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

With humble hearts we gather here, And so begin another year; Another year, to us obscure, But by Thy grace we shall endure. To us the future is unknown, But trusting Thee we journey on, Relying on Thy providence, We face this year with confidence. By day and night our Refuge be, Cause us to always rest in Thee; To look to Christ for everything, And to His Name all honors bring. Without Thy presence and Thy care, To travel on we would not dare; Be Thou our Guardian and our Guide, And evermore with us abide. -Tune: "From Every Stormy Wind" LM Words by preacher Jim Byrd

Indulgent God, how kind are all Thy ways to me; Whose dark, benighted mind was enmity with Thee; Yet now, subdued by sovereign grace, My spirit longs for Thy embrace! My spirit longs for Thy embrace! How precious are Thy thoughts, which o'er my bosom roll! They swell beyond my faults, and captivate my soul! How great they seem, how high they rise, Can ne'er be known beneath the skies. Can ne'er be known beneath the skies. Preserved in Jesus when my feet made haste to hell; And there should I have gone, but Thou dost all things well; Thy love was great, Thy mercy free, Which from the pit delivered me! Which from the pit delivered me! A monument of grace, a sinner saved by blood; The streams of love I trace, up to the fountain God; And in His wondrous mercy see Eternal thoughts of love to me! Eternal thoughts of love to me! Tune: Arise, My Soul, Arise Words by brother John Kent

The reason we all experience so many disappointments in life is because SELF is first in all we want. We want what we want for ourselves and when we don’t get it we are disappointed. The nature of sin is one of self-glory, self-sufficiency and self-love. But this is also why we are so naturally adverse to and even offended by the gospel of God’s sovereign grace in Christ alone. In salvation, as in all things, the glory is God’s alone. In salvation, all is of God’s grace alone. In salvation, all depends on God’s will alone. In salvation, it is all of Christ’s work alone. Thus, there is nothing to satisfy this self principle in us! God must work in us by the power of His Spirit to show us the helplessness, uselessness and emptiness of self and He does it by revealing Christ to us. We see ourselves for what we really are when we see Christ for who He is. The Spirit of God takes the things of Christ and shows them to us. In His light we see light. In Christ we find ...

"My counsel shall stand, and I will do all M y pleasure." -I SAIAH 46:10 [KJV] There is one grand idea running through the whole of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation; and this one grand idea runs through every part of the sacred page, and, like a golden band, unites the whole together. What is this one grand thought? God has many thoughts as well as we, for He tells us that "the thoughts of H is heart stand to all generations." But we read also in the same verse of "the counsel of the Lord, which standeth for ever;" and elsewhere of His "working all things after the counsel of H is own will" (P SALM 33:11; E PHESIANS 1:11) . Thus in the mind of God, as well as in the mode of His subsistence, there is unity and variety. There is His one thought, and His many thoughts; for though His thoughts are many, His counsel is but one; and this counsel is the exaltation and glorification of His dear Son. It may be as well briefly to ...

“ I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness to all generations.”     - PSALM 89:1 [KJV] What was it which made David so desirous to sing of the mercies of the Lord? What was it that warmed and emboldened him at all events to make known Jehovah’s faithfulness from one generation to another? It was the glorious gospel of the blessed God, seen in the light of the Spirit and experienced through the influence of grace. Here is the reason for David’s zeal: “ For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever, Thy faithfulness shalt Thou establish in the very heavens” [vs. 2]. What is this mercy that is “ built up for ever,” but the glorious and the gracious scheme, the glorious and the gracious fabric OF OUR SALVATION founded in the eternal purpose of God carried into execution by the labors and the death of Jesus Christ and then applied and brought home to the heart by the illuminating and converting ...

"For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." -H EBREWS 8:12 [KJV] The sins of God’s elect are not remembered by the Lord because they were heaped upon Christ, as an awful weight, and He bore them away. Isaiah declared, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all " (Isaiah 53:6). "Laid on Him , " means that the sins of all the sheep were gathered together, as though one bundle, and laid on Christ. This was the heaviest of burdens, such as only God could bear. Our sins, having been made to meet upon the head of our Scape-Goat, were then borne away by Him, something the animal sacrifices could never do. "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins" (Hebrews 10:4). The express reason for Christ’s incarnation was to remove the gu...

"This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the L ORD 's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is T hy faithfulness. The L ORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him. The L ORD is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the L ORD ." -L AMENTATIONS 3:21-26 [KJV]

"A living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious." - I PETER 2:4 [KJV]   Though "disallowed of men," the Lord Jesus Christ is "chosen of God;" and God, I speak it with reverence, cannot make an unwise choice. To think that, would be to attribute folly to the Most High. He is "chosen of God," because He alone was fitted for the work. It would have crushed an archangel to bear what Jesus bore. No bright angel, nor glorious seraph, no created being, however exalted, could have borne the load of sin; and therefore none but God's own Son, not by office, but by eternal generation, the Son of the Father in truth and love, could bear the weight of imputed sin and guilt. As Hart says, "Such loads of guilt were on Him put, He could but just sustain the weight." But he was "chosen of God" that he might be Zion's Representative, Zion's Sin-bearer, and Zion's glorious Head;...

“ Jesus is in all respects fitted for His mighty work of redeeming. He is very man and very God. He is the Seed of the woman, the Seed of Abraham, the Seed of David, the Son of Mary—yet God over all, blessed forever. Thus He can bear our sins. He can sympathize with our sorrows. He can fight our battles. He can love as a man, a fellow Man, Bone of our bone, and Flesh of our flesh.” -Horatius Bonar

Christ, as He is God, is infinitely great and high above all. He is higher than the kings of the earth, for He is King of kings, and Lord of lords. He is higher than the heavens, and higher than the highest angels of heaven. So great is He, that all men, all kings and princes, are as worms of the dust before Him. All nations are as the drop of the bucket, and the light dust of the balance, yes, and angels themselves are as nothing before Him. He is so high that He is infinitely above any need of us, so above our reach that we cannot be profitable to Him, and so above our conceptions that we cannot comprehend Him. -Christ is the Creator and great Possessor of heaven and earth.   -He is sovereign Lord of all!   -He rules over the whole universe, and does whatsoever pleases Him. -His knowledge is without bound. -His wisdom is perfect, and what none can circumvent. -His power is infinite, and none can resist Him. -His riches are immense and inexh...

"For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." - I CORINTHIANS 1:18 [KJV]   Has the gospel ever come to you in power? If it has, it has done something for you. Has it ever, then, dispelled your many doubts and fears? Has it ever made Jesus precious to your soul; ever brought with it light, life, liberty, and love; ever given you access to the bosom of God; ever communicated that spirit of holy boldness and filial confidence, whereby, as a successful wrestler, you were enabled to prevail with God, and get a blessing out of His hands and heart? But it is useless to talk of power when nothing is done. A manufacturer says to an engineer, "I want you to construct me an engine of a hundred horse power." But if the engineer make the engine, and upon trial it be found only of ninety, and the work require a hundred horse power, the engine is so far useless. Now, what would his employe...

Most preachers proclaim a god who has many wants and needs. They say things like, “God wants to bless you; He wants you to be healthy and prosperous; He has a wonderful plan for your life, but he needs you to let him have his way.” Let me be unmistakably clear: any god who requires your cooperation in order to make his plans come to pass is not the God of the Bible and any preacher who preaches such a god is a false prophet. A weak and feeble god is merely an idol , an image that came forth from man’s vain imagination. The true God sets Himself forth in His Word as that One Who does whatever He desires to do, Who always performs His will. “ My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure” [ISAIAH 46:10 ] . David declared, “ But our God is in the heavens: He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased” [PSALM 115:3 ] . Again, the Psalmist said in Psalm 135:4-5, “ For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatsoever the LORD pleased, t...

“ The religious professor receives doctrines because he sees them in the Bible. The believer not only sees them in the Bible, but he feels them in his heart, put there by the Holy Spirit. The believer gets at truth through trouble. He arrives at the banquet of mercy through sharp pangs of hunger. He lays hold of the robe of righteousness chilled by nakedness. He comes to the cross because he is guilty and there is nowhere else to go. Thus the religionist and the believer (however else they may resemble one another) have an eternal distinction which the hand of God has drawn between the living and the dead.” - preacher J. C. Philpot

"And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of H is grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified." -A CTS 20:32 [KJV]   Not only did Paul "commend" the church at Ephesus "to God," but he commended them also in an especial manner " TO THE WORD OF HIS GRACE ." There is a difference between "grace" and "the word of His grace." Nothing but grace can save the soul; nothing but superabounding grace can blot out and hide from the view of justice our aggravated iniquities. But " the word of H is grace " is that word which brings this grace into the heart, which communicates life and power to the soul, which the Spirit by His inward teaching and testimony seals on the conscience, and by which He reveals and sheds abroad that favour of which He testifies. This is what the Lord's people want. It is "the Word of grace" that...

Weekend Gospel message to follow for All Hands (27-29DEC19) 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 our sins and from Hell: “ The sinner who is enlightened to know himself, his wants, enemies, and dangers, WILL NOT DARE TO CONFIDE IN ANYTHING SHORT OF AN ALMIGHTY ARM; he needs a Shepherd who is full of wisdom, full of care, full of power; able, like the sun, to shine upon millions at once, and possessed of those incommunicable attributes of Deity, omniscience and omnipresence. Such is our great Shepherd.” -preacher John Newton

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 prayed in John 17. They are “ His sheep.” The Father gave them to Him, and HE DIED FOR THEM [JOHN 10:15, 29 ] . Substitution is 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 [II TIMOTHY 2:25; E PHESIANS 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 ye are not of My sheep” [JOHN 10:26 ] . If they had been His sheep they would have believed. The “ good news” is that all whom the Father has given to the Son, and for whom He died, wil...

"They shall mount up with wings as eagles." -I SAIAH 40:31 [KJV] It is said of the eagle, that he mounts up towards the sun; and that of all birds, he is the only one which can gaze upon the sun with unshrinking eye. So with faith in the soul. The Lord's people alone can look by faith upon the "Sun of righteousness," gaze upon a glorious Immanuel at the right hand of the Father, and see a precious Jesus ever interceding for them, and drawing them near to His bosom. And when this blessed Jesus communicates a measure of His love and blood to their consciences, and raises up and draws forth faith in His name, then the soul begins to mount up with these wings like eagles, soaring higher and higher, till it comes into the presence of God; mounting up in higher and higher circles of spiritual flight, till it penetrates into the very sanctuary of Jehovah. Now, has not your soul thus soared sometimes as upon eagle's wings? Have there not been those co...

"For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. Now He which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." -II C ORINTHIANS 1:20-22 [KJV] Paul is reminding the believers at Corinth and us today that all that God has promised us in His word is as certain and sure as His own name and character [II TIMOTHY 2:19 ] . These promises were all made according to His own will and purpose [EPHESIANS 1:11 ] . The scriptures teach, that which God has promised He is able to perform [ROMANS 4:20-21 ] . All these precious promises display the qualities of God Who gave them [II PETER 1:3-4 ] . Notice several particulars that the apostle points out. 1). The range and scope of these promises, "All the promises of God." There is not a need any guilty sinners has that the promises of God does not meet [PHILIPPIANS 4:19 ] . ...

“ Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” -H EBREWS 13:8 [KJV] O the everlasting salvation that we have in Jesus Christ! He is the same, and will be the same for ever and ever, and the righteousness He has wrought out for us is like Himself, it is an everlasting righteousness. It covered our first parents. It is true they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves, but God rejected them, as He will reject our self-righteousness, and clothed them with the skins of beasts that had probably been slain in sacrifice. Abraham had to look to this Jesus for righteousness, and so had the prophets, and so have we. It is an everlasting righteousness, covering all the election of grace in ages gone by, covering them all today, and that will cover them all tomorrow, making them accepted in the presence of a holy God. As it is written, we are “ accepted in the Beloved,” beheld all fair and perfect in the Lord Jesus. And as respects the blood of this salvation...

My friends, do you love to hear Christ lifted up and exalted as your all and in all? If you do, you are willing to be made less than nothing and vanity in yourselves. Professors of religion, generally, do not like to be thus humbled. They love to have something to do, in whole or in part, to recommend themselves to God. But the Lord’s salvation is not a mixture of grace and works. It is of free and sovereign grace, and received by faith alone, which is the gift of God. It is “ not of works, lest any man should boast.” The Lord alone be exalted as the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last in the salvation of His people. - Gospel report by preacher John Kershaw (1792-1870 A.D.)

"Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made H imself of no reputation, and took upon H im the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men." -P HILIPPIANS 2:6, 7 [KJV]   The humanity of our blessed Lord was actual flesh and blood from the moment of its conception, a perfect human body, to which was united a perfect human soul; both without sin, or else He could not be the Lamb without blemish; both without sin, or his pure humanity would not have been that "holy thing" born of the Virgin, which should be called the Son of God. Thus He came forth as the Lamb of God, without spot or blemish. Well indeed might the Apostle say, "Great is the mystery of godliness." Here as in a glass we see the wonderful love of Jesus, that He who is the Sort of God, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Ghost, a sharer of the Father's essence, of the Father's glory, should stoop so l...

T HE S CRIPTURES PLAINLY TEACH that God is the first cause of all things. He does according to His will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth. He works all things after the counsel of His own will . He does all His pleasure, raising up and putting down, making rich and making poor, afflicting or healing....all things! As He does so, the responses and attitudes of men and women to these "all things" greatly reflect their attitude toward the God who sends them. I'm not talking about a few words spoken in the heat of pain or the piercing sorrow of grief. Jacob, the man of faith, spoke in haste at a time of great sorrow, "all things are against me." I'm talking about the individual’s general attitude and response after the initial shock has passed. When their thoughts again are gathered and a course must be taken, what will they say and do? Will they blame or bless the God who is the first cause of all things. I...

I cannot think of many things that are useful when they are broken. We are either forced to discard them or to try to have them repaired. You cannot drive a broken car. You cannot use a broken computer. A broken arm will not be of much service to you nor can you walk on a broken leg. I can only think of one thing that is very useful when it is broken, a broken and a contrite heart . When God in His infinite mercy is pleased to call us to Himself and reveal the gospel to us, He breaks the hard and stony heart of sin and gives us a heart of flesh to humbly approach the throne of grace [EZEKIEL 36:26 ] . Consider the advantages of a broken heart! 1). A broken heart is acceptable and pleasing unto God! "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise" [PSALM 51:17 ] . 2). It makes the soul a fit vessel for God to dwell in! "For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is ...

Before we can see what free will denies, we first have to know what is meant by free will. Free will says that a man’s destiny is dependent upon the choices he makes. His will is free to choose to allow God to save him or reject God’s offer of salvation. His eternal destiny is determined by his free will. If I believe my will is free, there are three things I deny. 1.   I deny that God is sovereign. I say His sovereignty does not extend to my will. That is a complete denial of His sovereignty. 2.   I deny that I am a sinner in the Biblical definition of the word. According to the Bible, men are dead in sins [EPHESIANS 2:1 ] . That means they are completely unable to do anything to save themselves. Free will is a denial of that. 3.   Free will is a denial of free grace. You cannot believe in salvation by grace and free will. Free will is nothing less than salvation by works. The teaching of free will is a denial of the Gospel! ...

"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to H is mercy H e saved us." - TITUS 3:5 [KJV] To view mercy in its real character, we must go to Calvary. It is not sufficient to contrast the purity of God with the impurity of man. That indeed affords us some view of what mercy must be to reach the depths of the fall; a sideface of that precious attribute. But to see its full face shining upon the redeemed, we must go by faith, under the secret teachings and leadings of the Holy Ghost, to see "Immanuel, God with us," grovelling in Gethsemane's garden. We must view Him naked upon the cross, groaning, bleeding, agonizing, dying. We must view Godhead and manhood united together in the Person of a suffering Jesus; and the power of the Godhead bearing up the suffering manhood. We must view that wondrous spectacle of love and blood, and feel our eyes flowing down in streams of sorrow, humility, and contrition at the sight, in order to ...

“ And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God .” -M ATTHEW 16:16 [KJV]   All who are born of God believe that Jesus is THE CHRIST! The title “The Christ” signifies “anointed” and includes all the offices of the Son of God. To believe Him to be the Christ is to believe Him to be that Prophet which Moses said should come, who has declared the whole mind and will of the Father. It is to believe He is that Priest that should arise after the order of Melchizedek and make atonement for sin and intercede for transgressors. It is to believe that He is that King whom the Father has set over ALL THINGS! This faith is not a mere assent to the facts nor the knowledge which devils have, but it is a HEART FAITH and LOVE FOR HIM and His glory. - Gospel report by preacher Henry T. Mahan  

"And let the beauty of the L ORD our God be upon us: and establish T hou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish T hou it." -P SALM 90:17 [KJV] What is this beauty? "The beauty of the L ORD our God." It is, therefore, the beauty of the God-man; the comeliness, the holiness, the perfection, and glory that ever dwell in the Son of God. Now "days of affliction, and years of evil" have marred all creature comeliness. There was a time, perhaps, when we could take some pleasure and delight in what we were, or what we vainly fancied we should be. Our own righteousness had a beauty and comeliness to us; and our religion was amiable and pleasing in our own sight. But what has become of it? Marred, marred; effectually marred. By what? "Days of affliction, and years of evil." These have effectually ruined, defaced, and polluted all creature comeliness. In a word, we were once deeply in love with self; but self...

The good news from heaven to lost sinners, that glorious gospel of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ, is not a message of God's hopeful expectations to save, but of a salvation purposed and accomplished . It is not a message of Jesus Christ knocking at the door of the sinner's heart, hoping to gain an entrance, but of His determination and ability to give a new heart to whom He will. It is not a message of the Holy Spirit striving with the sinner's natural will, hoping to influence him to decide for Jesus, but of His purpose and ability to make sinners willing, causing them to flee to the Lord Jesus Christ ( s ee II T IMOTHY 1:9; P SALM 110:3; J OHN 17:2; I SAIAH 53:11) . "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call H is name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins" (M ATTHEW 1:21) . Just as sure as His name is JESUS, HE SHALL SAVE His people, ALL His people, from all their sins. What a Savior! - Gospel report by pre...