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

The grand controversy between corrupt nature and the Almighty is, W ho shall have the glory of salvation, God or the creature? The pride of man says – “The glory of salvation is due to me, for I can save myself.” But Jehovah takes the glory of salvation to Himself, and says – “I will have all the glory thereof; for it is by My sovereign and efficacious grace that men are saved.” Thus pride is a principal cause of the enmity there is in the carnal mind against God; it is at the bottom of all the opposition made to those doctrines of Scripture which illustrate and advance THE ALMIGHTY POWER AND FREE GRACE OF GOD IN THE SALVATION OF SINNERS . — Gospel report by preacher Augustus Toplady (1740–1778 A.D.)

“ WHEREFORE DOTH A LIVING MAN COMPLAIN?” - LAMENTATIONS 3:39 [KJV] 1. God commands me never to complain [ P HILIPPIANS 2:14 ] . 2. God commands me to give thanks in every circumstance [I THESSALONIANS 5:18 ] . 3. God commands me to rejoice always, especially in trials [I THESSALONIANS 5:16; J AMES 1:2 ] . 4. I always deserve much worse than what I am suffering now; in fact, I deserve hell [LAMENTATIONS 3:39; L UKE 13:2-3 ] . 5. In light of the eternal happiness and glory I will experience in heaven, this present trial is brief and insignificant, even if it were to last a lifetime [ R OMANS 8:18; II CORINTHIANS 5:19 ] . 6. My suffering is far less than that which Christ suffered, and He did not complain [I PETER 2:23 ] . 7. To complain is to say God is not just [GENESIS 18:25 ] . 8. Faith and prayer exclude complaining [ P SALM 34:4 ] . 9. This difficulty is being used by God for my good and it...

"He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." -P ROVERBS 16:32 [KJV] What a foe to one's peace is one's own spirit ! And what shall I call it? It is often an infernal spirit. Why? Because it bears the mark of Satan upon it. The pride of our spirit, the presumption of our spirit, the hypocrisy of our spirit, the intense selfishness of our spirit are often hidden from us. This wily devil, self, can wear such masks and assume such forms; this serpent, self, can so creep and crawl, can so twist and turn, and can disguise itself under such false appearances, that it is hidden often from ourselves. Who is the greatest enemy we have to fear? We all have our enemies. But who is our greatest enemy? He that you carry in your own bosom; your daily, hourly, and momently companion, that entwines himself in nearly every thought of your heart; that suggests well-nigh every motive; that sometimes...

“ Just as the sinner's despair of any hope in himself is the first prerequisite of a sound conversion, so the loss of all confidence in himself is the first essential in the believer's growth in grace.” - A rthur W. Pink