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

     “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.  In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is His name whereby He shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”  -Jeremiah 23:5-6 [KJV]   -------O-------     PRAISE TO THE LORD! Tune to “THE DOXOLOGY” LM Words by Jim Byrd   Praise God the Father, God the Son, And God the Spirit, Three in One ; Let every creature join to sing, Eternal praises to the King.   Before creation, God in grace, Blessed us in Christ, a chosen race; Rejoice in heart and lift your voice, Praise God ye people of His choice.   In time the Father sent His Son, Jesus the perfect, sinless One; The Substitute, upon the cross, Saved us from everlasting loss.   Called by the Spirit through the Word, We bless the mighty grace of God; Praise God the...

"Faith, dear reader, is neither encouraged nor discouraged by anything we find in ourselves; it is neither encouraged by our graces nor discouraged by our sinfulness; for faith LOOKS OUT OF SELF UNTO ANOTHER. Nothing will afford such encouragement to believing prayer as a sight of the LAMB on His mediatorial throne (Revelation 5:6) .  No matter how desperate may be our case, how often we have failed and fallen, how low we have sunk it is ALWAYS the believer’s privilege to turn unto his Redeemer and say, “Look Thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as Thou usest to do unto those that love Thy name” (Psalm 119:132) .   -unknown preacher of righteousness

"Hear now, O Joshua, the high-priest, thou, and thy fellows who sit before thee: For they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth My servant, the BRANCH."   - Zechariah 3:8 [KJV]   Say, Christian soldier, did the Captain of thy salvation ever deceive thee? Did He not tell thee, before thou listed ( 'enlisted' ) under His banner, who were His enemies, and what treatment thou wast to expect from them? His word speaks full and express on this point. Almost every page furnishes accounts, how the men of this world look upon the children of God. Here is Joshua the high-priest, with the prophets and people of God, wondered at. Jehovah Himself takes notice of it, and acquaints them with it.    Sweet to observe, there cannot be a disdainful frown, a contemptuous sneer, nor a reproachful word cast upon God’s people, but He notices all . But why are we so much wondered at? Why truly, we are a set of visionaries. We see invisible objects; walk by faith;...

"And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night. He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people." -Exodus 13:21, 22 [KJV]   My soul, look back this evening to the church's history in the wilderness, and behold how Jesus watched over His people then as He doth now. Surely it is sweet, it is blessed, to mark the same evidences of the Redeemer's love, and to observe, that in affection to His people ( as in person so in love ) He is "the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." Among many precious testimonies to this effect, that of the pillar of the cloud by day, and of fire by night, in the camp of Israel, is not the least. We are told in this scripture, that the Lord was in this cloud; and another scripture confirms it, saying, that Jehovah "spake unto them out of the cloud...

"In Whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." - Ephesians 2:22 [KJV]   These words will apply both to the whole body of Christ viewed collectively, and to each separate member of that body viewed individually; and what the Church of God is in its completeness in Christ, as it will be in heaven above, and what it is in its visible and militant state on earth now, so is every individual member of that Church in this time state; and it is this solemn truth which makes the words before us to have such a forcible application to every individual believer.    As we shall all have to answer for ourselves, "to die," as one said, "alone," and as religion is a personal matter, how careful should it make each individual believer so to walk before God and man that he may have both an inward and outward evidence that his body is the temple of the Holy Ghost (I Corinthians 6:19) , and that he is a habitation of God by th...

It is impossible for flawed and failed sinners to use supposed 'acts of worship' in attempts to gain the Lord’s acceptance.  However, the unsaved cannot worship their way out of condemnation and into the welcome of God (Philippians 3:4-8). Acceptable worship can only come from those who have already been accepted. Indeed, acceptable worship can only come from worshipers who have already been declared not guilty. Actually acceptable worship can only come from worshipers whose sins have been taken away by the Lamb of God.  In fact, for the condemned, religious sinner to occupy himself with sacramental observances and religious acts to try to secure God's favour is the height of arrogant silliness.    The religious acts of the unsaved are damnable for they make a mockery of the Gospel.  Indeed, since their prayers are designed to impress God, they become a putrid stench emanating from his mouth (Proverbs 14:12). It’s not a pretty picture! God is not imp...