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

The voice from the cross did not summon men to do, but to be satisfied with what was done, “It is finished.”   The sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ is the only perfect thing which has ever been presented to God on man’s behalf.  “It shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein” (Leviticus 22:21).                                    -preacher Scott Richardson

Undeniably, mankind has made remarkable achievements across the span of history and has accomplished extraordinary feats.  But we need to understand that God Almighty operates on an absolute higher level than man is capable of functioning upon.  God’s ways and standards are infinitely higher than ours.   We live in a world today that tells mankind that they can do anything if they put their mind to it.  But God declares man is limited, even crippled, spiritually, morally and physically because of sin.  Modern-day religion’s “You can do anything,” mentality and philosophy ignore the reality of human brokenness.  It hardens men and women from feeling their need of Divine grace .   The world’s religion is the preaching of self.  The world’s teaching believes that man is his own savior and strength.  But God says, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways.”    To be reconciled to God, G...

"Persecuted, but not forsaken." -II Corinthians 4:9 [KJV] Whatever injury persecutors may do or attempt to do to a Christian, they cannot rob him of his God. They may destroy his body; they cannot destroy his soul. They may wound his reputation; but they cannot wound his conscience. They may strip him of all his earthly goods; but they cannot lay their unhallowed hands upon the treasure which God has lodged in his breast. Yea, all may forsake him as they forsook his divine Master; but God has said, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."   Why, then, need we dread persecution for righteousness' sake? If the Lord be on our side, whom need we fear? (See Psalm 27:1.) And who can harm us if we be followers of that which is good? But bear in mind that it must be persecution for righteousness' sake. Do not call it persecution if you are buffeted for your faults. Do not think yourselves persecuted if by your inconsistencies you have brought upon...

"Forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." -I Corinthians 15:58 [KJV] Christian knowledge is the source of comfort, and the spring of obedience. The knowledge of God’s love to us in Christ, received into the heart by faith, animates us to be, and to do, what the Lord calls us to in our lives. St. Paul appeals to Christians, Ye know—what? that you are called, not to loiter, but to labour: not to stand idle, but to work: not merely to talk of the truths of Christianity, but to walk in the ways of the Lord. But what constitutes it the sweetest of all labouring, working, and walking, it is the labour of love, the work of faith, and the walk of hope.  And we have Christ’s presence and power in all. We know, we are fully persuaded, we are divinely assured, our labour is not in vain: for it is in the Lord. It is begun by His grace, tarried on by His power, IN sweet fellowship with Him, IN love to Him, IN dependence on Him, IN assurance that we a...

"He goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see Him." -Mark 16:7 [KJV] Mark this, my soul, in all thy goings forth; look out for thy gracious, glorious Forerunner, and see whether the same going before thee of thy Lord hath not been from everlasting. Was it not Jesus that was set up as the Head of His people from everlasting? Did He not then go before them, when He went forth for the salvation of His people?  In the council of peace did He not go before them; not only before we knew our need, but before we had a being? In all His covenant engagements, as the Surety of His people, He went before them. And in all His offices, characters, and relations, He was preventing us with the blessings of His goodness. And in the personal salvation of every individual of His redeemed, was not Jesus beforehand in quickening, illuminating, redeeming mercy? If we love Him, is it not because He first loved us? And what is it now? Do not His mercies go before our prayers?...

"Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?" -Lamentations 3:39 [KJV] We must not understand by the word "punishment," anything of a vindictive nature. God never punishes the sins of His elect penally; that is, not as He punishes the sins of the reprobate. The eternal covenant forbids this. "Fury is not in Me, saith the LORD." The elect are accepted in Jesus, are pardoned in Him, are complete in Him. This is their eternal and unalterable covenant standing—the fruit and effect of their everlasting union with the Son of God.   But though this forbids punishment in its strictly penal sense, it by no means excludes chastisement. Thus we are not to understand by the word "punishment" in the text the infliction of God's righteous wrath, that foretaste of eternal damnation with which, sometimes even in this life, He visits the ungodly; but it signifies that chastisement which is the privilege of the h...