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

"Thy Maker is thine husband, the LORD of Hosts is His name, and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel: the GOD of the whole earth shall He be called. "   - Isaiah 54:5 [KJV]   In this one verse, is a trinity of comforts. All are enjoyed in the unity of faith. The Spirit bears witness of them. Let our hearts attend to them.    Consider, thou sin-distressed, law-accursed, Satan-accused soul, Thy Maker is thine Husband. Glorious gospel! Faith, listen ; love, awake ; hope, rejoice . In the Hebrew, Thy Makers thy husband; Father, Son, and Spirit. The triune God, who made thee, is married to thee, and in covenant with thee. How is this relation effected? God the Son comes into our nature; takes upon Him our flesh. We are peculiarly espoused to Christ.    By His ministers . Says St. Paul, “I have espoused you to Christ” (II Corinthians 11:2.)     Experimentally, by faith . We know nothing of the loving, eternal designs of Christ to our souls,...

"Unto me who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given." -Ephesians 3:8 [KJV]   My soul, hear what the great apostle to the gentiles speaks of himself. He calls himself "less than the least;" a thing almost impossible in itself; but he doth it with a view to magnify the riches, the exceeding great riches of grace. And in the same moment that he views himself so low and abject, he is lost in amazement at beholding the exalted office to which he was called. So that Paul cries out, "Unto me," a poor, sinful, unworthy creature of the earth, "to me was this grace given!"   My soul, leave for a moment the view of the apostle, and make the subject personal, by looking to a renewed instance of that grace, most freely given, in a case as far surpassing Paul in the greatness and undeservedness of it, as the imagination can conceive. Perhaps every sinner feels the same; this at least is certain, all may well feel the same. B...

"Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies." -Psalm 103:4 [KJV]   The coronation of a king puts the last and highest seal upon his reigning authority. This made the spouse say, "Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart" (see Song of Solomon 3:11) .    And what a day will that be when the anti-typical Solomon is crowned Lord of all. Thus there is a crown put upon the soul which is healed of all its diseases, and whose life is redeemed from destruction. It is as if God could not be satisfied till He had put the crown of His lovingkindness upon the soul, until He had Himself crowned the heart with His own love. And what is the effect? The soul puts a crown of glory upon His head. So the soul has the crown of grace, and God has the crown of glory.    This is being crowned with lovingkindness and tender ...

The Lord, our merciful and gracious God and Saviour has promised to fully pardon His elect. Not based upon their faith, repentance, works of faith or labors of love; but for one single and solitary reason; for Christ’s name sake and for the gospel’s sake (Ephesians 4:32). Consider these precious promises of the gospel and rejoice in Christ:   I Samuel 15:25; “Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin , and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD.”   Psalm 25:11 ; “ For Thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.”   Nehemiah 9:17; “ But Thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness.”   Isaiah 55:7; “ Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon .”   Jeremiah 33:8; “And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned a...

In  John 5:1-9,  the Lord Jesus came to a man lying by the pool of Bethesda who had suffered with an infirmity for thirty-eight years. Knowing his helpless condition, the Lord asked him,  "Wilt thou be made whole?"  The man's answer revealed both his misery and his inability:  "Sir , I have no man , when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me" (vs. 7.) He could not help himself. He had no strength to remedy his condition and no one to do it for him. He was completely dependent upon another.   This is the place to which every sinner must be brought. Salvation begins when a sinner sees that he is utterly helpless before God. Sin has rendered us unable to save ourselves. We cannot remove our guilt, change our hearts, or make ourselves acceptable to God. Like the impotent man at Bethesda, we are completely dependent upon another. That One is Christ.   Unless the Lord comes to where...

"The LORD reigneth, He is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith He hath girded Himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.  Thy throne is established of old: Thou art from everlasting."   - Psalm 93:1-2 [KJV]    -------0------- " Seeing that we have A GREAT HIGH PRIEST, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, LET US THEREFORE COME BOLDLY UNTO THE THRONE OF GRACE ." -Hebrews 4:14-16      Our Lord is called the GREAT High Priest because of the DEITY OF HIS PERSON; He is the Son of God! He is the GREAT High Priest because of the PLACE IN WHICH HE OFFICIATES, HEAVEN! He is the GREAT High Priest because of the EFFICACY OF HIS SACRIFICE, " By one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified ." He is the GREAT High Priest because of the CONTINUATION OF HIS PRIESTHOOD, " He is a priest FOREVER after the order of Melchisedec."   Seeing then that He is WHO He is an...