2 Corinthians 12:10 "Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." The words of the apostle Paul here bring us face to face with one of the great paradoxes of the Christian life: Strength is found in weakness, Victory in apparent defeat, Life in death. This is no natural wisdom, but divine. Left to ourselves, we avoid infirmity, reproach, necessity, persecution, and distress. Yet Paul says he takes pleasure in them—not because suffering is pleasant, but because through them the grace of Christ is magnified. Earlier in this chapter, Paul had pleaded with the LORD three times for the thorn in his flesh to depart. The answer he received was not removal, but promise: “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness”  (v. 9). From that moment, Paul ceased to wrestle against his weakness and learned to glory in it. For in the Hand of his sovereign Redeemer, every trial becomes the backdrop on which divine power is displayed. Much like diamonds are displayed on black velvet, shining under the display light. This truth is vital for the believer who trusts in the Christ of sovereign grace. Our strength does not save us, but Christ alone, Who loved us and gave Himself for us. He has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the mighty, that no flesh should glory in His presence (1 Corinthians 1:27). Our weakness is not an accident; it is ordained by God to cast us continually upon Christ. When Paul speaks of taking pleasure in infirmities, he is not indulging in stoicism ( the endurance of pain or hardship without the display of feelings and complaint ). He is not denying the pain of suffering. Rather, he rejoices because every trial drives him closer to the all-sufficient LORD Jesus Christ and His effectual grace to uphold and keep him. Reproaches remind him that his life is hidden with Christ in God. Necessities prove that the LORD is his Shepherd, supplying his every need. Persecutions bind him more closely to the suffering Savior. Distresses compel him to rest in the One who said, "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20). Therefore, the apostle concludes: “When I am weak, then am I strong.”   Strong—not in himself, but in Christ Who is his life. Strong—not by human resolve, but by divine grace sustaining him. Strong—not because the thorn is removed, but because the presence of Christ abides. Here is the confidence of every elect, blood-bought and called child of God: our sufficiency is not of ourselves, but of God. When the world sees only frailty, God anoints His children with the very Power of Christ to endure. Therefore, let us not despise our weakness, but glory in it, for it is the chosen vessel through which Christ displays His strength.

Luke 9:23 "And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." The LORD Jesus, in this solemn word, declares the true nature of discipleship. He is not calling men to add religious duty to their natural lives, nor is He bidding them to improve the flesh. He speaks to those whom the Father has given Him, those who will by His sovereign grace hear His voice and follow Him (John 10:27-29). The call is universal in sound— “He said to them all” —yet it effectively reaches only the elect of God, for only they are given ears to hear (Matthew 11:15). First, the LORD lays the necessity of self-denial. “Let him deny himself.” To deny oneself is not merely to refuse certain pleasures, but to renounce self-will altogether. The natural man seeks to exalt himself, to preserve his way, and to establish his righteousness (Romans 10:2, 3) . But the disciple, taught by grace, learns that in himself dwells no good thing (Romans 7:18) . He bows to the righteousness of Christ alone, confessing, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 6:14). By the sovereign grace of God in Christ, the sinner is brought to cease from self-confidence, resting wholly in Christ and His finished work on the cross for the justification of those the Father gave Him to save. Secondly, the LORD requires us to take up the cross daily . The cross is not an ornament to wear as jewelry, but an instrument of death. To take it up is to embrace the reproach, suffering, and death to self that inevitably attend following Christ. It is not a once-for-all act of commitment to Christ, but a daily bowing to the LORD Jesus in identifying with Him in His death for His elect. Each day the believer, sustained by Grace, is called to reckon himself dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our LORD (Romans 6:11). This daily bearing of the cross is not a work of human resolve, but the fruit of the Spirit’s continual operation within the soul, causing the believer to persevere in faith and a lifelong submission to Christ. When our LORD spoke of “taking up the cross,” His hearers understood it not as a piece of jewelry to wear or a symbol of religion, but as an instrument of death. To “bear the cross” meant public shame, rejection, and the suffering of one condemned. Thus Christ pointed not to a light inconvenience, but to a radical identification with Him in His rejection by the world. The cross was the very place where the LORD Jesus, the sin-Bearer, suffered under the wrath of God for the sins of His people (Isaiah 53:5–6; 2 Corinthians 5:21). To “take up the cross” daily does not mean that a believer adds to Christ's finished work on the cross, but that he confesses openly: “I am one with Him Who was crucified for me.” Paul expressed this in Galatians 2:20 : “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.”   The believer, through faith-union with Christ, reckons the old man as crucified with Him (Romans 6:6) . Daily taking up the cross is the continual embrace of that death—turning from self-reliance, self-rule, and self-righteousness, and acknowledging that Christ bore the curse that was mine. To follow Christ is to share in His reproach. The world that hated Him will also hate His disciples (John 15:18–19). Taking up the cross daily is symbolic of willingly bearing that reproach: confessing Christ before men, though it brings mockery, hostility, or loss. The apostle writes, “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake”  (Philippians 1:29). To take up the cross is to accept this portion, not as punishment for sin (Christ alone bore that), but as the inevitable mark of being His. Our LORD said “daily,” because discipleship is not a one-time resolve but a continual renunciation of self and a continual identification with Him. Each day the believer affirms: My righteousness is not my own but His. My hope is not in the world but in the crucified and risen Christ. My path is not one of ease, but of the faith of Christ and preservation by Him until glory. This daily cross-bearing does not end in despair, but in glory. Just as Christ endured the cross and despised the shame for the joy set before Him (Hebrews 12:2) , so those who bear His reproach will also reign with Him (2 Timothy 2:12) . So, taking up the cross daily symbolizes a believer’s conscious identification with Christ in His death for sin, expressed in self-denial and willingness to endure the world’s hostility, in the Faith and Hope of sharing His resurrection glory. Finally, the Savior says, “Follow me.” Here lies the heart of discipleship—not merely rules kept, nor burdens to bear, but a Person to be followed. Christ Himself is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. By sovereign grace, His sheep hear His voice, and He knows them, and they follow Him (John 10:27) . They are not left to walk in their strength; the same Grace that called them out of darkness enables them to walk in His steps. These words of our LORD Jesus reveal both the impossibility of discipleship in the flesh but the sufficiency of Christ in grace. What He commands, He supplies. The believer’s denial of self, daily cross-bearing, and following Christ all flow from union with Him Who loved us and gave Himself for us. Truly, Salvation is of the LORD, and discipleship is the effectual outworking of His sovereign grace in Christ Jesus.

Mark 7:32-37 "And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue; And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it; And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak." The LORD has come to save needy sinners. Christ said, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance”  ( Luke 5:32 ). This man’s deafness and dumbness were not due to his being a greater sinner than anyone else. That is often the thought when you see someone in such a condition—you think, “I wonder what they did that the LORD should so deal with them?”  No, we are all sinners! But you can see the blessing for him in this: the greater the need, the greater the deliverance. It is like Christ said of that woman who ceased not to wipe His feet with her tears, though she was a woman of ill repute: “Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little”  ( Luke 7:47 ). For any of us, when we consider the greatness of our own need, that is where it all begins—when the LORD opens our eyes. This man could not hear the publication of the Word going out throughout the land. He was deaf. And so, in his need, those who knew him—who could hear—brought him to Christ. This is why I encourage you: what the LORD has taught you or me, bring others to hear. Our case, before it pleased the LORD to reveal Himself in us, was much like this deaf mute man. We could not hear His Word. We read it, but we could not hear His voice. We could speak about the Scriptures, but we could not speak the Word plainly and clearly. Why? Because our ears had not been opened yet, and our tongue had not been loosed to speak. So if the LORD has been pleased to do a work of grace in us—knowing our need—we know that apart from Him we could neither speak His glories nor hear His Word. We see Christ’s action in verse 33 , where He took this man aside from the multitude. That is how the LORD separates His own—from the crowd, from all the noise and bluster of everything going on. Even though He performed miracles in a public way, this is an example of specific grace. There is no such thing as common grace. You will hear that term used, but there is nothing common about the grace of God. There are His common mercies, whereby He is merciful to the just and the unjust in His creation, but when it comes to grace, it is always specific. It is designed and it is purposed for the glory of Christ and the salvation of the sinner. That is why the LORD separated him—to show him that it was for him He had come, and not for everybody. It may seem curious to us how He healed this man, but as you look back over the ministry of Christ, you cannot “cookie-cutter” Him. He employed various methods of healing. He could heal with a word, just as the centurion said : “The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed”  ( Matthew 8:8 ). Or He could heal without a word. He could heal in response to a sinner’s cry, or He could heal whether they cried unto Him or not—by the simple touch as He passed by. We see that it all boils down to God being sovereign in salvation, using those means He has ordained for the deliverance of those He came to save. The LORD putting His fingers in the man’s ears was a picture of His creative Power, by which He created even the world. So the fingers in the ears and the spittle on the tongue—all of that was to show that He alone could heal. This was the LORD proving Himself to be the LORD God. Why was He looking up to heaven? It was to give His Father the praise and the glory. That is why He came. He did not come to do His own will, but the will of Him that sent Him: “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day”  ( John 6:38–39 ) . This very act was one of intercession before the Father, on behalf of one the Father had given Him—even before the foundation of the world. The Father hears the prayers of His Son. That is why we know Christ did not come to save everybody, because He did not pray for everybody. He said, “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine”  ( John 17:9 ). So even in His looking up to heaven—though He was God—yet as a Man, He lived in complete dependence upon His Father for everything He did. “He sighed.”  It was not that He sighed because He was faced with a case too difficult for Him. No! That word sigh  is an expression of sympathy with an afflicted one in their afflictions. The Scriptures say He was touched with the feeling of our infirmities: “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin”  ( Hebrews 4:15 ). He identified with the suffering of this man, and therefore the sigh. Was He not the Man of sorrows, acquainted with grief? Here we have Him as the High Priest identifying with this deaf mute. We never doubt the intercession of our LORD, nor what He endured in coming to this earth to take upon Himself the curse of our sin—that we in return might be healed and delivered. We see Him here saying, “Be opened.”  This was not some sort of hocus-pocus incantation, like the charms used by charlatans. When He said, “Be opened,”  He spoke with Authority. He was not begging the ears to do something, nor the man to do something. No, He was declaring as the sovereign LORD God that those ears be opened and the lips loosed. Because of His work, this man would be free to hear and to speak freely, every restraint taken away. Let us not be like some who, having had ears opened and tongues loosed, when they see others still deaf, do not speak but take them to task for not hearing. That is not what the LORD did here, nor should we. What we do is point sinners to Christ, trusting that if the LORD Jesus paid their debt, He will draw them.

Proverbs 13:7,8 "There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches. The ransom of a man's life are his riches: but the poor heareth not rebuke." There are many in the world today who think themselves rich. These are people that strive all their lifetime to attain a certain level of wealth and ease, just like that man in the parable in Luke 12:20 , that filled his barns and yet the LORD said unto him, " ...thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? " Here is an example of one who made himself rich yet had nothing. Riches are not the key to eternal life. We live in a nation where people consider riches to be a blessing of God: "How blessed we are," they say. You often see it on the front of a brand-new vehicle with a plate that reads, "Blessed!" That's what people consider to be a blessing, and yet they are lost, and left in that state, they will spend eternity separated from God. Those earthly riches will not help them in any way, Psalm 49:7 - " None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him." To make oneself poor is to be brought low by the Spirit of God, and that's what God's Spirit does for everyone that Christ has saved by His shed blood. He didn't come to save the righteous, but sinners. Consider how we have been made poor in Adam. We're born in this world desperate sinners with nothing to recommend ourselves to God, and yet it says here, "yet hath great riches." What could that be other than the riches of God in the LORD Jesus Christ, the riches of His grace, the riches of His mercy, the riches of that redemption that the LORD Jesus Christ worked out on behalf of sinners: justification, sanctification, glorification, eternal life (Ephesians 1:3-7). These are true riches that belong to those who have been made poor. Being poor in that sense is a blessing of God's grace. The word "ransom" is key, we find it in verse 8, " The ransom of a man's life are his riches." The word "ransom" means "a covering." It's the word from which we get the word "atonement," and it's also used of the ark that was pitched without and within with that pitch (Genesis 6:14-21). It's the word "kaphar" which means "to cover." So it's speaking here of the covering of a man's life are his riches. This verse is stating that one who has riches, those riches are his covering against any legal suit he has wherewith to answer every demand in every suit. A parallel truth is the fact that our LORD Jesus Christ was sued because of His riches. Because of Who He is and the infinite riches in answering to God's just demands. What happened? He was sued, and what happened to the poor, representing those that He came to save? It says, "the poor heareth not rebuke." That's an amazing reality when you consider how the LORD Jesus Christ stood in the place of wretched sinners such as we are, and bore that judgment. He bore what was due the sinner, but He bore it in His flesh by working out that perfect righteousness that was necessary to satisfy every demand of God's law and justice by laying down His life in death. He's the only One Who could have done that. So because of Him and the ransom in His blood shed unto death, for those that the Father gave Him to save. These are the poor who hear not rebuke for their sin because of Christ their Advocate. "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). In 2 Corinthians 8:9 , it says, " For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." We can look at this from the standpoint of the Spirit of God making us poor, showing us our poverty as we are as sinners before God, and certainly that is true, and yet having in Christ great riches. Let's not forget the other aspect of this, whereby He Who was rich made Himself poor that we might enjoy the riches of God's grace in Him. You can't separate God's grace from His Son, whereby God purposed to save sinners from eternity. It was because the Son was there already as that Rich Man, as that One capable of coming, and paying the sin debt, and how great that debt is, so great none could ever answer to that debt were it not for that Rich Man, the LORD Jesus Christ, that His Father sent into this world to be that Ransom, to be that Substitute on behalf of His people. "that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor." Here is an anomaly: the rich poor man. Those who saw Christ in the flesh saw nothing but a common, ordinary man walking this earth. And yet the Glory that was in Christ was veiled to their eyes and it was only by the Spirit of God opening eyes, that any did perceive that this Poor Man is indeed the Rich Man, "for your sakes became poor." That's what John testified in John 1:18, " we beheld his glory." None saw a halo over Christ's head as He marched from place to place. That's why those mocked Him, who were left in spiritual blindness. The fact that He, being a Man, would make Himself equal with God, they would not hear of it, (John 5:18) . Yet, that's Who He was as He walked on this earth, emptied Himself of that glory that He had with the Father from all eternity and came and took on Him the form of a Servant, became a Man, and not only become a Man but became obedient unto death for poor sinners that He came to save (Philippians 2:8). That's the reason a body was prepared for Him (Hebrews 10:5-7), to lay down His life that He might redeem (ransom) those sinners that the Father gave Him to save (Mark 10:45). In the light of these words, we behold in the LORD Jesus the true Rich Man. He possessed from all eternity the unsearchable riches of divine Glory, yet laid them aside to take on Himself the form of a Servant, to be despised and rejected of men, and to lay down His life as a ransom for many. In His voluntary poverty, He bore the wrath and curse due to His elect, purchasing them with His blood, that they should be “heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17) . Here is the mystery of grace: the infinitely wealthy Son impoverished Himself, not that the world might have a possibility of enrichment, but that His chosen people should be enriched beyond measure with “all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3) . In Him, the poorest sinner, stripped of all righteousness of his own, is clothed in the garments of salvation and made the very “riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:18) . Such riches neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and no thief can approach (Matthew 6:20) ; for they are preserved in Him Who is “the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8).

Colossians 3:5  "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:" Here, the Spirit’s command to “mortify” the members which are upon the earth is not because the flesh still holds rightful sway, but because in Christ it has already been judged and condemned. At the cross, God rendered the sin nature obsolete—its sentence carried out in the death of the old man (Adam) with Christ. What once reigned as master is now without legal authority over the redeemed. To “mortify” is therefore not to kill something still legally alive, but to reckon as dead that which God has already crucified in His Son (Galatians 2:20) . The believer’s life is no longer bound to Adam's curse, but hidden with Christ in God, under the rule of His resurrected Life. "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live (Romans 8:13)." 1. There are those who see mortifying the flesh as a WORK of man by way of penance before God, or of somehow improving the flesh so as to sin less and less.   2. There are those who see mortifying the flesh as a COOPERATION between the sinner and the Spirit, as a work that the Spirit brings the sinner to do, as if the sinner is able somehow to perform surgery on themselves and rid themselves of this sin or that.   3. There are those who see mortifying the flesh as THE GRACE of God, by the Spirit of God teaching the sinner to put NO CONFIDENCE IN THE FLESH ( Philippians 3:3 ) and to look to the LORD Jesus Christ alone, the CRUCIFIED ONE ( Hebrews 12:1,2 ) and not to attempt to take on the flesh ourselves. ( Galatians 2:20 ).   What is the proper understanding of the Scriptural command to mortify the flesh? The first two views are contrary to what the Scriptures teach and an affront to the finished WORK OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST at the cross. The GRACE of God alone, by the Spirit’s work in the child of God, causes them to look to the LORD Jesus Christ alone. He died, rose again, ascended on High, and is now seated as THE GREAT HIGH PRIEST and therefore regenerated sinners consider HIM and HIS FINISHED WORK ALONE, as their only HOPE ( Hebrews 4:15, 16 ).    This matter of mortifying the flesh is not the putting to death this sin or that sin, but rather the considering of all that pertains to their flesh as ALREADY crucified with Christ. The word mortification, ‘mort’ in French, means DEAD, not dying. It does not say to ‘kill’ the flesh, but rather it is considering (reckoning) anything to do with this flesh to be as dead already (resulting from Christ’s death), and therefore NOT to take it on at all. The Spirit NEVER draws the sinner to the flesh in ANY way, whether to fight it, or try to deal with it ourselves, or in cooperation with Him, as if it were some joint work together. The Spirit causes the saved sinner to see himself as wretched because of God's holiness and UNABLE, like a leopard, to change his spots. Therefore, mortification is to look upon anything in your flesh as dead and deadly, wretched, and condemnable. That self-same Spirit of Grace causes you to look outside yourself, to the LORD Jesus Christ and His finished work ALONE.   To think that the sinner can change the flesh and make it ‘better’ in any way, outside of the completed work of Christ ALONE, is a deadly poison and error.  When one presents this work of sanctification and mortification of the flesh as being their work in cooperation with the work of the Spirit, the outcome will always be more sin, death, and condemnation.    The Scriptures teach that sanctification is the LORD's work from beginning to end. ( 1 Thessalonians 5:23 ). To grow in Grace is to grow in my need of His Grace, as He continually shows us our sinfulness, and draws our hearts again and again to the LORD Jesus Christ, and gives us that cry as that needy sinner, “Be merciful to me a sinner”  ( Luke 18:13 ).

2 Peter 2:7-9 "And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:" The common assessment of Lot is that he was a backslidden child of God for leaving Abraham and dwelling in Sodom. However, reading this Testimony of God concerning Lot, something doesn’t fit. Men preach him as an example of one who ‘left the Faith’ and dwelt in sin and disobedience until the LORD ultimately came and delivered him and destroyed Sodom. Yet, here, he is declared to be a just man who was vexed in his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds. 1.) Lot was a just man before moving to Sodom, Gen. 13:10-12 : The conflict between Abraham and Lot’s servants was such that the LORD directed them to separate, not out of hatred but necessity. In the name of peace, Abraham directed Lot to choose a direction, and he would go in the other. Here, we see the Faith that was given to Lot, knowing that the LORD had already promised the land to Abraham. Lot was directed to move toward Sodom, where the LORD had prepared fertile soil for his livestock. Lot showed himself a just (equitable) man, by God’s Grace, in not taking to himself what belonged to another. This is not speaking of any justification for His sins before God. That would be when Christ would come and pay his sin debt along with all the elect of the Old Testament ( Hebrews 9:15-16) . But ‘just’ in his dealings with Abraham, according to the gift of Grace given him for Christ’s sake. 2.) Lot was a just man while living in Sodom, v. 7: “...for that righteous man dwelling among them...” (2 Peter 2:8). Here, we see that God makes a difference between the righteous and the wicked. It’s not where they live nor how much wickedness surrounds them nor even that which is in their heart, (Romans 7:18). Those who are the LORD’s HE declares righteous for Christ’s sake. Lot was separated by the Spirit of God and caused to look to the coming of Christ, Who would shed His blood and pay his debt. Christ was ALL his righteousness. The righteous are those for whom Christ paid the debt. The wicked are those who are left to themselves without the redeeming, justifying work of the LORD Jesus. They are reserved for judgment, (2 Peter 2:9) . Lot was marked out as one of the LORD’s righteous ones for whom Christ would come and die and he was preserved by the Spirit of Grace from the filthy conversation of those among whom he lived, exactly in accord with what Christ prayed for His own, (John 17:15). The original phrase, which is rendered ‘filthy’ has reference to licentiousness. The corruption of Sodom was open and shameless, and Lot was compelled to see much of it, which pained his heart. The word here rendered ‘vexed’ means that he was wearied or burdened. The crimes of those around him, he found difficult to bear. 3.) Lot was a just man according to God’s purpose for him in Christ, v.8: While the unjust are reserved unto the day of judgment to be punished, the righteous [in Christ] are preserved and kept to God’s glory: “The LORD knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations.” (2 Peter 2:9.) All those that God purposed to save in Christ, He has saved through the shed blood unto death of Christ on the cross and He can lose nothing, (John 6:39) . God’s ‘knowing’ implies not only His infinite wisdom whereby He is never at a loss but knows all the various ways whereby the Godly [in Christ] may be delivered by His everlasting love and sovereign will for them [in Christ]: “Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The LORD knoweth them that are his. And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” (2 Timothy 2:19).

Revelation 22:16  "I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star." The Book of Revelation has often been treated as a cryptic roadmap to events still to come—a prophecy chart of wars, disasters, and cosmic upheavals awaiting their final fulfillment. But this common approach overlooks the very first words of the book: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ… to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass” (Revelation 1:1). Rather than projecting its meaning thousands of years into an uncertain future, John’s vision unfolds as a present and urgent message to the first-century congregations to whom the risen and reigning LORD Jesus has sent His angel (messenger) to testify of them in the churches. Written to suffering believers under Roman persecution, Revelation is not a codebook of modern headlines, but a divine unveiling of Christ’s finished work and His enthronement as King. In its pages, we see the Lamb Who was slain reigning from the midst of the throne, the vindication of His people, and the judgment upon those who opposed His Gospel. It is the announcement that the kingdom promised in the prophets has come, established in power through the cross, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. Far from fueling fear of the unknown, Revelation was—and still is—a book of comfort, assurance, and victory for the people of God, declaring that the reign of Christ is a present reality, not a distant hope. “I Jesus…” —the One Who bore the sins of His people in His own body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24), Who by His once-for-all offering perfected forever them that are sanctified (Hebrews 10:14). Here, He affirms His authorship of all that John has seen and heard. This is no mere prophetic musing, but the direct word of Him Who is “King of kings, and Lord of lords.” The Gospel of God rests on the certainty that salvation begins and ends in the Person of Christ—He Who calls His sheep by name, Who gives them eternal life, and Who sovereignly brings to pass all decreed events in history. “…have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches.” These “things” are the very visions of judgment and triumph described in this book. Their primary fulfillment lay in the climactic end of the Old Covenant order in AD 70, when Jerusalem’s temple fell under the wrath of the Lamb, as He had foretold (Matthew 24). The “great city” - Jerusalem in Revelation 11:8 whose destruction was imminent- " The great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.” This is the clearest identification that the “great city” is not Rome here—it is Jerusalem, the place where the LORD Jesus was crucified. Calling it “Sodom” and “Egypt” is covenantal language for apostasy and rebellion. Christ sent His messenger to make these realities known “in the churches” of the first century—not as abstract predictions for a far-off age, but as an urgent word to saints living in the shadow of that imminent judgment. The churches would need this testimony to endure persecution, to understand the shaking of the heavens and the earth (Revelation 6:13) , and to rejoice in the certain victory of their LORD. “I am the root and the offspring of David…” Here is Christ’s claim to both being the promised seed of David and the Davidic fulfillment. As the “root,” He is the eternal source of David’s line—David sprang from Him, for “without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3). As the “offspring,” He is the incarnate Heir to David’s throne, born of the virgin according to the flesh. God's sovereignty is displayed in that this throne is not inherited by merit or succession, but established in righteousness by the eternal decree of God, Who set His King upon His holy hill of Zion (Psalm 2:6). “…and the bright and morning star.” The night of the Old Covenant had passed by His death on the cross, resurrection and ascension into Glory. The Daystar had arisen. Through the lens of redemptive history, Christ’s coming in judgment on apostate Israel was also the dawning of the New Covenant in its fullness—the clear Light of the Gospel to the nations. For His elect, scattered across Jew and Gentile alike, He shines as the Forerunner of the everlasting day, the pledge that darkness is forever past. Here, at the close of Scripture, the sovereign Christ stands revealed as the Alpha and Omega of redemption’s history—Root and Offspring, Judge and Redeemer, and the Light of the world. And all is of Him, through Him, and to Him, for He is the Bright and Morning Star Who reigns now and forever.

Romans 5:9 "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him." This Scripture in God's inspired Word declares the glorious truth that God’s elect were fully and finally justified through the blood of Christ. It underscores that justification—the divine act of declaring sinners righteous before God—is not something we earn or add to by our works or faith, but was entirely accomplished once for all at the cross. Through Christ’s sacrificial death, the penalty for sin was fully paid, satisfying divine justice and establishing the believer’s right standing with the Father. There is only one justification of sinners before God, and that was accomplished by Christ in His death on the cross. There is no other ground or means of justification; it is complete, perfect, and everlasting solely because of what the LORD Jesus accomplished on the cross for His chosen people. There is but one justification, whether viewed from before the foundation of the world, by faith or through works. It was all accomplished at the cross. Consider the following summary: Justification viewed from before the foundation of the world It is not the Lamb slain before He was slain but the Lamb Whom God appointed to be slain and therefore Who did come as predetermined by God before the foundation of the world and sacrificed His life unto death in the Father's appointed time, " Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me," ( Psalm 40:7); (Hebrews 10:7). Justification viewed by faith Faith is not the instrument of justification; Christ’s death is! Faith is the God-given persuasion to believe God’s Word and see that righteousness is already accomplished and fulfilled in the death of the Savior and Substitute, " Therefore being justified, by faith we have peace with God through our LORD Jesus Christ:" (Romans 5:1). Justification viewed through works Our works do not justify us before God. They are the fruit of God the Father having justified us exclusively upon completion of the death of His Son, as our Substitute. The subsequent works (regeneration, conversion, faith, and repentance) are the fruit of Christ’s righteousness imputed to His people already at the cross: "Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?  Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way" (James 2:21-25)? Justification accomplished at the cross What could be simpler? Justified by His blood, "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:24). At the cross is where sin was put away. Because Christ put away the sin, there remained nothing but righteousness to impute, " For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). There is one place, at one time, and one Sacrifice that redemption and justification were accomplished, "By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified" (Hebrews 10:10-14). For God the Father to be just and justify those He gave to His Son to redeem, there was a complete satisfaction of His law and justice in two ways: First, there was the debt of obedience to the precepts of the law that the LORD Jesus Christ fulfilled, not just in the outward letter of the law, but the very spirit of it. Second, was the satisfaction of the penalty of the law by His obedience unto death, " And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Philippians 2:8). To put the justification of sinners anywhere but at the cross is to deny the finished work of the LORD Jesus. " Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the reconciliation” (Romans 5:9-11). This is the only justification of His people before the Father. Nothing else is required by God, and nothing more is desired by His people.

Hebrews 11:32 "And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:" If Samson’s name were not recorded in the list of the Old Testament saints as one of the LORD’s, ( Hebrews 11:32) , would we consider him so? He loved a harlot, and was so committed to her that he brought on himself the most dreadful evils, even death. What can we learn from this?   Grace reigns!  Is this an example of sinning that grace may abound? God forbid, ( Romans 6:1) . Yet, the fact is that “Grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our LORD,” ( Romans 5:21 ). Although Samson lived before the LORD Jesus Christ came to this earth, and lived and died on his behalf, yet God was forbearing with his sin, " Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;" ( Romans 3:25) , having purposed all his sins to Christ Who would come and bear them in His death on the tree, "And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance" (Hebrews 9:15). On that basis, God was just in declaring him righteous and granting him eternal life, by Jesus Christ, just as with any who are the LORD’s. It is only by Christ’s obedience unto death that any of us were made righteous, and God has forgiven sins, " For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous" ( Romans 5:19).   God did not punish Samson for his sin, but certainly chastened him with his sin.   His example should cause any who are the LORD’s to fear even the slightest influences of sin in the heart and conscience. Perhaps the greatest chastening is recorded in Judges 16:20 , “He wist not that the LORD was departed from him.”   The LORD had not completely given him over, as with reprobates, but for a season, left him to his own devices to humble him and cause him to cry out to Him for mercy once again. As one writer stated, “No sweet communion with his dear LORD as heretofore. No precious assistance from the Spirit. No inward testimonies of His love, and gentle whispers of peace to his soul…He goes from ordinance to ordinance, but he finds not his LORD in them. All is dry formality, dreary and uncomfortable.”   The LORD caused Samson’s heart to return unto Him once again. Just as with any of the LORD’s beloved, chosen, and redeemed ones, the LORD does bring them again and again to cry out to Him for mercy . “Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O LORD God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee,”  ( Judges 16:28 ). Was this not the thief’s prayer on the cross?  Was not mercy granted because of Christ’s work alone? Samson, by God's grace, served as a type of Christ in Grace. Samson’s life, as recorded in the book of Judges, is both a warning and a wonder. In himself, he was a man of great weakness, marred by sinful passions and repeated failures. Yet, by the sovereign grace of God, he was chosen before birth, set apart as a Nazarite, and empowered by the Spirit to begin delivering Israel from the Philistines. In this, Samson serves as a faint and imperfect shadow of the LORD Jesus Christ — the true and sinless Deliverer. Where Samson fell short, Christ triumphed. Samson’s strength was fleeting; Christ’s power is eternal. Samson’s victories were partial and temporary; Christ’s conquest over sin, death, and hell is complete and everlasting. The grace that sustained Samson despite his sins reminds us that salvation is never earned by human merit but is given freely according to God’s sovereign covenant purpose. Even in his death, Samson points us to Christ: “ And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines… So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life” (Judges 16:30). In a far greater way, Christ “through death… destroyed him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14) . Samson’s final act, accomplished in weakness yet owned by God, prefigured the Redeemer’s death in perfect strength — a death that obtains everlasting deliverance for His people. Samson’s story is the story of every sinner saved by grace: chosen of God, often failing in ourselves, yet upheld and used by His power for His glory. On every page, the greater Samson — our LORD Jesus Christ — stands as the only true and faithful Deliverer. He was numbered with transgressors, (Mark 15:28), yet never a transgressor Himself. Thanks be to God for our Greater Samson, Who in His death obtained the salvation of His people.

Ephesians 1:5,6 "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." The apostle Paul, writing this Spirit-inspired Word, lifts our thoughts to the eternal counsel of God and the glory of His sovereign grace in Christ. These words bring before us the eternal purpose of God the Father, accomplished in the finished work of Christ on the cross, and revealed in time by the Holy Spirit to those chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. From eternity, God determined to bring a people into His family—not by merit, decision, or worthiness on their part, but solely “according to the good pleasure of his will.” This adoption is not a process of trial or probation; it was accomplished fully and irrevocably at the cross, when the Son of God, in the place of His elect, satisfied divine justice and reconciled them to God. There, the legal right to sonship was sealed in His blood, and every hindrance to their acceptance was forever removed. Yet, though adoption was accomplished once and for all at Calvary, its comforting reality is made known to each child of God in time by the effectual call of the Spirit. At the time of regeneration, the Spirit of adoption enters the heart, bearing witness that the sinner is no longer a stranger and foreigner, but a son and heir of God through Christ. It is in that gracious revelation that the adopted one begins to cry, “Abba, Father,” (a term of endearment that means 'daddy') and to live in the liberty of a child who has been made “accepted in the beloved” (Christ). What then are the effects of God’s sovereign grace in Christ for the adoption of His elect? The adoption of God’s chosen people rests entirely upon the unchanging purpose of His predestinating grace in the LORD Jesus Christ. Paul declares: “Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”  (Ephesians 1:5–6) This eternal purpose was legally accomplished  at the cross. In the fullness of time, the eternal Son of God took on our nature, placed Himself under the law, and by His redeeming work secured for His elect the full right of sonship: “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”  (Galatians 4:4–5) Though adoption was finished in Christ’s death, it is graciously revealed  in time by the Holy Spirit. Those whom the Spirit draws are brought out of bondage into the liberty of children, knowing God as their Father through the inward witness of the Spirit of adoption: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”  (Romans 8:14–16) This adoption is purely a privilege of God's sovereign mercy and grace —undeserved, unearned, and entirely the work of God in Christ: “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God...”  (1 John 3:1) With this sonship comes an eternal inheritance, for all of God’s children are heirs of the Father and joint-heirs with Christ : “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”  (Romans 8:16–17) In this glorious work, we see the unshakable foundation of adoption in God’s sovereign will, the finished accomplishment of it in Christ’s death, the personal revelation of it by the Spirit, and the eternal blessings that flow from it—all to the praise of the glory of His grace.

2 Timothy 2:10 "Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." We never know when it will please God to reveal His imputed righteousness in Christ in one of His chosen ones, but He will in His time. In the meantime, we may have to endure much opposition and trial in declaring this Gospel Truth, that when the LORD Jesus Christ laid down His life on the cross, it was there that God once and for all declared every one of the elect justified before Him, " Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:" (Romans 4:25, 5:1). The question is, ‘What is it about this Doctrine that causes such opposition, even in some who may well be elect of God, that as yet the Spirit of God has not revealed in them this Truth of the FINISHED WORK of the LORD Jesus?’ The principal reason is the depravity and blindness of the heart that keeps them from seeing the clear testimony of Scripture. We all have a prejudice toward what men teach, rather than what the Word has to say. We all have our bias toward certain writers' positions because we would rather justify ourselves rather than God, so we hold on to the grave clothes that only the Spirit of God can unloose to free us, " But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away" (2 Corinthians 3:14-16). The other answer is how our self-will wants to be right in our own eyes rather than confess that we have been wrong and need the LORD to bring us to Him again in repentance and the acknowledging of the TRUTH,   " I n meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;" (2 Timothy 2:25). How easy it is to preach that others must repent, yet ourselves resist the need for God to do a work of repentance in our hearts. The notion that we have already repented and therefore don’t need further repentance is contrary to the True Word of God. Biblical repentance is an ongoing work of the Spirit in the heart, where the Spirit of Grace is at work there is a continual cry unto the LORD to grant repentance even of our repentance, that in every way, our hearts be aligned with the TRUTH as it is in Christ, " Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:10-11). How hardened is the heart when we act like the ostrich with its head buried in the sand, saying, ‘I have already made up my mind, please don’t confuse me with the facts!’ When it comes to how God justifies sinners, the clear declaration of the Word is that: it is in, by, and through the blood shed unto death of the LORD Jesus Christ alone, " Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:" ( Romans 3:24) . We dare not even add the words ‘based on’ or ‘on the ground of’ to allow for those who believe that the elect were justified by God before time ‘based on’ what Christ would accomplish or those who say that it is upon believing ‘based on’ what Christ did at the cross. NO! Let’s not be guilty of adding to what the Scriptures declare in Romans 5:9, “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” It does not say ‘based on’ but BY His blood. What can we conclude then of those who refuse to bow to the clear declaration of Scripture? They may well be the elect of God, ones whom God has already saved and justified at the cross, but has not yet taught by His Spirit. For them, we can and do endure all things for their sake. If not, then those who oppose should fear that by arguing against this Truth, they may be reprobated. For those of us that the LORD has taught, let us not be weary in well doing in giving testimony to no other righteousness than that ordained of God, earned and established by the LORD Jesus, imputed at the cross and revealed by the Spirit in the heart of those that Christ’s blood has justified already. Despite the opposition, we can rejoice that in God’s time it will be when it pleases Him to reveal Christ in one of His own, " But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace," (Galatians 1:15). Faith proves itself to be a genuine grace of the Holy Spirit when it submits to and trusts in the righteousness of God in Christ alone for justification, His blood for pardon and His all-prevailing merits and intercession for life- " Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Peter 1:4). Faith glorifies the LORD Jesus as God’s High Priest Who put away sin and honors Him as King to rule and govern and yields obedience to Him as God’s Prophet to instruct in the Truth.

Psalm 118:27  "God is the Lord, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar." What a glorious testimony we have here in this Old Testament-inspired Word, of the Revelation of Christ and Redemption in Him through the sovereign grace of God. In the shadows of Old Testament worship, the psalmist declares that God is the LORD —Jehovah is God—and He has “ shewed us light.” This is not merely the light of outward religion or moral reformation, but the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God shining in the Face of Jesus Christ. Here, the Spirit of God lifts our eyes to see that salvation is not by man in any way, but revealed by God Himself to those He elected in Christ before the foundation of the world, and for whom He sent His Son into the world as a Man to pay their sin debt by His death on the cross. It is God Who makes Himself known, and it is God Who has ordained the Sacrifice of His Son for the Satisfaction of His law and justice. He has provided Himself the Lamb, and Himself as the Lamb (Genesis 22:8). When the psalmist exhorts, “Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar,” we are brought to consider the ultimate offering—Christ, the Lamb of God, willingly bound by sovereign purpose, led to the altar of the cross. The cords were not ropes of man's making, but the cords of everlasting love, the decree of divine justice, and the unbreakable covenant of Grace. Here, then, we are led to contemplate the glorious work of the LORD Jesus—our Sacrifice and our Light—Who was not only revealed to us, but also given for us as His elect children. This Scripture points us to its fulfillment in the Person and finished work of Christ—God's chosen Redeemer, bound and offered once for all to save His people from their sins. God  [El-The Mighty One] is the LORD  [Jehovah-The Eternal Covenant God], Who hath shewed us Light [ “Christ Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person…” - Hebrews 1:3 ]  bind the sacrifice  [one slain as part of one of the feast days] with cords  [used to tie the sacrificial victim], even unto the horns of the altar [horn-like projections at each corner of the altar].        Knowledge of God in Christ is by His Sovereign revelation alone, by His Spirit. God causes the glorious Person of Christ to shine in the hearts of His children as an indication of His grace toward them in Christ ,   “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to   give   the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” ( 2 Corinthians 4:6 ) The darkness of ignorance and unbelief is dissipated and yields to the glorious knowledge of the LORD Jesus, and His effectual Sacrifice for their sin. All true Spirit-given FAITH is concerning the LORD Jesus and His Sacrifice for sinners at the cross. The LORD Jesus is that willing, sinless Sacrifice Who was bound by God’s decree, His law and justice, and the sin of those sinners the Father gave Him from eternity to save. He offered Himself up as His Sacrificial Lamb once for all, that He might be just and justify those He chose from eternity, " By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all..... "For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified" (Hebrews 10:10, 14).        In the light of this Scripture, we behold the wondrous grace of our covenant God Who has made His light to shine upon us in the Face of Jesus Christ. He who is the Lamb slain (since) from the foundation of the world is the One to whom the sacrificial cords point—the very altar to which He was bound for our eternal redemption as His elected children. This binding was not by force of man, but by the will of God and the willing offering of the Son, Who gave Himself in love for His chosen people. Here is the glory of sovereign grace: not that we sought Him, but that He sought us, gave Himself for us, and has brought us into His marvelous Light. May our hearts therefore be fixed in praise, and our lives offered in continual thanksgiving, for the LORD our God has truly dealt bountifully with us in Christ.