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

"These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning Me." -Luke 24:44 [KJV] Christ’s work was to fulfil all Scripture. It is ours to believe, that the Scriptures are all fulfilled in Christ. Hence we are filled with all joy and peace in believing (Romans 15:13.) We complain of the weakness of faith. We neglect the means by which it is strengthened. Faith comes by hearing the word of God. By it faith is strengthened. That which comes not from the word, and is not supported by the word, is not faith, but phantom. It will soon evaporate.  Our Saviour was now risen. His work was finished. He appeals to the understanding of His disciples. He refers them to what He had spoken to them, before He died for them. Understanding the word in the heart, is like the stomach receiving, and digesting the food for the whole body. All par...

"One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see." -John 9:25 [KJV] This is a great thing to say, my soul: on what foundation dost thou rest this knowledge? If the Lord Jesus hath opened thine eyes, then indeed thou canst not but discover thy former blindness; for during that state of nature thou literally couldst discern nothing. And if thy former blindness be discovered, then thy present sight hath brought thee acquainted with new objects. Pause over the review of both this morning. The blindness of nature to spiritual things is marked in scripture in strong characters. A poor blind sinner sees nothing of the light of life. The Sun of Righteousness is not risen upon him. He discerns nothing of the love of God in Christ. If he reads the scripture, the vail is upon his heart. If he hears of Jesus, he sees no beauty in Him.  Nothing is nearer to him than the Lord, and nothing further from his thoughts. To tell him of the sweetness of the word of God, is s...

"He giveth power to the faint." -Isaiah 40:29 [KJV] The Lord often gives His people power to take a longing, languishing look at the blood and righteousness of Jesus; to come to the Lord, as "mighty to save , " with the same feelings with which Esther went into the presence of the king: "I will go in, and if I perish, I perish." It is with them sometimes as with the four lepers who sat at the entering in of the gate of Samaria: "And they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die? If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die" (II Kings 7:3, 4) . And so the Lord's people are sometimes brought to this state— "If I perish, I will perish at His footstool." If He give no answer of merc...

"I said in my haste, all men are liars." -Psalm 116:11 [KJV] We are prone to be too hasty in our censures of others, while the greatest fault lies at our own door. David here brands all men, with being liars, when he himself was the greatest liar of all, if we take the words in this sense. Here, he even charges Samuel the prophet of the Lord with a lie. For he had anointed him to be king, and assured him of the kingdom.    But he spoke in haste, without due thought and deliberation— unadvisedly, under temptation, when he was off his guard, and fled from the rage of Saul. Though some think, David rather uttered the bold language of confident faith. I said in my flight, that notwithstanding all the fury of Saul, and all the suggestions of my enemies to the contrary, “Let God be true, and every man a liar” (Romans 3:4.)   The Lord will surely preserve me. I shall certainly be king. David was the subject, both of faith and unbelief: of a hasty spirit, which exa...

"And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee." -Deuteronomy 15:15 [KJV] Say, my soul, canst thou ever forget the wormwood and the gall of that state of nature, from which the LORD thy God brought thee? Figure to thyself the most horrid state of captivity which the world ever knew; and what could the whole be, bounded, as it must be, by the short period of human life, compared to the everlasting vassalage of sin and Satan, in which thou didst lay when Jesus passed by and brought thee out? No galley-slave, chained to the oar, could equal thy misery, bound with the chain of sin. No duration of misery, bounded by time, equals that endless state of woe to which thou wast exposed. Thou wert a bondman to the power of sin, to the love of sin, to the desire of sin, to the punishment of sin; a bondman to the law of God, to the justice of God, to the displeasure of God, to the threatenings of God; a bondman to t...

"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony." -Revelation 12:11 [KJV] It is not "the blood of the Lamb" as revealed in the word of God, but as applied to and sprinkled on the conscience , which answers the accusations of Satan. But we may observe that there is our coming unto "the blood of sprinkling," and there is "the blood of sprinkling" coming unto us. The apostle speaks, Hebrews 12:22-24 : "Ye are come to the blood of sprinkling, which speaketh better things than that of Abel." This coming to the blood is the first step in gaining the victory. But in Christian warfare defeat generally, if not always, precedes conquest. It is not, therefore, so easy to overcome sin, death, and hell, which are all striving against us; and usually we never look to the right quarter for help until well-nigh all hope is gone.  The first gleam generally comes from a view of "the blood of the Lam...

"Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." -II Corinthians 12:9 [KJV] Though St. Paul is not now in the third heavens, yet he is not content, to speak any language below the superlative degree, most gladly. O, says he, I have had the richest experience of my own weakness and impotence, that ever I had in my life. I should be most glad, every day, to be thus emptied and laid low at the feet of Christ, that the all-sufficiency of His grace, and the power of His strength might be made perfect in me.  What does he mean by infirmities? All that weakness, feebleness, and inability, which he found in his nature, to withstand sin and Satan, to bear up under his crosses, trials, and distresses—to run the way of God’s commandments—to fight the good fight of faith, etc. I will rather glory in these. What means he? I will glory, rejoice, and be glad, that self is laid low, my proud nature debased, my self-exal...

"Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me?"   -John 14:9 [KJV] Pause, my soul, over this question of the Lord Jesus which He put to Philip— figure to thyself that the Lord saith the same to thee; and now see what answer thou wilt give Him. It is a great question: and if thou art able to answer it with a — "Yea, Lord;" and from the blessed Spirit's teaching thou truly knowest Jesus to be what the scripture saith He is, and canst as truly, from the receiving that testimony which God hath given of His dear and ever-blessed Son, set to thy seal that God is true; then art thou truly happy, and mayest humbly take to thyself a portion in that blessedness which the Lord Jesus pronounced upon Peter, from the same grace manifested: "Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven." Pause then, and inquire: dost thou know who Christ is? Art thou perfectly satisfied, my soul, of the oneness i...

"For 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] Good works, properly so called, spring out of the inward operation of God's grace. By making the tree good He makes the fruit good (Matthew 12:33) . He works in us first the will to do that which is good, and then He gives us the power. He thus works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13) .  Under the operations of His grace we are transformed by the renewing of our mind to prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God (Romans 12:2) ; and as this will is sought after to be known and done, good works follow as the necessary fruit.  All those acts of love and affection, of kindness, sympathy, and liberality towards the Lord's people; all those instances of self-denial and willingness rather to suffer than to do wrong; all those proofs of disinterested desir...

"WORTHY IS THE LAMB." -Revelation 5:12 [KJV] This the song, this the glory of angels and redeemed sinners heaven . To know, believe in, love, and follow this Lamb, constitutes our heaven upon earth. Sin is our hell. But this Lamb of God taketh away our sin. Then heaven is in our souls.  O that ever we should be ashamed of this Lamb, who is heaven’s wonder and heaven’s glory! Is not this thought of being ashamed of God’s Lamb, like a dagger to our heart? Lamb of God, have mercy upon us! Why is our dear Saviour called a Lamb?  (1st.) Because of His immaculate purity. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners: without a spot of sin, or stain of impurity.  (2d.) He was meek and inoffensive like a lamb. A lamb has no weapon of hostility. It never hurts any one. It cannot defend itself against assaults. It becomes an easy prey. All this Christ was in His life.  Therefore, (3d.) like a lamb, He was taken and slain. He was the very paschal Lamb, t...

"The creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen." -II Kings 4:1 [KJV] My soul, how doth this affect thee? Art thou in debt? By nature and by practice thou wast miserably so, unless the debt be cancelled. As a creature, and as a sinful creature, thou art in thyself for ever insolvent. Thou hast nothing to pay, and art shut up in a total impossibility ever to pay. And how much owest thou unto my Lord?  Alas, my soul, thou owest millions of debts to thy Almighty Creditor. The law thou hast broken; justice demands retribution; conscience condemns; Satan accuses; and the creditor is come to take not thy two sons only, but both thy two parts, soul and body, to the prison of death and hell, unless some almighty Surety hath stept in and paid the dreadful debt, that thou mayest be free. At death, and at judgment that follows, the everlasting release, or the everlasting imprisonment, will take place . And who knows whether the decision may not be to-morr...

"The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet." -Proverbs of Solomon 27:7 [KJV]   Afflictions, trials, and sorrows are very bitter things. And they must needs be bitter, for God never meant that they should be otherwise. When He takes the rod, it is to make it felt; and when He brings trouble on His children, it is that they may smart under it. Our text therefore does not, I believe, mean that the "bitter thing" is sweet when it is taken, for then it would cease to be bitter; but it is sweet on account of the blessed nourishment that is brought to the soul out of it . I remember reading, many years ago, the travels of Franklin to the North Pole; and a very interesting book it is naturally. But there is one incident mentioned in it which just strikes my mind. In wandering over the snows of the circumpolar regions there was no food to be got for days and, I think, weeks, except a lichen or kind of moss that grew...

The Thomas Confession by D G Miles McKee   John 20:28; “ And Thomas answered and said unto Him, “My Lord and my God.”   Poor old Thomas! He is forever known as the doubter. Although Thomas did not remain in doubt about the resurrection of Jesus, ‘Doubting Thomas’ is the name by which he is remembered.  Perhaps it reflects on how little mercy there is in the church for those who fall. However, in my opinion, there’s a strong case for remembering Thomas, not as ‘Doubting Thomas’, but as ‘Believing Thomas’ for here, in this verse, he gives a clear and grand confession of his faith. Here, he declares Jesus to be both Lord and God ---a declaration which has both strengthened and enriched the faith of believers throughout the generations!   Some misled people have tried to argue that Thomas wasn’t actually making a confession of faith but was calling out in surprised astonishment. Well imagine that!  Apart from charging Thomas w...

"Peter said unto Him, Lord, why cannot I follow Thee now? I will lay down my life for Thy sake ." -John 13:37 [KJV] Peter seems now in a happy frame indeed. All is warmth of love and sunshine of joy. Ecstacies carry us out of ourselves. We forget what we are, where we are, what we are exposed to, and what may soon befall us. Like Peter on the mount, we are apt to speak without due consideration. We know not what we say. The fire of passion exceeds the bounds of solid judgment.   "Why cannot I follow Thee now? Let the way be strewed with ever so many difficulties—let ever so many dangers oppose, nothing is able to dismay or dishearten me. I have just now such fervent love to Thee, that I could face death in the most frightful form, and lay down my life with the greatest pleasure for Thy sake.”   Doubtless, Peter now thought himself perfect and free from all sin. What thinkest, O soul? Is Peter’s language becoming him or not? Is it not a noble and generous decl...

"I have exalted ONE CHOSEN out of the people." -Psalm 89:19 [KJV] My soul, wert thou refreshed on the past day with the precious meditation of the God of our fathers glorifying His Son Jesus? Suffer not, then, the blessed subject to pass away from thy thoughts this day, or any day, but look at the same delightful meditation proposed in the words which God spake to His Holy One in vision— "I have exalted one chosen out of the people."   Yes, the Lord Jesus, as man and Mediator, was chosen in the infinite mind of Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, from everlasting . And before that God went forth in the immediate acts of creation, when that vast mass of beings the Lord determined to call into existence arose in His own infinite mind at His command, this blessed One, this glorious, this distinguished, this precious individual which was to become one with the uncreated Word, in order to constitute the Wisdom-man, Mediator, was from everlasting chosen. T...

"Being made so much better than the angels, as He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they."   -Hebrews 1:4 [KJV] Christ was made so much better than the angels, not as the Son of God, because as that He was better than they already, being indeed, their Maker and Creator. Nor did He become God's Son by being appointed heir of all things, and "obtaining by inheritance a more excellent name" than all the angelic host. If I have an only son, and he inherits my property, his being my heir does not make him my son, but his being my son makes him my heir. So the blessed Jesus is God's heir. But the beauty and blessedness, the grace and glory, the joy and consolation of His being "the heir of all things," lie in this, that He is such in our nature,—that the same blessed Immanuel who groaned and wept, suffered and bled here below, is now at the right hand of the Father as our High Priest, Mediator, Advocate, Representative...

"I know that Thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living." -Job 30:23 [KJV] What sweet familiarity does grace make, between God and believing sinners! How freely can they speak to Him, upon that solemn event, death . In the exercise of faith, we think of it, without terror, and speak of it with delight. Why so? Because we have no sin, and are not sinners? No. But because we know Christ the Friend of sinners, who has taken away all our sins, conquered death for us, subdued the fear of death in us, brought life and immortality to us, and is ever before the throne pleading for us.  Yet we know, also, HE will bring us to death. O this is soul-comforting knowledge! What wilt Thou, my loving God, my precious Saviour, who bore my sins in Thine own body on the tree, bring me to death? Are the issues of life and death in Thy hand? Cannot death approach nor assault me, till Thou give him commission, and bring me to death?  I thank Thee, my dear ...