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

  Weekend Gospel message to follow for All Hands   (30APR-02MAY21) 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:   CHRIST IS ALL Every child of God realizes that without Christ, he is nothing. Christ is our peace, our hope, our joy, our preservation, our life, our wisdom, our sanctification, our righteousness and our redemption; He is our all . Should He forsake us or withdraw His presence from us (something that can never happen), we would again be lost, dead and absolutely unacceptable to a holy God. The fact of the matter is that we are totally dependent upon the blessed Savior for everything. Our eternal safety does not hinge upon our feeble hold of faith upon Him (though we do believe and rely on Him), but upon His almighty g...

  "Sing ye saints this hymn of praise, Hallelujahs let us raise; Bless the Lord of earth and skies, Let our praises now arise, Let our praises now arise. View His great creative might, In the morning’s matchless light; Study providence and see Proofs of His great majesty, Proofs of His great majesty. Yet a greater work appears, What relief to all our fears! God for sinners gave His Son, Jesus, the Anointed One, Jesus, the Anointed One. Lo, He came the lost to save, His own life He freely gave; God was fully satisfied, When Christ Jesus bled and died, When Christ Jesus bled and died. Now the Savior reigns on high, By His grace He brings us nigh; He our sin has washed away, Turned our darkness into day, Turned our darkness into day. So this song of praise we sing, Unto Christ our God and King; We are filled with thankfulness, For the LORD our Righteousness, For the LORD our Righteousness." -Tune to "TAKE MY LIFE" 7.7.7.7. Words by preacher Jim Byrd

  "And the LORD said,  Arise, anoint him; for this is he .  Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren." -I Samuel 16:12, 13 [KJV]   Was David singled out from amidst his brethren, to be the Lord's anointed; and do I not behold in this the representation of Jesus, that Holy One, concerning whom the Lord spake in vision, and said, I have laid help upon One that is mighty; I have exalted One chosen out of the people? Yes, Thou Lord our  righteousness, in this I behold Thee. And let my soul make this sweet subject the meditation of my morning song, for surely it is a lovely song, to hail Thee the chiefest among ten thousand. I behold Thee then, Thou dear Emanuel, by the eye of faith, as coming up from everlasting, when amidst that immense multitude of those Thou disdainest not to call Thy brethren, Thou stoodest forth, in the eternal view, as the glorious One, to be the Christ, the God-man Mediator, for the salvation of Thy ch...

Full Assurance of Faith by D. G. Miles McKee   The Greek word `Plerophoria', (translated 'full assurance') occurs 4 times in the New Testament. First, we have the “full assurance of understanding” Colossians 2: 2. Then in 1Thessalonians 1:5 we have ‘full assurance of the gospel;’ then the ‘full assurance of hope’ (Hebrews 6:11); and finally, the full assurance of faith (Hebrews 10:22). Let’s consider, for a few moments, the last one, “Full Assurance of Faith.” Notice that we have the full assurance of faith, not the full assurance of feelings! Have you ever said to yourself, “If I could only feel saved, then I would have assurance?” But such thinking is entirely and utterly wrong.  For instance, if I said that I could not believe you until I felt that what you said was true, I would be saying, Your word is not enough for me.  I need your word plus my feelings.  If that is the way it is, I might as well call you a liar to your face. Yes indeed!...

"Behold how He loved him!" -John 11:36    The tears of Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus produced that astonishment in the mind of the Jews, that they thus exclaimed! But had they known, or did the whole world know, what I know of thy love to me, thou dear Redeemer of my soul, every one that heard it might with greater wonder cry out," Behold how he loveth him!" I would for the present pass by, in my contemplation of thy love, all the numberless instances of it, which I possess in common with thy church and people; for though these in every and in all cases carry with them the tokens of a love that passeth knowledge, yet, for the meditation of the morning, I would pause over the view of Jesus's love to me a poor sinner, not as it is displayed in general mercies, even the glorious mercies of redemption, but as those mercies come home, in their personal direction of them to my own heart, even to mine.     Think, my soul, what a huge volume thou wilt have to ...

“Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.” -Isaiah 33:17 [KJV] Believer, contemplate your blessed Redeemer, seated on His great white throne, encircled with heavenly glory! Look at the King in His beauty! It is the sight of a glorified Savior that will make the heaven of the believer. Endeavor now, by the eye of faith, to behold the Lord Jesus in all His matchless beauty and excellence. Contemplate His glorious character, His infinite mercy, His unparalleled condescension, and His boundless love! There is enough in Jesus to employ the soul in rapturous meditation through a vast eternity! His excellence, His goodness, and His love can never be fathomed! O keep your eye fixed on this adorable Savior while you sojourn in this valley of tears; and in a little while you shall see Him as He is; face to face, a...

  "Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He  called, them He also justified:and whom He justified, them He also glorified." -Romans 8:30 [KJV] The justified sinner stands the closest to God of any created being in the universe. Nearer to the throne of the Eternal, he cannot stand. What marvelous love! Who will dare assert that salvation is not, from first to last of free, sovereign grace!   Let your eye pierce the veil which falls between earth and heaven. Behold that shining, worshiping being, standing so near to the throne of glory, bathed in the overpowering effulgence of its rays!   Who is he? He was once a sinner upon earth, the vilest of his race, the dishonored of his generation, forsaken by man and abhorred of God.   But Jesus met him, and divine love drew him, and sovereign grace rescued, pardoned, and saved him! And now washed from all his guilt by the blood, freed from all condemnation by the righteousness of C...

"And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith ." -Luke 17:5 [KJV]   Did the apostles need so to pray? Then well may I. Oh! Thou great author and finisher of our faith! I would look up to Thee, with thankfulness, that Thou hast granted even the smallest portion of faith to so unworthy a creature as I am. Surely, my soul, it is as great a miracle of grace that my God and Saviour should have kindled belief in thy stony heart, amidst all the surrounding obstructions of sin and Satan which lay there, as when the miraculous fire from heaven, in answer to the prophet's prayer, came down and consumed the wetted sacrifice. I praise Thee, my God and King, this day, in the recollection of this unspeakable, unmerited mercy. And though this faith in my heart still be but as a grain of mustard seed; though it be but as a spark in the ocean; though it be but as the drop of the dew, in comparison of the river; yet, blessed, precious Jesus! still this is faith, and...

" The Breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the LORD on the head of them." -Micah 2:13 [KJV]   Pause, my soul, over this precious scripture, and ask thine own heart who this Almighty Breaker can be, except the Lord Jesus Christ; for He, and He alone, answers to such a divine character. Was it not He which came up as the Breaker from everlasting; when, in the council of peace, the divine decree was broken open, and the Son of God stood forth the sinner's Surety? Was it not He whom John saw by vision, who alone was found worthy in heaven to open the book, and loose the seals thereof? Was it not the same precious Holy One, who, when in the volume of the book it was found written of Him, that He should fulfil the law of Jehovah for sinful man, cried out, "Lo, I come?" And was it not Jesus, even thy Jesus, my soul, that in the fulness of ...

Weekend Gospel message to follow for All Hands   (23-25APR21) 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 PERFECT SACRIFICE Christ our Surety, in the covenant of grace, became legally accountable for the sin-debt of all those given to Him by the Father, and on the cross the sinless One "gave Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savor" (Ephesians 5:2). "For such an High Priest became us, Who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for His own sins, and then for the people’s: for this He did once, when He offered up Himself" (Hebrews 7:26-27). The reason that all of the animals offered...

"Wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.” -Matthew 24:28 [KJV]   My soul! these are the words of Jesus, none of which should be suffered to fall to the ground. No doubt much instruction is contained in this passage. An eagle is a bird of prey: and Job saith, that the eagle hasteneth to the prey as the swift ships, Job 9:26. In all birds of prey there is great sagacity, a vast quickness of scent to smell their proper food afar off; and thus natural instinct, added to a rapacious appetite, compel those creatures to fly swift to their prey, and to devour the carcase. Is there nothing in all this that suits thee, my soul? Oh yes: If Jesus hath given thee a real principle of life in Himself, which becomes a spiritual quickening from day to day, and from one hour to another, thy hungering and thirsting for Jesus will be as earnest and as importunate as the instinct of nature in those birds for daily food.       Pause, my soul, ...

"With true faith that worketh by love, there follows inseparably a true right evangelical zeal of God's glory, whereby we feeling how by our original corruption, .. we find both ourselves and all our works and best actions to be so shut up under sin {Galatians 3:22} that being truly humbled with a vile esteem of ourselves and all our best works, we do grant not with lip and tongue only {as many do,} but do feel in our hearts in deed and truth, that all our righteousness is as foul, stained and filthy rags {Isaiah 64:6}. Whereupon our hearts are so inflamed with such an high prizing and only esteeming of the wedding garment of Christ's obedience and righteousness perfectly justifying us, and all our works; that not only every true minister of the Gospel, but also every true Christian ceases all contention about works, and is carried with a zealous affection to know nothing among God's people except Jesus Christ and Him crucified to justify them {I Corinthians 2:2} by wh...

"The glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one.” -John 17:22 [KJV]   Those are sweet views of Jesus which point to our oneness and union with Him, by which alone we derive an interest in Him, and are made partakers both in His grace and glory. By virtue of this it is, that the glory the Father gave Jesus, as Mediator, all His people are interested in, and truly enjoy. For though like the heir of a kingdom, when an infant, the babe is unconscious of his dignity, yet is not the less entitled to his high birth and rank: so the seed of Jesus, while in this childhood of existence, though they do not live up to their high privileges through the weakness of their faith, yet their claim in Jesus is not the less. Jesus hath given them the glory of being brought within the covenant, the glory of redemption, the glory of the Holy Ghost's gifts and influences; and, in short, all the glory which a state of grace implies, and which ...

A GREAT RANSOM! by D.G. Miles McKee I Timothy 2:6 tells us that Jesus “gave Himself as a ransom.” Now, to ‘stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance,’ a ransom is a price paid to purchase someone's freedom. And that’s what Jesus did for His people when He died on the cross. In A.D. 1193, the King of England, Richard I, also known as Richard the Lionheart, was returning from leading a crusade to the Holy Land. As he journeyed through Europe, Leopold V of Austria captured him and demanded a ransom for Richard's release. The ransom price demanded was to be the equivalent value of three tons of silver … an enormous demand. But the people of England loved their king and they submitted to extra taxation, and many nobles donated their fortunes for Richard's release. After many months, the money was raised, paid and King Richard returned to England. That's where we get the expression, “a King's Ransom.” But to believers, the term “a King's Ransom” could...

"...all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God . FOR HE HATH MADE HIM TO BE SIN FOR US, WHO KNEW NO SIN; THAT WE MIGHT BE MADE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM." -II Corinthians 5:18-21 [KJV]

"Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept." -I Corinthians 15:20 [KJV]   One view more, my soul, while thou art meditating upon this delightful subject of thy Redeemer's triumph over death and the grave, and now look at Jesus's resurrection as a sure pledge and confirmation of thine own. Did Jesus's holy body arise? Then so shall thine, sinful and polluted as it now is, but then made a glorified body by virtue of thy union with Him. For so saith the Holy Ghost, by His servant the apostle "He shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body. For if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead, dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead, shall also quicken your mortal bodies, by His Spirit that dwelleth in you" [Philippians 3:21 Romans 8:11] .     Pause then, my soul, and rejoice in this glorious and transporting doctrine. As sure as Jesus arose, so sur...