Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. The resurrection of Christ
is the very basis upon which the hope of the sons of God rests.
If Christ be not raised, then all of the expectations of the
redemption and salvation which he came to bring are all nothing
more than an illusion, and none of his promises could be true.
His claims of being the giver of eternal life would be false
if he had not the power to lay down his life and then take it
up again. The greatest enemy of the sons
of God is that death which they are made partakers of in the
first Adam, who passed his sin to every one of his posterity.
The resultant curse of this sin is death, from whence there is
no escape, since the law demands that every soul who sins should
die the death appointed by it. In order for a man to escape
its clutches, he must be completely and totally without sin of any
kind, for the wages of sin is death. More importantly, if he
should pay the wages of sin, he must be able to triumph over
it in his mortal body, or else he could not in any wise escape
it and enjoy the benefits of that kingdom of righteousness
in which none but the righteous shall dwell. The performance
of this task is completely impossible for any who are worthy of that
death, and are in fact dead already, for death itself would have to
be destroyed in order for such to occur. Thus did that glorious
substitute, our Lord Jesus Christ, completely without sin of his
own, take upon himself the sin of his elect bride, tasting death
for her, paying her debt completely, and then taking death itself
by the throat, and extinguishing its very power to destroy by
triumphing over it. The glorious message of the gospel
is found in the declaration of his complete and utter triumph
over all of the enemies of the elect of God, death itself being
the chief. Thus we read that he has abolished
death. The sons of God are awakened
from a state of being dead in trespasses and sins by the same
power that raised Christ from the dead and are caused by the
Spirit's power to hear the glorious good news of the gospel. This
ministers to them that hope of His calling. This hope of His
calling is that which has Christ as its message and messenger. This hope of His calling can
only be heard by those who are appointed and prepared to hear
it, and is administered by Him to them, as He said in John 6,
44, No man can come to Me except the Father which has sent Me
draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day. The hope
of his calling is that which testifies of the riches of the
glory of his inheritance in the saints. By his redemptive work,
declared by the power of his resurrection, he has procured
for his people the privilege of being made heirs and joint
heirs with Christ. This inheritance is first his
by reason of that covenant of redemption wherein he claimed
that which was rightfully his, given to him by his Father. This
possession, which is rightfully his by covenant promise, is also
his by the purchase of his own blood, wherein he has been pleased
to make his elect the inheritors of all its benefits. Thus his
inheritance is manifested in the saints of God. that precious
possession, and therefore they are made partakers of the riches
of that which they are the exact object of. As Paul said to the
Ephesians, he hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ. This is the riches of his glory
in the saints. The only way that those who are
dead in trespasses and sins could ever be the inheritors of such
mercy and the riches of His grace is by the operation of the same
power which raised Christ from the dead. That same Spirit which
quickened the dead body of our Lord is the same One who visits
His people at the appointed time and gives them a birth from above
according to the mighty working of His power. Thus he brings
the dead to life and grants faith to believe that which he is pleased
to deliver to them.