"Salvation is of the LORD." -Jonah 2:9

" Wherefore He is able to save to the uttermost, all who come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them." —Hebrews 7:25 [KJV] When the strong blasts of temptations blow, the swelling waves of corruptions lift up their heads: Satan casts his fiery darts: the thunders of Sinai roar: the law threatens wrath and destruction: carnal reason pleads: unbelief pronounces hopeless despair on them: happy for believers to take up the language of faith, expressed by the children of God of old, "We are not careful to answer in this matter: our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us; and He will deliver us," —Daniel 3:16, 17 .  Admirable faith and fortitude! A shining example of Old-Testament saints, worthy to be imitated by New Testament disciples. Such a conduct yields ease to the mind, and peace to the conscience; while it confesses Jesus the only Saviour, it gives Him the glory due to His name. And, verily, according to their faith

"We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." —Ephesians 2:10 [KJV] Upon a survey of the works of creation, the psalmist cries out with admiration, "O Lord, how manifold are Thy works, in wisdom hast Thou made them all!" Is such a display of wisdom and glory visible in the objects of time and sense, which perish in the using, and are destined to destruction? O, what infinite riches of wisdom, glory, and love, are manifest in the new creation in Christ Jesus, which are of a spiritual and eternal nature! Such is the economy of the covenant of grace, the glorious three Persons in the ever-adorable Trinity concur in the salvation of sinners.  God the Father elects in Christ Jesus to glory, and ordains good works, as the fruits of everlasting love, for all the heirs of salvation to walk in. Jesus, in Whom they are chosen, atones for all the guilt of their sins, and frees the

"For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of; for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!" -I Corinthians 9:16 [KJV] The most humbling and challenging thing I face—the great concern of my heart—is that my generation experience a return to the preaching of the gospel of God’s glory. We are plagued today with a gospel of works, a religion of form and ceremony, and a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge (see Romans 10:2). I pray for a return to the message God was pleased to use in other days to awaken sinners to their need for mercy; that message that reveals the redemptive glory of God in Christ; that message which humbles the proud Pharisee and gives hope to the chief of sinners. If God is pleased to restore that message, then will we once again sense the awesome Holy presence of the Living God. Gone will be the voice of the proud sinner who inwardly debates whether he will accept Jesus or reject Him. G