Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morse's For Zion's Poor. One must never confuse
true faith, which is the gift of God, with the natural operation
of optimism and hopeful expectation. True faith has nothing to do
with the power of positive thinking. True faith is not simply a feeling
of relief or an abiding confidence that whatever one wishes to come
to pass will indeed occur. Rather, true faith is the operation
of the Spirit of God in the born-again child of God to convince him
of certain facts. Now faith is the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith has
both a substance and an evidence. The man who is made to believe
the truth of God must stand upon it. He can do nothing else. He
may falter and fail in the flesh, but he cannot escape from the
knowledge and confidence that the truth is found in the person
of Jesus Christ, to whom he is driven and drawn with cords of
love which cannot be broken. True faith is objective, or we
might say it has its basis not in feelings or in hopeful expectations,
but rather in the person and the work of one who said, I am
the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. Men are not saved on the basis
of a decision to believe, but rather because of the One upon
whom they believe. Peter confessed this faith when
he said, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of
eternal life, and we believe and are sure that Thou art that
Christ, the Son of the living God. The Lord described the source
of his faith, saying, Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto
thee, but my Father which is in heaven. Much emphasis is placed
in the present day on trying to get men saved. The whole idea
is built upon many mistaken notions, not the least of which is that
faith is a subjective action which men can exercise just like
deciding to put on a red pair of socks rather than a black
one. Men are inundated with the exhortation to just believe,
but there is little preaching on the work and person of the
one who is the basis of true faith. Is it any wonder that
the woods are full of folks who claim to be believers, but have
little or no knowledge of the true Christ or the fullness and
nature of His redemptive work? When the disciples were overcome
by their fear of destruction in the midst of a storm, they
upbraided the Lord Jesus for his seeming indifference to the
howling elements and his apparent lack of concern for their safety.
His response to them was, Why are you so fearful? How is it
that you have no faith? Does anyone suppose he was admonishing
them for not having a more positive outlook? Rather, he was pointing
out their inability in the flesh. Our Lord's exhortation to his
disciples might be paraphrased thus, Why are you so fearful,
as though you had no faith at all? For if you had an understanding
of who I am and what I came to do, you would not be afraid.
It is impossible that the One who created the heavens and the
earth should be destroyed by His own creation. The winds blow
only at His behest, and the seas rage only at His command. He
is the predestinator of all things. He was indeed slain by wicked
hands, yet this can only occur according to His determinate
counsel in order to fulfill His purpose. It is impossible that
His purpose to redeem His elect bride should be short-circuited,
and He falls short of His objective to save His people from their
sins. Therefore, the life of his mortal body could not be
taken from him except in the fashion which he had designed
as a sin offering. It is impossible that he should
perish who belonged to him. It is a devilish lie that would
state or even insinuate that he has in any wise failed to
obtain the eternal redemption of any for which he died on Calvary's
cross. If one sat down and designed
a message specifically for the purpose of impugning the worth
of the blood of the spotless Lamb of God, he could not come
up with any better one than to declare that some shall perish
for whom he died. It is impossible to be separated
from the One who is the life of His saints, even when death
shall destroy these mortal frames. And this is the record that God
hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. The children of God cannot be
without this life. The mortal demise of each one
of God's children is most precious in his sight. This event cannot
occur except in the exact fashion and at the appointed time which
he has ordained. He will never leave nor forsake
his own, most assuredly not in the midst of the troubles which
he has ordained for their good. Prior to their embarking on this
perilous journey, the Lord had said, Let us pass over unto the
other side. If the Lord had not said us,
there would be reason to fear, yet he has promised. And lo,
I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. He will not forsake his people.
If you would like a free transcript of this broadcast, email us at
forthepoor at windstream.net.