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

" His name shall be called... Counsellor." -Isaiah 9:6 [KJV] Litigious spirits are fond of law. Paul absolutely forbids the brethren of Christ going to law one with another, (I Corinthians 6:7.) Among other reasons this is the greatest. They are concerned in a suit, which will last their whole lives, and which requires all their time and attention. Though their cause has been tried again and again: though they have gained cause after cause, yet their adversary continues as litigious as ever. He is continually accusing them, and preferring bills of indictment against them. He sets the world upon us.  He stirs up the flesh in us. He brings heinous charges against us. He is the accuser of the brethren before God, and to our own consciences night and day, (Revelation 12:10.) Have you heard nothing from Satan your adversary and accuser this day? If you have, be not dejected. Let him accuse, say, and do his worst. It is our unspeakable comfort, we have a wonderful Co...

"...with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord." -Acts 11:23 [KJV] My soul, art thou cleaving to thy Jesus? It is a grand thing so to do; and it must be from continued supplies of grace in Jesus, if thou art really doing it. A few points will shew. Is Jesus thy all? Is He uppermost in all things? Faith hath for its one object, Jesus. Let a true believer be wheresoever he may—at home, or abroad; alone, or in company; the closet, or the church is all the same, if he really, truly, cleaves to the Lord with purpose of heart; there is a looking unto Jesus for all thinks, and in all things . Again; if I cleave to the Lord, I shall do no one thing but in His strength, and deliberately desire nothing but for His glory. The graces of the Holy Spirit, implanted in the souls of the faithful, are fed and kept alive, and brought forth into exercise by the communications of Jesus. My joy then is in Jesus; not in myself, not in what I feel. These feelings of mine m...

" And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven , Now is come salvation." -Revelation 12:10 [KJV] "Salvation." What "salvation?" Salvation by grace, full and free; salvation without any intermixture of creature righteousness; salvation gushing from the bosom of God; salvation flowing wholly and solely through the blood of the Lamb. But salvation can never be tasted without a previous foretaste of condemnation. Heaven can never be looked up into before there has been a looking down into the wicket-gate of hell. There must have been an experience of guilt, before there can be the enjoyment of pardon. "Now is come salvation." From what? From the accusations of Satan, the curses of the law, the fear of death, the terrors of hell, and sentence of damnation. And how does salvation come? Whilst the battle is going on, whilst the issue is doubtful, whilst hand to hand, foot to foot, and shoulder to shoulder, Satan and the soul are engaged i...

"...w hom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren, that are in the world." -I Peter 5:9 [KJV] I had no sooner wrote this text, but was constrained to say, Blessed be God for His holy scriptures . My poor mind has been often perplexed and distressed with sore attacks of Satan. Hence, I have been ready to call in question my state. Have been almost brought to conclude, that if I was a member of Christ, and a child of God, surely He would not suffer the enemy to His glory and my peace, thus to tempt, buffet, and distress my soul. I am persuaded, this is not my case only. All the brethren of Christ are subject to the same perplexity, from the same cause. Satan gains an advantage over us, for want of knowing and considering what the apostle here lays down.  It is a fixed truth. All the brethren of the Lord Jesus are subject to the same trials and afflictions from Satan, one as well as another. Therefore we sh...

"Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and Who it is that saith to thee, Give Me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water ." -John 4:10 [KJV] How blessed a thing is vital godliness! That is the thing I always wish to contend for. Not for forms and ceremonies, or doctrines floating in the brain, but for the life of God in the soul; the only thing worth knowing; the only thing to live by, and I am sure the only thing to die by. How different is vital godliness received into the heart and conscience, by the operation of God the Spirit, out of the fulness of Christ, how different is this fountain of living water from the stagnant, dead water of lip-service, formality, and hypocrisy! And sure I am, if our souls have ever been baptised into a spiritual knowledge of this heavenly secret; if ever we have tasted the sweetness, felt the power, and experienced a measure of the enjoyment of vital godl...

"For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them." -Matthew 18:20 [KJV] What an encouraging declaration is this of our Jesus, to prompt the faithful to meet together on the Lord's day; or in short, any day, at all times, and all places. Observe, my soul, how sweet the Lord speaks; 'There am I in the midst of My people; not by My word only, not as represented in ordinances, not by the ministry of My servants, but I Myself spiritually. The calls, the motions of grace felt in the heart, the tender tokens, the manifestations of My suitableness, fulness, and all-sufficiency; these are all truly Mine, which, by the influences of My Spirit, I communicate among you.' Oh, precious, condescending Lord, now we see what it is that constitutes a true gospel church—even Thy presence. Thou art the beauty and glory of it; and from Thee alone all power and efficacy is derived. Thy churches are, indeed, as Thou hast taught, the...

" Have salt in yourselves." -Mark 9:50 [KJV] Salt preserves our food from putrefying, and makes it savoury to our palate. Job asks, “Can any thing that is unsavoury be eaten without salt? is there any taste in the white of an egg?” —(Job 16:6.) What salt is to our food, that the doctrines of the grace of God, and the grace of these doctrines are to the soul. Why could not our Lord have plainly told us so, without using the symbol of salt? He loves to deliver Himself in familiar images: they are best suited to our present state. Natural things sensibly strike us, and easily convey spiritual truths to the heart. Our tables are not furnished, if salt be wanting. Meat, without salt, is unsavoury. O! then let every meal remind us of our Lord’s words, “Have salt in yourselves.” You have daily need to have your souls seasoned with the grace of God, and the words of Christ.  (1st.) These will preserve our hearts from receiving, and being putrefied by the seeds of fal...