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

"All my springs are in Thee." -Psalm 87:7 [KJV] Sweet thought! And this, as Solomon saith upon another occasion, forms the conclusion of the whole matter. Jesus is the Source, the Fountain, the Author, the Finisher of all our mercies; for every thing of life and salvation, of grace and glory, flow from Him, center in Him; and therefore in Him and from Him, as the source of blessedness, all our springs must flow. In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. All glories are in Him: the glory of the church above; the glory of the church below; yea, the glory of angels and of God Himself; for the Father hath given all His glory into His almighty hands. Hence, my soul, from whom should thy springs flow, but from Jesus? If all divine attributes, all divine perfections are in Him; if grace be no where but in Jesus; no blessing, no redemption but in His blood; if all gifts, and graces flow from Him, and can no where else be found, to whom shall the gathering of the people...

"Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." - Isaiah 55:1 [KJV] How many a poor sensible sinner has, upon the strength of these words, looked unto Jesus and been lightened (Psalm 34:5) , come to Him and met with a kind reception. By the power which attends such invitations the heart is opened, as was the heart of Lydia, to attend unto the things spoken in the gospel. It is not put away as too holy for a poor polluted sinner to touch, nor is the Lord Jesus viewed as an angry judge; but in these invitations His clemency, tenderness, and compassion are seen and felt, and beams and rays of His mercy and grace both enlighten the understanding and soften and melt the heart.   Thence spring confession of sin, self-loathing, renunciation of one's own righteousness, earnest desires and breathings after the Lord, and an embracing of the love of the truth so fa...