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

"One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see." -John 9:25  [KJV] This is a great thing to say, my soul: on what foundation dost thou rest this knowledge? If the Lord Jesus hath opened thine eyes, then indeed thou canst not but discover thy former blindness; for during that state of nature thou literally couldst discern nothing. And if thy former blindness be discovered, then thy present sight hath brought thee acquainted with new objects.     Pause over the review of both this morning. The blindness of nature to spiritual things is marked in scripture in strong characters. A poor blind sinner sees nothing of the light of life. The Sun of Righteousness is not risen upon him. He discerns nothing of the love of God in Christ. If he reads the scripture, the vail is upon his heart. If he hears of Jesus, he sees no beauty in Him. Nothing is nearer to him than the Lord, and nothing further from his thoughts. To tell him of the sweetness of the word of God, is strange to

"And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee." -Deuteronomy 15:15 [KJV]   Say, my soul, canst thou ever forget the wormwood and the gall of that state of nature, from which the Lord thy God brought thee? Figure to thyself the most horrid state of captivity which the world ever knew; and what could the whole be, bounded, as it must be, by the short period of human life, compared to the everlasting vassalage of sin and Satan, in which thou didst lay when Jesus passed by and brought thee out? No galley-slave, chained to the oar, could equal thy misery, bound with the chain of sin. No duration of misery, bounded by time, equals that endless state of woe to which thou wast exposed.     Thou weft a bondman to the power of sin, to the love of sin, to the desire of sin, to the punishment of sin; a bondman to the law of God, to the justice of God, to the displeasure of God, to the threatenings of God; a bondman to thine ow

"The creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen." -II Kings 4:1  [KJV] My soul, how doth this affect thee? Art thou in debt? By nature and by practice thou wast miserably so, unless the debt be cancelled. As a creature, and as a sinful creature, thou art in thyself for ever insolvent. Thou hast nothing to pay, and art shut up in a total impossibility ever to pay. And how much owest thou unto my Lord? Alas, my soul, thou owest millions of debts to thy Almighty Creditor. The law thou hast broken; justice demands retribution; conscience condemns; Satan accuses; and the creditor is come to take not thy two sons only, but both thy two parts, soul and body, to the prison of death and hell, unless some almighty Surety hath stepped in and paid the dreadful debt, that thou mayest be free.     At death, and at judgment that follows, the everlasting release, or the everlasting imprisonment, will take place. And who knows whether the decision may not be to-morrow? nay,

"I have exalted One chosen out of the people." -Psalm 89:19 [KJV]   My soul, wert thou refreshed on the past day with the precious meditation of the God of our fathers glorifying His Son Jesus? Suffer not, then, the blessed subject to pass away from thy thoughts this day, or any day, but look at the same delightful meditation proposed in the words which God spake to His Holy One in vision— "I have exalted One chosen out of the people." Yes, the Lord Jesus, as man and Mediator, was chosen in the infinite mind of Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, from everlasting.     And before that God went forth in the immediate acts of creation, when that vast mass of beings the Lord determined to call into existence arose in His own infinite mind at His command, this blessed one, this glorious, this distinguished, this precious individual which was to become one with the uncreated Word, in order to constitute the Wisdom-man, Mediator, was from everlasting chosen. This was t

  Weekend Gospel message to follow for All Hands   (27-29AUG21) 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 to save us  from our sins and from Hell: "Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD,  in the light of Thy countenance. In Thy name shall they rejoice all the  day: and in Thy righteousness shall they be exalted. For Thou art the glory of their strength: and in Thy favour our horn shall be exalted."  -Psalm 89:15-16 [KJV] ABIDE IN ME! It is true that once a man is saved by God’s grace through faith, he will  remain saved forever; yet the Scriptures are full of warnings to believers  against unbelief (Hebrews 3:12-14) , against drawing back  (Hebrews 10:38-39 ), and  against neglecting the Word of God (Hebrews 2:1-3) . Abiding in Christ is abiding in

"The God of our fathers hath glorified His Son Jesus." -Acts 3:13 [KJV] See, my soul, how every part and portion of scripture is directed to this one subject—to glorify the Lord Jesus. What is the very design of redemption but to glorify the Lord Jesus? What hath God constituted a church for, but to glorify the Lord Jesus? To what do all the precepts, promises, ordinances, sacrifices under the law, and institutions under the gospel, minister, but to this one end—to glorify the Lord Jesus? Talk they of promises? Why, all the promises of God are "in Christ Jesus, yea and amen, to the glory of God the Father by us." Talk they of the law? "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." Talk they of commandments? "This is the commandment, that ye believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God; and that believing, ye might have life through His name."     And how hath the God of our fathers glorified His Son Jesus,