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

"Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in M e." -M ATTHEW 11:6 [KJV] What is the feeling of your heart toward Jesus? What is the solemn desire of your soul? that He would come and make your heart His abode? that He would visit your soul with the light of His countenance? that He would sprinkle His blood upon your conscience? that He would make Himself very near, very dear, and very precious? Do you count one word from His lips worth a thousand worlds? a smile of His countenance worth thousands of gold and silver? Then you are blessed. You are not stumbling upon the dark mountains of error. You are not stumbling at the perfections of the Son of God. You are not offended at a free gospel, an unconditional salvation. No; the Lord in mercy has slaughtered your prejudices, subdued your enmity, and brought you to receive the gospel as a little child. "Well," but some may say, "I believe all this; but, then, I have doubts and fears w...

"But we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope." -R OMANS 5:3-4 [KJV] Not only does the believer rejoice in hope of the glory of God, but he rejoices even in tribulation, trials, and afflictions (James 1:2-3; 2 Cor. 12:10). We do not rejoice in the suffering nor the trial itself, for most trials are grievous and difficult; but we rejoice in the EFFECT of the trial. All of our trials are appointed by God, our Father, and are for His glory and our good (Rom. 8:28; Heb. 12:9-11; Psa. 119:71).  "Trials work patience." Patience is submission to the will of God. It is to be content and wait upon the Lord (Heb. 13:5; Psa. 27:13-14). It is the opposite of covetousness, complaining, and haste. It involves not only our attitude toward God and His providence but also our attitude toward others during the trial. "Patience worketh experience" or MATURITY of character and pr...

" According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God ." - I TIMOTHY 1:11 [KJV] The ceremonial law contained many a type and shadow of Messiah; but the gospel is the history of His advent and mediatorial work. The ceremonial law pointed to the coming Prince of Peace; but the gospel brings Him to His throne, and puts the crown upon His head. Christ is "the brightness of the Father’s glory, and the express image of His person" and Moses and Aaron are lost in His light, as the moon and the stars are lost in the blaze of the rising sun. The excellence of His person, the merit of His sacrifice, and the utility of His offices, give Him an immense superiority. The many prophets, priests and kings of the former dispensation, were but the shadows cast by the one great Prophet, Priest and King, which indicated His coming. A light arose from the cross of Calvary, which turned the black cloud on Sinai into a pillar of glory. Typical blood shielded the children of I...

"Yet T hou, O L ORD , art in the midst of us, and we are called by T hy name." -J EREMIAH 14:9 [KJV] If the Lord has ever been in our soul to manifest there a sense of His goodness and mercy, we can then make use of this as our plea, "Yet T hou, O L ORD , art in the midst of us." If He has ever heard your prayer He is with you; if He has ever given you a promise He is with you; if He has ever touched your heart with His finger He is with you; if He has ever favoured you with a smile He is with you. And though taking the general run of your experience he may be a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night, or though even as it may seem, as if he were astonied at what you are—a mighty man that cannot save, still every token for good encourages you to cling, to cleave, to hang round Him, to catch hold of His feet as the Shunamite caught Elisha by the feet, and would not be thrust away; for you cannot but fee...