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

"A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things." -Ecclesiastes 10:19 [KJV]   What feast is this, which the wise man meant, and the wine which, for true mirth, he would here recommend? He could not mean the laughter of the fool for that, he tells us elsewhere (chapter 7:6) "is as the crackling of thorns under a pot." The drunkard's song is but the mirth of the moment, which, like the burning thorn, may blaze and flash amidst the midnight crew, but suddenly goeth out, and leaves a total darkness.    But if Solomon had an eye to the feast which Jesus hath made in the mountain of the Lord's house "a feast of fat things," where His body broken, and His blood shed, are the food of the table; this indeed is a feast made for real joy of heart, and "wine which cheereth God and man;" Judges 9:13 . When the justice of God drank of this blood of the Lamb, it was satisfied; and when the poor sinne...

"Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear." -I Peter 1:17 [KJV]   Our life here is but a vapour. We are but pilgrims and strangers on this earthly ball, mere sojourners, without fixed or settled habitation, and passing through this world as not our home or resting-place. The apostle, therefore, bids us pass this time, whether long or short, of our earthly sojourn, under the influence and in the exercise of godly fear. We are surrounded with enemies, all seeking, as it were, our life, and therefore we are called upon to move with great caution, knowing how soon we may slip and fall, and thus wound our own consciences, grieve our friends, gratify our enemies, and bring upon ourselves a cloud of darkness which may long hover over our souls.    Our life here below is not one of ease and quiet, but a warfare, a conflict, a race, a wrestling not with flesh and blood alone, but with principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places. We have to d...

More on The Cleansing Blood!   by D G Miles McKee "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." –I John 1:7 [KJV]   In this verse we glimpse something of the love of God. Let’s not forget that if our Lord had chosen not to rescue us, He would have remained altogether glorious.   He owed us nothing.   If He had left us to die in our sins, He would have been entirely justified yet He chose, by an act of His own free will, to cleanse us from all trespass and sin. What mercy! It is astonishing to see that the God whom we had attacked and offended would come to this earth in the person of His Son and pour out His blood for us. It is astounding to see Him descending from heaven to be buried in and by the hatred of men (Philippians 2:5 ff) .   How He must love us.   How he must love us to have sought us out even when we hated Him and loved our sin (John 7:7; 3:19) . Yet, when we were His enemies the Lord Christ, graciously went to th...

"Is it true?"   - Daniel 3:14 [KJV]   A question this from a potent monarch, backed with a dreadful threatening: enough to have put Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego to the stand. Their answer must provoke their god, or their king. But did they hesitate a moment? were they at all in doubtful suspense? No: they had faith in their Lord; and they boldly replied, “O king, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.” Our cause lies before our God. We are not left to ourselves. Our present life, our immortal soul, is in His hands. If you command us into the fiery furnace, our God will be with us. We shall be safe: He will deliver us. Either our bodies that we have shall not be burnt; or, if they are, the burning furnace shall be only a fiery chariot, to convey our souls to heaven and glory. See the power of faith. According as they believed, so it was. The Son of God was with them: the fire could not hurt them.    Hence, consider, (1st.) that God may, an...

"He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each walking in his uprightness." - Isaiah 57:2 [KJV]   Here, my soul, is a sweet portion for thee to lie down with, this night, and every night until the night of death arrives, and thou droppest asleep in the arms of Jesus, to wake no more, till the everlasting morn arise that shall have no night. This is the privilege of the faithful, who enter into the peace of Jesus, and these are the beds they repose in, yea, each of them, for it is the personal enjoyment of each, and of all, to make Jesus their rest. "This is the rest (saith the Holy Ghost, by this same prophet, chapter 28:12) wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest, and this is the refreshing."   And dost thou know it, my soul, that Jesus is all this for thee to rest upon, for peace here, and glory to all eternity? Behold Him in His person; behold Him in the fulness of His grace, His righteousness, His blood, and the unceasing effica...

"The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple." - Psalm 119:130 [KJV]   The word "simple" means literally something which is not folded or twisted together. But owing to the treacherous and desperately deceitful heart of man, all, without exception, in a state of nature are the reverse of this. All their plots and contrivances for worldly profit or fleshly pleasure are tangled and complicated; and they are continually twisting together some thread or other of carnal policy. But when God the Holy Ghost begins the work of grace upon the souls of the elect, He proceeds (if I may use the expression) to untwist them. He takes hold of that rope which Satan and their own hearts have been twisting together for years, and He untwists it throughout its whole length, so as to leave the strands not intertwined as before, but riven, separated, and torn from each other.    The light that shines into the soul out of the fulness of J...