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

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, 1848 A.D.

"And so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish." -ESTHER 4:16 [KJV]   When we are in darkness, under distress of conscience, or when guilt lies hard and heavy upon the soul, these things do, and must until removed, keep us back from the Lord. But are we ever to give heed to these enemies of our soul's peace? Are we never to press through the crowd? How was it with the man who was paralyzed for so many years? He might for ever have lain helpless upon his bed, had he not been brought into the presence of Jesus. How with the woman with the issue of blood? She might for ever have tarried on the skirts of the crowd, a poor, polluted, self-condemned wretch. But she pressed through the crowd, and got to touch the hem of Jesus' garment.   So with us. Shall we ever dwell in the outskirts—in the outer court of the temple? Shall we merely walk round Zion's bulwarks and tarry at her doors, or shall we vent...

The Greek language is fond of using the ‘Double Negative’ ( ou me ) to emphasize the impossibility of a matter. It is an unequivocal way of saying ‘NEVER!’ We find this expression ( ou me ) among other places in JOHN 6:37, where Jesus promises to NEVER cast out the person who comes to Him. The King James Version translates it that He will in “No wise” cast such a person out. Literally it means “I will never cast out” or “I will by no means cast out” or emphatically, “I will not cast out.” So, when will Jesus cast us out? Never! Is Jesus a liar? No! Does He make false statements? No! Then, WE ARE SAFE. John Bunyan, in his “ Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners ” said of John 6:37, “Oh the comfort that I have had from this expression in no wise .” It seems that when Satan came to challenge him about his salvation, Bunyan used this verse to combat him. He goes on to say, “If ever Satan and I did strive for any word of God in all my life, it was for this good word of...