Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. Every grain of sand and every
creature under the sun exists solely to fulfill the purpose
of the sovereign God who created them out of nothing. Just as
surely as the orbits of the planets about the sun are marked out
with precision and the bounds of the sea are set so that it
cannot pass, so too is every event under the sun ordered to
occur in its timely fashion to fulfill that same exact purpose. He has ordained that in every
age there should be men who are lacking in the riches of this
world and has chosen them to represent the inhabitants of
his kingdom. Thus we read the words of the
Lord Jesus, For the poor always he hath with you. Each time we
see those who are begging for bread, unwashed and unkempt,
in debt, with no means to pay their obligations, we should
be reminded that the inhabitants of Zion are like unto them. As
James says, hearken, my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen
the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom
which he hath promised to them that love him? The poor are seldom
truly pitied and quite often despised by those who have an
abundance of this world's goods. They are looked upon as lazy
and irresponsible by those who are convinced that they have
gained their own good fortune by their own effort, education,
and the tugging of their bootstraps. rather than, as the scripture
says, by the favor of God, who creates one vessel unto honor
and another unto dishonor, as it hath pleased him. The Lord
would demonstrate that the way into the kingdom of heaven is
not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according
to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing
of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus
Christ our Savior. The sons of God are likened to
the poor because they are without power. When we were yet without
strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. But God
commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. The sons of God are likened to
the poor because they have no one who truly pities their plight
or who will be their advocate. Yet we read that the Lord Jesus
can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. and he is
our advocate with the Father. The sons of God are likened to
the poor because they have nothing with which to pay their enormous
debt, for the wages of sin is death. Yet it pleased the Lord
to bruise him. He has made his soul an offering
for sin. The sons of God are likened to
the poor because they cannot make provision for themselves.
Yet we read in Psalm 132, I will satisfy her poor with bread.
This is a promise which is totally without conditions. It is the
Lord's purpose to provide everything that the sons of God stand in
need of. To this end He has ordered all
things to occur in the earth for their benefit and does so
provide them with His abundant grace. The question might be
asked, why are the rich not mentioned? The reason is that there are
no rich men in the kingdom of heaven. This is a kingdom which
is specifically given to the destitute. Blessed are the poor
in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Those who
know they have nothing wherewith to pay that which they owe. Those
that see a mountain of sin's debt which overwhelms them and
leaves them in a hopeless condition. This is not a kingdom for those
who see themselves as faithful. or those who have performed deeds
of righteousness. This is a kingdom for the outcasts
and failures of the world and not its model citizens. Thus
the Lord shocked the Pharisees when He said, The publicans and
the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. The Lord has
designed this world for the purpose of manifesting the glory of His
grace in the redemption of sinners through the blood sacrifice of
His only begotten Son. He raiseth up the poor out of
the dust. and lifteth up the beggars from
the downhill, to set them among princes. And glorify the Lamb once more.