Nehemiah 9:17 " And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not." If salvation were based on fairness, no one would be saved. What's fair, in terms of what we deserve, is that God would send each of us into eternal condemnation. In understanding the message of God's sovereignty and salvation, we see that God is a just God, but He's also a merciful God. If it were not for God's mercy, none of us would be saved. In Nehemiah 9:17, we have the prayer of the Levites in confession to God for the people, as God was pleased to do a work of grace among them and bring them back into the land and settle them back. They confessed their sin before God and the sin of their fathers. God, as He has revealed Himself in the scriptures, delights to show mercy and to pardon guilty sinners. He said to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy” (Expdus 33:19). He has not left us to guess about His character. David said of Him, "Thou, LORD art good and ready to forgive and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon Thee" (Psalm 86:5). His readiness to pardon is seen in His longsuffering toward that nation of Israel. God's dealings with national Israel were very typical of His dealings with His church, though we are no more deserving of mercy than they were. Yet, God in Christ Jesus has been pleased to choose, to justify, and to pardon His elect. Why? Not for anything in them, but for Christ's sake. " For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:" (Romans 3:24,25). First, He's a God ready to pardon in His eternal purpose. God is eternal, He is without beginning from all eternity, so all that takes place we know and understand from the scriptures that it was settled in the mind of God, in the purpose of God, from all eternity. There's no time with God with regard to His eternality, and certainly in talking about a God ready to pardon, this is where we need to begin. What took place in eternity? He's a God ready to pardon in His eternal purpose. "Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our LORD: In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him" (Ephesians 3:8-12). Second, God is a God ready to pardon in His gracious provision in the working out of salvation. It's not just that in all eternity He purposed to save sinners. The truth of Scripture is that in time He has accomplished the salvation of those that He purposed to save. He didn't just purpose to save sinners and say, "well now, I hope that they'll do what's necessary to be saved." If that were the case then no one would be saved. None of us could ever even think of doing what is necessary. It requires providing a perfect righteousness before God. But God is the One Who has accomplished this. He's ready to pardon in His gracious provision of all that's necessary for sinners such as we are to be saved and be pardoned. " 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). Third, in that He has satisfied His justice by propitiation. The word “propitiation” means an appeasement. It means to satisfy the justice and holiness of God. And so we see that God is a God ready to pardon in the LORD Jesus Christ by that satisfaction that He provided for His people to God the Father. In Hebrews 2:16-18, we read, " For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted." God is ready to pardon through that satisfaction that the LORD Jesus Christ has obtained for His people. Fourth, we see that He's a God ready to pardon in the preaching of the Gospel. Not many people want to hear it. Why? Because it gives God all the glory, and because sinners do not want to admit to what they are. They are sinners, depraved, condemnable before God, and yet man still thinks that somehow his salvation has something to do with what he does or doesn’t do as a sinner. No, it has everything to do with God and what God has purposed to do in Christ. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:17-20, " For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?" Nehemiah 9:17 reminds us of God’s enduring mercy and faithfulness, even in the face of our sin, rebellion and forgetfulness. Though as elected sinners we have hardened our hearts and turned away, God has not nor ever will abandon any that He has chosen, and for whom the LORD Jesus Christ came to pay their sin debt. Instead, He remains “a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” This verse directs us to reflect on the constancy of God’s character — a powerful encouragement to continue to look to Him with confidence, knowing that His grace is greater than all our sins. “Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our LORD,” Romans 5:20,21.

Romans 6:3,4 "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." Many people interpret this portion of Scripture as referring to water baptism. While it is true that water baptism is a confession of Faith and symbolizes the death, burial, and resurrection of the LORD Jesus Christ, that is not what Paul is describing here. Water baptism cannot purify or remove sin—but the baptism of Christ does. These verses do not refer to His baptism in water; rather, they point to His death. The LORD Jesus Himself referred to His death as a baptism of fire that He would endure, and the word baptism means “an immersion.” So complete was Christ’s work in His obedience unto death, that His baptism with fire was the full endurance of the wrath of God. This fire signifies the justice of God. It is not that the Father hated His Son in any way—for He loved Him unto the end—but Christ willingly bore the wrath that was due unto the people He came to save. Thus, He was entirely immersed in that fire, consumed as The Sacrifice. Even as in the Old Testament, the burnt offering was wholly consumed upon the altar, and the smoke ascended as a sweet savour unto God, so Christ gave Himself wholly in sacrifice. It is written: "And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour" (Ephesians 5:2). "Know ye not?"—This is a truth not commonly known by all, but the apostle writes to those who have been regenerated by the Spirit of God, taught of Christ, and have seen in Him their full and perfect justification before God through His death, burial, and resurrection. In Romans 4:25 and 5:1, these truths are closely connected: “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.” He was delivered up on account of our offenses—that is, the sins of those sinners that the Father had given Him—and was raised again because of our justification. The word “for” in that verse signifies “because of,” not “to.” Thus, His resurrection did not accomplish the act of justifying, but was the declaration that justification was already accomplished, finished, when He offered Himself once for all. There is that knowledge that the Spirit of God gives to those for whom Christ paid the debt, and that the Father gave Him from all eternity. He says, "that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?" The way that's written, it's not talking about individual water baptism, and it's also speaking in the past tense as if those who were baptized were all baptized at one time, in one place, and one Person, because it says we're "baptized into Jesus Christ." But how? We were baptized (immersed) into His death. Christ and Him crucified. When He died, they were altogether buried with Him in the waters of the death of His sacrifice. So in Christ we live by Grace according to the work of the LORD Jesus Christ, and what He has accomplished. When it speaks there in verse 3 of having been baptized into Jesus Christ and baptized into His death, it's talking about His death; that just as when He died, He was plunged into that death. He died. That means that that judgment was rendered for everyone for whom He died. So if He died for me, when He died, I died. "Therefore, we are buried with Him by baptism into death." That's not talking about water baptism. It's a one-time burial. It's not a continual burying, but it says here, "by baptism into death: that like as: Christ was raised up from the dead."  There's the clear connection that this baptism here is not speaking of water baptism, but the baptism of His death, "like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father." "Even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4). To walk in newness of life does not mean that, now that Christ has paid our debt and the Spirit of God has revealed Him in us, we shall never again struggle with sin. Rather, it means walking in the power and reality of that new life which Christ has accomplished on behalf of sinners such as we are. It is not the presumption that the sinful flesh is entirely eradicated, but the recognition that we are no longer under the dominion of the old man (Adam). To walk in this newness is to never trust in the flesh, never return to the law to establish some personal righteousness of our own, but to reckon ourselves “dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:11). It means that, by the Spirit of God, our hearts and eyes are fixed only upon Christ, in Whom our life is hid and by Whom we live.

Psalm 144:4 "Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away." David, the king of Israel, pens these words during a prayer for deliverance and blessing. A man of war, trial, and transgression, he knew firsthand the brokenness of human nature and the frailty of life under the curse. In Psalm 144:3, he marvels: "LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!" And in verse 4, he declares with sober clarity: "Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away." David had seen the rise and fall of kings and nations. He had watched the strength of men fade like withered grass and the glory of this world vanish like smoke. He knew the consequence of Adam’s fall—that "by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men" (Romans 5:12). Man in his natural state is spiritually bankrupt—vain, fleeting, without substance, and utterly separated from God. David’s words are a divine assessment of fallen humanity: “Man is like to vanity.” Not merely near it or affected by it, but identified with it. This is the doctrine of total depravity. Man is not merely sick—he is dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him” (1 Corinthians 2:14). His religion, morality, and effort are all tainted by sin and void of saving power. “All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). No amount of good intention can raise him from spiritual death. He is vanity—a vapor, a shadow, a momentary breath that vanishes. “Surely every man is vanity” (Psalm 39:5). Yet, it is against this bleak backdrop that God's sovereign grace in Christ shines brightest. Though man is nothing, God is everything. From before the foundation of the world, God purposed to save a people, not based on their worth, but according to His will and grace (Ephesians 1:4–5; 2 Timothy 1:9). The elect were not left in Adam’s ruin. They were chosen in Christ, the Surety of a better covenant, Who came not to assist the weak but to raise the dead (John 5:21). Christ, the eternal Son, “was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). He entered into this world of shadows to accomplish what no man could do. At the cross, He bore the full weight of His people’s sin, guilt, and vanity. “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4). “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). In His death and resurrection, Christ brought eternal substance where once there was only a passing shadow. He is the Light that shineth in darkness (John 1:5), and the Life that conquered the grave. Those chosen in Him are made the very Righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), not by the will of the flesh, nor by the will of man, but by the sovereign will of God (John 1:13). His obedience is their righteousness. His blood is their redemption. His life is their life (Romans 5:9-11). Psalm 144, while a prayer for national deliverance, is also a prophetic longing for the true Deliverer. David, though a king, cries out for One greater than himself—a Redeemer Who alone can save from sin, vanity, and death. “Blessed be the LORD my strength,” he says (Psalm 144:1), for he knew that Strength, Salvation, and Deliverance are of the Lord alone (Jonah 2:9). For every chosen sinner given to Christ, His life, death, and resurrection are not vanity but eternal truth. He came to redeem a people plagued by brevity and sin and bring them into an everlasting kingdom. “But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him… to such as keep his covenant” (Psalm 103:17–18). He is the Substance. He is the Glory. He is the Eternal answer to man’s fleeting shadow. So yes—“man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away” (Psalm 144:4). But for the believer in Christ, “the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth” (1 John 2:8). Our hope is not in ourselves, but in Him wWho is “the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8). Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable Gift (2 Corinthians 9:15)! Man is vanity. But Christ is ALL (Colossians 3:11).

Revelation 13:8 "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." In this remarkable verse, the Spirit of God unveils a profound truth concerning Christ and the redemptive purpose of God. We are told of a Lamb — not just any lamb, but the Lamb, Christ Jesus — “slain from the foundation of the world.” Many have misread this verse, asserting that Christ was slain before the foundation of the world, as if the cross was accomplished in eternity past. But the text does not say “before.” It says from — indicating a point in time, since the foundation was laid. This matters because it aligns with the entire testimony of Scripture regarding Christ's sacrificial work: that it was accomplished in time, upon a real cross, in real flesh, in the fullness of the time. Paul writes in Galatians 4:4, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.” Yes, Christ was foreordained before the foundation of the world, as Peter declares in 1 Peter 1:20, but "was manifest in these last times for you who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God." What then does it mean that He is the Lamb "slain from the foundation of the world”? It means that from the very beginning of this world’s history — from Adam’s fall and the first shedding of blood to cover sin — the purpose of God in Christ was being unfolded. The Lamb slain was set forth in type, in promise, in shadow, and in prophecy from the beginning. Abel’s acceptable sacrifice pointed to Him. The ram caught in the thicket for Isaac spoke of Him. The Passover lamb in Egypt, the daily offerings in the tabernacle — all cried out, “Behold the Lamb of God!” Christ was ordained to be the Substitute for an elected people that God chose in eternity past, whose names have always been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain. That's Whose book it is. The Lamb slain. However, He is the Lamb slain from or since the foundation of the world. Only the LORD Himself could and did uphold the law in perfect obedience as the God-Man. A body was prepared for Him, since the foundation of the world, Hebrews 10:5. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" (Romans 5:12). So the LORD Jesus had to come in the flesh to earn and establish the righteousness necessary to satisfy the Law and Justice of God the Father, as a Man, since the foundation of the world. The cross was not an afterthought or a reaction to man's fall. It was God’s determined purpose from the start. Every name in the Lamb’s Book of Life was written before the foundation of the world — not merely foreseen, but foreordained in God's sovereign grace (Ephesians 1:4). However, Christ’s death was not accomplished in eternity. It was purposed from eternity and carried out in time. From the first moment of creation, the slain Lamb was central to God’s dealings with this world, when God slew the innocent victims and clothed Adam and Eve with the skins (Genesis 3:21). Why is this important? Because it lifts our eyes from philosophical abstractions to the historical, effectual work of Christ crucified. It reminds us that our salvation is not based on speculation, but on the accomplished death of Christ in time, for His people, chosen in Him, written in His book, from the beginning. Although on the surface this verse seems simple, it is rich in typological meaning, especially when read in the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It depicts Christ's death by substitution and the imputation of righteousness to God’s elect. It preaches grace—from the beginning, salvation by God's initiative, through blood shed unto death, for the elect. Let us not make His sacrifice a mere mystical figure in eternity. No — He was slain in time, on Calvary’s tree. But from the very dawn of this world, His death prefigured was central in God's purpose, and the unfolding of redemptive history. If your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, it is because the slain Lamb, appointed from before the world’s foundation, came in time, bore your sins, and purchased your redemption. Thanks be to God for the Lamb Who was slain from the foundation of the world!

3 John 1:11 "Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God." In this inspired Scripture, the apostle John gives a pastoral exhortation to his beloved friend Gaius, pointing him to continue to follow after Christ (the only Good). This counsel comes in the context between the faithful example of Gaius and Demetrius, by God’s Grace in Christ, and the harmful, self-serving conduct of Diotrephes, who rejected apostolic authority and acted maliciously toward the brethren. To "follow after good" means more than outward morality; it is the fruit of a heart regenerated by grace, pursuing the glory of Christ and walking after the Truth, as revealed in the LORD Jesus Who is THE TRUTH. Conversely, to follow evil reveals a heart estranged from God, regardless of religious profession. John’s words are not a general moral appeal but a spiritual call rooted in the Truth of the Gospel: only those born of God can truly do good. Thus, the verse challenges believers to examine whom they imitate, what they value, and how their conduct bears witness to their union with Christ. In the context, John is speaking specifically of one named Diotrephes who loved to have the preeminence. "I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not" (3 John 1:9). When that's the case, there's always evil that follows. The question then is, how is such evil to be handled? John speaks with firmness and yet love. He's not reacting when he says in verse 9, "he receiveth us not." John is not elevating himself above Diotrephes to say, "Well, because he doesn't receive us, wait until I get there and he's going to find out. I'm going to carry a big stick." John was appointed of the LORD. The very truth of the Gospel is founded upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, " And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;" (Ephesians 2:20). Their instruction that they gave, what we read here in this Word, is the inspired Word of God, and therefore to be received. Not because John said it, but because, just like Paul said, " For I have received of the LORD that which also I delivered unto you... " (1 Corinthians 11:23). Every bit of their instruction was based upon what they had received of the LORD. Here we find John's instruction on how to deal with this issue. It’s not uncommon—whenever you stand before others to proclaim the Gospel, some will always criticize the doctrine and reject the teaching. In this case, Diotrephes had nothing good to say about the apostles. When he says, "receiveth us not," this isn't unusual. True ministers of the Gospel will be spoken against. It's just part of identifying with the Gospel of Christ. It goes against men's nature, and so it is when Gospel ministers stand to exalt the LORD Jesus Christ. The word exposes the heart. Many times there will be a reaction because even as it says in John 3:19, " And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." Nothing in this portion of Scripture shows us that John feels like Diotrephes was one of the LORD's, even though he was found among the brethren, and especially in how he uses this language. "Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church" (3 John 1:10). The word “prating” indicates something that is silly and idle. This sounds like what Christ said of the Pharisees, " Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered" (Luke 11:52). And so we see thisa is a very serious matter. Don't follow after evil, but that which is good. What is good? It is all that pertains to GOD in His glory and attributes (the word “good” being a derivative in English of the word “God”. Therefore, good is that which glorifies the character and attributes of God such as His love, and how He shows mercy. It's forgiveness, kindness, and humility. It reflects a quietness that only the LORD can give. If there's an issue, a situation that is beyond our own ability to resolve, then what we do is prayerfully look to the LORD, seek Him. It's not just a matter of learning the doctrine of grace, but the grace of the doctrine, and to learn grace in the heart and in the spirit, as the LORD is pleased to teach us. So this was how John exhorted them to handle this one Diotrephes. Then he ends the epistle with a good example. Here was this one, Demetrius in their midst, "Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself: yea, and we also bear record; and ye know that our record is true" (3 John 1:12). Why does John commend Demetrius? It is because the LORD, in His sovereign grace, directed him to set forth this man as an example of one who walks in the Truth. Oftentimes, we become preoccupied with those who oppose the Gospel—such as Diotrephes, who "loveth to have the preeminence" (3 John 1:9) —yet the LORD places among us living testimonies of His grace, such as Demetrius. He did not seek recognition or praise from men, for “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble” (James 4:6). John writes, “Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself” (3 John 1: 12). This is not mere outward reputation, but a fruit of the Spirit’s work in him. He was kind, gracious, and considerate—not by nature, but by grace. When a man is taught of God, made to see himself as a sinner, bankrupt of righteousness, and brought to cry, “God be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13) , he is made low. Such a soul, being humbled under the mighty hand of God, will walk in meekness with others. He will not exalt himself as Diotrephes did, but will manifest the Truth, not merely in word, but in life. This is the power of God's sovereign grace in Christ, the fruit of the Gospel of Christ, Who “hath made us accepted in the beloved” (Ephesians 1:6). This verse sets forth the fruit of God's grace in the lives of His redeemed. The work of grace does not merely change a person’s status before God—it affects their walk. Those born of God, who have been effectually called by His grace and justified by the blood of Christ, are also sanctified by the Spirit. They follow after that which is Good (God), not to become children of God, but because they are. Their doing good is the evidence, not the cause, of divine life within them. Grace teaches the believer to deny ungodliness and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world (Titus 2:11–12) . The mark of grace is not perfection, but a Spirit-wrought desire to follow Christ, to walk in truth, and to bear fruit unto God, all to the praise of His glorious grace.

Mark 8:22-25 "And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly." Christ's miracles were often public because He was manifesting Himself publicly as the Messiah. These miracles that He did proved Him to be the Messiah. But in this particular case, He pulls this man aside privately. Notice, it doesn't mention anything about him having faith—even in what the Lord was about to do. He was blind. He couldn’t see. And yet we find the Lord separating him out, that this miracle should be for him and not for those around who might be looking for a sign or wonder from the LORD. This text reveals a great spiritual truth. We may not be able to identify with physical blindness, but we can relate to spiritual blindness—if we’re the LORD’s. Spiritually, it is the LORD Who must give us eyes to see. If not, we’ll never know Him, and we’ll never know His grace. So, in this encounter with the blind man, there is a progression in how the LORD was pleased to restore his sight. And by way of parallel, we can see a progression even in how the LORD is pleased to reveal Himself in us. Some argue that as soon as the Spirit has done a work of grace in a sinner’s heart, they have full knowledge and receive that unction of the LORD so that they no longer need to learn anything more. They feel like it’s a done deal. Well, it wasn’t a done deal with this man. In addition, it’s not that we sought the LORD—no, He sought us. Why did the LORD pass by Bethsaida? It was for this one needy sinner, though there were many others, that He passed by on His way to reach this one. Left to ourselves, in our blindness, we wouldn’t even know to reach out to the LORD. We do not know how to pray as we ought (Romans 8:26). In this case, the blind man’s friends brought him, seeking the LORD on his behalf. Certainly, we are concerned for various loved ones, and we pray that the LORD might be merciful to them. But notice the word “besought”—it was a humble plea to the LORD that He might show mercy to this one sinner. We do not come demanding, but seeking. The need was so great that the man could not even seek the LORD himself; he would not have known how to find Him. His condition was one of serious infirmity. And that is true of every one of us—because of who we are and the sinfulness into which we are born. We may have physical sight, but spiritually, we are blind. How we need the LORD to intervene! And here, we see our LORD’s willingness to intercede. God is a merciful God, willing to save those whom He is pleased to save. First, we see how the compassion of the LORD was particular and personal to this man (v. 23). It says, "he took the blind man by the hand," it doesn't say that the blind man took Him by the hand. That's how it's often preached. Sinners are told, "You better get hold of Jesus' hand, while you can." We wouldn't even know where to look. No, He took the blind man by the hand and led him. That's the way it is in salvation. How compassionate that He would take this blind man and lead him gently to where He would be pleased to deal with him. So, we see how the compassion of the LORD was personal and particular to this needy blind man. Here was a man who needed the work of the LORD Jesus Christ. Notice also that he didn't speak a word until the LORD asked him what he saw. We were born in this world in darkness and blindness, but it took the LORD to minister particularly to us. There were a lot of other blind people that the LORD didn't heal that were in the land but the LORD had drawn this one to Himself. Second, it was private. He led the man literally out of town. Can you imagine that blind man as he continued to walk with the LORD wondering what this was all about? He didn't know, but the Lord did because His eye had been set on Him from before the foundation of the world. This was one for whom He came and would lay down His life. It may well be that some of these actually saw the LORD crucified when He hung on that cross because that's why He came. Salvation doesn't often occur in a public setting. Third, not only is this a particular work and private work, but also a purposeful work. The LORD had his eye on this man, even though he could not see the LORD. And when the LORD was pleased to spit on his eyes and touch him, and then ask him what he saw. And he said, "I see men as trees walking." When the LORD first opens our eyes, we don't see Him as clearly as we do now. Yes, His Spirit drew us to Him to cause us to see His accomplished work at Calvary. That's where the Spirit turns the eyes of those in whom He does this work of grace. But oh, how we need Him to continue to do that work, that we might see Him even more clearly! And our confidence is certainly that "He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" (Philippians 1:6). Christ opening the eyes of sinners is a progression. Here in verses 23 through 26, we see this transformation that took place with this blind man through the Power of the LORD . He's the creator and He's the Savior and His work is perfect. Here we see the provision that when He spat on his eyes and put His hands on him, He's the one doing the work. He didn't demand the cooperation of this man that He had given sight to, but He was doing the work from the spittle to laying His hands on him. That's pretty humbling to have someone spit in your eye. A lot of people find this unsettling, but here our LORD knew what He was doing. Then it says he looked up and said, "I see men as trees walking." This part of the passage seems to cause confusion for some because they want it to be immediate. And there are some that in their pride will make you think that when they first believed or had their eyes opened that was it. There's no more learning to be done. That's not the case with the Lord. Didn't the LORD say, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls" (Matthew 11:28-29). That word "learn" is in the present tense. We continue to learn. That's what the word disciple means. We're ever learners. You never graduate from being a disciple. Even the LORD said to His disciples, " I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now" (John 16:12). Even right up to the cross, they did not have a clear view of what that death represented. He continued to teach them, never left them alone, never abandoned them. There's much that we will not know yet, even after all this time of studying the Word. None of us can say, " I know everything there's to know about Christ." He will be the Object of our learning, even through eternity. " Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing" (Revelation 5:12). That's going to be the theme in glory, and how we need to learn of Christ.

1 Chronicles 4:10 "And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested." Testimonies abound from people who say they've prayed this Jabez' prayer and were blessed and received what they asked. Years ago, this was the rage as preachers would use Jabez' prayer as a formula, praying exactly as he prayed it, impressing their hearers that God would answer them according to their desires. And yet, not all answered prayer is necessarily a blessing. When the children of Israel loathed that manna that God had given them (a type of the LORD Jesus), they began to crave meat and asked for it from God. The scripture says, " And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague" (Numbers 11:33). He sent leanness to their soul. Was this how Jabez himself prayed? Was this the essence of what he was asking? It says, he called on the God of Israel, saying, "Oh that thou wouldst bless me indeed." When we ask God to bless us, what are we asking? In James 4:3, the apostle warns the readers, saying, "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." This is not how Jabez was praying, being led by the Spirit, which is the only form of true prayer (Romans 8:26). He was praying that, according to God's Word, God might be pleased to enlarge the coast of His people in Israel. He was praying according to the Word. "And that thine hand might be with me." How does God place His hand upon a sinner? How can He, being a holy God, keep me from evil? Because the very thing that you ask of God may be for your destruction, how is it that a sinner should pray that God should answer with blessing and not a curse? First, Jabez called on the God of Israel. Every word of Scripture is inspired by God and therefore vital for our instruction (2 Timothy 3:16) . So here the question is, Who is the God of Israel? It's not just saying that He's the God of the Jews. But when you read this in the Scripture, the God of Israel, the first thing we need to note is that He's the Sovereign God, not only Sovereign over the nation of Israel, but all nations. To enlarge the borders of Israel, He would have to move other nations aside for them to live in that land. Therefore, to say that God is the God of Israel is to declare Him as Sovereign. In Deuteronomy 7:6 , we read, " For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth." God having set them apart unto holiness, God having given them the oracles that pertain to the priesthood, those robes of holiness that they wore, those sacrifices that they offered, all of that was a type and picture of how God declares a people holy in Christ. For God to be the God of Israel means that He's Sovereign God above all other people on the earth. At this time, He chose this people and set them above all the other nations as favored because Christ the promised Seed was to come from the seed of David and the tribe of Judah. They were favored for Christ. the Promised Seed's sake (Galatians 3:16). However, Christ having come in the fullness of the time (Galatians 4:4), His wrath fell on them to the uttermost as an apostate nation (1 Thessalonians 2:16). In 70 A.D. God destroyed the temple in Jerusalem by the invading Roman armies. Why? Because Christ has come and fulfilled all of those Old Testament types, pictures, prophecies, and promises. The only reason why God preserved them as a nation was because he purposed to bring His Son through them. That's the God of Israel. That's who Jabez was addressing. He wasn't praying for everybody in Israel, but the remnant according to the election of grace (Romans 11:5). Second, Jabez asked that God bless him indeed . Men look for temporal and transient blessings. They crave wealth. They crave honor. They desire health, long life, and comfort. These are usually what men pray for in the flesh. According to Scripture, for God to bless indeed is to grant the blessings of His grace in Christ. As it says in Ephesians 1:3 , "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." How? In Christ Jesus. Where's your mind right now? Is it upon you? Is it upon this life, and what you hope to obtain, all the while leaning on your 'god,' to help you? Paul wrote to the Colossians, in Colossians 3:2 , "set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth." True blessings are those that flow from the crucified and risen Saviour. What are those blessings that every sinner ought to be most concerned about and desire? Pardon, acquittal before a holy God, forgiveness of sins, a perfect righteousness that will stand us before a holy God, and peace with God. All of that is established through the Lord Jesus Christ alone. " For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;" (1 Timothy 2:5). Any blessing that comes because of Christ's redeeming work at the cross, whereby God has already justified once and for all those He gave to His Son, is everlasting indeed. If someone can't say "amen" to that, it shows that the heart is not on things of God, and the prayers and the endeavors are nothing more than self-serving wishes and NOT prayer. That's idolatry. It would be best if God would take everything away and settle a person down so that all they can do is sit and listen to the Gospel of Christ, at His feet as Mary did, where the LORD commended her for doing the one thing needful (Luke 10:42). Many of the Lord's people can testify as to how the Lord has used afflictions to wean them from this world and turn their thoughts to Christ, turn their thoughts to eternity, in the importance of being in Him. That is a blessing indeed.

2 Peter 3:17,18 "Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen." In the closing verses of his second epistle, the apostle Peter exhorts believers with a solemn warning and a gracious encouragement. This exhortation is directed not toward earning favor with God, but as the fruit of His electing love and preserving grace. Peter reminds the “beloved” —those chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world—that while false teachers abound and many fall into error, God's redeemed people are called to spiritual vigilance and continual growth. "To grow in grace"  is NOT to increase in God's favor toward us—His grace is free, sovereign, and unchanging—but rather to grow in our experience, understanding, and dependence upon that grace already given in Christ. It is to be more deeply rooted in the unmerited favor that chose us, redeemed us, and keeps us. Growth in grace is evidence of life in Christ, wrought by the Spirit, not the effort of the flesh. "To grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ"  is to grow in the heart’s apprehension of Who He is and what He has done for His people. It is not merely intellectual, but spiritual knowledge—seeing Christ more clearly as the One who bore our sins, fulfilled all righteousness on our behalf as His elect, and ever lives to make intercession for us. This knowledge is by the particular, personal, intimate, and transforming grace of God, produced by the Spirit through the Word. First, to grow in grace is to mature in our understanding of our need of grace . It's like how our children grow. We keep looking for that maturity in the way that they think, act and speak. In the end, that's when we come to say they have really grown up. They haven't changed as far as their nature is concerned. They are who they are, but they have matured in how they use those faculties that the Lord has given to them. That is a very good illustration of how we mature in our understanding and need of grace. It's not that we sin less, but our understanding of sin, prayerfully, as we grow in grace would become more clear and vital. The closer we get to the Light, as the Lord teaches us by His Spirit, the more we see our own sinfulness. We are drawn to the Lord Jesus in humility of grace. There's a clear understanding of our need. If we were in our experience and mind and walk and talk growing more and more in holiness, sinning less and less, what would be the need of the throne of grace? As we grow, we understand our need, " Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 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 4:14-15). Is there ever a time when we don't need Christ? Is there ever a time His blood shed is less necessary now than when we first believed? There has been a Man Who lived in sinless perfection, that's the Lord Jesus Christ. But all others that He came to represent still have that sin nature, and therefore the need to grow in grace. And that's why verse Hebrews 4:16 says, " Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Boldly doesn't mean presumptuously, but it means not doubting. It means believing that this One, the Lord Jesus Christ, is our only Hope. And we come to Him based upon what He has said in His Word. " " All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). Who is He calling to come? Not the righteous, but sinners. Second, to grow in grace, we increasingly know and feel our need of the Lord Jesus , not just our understanding and knowledge of our sin. It's again, the word even, because in the original language, that's how that little three-letter word chi can be translated, but grow in grace even the knowledge of the LORD Jesus. And you notice "in" is an italic, so there's no preposition in the original. It speaks of growing grace, even the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It's equating the growing in grace with the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. To grow in grace is to increasingly know, learn of Christ, and grow in Him in all manner, whether in our walk, life, or worship. As we're taught of Christ by His Spirit, there's that growth and that maturity. When you talk about the grace of God, it could be that Power of the Spirit that the Lord puts within one of His own, that He's chosen, and Christ is redeemed. Much like a grain of mustard seed, there is that growing and that maturing, similar to taking a seed and sowing it in the ground. The seed is sown in nothing but dirt, yet if you water it and cultivate it, the next thing you know, it grows into a mature tree or produces fruit in its time. Third, to grow in grace is to mature in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. How do we grow in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and His grace? Through His Word. As the Lord is pleased to teach us the Gospel, what it shows is that our knowledge, even the best of it, as long as we're in this flesh, is imperfect. Therefore, we need to grow in grace, even in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Can we say at any time that we have all knowledge? This book is about Christ. It's about that great work of redemption that He accomplished for sinners. As the Lord has opened our eyes in regeneration to see Him, He causes us to cry out to Him for mercy and grace, yet that cry is not the end. It's the beginning, just like a baby's cry is the beginning. It's an indication of life. So there's a cry toward Christ. We never stop growing, just like we never stop needing to eat or needing to exercise. There's always the need to grow. " We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;" (2 Thessalonians 1:3). These are terms that read we in the epistles: that your hope may abound, that love may increase, that patience may have its perfect work. These are all ways of knowing our need of growing in grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who is the Object of faith? It's Christ. So to grow in faith is to grow in that knowledge of the One Who is face of it.

Hebrews 12:6 "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." This verse is often misunderstood as a reference to divine punishment, but for the believer in Christ, redeemed by His finished work at the cross, there is no punishment left to bear. Christ bore the full wrath of God for all the sins of His people, fully satisfying Divine justice on their behalf. Therefore, God never punishes His children for sin; to do so would deny the sufficiency of Christ’s death on the cross. Rather, in His fatherly love, God corrects and disciplines them, not to condemn, but to draw them in continual repentance and faith to Christ. His chastening is not retributive, but restorative, purposed for their growth in grace and deeper dependence upon Christ. God doesn’t punish us for our sins as His elected redeemed ones:       The death of the LORD Jesus Christ was so complete and perfect as payment for the sins of His people that the all-knowing God no longer sees their sin. While their sin was legally charged against them in their first head, Adam, this changed when Christ came and paid the debt in full. As Romans 8:1  states:  “There is therefore NOW no condemnation…”        Although justification and forgiveness of sins were determined upon Christ the Surety from before the foundation of the world, God withheld the imputation of sin to His people until Christ fulfilled His justice on the cross. Once the payment was made in full, God declared them forgiven and justified, as explained in Romans 3:24-26: “Being NOW justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” (Romans 5:9)   God may chasten us by our sins as His children:       The wanderings, rebellions, and falls of the LORD’s chosen ones do not change their standing before God because of the salvation Christ accomplished for them on the cross. It has been said that there is not an ounce of God’s wrath in chastening His children. Yet, the LORD mercifully uses our sins to chasten us, humble us, and tenderly turn our hearts back to Christ in repentance, as seen in Luke 22:32, " But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." God will get the glory even in our sinfulness Ephesians 1:11–12  — “...being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory...” God, in His absolute sovereignty, works all things—not merely good things—according to the counsel of His own will. This includes even the sins of His children. In a way that only the Sovereign Lord can, He causes all things, including our failures, to ultimately serve His purpose and bring glory to His name. What a profound comfort this is to believers: because of the death of Christ—through which we have been redeemed and justified—no sin can ever separate us from the love of God. As Paul writes in Romans 8:38–39 , “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” When the Lord uses our sin and sinfulness as a means of chastening—not punishing—it is not to condemn us, but to correct us in love. Hebrews 12:11   declares, “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”   Though the experience of chastening may be painful, it produces the peaceable fruit of righteousness—the fruit of what Christ accomplished at the cross for our full, free, and complete justification before God. Therefore, as God's elect, we are never condemned for our sin; instead, we are lovingly corrected. This correction causes us to rejoice, not in ourselves, but in Christ and the effectual work He finished on our behalf. Sin remains a real and active enemy within us, but even it is under the sovereign hand of our Redeemer, Who lovingly disciplines us as His dear children. Those who are without chastening are not to be envied, but pitied and feared. Hebrews 12:8   solemnly warns, “But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.”   Chastening is not a sign of God’s rejection, but of His Fatherly love and our true adoption in Christ.

2 Corinthians 2:15-17 "For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: to the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ." Here is a sobering mystery in the Gospel of Christ: the same message that brings life to some brings death to others. Paul, directed by the Spirit, declares that the apostles of Christ are the aroma of Christ in the world—a fragrance that carries a twofold effect. To those who perish, it is the stench of death; to those who are saved, by God's electing and redeeming grace in Christ, it is the sweet scent of life. This is not a result of man's choosing, but God's determining. The will or works of man do not draw the dividing line, but by the eternal counsel of God’s sovereign grace. Those who are “the savour of life unto life” are those who have been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4), called by His Spirit, and made willing in the day of His power (Psalm 110:3) . The same Christ, preached with the same words and the same clarity and persuasion, brings forth two opposite reactions. Some are hardened. Some are humbled. One walks away scoffing; another bows in worship. This Gospel is not a mere offer. It is God's declaration concerning His Son and His work accomplished for the satisfaction of His law and justice on behalf of those that the Father chose from before the foundation of the world. It does not beg the sinner to let Christ in. Rather, it proclaims what Christ has done for His elect and declares His finished work, His complete satisfaction, and His infallible power to save. And where the Spirit applies that word to the heart, life springs forth. But where the Spirit does not move, the Gospel becomes the savor of death unto death. Not because there is death in the message, but because the dead heart resists the only source of life. " But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned," (1 Corinthians 2:14). Here is the weight of Paul’s question: “And who is sufficient for these things?” Who is sufficient to preach such a Gospel? Who can carry such a fragrance, knowing that it will both attract and repel? No man in himself. But Christ is sufficient. Christ sends His ambassadors. Christ speaks through them. Christ draws His sheep. And Christ passes by the rest in righteous judgment (John 10:3-16). This humbles the preacher and silences the proud. It is not by eloquence, emotional persuasion, or man-centered strategies that sinners are drawn to Christ. It is through the foolishness of preaching—preaching Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 1:23) . To those who are the called, Christ is the Power of God and the Wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24). But to others, He is a Rock of offense and a stumbling Stone (Romans 9:33). We are never to alter the message to try to win the world. Christ did not come to save every sinner in the world, but only those that the Father gave Him from eternity (John 17:9). The Gospel will do what God has purposed it to do. His Word will not return unto Him void. It will accomplish what He pleases and prosper in the thing whereunto He sends it (Isaiah 55:11). And in all of it, Christ will be glorified—in the salvation of His people, and in the just condemnation of those who continue to reject Him, having been left to their depraved will (John 6:44,66). Who is sufficient for these things? Not us as human instruments, no matter how gifted to preach. Our sufficiency is of God (2 Corinthians 3:5). Christ alone must be preached in clarity and truth. In so doing, the sweet savor of His name is spread abroad, knowing it is the fragrance of life to His sheep. In Him we rest and find our sufficiency! He knows those that are His and of all that the Father has given Him, He will lose nothing (John 6:39).

1 Corinthians 8:3 "But if any man love God, the same is known of Him." What a profound and humbling truth is declared in this brief verse. In a chapter where Paul addresses knowledge and liberty, he draws our attention from mere intellectualism to what is the true knowledge of God. He does not say, “If any man knows God,” but “if any man love God, the same is known of Him.” This distinction reveals the sovereign origin and grace-filled nature of our love to God: it is not man’s knowledge of God that secures salvation, but God's eternal knowledge of man in Christ. Love to God is not natural to fallen men. By nature, “ there is none that seeketh after God” (Romans 3:11). The heart of man is enmity against God (Romans 8:7). So how then can a man come to love God? The answer does not lie in man’s "free will", which is a myth, but in God’s sovereign grace. “We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). If any man loves God, it is the sure evidence that God has first set His love upon him in eternity, chosen him in Christ, and quickened him by the Holy Spirit. To be “known of God” is not mere awareness. God, being omniscient, knows all men in the sense of awareness. But this knowledge is a special, relational, covenantal knowing. It is the same word that the scriptures use of the most intimate relation between husband and wife, so the bride of Christ is known of Him in the most intimate way, even to the point of laying down His life for her. It is the same kind of knowledge Christ spoke of when He said, “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine”  (John 10:14). It is the knowledge of love, of union, and of sovereign everlasting purpose. This knowledge is founded in Christ exclusively. God knows His people in Christ. Christ is the federal Head and Surety of the elect, the One in whom God has loved them with an everlasting love. “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world”  (Ephesians 1:4). To be “known of God” is to have been eternally joined to Christ by the Father’s decree, justified by His obedience and blood shed unto death at the cross, and preserved by His intercession (Hebrews 7:24-28). When Paul writes that the one who loves God is “known of him,” he is not exalting man’s love, but magnifying God’s work in Christ. Any true love to God is the fruit of being in Christ, for “no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost” (1 Corinthians 12:3). Christ, the Eternal Son, came to make known the Father to His elect. He came, not to make men savable, but to save His people from their sins   (Matthew 1:21). His death was not a general offering, but a definite redemption and reconciliation, a covenant fulfillment. “I lay down my life for the sheep” (John 10:15). To be “known of God” is to be kept. Paul writes later in Galatians 4:9, “But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God…”  He corrects himself, shifting the focus from our weak apprehension of God to God's eternal embrace of His people. It is God’s knowledge of us in Christ that assures our salvation, not our knowledge of Him (John 17:3). “The Lord knoweth them that are his”  (2 Timothy 2:19). That knowledge is bound up in the Person and work of Christ, sealed in His blood, and revealed by His Spirit. What comfort this brings to trembling believers! When our love falters, when our understanding fails, our hope does not rest in our grasp of Him, but in His eternal, unchanging grasp of us in Christ. Therefore, child of God, if there is in your heart even the faintest love for the Lord, know this—it is because He has known you. Christ has redeemed you, the Spirit has called you, and the Father has accepted you in the Belived (Ephesians 1:6) . You are “known of God.” And this knowledge is unto salvation, unto eternal life, unto everlasting communion. Let us then rejoice, not in ourselves, but in Christ, “in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14). Let us love Him because He first loved us. And let us rest in the unspeakable assurance that we are, by sovereign grace, eternally known of God  in His Son.

Jonah 4:1,2 " But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil." Jonah’s anger in these verses is shocking. One would think a prophet of God would rejoice at the repentance of a city and the sparing of thousands from destruction. But here he is—sulking, seething, and praying in frustration. Why? Because God was gracious. Because God was merciful. Because God spared a people Jonah thought deserved wrath. And indeed they did deserve it. But what Jonah forgot is that he  did too. This moment exposes more than Jonah’s personal prejudice or national pride. It reveals a deeper human offense: the offence of God’s sovereign grace toward sinners that we may think unworthy of that grace. Such is the depravity of our hearts to acknowledge His right to show mercy to those He wills, and yet to find fault with those to whom He does show mercy. Much like the disciples of Christ when He was showing mercy to the Samaritan woman (John 4:27). Jonah could not reconcile God’s mercy with his sense of justice, especially when that mercy was shown to his enemies. He confesses that this was his reason for fleeing from God’s call in the first place. “I knew that thou art a gracious God…” (v. 2 ). In other words, “I knew You’d forgive them. And I don't approve." Put that way, the shock should be that he could even think that way, knowing how merciful the LORD had been to him. What a painful mirror this holds up to our hearts. How often do we, like Jonah, resist the truth of divine grace when it offends our sense of who should receive it? It’s easy to love grace when it reaches us. It’s harder when it reaches them —those we think are too wicked, too foreign, too undeserving. But here is the truth: if grace must be deserved, it is no longer grace. Jonah knew God’s character. He even quotes from Exodus 34—the Lord’s own Self-revelation to Moses—as the grounds for his protest. God had revealed Himself as “gracious,” “merciful,” “slow to anger,” and “of great kindness.” And Jonah hated it— not because it wasn’t true,  but because it was. He couldn’t bear to see grace poured out on those outside his borders, those outside his category of people worthy of mercy. But this is the very Glory of sovereign grace: it flows not where man wills, but where God wills (Rom. 9:15–16). Only the depravity of the heart would ever consider God’s grace as odious in how, where, and for whom He is pleased to show it. And yet, God is sovereign and will show grace to whom He wills, without ever consulting man. " And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy ," Exodus 33:19. Where God purposes to show grace it humbles the proud. It levels all ground beneath the cross of the LORD Jesus Christ, where God purposed to justify every sinner that He chose from eternity, and for whom Christ paid the debt, regardless of their sin, and no matter how undeserving. Nineveh was a cruel city, full of violence and idolatry. But Jonah was just as undeserving as a rebellious prophet who ran from the Lord, and yet God showed him mercy, too. Grace is not withheld because of the depth of sin, nor is it given in exchange for merit. Grace is free. And it is sovereign. God in sovereign grace chooses whom He wills, not based on worthiness, but because of the good pleasure of God alone (Ephesians 1:5,6) What Jonah could not yet see is what we see clearly in Christ: the ultimate demonstration of God’s sovereign grace toward sinners. The same Savior Who declared judgment on sin also took that judgment upon Himself. He died not for the righteous, but for the ungodly (Romans 5:6). He gave Himself not for the deserving, but for the elect, chosen in Him before the foundation of the world—not for what they were, but despite it. Even as typified in the nation of Israel, the LORD declared: "The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations"(Deuteronomy 7:7-9). We must ask ourselves: are we offended by the wideness of God’s mercy? Do we rejoice when grace abounds to the worst of sinners? Or do we secretly harbor Jonah’s resentment, nursing pride in our perceived righteousness, forgetting that we, too, were once alienated and enemies in our minds by wicked works (Colossians 1:21) ? Sovereign grace is offensive only to the self-righteous. But to the poor in spirit, to the soul who knows its sin, there is no sweeter truth. If God had not been gracious to Nineveh, Jonah would have rejoiced. But if God were not gracious to us , we would be lost. Praise God that He is Who He is—not only to undeserving wretched Ninevites, but to sinners such as we are, just as wicked and undeserving. Thankfully, He is a gracious God, merciful, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy and grace to redeem by the LORD Jesus' shed blood unto death. Let us bow in humility before the Sovereign Lord Who has mercy on whom He will have mercy, and rejoice that salvation is of the Lord—freely given, and perfectly obtained by Christ's death on the cross, although gloriously undeserved.