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

"He brought me to the banqueting-house, and His banner over me was love." - Song of Solomon 2:4 [KJV]   In whatever sense thou art led, my soul, to look at the banqueting-house of Jesus, thy joy will be great in the contemplation. And if He who hath prepared the banqueting-house, and well stored it with every thing to afford a spiritual repast, will lead thee thither, and regale thee there with the rich enjoyment of Himself, and the fulness of blessings in Him, thou wilt have a feast of fat things indeed! Come then, this evening, and take a view of Jesus' banqueting-house, and wait on thy kind and condescending Lord. He hath been known to take home many a poor waiting hungry sinner, that hath been on the look-out for Him, to His banqueting-house, and given him a gracious, full, and satisfying entertainment.   Come then, my soul, and see this banqueting-house of Jesus. Some have looked at it as the covenant itself of redemption; for this is indeed a house of ...

"Ye believe in God, believe also in Me." -John 14:1 [KJV]   To believe in God is to believe in Him as He has manifested Himself in His dear Son in all the fulness of His love, in all the riches of His grace, and in all the depth of His mercy. God must be seen, not in the terrors of a holy law, but in the mercy and truth of the glorious gospel of the Son of God, and thus be approached and believed in as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our Father in Him. How few see and realise this, and yet how sorely exercised are many of the living family upon this point!    To believe in God in such a way as to bring pardon and peace into their conscience; to believe in God so as to find manifest acceptance with Him; to believe in God so as to call Him Abba, Father , and feel that the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are His children; to believe in God so as to find Him a very present help in trouble; to receive answers to prayer, to w...

"There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."   -Proverbs 14:12 [KJV]   This is a melancholy truth, “All flesh has corrupted his way upon the earth” (Genesis 6:12.) From sad experience of this, Jeremiah confesses, “O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: It is not in man who walketh to direct his steps” (10:23.) ALL we like sheep have gone astray: we have turned every one to his own way , says Isaiah (53:6.) O it is a most blessed thing to be convinced of this and humbly pray with David, “See if there be any way of wickedness in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:24.) We can never enough call to mind, love and praise our good shepherd, who came to seek, and save us, from our own way, which seemeth right in our eyes.    What way is this? A most dangerous one. It is the way of wickedness, in which we have strong confidence of our own righteousness. Every man is naturally in this w...

"So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him, shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation." -Hebrews 9:28  [KJV]   My soul! pause over this blessed portion, for it is most blessed, and seek from God the Holy Ghost, grace to gather all its sweets for thine evening enjoyment. Every word is big with importance. And, first, who is it that is here said to have been once offered? Even Christ, the sent, the sealed, the anointed of Jehovah. So that when thou goest to a throne of grace, to plead for mercy in the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ; thou goest in His name, whom thy God and Father hath appointed. Thou then tellest thy God, what thy God first told thee. He, in whose name, blood and righteousness, thou askest redemption, is He whom Jehovah Himself "hath set forth as a propitiation, through faith in His blood." Hence it is impossible not to succeed. "I have given Him (saith the LO...

"Though I be nothing."   -II Corinthians 12:11 [KJV]   Paul did not mean to say that he had no religion, but none in himself. 'What! could not Paul stand against temptation?' Not more than you or I, unassisted by the grace of God. Could not Paul pray more than I can?' No, not at all, except so far as the spirit of grace and supplications was given to him. 'Could not Paul love more than I do?' Not a bit more, nor think a spiritual thought more, as far as self was concerned. I do not mean to say that Paul did not pray, believe, and love more than any of us do; but he did not perform these actions in himself one whit more than we can. He says, expressly, "In me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing ; " and therefore not the good thing of faith, or love, or divine communion.    Now when the Lord has brought a soul down to be nothing, He then makes His strength perfect in that nothingness; He communicates strength to pray, stre...

"Christian bodies are vessels of mercy. There was nothing in them by nature better than that which is found in the vessels of wrath (Romans 9:21-23) . Had the sovereign God left them alone, they would be as base and vile as the vessels of wrath. The difference between the vessels of mercy and the vessels of wrath is the grace of God . ...The regenerated are not vessels of merit but of mercy. The clay is not put on a wheel and left to mere chance. It is in the hands of the sovereign God to do with as and when He pleases. The Potter first makes an outline of the vessel in election, and He imprints it on His vessels of mercy in regeneration. It is manifested in faith, love, and hope." -preacher W. E. Best, excerpt from 'Effectually Called to a Holy Life'