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

"He who receiveth Me, receiveth Him who sent Me." -Matthew 10:40 [KJV] It is very natural to think, if the Son of God were now upon earth, O how gladly would we receive Him into our houses. If you really would, you now cordially receive the report of Him, into your hearts: you now welcome it by faith, as the most precious truth that ever saluted your ears.  (1st.) What is it to receive Christ? There is endless perplexity in the consciences of many poor sinners, whether they have received Christ— when they received Him—what it is to receive Him—how they received Him—and whether they received Him right, etc. Satan gets great advantage here over many. Therefore he stirs up many (who nevertheless may do it ignorantly) who sadly puzzle weak Christians with nice and subtle refinements, about receiving Christ.  You would have no difficulty to tell, whether you receive a dear friend—how your heart stood affected towards him—and what reception you gave him. How is it bet...

"For such an High Priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens." -Hebrews 7:26 [KJV] What a sweet thought! surely, as a poor sinner, I need an High Priest to act for me. I cannot, I dare not, approach in myself, and with my poor polluted offerings, without one. But He that intercedes for me must be Himself holy, free from sin; His sacrifice holy, His obedience holy, and in all points suited to His office and my necessities. Cherish, then, the thought, my soul—He that is thine High Priest is all this, and infinitely more. So holy in Himself, that not the shadow of sin was in Him. So harmless, that in His mouth was found no guile. So undefiled, that though He took all the sins of His people upon Him, yet in Himself He was free from all sin .  So separate from sinners, that though He took the nature of man, yet wholly underived from man. And so much higher than the heavens, that His own personal holiness...

"In the light of the King's countenance is life; and His favour is as a cloud of the latter rain." -Proverbs 16:15 [KJV] What is religion without a living faith in, and a living love to the Lord Jesus Christ? How dull and dragging, how dry and heavy, what a burden to the mind, and a weariness to the flesh, is a round of forms where the heart is not engaged and the affections not drawn forth!  Reading, hearing, praying, meditation, conversation with the saints of God, what cold, what heartless work where Jesus is not! But let Him appear, let His presence and grace be felt, and His blessed Spirit move upon the heart, then there is a holy sweetness, a sacred blessedness in the worship of God and in communion with the Lord Jesus that makes, whilst it lasts, a little heaven on earth. It is this inward sense of the blessedness of His presence and the misery of His absence, the heaven of His smile and the hell of His frown, that makes the sheep of Christ seek commun...