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

"A door opened in heaven." -Revelation 4:1  [KJV] Lord! give me, as Thou didst to Thy servant John, a call to "come up hither," and by faith behold the glories which shall be revealed; and immediately I shall be in the spirit as he was, and so substantiate and realize, in present enjoyment, those felicities in Jesus, that this evening my soul will be, by happy faith, in the very suburbs of that blessed city, "which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God!" Is it not true, Lord, that all Thy possessions are mine? And shall I not take the map of them from scripture, and look over them with holy rapture and delight?   Do men of the earth take pride in their lands and manors; the very holding of which is precarious, even in the moment of possession, and which begin to slide from under their feet, as soon as they enter upon them; and shall not an heir of God, a joint-heir with Christ, rejoice in having a kingdom which cannot be moved? Come, my soul,...

"Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures." - Luke 24:45 [KJV] Blessed opening, when He that hath the key of David puts in His hand by the hole of the door, and opens our heart to receive His own word. Then when we go to the Word of Truth, after it has come to us, our fingers drop with sweetsmelling myrrh upon the handles of the lock. It is said that "the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live." O, to hear the voice of the Son of God in our hearts! Surely it shall make our dead hearts, cold frames, withering hopes, drooping love, dying faith, languishing prayers, and fainting minds live; yea, revive as the corn and grow as the vine.   What is all religion without a divine beginning, middle, and end, commencing, carried on, and accomplished with a heavenly power, supernatural life, and spiritual unction? Well may we be ashamed and sick of, and sorry for all our thoughts, words, and works, all ...