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

"And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is His name? What shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM, THAT I AM. And He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you . " -Exodus 3:13-14  [KJV] My soul, hast thou fully considered, so as to rest in the full assurance of faith upon it, on what the whole foundation of covenant promises and engagements rest? It is not the greatness of the promise, no, nor the greatness of the deliverance wrought out for poor sinners, by the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, on which faith founds its claim; for, in fact, the more astonishing, and great, and unexpected the mercy is, as in the case of redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ, the more difficult would it be for a poor self-condemned sinner to trust in it, with full assurance of faith; but the...

"The L ORD loveth the gates of Zion." - Psalm 87:2 [KJV]  What are gates for? Two purposes, entrance and exit. And Zion, too, has her gates of exit and entrance; she has her gates of access to God, entrance into the presence of the Most High; "the door of hope," opened in "the valley of Achor." And who has opened the door; or, rather, who has not only opened it and made it, but Himself is the Door? "I am the Door," says Jesus. And was not "the door" opened through His rent flesh? As the Apostle speaks: "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh." Through His bleeding wounds, through His pierced side, through His mangled feet and hands, there is now access to God:   "A door of hope is open'd wide  In Jesus' pierced hands and side."   Is there any other access ...