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

"Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace, to the end that the promise might be sure to all the seed." -Romans 4:16 [KJV] Men come to earthly inheritances, either by heirship, gift, or purchase. Each one can tell how he came by his estate, and by what right he holds it. Come, Christian, examine thy heavenly inheritance to-night. See how thou camest possessed of it, and by what means thou dost hold and enjoy it.  (1st.) It is thine by purchase. Not that thou didst ever contribute one mite to buy it; but Christ thy elder Brother paid the full price for it. Therefore it is called “the purchased inheritance” (Ephesians 1:14.)   (2d.) It is thine by gift: “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom , ” (Luke 12:32.)  (3d.) It is thine by heirship: thou wast born to inherit it: not by thy natural, but by thy spiritual birth. Now thou art “an heir of God, and a joint-heir with Christ , ” thy elder Brother (Romans 8:17.)  (4th.) How d...

"In Thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in Thy righteousness shall they be exalted." -Psalm 89:16 [KJV] See, my soul, what a blessed cause is again before thee to begin the month, and to carry it on through every day, and all the day, and in every part of the day, for joy in the name and righteousness of Jesus. And mark it with peculiar emphasis, that it is Jesus, as Jesus, the Christ of God, and His righteousness as the righteousness of God, in which all thy rejoicing is, and not in the finest frames, or spiritual exercises of thine own. A daily sense of a need of Christ, and as constant a sense of acting faith upon Christ; these form the foundation of every true believer's joy, and make the savour of Christ's name like ointment poured forth; and whence is it, my soul, that all the redeemed are said to rejoice in the name of the Lord all the day, but because the Lord hath saved them and redeemed them for His name's sake? And whence is it sai...

"Let Thy work appear unto Thy servants, and Thy glory unto their children." -Psalm 90:16 [KJV] "Let Thy work appear unto Thy servants." Creature works we here read nothing of. They had been long ago cut to the very ground. And what had been their deathblow? What had driven the dagger into their very heart? "Days of affliction, and years of evil." These had been their destruction; creature righteousness they had stabbed to the very heart, and let out the life-blood of human merit.  There is no petition, then, "Let our works appear!" No . These were buried in the grave of corruption; these were swallowed up and lost in "days of affliction, and years of evil." But, "Let Thy work," the finished work of the Son of God; the obedience of Jesus to the law; the atoning blood which He shed upon Calvary's tree; the work which He undertook, went through, and completed ,— "Oh," breathes forth the man of God i...