Everyone loves a rags-to-riches
story, a tale of the successes of a man, whether fact or fiction,
who has long been hindered and then finally triumphs at the
last, warms the heart of those who have felt the angst of defeat
and suffered through many of life's setbacks. If the main
characters in these stories could have foreseen their ultimate
triumph, then they perhaps would not have endeavored as hard to
attain their goals, and in the human scheme of things might
not have achieved the end for which they labored. So even in
these scenarios we can clearly see the necessity of trial and
the enhanced benefit of delayed gratification. As the Lord deals
with His children, He works in them both the will and to do
of His good pleasure. While He is their performer in
all things, He performs His perfect work in their consciousness,
and they are exercised by those things which He is pleased to
perform. For instance, when He causes them to pray, they are
not in an unconscious state, but rather are moved in the depths
of their heart and mind to cry out to Him, who alone is able
to meet their needs. David most surely would not have
poured out his heart unto the Lord as he did in Psalm 51 had
the Lord not wrought within him a work of repentance as he revealed
to David the depths of his depravity and caused him to fear being
cast away from his presence. Thus David prayed with the Spirit
and also with his understanding. He was not simply carried along
like a mindless leaf blown to and fro by the wind. When Paul
was beaten with many stripes, he actually felt each blow, and
each one was ordained by the Lord to bring about the desired
purpose of humbling him and teaching him that the Lord's grace is
sufficient, and that it is by our weakness that His strength
is made manifest. The Lord could have created man
in any fashion which He chose. But in order to magnify the glory
of his grace and to manifest his mercy towards that people
which he loved in Christ from before the foundation of the
world, he created the world and mankind to be as we see them. He could have given his children
complete knowledge of the nature of his kingdom and have unfolded
his purpose completely to each one from the very beginning,
but that is not what we see revealed in the scripture that he chose
to do. We can safely say that the saints of God who have been
born since the resurrection of Jesus Christ, following his crucifixion
on Calvary's tree, are the most blessed people to have ever lived
in this world. Those who are alive in these
last days are not struggling to discover the hidden things
of his kingdom, for he has plainly delivered his truth to his church.
The mystery of godliness, which was kept hidden from the beginning
of the world, is now made known, and we await no further revelation
of it. The deep things of God are made
manifest in the gospel of Jesus Christ, which Paul and the rest
of the apostles declared, having been eyewitnesses of his majesty. This is that same gospel which
is preached today by those who are sent by him for this purpose.
If any man preaches something else, then he is a deceiver,
and most surely not one who can give further revelations or unfold
prophecies and other hidden messages. Paul summed it up when he determined
to preach no other message but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Right up until the Lord ascended,
His disciples were still waiting for Him to deliver Israel in
the flesh, even as many mistakenly do today. Yet his kingdom is
not one of flesh and blood. Rather, it is one where the sons
of God receive power and an abundance of joy in seeing Christ exalted
in the declaration of him as the triumphant Savior of sinners.
We await no revelations of truth concerning Jesus Christ and his
redemptive work. Yet we shall experience an even
greater joy than that which we have known in the present time. The fullness of joy that awaits
the sons of God when they shall stand in his bodily presence
shall eclipse all joys they may have experienced in this world.
All of the trials which have beset them in this low land of
sin and sorrow shall be forgotten, as He wipes away their tears,
and the former things are forgotten. For indeed, He who sits upon
the throne says, Behold, I make all things new. If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at ForThePoor at WinStream.net.