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

"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