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

"The word which ye hear is not Mine, but the Father's which sent Me."   -John 14:24 [KJV] My soul, hast thou ever fully and thoroughly considered that sweet and precious teaching of thy Lord, which, as Mediator, when upon earth, in all His discourses and conversations with His disciples, He was perpetually shewing them? I mean, that all He was, and all He had; and all He dispensed, were the blessings and gifts of His Father, in Him, to His people. If thou hast been meditating upon this most blessed point of the gospel ever so fully and closely, it will still afford new glories for every renewed attention to it; and therefore, sit down this delightful summer's evening, and take another view of it.   Jesus comes to His people in His Father's name, and He saith in this charming scripture, that His very words are not His, but the Father's; so much of the heart of the Father is in Christ, and in all of Christ, in all He saith, and in all He hath done. So that what ...

"And stablish you in every good word and work. " -II Thessalonians 2:17 [KJV] The living family of God need to be established in the truth, so as not ever to be "children tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine." It is not sufficient for a building to be reared: it must be established before we can know whether it will stand. The most anxious moment of the builder is to see how it will settle; how the walls will bear the roof, and every part stand firm and good without bulging or slipping. When the centering is taken away from a newly-built arch, how the architect looks to see whether it will settle well and the extent of the drop, if there be any.   So in grace. It is not merely making a profession that will serve. Many a building stands well as long as the scaffolding remains; many an arch looks firm whilst the centering supports it. So many seem to stand well in early days, when upheld by zeal and earnestness, or strengthened by the support of others. But...