Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. But the very first lie that was
ever told to men came from the lips of Satan, when he said to
Eve, ye shall not surely die. Thus he is called the father
of lies. He did not tell Eve this lie to help her, but in
order that he might destroy her and her posterity. The destructive
power of death is not just in the fact that these bodies age
and decay, but rather in the ability of death to bring men
into fear and bondage, as their conscience testifies of approaching
judgment. Satan is said to have the power
of death, not because he has some sovereign reign over death
and can administer it whenever he pleases, but rather because
he has been given the ability to wound the sons of men by his
deception, which in turn results in their ultimate destruction.
The only one who has sovereign power and control to administer
death is he who says, see now that I, even I, am he, and there
is no God with me. I kill and I make alive, I wound
and I heal, neither is there any that can deliver out of my
hand. He spoke to his disciples saying, and fear not them which
kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather
fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Let
no man mistake the fact that life and death is in the hands
of the one true and living God, who made the heavens and earth,
and by whom all things consist. Seeing that man's days are determined,
the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed
his bounds that he cannot pass. All men have been given an appointment
with death by him who sets the bounds of our habitation, for
which they cannot be early or late. It is appointed unto men
once to die. When Eve was deceived by Satan's
lie and took of that forbidden fruit, her body did not cease
to function, but the real power of death was brought upon her,
animate of that same fruit, and in so doing died the same death
which she did, bringing the power of death upon all of their posterity,
and they did both indeed die in that very day. The power of
death arises out of sin and is much more than the simple cessation
of the beating of the heart. Sin has its strength or power
to condemn by the law of God, which is written in the conscience
of every man. Though a man might delight in the commission of
sin, there is nonetheless a bitterness associated with it, which cannot
be escaped as a man contemplates the end of his days. Men have
sought out many inventions in order to be able to cope with
this fear and hide themselves from the gaze of the true and
living God. The greatest of these inventions is the religion of
the flesh. This takes on many forms, but all of these forms
are the product of man seeking to escape the coming judgment.
Many of man's religions simply deny that there is any judgment,
and the followers of these belief systems go along as one who whistles
as he passes the graveyard. Atheism and agnosticism are the
clearest examples of this religion. Even as David described them,
the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. Yet there are
many others who, while claiming a belief in God, nonetheless
deny that the sin of men must be accounted for. Then there
are those religions which rely upon the notion that man is innately
good. They convince themselves that
man has intrinsic worth because of his supposed God-like qualities,
not the least of which is, as they put it, an eternal soul.
They believe that God will recognize this spark of good and will ultimately
receive sincere men as they pass from this life into a better
one. Most funerals are preached today by men of this persuasion.
Those religions which worship the free will of men rely upon
psychology to ensure men that they have the power to accomplish
anything. This is the religion of Babel, and the followers of
it have not ceased to build a tower which reaches to heaven. They
believe that men can bargain with God, earn favor in His sight
by good deeds and obedience, and that men can be persuaded
by natural reason to embrace the truth of God. Some of these
psychologists have homogenized their thoughts with certain tenets
of the faith of Christ, producing a very appealing product, which
is as much a lie as anything which the serpent told Eve. They
teach men that they can embrace the work of Christ and make it
possible for Him to save them as long as they give Him their
approval. This sort of false doctrine will satisfy men who
can be satisfied with human reason, but can do nothing to calm the
fears of those who are awakened by the Holy Spirit to see themselves
as wicked and helpless sinners. They are stirred up to flee from
the wrath to come, but find no ability in themselves to embrace
anything that would help them. They find themselves shut up
to His mercy. But by the grace of God, this is exactly the place
wherein they find their greatest delight, because they believe
that Christ has actually procured salvation. Death has indeed lost
its sting to those who are given faith to believe in Christ's
finished work. If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor at windstream.net.