Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. The first commandment which the
Lord gave to Moses for the children of Israel was, thou shalt have
no other gods before me. He did not mean that it was all
right to worship other gods as long as he was in first place,
but rather they will not have any other objects of worship
before his face, period. Men recall that the notion of
an absolute and unwavering God who predestines all things and
demands that the affection of men towards him be unmixed with
that of anything else. According to their nature, men
desire a God who is like a big lovable puppy dog, who is so
desirous of their affection that he will roll over and wet himself
in order to gain it. This God of their imagination
will gladly stand by and take any sort of love which they are
willing to give him, and in whatever measure or rank they are willing
to assign to it. They are certain that whatever
sort of activity of worship which they design or desire is perfectly
pleasing to him since he is desperate to gain the devotion of men even
if he has to share it with other deities or objects of human desire.
The God who is worshipped in the majority of organizations
calling themselves churches and claiming to be the followers
of Christ is basically one who exists to ensure their happiness.
They have no regard for an absolute God who does all things according
to the good pleasure of His will, and who laughs at the calamity
of the wicked and mocks when their fear cometh. They are aghast
at the thought of someone pointing these things out in the Scriptures,
and are quick to ignore such matters in favor of their little
puppy-dog God, who wags his tail and licks their face whenever
they take a few minutes out of their busy schedule to pet him.
It is not very common to hear men preach that the salvation
of sinful men depends on Christ alone. The prevalent teaching
of our day says that this salvation has two parts. One is performed
by Christ, and the other must be performed by men, making salvation
a cooperative effort. How often do we hear men say
that men are justified in the courts of heaven only after they
have believed or received that which Christ has done? In this
fraudulent scheme, man is said to hold the key to his eternal
happiness in the palm of his own free will. This plan says
that man is not saved by the work of Christ alone, but by
the addition of his acceptance of it, which enables or lets
God save him by opening the door to his heart and allowing him
to come in. This is no salvation at all, but is a mere pipe dream
concocted in the pit of hell to rob God of the glory and salvation
and to deceive those who are led captive by him. The very
concept of man being able to let God do anything is totally
contrary to the revelation of the Holy God who says, I will
be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy
on whom I will show mercy. Three times in Psalm 62, David
declares that the Lord only is his defense and salvation. He
said he would wait only on the Lord for deliverance. This is
exactly what Peter confessed, The Lord Jesus demonstrated this
pure principle of singular worship during his temptation by Satan. Satan offered to give him the
glory of this world if he would but worship him. The Lord replied
with no equivocation, Get thee hence, Satan, for it is written,
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou
serve. On the Mount of Transfiguration,
Peter demonstrated the penchant of natural man towards religion
when he sought to equate Moses and Elijah with Christ. Yet there
came a voice from heaven which said clearly, This is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him. This revelation
brought great fear upon them until he touched them, and they
heard his words, Arise, and be not afraid. When they arose from
the ground, they saw no man save Jesus only. As glorious and true
as the Law and the Prophets are, there must be no mistaking that
their only purpose was to bring us to Christ, that He alone might
be glorified. For the Law was given by Moses,
but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. The Church has been plagued
down through the years by those who continue to exalt the Law
of Moses, laying it upon the freeborn sons of God who are
without condemnation. The whole book of Galatians is
written to correct such error and to demonstrate the superiority
of Christ only. He has not changed the law, but
rather has demonstrated its complete and perfect fulfillment. All
of the demands of the law have been perfectly fulfilled for
those who are found in Christ. This is that perfect law of liberty
which Paul describes in this fashion. The law of the spirit
of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of
sin and death. Christ is the sum and substance of the gospel.
To declare anything else is to miss this gospel. Sir, we would
see Jesus. If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor at windstream.net.