Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. We have often been told that
we overemphasize the sovereignty of God and His predestined purpose. In my estimation, it is impossible
to overemphasize that which is absolute and upon which all other
activities depend. To do so would be like telling
a man that since his heart is beating, he shouldn't overemphasize
the need of breathing. The beating of the heart is dependent
upon the intake of oxygen. So too do all of the activities
of men have their basis in the outworking of the will of God.
To deny that is to deny the very declaration of God Himself, who
is not afraid of any overemphasis of His absolute predestination
of all events, even to the outcome of a crap scheme in a back alley. The lot is cast into the lap,
but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Thus Paul is
a continual proponent of a God who does according to his will
in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,
whose hand cannot be stayed, nor his actions brought into
question. He states that he is an apostle by the will of God. Paul understood that those who
inherit the kingdom of God, being afforded a station therein, obtain
that standing not by the will of the flesh, nor of the will
of man, but of God. The real aberration which is
manifested in the so-called gospel preaching of our day is not the
declaration of too absolute of a God, but the attempt at emasculation
of God in favor of a message which appeals to the corrupt
flesh of men, giving them grounds upon which to establish their
own righteousness. It was this very principle which
plunged mankind into the darkness of death when Adam, by transgression,
fell. It is this same emphasis on free
will which impugns the glory of God, which He declared to
Moses when He said, I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious,
and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. Apart from the sovereign
prerogative of God to dispense mercy according to His sovereign
pleasure, there is no basis upon which mercy can be considered.
Mercy dispensed in response to something a man does, or withheld
according to the same, is no mercy at all, but rather the
payment of a debt. Grace must indeed be granted
according to the good pleasure of God, completely without regard
to good or evil, or it is not grace. Thus Paul declares his
standing in the gospel as resting upon the promise of life, which
is found in Christ Jesus. It is this promise of life from
which all of the blessings, both temporal and eternal, flow to
the sons of God, who were chosen in Him from before the foundation
of the world. The English word promise appears
in the New Testament fifty-two times. This promise of life is
not some general declaration, but is a specific promise made
to a particular person and all of those which are hidden in
him as their head and substitute. The promise of life is that which
is given to him who is the apostle and great high priest of those
whose names are engraved upon his breastplate. We read that
it is to him that the promise is given. The benefits of that
promise come to the sons of God through the Lord Jesus Christ
alone as he is in union with those who are the recipients
of his mercy and has ever stood as their covenant head. Any promise
which is his directly benefits those who are in him, having
been chosen in him from before the foundation of the world.
Thus they have no grounds upon which to boast, nor can they,
by comparing themselves to others, find any room to glory except
in the mercy of God. This is a promise of life, since
the one to whom this promise is given is the life. All life
springs from him who made all things. But this promise has
reference to a life which is not given to all, but rather
to those included in the promise. We see the fruition and manifestation
of this promise set forth in the Lord's Prayer in Gethsemane's
garden as he prayed for his elect. I pray for them. I pray not for
the world, but for them which thou hast given me. For they
are thine, and all mine are thine, and thine are mine. and I am
glorified in them. And then he said, All that the
Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me
I will in no wise cast out.