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

  Weekend Gospel message to follow for All Hands (30SEP-02OCT22 A.D.) 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 - Almighty God's unmerited favor - from our sins and from Hell: “ The Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified .” - 1st Corinthians 1:22-23 [KJV] It is the same today; men want clever preachers, not Christ preachers, reason, not revelation, their minds challenged and not their hearts pricked. The wisdom of this world says, “ If you wish to reach the people of this day, you must not be dogmatic; share, discuss, exchange ideas, and counsel people; don’t preach !” I hear people say, “ If you would enlist today’s youth, you must adapt to their lifestyle and their language; pick up the rock beat, use comedy, puppets, and social entertainment; DON’T PREACH TO THEM!” Others i...

"Yet they seek Me daily, and delight to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of Me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God." -Isaiah 58:2 [KJV] My soul, when thou readest a scripture like this, which, as far as the outward observance of religion goes, seems to carry a fair face, it may be well to consider the wretched delusion under which such men labour. The world, indeed, calls them very good sort of people; but the Lord speaks most awfully concerning them. Persons of this complexion do not venture to say, that they hope to be found before God without sin: for they will tell you, that they know "we have all sinned and come short of God's glory:" but their faith is, that for their sins they have endeavoured to repent, and made amends; and they hope Christ will make up the deficiency. They have not been so bad as many others; and in point of doing, they have done a grea...

"Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away."   -II Corinthians 3:16 [KJV] The blessed Spirit, as a needful preparation for His own divine instruction, convinces us of our  ignorance , of the veil of unbelief that is by nature spread over our heart, and of our utter inability to take it away. So great is this darkness, as a matter of personal inward experience, that like the darkness in Egypt, it may be "felt;" so deep this ignorance that all knowledge or capability of knowledge seems utterly gone; so strong, so desperate this unbelief that it seems as if thoroughly incurable.   And yet amidst all this deep and dense cloud of ignorance, darkness and unbelief, rays and beams of light every now and then break through, which, though they seem at the time only to shew the darkness and make it deeper, yet really are a guiding light to the throne of God and the Lamb. There Jesus sits enthroned in glory, not only as an interceding High Pries...

"Thou art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey." -Psalm 76:4 [KJV] My soul, the more thou turnest over the word of God in inquiries after Thy beloved, the more will thou be astonished at the relation given of Him in His excellency and glory. By every thing that can represent the adorable Redeemer, in His beauty, loveliness, grace, fulness, and all-sufficiency, whether considered in His absolute, His comparative, His relative, or His official glory, or in His glory as the Head of His body, the church, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all; thou art constrained, with the church to cry out at every view, "Yea, He is altogether lovely; the chief among ten thousand." There is somewhat particularly striking to this amount in this verse for thine evening portion: "Thou art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey." Yes! it must be so: for when the soul hath found Jesus, like the merchant-man seeking goodly pearls, having fo...

"But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He hath prepared for them a city." - Hebrews 11:16 [KJV] In desiring a better country these ancient pilgrims wanted something heavenly, something that tasted of God, savoured of God, smelt of God, and was given of God; a heavenly religion, a spiritual faith, a gracious hope, and a love shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost; something which came from heaven and led to heaven; which gave heavenly feelings, heavenly sensations, heavenly delights, and heavenly joys, whereby the heart was purified from the love of sin, carnality, and worldliness by having something sweeter to taste, better to love, and more holy to enjoy.   It is these heavenly visitations, droppings in of the favour, goodness, and mercy of God, which keep the soul alive in its many deaths, sweeten it amidst its many bitters, hold it up amidst its many sinkings, and keep it from being drowned ...

  Who Raised Jesus from the Dead? by D G Miles McKee   “Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up .” - John 2:19 - 22 [KJV]   According to the Lord Jesus, He had the actual power to raise Himself from the dead. So, let me ask, is this the language of a rational man?  Can any mere man raise himself from the dead? By the way, the ability to raise the dead is not in question here for we read of mere men like Paul performing such a miracle (Acts 20:8-12). But have you ever heard of a man who had the power to raise himself from the dead? For a dead man to raise himself would require that he have the very power of God.   However, so certain was Jesus that He could raise Himself from the dead that He made an appointment to see His friends after His resurrection.  He said, “But after I am risen again, I will go before you unto Galilee.” (Matthew 26:32) . Was Jesus sane when He made these remarks? Indeed He was an...

"For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world." -II Timothy 4:10 [KJV] Was this the same Demas of whom the apostle spake, Colossians 4:14? I should hope not. But if it was, it becomes no proof of a man's falling from grace. The apostle no where speaks of this man as being a partaker of grace. And a man cannot fall from grace, who never possessed grace. Professors there may be, who follow the means of grace, as Demas followed Paul; but the world, as in his instance, is still in their heart. But, my soul, what the apostle hath said of him, may well serve for an instruction to thee. If Jesus, and the love of Jesus, with all His sweetness, beauty, suitableness, and delight, be come into thine heart, then will the love of this present world be gone out. Both cannot dwell nor live together in the same heart.   A believer in Christ Jesus will carry with him his affection to Jesus even into the world, wherever the business or duties of life, in the honest maintena...

"But ye should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me?" - Job 19:28 [KJV] In almost every plant it is at the root that disease begins. If ever you see even a plant in a flower-pot unhealthy, depend upon it there is something wrong at the root. It is overwatered or underwatered, or from some other cause the root has become diseased, and what is called root-action is suspended or unhealthy. So it is in religion: if there is anything wrong with a man, it is almost sure to be something wrong at the root. "The root of the matter," Job said, "is found in me." Job could appeal unto God that the root of his religion was right.   If "the root" had been wrong, "the matter" would not have been right; but as long as the root was sound, like "the teil tree" of which the prophet speaks, though "it cast its leaves, the substance would still be in it," to put forth in due time boughs like a plant (...

"Jesus therefore, being wearied with His journey." -John 4:6 [KJV] My soul, art thou wearied with the labours of the day, and glad that the evening of rest is come? Look unto thy Lord! Behold Jesus wearied with His journey. As part of the curse, this, among other consequences, seized upon the Lord of life and glory, from the moment He became flesh: "It behoved Him in all things to be made like unto His brethren." All the sinful frailties and infirmities of our poor nature; all the calamities to which human life is exposed, in the thorns and thistles which the earth is made to bring forth to man, and the dust of death, into which, as Jesus spake by the Spirit of prophecy, He knew Jehovah would bring Him (Psalm 22:15) .   These were the very conditions to which the Redeemer subjected Himself, in the days of His flesh, when "He was made sin for us Who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him : " and hence His whole life was a lif...

"To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death; to guide our feet into the way of peace."   - Luke 1:79 [KJV] What was it that moved the divine Father to send His own Son into the world? Was it not the free mercy of God flowing forth from His bosom to His family? Then, what merit, what claim can His family ever have? Their misery is their claim. Their worthlessness, their sunken state, the depth of their fall—these things call forth God's compassion. It is not what I have done for the glory of God; not what I am doing, or trying to do; not my wisdom, my strength, my resolutions, my piety, my holiness . No; my misery, my helplessness, my worthlessness, my deeply sunken state, my fallen condition; which I feel only because of interest in the blood and love of the Lamb—this it is that makes me need God's mercy; and this it is that qualifies me to go to God through Jesus to receive mercy: for "He is able to save unto the uttermost all that com...

"For I, saith the L ORD , will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her." -Zechariah 2:5 [KJV] Precious promises these, my soul! and, like all the other promises of our God, are "Yea and amen in Christ Jesus." Is the church, in this wilderness-state, exposed to the ravages of Satan, who goeth about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour? then will God "be unto her a wall," and that "of fire," which (like travellers in the desert, who encircle themselves with fire against the attacks of wild beasts by night) will keep her secure from all approaches. Doth the church, in her poor circumstances, need comfort within? then will God in Christ be "the glory in the midst of her." And hence, all around, within and without, in every direction, and in every way, Jesus will be "the hiding-place from the storm, and a covert from the tempest; and upon all the glory shall be a defence."   ...

"Through the tender mercies of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us." - Luke 1:78 [KJV] By "day-spring" is meant the day-dawn, the herald of the rising sun, the change from darkness to light, the first approach of morn, in a word, the  spring of the day . But what is this "day-spring" spiritually? It is the intimation of the rising of the Sun of righteousness. It is not the same thing as the Sun of righteousness; but it is the herald of His approach; the beams which the rising sun casts upon the benighted world, announcing the coming of Jesus, "the King in His beauty."   This expression was singularly applicable in the mouth of Zacharias. The Lord of life and glory had not then appeared; He was still in the womb of the Virgin Mary. But His forerunner, John, had appeared as the precursor, the herald of His approach, and was sent to announce that the Sun of righteousness was about to arise. "There was a man sent from G...

"Should not a people seek unto their God?" -Isaiah 8:19 [KJV] To be sure they should. My soul, what would become of thee, in thine exercises, hadst thou not had a God in Christ to fly to, and a God in Christ to depend upon? Where wouldest thou find a bosom to pour all thy griefs into, did not Jesus say to thee, as to the sorrowful father, concerning his child, "Bring him hither to Me?" Thou knowest, dearest Lord, that there are circumstances into which I am cast, where none but Thyself can help; and even if help could be derived from man, yet who is there to whom I could seek with a certainty of success? "My friends," saith Job, "have dealt deceitfully, like a brook;" like a brook which, dried up by the summer heat, disappoints the traveller when he most needs supply to slake his thirst. Oh for grace to centre all my desires in Thee, and to seek unto Thee with all my concerns! Blessed Lord! Let that devout frame of David, in the wilderness, b...

"Abide in Me, and I in you." - John 15:4 [KJV] The Lord did not use these words as though there were any power in the creature to abide in Him. But He was pleased to use them that they might be blessed to His people when the Holy Spirit applied them to the heart; for He adds,  "And I in you."   The one is the key to the other. If we abide in Christ, Christ abides in us. It is by Christ abiding in us, that we are enabled to abide in Him.   But how does Christ abide in us? By His Spirit. It is by His Spirit He makes the bodies of His saints His temple; it is by His Spirit that He comes and dwells in them. Though it is instrumentally by faith, as we read, "that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith;" yet it is through the communication of His Spirit in the soul, and the visits of His most gracious presence. Thus He bids us, encourages us, and influences us to abide in Him by His abiding in us. But His abiding in a child of God may be known by certain eff...

"And the earth helped the woman."   -Revelation 12:16 [KJV] How blessed is it to see the hand of the Lord, when no hand beside can be near to help! And that when our situation is as lonely and forlorn as that of the pelican in the wilderness, Jesus is still near; and we are never less alone than when alone! When the church brought forth her offspring, and hell stood ready to devour it, God sheltered it from his jaws. And when he cast forth a flood to sweep the church away, the earth helped the woman, by opening its mouth, and swallowing it up.   My soul! Look into thine own circumstances, and trace the Lord's dealings, and thou wilt find a great multitude o£ corresponding instances. It is from the inattentive minds of the Lord's people, that mercies so often pass and repass, and they see them not. There are thousands of them in every believer's life, that he is as unconscious of, as the world are of the sweet-blowing flower of the desert, which sheds her rich perf...

"I am He that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." - Revelation 1:18 [KJV] O what a mercy that He Who was dead lives at God's right hand! that He lives as a risen Head; that He is not a dead Saviour; but a Saviour that lives for evermore; that can and does bless; that can and does comfort; that can and does bring the soul safely through all. He is not a Saviour that stands as it were upon the brink of a river, and pulls us out when we have swum half way out ourselves; He is not a Saviour that will take us half way to heaven, and then, as Rutherford says, let us "fend" or shift for ourselves.  He must take us to heaven throughout. We are nothing, we have nothing without Him. He must be, as He is, our "all in all." We value Him in His death, nothing but His death could reconcile us to God; we value Him in His life, nothing but His life can save. We want salvation now; salvation in the...

  Weekend Gospel message to follow for All Hands (23-25SEP22 A.D.) 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 - Almighty God's unmerited favor - from our sins and from Hell: In the Scriptures, we see that salvation by God’s free and sovereign grace based on the glorious Person and finished work of Christ as the Surety, Substitute, Redeemer, Life-giver, and Preserver of God’s elect is an all-glorious and all-encompassing truth. It spans both eternity and time where what God has purposed, decreed, and declared in His eternal mind, is worked out and accomplished in time as He “worketh all things after the counsel of His own will” (Ephesians 1:11).   We are creatures of time, and we can only think in terms of time. But let us not try to bring God down to our level. God suspends time. He is not subject to time, and...

"Who maketh thee to differ from another?"   -I Corinthians 4:7 [KJV] My soul, sit down, in the cool of this lovely evening, and in the recollection of distinguishing mercies look up and behold the gracious hand that" maketh thee to differ from another; until thine heart overflow, in a view of the wonderful subject, with thanksgiving, love, and praise. If thou wilt open the volume of thine own life (and surely, of all volumes, when explained by the word of God, it is the most interesting to read) thou wilt behold such a multitude of instances, in all the departments of "nature, providence, and grace," as under divine teaching, will bring home the question with the most awakened earnestness to the heart, and cause thee frequently to exclaim, as thou passest on, "Who maketh thee to differ from another?"   Every defect of nature in others, every poor cripple, or the blind, or deaf, which thou meetest with; the want of intellect, or the want of understandi...