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

"And He said unto them, Why are ye troubled? And why do thoughts arise in your hearts?"  -Luke 24:38 [KJV]   Help, O help us, Thou dear Lord, who spake these words to Thy affrighted disciples, to gather some sweet consolation from them to our hearts this night. We know Thou prayest for us, when Thou prayest for all who should believe on Thee (John 17:20.) O speak in life and power these words to our troubled hearts, and for the rising thoughts of distress. Thine is the power: Thine shall be the glory.    (1st.) We here see, though their dear Lord was present, yet His beloved disciples were troubled. Yea, and though He had but that moment pronounced peace unto you, yet fears again rose in their hearts. They were as we are, flesh, as well as spirit: men of like passions with us. The frights, fears and troubles which nature is subject to, discompose the spiritual frames of disciples.    But, (2d.) They do not alter our state, nor separate us from ...

"Never man spake like this man." -John 7:46 [KJV]   What a decided testimony were even the enemies of Christ compelled, from their own consciences, to give to the Godhead and power of the Lord Jesus Christ! Think then, my soul, what an evidence thou wouldest bring, if called upon to tell what Jesus hath said to thee! From the first moment that Jesus revealed Himself, in His word, and by His word, to thy heart, thou couldest truly say, as the Jewish officers did, "Never man spake like this man." Never any spake like this Godman, this Glory-man, thy Redeemer. All His words were, and are divine words; powerful, persuasive, tender, gracious words, and full of salvation.    Say, also, how very blessed all that Jesus spake of salvation was to thy heart, when He made it personal, and spake it all to thee. When He said, I am thy salvation. I have pardon, I have peace, I have righteousness, I have grace here, and glory hereafter; and all I have is for thee. S...

"If a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully." -II Timothy 2:5 [KJV] In other words, it is not a bare striving, but a striving according to certain rules. But these rules are spiritual rules; and being spiritual rules, exclude everything of sense, reason, and nature. Now man, in an unregenerate condition, whether he be in a state of profanity, or in a state of profession, has no spiritual knowledge of the way by which to overcome. He may strive against his lusts; he may endeavour to overcome those things that conscience bears testimony against; but he is not crowned, because he strives not lawfully. He strives in his own strength; contends in his own wisdom; and trusts in his own righteousness. Such strugglers and such overcomers (if overcomers they ever are) are not crowned, because they strive not according to the rules laid down in God's word. This at once excludes all creature righteousness, human wisdom, and natu...

"Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and thy God who pleadeth the cause of His people." - Isaiah 51:22  [KJV] Thou poor soul, who art almost at thy wits’ end, drunk with trouble, and intoxicated with affliction, over thee do men insult, and Satan triumph? Are they saying to thee, “Bow down, thou poor, insignificant wretch! that we may go over thee.” You a Christian! you are not what you profess. In the lowliness of thy mind, and in the meekness of thy heart, dost thou take all this? And, as it were, hast thou laid thy body on the ground, and suffered thyself to be walked over? All this cannot satisfy the fury of thine enemies. Wherein art thou to take comfort under all this? Verily, from, thus saith thy Lord. Thy Lord: mind that.    However men treat thee, they cannot take thy Lord, nor His love from thee: nor should they at any time disturb thy peace, or destroy thy comfort in Him. For the Lord Is thy God . Thy is again repeated. Why? that thou shouldest take spe...

"Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified Himself in Israel." -Isaiah 44:23 [KJV]   Come, my soul, and join this universal hymn of praise, this lovely evening. Surely, if the Lord, by His servant the prophet, calls upon all nature, both the animate and inanimate parts of creation, to join in the melody,  well "may the redeemed of the Lord say so!" The heavens shall sing the song of redemption; for angels rejoice over converted sinners. The earth shall join the song; for the curse pronounced on the ground is taken away by redemption. Yea, the very trees of the desert, the most remote from the peopled city, in beholding the felicity of God's chosen, shall clap their hands also.   And mark, my soul, what is the running verse and chorus of this blessed song? It is Jehovah's glory; ...

"Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast led captivity captive; Thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them." -Psalm 68:18 [KJV]   What a painful thing it is to be rebellious! There is hardly any feeling worse than rebellion to a man whose conscience is made tender in God's fear. To have rebellion against a holy and wise God; rebellion against His dealings with us in providence; against His teachings in grace; because we have not more of the light of His countenance; because we have not more and clearer testimonies and manifestations! We know in our judgment that God cannot err in any of His dealings, and yet to find at times such awful rebellion against God, O how painful it is!    The least trifle can work up rebellion. It does not want a storm or a gale to lift up its proud waves. The slightest breath, the faintest breeze that blows, will at times stir up the billows of the rebellious heart, and ...