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

“ He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness.” -I SAIAH 61:10 [KJV] We do not think it strange, or preposterous, to wear clothes, the materials of which we borrow from other creatures. And why should it be deemed absurd, that we should hide our spiritual shame, by appearing before God in the garment of another, EVEN THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST. -Gospel report by preacher Augustus Toplady [1740–1778 A.D.]

  O may the praises of the Lord, From every heart arise; Declare the glories of our God, Who rules o’er earth and skies. Sing of His great creative work, By Him the heav’ns were made; Proclaim the wonders of His might, Who earth’s foundation laid. Adore mysterious providence, By Him all things consist; Extol His purpose, wise and good, Whose will none can resist. Behold Jehovah’s greatest work, Salvation by His grace; He gave His Son, the ransom Price, To save a chosen race. Declare the praises of our God, Let none refuse to sing; Affirm the greatness of the Lord, Give glory to the King! Tune: “ O God, Our Help in Ages Past, ” p. 10 (CM) Words by preacher Jim Byrd

"That I may glory with T hine inheritance." -P SALM 106:5 [KJV]   The Church is Christ's inheritance. He purchased it by His own blood. He went into captivity for it, and He redeemed it by pouring out His precious blood for it. Now this inheritance glories:  "That I may glory with T hine inheritance."   And in whom does it glory? It glories in its covenant Head. It does not glory in itself—in its pious self, righteous self, strong self, religious self; "let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches, but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth M e" [JEREMIAH 9:23-24] . "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord" [I CORINTHIANS 1:31] . The glory of the Church is to glory in her covenant Head—to glory in Christ and in Christ alone; to glory in His strength, love, blood, grace, and righteousness; and to glory i...

“ That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord .” - ROMANS 5:21 [KJV] Dear friend, May Jesus be yours--all that He is, and all that He has. Then you will be as rich as an archangel! May He captivate you more with His infinite beauty and enable you to live more blessedly upon His infinite fullness, that He may keep His royal court in your soul! The more you are acquainted with Him, the more you will grow in love to Him; for He is altogether lovely, an immense ocean of everlasting love! The loveliness of the whole world is but a drop compared to His immeasurable love. What must Heaven be, where His love is to be fully manifested and enjoyed forever! There we shall see Him! Oh, for that day! But even along our pilgrim way, He walks with us and makes our hearts burn within us. These sweet foretastes of His love draw us on and whet our appetite for Heaven. A few more of these foretastes, and ...

"That I may rejoice in the gladness of T hy nation." - PSALM 106:5 [KJV]   What is "the gladness of God's nation?" To be saved "without money and without price;" to be saved by grace—free, rich, sovereign, distinguishing grace, without one atom of works, without one grain of creature merit, without anything of the flesh. This is "the gladness of God's nation;" to rejoice in free grace, grace superabounding over the aboundings of sin, grace reigning triumphant over the dreadful evils of our heart. It is grace that "gladdens" a man's heart. Oh! sweet grace, blessed grace! when it meets our case and reaches our souls. Oh! what a help, what a strength, what a rest for a poor toiling, striving, labouring soul, to find that grace has done all the work, to feel that grace has triumphed in the cross of Christ, to find that nothing is required, nothing is wanted, nothing is to be done. It is a full and perfect, compl...

The great and important question for you and me always has been and is now. "How can man be just with God?" I do not deny an interest in the mysteries of providence and the matters of prophecy, but the most important matter to me at all times ­ and it increases as I grow older and approach the day of judgment ­ is, "How can I stand before God justified and accepted?" Woe to the man who shall be weighed and found wanting! "If I justify myself," Job declared, "my own mouth would condemn me." If I say that I am without sin and holy enough for God's fellowship, I would be a liar and make God a liar! But Paul declares "It is God that justifieth." He can, by the substitution and satisfaction of His Son, make the unjust, just and the unclean, clean! He can cover us with a perfect robe of righteousness, so that we are as holy and pure as the Redeemer Himself. And the important thing is that God can justify us in a way that is c...

Weekend Gospel message to follow for All Hands (2 9-31 MAY20) 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: A RIGHTEOUSNESS PLEASING TO GOD “ Although I am a sinner, yet I despair not; for Christ, Who is my Redeemer and my Righteousness, liveth. In Him I have no sin, no sting of conscience and no fear of judgment. In Christ there is no condemnation. I am indeed a sinner as touching this present life, but I have the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD which is above this life, Who is CHRIST MY LORD. In Him I rejoice.” -preacher Martin Luther

"That I may see the good of T hy chosen." -P SALM 106:5 [KJV] Did you ever see any good in God's chosen? Oh! "how goodly are thy tents,  O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel!"  Did you ever see what good God has blessed H is people with, and how good it is to be one of them? All God's people see that there is a "good" in God's chosen family, peculiar to them, and that they sigh and long for. But some will say, Had David never seen it when he penned this psalm? Aye, surely; he had seen it. But did he not want to see it again? Yes; he had lost the sight of it, the sweet vision of it had retired, the old veil had come back, his eyes were dim, he wanted fresh "eyesalve."   So with us; we have seen, we trust, at times "the good of God's chosen," have felt our affections drawn towards them, and drawn up towards God, and have said, "Whom have I in heaven but T hee? and there is none upon earth that...

“ No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly” - P SALM 84:11 [KJV] If the Lord has brought us to believe His gospel of grace we may rest assured that He will never withhold from us that which is for our welfare. Let us remember, however, He alone determines what is a “ good thing.” We don’t have wisdom enough to determine what is beneficial for us or what will be harmful for us, but He does. Our heavenly Father always chooses for His people those things which will profit us spiritually and eternally, though they may be unpleasant, even offensive to the flesh. In what He gives and in what He withholds, may we always perceive His Fatherly wisdom, lovingkindness and faithfulness.   - Gospel report by preacher Jim Byrd Thirteenth Street Baptist church of Ashland, Kentucky USA Please find enclosed link to audio Gospel sermons & Contact Info: https://www.sermonaudio.com/source_detail.asp?sourceid=13thstbaptist

"If any man come to M e, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be M y disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after M e, cannot be M y disciple." -L UKE 14:26, 27 [KJV]   There is no middle path to heaven—there is no intermediate state between hell and heaven; no purgatory for that numerous class who think themselves hardly good enough for heaven, yet hardly bad enough for hell. No; there is no intermediate road nor state. We must win Christ as our own most blessed Jesus, and with H im enjoy the happiness and glory of heaven, or sink down to H ell with all our sins upon our head beneath H is most terrible frown . The soul then that has been charmed with the beauty and blessedness of JESUS longs to win Him, and that not for a day, month, or year, but for eternity; for in obtaining Him, it obtains all that God can give the soul of man to enjoy as created im...

“ To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” -ISAIAH 8:20 [KJV] All false doctrine is due to neglecting the Word of God entirely, deleting certain portions from the Word of God, adding to the Word of God or taking a passage in the Word of God out of its context and misapplying it. It is the command of the Lord that we bow to the authority of the Scriptures and that our beliefs be confined to that which is within the borders of this inspired Book. We must hear what “Thus saith the LORD,” and reject every voice that speaks contrary to His Word. Like the Psalmist may our determination be, “I WILL HEAR WHAT GOD THE LORD WILL SPEAK: for He will speak peace to His people, and to His saints: but let them not turn again to folly” [PSALM 85:8] . Like the prophet, may we say, “I will stand on my watch, and set me on the tower, and WILL WATCH TO SEE WHAT HE WILL SAY TO ME , and what I shall answer...

" Remember me, O L ORD , with the favour that T hou bearest unto T hy people: O visit me with T hy salvation ." -P SALM 106:4 [KJV]   How is a man brought and taught to want to be "visited with" God's salvation? He must know something first of condemnation. Salvation only suits the condemned. "The Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost ; " and therefore salvation only suits the lost. A man must be lost— utterly lost—before he can prize God's salvation. And how is he lost? By losing all his religion, losing all his righteousness, losing all his strength, losing all his confidence, losing all his hopes, losing all that is of the flesh; losing it by its being taken from him, and stripped away by the hand of God. A man who is brought into this state of utter beggary and complete bankruptcy—to be nothing, to have nothing, to know nothing—he is the man, who in the midnight watches, in his lonely hours, by his fireside, and a...

Dr Law and Dr Grace D.G. Miles McKee   Many years ago, I heard an old time, South Texas preacher, preach about two doctors. He said something like this; “Let me introduce you to two Doctors who both claim to have the ability to bring us spiritual health.  One is Called Dr Law and the other, Dr Grace.  Each has a different theory as to how to get us well. Take Dr Law, for example.  Some patients went to him about the question of salvation.  Dr Law glared and said, “God does His part, and you do yours!”  That sounded sensible, but those who followed his prescription were always left in doubt as to whether or not they had done enough on their part. So, the patients then went to Dr Grace, and Dr Grace said, “You can’t do and don’t do anything to gain salvation.” Back they then go to Dr Law.  When he hears about Dr Grace’s diagnosis, Dr Law stiffened and glares at them.  Quick as a flash, he says, “In Acts 16:31, the Philippian...

"Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory.  Selah." -PSALM 24:7-10 [KJV]  

WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST? -M ATTHEW 22:42 [KJV] The religious and self-righteous Pharisees surrounded the Lord on this occasion with malice in their heart to destroy Him. We read in Matt hew 22:15 that "they took counsel how they might entangle Him in His talk." The religious came at Him with many needless and unnecessary questions about religion and politics [ M ATTHEW 22:17 ] , about future events [MATTHEW 22:25-28 ] and about the law of God [ M ATTHEW 22:36 ] . The Lord Jesus Christ put them all to silence with this one heart searching and all important question, "What think ye of Christ?" I trust that everyone of us will seriously ponder this question and ask our sovereign Lord to give us honest and scriptural thoughts of Him. So then, what do you really think of the Lord Jesus Christ? Consider these things about Him: 1). What do you think of the Lord Jesus Christ in His blessed person ? Can you say with Thomas that He is my Lord and my God [JOH...

"I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him." -EZEKIEL 21:27 [KJV] Are there not seasons in our experience when we can lay down our souls before God, and say, "Let Christ be precious to my soul, let Him come with power to my heart, let Him set up His throne as Lord and King, and let self be nothing before Him?" Well, we utter these prayers in sincerity and simplicity, we desire their fulfilment; but oh, the struggle! the conflict! when God answers these petitions. When our plans are frustrated, what a rebellion works up in the carnal mind! When self is cast down, what a rising up of the fretful, peevish impatience of the creature! When the Lord does answer our prayers, and strips off all false confidence; when He does remove our rotten props, and dash to pieces our broken cisterns, what a storm—what a conflict takes place in the soul! Angry with the Lord for doing the v...

Once when I was traveling in southern England, I went to what was supposed to be a gospel church in order to and in hopes of hearing the glorious gospel of God’s grace in Christ. As the service began, hymns were sung that were very scriptural and everything conducted in a respectable manner. My heart could not wait to hear of Christ and His glory. When the preacher began to preach, his message centered on how bad he was, the evil of his own heart, the wretchedness of sinners. All of this may have been true but there never was any “Good News.” No gospel “glad tidings” of mercy and salvation in Christ. As a matter of face, very little of Christ and His work at all! This is often the case with writers and preachers but it is just not scriptural. They glorify unbelief! They write or preach as if it is a good thing to live in darkness, doubt and despair. They sometimes say, “I only despair in myself.” Yet, God has not told us to look to or in ourselves! We are to look to Jesus Chris...

Mercy speaks by Jesus' blood; Hear and sing, ye sons of God; [Justice satisfied indeed; Christ has full redemption made.] Jesus' blood speaks loud and sweet; Here all Deity does meet, [and, without a jarring voice, welcome Zion to rejoice. ] Should the law against her roar, Jesus' blood still speaks with power, [All her debts were cast on Thee, and she must and shall go free.] Peace of conscience, peace with God, we obtain through Jesus' blood; [Jesus' blood speaks solid rest; We believe, and we are blest.] Tune: 'For the Beauty of the Earth'

“ The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” -PSALM 27:1 [KJV]

"As dying, and, behold, we live." - II CORINTHIANS 6:9 [KJV] Though we die, and die daily, yet, behold, we live; and in a sense, the more we die, the more we live. The more we die to self, the more we die to sin; the more we die to pride and self-righteousness, the more we die to creature strength; and the more we die to nature, the more we live to grace. And this runs all the way through the life and experience of a Christian. Nature must die, that grace may live. The weeds must be plucked up, that the crop may grow; the flesh be starved, that the spirit may be fed; the old man put off, that the new man may be put on; the deeds of the body be mortified, that the soul may live unto God. As then we die, we live. The more we die to our own strength, the more we live to Christ's strength; the more we die to creature hope, the more we live to a good hope through grace; the more we die to our own righteousness, the more we live to Christ's righteousness;...

       The Bible tells us there is only one way of salvation for sinners; the way of God’s free, sovereign grace in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ crucified is the only way of forgiveness of sins and righteousness before God. The Lord Himself said, “ I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” [JOHN 14:6 ] . Peter said, “ Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” [ACTS 4:12 ] . The Bible tells us God commands sinful men to seek salvation by seeking Christ, for He is salvation [ISAIAH 45:21-25; 55:6-7 ] . We know all who truly seek Him will find Him [MATTHEW 7:7-8 ] . The Bible also tells us sinful men by nature will not of their own wills seek the Lord [PSALM 14:2-3; R OMANS 3:10-12 ] . The Bible tells us any sinner who truly seeks the Lord has been given a new heart, a new spirit, and a new will by the Hol...

"A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth. O LORD, I have heard Thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive Thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy ." -HABAKKUK 3:1-2 [KJV]   As we can see, these words from the prophet Habakkuk are a prayer. They are the cry of a man whose heart has been moved by the Holy Spirit. What has the Holy Spirit used to produce this prayer? It was the word of the Lord. He says, "I have heard Thy speech." God spoke His word of truth to him in power.  He was enabled by grace to hear, believe and understand things concerning both of himself and his nation. This prayer is the cry of his heart which is now filled holy fear, the "fear of the Lord" that is "the beginning of wisdom." What does he pray for? "REVIVE THY WORK." Such a statement presupposes life! You cannot revive what has never been alive. This is the prayer of quicken...

"Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth." -C OLOSSIANS 3:2 [KJV]   Everything upon earth, as viewed by the eyes of the Majesty of heaven, is low and paltry. Earth is after all but a huge clod of dust, and as such, apart from its having been once the place of the Redeemer's sufferings and sacrifice, being now the habitation of H is suffering people, and to be hereafter the scene of H is glory, as insignificant in the eyes of its Maker as the small dust of the balance or the drop of the bucket.   What, then, are its highest objects, its loftiest aims, its grandest pursuits, its noblest employments, short of the grace of the gospel, in the sight of Him who inhabits eternity, but mean and worthless? Nay, even in our eyes is there not one consideration that when felt stamps vanity upon them all?—that all earth's pursuits, whatever high attainments men may reach in this life, be it of wealth, rank, learning, power, or pleasure, end i...

  JESUS IS THE ONE GREAT THEME both of the Old Testament and the New. The whole Bible is designed to testify of Christ, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me” [JOHN 5:39] . In Christ the Messiah, in Jesus the Savior, in the Son of God the Redeemer, all the truths of the Bible center. To Him all the types and shadows point! Of Him all the prophecies give witness! While all the glory of the Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation, culminates at the cross of Christ. The Bible would be an inexplicable mystery apart from Christ, who unfolds and explains it all. He is the O ne, the golden Key, which unlocks the divine treasury of revelation! Until He is seen, the Bible is in a sense, a great conundrum. But when He is found, it is a glorious revelation; every mystery opened, every enigma explained, every discrepancy harmonized, and every truth and page, sentence and word, quickened with a life and glowing with ...

There is no other. “There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” All the types and symbols of the Savior teach you this. There was one ark in the flood – but one; and all perished save those who sailed in it. There was one altar in the temple – but one; and no sacrifices were accepted but those offered there – “the altar,” as the Bible says, that “sanctified the gift.” There was one way through the depths of the Red Sea – but one; and only where the water, held back by the hand of God, stood up in crystals walls, was a passage opened for those that were ready to perish. And even so, there is but “one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus ; ” therefore, The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ. - Gospel report by preacher Thomas Guthrie (1803 – 1873 A.D.)

“ Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and TO GIVE HIS LIFE A RANSOM FOR MANY.” - MATTHEW 20:28 [KJV] Jesus’ condescension and self-abnegation before His disciples was in response to the request of James and John to have an elevated place in the eternal kingdom [MATTHEW 20:20-23 ] . The Lord responded: the kingdom will “ be given to them for whom it is prepared of My Father ” [vs. 23 ] . By His declaration in verse 28, Jesus demonstrated to them the high value of being a servant. Then beyond that, Jesus declared the eternal, real and vital reason for His advent: Substitution for chosen sinners. Consider: “ to give H is life a ransom for many ” - Jesus didn’t enter humanity to take but “ to give ”. He gave to the physically infirmed by healing the sick and raising the dead. He gave to the spiritually infirmed by casting out demons and giving light in darkness. He said, “ I gave My back to the smiters, and My cheeks to them that plucked o...