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

"And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars." -Revelation 12:1 [KJV] My soul! as the beloved apostle was invited to see those precious visions, which the Lord favoured him with, for the church's good, so do thou, this evening, attend his ministry, and gather, under divine teaching, instruction from this great wonder, which John saw. Surely, the woman here spoken of, means the church, the Lamb's wife, clothed in her husband's righteousness; and the moon, like that planet which ministers to our world, under her feet: and the crown, with which her head was adorned, sets forth how the church is made glorious by the ministry of the twelve apostles in the gospel of salvation: for what can be more suitable for the church to be crowned with, than the blessed truths contained in their writings?   Now, my soul, as every representation of the church not only ...

"Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of." -II Timothy 3:14 [KJV]   Various hindrances meet the child of God in his path heavenwards. And their tendency is such, that but for the grace of God, they would effectually succeed in driving him from the faith. When, then, he has to meet a head wind blowing right in his teeth, when the storm and hail beat roughly upon him, when the waves rise high and the stream runs strong, there seems no getting on; and he fears that he shall be like "the children of Ephraim, who, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle."     And yet there is that grace implanted in his heart, there is that faith which God the Spirit first created and still keeps alive in his soul, that though he may for a moment be driven aside, he yet never turns his back upon the truth; though retarded for a moment, his face is still Zionwards. I can say for myself, that all the trials I have ...

"For the LORD hath called thee, as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God."   - Isaiah 54:6 [KJV] This was literally fulfilled, when Christ’s church was first gathered to Him in the days of His flesh. Scarcely were the disciples called and married to Christ, the loving Bridegroom, by faith, but He was taken away from them by a sudden and violent death. They were then like a woman, bereaved of her affectionate husband, who mourned and grieved for her great and affecting loss. They were then as a wife of youth, just married, and soon became as widows, whom the world refused and rejected.    But here lay all their comfort of faith, and joy of hope,— the Lord had called them, and He would never forsake them . Though death’s relentless arm snatched Christ from them, yet his power could not hold Him. By His own omnipotent power, Jesus raised Himself; and because of His everlasting love to them, He appeared...

"And it came to pass as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, Oh thou man of God, there is death in the pot ! " -II Kings 4:40 [KJV] It was at a time of great famine, that the prophet Elisha ministered among the sons of the prophets at Gilgal; no wonder, therefore, that their diet was reduced to a dinner of herbs. During the season of persecution in our kingdom, somewhat more than a century and half since, there was a spiritual famine, not of bread or of water, but of hearing the word of the Lord: and so precious was the word of the Lord in those days, that our good old fathers used to remark, "bread and water, with the gospel, was choice fare."     We find, in the household of Elisha, that wild gourds by the ignorance of him that gathered the herbs, were served up in the pottage of the people, which, as soon as they were discovered, occasioned the cry to the prophet, "O thou man of God, there is death in the pot!"...

"But He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold."   -Job 23:10 [KJV]   Believer, do you have any burdens, worries, anxieties, concerns or fears? If you're reading these words you do. We may try to convince ourselves or others that we are so spiritually stable, faithful, and grounded that we are beyond the reach of these plagues of the old man. But to you who have been made honest and willingly admit the battle that rages within, remember these words of comfort, "Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you" (I Peter 5:7). -preacher Marvin Stalnaker  

"O Lord, by these things men live; and in all these things is the life of my spirit." -Isaiah 38:16 [KJV] When Hezekiah said, "By these things men live," he meant that by these trials and deliverances, by these sinkings and risings, strippings and clothings, emptyings and fillings, "by these things men," that is, spiritual men, "live." It is a mystery, but a great truth, that just in proportion as we die to the world, to self, to sense, to nature, and to false religion, the more the life of God is strengthened in our conscience. The Lord, perhaps, has taught some of you this truth through great afflictions. But when these trials came upon you at the first, it seemed as though they would entirely overwhelm you; they took away your standing, and it appeared as though they had destroyed your faith and hope. But though these floods of temptation passed over the soul, they swept away nothing but rubbish, which till then was mistaken fo...