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

"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." -Romans 8:18 [KJV] What is to be compared with the salvation of the soul? What are riches, honours, health, long life? What are all the pleasures which the world can offer, sin promise, or the flesh enjoy? What is all that men call good or great? What is everything which the outward eye hath seen, or natural ear heard, or hath entered into the carnal heart of man, put side by side with being saved in the Lord Jesus Christ with an everlasting salvation? For consider what we are saved from, as well as what we are saved unto. From a burning Hell to a blissful Heaven; from endless wrath to eternal glory; from the dreadful company of devils and damned spirits, mutually tormenting and tormented, to the blessed companionship of the glorified saints, all perfectly conformed in body and soul to the image of Christ, with thousands and...

Weekend Gospel message to follow for All Hands (31AUG-02SEP18) 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. "To redeem poor sinners, Jesus came down from heaven, put on the rags of our mortality, agonized, bled, and died. Jesus is made His people’s Substitute, burden-bearer, sin-remover, and guilt-sustainer. Their debt is placed to His account. His riches pay the full amount. Sin is removed from the sinner, and placed on the Sinless. Their curse is rolled on Him, and He endures it, until no more remains. God deals with Jesus as the guilty one. He, as spotless Deity, receives imputed sins, and fully expiates them all. In the vicarious victim, God’s justice is satisfied, and wrath expires. Jesus, in His life, in the garden, on the cross, suf...

"As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance; but as H e which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy." - I Peter 1:14-16 [KJV] Grace lays us under the greatest of all obligations to its free and bountiful Giver, and especially to render a believing obedience to His revealed will and word. It is His free, sovereign, and distinguishing grace alone which makes and manifests us to be His children, and therefore it demands of us, as a feeble and most insufficient tribute of grateful praise, that we should walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called, and glorify Him in our body and spirit which are His. He that has never known and felt this knows nothing of the riches of God's grace in the manifestation of mercy and love to his soul. Such a one knows, that do what he can, he can never do enough to show forth the praises...

Behold your God! “ He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young ” (Isaiah 40:11). Pause a while and think of this verse. It gives us a wonderful picture of the Lord Jesus.  Let’s unfold some of its treasures word for word. ‘He’ Who is this ‘He’? He is the Messiah (Matthew 1:1). He is Immanuel; God with us (Matthew 1:23). He is God manifest in the flesh (I Timothy 3:16). He is the one Who is revealed in the Word of God under a vast array of titles, names, characters and offices. For example, He is, Our Hope – 1 Timothy 1:1 Our Peace – Ephesians 2:14 Our Prophet – Hebrews 1:1-3 Our Redeemer – Job 19:25, Galatians 3:13 Our Rock – 1 Corinthians 10:4 Our Sacrifice - 1 John 4:10 Our Saviour – Luke 2:11 The Supreme Creator Over All - 1 Corinthians 1:16-17 The Resurrection...

Though God sees sin in His people with His eye of omniscience, yet not with His eye of revenging justice. Though He sees them, in respect of His providence, which reaches all things, yet not in respect of justification. Though He takes notice of His people’s sins so as to chastise them in a fatherly way, for their good; yet He does not see them, take notice of them, and observe them in a judicial way, so as to impute ( charge ) them to them, or require satisfaction for them. “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them” (II Corinthians 5:19).  No, He has imputed them to Christ...and Christ has made full satisfaction for them and therefore, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth: who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died” (Romans 8:33-34). God will not require satisfaction at the hands of His people for their sins. He will not punish them on account of them. They shall ...

Noah planted a vineyard: and he drank of the wine, and was drunk en ; and he was naked in his tent (see Genesis 9:20-21). As you read this, you may say, “What a condition for Noah, the only righteous man, the preacher of righteousness, to be found in!” BUT WHAT IS MAN? Look at him where you will, and you will see failure. In the garden of paradise, he fails; in the church, he fails; he fails everywhere and in all things. His true name is not MISTAKE, but FAILURE. His advantages are great, his privileges are great; but he can only display failure and sin because there is no good thing in him. "Noah was a just man and perfect in his generation, and Noah walked with God" (Genesis 6:9). Grace had covered all his sins and clothed his person with a spotless robe of righteousness. Noah displayed and exposed nakedness, but God did not see it; for He looked not at Noah in the weakness of his condition, but in the full power of Christ's divine and everlasting righte...

What is His work? The work which the Father gave Him to do; the work covenanted from before the world began, the work that shall crown Him with glory and honor for ever and ever; the work of fulfilling, of magnifying, and of honoring the holy law of God; the work of satisfying it and sheathing the sword of inflexible justice in His own heart; the work of vanquishing the powers of darkness, bruising the old serpent’s head, spoiling principalities and powers, taking away the sting of death, and removing the curse forever from all the election of grace. That is the work of God; that is the work of Christ, and it is freely given to the believer. - Gospel report by preacher Joseph Irons

Once in Christ, ever in Him. Having taken up His habitation in the heart, He never removes. None can untie this happy knot. Who will dissolve this union? Will He Himself? No, He will not; we have His word for it, "I will not turn away from them" (Jeremiah 32:40). But perhaps the sinner will do this mischief to himself? No, he shall not; "they shall not depart from Me" says their God. Can devils do it? No, unless they be stronger than Christ and His Father too; "Neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand," says our Lord (John 10:28). "And none is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand" (vs 29). But what say you of death, which parts husband and wife; yea, separates the soul from the body? Will death do it? No: what saith the apostle? "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be a...

"Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right  hand of God; angels and authorities and powers  being made subject unto Him" - I Peter 3:22 [KJV]   The resurrection, enthronement and universal authority given to Jesus Christ provide us with undeniable evidence that He accomplished, to the Father’s full satisfaction, the work He was sent to do. What was that work? It was that work laid upon Him from all eternity, that work which He delightfully accepted to accomplish - to save, redeem and satisfy divine justice for all of those people given to Him by the Father in covenant grace before the world began. The Savior’s abiding presence in the Father’s house shows that real, substantial and everlasting peace has been made between the Lord and His fallen people by the blood of the cross of Christ. The Holy Spirit said "this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God" (Hebrews 10:12). Among the seve...

Weekend Gospel message to follow for All Hands (24-26AUG18) 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. NO OTHER WAY "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up" (John 3:14). The deliverance of sinners from the claims of divine justice was dependent upon Christ bringing in everlasting righteousness for them by the sacrifice of Himself, therefore the Savior said to Nicodemus, "even so MUST the Son of Man be lifted up." It was in this way the demands of God’s law would be upheld and all the sins of those people entrusted to the Surety before the world began would be taken away, never to be remembered again. Those who insist that sinners can, by will, worth or work, ma...

"For He [ God ] saith to Moses, I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I WILL HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I WILL HAVE COMPASSION. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. " -Romans 9:15-16 [ KJ V] The doctrine of God's sovereign power and will to save HIS people according to His purpose and choice, apart from anything in or done by them, has been under attack for centuries. Most who claim to be Christian deny this truth without embarrassment or apology. There are two very recent and very popular books written by two men who profess to be "Christian" and who are leaders of many. Both books attack the doctrine of God's sovereign choice to save a people for His glory. Both books assert that God desires to save everyone, but the outcome of who gets saved depends on the response of each person. In other words, God has given up His ability to save anyone, unless that persons decides to res...

The Wednesday Word: Tell it Like it Is by D.G. Miles McKee The famous Irish scholar and wit, John Pentland Mahaffy, was once asked if he was a Christian. He replied, “Yes, but not offensively so.” Unfortunately, there are many professing believers who line up with his point of view. They don’t take their stand for the truth of the Word. They have let the world’s standards dictate what is right and wrong. They keep silent about the real Jesus. You see, there is an inate offence in the Christ of the Bible ( Romans 9:33 ; Galatians 5:11 ; 1 Peter 2:7-8 ). When we tell of the uniqueness of Jesus Christ and the fact that there is no salvation outside of Him, people get offended. That’s just the way it is. Let’s get this straight. The Gospel is not the instruction manual of what we must do to be saved. No indeed! The Gospel is the story of that which has already been done to save us. The Gospel is not about a set of demands placed on us. Rather it is about the dem...

"Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of." - II Timothy 3:14 [KJV] Various hindran c es meet the child of God in his path heavenwards. And their tendency is such, that but for the grace of God, they would effectually succeed in driving him from the faith. When, then, he has to meet a head wind blowing right in his teeth, when the storm and hail beat roughly upon him, when the waves rise high and the stream runs strong, there seems no getting on; and he fears that he shall be like "the children of Ephraim, who, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle." And yet there is that grace  implanted in his heart, there is that faith which God the Spirit first created and still keeps alive in his soul, that though he may for a moment be driven aside, he yet never turns his back upon the truth; though retarded for a moment, his face is still Zionwards. I can say for myself, that all the trials I h...

“ When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, IT IS FINISHED : and He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost.” - John 19:3 0 [KJV]   When Christ died on the cross for the sins of His people, what exactly was finished (brought to its full and final completion and culmination)? Consider the following: (1) The whole will of God in regard to the ground of redemption (Heb rews 10:7) . (2) The whole work His Father had given Him to do in saving His people (I Tim othy 1:15) . (3) The Old Covenant law and all types and ceremonies (Heb rews 10:9-14) (4) The righteousness of God performed, perfected, and which is imputed to believers (Rom ans 3:19-24; Rom ans 10:4 & II Cor inthians 5:21) . The proof of the accomplishment of all that He came to do was His resurrection from the dead (Acts 17:31) . Salvation and eternal life is the gift of God, not of works on our part, but through the Person and work of our Substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph es...

The sinner who has saving faith believes that there is a fullness of salvation in Christ for poor sinners. "Wherefore HE is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by HIM ...." (Heb rews 7:25). In the word of the Gospel Christ is held forth as an able Saviour - able to save men from their sins and from the wrath of God. His merit is a sufficient shield against the tempest of wrath which incensed justice is ready to exact against transgressors. The sinner who has saving faith knows that the righteousness Christ fulfilled as the condition of the Covenant of Grace is so valuable in itself, and in the eyes of the Father, that it is sufficient to procure justification, sanctification, and all other saving benefits to sinners who in themselves deserve death and damnation. So they are happy who are in Him. They shall never perish but have everlasting life, being eternally secure under the cover of His righteousness as a sufficient defense. -p...

Sometimes the most profound wisdom can be stated in the simplest way. One of our brethren was talking to another brother, one who is older in age and older in the faith. They were talking about doubts with which we as believers are plagued throughout our Christian life. Doubt (even unbelief) is that sin that so easily clings to us, entangles and hinders us, in the life and walk of faith (Heb rews 12:1). The only remedy is to run the race of grace with endurance “ looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith” (Heb rews 12:2). We who know Christ also know that it is by His will, grace, and power alone, not our own, that we persevere in the faith. In their conversation, the younger brother asked the older one, “Do you ever think you are lost, that you are not saved?” The older believer replied, “Yes, I sometimes in moments of doubt do think such thoughts, but I always come back to this, I CAN'T BE LOST BECAUSE I KNOW THE WAY.” Brethren, we will be plagued...

Weekend Gospel message to follow for All Hands (17-19AUG18) 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. The longer I live, the more I feel that if there were one thing left undone, if the devil were not conquered, sin not expiated, justice not satisfied, the law not honored and magnified, death not overcome, and every burden not carried, I should not have a ray of hope. I used to think I saw this as clear as the noon day thirty or forty years ago; but I saw it very differently then to what I see now; for I see and feel now that if one hair-breadth is left for me to do to merit heaven, or bring as a plea before God, I am undone for ever and ever. But on the Mount of Calvary, the Lord Jesus Christ undertook the cause of His people; and there is not a...

God’s sovereignty is His absolute ( complete ), independent ( free from external constraint ) right ( privilege ) to dispose of this world, and everything in it, according to the good pleasure of His will. "Is it not lawful for Me to do what I will with Mine own?" (Matthew 20:15). A God who is unable to bring His desires to pass, whose purpose can be frustrated and whose will is dependent upon the cooperation of man is not worthy of worship. Such an one is merely an idol, a golden calf, a false god. The truth of absolute sovereignty is so fundamental to an understanding of who God is, that it is impossible to worship Him unless we have some knowledge of the fact that He reigns. A God who is not sovereign is no God at all. Nebuchadnezzar said, "I blessed the most High, and I praised and honored Him that liveth for ever, Whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation: and all the inhabitants of the earth are repu...

“ How much more shall the blood of Christ, W ho through the eternal Spirit offered H imself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” - Hebrews 9:14 [KJV]   We often feel that we are not worth saving …  and this, of course, is an accurate assessment. As Spurgeon said, “When you feel yourself as totally unworthy you have hit the truth.” That is why, as we grow in grace, the Gospel is our best friend. Let me illustrate. The story is told of how the devil sought to discourage the mighty reformer Martin Luther by continually making him feel guilty.  Satan, it seems constantly reminded the great preacher of the list of his sins. When the devil had finished, Luther purportedly said, “Think harder: you must have forgotten some.” And the devil did think, and he listed more sins. When he was done enumerating the sins, Luther said, “Now, with a red ink write over that list, “The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanses...

The gospel, my dear sir, is a salvation appointed for those who are ready to perish and is not designed to put them in a way to save themselves by their own works. It speaks to us as condemned already and calls upon us to believe in a crucified Savior that we may receive redemption through the blood, even the forgiveness of our sins. And the Spirit of God, by the gospel, first convinces us of unbelief, sin and misery; and then, by revealing the things of Jesus to our minds, enables us, as helpless sinners, to come to Christ, to receive Him, to behold Him, or, in other words, to believe in Him. -John Newton

One of the greatest privileges and responsibilities I enjoy as a justified sinner is to get to tell lost sinners of the full, free, eternal salvation worked out for EVERY ELECT SINNER (those sinners chosen before the foundation of the world by God the Father in the everlasting covenant of grace). This salvation is through the perfect life and substitutionary death of the elect sinner's Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary - "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And He (Christ) is the propitiation (satisfaction by way of fulfilling God's law and justice) for our (the elect Jews) sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world (every chosen sinner from the Gentile nations) ." -I John 2:1-2 What better news could be proclaimed to guilty, struggling, lost sinners than those words from our blessed Lord's lips on Ca...

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; Was blind, but now I see. 'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, And grace my fears relieved; How precious did that grace appear The hour I first believed! Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come; 'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, And grace will lead me home. The Lord has promised good to me, His Word my hope secures; He will my Shield and Portion be, As long as life endures. Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail, And mortal life shall cease, I shall possess, within the veil, A life of joy and peace. The earth shall soon dissolve like snow, The sun forbear to shine; But God, Who called me here below, Will be forever mine. When we've been there ten thousand years, Bright shining as the sun, We've no less days to sing God's praise Than when we'd first begun. - "Amazing Grace...