GRACE IS THE SOVEREIGN GIFT OF GOD
"... Because in him there is found some good thing toward the L ORD God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam." — I Kings 14:13 [KJV] Such was the testimony which the Lord gave by His prophet of young Abijah, the son of wicked Jeroboam. The father was branded, even to a proverb, for his abominable wickedness. Behold, the son is recorded by the Lord for his goodness: singled out from the whole house of his father, to be blessed of his God, and to come to his grave in peace. Children of grace often spring from the loins of ungodly parents. The offspring of godly parents, often appear graceless. Grace is not hereditary. Grace is the sovereign gift of God. Parents may and ought to give good instructions, but God only makes them successful. Some good thing would not have been found in young Abijah, if the Lord had not put it there. It was of the will of the Lord, or because the Lord was his Father, as his name Abijah signifies. God's covenant children, though by na...