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

"And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause Him to draw near, and He shall approach unto Me; for who is this that engaged His heart to approach unto Me? saith the LORD." -Jeremiah 30:21 [KJV] When the patriarch Jacob was dying, he pronounced, under the spirit of prophecy, that "the sceptre should not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come" (Genesis 49:10.) And here in the prospect of the Babylonish captivity, now on the eve of its arrival, the prophet is commissioned by the Lord to tell the church, that notwithstanding all present appearances, no foreigners should judge or rule over them; but one should proceed from the midst of them, to be their governor, even David their king, whom I (saith Jehovah, verse 9) will raise up unto them. One like unto themselves, such as our Jesus was, like unto His brethren.    Sweet confirmation of our faith! A...

"I the LORD do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day." -Isaiah 27:3 [KJV]   The Lord Jesus Christ, who lives at God's right hand, has to send down supplies of His grace continually to keep your soul alive unto Himself. Without this life being kept up and maintained by these continual supplies of His grace, you cannot pray, or read, or hear the word, or meditate with any feeling or profit.  You cannot love the Lord and His blessed ways; you cannot submit to His righteous dealings; or hear the rod and Him who appointed it. You may approach His throne, but your heart is cold, clouded, and unfeeling; your spirit sinks under the weight and burden of the trials and difficulties that are spread in your path; nor are you able to do anything that satisfies yourself, or that you think can satisfy God.   By these painful but profitable lessons, you are experimentally taught that you want the life of Christ as well as the ...

Forgetful Grace   “I, even I, am He that blots out your transgressions for My own sake and will not remember your sins.”   -Isaiah 43:25 [KJV]   “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more”   (Hebrews 8:12).   One of the most neglected doctrines in the Bible is that of the forgetfulness of grace.    Simply stated, it teaches that when God forgives, God forgets. When God forgives our sin, He puts it out of His mind; He forgets it. He doesn´t hold it against us.   Consider Noah´s story.   The word “grace” makes its Bible debut in the story of Noah (Genesis 6:8) . Noah, we are told, found grace ( favour ) with God.  Then when the fateful day of destruction arrived the Lord shut Noah and family into the Ark.  They were spared and saved from the judgment of God.  After the flood, however, Noah got drunk out of his mind and lay na...

"Is not this the carpenter’s son?"   - Matthew 13:55 [KJV] “Such indignity I cannot bear; such insult is intolerable.” Ah! who? What art thou who speakest thus? Thou sinful dust— thou proud worm of earth, look unto Jesus! See the King of kings; the Son of God, in the form of a mean man, the son of a carpenter!—yea more, Himself a carpenter, the Son of Mary! (Mark 6:3.) Mark His condescension; learn humility. Behold His treatment and contempt; learn patience and submission. Astonishing mystery! Let reason bow and faith adore. Sinners, behold with joy and wonder, thy God in flesh. Born under that curse for sin, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,” (Genesis 3:19.) He works at a common trade, and follows an ordinary occupation.  O! ye great and mighty, who are above trade, and despise those who follow it, saved ye must be by this carpenter’s son, or perish everlastingly! He is the one and only object of hope and salvation. “He is God and man in one Christ. One, not...

"In deaths oft."   -II Corinthians 11:23 [KJV] What did the apostle mean by this expression, but that from living in Christ, he was always on the lookout for dying in Christ; so that death could make no change of state, whatever change it made of worlds; for that living or dying, he was still in Christ? Paul seems to be speaking out his whole soul in the thought. It seems as if the conscious sense of his union and interest with Jesus was so inwrought in his very nature, that he was "in deaths oft,"  hoping that this providence, or that appointment, would be found the messenger to call him home to his Redeemer, to be with him for ever. My soul! As every night the bed of sleep to thy wearied body becomes a representation of the night of death, and the chamber of the grave, sit down this evening, and look over the memorandums of thine heart, whether there are some of the same sweet testimonies, and arising out of the same blessed source, as the apostle's, thou art...

"Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy ."   -James 5:11 [KJV]   The words translated "endure" and  "patience"  are the same in the original; and in fact, the example of Job is given as an instance of the happiness of those who endure. The same word is also used by our blessed Lord, where He says, "He that endureth  to the end shall be saved"   (Matthew 10:22) . We have need then of endurance.  As he that runs a race needs not so much swiftness as enduring strength to hold out to the end, never to give up as long as he can drag one limb before another; as the British soldier must never suffer himself to be beaten; so it is in the Christian race: we must never give up; we must never say "die;" we must never allow ourselves to be beaten by sin or Satan.   If God Himself seem to thrust us away from His throne,  we...