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

The believer is perfect in Christ, but in himself is a poor, feeble creature, ever liable to fall. Oh, the blessedness of having One who can manage all his affairs for him at the right hand of the Majesty in the Heavens: One who upholds him continually by the right hand of His righteousness: One who will never let him go: One who is able to save to the uttermost: One who is the same yesterday, today and forever: One who will bear him triumphantly through all the difficulties and dangers that surround him and finally, present him faultless before the presence of His Glory with exceeding joy. Blessed forever be the grace that has made such ample provision for all our sins in the Blood of a spotless victim and the intercession of a Divine High Priest. - Gospel report by preacher Scott Richardson

Magnify the Mediator, Jesus Christ our mighty Savior, He restored us to God’s favor; Bless the Savior’s Name. Jesus saves from sin forever, He abideth faithful ever; From His love no pow’r can sever, Bless the Savior’s Name. With His blood He justified us, By His grace He sanctified us; He will someday glorify us, Bless the Savior’s Name. All our needs He well-supplies us, He the Rock that safely hides us; By His Spirit Jesus guides us, Bless the Savior’s Name. Tune "PRAISE THE SAVIOR" 8.8.8.5. Words by JIM BYRD ====================================================== THE PRECIOUSNESS OF IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS The older I get the more precious Christ’s imputed righteousness is to me. Here is a truth about which we cannot say too much. 1. THE ETERNALITY OF IMPUTATION. God eternally justified and declared His people to be righteous in the Son of God. He has always been, "THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Jeremiah ...

PSEUDO-PREACHING There is a way of preaching that offends no one. The problem is, it saves no one. It does not distinguish God as He is because it does not contain the doctrines that God uses to set Himself apart from every false god and doesn't exalt Him and give Him the glory. Man is proud and must be abased. God has said that He will “stain the pride” of man. Men preach and the messages they preach could be preached in almost any place where there is a profession of Christianity. Men love to hear “God can do anything He wants to.” The problem is they don’t want to hear what He’s done!  They don’t want to hear that He’s acted alone as the One and only Sovereign in salvation. They don’t want to hear that He saves whom He will. That He shows grace to whom He will. That He chose a people from Adam’s fallen race to save and blessed them with salvation. Preachers don’t preach that He hated Esau, that He loved Jacob and all His sheep, but, all are not H is sheep such as...

“ The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise Him.” -Psalm 28:7 [KJV] ============================================= A debtor to mercy alone, of covenant mercy I sing; Nor fear with Thy righteousness on, my person and offering to bring; The terrors of law and of God, with me can have nothing to do; My Savior’s obedience and blood, hide all my transgressions from view. The work which His goodness began, the arm of His strength will complete; His promise is yea and amen, and never was forfeited yet; Things future nor things that are now, not all things below nor above, Can make Him His purpose forego, or sever my soul from His love. My name from the palms of His hands, eternity will not erase; Impressed on His heart it remains, in marks of indelible grace. Yes, I to the end shall endure, as sure as the Earnest is given; More happy, but not more sec...

The "good news" of the gospel is that there is a Substitute Who has stood in the place of every repentant sinner and bore the wrath of God in His place. He did this for all whom the Father had given Him from all eternity. It is for them that He prays in John 17. They are "His Sheep." The Father gave them to Him; and He died for them (John 10:15, 29). Substitution is at the very heart of the gospel. Christ did not simply give His life to make salvation possible for those who contribute their part to what He has done by repenting and trusting Christ. He it is that gives repentance and faith (2 Timothy 2:25; Ephesians 2:8). Christ did not say to the religious Jews of His day that they were not of His "sheep" because they did not believe; rather, He says, "Ye believe not because you are not of My sheep." If they had been His sheep, they would have believed. The "good news" is that all whom the Father has given to t...

God of grace and God of glory, Grant that we would worship Thee; Thou hast gathered us together, Now reveal Thy majesty. Send to us Thy sovereign Spirit, Speaking through Thy Word in might; Showing us the blessed Savior, Making Him our one Delight. Prophet, Priest and reigning Monarch, Friend of sinners, what a Name; Word of God made flesh for sinners, Came to bear our awful shame. See the perfect, blameless Savior, Bearing guilt, sins not His own; Sacrifice of God most precious, For His sheep He died alone. By the blood of the Redeemer, All our sins were washed away; He arose and death was conquered, For His sheep who went astray. Saints of God bow down and worship Him who purged our sinfulness; Let us joyfully adore Him, Jesus Christ our righteousness. - Gospel hymn, “ Love Divine” ===================================   COME TO THE LORD JESUS! Our Lord often spoke of coming to Him. "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and...

Weekend Gospel message to follow for All Hands (27-29JUL18) Heads-Up --- Please find enclosed encouragement in "SO GREAT SALVATION" by the perfect and finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ in saving poor, needy and wretched sinners by His sovereign free grace -God's unmerited favor- from their sins and from Hell. For your serious and prayerful consideration UDT/SEAL Team-mates, neighbors and friends: "THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" -Jeremiah 23:6 [KJV] While believers always trust Christ and submit to His righteousness as the sole basis for our acceptance before God, there are four times when we must be especially certain that we are looking to Him Who is "THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." 1. When we have sinned and experience feelings of shame, conviction, remorse and despair we must look to Christ and His righteousness. The life of a child of God is lived with the realization of personal guilt, but remember, "the blood of Jesu...

"Our gospel came not to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost, and in much ASSURANCE" - I Thess alonians 1:5 [ KJ V] Sin, salvation, death, judgment, eternity, though matters of the highest moment and utmost importance to us, yet we naturally think of them with little concern, speak of them with great indifference, and treat the consideration of them as Felix did Paul, "Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season I will send for thee" ( Acts 24:25 ) . And yet perhaps such have long sat under a preached gospel; hugely cry up and applaud the preacher, and are ready to condemn others who do not see and admire the excellency of the man. But, alas! what are the most excellent words of man without the power of the Spirit? Light as air, ineffectual to soul-saving purposes, as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. The grand question is, Have I inwardly known and felt the power of the gospel? Our gospel came U...

"And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried; they shall call on My name, and I will hear them; I will say, It is My people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God." -Zechariah 13:9 [KJV] It is a mercy to be in the furnace, and it is a mercy to be brought through it. The Lord's promise to the third part is, that H e will bring them through the fire. They must therefore, according to H is own word, be put into it, and yet not left in it. It is "through the fire"—right through it from beginning to end, whether it be a long and slow one or short and fierce one. The Lord knows exactly what we can bear, and it is not always the hottest fire which produces the most softening effects. Some metals indeed are so stubborn, and the dross is so deeply engrained into them, that they seem to require a hotter fire than others. But after the law has done its work, and the dros...

"There is not a just man upon the    earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not" -Ecclesiastes 7:20 [KJV] The word "just" means righteous. We know that the Lord’s people are righteous in Christ, and yet, the inspired writer says that not even a justified person "doeth good and sinneth not." All believers are aware of our sinfulness knowing that "all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6), therefore we petition the Lord for fresh supplies of pardoning grace (1 John 1:9). While the reality of our wretchedness is ever before us, let us rejoice in the deliverance of sin by the sacrificial obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ which is the sole basis upon which God remains just and justifies the ungodly. It is certainly true that, "in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing" (Romans 7:18), and therefore nothing good can come forth from me. However, it is also true that I am accepte...

When our Lord hung in agonies and blood on the cursed tree, He cried with a loud voice, " IT IS FINISHED. " One would think that such a statement made by the very Son of God would carry a reasonable weight. Yet, there are those who proclaim that the work is not truly finished unless they give their nod of faith which miraculously makes the work really effectual. Setting aside that such thinking is utterly foolish, consider, for a moment, the arrogant presumption of such an incredible notion. Apply this convoluted musing to any other finished work. Go to a contractor after he has finished a building and is getting ready to turn the key stand before him, and in your most audacious voice, say "Wait a minute, it is not finished unless I believe it is finished!" Go to the composer who has spent his life in pursuit of the classic score. After he has signed his masterpiece and the conductor is about to wave his baton stand up in the audience and cry in your mos...

Christ spoke the parable in Luke 18 to the Pharisees who "trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others" (v. 9). What we say about others and how we treat them often reveals more about us than it does them. Sad as it is, all people, even believers, are by nature like these Pharisees. Self-righteousness plagues us all our days. Often we manifest this self-righteous spirit in our attitude toward others. Christ said they believed themselves to be righteous and "despised others." Christ illustrates this in the parable of two men that went up to the temple to pray. "The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank Thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican." His prayer was really about his superiority over others. Listen to how he speaks of the man: "this Publican." His speech revealed contempt for a man he probably didn’t even know. He probably put the m...

"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may  obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).   We are coming not to a throne of law nor to a throne of strict justice, but to a THRONE OF GRACE. The words "throne," "majesty," "power," and "omnipotence" all leave me awed and frightened; but the soft, gentle word "GRACE" stirs my spirit and heart to venture nigh in sincerity, humility, and hope! For though there are a thousand defects in my prayers, it is a throne of GRACE. Though there are many defects in my knowledge, it is a throne of GRACE. Though there are so many weaknesses in my spirit, it is a throne of GRACE. Though my faith is so weak and dishonoring to the King, it is a throne of GRACE. Grace loves, grace forgives, grace abounds, grace is sufficient; and His grace is greater than all my sins. - Gospel report by Henry T. Mahan

"We do not find rest, hope, nor comfort in our faith but in Christ." If you will give careful thought to that statement, it will be of great help to you. Faith is not a foundation, a refuge, nor a source of help. Faith is a means, a look, an empty hand. It is Christ Who is our refuge, Who protects from every storm. He is our rock on which we build. He is our source of every mercy and our only plea. My faith may be weak or weaker, but He cannot fail. If all my debts have been paid by my Surety, I don't have to be ashamed to come before God. The praise and credit goes not to my boldness and faith but to my gracious Benefactor! I am not debt-free because I believe (though I do, and that faith united me to Him) but because He set me free and paid my debt. Christ is our confidence and our assurance. The moment I seek a reason for hope in anything I do, even in the blessed grace of faith, I forfeit any possibility of peace. "Blessed is that man that maketh the L ...

"For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the   Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him,   which is the head of all principality and power" -Colossians 2:9-10 [KJV] All that is necessary to secure and to complete our eternal salvation is to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ (Phil.3:7-9; 4:19). There is a completion or a complete filling up in Him, so as to leave nothing lacking in the sinner. In the Lord Jesus Christ dwells all the fullness of God (John 1:16). He is perfect and the believer stands perfected in Him (1Cor. 1:30; Col. 1:22). All that is lacking in us by our ruin and sin in Adam is abundantly, freely and eternally supplied to us in the Lord Jesus Christ, "where sin abounded, grace did much more abound" (Rom. 5:19-20). Christ's perfect obedience is our righteousness (Phil. 2:7-8). His sacrifice for sin is our atonement (Heb. 2:17). His word is our instruction (2Tim. 3:16). His wisdom is our direction (Col. 2...

"YE ARE COMPLETE IN HIM" -Colossians 2:10 [KJV] The believer's standing in Christ does not fluctuate with his feelings, not even the increase or decrease of his faith or understanding or anything else. He stands complete in Christ. God would never trust any of His children to stand before Him at any time in their own selves ­ that is, in their merits or certain good frames of mind. He knows our frame. He remembers that we are yet dust. Therefore, He has on purpose provided for them this perfect standing in Christ Jesus. "Ye are complete in Him" the Holy Ghost said, in another place, "Ye are perfect in Christ Jesus" (Col ossians 1:28). The very nature of our God requires us to be perfect and complete before Him at all times. He, out of necessity, therefore provided all this for His children: a perfection, a completeness, which can never be diminished. It is as unchanging as God Himself (Heb rews 6:17 and 13:8). - Gospel rep...

“ Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not” - II Corinthians 4:1 [KJV] Alexander the Great was sculpted with his hand resting on his face, as if in contemplation. But the real purpose was to hide an ugly scar on his cheek. The German emperor, Wilhelm II, was photographed and painted standing in such a position that his withered arm would not appear. All of us have imperfections and not just physical ones.  Some of us feel mentally scarred by our life and failures. Unfortunately, our wounds (self-inflicted and otherwise) incorrectly inform our psyche that God will never use us again. And this is confirmed by the censorious and disapproving who tell us that the Lord is finished with us? Let me ask, who lied and said God wanted nothing more to do with you? Who told you that you are flawed and thus unusable?  Such a prophet of doom needs someone to teach them the Gospel and its applications. Christ Jesus has always done Hi...

Weekend Gospel message to follow for All Hands (20-22JUL18) Heads-Up --- Please find enclosed encouragement in "SO GREAT SALVATION" by the perfect and finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ in saving poor, needy and wretched sinners by His sovereign free grace -God's unmerited favor- from their sins and from Hell. For your serious and prayerful consideration UDT/SEAL Team-mates, neighbors and friends: This world's religion teaches that salvation is obtained by man's response to God's offer. It insists that walking an aisle, giving the preacher one's hand, repeating the sinner's prayer, and by being baptized, God's justice is now satisfied. But doesn't this delusion do nothing more but scream, 'Works, works, works' ? Who gets the glory in such a so-called salvation, man or God? According to the Scriptures, when a sinner is called out of spiritual darkness, he then counts all former confidences as loss for the excellency ...

Saving grace how sweet the sound, Where shall praise enough be found; Praise to tell what God has done, Praise to honor Christ the Son? Chosen by God’s sovereign grace, Members of a ransomed race; What a wondrous, gracious plan, God would raise up fallen man. Lo! In time the Savior came, Friend of sinners - what a Name; He the woman’s promised Seed, Jesus meets our ev’ry need. He who knew no sinfulness, Charged with our own wretchedness; Died upon the cruel cross, Saving us from endless loss. By His blood we are forgiv’n, Jesus makes us fit for heav’n; His the righteousness we plead, Christ alone is all we need. Praise the Lamb who reigns on high, All our hopes on Him rely; By Him we are justified, His great Name be magnified.  T o the t une of, “ Jesus, Lover of My Soul ,” (7.7.7.7 double) Lyrics by Jim Byrd    “ For Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and  plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon Th...

"The poor have the gospel  preached to them." -Matthew 11:5 [KJV] What is the gospel? Is not the gospel a proclamation of pure mercy, of superabounding grace? Does it not declare the lovingkindness of God in sending His only-begotten Son to bleed and die, and, by His obedience, blood, and merit, to bring in a salvation without money and without price? Is not this the gospel? Not clogged by conditions, nor crippled by anything that the creature has to perform; but flowing freely forth as the air in the skies? The poor to whom the gospel is preached, value it; it is suitable to them; it is sweet and precious when the heart is brought down. But if I stand up in religious pride, if I rest upon my own righteousness, if I am not stripped of everything in the creature, what is the gospel to me? I have no heart to receive it; there is no place in my soul for a gospel without money and without price. But when I sink into the depth of creature poverty, when I am nothi...

When the Holy Spirit shows us the necessity, the beauty and the sufficiency of the death of Christ, we repent of our own foolish works of self-righteousness, we forsake every other way of seeking to please God, we look to Christ and His substitutionary death as the only ground of our acceptance with God and our conscience rests in the quiet assurance that Christ has satisfied God on our behalf and saved us in a way that glorifies God in all His holy character. Thus the “blood” purges our consciences of every false hope, of natural self-righteousness, and all fear and doubt! -Gospel report by preacher Gary Shepard

It makes the wounded spirit whole, And calms the troubled breast; 'Tis manna to the hungry soul, And to the weary rest. Dear Name! the Rock on which I build My Shield and Hiding-place; My never-failing Treasury fill'd With boundless stores of grace. By Thee my prayers acceptance gain, Although with sin defiled; Satan accuses me in vain, And I am own'd a child. Jesus! my Shepherd, Husband, Friend, My Prophet, Priest, and King; My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End, Accept the praise I bring. Weak is the effort of my heart, And cold my warmest thought; But when I see Thee as Thou art, I'll praise Thee as I ought. Till then I would Thy love proclaim With every fleeting breath; And may the music of Thy Name Refresh my soul in death! -John Newton .