is the believer's refuge, even as David testified. Yea,
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will
fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they
comfort me. This hope is their consolation
beyond the grave. If in this life only we have
hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is
Christ risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them
that slept. The culmination in some of the believer's hope is
in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As he arose from the
dead, so shall all those be raised who are his at his coming. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according
to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again to a lively hope by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved
in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith
unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. If you would
like a free transcript of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor
at windstream.net.