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

"But none saith, Where is God my Maker, Who giveth songs in the night ?"   -Job 35:10  [KJV] Ah, Lord! is it so, that among men of the world, though they are oppressed by the world, and the evils of it, and some are compelled to cry out under the bitterness of their sorrows, yet are there no hearts, no voices directed to Thee? When death entereth into their window, and taketh away the desire of their eyes with a stroke; or when pains and chastenings of the body chain them to their beds; do they lament the earthly bereavements, and groan under the consequences of sin, by which death and sickness came; and yet in all these things, will nothing lead their unthinking minds "to hear the rod, and Who hath appointed it?"     Will they turn from one creature comfort to another, and strive to fill up the vacancies made by distressing providences, in their fancied happiness with any thing, or even nothing, rather than look to Thee for comfort and support under their trouble? ...

"Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father." - 1 Thessalonians 1:3 [KJV] It is air and exercise that keep the body healthy. So it is spiritually. The graces of the Spirit need to be often exercised and well aired to keep them healthy—aired with the pure breath of heaven, and exercised with the operations of the Holy Ghost drawing them forth into activity and energy. And just as in nature a man gains health and strength by using his limbs and working his muscles, so in spiritual things these graces of the Spirit gain strength by use and exercise. Faith by working hard, hope by enduring much, and love by labouring long in the face of difficulties, become each more strengthened, more confirmed, more active, healthy, and energetic.   It is a false faith to sleep all day in the sluggard's arm-chair; it is the hypocrite's hope who endures nothing for Christ's sak...

"Who is she that 1ooketh forth as the morning; fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?" -Song of Solomon 6:10  [KJV] By whomsoever this question is asked, there can be no question of whom it is said; for the church of Jesus, made comely by the comeliness which her Lord hath put upon her, is all this, and more, in every eye that can admire true loveliness; and will be a perfection of beauty, in the upper and brighter world for ever. The first openings of grace upon the soul, after a dark night of the fall, may be compared to the beauty of the morning. But though fair as the moon, it is but a borrowed light, as the moon, and subject to changes in its inceasings, and in its warnings also. As long as the sun's influences are upon this planet, its shinings will be fair. But when objects intervene from the earth, and the sun shines not, there will be an eclipse of all its borrowed lustre. Just so the church; and Oh! how often on my soul. While...

"Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions? If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents." - Song of Solomon 1:7, 8 [KJV] If you say that you want food and rest, to know Christ for yourself and to enjoy His presence and love, the Lord gives you two directions to attain to the enjoyment of these two blessings:  1. To tread in the footsteps of the flock, to walk in the way in which the saints of old have walked, in the path of tribulation and faith;   2. If you are favoured in any way to live within reach of the shepherds' tents, and have the privilege of hearing the gospel preached in its purity and power, to bring your kids in your arms beside the tent, and to put them down to feed on the juicy herbage. And be assured that if you come to ...

"And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship; and so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land." -Acts 27:44  [KJV] This is the beautiful conclusion of a history, which, during the providence wherein Paul the apostle and his companions were in shipwreck, afforded large opportunity for the exercise of faith. The issue, it appears, was not doubtful from the first; for an angel of God had assured Paul, that God had given unto him the lives of all that sailed with him. And so it proved; yea, the very wreck of the ship furnished out means for the people's safety. Now, my soul, here is a very precious instruction for thee. In the exercises of thy life, learn from hence to abide firmly by the promise, when every thing leading to its accomplishment seems to fail. God hath said, that eternal life, with all its preliminaries, is in His Son; and that "...he that hath the Son, hath life, and shall not come into condemnation."     Now let w...

"He will keep the feet of His saints."   -I Samuel 2:9 [KJV] The Lord sees His poor scattered pilgrims travelling through a vale of tears, journeying through a waste howling wilderness, a path beset with gins, traps, and snares in every direction. How can they escape? Why, the Lord keeps their feet, carries them through every rough place, as a tender parent carries a little child; when about to fall, graciously lays the everlasting arms underneath them, and when tottering and stumbling, and their feet ready to slip, mercifully upholds them from falling altogether. Thus the Lord keeps the feet of His saints.   But do you think that He has not different ways for different feet? The God of creation has not made two flowers, nor two leaves upon a tree alike; and will He cause all His people to walk in precisely    the same path? No; we have each our path, each our besetment, each our trials, each peculiar traps and snares laid for our feet. And the wisdom of the allwise ...

  Weekend Gospel message to follow for All Hands (25-27FEB22) 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: "Salvation is wholly of grace, not only undeserved but undesired by us until God is pleased to awaken us to a sense of our need of it. And then we find everything prepared that our wants require or our wishes conceive; yea, that He has done exceedingly beyond what we could either ask or think. Salvation is wholly of the Lord and bears those signatures of infinite wisdom, power, and goodness which distinguish all His works from the puny imitations of men. It is every way worthy of Himself, a great, a free, a full, a sure salvation. It is great whether we consider the objects (miserable, hell-deserving sinners), the end (the restoration of such alienated creatures to...

"Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind, and the lame, the woman with child, and her that travaileth with child together, a great company shall return thither. They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters, in a straight way wherein they shall not stumble; for I am a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is My first-born."     - Jeremiah 31:8-9  [KJV] It is blessed at all times to be refreshed with God's promises concerning the latter-day glory; but more especially at a time when things are most unpromising. The present hour is eminently so. Therefore, my soul, see what a cluster of mercies are folded up on this one branch of them; and let thine evening meditations be sweet of Jesus and His sure work, in Whom, "All the promises are yea and amen, to the glory of God the Father, by us."     Observe, in this blessed scr...

"As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing."   -II Corinthians 6:10 [KJV] Though the Christian in himself is sorrowful, and has reason to be so all the day long, yet so far as he has any views by faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, any good hope through grace, or any manifestation of His Person, work, blood, and love, he may be always rejoicing. Nay, his very sorrow opens up a way for joy. There is no room in a worldly heart for spiritual joy, for the Lord gives joy in sorrow. When the heart is sunk in gloom and fear, and doubt and distress take possession of the mind, when family afflictions, or painful bereavements, or trying circumstances fill the heart with grief and dismay, that is the very time for the Lord to pour joy into the soul .  As afflictions abound, so do consolations. Sorrow and joy are linked together as night and day, as sun and moon, as heaven and earth. Without sorrow there can be no joy, for joy is its counterpoise. If you had everything your heart could desire, what...

"He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure."   - 2 Samuel 23:5 [KJV] O the blessedness of having a manifest interest in the blood of the covenant, and thus to have a testimony that God has made a covenant with his dear Son upon our behalf; that our names are written in the book of life; and that Christ is our Mediator at the right hand of the Father! What are all earthly blessings compared with this? What are health and strength and riches and all the goods of this life; what is everything that the carnal heart can desire or the covetous mind grasp; what is all compared with an interest in the everlasting covenant, and in the love and blood and righteousness of the Lord the Lamb? What is earth, with all its attractions, compared with an interest in the precious, precious blood of a dying Jesus?   You will find it so when you come to lie upon a bed of languishing and pain; when the cold drops of sweat stand upon your forehead, and the last e...

  The Scriptures abound with allusions to the blood of Christ and show conclusively that no one but those who are cleansed with that blood can enter glory. 圣经充满了基督之血的典故，并确切地表明若不是宝血的洁净没有人能进入荣耀。 The human heart is so deeply stained with sin, that, in order to get rid of sin, it clings to a thousand fake remedies.  It shouts with deafening silence, “Anything, anything but the blood of Christ.”  However, to trust in anything or anyone other than Christ and His precious blood is utterly redundant. 人心被罪污染的如此严重，所以，为了摆脱罪，有上千种的骗人方式。它以震耳欲聋的方式叫嚣：“任何事，任何事，除了基督的宝血。”然而，除了基督和祂的宝血，信靠任何事或人都是无用的。 Cleansing by the blood is the theme tune of God’s people.  The entire redeemed community in glory will sing with one voice “ Thou art worthy, . . . for thou . . . hast redeemed to God by thy blood ,” (Revelation 5:9).   用宝血得洁净是上帝子民的主旋律。整个被救赎的种群都要在荣耀里同唱：“你配……因你……用自己的血……叫他们归于上帝”（启示录５：９）。 Let’s then briefly consider seven things that the Word of God says about the blood. May we all be spiri...