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

Call His Name Jesus by D G Miles McKee     “---thou shalt call His name Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins." - Matthew 1:21 [KJV]   This remarkable verse is both a promise and a prophesy. It is a prophesy because it was inseparably linked with Christ´s future work of saving His people.  It was and is a promise for all of us who are so ruined that we know we cannot save ourselves.  Listen again as the angel says, “ He shall save .” What a thrilling promise! He’s not going to try to save or to do His best to save … No!  He shall   save .  Think about it, since He saves, it makes abundant sense to abandon all our silly efforts to save ourselves!   Also, in this verse we see some excellent instruction on Christ’s deity. Notice how His parents were to “call His name Jesus.” This name is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew name Joshua which means “Yahweh, our Saviour.” Of course, the name Jesus was a common one in those d...

"He who endureth to the end shall be saved."   - Matthew 10:22 [KJV] We have now arrived to the end of another year. Look back with humility. Look up with hope. Look forward with joy. For consider what great things God hath done for us. “Now is our salvation nearer, than when we first believed , ” (Romans 13:11.) Salvation, O the joyful sound! But, before the Sun of righteousness arose upon us, and displayed the glory of His finished salvation to our hearts, alas! what dark, proud, ignorant notions of salvation, did we entertain? Instead of seeing righteousness as a gift by Jesus Christ, and justification of life coming by free gift, and eternal life the gift of God, through Jesus Christ, (Romans 5:17-18 & 6:23.)   We vainly thought that salvation was to be obtained by our fulfilling certain terms and conditions. In our natural state of blindness, before we saw Jesus, we thought, enduring to the end, was the condition of being saved. Now we see we are “Saved ...

"And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron, and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, The LORD bless thee, and keep thee. The LORD make His face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee. The LORD lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. And they shall put My name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them."   - Numbers 6:22, 27 [KJV] Pause, my soul, and in these sweet words behold thine almighty Aaron, even Jesus, in His everlasting priesthood, day by day, thus blessing His people. Observe, the blessing in the name of the Lord Jehovah is thrice pronounced, as if to teach the plurality of Persons in the Godhead. And observe also, after this blessing thrice pronounced, Jehovah, as if to intimate the unity of the divine essence, declares, I will bless them . My soul, mark each.  The first may be considered as the personal blessing of God the Father, whose gracious ...

"My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure." -Isaiah 46:10 [KJV] There is one grand idea running through the whole of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation; and this one grand idea runs through every part of the sacred page, and, like a golden band, unites the whole together. What is this one grand thought? God has many thoughts as well as we, for He tells us that "the thoughts of His heart stand to all generations."  But we read also in the same verse of "the counsel of the LORD, which standeth for ever;"  and elsewhere of His "working all things after the counsel of His own will"   (Psalm 33:11; Ephesians 1:11) . Thus in the mind of God, as well as in the mode of His subsistence, there is unity and variety. There is His one thought, and His many thoughts; for though His thoughts are many, His counsel is but one; and this counsel is the exaltation and glorification of His dear Son. It may be as well briefly to trace this...

"Old things are passed away."   -II Corinthians 5:17 [KJV] Such is the blessedness of every new creature in Christ. Every believer in Him is a new creature. Mind, St. Paul does not say, Old things are passing away, but are passed away . We are not to understand him in an absolute, but in a qualified sense. For if none were new creatures, till all old things were passed away, we should not find one on this side heaven. Now the year is nearly at an end, do not you find your old corruptions cleaving to you? Yea, the old man still whole and alive in you, just as you did at the beginning of the year, or at the beginning of days, when you first believed on Jesus, and were made a new creature in Him? Do not you also see just the same reason to comply with these exhortations, as at first? “Put off the old man which is corrupt” (Ephesians 4:22.) “Cleanse yourself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit”   (II Corinthians 7:1.)  Why, if so, how can it be said,...

"Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mispeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us." -I  Samuel 7:12 [KJV] Did Samuel do this? Was that servant of the Lord, who lived not to see Christ in the flesh, so full of faith in the coming Saviour, and in the experience of Jehovah's faithfulness in what was past, that he set up his Ebenezer? Surely, my soul, thou wilt blush to be outdone by the prophet, when thou hast not only seen the day of the Son of man completed, but felt His power. Oh my soul, let thine Ebenezer be Jesus! Let the stone thou settest up, be indeed the Rock of Ages. Yes, my soul, set up Jesus indeed, in all places, at all times, upon all occasions. And Oh Lord, do Thou by Thy blessed Spirit set up Thyself in my heart, and enthrone Thyself there, and reign and rule there for ever. Surely, my soul, Jesus is thine every-day Ebenezer; for He doth help, and will help, and be Himself thine help, t...

"A living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious."   -I Peter 2:4 [KJV] Though  "disallowed of men,"  the Lord Jesus Christ is "chosen of God;"  and God, I speak it with reverence, cannot make an unwise choice. To think that, would be to attribute folly to the Most High. He is "chosen of God," because He alone was fitted for the work. It would have crushed an archangel to bear what Jesus bore. No bright angel, nor glorious seraph, no created being, however exalted, could have borne the load of sin; and therefore none but God's own Son, not by office, but by eternal generation, the Son of the Father in truth and love, could bear the weight of imputed sin and guilt. As Hart says, "Such loads of guilt were on Him put, He could but just sustain the weight." But He was "chosen of God" that He might be Zion's Representative, Zion's Sin-bearer, and Zion's glorious Head; that there mi...

Short Gospel Sermon to follow, friends. The LORD JESUS be magnified!    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzqwmGEkq60

"When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory."   - Colossians 3:4 [KJV] I have read a book consisting of stories, and to be told to the Sultan of Arabia, to prevent a bloody design of his against his Sultaness. The relater of the tales was her own sister. She always contrived to leave off in the midst of her story, which he was so delighted with, as to promise not to destroy her sister, till it was ended. Thus by protracting the execution, she saved her sister’s life. Methinks there is no end to the history of Christ. Every fresh relation of him delights the believing soul, and excites an inclination to hear more of Him again and again. For He averted the bloody execution of law and justice against us.—Every fresh tale of Him strengthens our faith of salvation by Him: sets our minds more and more against every evil, and stimulates us to every good.  For, Christ is our life. O soul, can you ever believe too much of Him, ...

"Not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake concerning you. " -Joshua 23:14 [KJV] Say, my soul, in looking back the past year, canst thou set thy seal to this truth? Is there a promise which thy God hath not fulfilled? Is there an instance in which God hath forfeited His word? Canst thou point to the time, or place, in any one trial, or under any one affliction, in which thou hast not found God faithful?  Give then the Lord the honour due unto His name. If not one thing hath failed, proclaim His glory, set forth His praise, declare His truth, let the father to the children make known that God is faithful. And Oh let thine heart bear testimony to what must be said of all His Israel, in all ages, "What hath God wrought." -preacher Robert Hawker (1753-1827 A.D.)

"For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." -I Corinthians 1:18 [KJV] Has the gospel ever come to you in power? If it has, it has done something for you. Has it ever, then, dispelled your many doubts and fears? Has it ever made Jesus precious to your soul; ever brought with it light, life, liberty, and love; ever given you access to the bosom of God; ever communicated that spirit of holy boldness and filial confidence, whereby, as a successful wrestler, you were enabled to prevail with God, and get a blessing out of His hands and heart? But it is useless to talk of power when nothing is done. A manufacturer says to an engineer, "I want you to construct me an engine of a hundred horse power."  But if the engineer make the engine, and upon trial it be found only of ninety, and the work require a hundred horse power, the engine is so far useless. Now, what would his employer say...

"Ye are dead, and your life is hid with CHRIST in GOD."   - Colossians 3:3 [KJV] We are apt to mistake the words, and pervert the meaning of scripture. This charge is brought against us by Jeremiah : “Ye have perverted the words of the living God , ”   (chapter 23:36.) This dejects our souls, robs Christ of the glory of our hearts, and prevents our holy and comfortable walk in Him. See if this be not the case with respect to this text. Ye believers in Christ, are dead ,  (1st.) “to the law by the body of Christ”   (Romans 7:4.) Being one with Christ by faith, you are dead to all legal hopes, from your own works.  (2d.) Dead to sin, being baptized into Christ by His Spirit (Romans 6:3.)  (3d.) Dead to the world, being crucified with Christ (Galatians 6:14.) O says one, and another sincere soul, I am not thus dead. I have no true faith. I find sin alive in me—legal hopes and fears cleaves to me—and too much love of the world in me, to my grief and burden ....

"The eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year." -Deuteronomy 11:12 [KJV] Oh for grace, to live always under an abiding sense of this most blessed truth. My soul, never forget it, if possible, but always possess in recollection an abiding apprehension of Jesus' gracious presence. And do Thou, dearest Lord, when Thou art coming forth in mercies, give me grace to be going forth to meet Thee with praises: and while Thou art bartering Thy riches for my poverty, let all Thy bounties be doubly sweetened in coming from Thine own hand, and being sanctified by Thy blessing, that I may receive all to my soul's joy, and to the praise of the Father's grace in Christ Jesus. Amen. -preacher Robert Hawker (1753-1827 A.D.)

"And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified." -Acts 20:32 [KJV] Not only did Paul "commend"  the church at Ephesus "to God,"  but he commended them also in an especial manner "to the word of His grace."  There is a difference between "grace"  and "the word of His grace."  Nothing but grace can save the soul; nothing but super-abounding grace can blot out and hide from the view of justice our aggravated iniquities. But "the word of His grace"  is that word which brings this grace into the heart, which communicates life and power to the soul, which the Spirit by his inward teaching and testimony seals on the conscience, and by which He reveals and sheds abroad that favour of which He testifies. This is what the Lord's people want. It is "the word of grace"  that reaches their soul...

"Save Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever ."  -Psalm 28:9 [KJV] David in this last verse of this Psalm closes with a sincere and fervent prayer for the Lord's people. He prays for vital things that we as sinners desperately and constantly need. Let us make this our prayer for 2026 A.D.!   1). Save Thy people…. Who are these people? They belong to Christ by electing love (John 6:37; Ephesians 1:3-6) . They are His by redeeming blood, He bought them (Acts 20:28; I Corinthians 6:20; I Peter 1:18-20) . They are His by an effectual call of grace (II Timothy 1:9; I Peter 2:9) . What do Christ's people need? Salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ, for "All we like sheep have gone astray." Our Lord came to seek out and to save His lost sheep (Luke 19:10) .   2). Bless Thine inheritance… those who are the heirs of salvation, (Romans 8:17) . In Christ we have a blessed and eternal inheritance; "An inheritance...