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

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: “ Nothing in all the vast universe can come to pass otherwise than God has eternally purposed. Here is a foundation of faith. Here is a resting place for the intellect. Here is an anchor for the soul, both sure and steadfast. It is not blind fate, unbridled evil, man or Devil, but the Lord Almighty who is ruling the world, ruling it according to His own good pleasure and for His own eternal glory.” - excerpt from “The Sovereignty of God,” by Arthur W. Pink, 1918 A.D. "For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world...

"For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." -G ALATIANS 5:17 [KJV]   The Holy Spirit is especially tender of H is own work upon the soul. He originally formed it; it is H is own spiritual offspring; and as a mother watches over her babe, so the blessed Spirit watches over the spirit of H is own creating. It is the counterpart of H imself, for it is the spirit that H e has raised up in the soul by H is own almighty power. He, therefore, acts upon it, breathes into it fresh life and power, and communicates grace out of the inexhaustible fulness of the Son of God, thus enabling the spirit to breathe and act, struggle and fight against the flesh, so that the latter cannot have all its own way, but must submit and yield. For the spirit can fight as well as the flesh; can act as well as the flesh; and can desire good as well as the flesh can des...

  "This is My blood of the new testament, which is shed for  many for the remission of sins"   -M ATTHEW 26:28 [KJV] If you believe, as many professors do today, that the Lord Jesus actually laid down His life to save every single person in the world, then you limit the death of Christ in its power to save. Why? Because, not all are delivered from guilt, and therefore it would make Christ’s death less than effectual. A ransom that does not redeem is no ransom at all. A propitiation that doesn’t actually satisfy, is no propitiation at all. The scriptures teach a ransom that is unlimited in its power to save, but limited in its design as to those God intended to save by it. In other words, His blood was shed 'for many for the remission of sins.' Christ died for MANY, a number that no man can number [ R EVELATION 7:9 ] . Yet, this many is limited to AS MANY as the Lord has ordained to believe [ A CTS 13:48 ] and AS MANY as the Lord God shall ca...

  “When a sinner is convinced of sin by the work of God's law on his conscience, he will generally be going about to establish a righteousness of his own. But when the Spirit of God brings him into bankruptcy, gives him to see his guilt, and causes him to feel its workings in his heart, then he wants to see Jesus who has redeemed him from it, and gone to the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Faith traces Jesus in His pure and perfect life from the manger to the cross; but beholds nothing but fire and destruction in God's holy and righteous law. Heaven is well-pleased for His righteousness' sake; He has magnified the law, and made it honorable. The soul sees in the Lord Jesus Christ a justifying righteousness. This righteousness is imputed by God the Father to him; and the soul receives it by precious faith, and glorifies in the perfect obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. The believer is complete and accepted in Jesus; and he s...

"But my God shall supply all your need according to H is riches in glory by Christ Jesus." - PHILIPPIANS 4:19 [KJV] Oh! if there were no Christ Jesus, there could be no "supply." Howling in hell would our miserable souls be, unless there were a Mediator at the right hand of the Father; a blessed Jesus, full of love, pity, and power, co-equal and co-eternal in H is divine nature with the Father and the Holy Ghost, and yet the God-Man, in W hom "it hath pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell." If there were not such a blessed Mediator at the right hand of God, not one drop of spiritual comfort, not one particle of hope, not one drop of fruit of the Spirit to distinguish us from the damned in hell, would ever be our lot or portion. Oh! we should never forget the channel through which these mercies come; we should never, for one moment, think that they could come through any other Person or in any other way, than through God...

“ Pilate sai th un to them, W hat shall I do then with Jesus wh ich is called Christ? They all sa y unto him , Let H im be crucified .”   -M ATTHEW 27:22 [KJV] Pilate’s words are often morphed into, “What will you do with Jesus?” That is legitimate, for in asking the crowd what they wanted him to do with Jesus, he was asking what they would do with Him if they had the power and authority to carry it out. Many have used this version of Pilate’s words as a challenge to their audiences, “What will YOU do with Jesus?” But, we already know what Pilate and the people did with Jesus: they crucified Him. It would do us well to note that the man who asked the question was a proud and pompous man, willing to kill anyone who became a risk to his ability to gain and maintain power. And the people to whom the question was put were seething with hatred for Jesus, and in keeping with their hatred, they called for His death. And that is the way it always is when men...

  With broken heart and contrite sigh, A trembling sinner, Lord, I cry; Thy pard'ning grace is rich and free: O God, be merciful to me! I smite upon my troubled breast, With deep and conscious guilt oppressed; Christ and His cross my only plea: O God, be merciful to me! Far off I stand with tearful eyes, Nor dare uplift them to the skies; But Thou dost all my anguish see, O God, be merciful to me! With alms, or deeds that I have done, Not one sin's pardon can be won; To Christ and He alone I flee; O God, be merciful to me! And when redeemed from sin and hell, With all the ransomed throng I dwell, My raptured song shall ever be, God has been merciful to me! Author: Cornelius Elven Tune: Just As I Am (W. Bradbury)

"Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck." -I TIMOTHY 1:19 [KJV] We find that, in the Apostle's time, there were characters who held faith, or rather what they called faith, and put away "good conscience." He mentions by name, "Hymeneus and Alexander, whom he had delivered unto Satan," that is, excommunicated them out of the Church, as heretics and blasphemers. But if to have put good conscience away, stamps a man as unfit for the visible Church of God, it behoves us to search whether we have this weapon at our side, and in our hand. What does the Apostle, then, mean by "a good conscience?" I believe he means a conscience alive in God's fear, a spiritual conscience, a tender conscience, what he calls, in another part, "a pure conscience;" "holding faith in a pure conscience," that is, purified from ignorance, from guilt, from the power of sin, ...

“ C HRIST IS ALL ”   -COLOSSIANS 3:11 [KJV] Christianity is all centered in a person! Conversion is not a mere change of human opinion; it is the devotion of the heart to a person. A converted man is not a man who just changes his views concerning certain facts, or theories, or doctrines but he is a man whose heart has become devoted to a living Christ . All your religion, if it is worth anything will be centered in a living personal JESUS. Your doctrines will all come from Him; your motives will be found in Him; your joys will be found in Him; your acceptance will be found in Him; your completeness will be found in Him! “ And ye are complete in Him ” [ C OLOSSIANS 2:10 ] ! - Gospel report by preacher Archibald Brown, 1884 A.D.

"That H e might present it to H imself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." -EPHESIANS 5:27 [KJV] Neither others nor we ourselves now see what the Church one day will be, and what she ever was in the eyes of Jesus. He could look through all this time-state, through all the sins and sorrows of this intermediate period, and fix His eye upon the bridal day, the day when before assembled angels, in the courts of heaven, in the realms of eternal bliss, He should present her to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but holy, and without blemish. O what a day will that be, when the Son of God shall openly wed His espoused bride; when there shall be heard in heaven, "as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to H im: for the marriage...

Behold the eternal security of the weakest believer in Jesus. The act of justification, once passed under the great seal of the resurrection of Christ, God can never revoke without denying Himself. Here is our safety. Here is the ground of our dauntless challenge, "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifie th " (ROMANS 8:33) . What can I need more? What more can I ask? If God, the God of spotless purity, the God of inflexible righteousness, justifies me, who is he that condemns? Sin may condemn, but it is God that justifies! The law may alarm, but it is God that justifies! Satan may accuse, but it is God that justifies! Death may terrify, but it is God that justifies! "If G od be for us, who can be against us?" (ROMANS 8:31b) . Who will dare condemn the soul whom He justifies? How gloriously will this truth shine forth in the great day of judgment! Every accuser will then be dumb. Every tongue will ...

If we have been taught by the Holy Spirit concerning our sinfulness and the inability of the unregenerate man to perform a spiritual act, then we will realize the necessity of God’s irresistible, invincible call of grace. " Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power , in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: Thou hast the dew of Thy youth" (P SALM 110:3) . The Lord Himself must overcome the natural rebellion of the sinner, quicken him by His almighty power and effectually draw the object of mercy to the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Savior of sinners. Unless God exerts this fetching grace, no sinner will ever come to a saving knowledge of Christ. Mr. Spurgeon’s comments on this subject are quite good. "Man by nature is as a wild horse dashing to the precipice. If he be restrained in his course and turned away from danger, it is because he has a mighty Rider, and One that knows how to pull the bit and guide him as He plea...

“ Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave H imself for it; That H e might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.” -E PHESIANS 5:25-26 [KJV] View the Church without the sanctifying operations and influences of regenerating grace. She is far from Christ; she has no desire towards H im, no manifest union, no communion with H im; no faith in H is blood, no hope in H is mercy, no love to H is name. Were she left always thus, where would be her meetness fo r heaven? But when the word of truth comes with power, and is accompanied by the influences of the Holy Ghost to the heart, then there is not only a cleansing of the conscience from the guilt and filth of sin, but the communication of a new heart and a new spirit. How plainly is this spoken of by the prophet Ezekiel, where, after the promise, “from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you,” it is added, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new...

Where does a believer find real and genuine peace? On what foundation can we rest and say in truth, “It is well with my soul?” I’ll tell you; it lies in this­that we are JUSTIFIED BY FAITH and not by works. Christ Jesus stood in my stead before God. I was guilty with nothing to pay, doomed to Hell; and Christ took my place! He died for me! How can I perish? How can I be punished for sins which have already been laid on Christ and for which He has suffered? God demands of me that I keep His holy law perfectly. I cannot do it. But Christ has kept it for me. He kept it, magnified it, and made it honorable in my flesh. What more can God demand of me? I am washed in the blood of Christ Jesus; I am clothed in the righteousness of Christ Jesus; I am risen and seated at His right hand in Christ Jesus. You may ask, “How is all this yours?” I reply, “By the grace of God, through the merits of Christ, revealed by the Spirit of God THROUGH FAITH!” God said, “ He that believeth...

"Who shall separate us   from the love of Christ?" – R OMANS 8:35 [ KJ V] Be this never forgotten, that if we have ever been brought near to the Lord Jesus Christ by the actings of living faith, there never can be any final, actual separation from Him. In the darkest moments, in the dreariest hours, under the most painful exercises, the most fiery temptations, there is, as with Jonah in the belly of hell, a looking again toward the holy temple. There is sometimes a sigh, a cry, a groan, a breathing forth of the heart's desire to "know Him, and the power of His resurrection" that He would draw us near unto Himself, and make Himself precious to our souls. And these very cries and sighs, groanings and breathings, all prove that whatever darkness of mind, guilt of conscience, or unbelief we may feel, there is no real separation. It is in grace as it is in nature; the clouds do not blot out the sun; it is still in the sky, though...

"Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; t o declare, I say, at this time His righteousness: that He might be just, and the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus ." - Romans 3:24-26 [KJV] God’s infinite holiness can accept nothing less than perfection, and His inflexible justice is sworn to punish every sin and violation of His holy law. Therefore, if His love is dedicated to deliver a single soul, it must be in a manner that does no dishonor to His holiness and justice. This can ONLY be accomplished if there is One who is equal to God’s infinite holiness and justice and capable of dying the death that the sins of those deserve whom God loves. God alone can satisfy His justice, but He cannot die. Man can die, but he cannot satisfy God’s...

  "Thou wentest forth for the salvation of Thy people, even for salvation with Thine anointed; Thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah" -H ABAKKUK 3:13 [KJV] Christ Jesus did not leave heaven’s glories and come forth into this world to make a down payment on the salvation of spiritually bankrupt sinners. He did not come to do His part in salvation, leaving some aspect of it to be accomplished by the helpless. He did not come to assist sinners in salvation or instruct them in the art of self-salvation. He did not come to enable men to save themselves. He did not come to put all men in a savable position. He came into this world to save His people from their sins by rendering to the law of God its just demands: a perfect life and the satisfaction of infinite justice in that He died for the sins of His chosen, but fallen people. He was raised again because He did in fact, "save His people f...

“ If salvation depends upon our being or doing anything, we shall inevitably be lost. Thank God, it does not; for the great fundamental principle of the gospel is that Christ is all: man is nothing.  It is not a mixture of Christ and man---it is all of Christ. The peace of the gospel does not rest in part on Christ's work and in part on man's work; it rests wholly on Christ's work, because that work is perfect, perfect forever; and it renders all who put their trust in Him as perfect as Himself! Christ must either be a whole Saviour or no Saviour at all. The moment a man says, 'Except you be this or that, you cannot be saved,' he totally subverts the gospel; for in the gospel I find Christ coming down to me, just as I am--a lost, guilty, self-destroyed sinner; and coming, moreover, with a full remission of all my sins, and a full salvation from my lost estate, all perfectly wrought by Himself on the cross.” -Gospel report by preacher C. H. Ma...

If any deny that salvation be by the free and sovereign grace of God in Christ alone, it is because they do not know themselves! They do not know themselves and their real condition because they do not believe God! We are so blinded by self-righteousness and Satan that unless the Spirit give us the gift of faith, we can never know our true state and condition as sinners before God. We can never know our helplessness except we believe Christ’s words, “no man can come to M e except the Father draw him.” We can never know what we imagine our righteousness to be unless we believe God who says that “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” and “there is none righteous, no not one.” When we believe God, we know that we are “lost, blind, dead in trespasses and sins, and without strength.” We are what God says we are, not what men say we are or what we think ourselves to be. When the Spirit of God gives a person faith to believe God and reveals to them what they truly are as sin...

“ Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my B eloved come into H is garden, and eat H is pleasant fruits.” -S ONG OF SOLOMON 4:16 [KJV] We are, most of us, so fettered down by the chains of time and sense, the cares of life and daily business, the weakness of our earthly frame, the distracting claims of a family, and the miserable carnality and sensuality of our fallen nature, that we live at best a poor, dragging, dying life. We take no pleasure in the world, nor mix with a good conscience in its pursuits and amusements; we are many of us poor, moping, dejected creatures, from a variety of trials and afflictions; we have a daily cross and the continual plague of an evil heart; get little consolation from the family of God or the outward means of grace; know enough of ourselves to know that in self there is neither help nor hope, and never expect a smoother path, a better, wiser, holier heart, or to be able...

     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: Sovereign Grace and T he Great Commission Those who are elected to life in Christ shall be saved; “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to M e” (J OHN 6:37) , but they shall be brought to Christ in genuine repentance and faith by God’s Spirit through the means He has appointed – THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL! ( I CORINTHIANS 1:21)… I urge, persuade, and beseech you to be reconciled to God, for “He hath made Him to be sin for us, W ho knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (II CORINTHIANS 5:21) . -Gospel report by preacher Henry Mahan https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=418131535290

“ Surely, shall one say, in the L ORD have I righteousness and strength .” -I SAIAH 45:24 [KJV] Have you learnt that you are a sinner in the sight of God? Have you ever felt the length, breadth, and spirituality of H is holy law? Do you feel in your very soul that without Christ’s righteousness being imputed to you, and H is blood being sprinkled upon your conscience, you must die in your sins and never reach the heavenly shore? Has this ever been, or is it still a matter of solicitude to you? Has it ever caused sighs and groans to come out of your heart? Has the spirit of prayer ever been given, to make you plead with the Lord for the forgiveness of your sins, through the merits of a crucified Saviour? And have you any hope but in H is blood, righteousness and finished work? Now if the Lord has been pleased to exercise your soul on this way, if H e has not yet granted the longing desire of your heart, H e certainly will in due time reveal H is dear S on in you as the God...