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

"And they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, LORD GOD Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." -Revelation 4:8 [KJV]   Make a solemn pause, my soul, over these words; and when thou hast found a fixedness of thought, that every faculty may be engaged in the contemplation, ponder well this divine perfection of Jehovah, the holiness of His nature, by which an eternal distinction is drawn between Him and all His creatures. None but Jehovah can be essentially holy. Angels, who have never sinned, have indeed a holiness; but it is derived from Him, it exists not in themselves, and, in point of comparison, is but as the shadow to the substance; moreover, being in their nature mutable creatures, their holiness may be changed also: the fallen angels are proofs in point. But with Jehovah, holiness is in Himself; the peculiar glory of His nature, and inseparable from His very existence.   Pause over this view, for it is scriptural, and truly blessed. Go...

"Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." -I Peter 1:18, 19 [KJV]   O the unspeakable depths of the goodness and mercy of God! O the riches of His super-abounding grace! When there was no other way of redemption, God sent His only-begotten Son, that by His precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, we might be redeemed from all the consequences of our vain conversation received by tradition from our fathers; and not only from all its consequences, but from its power and practice. It is a knowledge, a personal, experimental knowledge of this redemption, which lays us under a spiritual obligation to walk worthy of our high calling.    And it acts in this way. A view by faith of the bleeding, dying Lamb of God, a seeing and feeling what H...

"If we trust God for our heavenly inheritance, we may well trust him for our daily maintenance, which he vouchsafeth to the birds of the air, to the beast of the field, and even to his enemies.  He that feedeth a kite (- falcon or hawk ) , will he not feed a child? He that supplies His enemies, will He not take care of His family?  You would think that person monstrously cruel who would feed his dogs and stave his children.  This cannot, without blasphemy, be imagined of our gracious and heavenly Father."   -preacher Thomas Manton (1620-1677 A.D.

"Lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing."   - Luke 22:35 [KJV]   Precious words to me! One is unwilling to speak of oneself. There is danger of pride and self-seeking in it. Yet, with a view to our Lord’s glory, a sincere desire to exalt His grace and goodness, and to encourage fellow Christians’ confidence therein, a poor sinner may speak of his experience. With tears of thankfulness, I record the goodness of my Lord to the chief of sinners. Upwards of twenty years ago, when it pleased Him to call me by His grace, and make me happy in His love, my name was cast out—friends became foes—their hands were against me—they withdrew their favours from me, and derided me.    Under narrow circumstances, tender feelings for a large family, carnal reasonings of my corrupt nature, and strong temptations from the enemy, I was often sore distressed. But my Lord was gracious. Many, and many a time, did He bring this text to my mind; and, as it were, with all love ...

"All that the Father giveth Me, shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day." -John 6:37-40 [KJV]   My soul, commit this blessed portion to thy memory; yea, beg of God the Holy Ghost to commit, and write all the gracious things contained in it, on the inner tablets of thine heart! It is in itself a gospel, yea, a full gospel. Methinks, I would have it proclaimed on the house-tops, and published, day by day, in every place of public concourse throughout the earth, until the saving truths were every one of them known, and felt,...

"The just shall live by faith." -Romans 1:17 [KJV]   A life of faith in Christ is as necessary to our present and experimental salvation as His death upon the cross was to our past and actual salvation. If you are alive to what you are as a poor fallen sinner, you see yourself surrounded by enemies, temptations, sins, and snares; and you feel yourself utterly defenceless, as weak as water, without any strength to stand against them. Pressed down by the weight of unbelief, you see a mountain of difficulty before your eyes, sometimes in providence and sometimes in grace. You find, too, that your heart is a cage of unclean birds, and that in you, that is, in your flesh, there dwelleth no good thing; neither will nor power have you in yourself to fight or flee. How then shall this mountain become a plain? How shall you escape the snares and temptations spread in your path? How shall you get the better of all your enemies, external, internal, infernal, and reach hea...