Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. It is sadly true that we often
do not realize the value of something until it is taken from us. By
nature, we are prone to take many of the blessings we enjoy
for granted. We seldom think about the worth of electricity
until we are without power for a few hours. Water is such a
needful thing in our lives, but we don't give it much thought
until we're engaged in some arduous task on a blistering summer day
and the cooler runs dry. We are exactly the same way with
the spiritual blessings of God. Because of the innate coldness
and unthankfulness of our hearts, we often do not fully realize
the true blessings of His presence until such time as He is pleased
to hide His face, and the heavens become as brass, and our attempts
to pray seem to die upon our lips. It is because of this very
bent of nature and the inborn weakness of our flesh that we
see the Lord demonstrate his mercy to us in bringing us many
trials and dark journeys. Truly it is in our weakness that
we are made strong by the power of his might and the display
of his chastening hand. For whom the Lord loveth, he
chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. But if
ye be without chastisement, then are ye bastards and not sons.
Though it is true that the nation of Israel was taken captive as
a result of their own wickedness and departure from the commandments
of the Lord, yet it is also true that among that nation there
was a reserved and faithful remnant who were nonetheless affected
by the same trial. The Lord made mention of this
principle when He said, For he maketh his Son to rise on the
evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. While the rain fell on all, the
purpose and effect of that rain was quite different on those
who were among that remnant and on those who were not. The nation
in general received its just reward for its disobedience,
but the same trial that was under retribution to some was a demonstration
of mercy to those upon whom the Father had a special love. For
it was a trial designed to remind them of the tender mercies and
goodness of God, as they were brought to a proper esteem of
those same blessings by the removal of them. The Lord's people cannot
be content with the same blessings which satisfy the world, nor
can all of the exaltations of those who encourage them to be
happy and think positively cause them to have any enjoyment therein.
The religious world, which calls itself Christian, has in great
measure departed from the ways of Zion, adopting the notion
that the salvation of the righteous is a cooperative effort between
the Lord who provides it and the men who allow him to save
them. As a result, they have devised all manner of devices
designed to make the offense of the cross to cease and make
the gospel more appealing to the flesh. They tell us that
we should be delighted with the majestic modern rivers of freewillism
which they have produced. Yet we have hung our harps upon
the willows which grow by these rivers of Babylon. For we cannot
sing the Lord's song in a strange land, even though we're exhorted
to do so by the positive thinkers and those whose chief concern
is building up the kingdom through coerced decisions and a gospel
which replaces the preaching of a complete atonement made
by Christ for his elect with an atonement which is supposedly
offered for all, but in reality completes the salvation of none.
This is no gospel at all, but is a mixture of grace and works.
They have denied that the Lord chose a people unto salvation
before the foundation of the world, based on nothing but His
everlasting love for those He has appointed as the heirs of
salvation. Instead, they preach that men have the power to choose
to become the sons of God by an act of their own free will,
which denies the Scripture which says His sons were born not of
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man,
but of God. They tell us man can believe
at any time by this same free will, yet the scripture says
as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. They have in great
measure replaced contemplative, soul-searching worship and doctrinally
sound Bible preaching with hootenannies and pep talks in order to have
a broader appeal to those who hunger for entertainment with
a dose of religion. Yet the hearts of those who hunger
for the exaltation of Christ alone are hung upon the willows
as the efforts of men are emphasized and that which Christ has finished
is made an afterthought. They delight in exalting religious
leaders and performers and have little, if any, regard to the
ministry of the saints one to another. They have made that
which is to be freely and cheerfully given to the Lord a matter of
duty by coercing men to bring their tithes into the storehouse,
which grows ever more extravagant and attractive to the flesh.
We weep when we remember Zion. This is that beautiful city of
God wherein Christ alone is exalted, sitting in royal state upon the
throne of His everlasting kingdom, having shed His own precious
blood to redeem the subjects thereof. If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor at windstream.net.