Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my soul. But the Lord does appoint all
events to transpire exactly according to His timetable and no one else's. Men often grow anxious as they
wait for various events to occur, sometimes even doubting that
the things which the Lord has decreed shall indeed come to
pass. Yet the Lord is never in a hurry
and has determined to unfold His purpose over thousands of
years concerning that people which were given to Christ and
loved by Him from before the foundation of the world. It has
pleased him to delay the unveiling of their identity until such
time as he desired to make them known. We see this first revealed
in his purpose to subject them unto vanity, as they were ordained
to be born into Adam's posterity. The scripture says that they
are by nature the children of wrath, even as others. Yet there
is an important distinction made between them and the rest of
Adam's offspring. For God hath not appointed them
to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul
describes vessels of honor contrasted with vessels of dishonor, the
latter of which are fitted for destruction. The natural man
rebels against this teaching. The Lord instructed Hosea to
name his firstborn son Jezreel, which in the Hebrew literally
means God will sow. He then instructed him to name
his next child Lo-Ruhamah, which literally means not pitied, for
he said, I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel,
but I will utterly take them away. And true to his decree,
he did bring judgment upon the house of Israel. If we took a
snapshot of that moment, we could in no wise determine that they
were indeed the people of God. Yet he would in his own time
demonstrate that they are not all Israel, which are of Israel.
Neither can current chastening destroy those whom he loves.
He would demonstrate that he never forsakes those to whom
he is pleased to show mercy, and would single out the house
of Judah to manifest that truth, saying, But I will have mercy
upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their
God. Yet even so they were taken into
captivity into Babylon, in order that the Lord might demonstrate
his deliverance of those whom he loves. Now no chastening for
the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless afterward
it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which
are exercised thereby. The manifestation of His love
and mercy is never according to the timetable of men, nor
is His manner of deliverance of that people which are called
by His name in keeping with their own estimation of what is right
and good. Even as he declared to Moses,
I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show
mercy on whom I will show mercy. Oh, how humble in the dust should
the sons of men be at the sound of these words! Yet by nature
they rise up with fists held high and accuse him of injustice. Their judgment rightly awaits.
In the natural thinking of men, it would appear that the Lord
had completely turned away from that people which he loved. Since
darkness was upon Israel for 400 years, from the closing of
the prophecy of Malachi, until a Nazarite prophet by the name
of John came as a herald of him who would be the salvation of
Israel and would forever manifest the glory of God's grace. Peter
stood on the day of Pentecost and declared the everlasting
gospel in the ears of the multitude, saying, For the promise is unto
you and to your children and to all that are far off, even
as many as the Lord our God shall call. Religious men assume that
they are included in those who are the recipients of God's mercy
based upon their own obedience, activity, and what they define
as faith. The scriptures tell us the foundation
of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them
that are his. He shall lose none of those which
belong to him, but shall indeed raise them up at the last day
according to his purpose, to demonstrate both his mercy and
his justice. In the meantime, he is pleased
to bring much comfort to the sons of God by causing them to
find a place of rest in Christ as they contemplate that work
which he has performed in their behalf. As long as the sons of
God dwell in this present world, they will be beset with doubtings,
fears, and unbelief. Yet they are held up by His precious
promises and are caused to cling to Christ as a drowning man clings
to a life preserver. This is the day of salvation.
Do you hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches? If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at 4the4 at windstream dot net.