Revelation 1:5 “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.”   What a beautiful Scripture that declares the majesty and mercy of the LORD Jesus Christ: Here, the Spirit sets forth the Person of Christ in ALL His glory. He is set before us not only as the Eternal Son in His Glorious splendor, but also as the Mediator Who has stooped in redeeming love to save those sinners that the Father elected and gave Him to save, even before the foundation of the world. We see Him here crowned as Prophet, Priest, and King. As Prophet, He is the faithful Witness Who perfectly declared the will of God; as Priest, He is the Firstborn from the dead who triumphed over the grave; and as King, He is revealed as the sovereign Ruler over every throne and dominion. Yet, beyond all His titles and honors, this verse presses into our hearts this sweetest truth: that the One enthroned in glory is the same Who loved us and delivered us from our sins by the costly price of His precious blood. Notice, the inspired Word does not say “and CAN wash away our sins,” but, “WASHED AWAY”  [past tense, once for all]. What comfort then can those for whom Christ died draw from this truth?   1.)    This is the grace of God through the death of the LORD Jesus. Those whose sins Christ washed away by His shed blood were loved from eternity and given to Christ for whom He came to earn and establish that righteousness satisfactory to God the Father on their behalf,   "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).   2.)    The washing away of sins is wholly attributed to the LORD Jesus alone. It is not a cooperation between Christ and the sinner, but “unto HIM that hath loved us, and washed away our sins…”   3.)    How and by what means He washed away sins was with His blood shed unto death. Christ’s blood and the sins of God’s elect went away together. They were not put away from eternity, because there was not yet any sin in eternity, and no body to shed the blood in eternity, contrary to those who preach ‘justification from eternity' as if the elect were always justified in God's decree. The Truth of Scripture is that their justification was purposed in eternity, but only accomplished in time, at the cross when our LORD Jesus cried victoriously, “It is finished.”   ( John 19:30 )   The whole of salvation (redemption, reconciliation, propitiation, and justification) is attributed to Christ’s blood shed unto death, because, “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.”  ( Hebrews 9:22 ) The sum of this is that Jesus Christ, by His one Offering on the cross, TOOK AWAY (put an end to, blotted out and destroyed) all the sins of His people forever, " By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" ( Hebrews 10:10). " For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified" (Hebrews 10:14). Those God the Father loved from eternity, HE JUSTIFIED COMPLETELY when the LORD Jesus paid their sin debt and presented them just and holy without spot before God when He arose from the grave and ascended on High, "Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)" (Ephesians 2:5).  This Truth reveals the perfections of the LORD Jesus through one radiant, glorious Light. As the Truth, He is the Faithful Witness. His triumph as the Firstborn from the dead, His sovereignty as Prince of the kings of the earth, and His tender, saving love in shedding His own blood for sinners shine forth in ALL His Glory. To behold Him as He is by the Spirit of God is to be drawn in worship, to rest in His redeeming grace, and to live under His royal dominion with joy. When the Spirit of God reveals Christ in the heart of each elect, saved sinner, it is not when they believe that their sins are forgiven, but rather when they believe on Him Who paid their sin debt, having put away their sin, and justified them already at the cross. Glorious Truth! Glorious Salvation! Glorious Redeemer!  Let every redeemed heart echo the song of heaven: “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, be glory and dominion for ever and ever.”

James 5:7 "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain." The apostle calls the LORD'S people to a steadfast patience, not in their own strength, but resting upon the sovereign purpose of God. Just as the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, knowing it comes in due season by the LORD’s rain and sunshine, so the believer waits for Christ’s appearing, trusting that every trial and delay is governed by His sovereign hand. In sovereign grace, we are reminded that the same God Who planted His Word in our hearts will surely bring forth the harvest in His appointed time. Patience, then, is not passive, but a confident endurance rooted in the certainty that the LORD is faithful, and His promises cannot fail. Patience is hard for us because by nature our hearts are restless and proud. Yet James directs our eyes away from ourselves and on to Christ. He does not say, “Endure in your own strength,” but “unto the coming of the Lord.” The call to patience is really a call to fix our gaze on Christ—Who has come, Who is with us now, and Who is coming again. Consider the picture James gives: “Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain” (James 5:7). The farmer waits for what he cannot yet see. In the same way, we wait for Christ, Who is the true harvest. He is the “precious fruit” for whom our souls long. Just as the farmer depends on rain from heaven, so we depend entirely on Christ’s grace poured out upon us. When affliction comes, our comfort is this: Christ has already endured all things for His people. “Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God » (Hebrews 12:2) . He bore the judgment we deserve, and now He reigns. To be patient is not to grit our teeth and wait—it is to rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ. James tells us, “Establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh” (James 5:8). Christ is not far off. His coming is certain. He comes in judgment against the wicked, but for His people, His coming is salvation, mercy, and joy. Even now, He is near, upholding us in every trial, directing every circumstance for our good. Nothing touches us except through His hand. Think of Job. His suffering was bitter, yet through it he confessed: “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth” (Job 19:25 ). That Redeemer is Christ. Job’s Hope was not in relief from pain, but in the living Christ Who would stand for him. Think of David in Psalm 73. Troubled by the prosperity of the wicked, his heart was stirred to envy—until he entered the sanctuary and saw Christ, the true Priest, the true Offering for sin. Then he could say, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee… God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever » (Psalm 73:25–26). So when James says, “Be patient,” he means: look to Christ. Look to the One Who has loved you, Who has suffered for you, Who has redeemed you. Look to the One Who intercedes for you now, Who upholds you by His Spirit, and Who will soon come again for you. Whether at the end of time or in the lifetime of the believer, the LORD Jesus is coming for His own. "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8) . For those of us who are children of God by His electing grace, Christ Himself is our Patience, our Strength, and our Hope. So let us wait like the farmer, looking for the coming harvest. Let us endure with joy, knowing that “yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (Hebrews 10:37). “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord" (James 5:7) . And in that patience, let us rest in Christ—our Redeemer, our Portion, our coming King.

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 "For what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God; Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith? Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you. And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints." Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 3 lift our eyes straight to Christ, the only Substance of true Faith and the Object of every true prayer. He reminds us that all joy, thanksgiving, and perseverance flow not from what we do, but from what Christ has done. When Paul says, “For what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God” (vv. 9–10 ), he is rejoicing in the fruit of Christ’s satisfactory death on the cross, and His resurrection life for His people (Romans 5:10). Christ is the reason Paul prays, Christ is the Object of their faith, and Christ is the Holiness by which they stand unblameable before God (Colossians 1:22). Everything begins, continues, and ends with Him—the Alpha and the Omega, the Lamb slain from or since the foundation of the world, Who even now intercedes for His elect at the right hand of God, seated in glory having finished the work at the cross (Revelation 13:8; Romans 8:34). Paul desires that their Faith be strengthened as its Object—Christ Himself—is more clearly seen. True faith is never content in itself. It looks outward, to the Son of God Who loved us and gave Himself for us (Galatians 2:20) . This is the essence of sovereign grace: that God purposed our salvation before the world began, accomplished it in Christ at the cross, and brings it to light through the preaching of the Gospel, and the revelation of Christ by the Spirit. As Paul told Timothy, “God… hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:9–10). Paul prays that God Himself—our Father and our LORD Jesus Christ—would direct their way and establish them in His Love and Holiness. This is not a holiness that springs from us, for “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6) . Rather, it is that holiness that is Christ Himself—imputed, finished, and perfect. When Paul longs that they be “unblameable in holiness before God” (v. 13) , he points them to the only One on which any sinner can stand—the righteousness of God revealed in Christ, revealed in the Gospel (Romans 1:16–17). This prayer is also born of joy. Paul rejoices not in what men have done, but in what God has done by His grace. It is God Who gives Faith, Love, and Hope in the Person and work of the LORD Jesus, His Son (1 Thessalonians 1:2–3). Paul’s thanksgiving is directed heavenward: “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15). True joy flows from seeing Christ formed in His people. Paul knows that the LORD Who began that good work in His elect will perform it until the day of Christ (Philippians 1:6). And so he pleads that their hearts be kept steady, established upon that Rock which cannot move. Christ is that Rock. He is our Righteousness, our Sanctification, our Redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30). This is how we are to pray for one another: not merely for earthly ease, but that we may grow in love, be knit together in Christ, and stand firm in His righteousness until He comes for us, either in taking us in death, or resurrected in the clouds of glory at His second coming. May we then echo Paul’s words, asking that the LORD would cause us to “increase and abound in love one toward another” (v. 12) , and above all, that He would keep our hearts fixed on Christ, unblameable in His holiness, at the coming of our LORD Jesus with all His saints. All other ground is sinking sand, but in Christ—the Surety of His people—we are complete. (Colossians 2:10)

Titus 3:10,11 "A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject; Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself." At first, these words may sound severe, but they are given in love, to guard the purity of the Gospel and to keep Christ as the Foundation of all true fellowship. The Gospel is not a matter of human opinion or debate—it is the Revelation of God’s grace in His Son. Those that God has chosen in Christ, and were redeemed by His shed blood, are kept from falling away into condemnation. All others, who may seem religious outwardly, are condemned already and can only seek to lead the LORD's true sheep astray. A heretic, in Paul’s sense, is not merely someone who is confused or struggling to understand. We have all been there, and God has shown mercy in not casting us off because of Christ's work on the cross, having saved and justified us. No, the heretic is someone who rejects the truth of Christ and divides his people to promote his own way. He refuses to bow to God’s revelation in Christ. Paul describes him with three words: subverted, sinning, and self-condemned. To be subverted means to be overturned, like a house collapsing on itself. This is what unbelief does—it erodes and topples the soul, because it will not rest on the Solid Rock. Jesus said, “Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock… and it fell not… But everyone that heareth… and doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand… and great was the fall of it” (Matthew 7:24–27). The heretic builds on the sand of perversion and not the clear Foundation of Christ crucified. To be sinning here is not just outward immorality, but persisting in rejecting God’s Son as revealed in Scripture. John tells us plainly, “He that believeth not God hath made Him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of His Son” (1 John 5:10). That is the essence of sin—refusing the Testimony of God concerning Christ. And to be self-condemned means that the guilt cannot be shifted. Romans 1 says that all men are “without excuse” because God has made Himself known. And Jesus said, “This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light” (John 3:19). When a man rejects Christ, he is condemned already in his unbelief, (John 3:18). So how do we deal with the unconverted? Paul tells Titus that after patient admonition, if a man still refuses, we are to let him go. Not in hatred, but in recognition that it is not debates or arguments that convince anyone—it is the Spirit of God revealing Christ. As Paul said elsewhere, “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). If they are not given ears to hear the Gospel by the Spirit of God, no amount of wrangling over words will help. But notice—before rejection comes admonition . We are not harsh, nor quick to cut people off. We remember that “the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth” (2 Timothy 2:24–25). Our calling is to speak of Christ faithfully, with gentleness, and if they are ones that God has already purposed to save, and has saved by the death of His Son on the cross, He will draw each one in His time. On the one hand we show mercy . Jude says, “Of some have compassion, making a difference” (Jude 1: 22). Perhaps the LORD will open their eyes in His time. On the other hand, we remain firm: “Others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh” (Jude 23). We never compromise the Gospel to attempt to win someone over. If they are Christ’s, He will call them through His Truth. If they are not, arguments and concessions will only embolden their unbelief. As saved sinners, the One Who sought us when we were lost. He is the One Who keeps us from falling. Jude closes with this doxology: “Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen” (Jude 24–25). When we confront the unconverted—whether they are loved ones, neighbors, co-workers, or anyone who resists the truth either openly or silently—we remember: Christ alone is our Message, our Hope, and the One Who judges righteously. Our part is to affirm the Gospel of grace constantly, to show mercy and kindness where we can, and to stand firm in the Truth of Salvation in the Person and work of Christ alone from beginning to end. May the LORD continue to keep each of His own by His grace, and cause us to proclaim Him in uncompromising Truth, and rest in Him and His completed work of salvation for His own. He alone saves to the uttermost those that come unto God by Him (Hebrews 7:25).

Galatians 1:15,16 "But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:" All of Scripture points us to Christ, for He is the heart of God’s eternal purpose and the only Hope for sinners. Paul declares in Colossians 1:18 that Christ has “ the preeminence in all things.” He is the Lamb slain (since) from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8) , the One in Whom the Father is well pleased (Matthew 3:17) , and the only Name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12) . Every true testimony of salvation begins not with man, but with Christ revealed. And Paul’s own conversion is a living witness of this truth. Here is the mystery and glory of salvation: it is not of man, nor by man, but entirely of God. Paul had lived his whole life in religion, zealous and disciplined. Yet in all of it, he remained blind to Jesus Christ as the Promised Seed. He persecuted the very church he would later love, and opposed the very Christ he would later proclaim. If salvation rested on man’s will or effort, Paul would never have been converted. But then, he says, “when it pleased God…” This is the foundation on which every genuine conversion is built. Not when Paul decided, not when he reformed, not when he reasoned out doctrine—but when God, by pure, sovereign grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in him. Notice, Paul does not say simply “to reveal His Son to me,” but “in me.” Christ was now formed in him, the living Savior dwelling in his heart by the Spirit. This was not the result of man’s teaching or persuasion, but the revelation of Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:1). And Who was revealed in him? The very One that Paul had rejected was in fact the Son of God, the Lamb who had satisfied divine justice by His blood, the Righteous One who had fulfilled the law, the Savior Who had from eternity loved His people and came in the flesh to obtain their salvation. Paul now saw that from his mother’s womb he had been set apart by God’s electing grace, chosen not because of works or merit, but because of Christ. And though Christ’s death had already paid Paul’s debt long before he was brought to know Him, the Spirit in time was pleased to make Him known in him as ALL of God's salvation for the redemption, justification, sanctification and glorification of the Father's elected sinners from every tribe, nation and tongue, (Revelation 7:9). This is the Gospel: salvation is of the LORD, from beginning to end. From eternity past, in the Father’s electing love (Ephesians 1:4–5); in history, through Christ’s finished work on the cross (John 19:30); and in time, by the Spirit’s revelation of Christ in the heart of the elect, redeemed and justified sinner (2 Corinthians 4:6) . It is all of grace, all of Christ, all to God the Father's glory. Paul’s testimony is ours as well where He has been pleased to choose, redeem, and call us. However religious, hardened, or blind, none will ever come until God is pleased to reveal His Son. But when He does, the sinner is turned, the heart is opened, and Christ becomes all. And the evidence is this: the soul no longer glories in self, but in the LORD alone (1 Corinthians 1:31). Child of God, let us rest our hope here—not in decisions, not in works, not in religion, but in the LORD Jesus Christ by the sovereign grace of God. For just as with Paul, so with us: it is “when it pleased God… to reveal His Son in me.” And when Christ is revealed, He is everything—our Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, Redemption, our Life, and our Glory. To Him alone be the praise.

2 John 1:1,2 "The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth; For the truth's sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever." Notice how quickly the apostle John points his readers to Christ. The “truth” that dwells in us and abides with us forever is not an abstract idea—it is Christ Himself, Who is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Truth is not merely a set of propositions, but the living Savior Who has made Himself known to His children. Because Christ dwells in His people by His Spirit, John writes with confidence that this Truth will be with us forever. Right from the beginning, John ties together two things that must never be pulled apart: truth and love. Our world often sets them at odds. Some think that love means avoiding hard truth, while others hold fast to truth in a way that grows cold and loveless. Yet in Christ, the two are always joined. Paul reminds us that love “rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:6) . John writes to “the elect lady and her children.” Whether this speaks of a particular woman in the church and her household, or whether it is a picture of the church and her members, the meaning remains the same: they are chosen of God. Election is not a cold doctrine but a warm encouragement. As Paul wrote, “He hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love” (Ephesians 1:4) . God’s sovereign grace reminds us that His love for His people is eternal, unchanging, and secure. John rejoices to hear that her children are “walking in truth” (2 John 4). What greater joy can there be? The Apostle says elsewhere, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth” (3 John 4) . To walk in the Truth means not only to believe sound Doctrine, but to live daily in fellowship with Christ, Who is Truth incarnate. The truth is that by His substitutionary death on the cross, God’s elect were justified once and for all, declared righteous before the Father by the finished work of the Son. Any message that shifts the ground of a sinner’s acceptance with God from Christ’s cross to human will, works, or worthiness is no longer the gospel but a perversion of it. To love in the Truth is to love in the light of God's sovereign grace revealed in Christ crucified, in Whom alone salvation rests secure. John sounds a note of warning. Many deceivers had gone out into the world, denying that Jesus Christ came in the flesh (2 John 7). Such teaching strikes at the very heart of the Gospel. If Christ did not truly take on flesh, then He could not truly bear our sins. If He did not share in our humanity, He could not be our Substitute. This is why the writer of Hebrews tells us, “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same” (Hebrews 2:14). To deny this is to deny the very foundation of salvation. We are exhorted to not support such deceivers. “ If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed” (2 John 10). Grace does not make us careless about the Truth; it makes us careful. As Paul charged Timothy, “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (1 Timothy 4:16). And so John brings us back to a simple, yet profound command: “And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another” (2 John 5). This is not a new word, but the old one, made new in Christ Who fulfilled it. " We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19)." And the only way we can walk in truth and love is because Christ dwells in us by His Spirit. As John assures us, “the truth… dwelleth in us, and shall be with us forever” (2 John 2). The message of this little letter is simple, but rich. The Christian life is Christ Himself. To walk in Truth is to walk in Him. And the sovereign grace of God—the grace that chose us, redeemed us, and keeps us—will never fail. As Jude reminds us, He is “ able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 24). So may we, like the elect lady and her children, be found walking in Truth and abiding in Love, to the glory of the One Who is both Truth and Love—our LORD Jesus Christ.

Malachi 3:1 "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord , whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts." In this singular verse, the LORD, in sovereign wisdom, sets forth a promise of divine visitation—a coming not of man’s choosing, but of God’s eternal purpose. The prophet Malachi speaks not merely of an event in human history, but of the unfolding of God’s covenantal purpose to reconcile His people through Christ. The “messenger” sent to “prepare the way” is none other than the forerunner ordained by God, pointing His elect to the covenant-keeping Messiah. This text reminds us that salvation is initiated and accomplished by God alone. The LORD comes “suddenly” to His temple, not according to the whims of men, but according to His eternal counsel, fulfilling the promises of His covenant. It is a promise that rests not on human effort, but on the sure foundation of God’s eternal decree. Consider the gracious purpose of God in sending Christ to His temple: the fulfillment of prophecy, the establishment of His covenant, and the salvation of His chosen. We are exhorted to behold, not merely the messenger, but the LORD Himself, whose coming was both sudden and sovereign, bringing grace to undeserving sinners and glory to His Name. Malachi preached at a difficult time in Israel’s history. The people had returned from exile, the temple was rebuilt, and yet the glory they expected had not arrived. Instead of rejoicing, they murmured. They complained that the wicked seemed to prosper while God appeared silent. Their words revealed unbelief: “Where is the God of judgment?” (Malachi 2:17). But the LORD answered that He had not abandoned His covenant people. He declared that two messengers would come. The first, John the Baptist, would go before the LORD to prepare the way (Isaiah 40:3; Matthew 11:10). The second, greater than the first, is the Messenger of the covenant—the LORD Jesus Christ Himself (John 1:14) . John the Baptist was no ordinary messenger. He would be the forerunner to announce the King’s arrival; Christ is the King (Matthew 21:5). Therefore, John preached repentance toward God even Faith toward the LORD Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God Who would bring in everlasting salvation by His coming, doing, dying and rising again (Luke 19:10) . John was the voice crying in the wilderness, and Christ the Word made flesh (John 1:1–3) . Where man had failed to keep the covenant of works, God Himself entered time, from eternity, and brought in salvation by His own hand in His Son the LORD Jesus (Hebrews 9:12). Therefore, Christ is the true Messenger of the Covenant. Which covenant? Not the old covenant of law, which condemned Israel for their disobedience (Galatians 3:10), but the eternal Covenant of Grace, purposed before the foundation of the world between the Father and the Son and fulfilled by the Son in His coming to this earth in the fulness of the time appointed by the Father, (Galatians 4:4) . In this covenant, the Son would take on flesh, bear the sins of His people, and accomplish their redemption for those sinners that the Father gave Him in eternity to save (John 6:37–39) . Christ came not merely to announce this covenant, but to fulfill it, and to seal it with His precious blood shed unto death (Luke 22:20; Hebrews 13:20). Malachi describes His coming as like a refiner’s fire and fuller’s soap (Malachi 3:2). Who can endure such a coming? Left to ourselves, none of us could. The fire of God’s holiness would consume us. Only the cleansing soap of Christ's death could put away the filth of our sin. Here we see the manifestation of God's grace: Christ endured the fire on behalf of His people. On the cross, He stood in the furnace of judgment, bearing the wrath they deserved, until the dross was removed and the work was finished (John 19:30). Those who trust in Him have been declared righteous, clothed in garments of righteousness that the LORD Jesus earned and established in His life, and finished at the cross. By Christ's shed blood unto death, they have been washed whiter than snow (Isaiah 8:18). Think of what this means. God is not waiting for us to purify ourselves before we come to Him. He did the purifying through the work of Christ from conception to the cross (1 Corinthians 6:11) . By His death on the cross, He has cleansed us from all sin, past, present and future (1 John 1:7) . He established the covenant promised by His own work. Our salvation does not rest on our ability to believe or obey enough. It rests on the unchanging LORD Who says, “I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed” (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8). Because He is faithful, His people are saved forever (John 10:28–29). God chose a people not because of their goodness, but despite their sin. Christ came not as a potential Savior, but as the effectual Redeemer of those given Him by the Father (John 17:2). He did not merely make salvation possible; He accomplished it (Hebrews 10:14). And the Spirit now applies it to the hearts of all those for whom Christ died, bringing them to Himself in faith and keeping them by His power. What then is our response to such grace and mercy in Christ? It is not to murmur as Israel did, nor to fear that things are out of control. Look at the stars—have they moved from their place? (Isaiah 40:26) . The same God Who holds the constellations in place holds His people fast in His covenant of Grace (Psalm 147:1-6). Everything is exactly as He has decreed it to be. Therefore, those of us who are objects of God's electing and redeeming Grace rest in His Eternal Son, with Whom He established His covenant of Grace as the Messenger of His Covenant. May we bow silently before Him without complaint, and lift our eyes to Him. When He came, He came not in condemnation of His chosen people, but in mercy (John 3:17). He entered His temple, He bore the judgment, and obtained the inheritance (Hebrews 9:15). And now He lives forever as our Mediator, our High Priest, and our King (Hebrews 7:25). Grace reigns. The Good News is that the covenant is fulfilled. In Christ, and those of us who are His chosen and redeemed race are saved, justified, and sanctified by Him forever.

1 Peter 2:4 “To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious…”  We live in a time when coming to Christ is often reduced to “making a decision for 'jesus,” “walking an aisle,” repeating a so-called “sinner’s prayer,” or “accepting a 'jesus' as your personal savior.” Multitudes—numbering in the hundreds of millions—profess to be “believers” or “christians” based on having once made that decision to “accept jesus” and they remain confident in that claim to this day. A common denominator in all these professions of “faith” is that the sinner is left to make the decision, and forgiveness of sins is made to depend on that crucial choice for 'jesus'. Yet the question few seem to ask is this: Where in the Word of God do we ever find even one example of such modern practices?  The real issue is that people place their trust in men and their corrupt inventions, instead of turning to the Scriptures to see how God Himself describes coming to Christ—and the Christ to Whom sinners come when the Spirit of God draws them. The apostle speaks of Christ as the Living Stone , rejected indeed of men, but Chosen of God and Precious. To this Christ, the Spirit effectually draws the elect, not by the persuasion of human wisdom, but by the inward call of God's sovereign grace. Though despised by the world, He is the Foundation laid in Zion, upon Whom all the Hope of God’s people rest (Isaiah 28:16) and by Whom God the Father has once and forever justified those for whom He shed His blood on the cross, when He had finished their work of salvation then and there (Romans 5:9-11). Drawn by the Spirit, sinners are brought to see His worth, to renounce their righteousness, and to cleave to Him as their only Refuge (Romans 10:1-4) . Thus, the Christ to Whom they come is the divinely appointed, Precious Cornerstone, rejected of men yet esteemed of the Father, and made altogether lovely to the hearts of those who are called. How then do those sinners come to the Christ of Scripture that God the Father has purposed to draw to Him ( John 6:44) ? 1.) Coming to Christ is NOT within the power of man’s will, but of God alone .  God alone determines who HE will draw to Christ, and unless the sinner has been drawn to Christ by God and His Spirit of Grace, they certainly have not yet come to Him, and are deluded in thinking they have.  John 6:44, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” And again in John 1:12 and 13 , we are told plainly that anyone who comes to Christ and embraces Him as Truth does so, not by the will of man, but of God! 2.) Coming to Christ is NOT a physical act or performance, but a Spiritual, God-given persuasion as to Who Christ is and how salvation is in, by, and through HIM alone.   Many came to our LORD Jesus physically, and followed Him physically while He was on earth, and yet the apostle John wrote these inspired words, “ But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men.”  ( John 2:24 ) 3.) Coming to Christ is NOT a one time act, but one of continual coming, 1 Peter 2:4 . Once Christ is revealed in the heart of a sinner, that same Spirit of Christ giving life to the previously dead soul, creates in the sinner the hunger and thirst after Christ, that never goes away. Psalm 42:1 ,   “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.”  When the hart is running from the danger of the hunter, his thirst drives him to seek out the water brooks. So, we as sinners, awakened to the danger of our sin, and continually aware as the Spirit constantly shines the Light of Christ in our hearts, we continue to come to HIM as our only Hope. In Christ, the Living Stone, we see the full display of God’s sovereign grace: He calls whom He wills, drawing the elect out of darkness to Himself. Our approach to Him is not by our choosing, but by His irresistible work of the Spirit. As we draw near to Him, we are built up into a spiritual house, not by human effort, but by the sustaining Power of Christ. We then rejoice, not in our merit, but in the glorious privilege of being drawn, kept, and preserved by the grace of Him Who is the Chief Cornerstone.

Matthew 7:15 "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." Our LORD, having just described the way of eternal life as being strait and narrow, immediately warns His sheep of men who will creep in unawares, who appear as sheep but are in reality, inwardly, ravening wolves. Most of us remember the story of Little Red Riding Hood, and the lessons to beware of the wolf in that story. The question is, how are those who are the LORD’s sheep to discern a wolf from a sheep? Thankfully, the Scriptures are clear. Here are three ways that we are told how to discern. The first being right after our LORD’s direct warning in Matthew 7:15 . Test 1 - “Ye shall know them by their fruits,” Matthew 7:16 .   By their fruits is a reference to their followers, and those who hold such in high esteem, and not so much their conduct. Wolves will always attempt, by their conduct, to fool people into following them, and will do what they can to gather as many followers after themselves. Their interest is not pointing sinners to Christ, as the apostle Paul declared in 1 Corinthians 11:1-“Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.”  A true follower of Christ is but a sheep among sheep following Christ.   Test 2- They promote a works righteousness and not that which is exclusively of God in, by, and through the LORD Jesus Christ- " And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works" ( 2 Corinthians 11:14,15) .   If Satan himself masquerades as a false angel of light, it should not surprise us that his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. The Pharisees were outwardly righteous before men; and yet false teachers. They had a form of godliness, and worked to keep it up in the eyes of men, though they were strangers to the TRUE GODLINESS, which is God in the flesh, " And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory" (1 Timothy 3:16). You cannot lead sinners to an end where you yourself have never been. These are blind leaders of the blind, so regardless of their fruits (their converts), they remain blind still, to the ONE TRUE RIGHTEOUSNESS, Who is the LORD Jesus Christ, and that righteousness that He came, earned, and established, and God imputed once for all to His elect there at the cross. Test 3- They can only be Spiritually discerned, by the work of the Spirit in the heart- " 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).   To be a Christian is to be bought by the blood of Christ and born of the Spirit of God. Those born of the Spirit (the sheep) have the Spirit of Christ in them, not just for conversion, but for their keeping. Christ said, “And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers,” (John 10:5) .  The Spirit of God teaches Christ’s redeemed ones of Him from the inspired Word, and continually draws them to Christ as He is revealed in the Word.  Any who teach a ‘Jesus’, contrary to the Word, are but carnal, no matter how logical their teaching to those who follow them. However, Christ’s sheep will flee such and run to HIM Who came in the flesh and finished their righteousness, and Who is ALL their righteousness, (1 Corinthians 1:30). The sum of revealed Truth is in the Doctrine of Christ, His Person and work. False teachers speak ‘doctrines’ in terms of the world, according to its logic. They are careful not to offend carnal men (1 John 4:5) therefore the world approves them. The world will love its own, and its own will love it. True Spirit revealed Doctrine draws the sheep to the Savior's Person, and leads them away from man-centered doctrines to the Truth as it is in Christ alone. This is a mark of the Spirit of Truth in opposition to the spirit of error. The more pure and holy any Doctrine is to set forth the LORD Jesus and His complete work of salvation, by His obedience unto death, the more likely it is to be of God. You can never give too much glory to the LORD Jesus.

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.