Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morshu's For Zion's Poor. The scripture is abundantly
clear, that there shall be none who have truly fled to Christ
for refuge and cast themselves upon his mercy, who shall ever
be confounded or disappointed. The Lord also will be a refuge
for the oppressed, a refuge in time of trouble, They shall know
thy name that put their trust in thee, for thou, Lord, hast
not forsaken them that seek thee. Wherefore also it is contained
in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone,
elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be
confounded. Yet as clear as this truth is,
there is also clearly set forth in the scriptures the fact that
there will be some who have an outward profession of faith,
a high moral standard, a record of good works, and even the evidence
of some form of spiritual warfare who shall nonetheless perish
in their sins. The Lord set forth this very
scenario in Matthew 7, 21 through 23. Not everyone that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will
say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils, and in thy name
done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto
them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. These whom the Lord identified
as those He did not know, each one confessed exactly wherein
their trust lay. They identified their good works
and acts of spirituality as that which they were confident would
gain them favor with the Lord. The vast multitude of those who
make some profession of faith seem to fall into this category.
They believe that by performing these good works, preaching and
prophesying, casting out demons, they are doing the Father's will.
They are not ashamed to even bring these works before the
Lord as if to impress Him with all their faithfulness, or at
least to expect that they should receive some recompense for having
done these things. Countless numbers of such professors
over the last 150 years have imbibed a message which has told
them that it lies within their power to believe and obey the
truth of God. Thus it is not unusual to find
them seeking a place of satisfaction in their profession of faith
and bolstering their confidence by pointing out their acts of
righteousness. Yet that man who is taught of God knows that even
the very best of any activity which he might ever perform in
the Lord's name is but filthy rags in the sight of him who
is of purer eyes than to look upon sin. Not only that, but
if a man did everything that he was commanded to do, he would
still be nothing but an unprofitable servant, according to the Lord's
testimony. That man who is taught of God
has no confidence at all in any act which he might ever perform.
Such a man can have no confidence even in his own acts of faith,
but must cry out, Help thou mine unbelief. He can find no place
of comfort in the methods and verbiage of the soul winners.
He is not interested in being led to make a decision. Rather,
he is constantly crying out for mercy, and knowing that unless
the Lord grants him faith to believe, he shall surely and
rightly perish. Thus he spends the course of his days hungering
after even a morsel of food from the Lord's storehouse and finding
no help at all in the works of the flesh and the trappings of
religion. His constant weakness and longing for the courts of
God is the manifestation of that which the Lord said was His will
and work in the lives of those He has called from darkness to
light. Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of
God, that ye believe on him whom ye have sent. Those in whom this
work is performed do not always recognize it in their own selves,
even though they can often see its fruits clearly performed
in others. The work of true faith, which is the gift of God, does
not always cause one to clearly see his own title to immortal
glory. For the way which the Christian is called to walk in
is often hedged about on every side with dark forebodings and
genuine doubtings of one's own interest in such glories. because
of the convicting power of the Spirit of God, who gives them
no place of confidence in their flesh, and reminds them of those
things done in secret. But it does indelibly print upon
the heart with ink which cannot be erased, an abiding confidence
in Him who is the author and finisher of faith, and causes
those thus given it to confess with Job, though he slay me,
yet will I trust in him. Because of this life of chastening
to which the sons of God are called, the Lord has ordained
that the gospel of Jesus Christ be preached, that those called
by His grace might be encouraged and find true rest in the midst
of their weary and often trying journey. Comfort ye, comfort
ye, my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity
is pardoned, for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for
all her sins. Is this message precious to you?
If you would like a free transcript of this broadcast, email us at
forthepoor at windstream.net.