Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" When we think of wickedness, we often point to the dark deeds of the world—murder, adultery, deception, and corruption. Yet God’s Word declares that wickedness is not first what people do, but who people are . It is the very nature of man’s heart since the fall of Adam: “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). By nature, we are “children of wrath, even as others” (Ephesians 2:3). The greatest evidence of this depravity is not only in how man treats man but in how man approaches God. Outward religion abounds—many profess to worship God, many “make a show of religion,” but the Scripture reveals that the natural heart does not know, nor love, the God of the Bible. “There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God” (Romans 3:10–11). People will gladly embrace a god of their imagination, but when confronted with the God Who is Holy, Just, and Sovereign—Who “doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” (Daniel 4:35) —the carnal heart cries, “He is not my God.” Left to ourselves, we seek our own way. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6). Some pursue outward morality, some rely on religious duties, some rest in ceremonies and rituals. But the testimony of God’s Word is this: “To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:6). The heart is deceitful—it may appear good in man’s eyes, but it is separated from God. It may be zealous, but “not according to knowledge” (Romans 10:2) . It may honor Him with the lips, but the heart is far from Him (Matthew 15:8). Here is the wonder of God's Grace in Christ: though we are dead, though we are deceived. Still, we are lovers of self and haters of God. The LORD Jesus Christ did not come to make salvation possible, nor to wait on the will of man, but to accomplish the redemption of His people. “Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him” (John 17:2). The Son of God laid down His life for the sheep (John 10:11) —for those the Father gave Him before the foundation of the world. His blood was not shed in vain; it was poured out for “God’s elect” (Romans 8:33), that their sins might be forgiven, their condemnation removed, and their righteousness obtained upon completion of His death on the cross. The redeemed sinner's Hope is: “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us” (Romans 8:33,34). Do you see yourself in the deceitfulness of the heart? Do you see that left to yourself, you would never seek Him, never love Him, never bow to Him? Then see the glory of Christ’s sovereignty. Salvation is not in you opening your heart, but in God by His Spirit opening it: “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you” (Ezekiel 36:26). It is not you allowing Christ, but Christ giving you life: “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:5). It is not you clothing yourself, but God clothing you “with the robe of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10), in the precious blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God. Our hearts are deceitful, but Christ is Faithful. Our nature is wicked, but Christ is Righteous. Our will is bound, but Christ is Sovereign. And in His Mercy, He casts the sins of His redeemed ones “into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19). Look away from yourself to Christ alone. Rest in His sovereign grace.

Jeremiah 13:20-25 " Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock? What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail? And if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore come these things upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts discovered, and thy heels made bare. Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil. Therefore, will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness. This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the Lord; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood." "Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?" No one likes to think of God judging sinners, but the reality is that history records many ways that God has brought judgment on one nation by another. Here is predicted God’s impending judgment of the nation of Israel by a nation from the north (Babylon), which was fulfilled in Jeremiah’s lifetime, and his burden is recorded in the inspired book of Lamentations. "What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee?"  God is just in His punishment of sin, and none can say that He has unjustly punished them for their sin. We ought rather to marvel that He would be gracious to any. " … for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?"   The Lord often uses a people’s sin and compromise as a means of judgment against them. This was the case with the nation of Israel, which, early on, turned to the Babylonians for help against their enemies, forming idolatrous and ungodly alliances. In time, like a woman in labor, they gave birth to judgment, brought upon them by the very ones in whom they had sought refuge. There can be no compromise between works and grace, or between man’s will and God’s will, without resulting in condemnation. "And if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore come these things upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts discovered, and thy heels made bare." The sad state of those who are dead in their sin is that they question God and justify themselves, rather than justify God in His just dealings with sin, and question themselves. Our Lord Jesus pronounced the same judgment on the religious generation of His day- “ You are they who justify yourselves before men; but God knows your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God,” Luke 16:15. Regardless of what men may think or say, the Lord declares the sinfulness of our sin. When the Spirit of God begins His gracious work in the heart of one of His redeemed and justified children, it is the depth and greatness of their iniquity that they are brought to acknowledge before the LORD. They come to agree with God, taking His side against themselves, and confess—not merely individual sins—but the utter abomination of their entire wretched state before Him. They trust wholly in the righteousness of God, which the LORD Jesus came to fulfill, earn, and establish as the obedient Son of the Father. Upon the completion of His once-for-all sacrificial death, the Father declared every one of His elect to be justified, righteous in His sight. If anyone believes they can change their ways by their efforts, let them hear the Word of the LORD: "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil." To those who think so, there awaits only God’s eternal condemnation.  "Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness. This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the Lord; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.” This addresses any confidence in the flesh, rather than in the LORD Jesus Christ and His finished work alone (Philippians 3:3). Historically, it declares the righteous judgment of God on rebellious Israel, declaring their just portion for forsaking Him and trusting in lies. More specifically, this underscores the truth that apart from God's electing mercy and effectual grace, sinners will always turn to falsehoods and idols rather than to the living God. Man, left to himself, forgets God and perishes in unbelief. But for those redeemed and justified at the cross, it is God's sovereign intervention—His irresistible grace—that turns the heart from vanity to truth, from their sinful rebellion to Christ.

Jeremiah 6:10  " To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the Lord is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it." The prophet Jeremiah, under God's sovereign commission, delivers God’s indictment against Judah for their persistent rebellion and spiritual deafness. Though outwardly religious, the people despised the Word of the LORD and trusted in false peace. This verse laments their hardened condition. It exposes the utter inability of man, in his natural state, to receive or respond to the truth of God. Spiritual deafness is not a mere weakness—it is a willful rejection rooted in a corrupt nature. Only by the Spirit of God's sovereign intervention can the heart be opened, the ear unstopped, and the soul made willing in the day of His power. The uncircumcised ear points to the need for a circumcised heart—a work that Christ alone accomplishes for His elect through the Spirit and by the power of His finished work on the cross. This passage magnifies the necessity of sovereign grace, for it is only in Christ that the Word of the LORD becomes precious, life-giving, and effectual to save. This sobering lament from the prophet Jeremiah reveals the spiritual condition of a people hardened in unbelief. It is not merely a historical indictment against ancient Judah—it declares the universal plight of fallen sinners by nature: deaf to God’s Word, dead in trespasses, and hostile to the truth of God's grace in Christ (Romans 3:23). Jeremiah’s cry is more than that of a frustrated preacher; it is a divine lament from the LORD Himself, speaking through His servant. “To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear?”  This is not a question of needing to inform God, because God knows all things in His sovereign omniscience. He does not ask the question for information but rather as an expression of grief. It is as though God is saying, “Where are those who will listen? Who has a heart prepared to receive My Word?” But the answer is devastating: “their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken.” To be uncircumcised in heart and ear means to remain in the flesh—unregenerate, unresponsive, and unmoved by the truth. As Paul echoes in Romans 8:7 , “the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”   There is no neutral ground. Man in his fallen state does not merely refuse God’s Word—he cannot  hear it. It is not a matter of volume, clarity, or intellect. The issue lies in the heart. Until God's Spirit changes the heart, there is no hearing the Voice of the Shepherd. But why such rejection of the Word? The text tells us: “ the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach.”  The Word that brings light and life to God’s elect is to the natural man offensive, foolish, and intolerable. Why? Because it strips him of self-righteousness. It exalts Christ alone. It declares salvation to be of the LORD—not of man, not of merit, not of effort—but by grace alone, through faith in Christ alone. And that, to the unconverted flesh, is unbearable. Yet here is the glory of God's sovereign grace in Christ. Even though man cannot and will not hear, God is not hindered. The same LORD Who speaks in Jeremiah is the same Who, through Christ, makes the deaf to hear and the dead to live. Jesus declared in John 10:27, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”  How? Not by their natural ability, but by sovereign power. He gives ears to hear and hearts to believe. This is all by the grace of God alone. When God the Holy Spirit circumcises the heart, the Word is no longer a reproach but a delight. What was once hated becomes precious (1 Peter 2:7). What once condemned now comforts. Christ crucified, risen, and reigning becomes the soul’s Joy and Righteousness. This verse, then, drives us to dependence, not on man’s response, but on God’s regenerating grace. It reminds the preacher to cast the seed, but look to God to give the increase (Ecclesiastes 11:1). It warns every hearer not to trust in fleshly efforts or empty profession but to seek that true hearing which comes only by the Spirit of God. May we pray with humility: “Lord, give us ears to hear Your Word. Let us not despise the voice of Christ, but receive it with joy and trembling. Make our heart receptive to Your truth and our soul hungry for Your grace. For it is only by Your sovereign grace in Christ that any sinner ever hears and lives. Amen.”

Jeremiah 23:5,6 "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." Amid great apostasy and political upheaval, Jeremiah received from the LORD a message of hope—rooted not in national reform or human effort, but in the sovereign grace and will of God to save a remnant by the work of a coming Redeemer-King. The kings of Judah had failed. The shepherds of Israel had scattered the flock. Judgment was sure. Yet, the promise of a coming King—a righteous Branch from David—shined like a beacon in the darkness. This King would not merely be a reformer; He would be righteous. He would not simply restore political order; He would reign and prosper, executing true judgment and justice. And He would be called by this Divine and saving name: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS . This prophecy looked far beyond the return from Babylonian captivity or the installation of a better Davidic ruler. Its ultimate fulfillment is in the Person of the LORD Jesus Christ, the true and eternal King of Israel. The LORD Jesus, “made of the seed of David according to the flesh” (Romans 1:3), is the righteous Branch foretold by Jeremiah. He came not to make men righteous by moral instruction, nor merely to demonstrate righteousness by example, but to earn and establish a righteousness equal to that of God Himself—for His people, whom the Father chose before the foundation of the world, according to His grace in Christ Jesus (Romans 11:6). This passage declares the truth that is at the very heart of the Gospel—the justification of sinners by the righteousness of the LORD Jesus. For sinners who have no righteousness of their own, who stand condemned by the law, Christ is given as THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS . This is not a righteousness infused or enabled, but imputed . It is the very RIghteousness of God revealed in the Gospel (Romans 1:17) —a perfect Righteousness, established by the obedience and death of Christ, reckoned to the account of all who are in Him by sovereign election and revealed by faith. This RIghteousness was accomplished at the cross. There, “the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6), and there He bore the full weight of God's justice in their stead. As it is written, “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). This is substitutionary Righteousness—according to God’s eternal covenant of grace—not earned by the sinner but freely given for Christ’s sake. It is His righteous obedience unto death that justifies: “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). When Jeremiah says, “Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely”  (Jeremiah 23:6) , he is declaring more than national peace. He is foretelling the salvation of God’s elect in Christ—the spiritual Israel—who are saved from wrath and brought into the everlasting safety of union with Christ. These are they who call Him by faith, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS . They do not boast in their obedience, decisions, or supposed “free will,” but glory in the cross, where the LORD Himself became their righteousness. God has not left salvation in the hands of men, nor based it upon their worthiness or will. He has provided all in Christ. The righteousness we could never produce, God has provided through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son. And this RIghteousness is given—not to all indiscriminately—but to those whom the Father gave to the Son before the foundation of the world: a definite people, a chosen Israel, who are called and justified in time. So may we who are God's chosen, bought, and sought children rejoice in Him Who is all  our Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, and Redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30). Our standing before God does not rise or fall with our feelings, failings, or frames of heart or mind. Feelings come and feelings go, and feelings are deceiving. It rests on the LORD Jesus Christ alone. He is THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS —not merely a helper of righteousness, but the very Foundation and Substance of it. This is the Gospel: that in Christ, the sinner is declared righteous before God, fully accepted, eternally saved, and completely loved forever— all of grace, all for His glory . We can then say with the prophet Isaiah, in faith and thanksgiving: “Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength” (Isaiah 45:24). The full verse reads: “Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. Righteousness and strength are found only “in the LORD,” which is a foreshadowing of the Gospel truth fulfilled in the LORD Jesus Christ at the cross. Christ established the only righteousness that satisfies God’s justice for sinners and fulfilled it at the cross. He bore the shame and wrath due to His elect, and in Him are the strength and grace to save to the uttermost all who come to God by Him, having already accomplished their redemption and justification at the cross (Hebrews 7:25). Therefore, the phrase “in the LORD have I righteousness and strength”  finds its fulfillment exclusively in the finished work of the LORD Jesus at the cross, where Christ the LORD our Righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6) —both justified and sanctified His people. All who are “incensed” against Him—those who reject His Person and work—are put to shame, for they seek righteousness elsewhere and find none: “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth” (Romans 10:3–4).

Jeremiah 1:6 "Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child." The prophet Jeremiah, newly confronted with the divine call upon his life, immediately responds not with eagerness and excitement, but with a confession of weakness and inability. How different was Jeremiah's response from that of many wannabe preachers that feel compelled to volunteer their services to God, and in their zeal feel as if they are fit to serve God, resting in their commitment, dedication, talent, and education. When the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, however, it took the LORD to reassure him that in being called to the task by the LORD, the LORD was the One Who was not only calling him but would sustain him. The LORD told him, "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations"  (Jeremiah 1:5) , Jeremiah’s first instinct was not to assert his qualifications but to acknowledge his utter insufficiency: " I cannot speak: for I am a child." This moment of solemn exchange between God and Jeremiah illustrates how God's calling is not according to our natural ability, but according to His sovereign purpose and grace. Jeremiah was chosen, not because of any inherent strength, wisdom, or skill, but completely because of the LORD's eternal love and decree (Jeremiah 31:3). Before Jeremiah had spoken a word or taken a breath, he was already set apart by sovereign grace for his divine mission. Jeremiah’s sense of personal inadequacy is not weakness in the eyes of God; it is the very qualification for service. It is in the deep realization of our inability that God’s omnipotent ability is magnified, and the need for Christ's intercession is made manifest the most. As Paul later wrote, " Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God" (2 Corinthians 3:5). The context of Jeremiah 1 reveals that Judah was entering into dark days of judgment. Apostasy was rampant, idolatry was flourishing, and the hearts of the people were hardened. Jeremiah’s task would be humanly impossible — to tear down and to build up by the Word of the LORD (Jeremiah 1:10). No mere human eloquence or strength of will could accomplish such a mission. Only the Power of the LORD working through an emptied vessel would prevail. The apostle Paul declared: " But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us" (2 Corinthians 4:7). Spiritually, Jeremiah’s confession — "I cannot speak"  — echoes the confession of every soul who has been made alive by the Spirit of God. The regenerated heart recognizes that it has nothing to offer, nothing for which to boast, and certainly nothing with which to negotiate or barter with God. Every aspect of salvation and service is all by God's sovereign grace alone. Our mouths are stopped, and we confess, like Isaiah, "Woe is me! for I am undone" (Isaiah 6:5). Yet the LORD’s answer to Jeremiah is full of tender mercy: "Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak" (Jeremiah 1:7). God does not deny Jeremiah’s weakness; rather, He promises His Presence and Power. " Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD"  (Jeremiah 1:8). So it is with every believer. In ourselves, we can neither believe, nor repent, nor serve, nor endure. But Christ is made unto us "wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption" (1 Corinthians 1:30). We are “complete in him” (Colossians 2:10). Our sufficiency is entirely outside ourselves, resting solely in the finished work and abiding intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ for His own. When we see ourselves rightly, as weak and helpless children, the Promise of God in, through, and by Christ alone, becomes exceedingly precious: "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20). The grace that called us is the same grace that upholds and preserves us unto the end. Thus, Jeremiah’s trembling confession is the true beginning of the ministry to which God had called him. Weakness acknowledged is strength supplied. The apostle Paul wrote of this in 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 same sovereign grace that foreknew and ordained Jeremiah, and any servant of God like the apostle Paul, is the grace that would sustain them through opposition, fire, rejection, sorrow, and suffering. Whenever any may question whether they are able, let us look to what the LORD Jesus Christ endured in the flesh to fulfill the will of His Father for the salvation of His people. The servant is not above the Master, and therefore He can save to the uttermost those that come to God by Him (Hebrews 7:25). Let us, like Jeremiah, humbly confess: " Ah, Lord God! I cannot speak." And then let us hear the gracious reply: "I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD" (Jeremiah 1:8). " So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me" (Hebrews 13:6).

Jeremiah 10:14 "Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them." The LORD , directing His Word through the prophet Jeremiah, delivers a message of judgment against idolatry. In this verse, He exposes the futility of idol worship, emphasizing that those who trust in idols are ignorant, misguided, and blind—just like the idols they have fabricated. This verse highlights the emptiness and powerlessness of idols, contrasting them with the True and Living God, who alone possesses true power and life. It serves as a call to turn away from false gods and acknowledge the one and only God as the Creator and Sustainer of all His creatures. “Every man is brutish in his knowledge…” The term "brutish"  in this context suggests a lack of understanding, a foolishness beneath human dignity. The people who turn to idols display a spiritual ignorance that leads them to make decisions contrary to reason, truth, and wisdom. Jeremiah is highlighting that the very act of idol worship reveals a profound lack of insight. Instead of turning to the living God who created them, they are spiritually blind. Their minds are darkened, and their actions are foolish. "Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart"  (Ephesians 4:18). This serves as a warning to our generation in a world filled with distractions and false ideologies—both physical and spiritual idolatry. To be "brutish"  is to seek fulfillment in things that cannot satisfy, to trust in systems, relationships, or ideologies that ultimately fail. The idols of our modern culture—success, materialism, status, and even the pursuit of self—can blind us to the true wisdom found only in God. As elect, redeemed, and justified sinners, called to Christ by His Spirit, we are told: "If [since] ye then be risen with Christ [when He rose from the grave], seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God"  (Colossians 3:1-3). Notice the word "affection" is in the singular and describes a heart drawn to the Victorious Risen Savior, Who alone is the Object of all affection. “Every founder is confounded by the graven image…” The "founder"  refers to the craftsmen who make idols. Jeremiah speaks to the absurdity of these individuals who, in their efforts to create something that will be worshiped, are confused by the lifelessness of the objects they form. The very hands that shape the idols are confounded, realizing that they’ve created something incapable of responding, acting, or speaking. This is a sobering reflection for us as well. We are often the creators of our idols—the things that we elevate above God in our lives and worship. We may not craft physical images out of wood or stone, but we "form"  idols through the depraved ideas of our minds. The word "idol"  is derived from the word "idea"  and begins with "I."  When people say, "I think,"  when attempting to justify their false ways, they are reasoning as idolaters. When the creature faces difficulty or trouble and turns to his imagination and thoughts for the remedy, they can only find inability and impotence because such thoughts are vain and cannot help. To hope in anything other than the True and Living God, in the Person of the LORD Jesus, is an idolatrous vain hope that can never bring peace and can only confound. This is the example of building on quicksand, rather than on the Rock, which is Christ Jesus (Matthew 7:24-27). “For his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.” The molten images—crafted through fire—are described as falsehoods. They are not real gods; they are lifeless, deceptive, and ultimately powerless. Jeremiah clarifies that these idols have no true substance; they lack the breath of life. This contrasts sharply with the God of Israel, Who is the living Creator, breathing life into all things. The message here is clear: idols are not only powerless, but they are also lies. They promise fulfillment, security, and peace, but they can offer none of those things. They are like shadows—existing only to deceive, leaving their worshipers with nothing but emptiness. God, on the other hand, is alive, and in Him, there is true life and hope. The LORD Jesus said, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3). The call here is to examine the objects of our trust that are not in the One True and Living God, revealed in the LORD Jesus Christ. An idol does not even have to be a physical object before which someone may bow in worship. Every false way begins in the heart. We may not carve idols out of wood or stone, but we often elevate things or people to a place in our lives that belong to God alone. The pursuit of career success, the need for approval from others, material wealth, or even close relationships can become idols when we look to them for any measure of hope and comfort, rather than to the LORD God of the Bible alone. Common sense would tell us that such things are vain and futile. However, because of the fall, as fallen creatures, the sinner will trust in anything or anyone other than the Truth. It takes the Spirit of God to reveal God in Truth in the heart and to see the work of the LORD Jesus as God's Substitute to reconcile them to Him (I Corinthians 2:10). Any trust or hope aside from God in the LORD Jesus can only disappoint and lead to condemnation. Vain idols (ideas) cannot breathe life into the soul. Only the Living God, by His Spirit, can do that. As we reflect on this verse, let us be reminded that True Wisdom comes from the revelation of the LORD Jesus in the heart, from the Sovereign Creator of life—physical and spiritual—and not from anything that He has created. By His grace, through the LORD Jesus, we trust Him alone, the One who came, lived, died, rose again, and ever lives to give life to those whom the Father gave Him before the foundation of the world, and for whom He laid down His life as their Substitute (1 Thessalonians 5:10) Doxology Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Jeremiah 32:39 "And I will give them One Heart, and One Way," Jeremiah prophesied the day when God would unite the elect in One Heart and in One Way, forward-looking to the coming of the LORD Jesus to unite His elect under Him as the Head of His Church (Ephesians 1:10, 4:15) . So certain and successful would be the work of the LORD Jesus that they would all be of One Heart by the Spirit of Christ and be established in the One Way of true worship—in the LORD Jesus alone (John 17:21-23). Where was the One Way first preached? Who preached the first Gospel message? God did, in the Garden of Eden. He did it through a visual lesson for Adam and Eve. When Adam and Eve fell, they clothed themselves with fig leaves but God removed the fig leaves and killed some innocent animals to clothe them instead with a temporary covering. "Unto Adam and also to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them" (Genesis 3:21). But the animal sacrifices were only until Christ would come as the Perfect Sacrifice when He would put away the sin of His elect, not just cover it. Adam and Eve would have stood there and seen the bloodshed on their behalf, a type and picture of Christ's death. It was an innocent victim who died in their place, and they were clothed (covered) with that garment. That set the foundation of the Gospel forever, showing how God would be just to declare sinners righteous, such as we are. There could be no other way but by blood. But it had to be the blood of a Righteous Man. And there are none righteous who were born of Adam: "As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one..." (Romans 3:10). God could only be satisfied by His work. Unlike one popular preacher back in the day, who wrote in his book on “Satisfaction”—where he said it is blasphemy to think that God could not have saved in some other way. We must believe the Word of God over a man, even a man esteemed by others. He is dead wrong. There could not have been another way. There is only One Way that God determined to save His chosen ones, and that Way is Christ, His Son. "And whither I go ye know, and the Way ye know. Thomas saith unto Him, LORD, we know not whither Thou goest; and how can we know the Way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me" (John 14:4-6). Only He kept the Law in every aspect, not only the letter of the Law but its spirit. Only He earned and established Perfect Righteousness that none of those born of the seed of Adam could fulfill. Since we were all born dead from Adam, who failed as our representative head, the LORD Jesus Christ was sent into the world by His Father to put away the sin of His people and completely break the curse of sin by His death. He was born of the seed of the woman, as prophesied so many years earlier since the fall (Genesis 3:15 ), being born of the seed of the woman—a virgin (Matthew 1:18-25) . Since He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and not the seed of Adam, He did not inherit a sinful nature (Luke 1:35). The Bible teaches that Adam was the first human being, created by a special act of God from the dust of the ground. Through Adam’s disobedience, death entered the world, condemning all humanity. In contrast, life comes through the obedience of the second and last Adam, Jesus Christ as the Only Begotten of the Father, created in Mary's womb as the last Adam, He was perfect and without sin, nor could He sin. Therefore, His Righteousness, which He earned and established, was imputed once and forever to the spiritual account of every one of God the Father's elected sinners upon completion of His death on the cross. In 1 Corinthians 15 , Paul speaks of two representative men in world history: the first man, Adam (15:45) and the last Adam, who is the second man—Jesus Christ (15:45, 47) . One’s destiny hinges on one’s relationship to these two men (15:48-49) . All were condemned in Adam when he fell, but only those for whom the LORD Jesus Christ came and fulfilled God's Law and Justice through His Perfect Obedience have been delivered from the curse of Adam's sin and, therefore, saved forever through His finished work (Romans 5:12-21).

Jeremiah 29:13 "And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your Heart." Christ must seek us first, and He will, "What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?" (Luke 15:4) He has His eye on us always, it's impossible that He lose any that are His, "...of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day." (John 6:39) On our own, we would never seek the Truth because it exalts Him alone, not us. So then, what does it mean? How can a vile, depraved sinner with a lifeless heart seek the LORD? Well, it's only possible for those chosen sinners that have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, only then can they search the Scriptures and find Christ, the Truth, "And I will give them one Heart, and I will put a new Spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an Heart of flesh," (Ezekiel 11:19) "...when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all Truth." (John 16:13) This new Heart will seek and see Christ in all Scripture. This new Heart will see Christ in the Old Testament promises and pictures and types, and see Christ in the New Testament fulfillment by His finished work at the cross, in the death and resurrection of our Sinless Substitute. Christ said, "...when ye shall search for Me with all your Heart," the "when," is that appointed time that the Holy Spirit wakes the sinner, His Heart of flesh becomes our Heart of flesh. Only then will we seek and hunger after Christ Jesus the WORD, "...It is written, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word of God." (Luke 4:4) With the Heart of Christ, by His Holy Spirit, we will seek and find and live by every Word of God by Christ Jesus our LORD!

Ephesians 1:22 "And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church," Here, Christ is exalted as the Head over all things—not only as Creator, but as the One Who has accomplished redemption for the sinners the Father gave Him. He earned the righteousness God’s law required through His obedient life and sacrificial death. Having completed that work, God the Father raised Him from the grave, caused Him to ascend, and seated Him at His Right Hand in heavenly majesty. His work was finished, and He continues to reign over all things for the benefit of His church (Psalm 2:6; Ephesians 1:3-14) The word “to” in verse 22 speaks of purpose. Though all creation belongs to Him, Christ’s Headship is especially in view of the redeemed—the called-out ones whom God chose before the foundation of the world. Christ came to lay down His life for these elected sinners, and now, exalted, He governs all things for His glory and their Spiritual good. The church is not a place or a gathering; it is the sum of those whom Christ has redeemed, the body of which He is the Head (v. 23). The Greek word for “head” conveys authority, direction, and foundation. In Mark 12:10 , the rejected Stone becomes the Head of the corner, even the Chief Cornerstone (v.20) from which all angles and structure flow. In Mark 15:19, Christ suffers and is struck on the head, demonstrating man’s rejection of God’s purpose. Yet this could not thwart God’s purpose. John 19:30 shows Christ voluntarily laying down His life, bowing His Head in obedience to the Father’s command, " When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost." Only through this submission could He ascend as Head over all. Christ’s Headship is universal—over creation, earthly rulers, and even the powers of darkness. Every river, storm, kingdom, and fallen angel is under His Authority (Colossians 1:16) . Yet His rule is especially for the church. Those for whom He paid the debt of sin are safe; nothing can harm or remove them from His care. “No weapon formed against thee [ any of His own ] shall prosper” (Isaiah 54:17). Even death itself is tributary to His purpose, delivering the redeemed to eternal glory. Christ’s relationship to His church is illustrated by the body. As in 1 Corinthians 12, the body has many members, each placed by God under the Headship of Christ. Diversity exists, yet unity is given under direction of and because of the Spirit of Christ. Each member is vital; no one is excluded or overlooked. Christ, the Head, nourishes, directs, and governs the body for its life and growth. This analogy extends into marriage, as Ephesians 5:22–23 shows, "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body." Just as the church is subject to Christ, wives are called to submit to their own husbands, and husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church. The order God has established reflects the Authority of Christ over His church, guiding and sustaining the body, ensuring its presentation to the Father as glorious, holy, and without blemish. As members of this body, our lives are lived in grateful submission to Christ, our Head. Though flesh is weak and the world opposes, we rejoice that all things are under Him. His Authority is absolute, and His purpose is sure. One day, gathered around our blessed Head in glory, the fullness of His Presence will be ours forever (Revelation 7:17). Until then, we trust in His completed work, His sovereign Headship, and His unfailing care for His people.

Isaiah 55:8-13 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off." Here in Isaiah 55, we see our glorious LORD God set forth, the Great I AM, Jehovah God, Whose thoughts are not our thoughts and Whose ways are not our ways. God reveals Himself as the glorious LORD God, Redeemer, Justifier, Reconciler, and Savior of His elect. Even using these descriptives, it is not enough to describe God for Who He is. Men today trivialize their little g-o-d, but not ours. He reveals Himself in saying: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD” (v.8). This is God Himself speaking. He is infinitely above anything we could ever think in His Wisdom and in His Way. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than our ways and His thoughts than our thoughts (v.9). The distance is so great that unless He is pleased to condescend to come down to where we are and reveal Himself, we could never know Him. Men think that God is like they are. That is what an idol is, an image like unto your imagination, much like men themselves. But the God of Scripture is not like the imaginations of men. Isaiah had been prophesying judgment, captivity, and then foretold of a remnant that would be brought back from captivity because God had promised and God's Word cannot fail. He always accomplishes what He says He will do. History is HIS-story. He writes it as He wills. And particularly the Deliverance spoken of here has to do with how He is pleased to deliver and save sinners. Left to ourselves, our thoughts and our ways can in no way grasp with a natural mind how God can be God and not lower His standard to save sinners. Many think God can accept an imperfect offering or a supposed righteousness, yet all of our works are nothing but filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). Many think God can pardon a sinner without His justice being fully honored. But what kind of Judge would He be? A god who could pardon without justice may one day condemn without reason. A god who could set aside his righteousness may one day set aside his mercy. A god who could deny his law may one day deny his gospel. A god who could change His character may go back on His promises. That is the little g-o-d that men have today, but not the God of Scripture. In verses 8 and 9 we see that His ways are past finding out by the most intelligent of mortal men and women. If we could know God by our thoughts, we would no longer be His creatures or He would no longer be God. God is not above in heaven thinking and planning as we do. His ways and His thoughts are infinite. That is why we need the Spirit to guide us when we read the Scriptures. Prayer does not change God; prayer aligns our will with God’s. "Thy will be done" is the Spirit’s work in us (Matthew 6: 9,10) . The heavens higher than the earth show us that the distance between His thoughts and ours is greater than billions of galaxies. That is why the majority of the world lives in idolatry. But God has not left His people to themselves. His ways are manifest in how He came to this earth in the Person of His Son. Seeing there was none righteous, He took it upon Himself to come in the flesh to earn and establish the Righteousness necessary for Him to be Just and to justify sinners (Isaiah 59:16). Heaven came down when the LORD Jesus Christ came to earth. Unless by His Spirit and His Grace we are brought to see the LORD Jesus Christ as all of God’s Glory, we remain in our thoughts and our ways. Verse 10 declares, “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven. ” Rain and water point to the LORD Jesus, the Water of Life. Snow represents Christ in His Purity and Whiteness. So shall His Word be. “It shall not return unto me void” (v.11). That Word is Christ, the Word made Flesh. His inspired Word, and His incarnate Word are all in Him. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). When the Father sent the Son, He spoke what the Father gave Him to speak. So shall His  Word be — even Christ Himself, the eternal Logos (Word) sent forth by the Father. He came down from heaven to do the Father’s will, to accomplish the Work of Redemption entrusted to Him. He fulfilled all Righteousness, laid down His Life for the sheep, and rose again in triumph. Having ascended on high, He returned to the Father with the full harvest of those given to Him from eternity. Not one was lost, for the Word cannot fail. As surely as rain waters the earth, so Christ, the living Word, prospered in the purpose for which He was sent. This is how the distance was bridged. Psalm 8 asks, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” (Psalm 8:4). This Man is the God-Man, the LORD Jesus Christ, made a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16). It is His inspired Word declaring how God Himself has purposed to declare sinners righteous through the Work of the LORD Jesus Christ. When He cried, “It is finished” (John 19:30) , nothing remained but Righteousness and Justice to impute to all those sinners given to His Son. So shall His Word be. “For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with Peace” (v.12). This is our glorious LORD God, revealed in His thoughts, His ways, His Word, and His Son. This concludes the Gospel call with the sure fruit of Christ’s accomplished Redemption. All who are brought to Him by sovereign grace “shall go out with joy, and be led forth with Peace,” for Christ Himself is their Joy and their Peace. The curse is reversed: instead of the thorn comes the fir tree, and instead of the brier the myrtle tree — a picture of the New Covenant Work of Christ wrought for every redeemed soul. All is the LORD’s doing, the everlasting sign of His Covenant Mercy in Christ, which shall not be cut off.

Isaiah 26:15-21 "Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth. LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them. Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD. We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen. Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain." Isaiah 26 unfolds as a song of rejoicing that looks forward to a Great Deliverance worked by the LORD. It is a song born out of chastening, the kind of chastening that proves both the Love and the Sovereignty of God. Israel’s story unfolds beneath God's heavy hand of Divine correction — the ten tribes carried away by Assyria, Judah later taken by Babylon — yet none of it fell outside the LORD’s purpose. He was proving something greater: that His people, in themselves, were no better than the nations He used to judge them. The lesson remains — the heart of man is the same in every nation, and it is only Grace that makes the difference (Ephesians 2:4). In the midst of judgment, the prophet sees Mercy. “Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD… thou art glorified.” The LORD did not chasten to destroy, but to purify, to glorify Himself in Mercy. His dealings were not for Israel’s merit but for His Son’s sake. The favored nation was chosen out and preserved so that Christ might come through it. So every stroke of Divine correction upon His people was not in wrath but Love, not punishment for sin, for Christ bore that, but chastening by means of sin, that we might be turned again unto Him. “Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth” (Hebrews 12:6). The prophet likens their pain to that of a woman in travail. It is not meaningless agony, but suffering that brings forth life. The pain is real — no one enjoys it, and no child of God seeks it — yet it is purposeful. The woman’s cry is not the end but the means to Joy. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). Through the throes of chastening, the LORD draws His own nearer. Every idol stripped away, every comfort taken, until the heart cries, “ O Thou in whose presence my soul takes delight. ” When there is nothing left but Christ, the soul finds Him all-sufficient. The LORD’s chastening is a Mercy. To be left alone would be the greater terror. The absence of correction would mean the absence of sonship. Every chastening, painful though it is, bears the seal of Love. “Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4). The Shepherd disciplines the sheep that wander, not in anger but in covenant affection. His aim is not destruction but restoration. The same Hand that smites is the Hand that binds the chastening wounds. The people of God in captivity learned to “pour out a prayer” (v.16) when His chastening was upon them. This statement speaks not of empty words, but of the offering of the heart — a pouring out as a drink offering upon the altar, flowing from the only acceptable Sacrifice, the blood of Christ. True prayer, wrought in affliction, is shaped by Christ crucified at the cross. It comes not from formality but from need — from a soul brought low, taught to seek the LORD in secret. “In their affliction they will seek me early” (Hosea 5:15). That is the blessed Purpose of Divine correction — to bring the heart back to the place of dependence, to renew the cry of Grace. The chastening of the LORD is both painful and needful. It is tailor-made for every one of His children. The LORD knows exactly how to deal with each soul to cause it to look to Christ. No book, no counsel, no human hand can remove what He has purposed. And yet, afterward, it yields “the peaceable fruit of righteousness” (Hebrews 12:11). Peace is not the absence of trial, but the Presence of Christ in the midst of it. “Thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us” (Isaiah 26:12). He ordains Peace through conflict, Righteousness through chastening, Rest through dependence upon His finished work. All enemies that rise against His people are already conquered. “They are dead, they shall not rise” (v.14). For when Christ died, He destroyed every enemy — sin, law, and Satan alike. “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us… nailing it to his cross… and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly” (Colossians 2:14–15). The believer’s Security is found in that Victory. The law can no longer condemn; the accuser has no power to touch those hidden in Christ. Even when the LORD causes affliction through the hands of men, He uses them only as instruments to do His will, never to destroy His own. And when the discipline is finished, He calls His people to rest: “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers… hide thyself… until the indignation be overpast.” It is a call by Christ to retreat into Christ Himself — the Chamber of Mercy, the place of Safety purchased by His blood. The world may be under judgment, but those sheltered in Him have Peace. “Seeing then that we have a great high priest… Jesus the Son of God… let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:14–16). Chastening drives the child of God into those chambers — away from self, into Christ. There the soul finds Defense, Comfort, and Quietness until the storm has passed. For the chastening of the LORD always ends in the same place — not despair, but Peace. The same Hand that wounds also heals His child. The same Love that corrects comforts. And in it all, the LORD glorifies Himself in His Son. Thus, Isaiah’s song becomes the believer’s song: rejoicing not in the absence of trial, but in the God Who turns chastening into grace, affliction into fellowship, and pain into peace. “Thy dead men shall live… together with my dead body shall they arise” (v.19). Every correction, every sorrow, every stroke leads to that Resurrection Life where Christ and His people shall stand together in Glory, and the chastening of the LORD shall be forever past.

Isaiah 6:1-5 "In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." Here, Isaiah, the LORD's prophet, is brought face to face with His majesty, holiness, and sovereignty. The earthly throne of Judah had been emptied by the sudden death of Uzziah, but the heavenly throne remained unmoved and forever occupied by the Eternal King. This vision is not merely historical; it is Christ Himself Whom Isaiah beheld, as John testifies, “These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him”   (John 12:41). Isaiah is laid low by this clear revelation of Christ in all His majesty as the Eternal God, before His appointed time to come to the earth to pay the sin debt of His people. So glorious is the LORD Jesus that the holy angels veil their faces before Him, declaring, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.”   In the light of such holiness, Isaiah is undone, confessing, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips.” This passage brings us to the heart of the Gospel: before the glory of Christ, every sinner is exposed, ruined, and silenced; but it is this same LORD, high and exalted, Who in sovereign mercy and grace reveals His cleansing work through the altar, pointing us to the finished work of Christ on Calvary's cross. Therefore, Isaiah’s vision is both a humbling revelation of the sinner's ruin in the fall of Adam, but also the gracious foreshadowing of redemption in Christ Jesus, the Last Adam, Who came and earned and established that Righteousness necessary for God to be just and justify those whom He ordained to salvation from before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:3-7) as the King of glory. Earthly leaders rise and fall, seasons of life change, and even what once seemed strong and secure collapses—there is one reality that never changes: Christ is on the throne. He is not merely a figurehead king, with a throne of pomp and circumstance and empty ceremony or fragile power. It is the Throne of the Eternal Son of God, ruling in holiness, majesty, and grace. To see Him as He truly is shatters the sinner's pride, humbles the heart, and yet also gives Hope, because this Holy King is also the Merciful Savior. The death of King Uzziah marked the end of an era for Israel. He was a capable and prosperous ruler under God's providential Hand, but his story ended in pride and judgment. He presumed to take upon himself what only the priests were consecrated to do, and God struck him with leprosy (2 Chronicles 26:16–21) . What a sobering picture: a man who began well, prospered greatly, and yet fell under the weight of his own pride. It is against that backdrop that Isaiah says, “I saw also the Lord.” When the earthly king fell, Isaiah saw the heavenly King—Christ Himself, high and exalted on His throne of glory. The glory that filled the temple was none other than the glory of Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son of God. The scene around the throne is awe-inspiring. There stand the seraphim, crying out, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory”  (Isaiah 6:3). God’s holiness is not merely one attribute among many—it is His glorious attribute from which all of His other attributes flow, like the hub of a wheel from which all the other attributes are aligned: His Grace, Mercy, Justice, and Wrath. He is holy in His love, holy in His justice, holy in His sovereignty, holy in all that He is. He is so Holy that even the sinless angels hide their faces before Him. Job 15:15 tells us : " Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints [holy angels] ; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight" What happens when Isaiah sees this? He is not lifted in pride for having received this vision of Christ. Nor in response does He offer up any supposed "good works". No, he cries out, “Woe is me! for I am undone”  (Isaiah 6:5). This is always the result when God opens a sinner’s eyes to His glory. They are brought low, stripped of any pride, and all self-reliance crumbles. Like Paul, we will count all our works as loss and dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ (Philippians 3:8). This is the work of sovereign grace—God showing us Who He is, and in that Light, showing us who we are. But the vision does not end with despair. A seraph flies to Isaiah with a live coal from the altar and touches it to his lips, saying, “Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged”  (Isaiah 6:7). What mercy! What grace! The very holiness that should have condemned Isaiah now brings cleansing. That altar, with its burning sacrifice, points to the cross of Christ. It is there—at Calvary—that sin was purged, and every elect sinner justified before God (Hebrews 1:3). It is there that Christ, our Great High Priest, did not bring incense, nor the blood of animals, but His own blood. “Once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself”  (Hebrews 9:26). Only Christ can make unclean lips clean. Only Christ can remove the guilt that overwhelms us before a holy God. Notice that Isaiah did not purify himself. He didn’t reach for the coal. He didn’t cleanse his own lips, nor appropriate it to himself. God sent the coal. God declared him clean. Salvation is of the LORD, from beginning to end. As Paul reminds us, “It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy”  (Romans 9:16). This is the Gospel: the King upon His throne is also the Lamb upon the altar. The One before Whom angels veil their faces is the same One Who humbled Himself to die for sinners elected by God and given to Him. The vision that undoes us is also the vision that delivers us from fear of condemnation, because Christ bore the wrath we deserved as His people and gave us His righteousness in return. What then do we do when we see Him? We bow. We confess. And we cling to Christ alone. Apart from Him, all our works are like King Uzziah’s incense—presumptuous, unclean, unacceptable. But in Him, we are accepted, forgiven, and clothed in a righteousness not our own but that which the Father imputed to our spiritual account upon completion of His work on the cross. Isaiah saw the LORD in majesty, and he saw himself undone. But then he saw redemption and reconciliation through the blood of the sacrifice. That is sovereign grace. That is the gospel of Christ. And that is our Hope today, tomorrow, and forever. “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood… to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen”  (Revelation 1:5–6).