Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. The natural man always values
the husk of religion. These husks are the trappings
of fine meetinghouses, respectable meetings, great crowds, skillful
preachers, singers, and musicians. They are most encouraged when
someone is stirring them up to excitement through great oratory
or displays of entertainment which hold their rapt attention.
Those preachers which can incite men to perform great feats of
devotion, such as soul winning, Bible reading, tithing, etc.,
are those who are held in great esteem and command large salaries
for their services. Just as these Jews to whom Isaiah
prophesied had no regard to the work of the Lord, so it is in
great measure among most of the religious assemblies calling
themselves Christian churches today. They have little concern
for the work of the Lord, since they generally believe that they
are the ones who perform it for him, or at least in a partnership
agreement of sorts. They are convinced that their
God has no hands but theirs, and no feet except their own.
He is just like the gods of the heathen, which David describes.
The predominant message which we hear preached all around us
would lead men to believe that their salvation is some kind
of cooperative effort between them and the Lord. It is an affront
to the glory of God when men have regard to any other work
than that which Christ has performed. To do so is to disregard the
work of Christ as being the sum total of that which is needful
for the deliverance of the children of God. To add anything to this
salvation which men must perform is to disregard the completeness
of Christ's redemption and thereby to disregard His glory. The Pharisees
believed the Scriptures and were avid students of them. Yet the
Lord rebuked them and told them that they were missing the whole
meaning and purpose of the Scriptures. Search the Scriptures, for in
them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which
testify of me. If a man can quote the whole
Bible from memory, yet does not see Christ on every page, that
man has missed the truth and disregarded the work of the Lord.
It is not enough to preach that men can be saved if one does
not preach that those for whom Christ shed His blood must be
saved. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. Neither is there salvation in
any other, for there is none other name under heaven given
among men whereby we must be saved. To deny that Christ obtained
eternal redemption for his elect is to disregard the work of the
Lord. It is not enough to say that the blood of Christ is of
such value as to be sufficient to save all men when one does
not declare that he has shed his blood solely and specifically
for those whose names were written upon his breast, when he entered
into the Holy of Holies with his own blood as a direct and
definite atonement for their sins. To consider that some of
those for whom the blood of Christ was shed shall perish is to disregard
the work of the Lord. My sheep hear my voice, and I
know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. It is not enough to declare the
wideness of God's mercy if one does not declare that he reserves
the sovereign right to show mercy to whom he wills and to harden
whom he wills. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
It is to disregard the work of the Lord to intimate that mercy
is somehow owed to men or bestowed upon all indiscriminately by
him whose mercy endureth forever. It is not enough to preach that
whosoever will may come if one does not declare that he alone
can give a man the gift of faith and make him willing in the day
of thy power. There is none that understandeth,
there is none that seeketh after God. To encourage men to have
faith without telling them who is the author and finisher of
faith is to disregard the work of the Lord. It is not enough
to tell men that they must be born again if one does not make
it plain that this new birth is completely and totally the
operation of the Spirit of God upon men without any active participation
on their part. The wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it
cometh, and whither it goeth. So is every one that is born
of the Spirit, which were born not of blood, nor of the will
of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. To tell men
that they can be born again by an act of their free will is
to disregard the work of the Lord, who quickeneth whom he
will. May the Lord our God give us
a proper regard for the work of the Lord. Come and see the
works of God. He is terrible in his doing toward
the children of men. He is the Savior of sinners and
the Redeemer of the hopeless. If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor at windstream.net.