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

“Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead.”   -Colossians 2:12 [KJV] You who believe the gospel know that you were the patient who was unable to effect a spiritual cure for your malady of sin.  It was the almighty God who wrought a work within you; He is the great Physician of sin-sick souls.  What a glorious Surgeon He is and what abilities He has!  Note the phrase “the operation of God.”   “Operation”  is from the original word energes  from which we get our English word energy.   Earthly surgeons operate on patients who are alive, but the heavenly Surgeon of sinners operates upon patients who are spiritually dead and resurrects them by His almighty energy!  If men are merely running a spiritual temperature, then perhaps a man-made cure might suffice, but if men are dead in sin, then all the supposed cures of the wisest religious ...

“Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”   -Psalm 85:10 [KJV]     Where and when did “mercy and truth”  meet and “righteousness and peace”  kiss each other?  It was when the Lord Jesus hung as our Substitute, bearing the sins of His people in His own body on the cursed tree.    “Mercy”  is God not giving us what we deserve.  We are sinners and it is written, “the wages of sin is death”   (Romans 6:23) .  God purposed to show mercy to His covenant people, and yet, because He is also “truth,”  He must be true to His own Word to punish sin.    God is “righteous,”  He must always do what is right and therefore He must pour out His vengeance upon iniquities and transgressions.  Yet, God purposed to be at peace toward His sinful people. The Lord will not compromise His “truth”  and “righteousness,”  and He determined to show “mercy”  and “pea...

In one word, the great fact on which the Christian’s hope rests is substitution.   The vicarious sacrifice of Christ for the sinner, Christ’s suffering for the sinner, Christ’s being made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him, Christ offering up a true and proper substitutionary sacrifice in the place of as many as the Father gave Him, who are recognized by their trusting in Him – this is the cardinal fact of the gospel. -copied 

“I will praise Thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all Thy marvellous works.  I will be glad and rejoice in Thee: I will sing praise to Thy name, O Thou most High.” -Psalm 9:1-2 [KJV]   SAVED BY GRACE   Grace found the way my soul to save, In old eternity; In cov’nant mercy Christ agreed To bleed and die for me, To bleed and die for me.   The Father took the awful load Of my iniquity; And laid it on my Substitute, Who hung on Calvary, Who hung on Calvary.   Christ took away the weight of sin. When He was crucified; He rose and went back to His throne, For God was satisfied, For God was satisfied.   I bless the Spirit for He came In mighty grace to me; He granted faith to trust in Christ, Who saves eternally, Who saves eternally.   My heart is filled with gratitude, I praise the Lord alone; I bless Him for His sovereign grace Unto this sinner shown, Unto this sinner shown.   -To the tune of "Majestic Sweetness" Words by Jim Byr...

"Thy Maker is thine husband, the LORD of Hosts is His name, and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel: the GOD of the whole earth shall He be called." -Isaiah 54:5 [KJV] In this one verse, is a trinity of comforts. All are enjoyed in the unity of faith. The Spirit bears witness of them. Let our hearts attend to them.  Consider, thou sin-distressed, law-accursed, Satan-accused soul, Thy Maker is thine husband. Glorious gospel! Faith, listen; love, awake; hope, rejoice. In the Hebrew, Thy Makers thy husband; Father, Son, and Spirit. The triune God, who made thee, is married to thee, and in covenant with thee. How is this relation effected? God the Son comes into our nature; takes upon Him our flesh. We are peculiarly espoused to Christ.  By His ministers. Says St. Paul, “I have espoused you to Christ” (II Corinthians 11:2.) Experimentally, by faith. We know nothing of the loving, eternal designs of Christ to our souls, till, by the grace of His Spirit, we are bro...

"Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen."   -Ephesians 6:24 [KJV] And dost thou, my soul, with the same affection and love as the apostle, bend thy knee this morning before His throne, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth are named? Dost thou look up, and pray that all grace may abound? Oh what a delightful thought is it, my soul, to warm thy affections, that in the moment thou art waiting at the mercy-scat, thousands are waiting also for the morning blessing. Go then, my soul, and tell thy Redeemer this; tell Him that He hath all suited grace, and that the eyes of His redeemed, as the eyes of one man, are all directed towards Him. Yes, Thou glorious, rich, and gracious Saviour, we do behold Thee still as the Lamb in the midst of the throne, leading Thy church which is above in glory to fountains of living waters. And, Lord, we know that Thou art equally attentive to Thy church in the dry and barren wilderness here below...

"As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him: rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving." -Colossians 2:6, 7 [KJV] It is a goodly sight to see a noble tree; and we may gather from the strength of the tree the strength of the soil, for only in deep and good soil will such trees grow. But look at the trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified! What depth and richness there is in the heavenly soil in which they are planted! View the true, real, and eternal Sonship, the glorious Deity of Jesus, and view that Deity in union with His suffering humanity! What soil is there! What breadth to hold thousands and thousands of noble trees! What depth for them to root in! What fertility to clothe them with verdure and load them with fruit! The most fertile natural soils may be exhausted, but this is inexhaustible. For can Deity be exhausted? Is...