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

"Let the lying lips be put to silence, which speak grievous things, proudly and contemptuously against the righteous."   - Psalm 31:18 [KJV]   The language of natural reason is, If I am righteous, God will love me : the language of faith is, Though I am a sinner, yet God loves me ; and, because He loves me, therefore He makes me righteous. How? The pen of inspiration answers: David, describing the character of a sinner, renewed by grace, and made meet to dwell with God, saith, “He shall receive righteousness from the God of his salvation” (Psalm 24:5.) Here we see plainly, that righteousness is a gift; that it is received, not worked out by the sinner; that it is given by the God of our salvation . It is the glorious robe, our elder brother, Jesus, wrought out for us; our heavenly Father imputes to us, and puts upon us. God the Holy Spirit enables us, by faith, to receive it, rejoice in it, and boast of it. For, we see ourselves made infinitely and everlasti...

"And He said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you, before I suffer ." -Luke 22:15 [KJV] My soul! thy Jesus holds a feast of the ordinance of His supper; that most interesting service, which He hath appointed in His church as a standing memorial of His death, until His second coming. Surely, thou canst need nothing more endearing, to prompt thee to attend it, than what the Lord himself expressed of His own pleasure in it, in these words. There is somewhat uncommonly affectionate in them: they seem to open and unfold the whole heart of the Redeemer upon the occasion. And do not forget, that what Jesus then said to His disciples, He saith now to thee, and to all His redeemed; they were the representatives of His whole body, the church. Listen to what Jesus here saith, and regard every word in this most tender and affectionate request, as if Jesus in person were now speaking to thee, in prospect of the coming supper: With desire I have ...

"Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shall become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it." - Zechariah 4:7 [KJV] If the literal temple had been built up without any trouble whatever; if all had gone on smooth and easy, there would not have been any shouting of "Grace, grace , " when it was finished. But when it was seen how the Lord had brought a few feeble exiles from Babylon; how He had supported them amidst and carried them through all their troubles; and how He that laid the foundation had brought forth the head-stone, all that stood by could say, "Grace, grace unto it." It was these very perplexities and trials that made them join so cheerily in the shout, and made the heart and soul to leap with the lips, when they burst forth with "Grace, grace unto it." And who will shout the loudest hereafter? He that has known and felt the most of the aboun...

3rd track off 'The Call's' 5th album "Into The Woods" from 1987 A.D.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh5uUfn_OvQ and, https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=3LXBC0ePlmc&list=PLLDkpVYSmCD8jKvnqCJrHURoDGye1qvcw

"...of whom I am chief."  -I Timothy 1:15 [KJV]   What a mighty change does grace make! The apostle was once, in his own eyes, the chief of saints. If but two went to heaven, he had no doubt but he should be one. Now, he is really an eminent saint in Christ: he confesses himself the chief of sinners. Why so? Did he love sin, lie down and wallow in sin, and glory in sin? No, far from it: he was now saved from all his sins. Hence he sees the exceeding preciousness of Christ, his Saviour; the exceeding sinfulness of sin, which dwelt in him; and the infinite holiness, spirituality, and perfection of the law of God . Therefore, he makes this public declaration: not, I have been, but, I now am the chief of sinners.    He, as it were, stands forth and challenges the whole race of sinners, and says, I will give place to no one: of all of you, I will be the first rate, and stand foremost in the rank. But is not this glorying in sin, which was his shame? Self-ri...

"And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled." -Acts 24:25 [KJV] And wherefore did Felix tremble? Did Paul, who was then preaching to him, charge him with any particular sins? It doth not appear that he did. Neither is it probable that a poor prisoner would have been permitted so to have done. But the truth is, God's holy word, by Paul's preaching, and the man's own guilty conscience, which Felix himself applied, so met together, that the conscious sinner could not refrain. The very thought of a future judgment, and a day of account, crossing the mind of a guilty conscience, will be enough to damp the mirth of the stoner in the midst of his jollity. Every man, more or less, must have thoughts now and then of an hereafter. Man, by nature, is a creature compelled to look forward. He is forever proposing to himself prospects that are to arise.    Hence, men of the world are sending out into the highways and lane...