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

"Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him ." -John 14:23 [KJV] There are two grand vital points that every Christian should seek to be established in. The first is,—Is he a believer in Christ? Has the blessed Spirit made Christ known to his soul? Has he embraced Jesus in the arms of living faith? The second point which he should seek to have established in his soul is,—Does he abide in Christ? This he may know by having some testimony that Christ abides in him, and produces the fruits that flow out of this inward abiding. If Christ abide in him, his heart will not be like the nether mill-stone. He cannot rush greedily into sin; he will not love the world, and the things of time and sense; he cannot happily love idols, or do those things which ungodly professors do without one check or pang. Jesus in the soul is a guest that will make Himself kn

"And lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him. And lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased ." -Matthew 3:16, 17 [KJV] Take thy stand, my soul, this evening by the river Jordan, and by faith behold the wonders displayed in the hour thy Jesus entered upon His public ministry. Behold a decisive proof of the distinct personality in the threefold character, which all the sacred volume of the scriptures gives to the revelation of the Godhead. Behold Jesus, the uncreated word, on the bank of Jordan! Behold the Holy Spirit, hovering as a dove on His sacred person! And hear the voice of God coming from heaven, proclaiming Who Jesus was, His relationship to Him, and His approbation of Him. And when thou hast duly pondered the precious testimony, bend thy knee in adoration, love, and praise, to the sacred Three-in-One, for so condescending an act of grace, i

" We believe, and are sure." -John 6:69 [KJV] Here is both faith and assurance. I wish to the Lord I had them, is the language of many a doubting heart, while they have both this very faith and assurance. This assurance is of the essence of faith. Without it faith has no existence.  Consider, (1st.) The nature of this faith and assurance. “We believe and are sure.” Of what? That their names were written in heaven, that they were sure they were the elect of God? No. But, says St. Peter to our Lord, “We believe, and are sure, that Thou art Christ the Son of the living God, and that Thou hast the words of eternal life.” Their minds were as sure of this truth, as of their existence. So must ours at all times, and under all circumstances. But is this faith and assurance? Then, blessed be God, I am a partaker of both. I do believe, I am sure, that Christ is the Son of God, and that He, and He alone, hath the words of eternal life. But I want to be sure of my own int

"He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory." -II Samuel 2:8 [KJV] A man can never reach heaven unless he travel heavenwards, Zionwards, in the way that God has marked out for His people to walk in. It is a delusion to think that we are going to heaven unless we know something of divine teaching in the soul. But if we know anything of divine teaching, we know what it is to be poor and needy, we know what it is, more or less, to have our mouth in the dust. But many people do so mistake the way to heaven. The ordinary way is to set up a ladder to reach from earth to heaven, and progressively clambering up the different rounds, at last to climb up into the abode of God. But that is not the way of God's people. They have to go down, down, down, that they may be raised up. It is not with them first "up, up, up," to scale the battlements of

"I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see." -Revelation 3:18 [KJV] My soul, take advice of thy Lord, for He is a Wonderful Counsellor, and all these blessings will be thine. He will cause thee to inherit substance, and fill all thy treasures; yea, He will give thee durable riches and righteousness. If Jesus clothe thee with the robe of His salvation, thy nakedness will be indeed covered; but no fig-leaves of thine own gathering and sewing together will do this for thee. If Jesus but anoint thine eyes with the precious anointing of His Holy Spirit, thou wilt both see and know the way to buy this tried gold. Now, pause over this sweet verse, and ask thyself, how thou shalt buy this golden treasure? What is the treasure, but faith? For the Holy Ghost calls it precious fai

" If thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it." -Exodus 20:25 [KJV] This chapter abounds with legal terror. Here, the glorious Jehovah is giving the law with thunderings and lightnings, and the sound of a trumpet. The mountain smoking. Poor sinners, trembling and fleeing, saying, Let not God speak with us, lest we die . Most awfully tremendous! Well might St. Paul call it, “the ministration of death and condemnation” (II Corinthians 3:7, 9.) But blessed, blessed be God, it contains precious gospel-grace to law-condemned sinners. Here, rejoice, and say, Let God speak, and we live . For here is an altar commanded. God is accessible to us. “An altar of earth thou shalt make unto Me.”   Here is gospel-grace. That beloved Son typified, Who was made like unto us, and appeared in our earthly nature. Thou shalt offer thy burnt-offerings and peace-offerings upon it. “Our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29.) Yet, “we have an altar” (Hebrews 13:10.)

"O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee?" - Hosea 6:4 [KJV] Most of the Lord's people have some peculiar thing that they want to have granted. Most living souls have some peculiar temptation from which they want to be delivered. If some of the Lord's family could sum up all their desires in one petition, it would be to have the pardon of their sins sealed upon the conscience. If others of God's people could crowd up in one sentence all the wants of their soul, it would be to be brought into the enjoyment of gospel liberty. If others could condense in one short prayer the chief desire of their heart, it would be to be delivered from some powerful temptation, or be preserved from some peculiar besetment. And if others could get into one request the longings that heave in their bosom, it would be to be relieved from some special trial or trouble that at times seems as though it would weigh them down to the dust. When the Lord, then, does but enable them

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the L ORD ." -Isaiah 55:8 [KJV] My soul, hast thou ever considered the blessedness in this verse, as it concerns the great work of salvation? Ponder over it, this evening. There is nothing, perhaps, in which there is a greater and more striking difference than there is between our crude and contracted notions of redemption, and the perfect and unerring thoughts of Jehovah on this point. Our conduct towards each other is so limited on the score of pardon, that though we may forgive a first or second offence, yet if it be repeated too many, nature revolts at the offender, and seems to take a kind of justification in withholding any farther acts of clemency. Hence; we frame the same standard to judge by, concerning God. But with God, abounding sin calls forth abounding grace, and, like the tide, riseth above high water-mark, yea, overflows all the banks and surrounding ground; so much so,

"I will cry unto God most High; unto God that performeth all things for me." -Psalm 57:2 [KJV] In the word "most High," there is something to my mind very expressive. It is to "God most High" that prayers go up from broken hearts, in all parts of the world where the Lord has a quickened people. "Unto God most High" every eye is pointed, every heart is fixed, and every breath of living prayer flows. Jesus sits in glory as "God most High," hearing the sighs and cries of His broken-hearted family, where they dwell in the utmost corners of the earth; and He is not only sitting on high to hear their cries, but also to bestow upon them the blessings which He sees suitable to their case and state. Now when shall we thus come "unto God most High?" When we are pleased and satisfied in self? when the world smiles? When all things are easy without and within? when we are in circumstances for which our own wisdom, str

" I said in my haste, All men are liars." -Psalm 116:11 [KJV] Hasty words, for the most part, are not wise words. But, as the apostle remarks, "Let God be true, and every man a liar." It should seem that this hasty expression of David was at a time when he was greatly afflicted. Alas! what exercises, for want of the proper use of them, in their sanctifying properties, are men brought into! But if, from long experience, the heart be led to a just conclusion, that man, in his best friendship, and best intention, is too fickle and helpless a creature to trust in, or depend upon; and from a full conviction of the hollow and deceitful nature of the human heart, the soul is led unto God in Christ, as the only stable and permanent security; thus changing the reeds of Egypt, for the Rock of Israel: here it becomes not the subject of haste, but the deliberate conclusion formed by grace, to consider every being fallacious but the faithful Jehovah. My soul, t

" ...Death, or things present, or things to come, all are yours." -I Corinthians 3:22 [KJV] “O death, how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man who is at rest in his possessions; unto the man who has nothing to vex him, and who hath prosperity in all things!” O death, how sweet is the remembrance of thee, to a man who is alive to God, dead to the world; who longs to be absent from the body, and present with the Lord; to see the glory of Jesus, and to reign eternally with Him! Christian, here is a precious legacy left thee by the Lord: a covenant-gift from the God of thy salvation: “Death is yours.” He is your conquered enemy; your faithful friend.  (1st.) Your conquered enemy. You need not fear him. He has neither strength nor sting. Christ, the victorious Captain of your salvation, has disarmed him of both. He can neither destroy nor wound your soul. Yea, “He hath abolished death” (II Timothy 1:10.) There is no substance in him; he is changed into a shad

" So an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly, into the everlasting kingdom of our LORD and SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST." -II Peter 1:11 [KJV] Our last meditation was gloom and sadness. Here, the Sun of comfort arises, and sheds splendour, glory, and joy upon us. O that we may this night enter by faith into the joy of our Lord! Come, Christian! it seems you and I must tarry a little longer on earth, absent from our Lord. How shall we employ ourselves? In studying the word of His grace: in being diligent in the use of means: in exercising ourselves unto godliness. What then? O blessed assurance! “So an entrance shall be ministered unto us abundantly.” When? both in life and in death.  (1st.) In life. We shall find a free and open door into the kingdom of Christ’s grace, love, and peace, even now. We shall have the joy in the Holy Ghost, and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, in our hearts. Thus, with the full sail of assurance, and the rapid

"Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me; for Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world." -John 17:24 [KJV] Nothing short of the revelation and communication of this glory could satisfy the heart of God; and nothing short of the partaking of this glory can satisfy the heart of man. Heaven short of this would be no heaven to his soul. Not to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ; to have no view of the glory of an incarnate God; not to be conformed to His glorious image, so as to be perfectly holy both in body and soul—were these things denied, there would be no heaven at all for the redeemed among the children of men. But God, in giving the saints heaven as their happy home, gave them with it an eternal weight of glory. He has designed that all whom He has chosen unto salvation should reach the heavenly shore; that none should suffer shipwreck by

"The curse causeless shall not come." -Proverbs 26:2 [KJV] It is a sweet thought, that the prayer of the wicked is an abomination in the sight of the Lord. And surely the curse of the wicked cannot injure the righteous. But it is doubly blessed when a child of God finds a promising God, a performing God, in making their curses fall to the ground; yea, converting their very curses into blessings. Had not Joseph's brethren sold their brother, humanly speaking, how would he have arrived to the government of Egypt? Had not Haman planned the destruction of Mordecai, and for this purpose erected the gallows, though means would not have been wanting for his own destruction, yet the idea of hanging might not have entered the breast of the king. Yea, had not the Jews crucified the Lord Jesus, where would have been the triumph of the cross to His redeemed? Learn, my soul, to be looking at these things; not by mere outward appearances, not by the event of the moment,

"Seek meekness." -Zephaniah 2:3 [KJV] How are we to follow after this grace of meekness? By learning the contrary. How often have we mistaken false fire for the light and fire of God's Spirit! and have contended more for our own views, in our own spirit, with many rash and unbecoming words, rather than for the glory of God. But after a time we are led to see that strife and contention, in our own spirit, are contrary to the spirit and temper of the gospel, and are brought to see what a blessed grace the spirit of meekness is. Nay, the very want of it, the risings up of an excited temper, the anger, strife, envy, and jealousy that often work in our bosoms convince us how little we know of "the meekness and gentleness of Christ." We thus feel what a blessing it is to be made humble and submissive; and how impossible it is to enter into communion with a broken-hearted Jesus, till the soul is in some measure meekened by His Spirit. But it is by havin

"At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me... Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me ." -II Timothy 4:16, 17 [KJV] My soul, think of the apostle's situation, when brought as a prisoner, for Jesus's sake, before the council, and deserted by all. Nay, look to an infinitely greater than Paul, when hurried away to Pilate, and when all His disciples forsook Him and fled. Make improvement of the view of both, as it may be profitable to thyself and thine own circumstances. There is a period coming, and, for aught thou knowest, may be near indeed, in which no man can stand with thee; in which the kindest earthly friend, if thou hast any, or the tenderest-hearted neighbour, cannot minister to thy safety. When thou art going down to the valley of the shadow of death, and the Lord is undressing thee for Jordan's river, think of that season, and how blessed must it then be to say, with Paul, I though no man hath stood wi

" He who lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins." - II Peter 1:9 [KJV] It is hard to say, whether St. Peter here draws the character of a mere formal professor; or of one who has really tasted that the Lord is gracious, and has awfully backslidden. Be it which it may, it holds forth a solemn lesson of instruction to our souls. We may hence lay this down as a sacred truth, that whatever profession a man makes of faith in Christ— justification by Him, hope of salvation through Him; yet, if he is destitute of the graces of the Spirit, and the fruits of righteousness in his life, he is blind to the glorious end of the gospel of peace, and is a stranger to the purifying grace and pardoning love of Christ to his soul.  Think of this. Pardoning love, purifying grace, and sanctifying influences are inseparable. Where there is the root of grace, there will be the fruits of righteousness. This is as

The Gospel and the New Creature in Christ , Part III by D.G. Miles McKee Closeness to God always makes a person feel undone. Consider Abraham! The Lord had just told him He was about to incinerate Sodom and Gomorrah. He’d had enough of their wickedness and now stood ready to vaporize the whole vile mess. Abraham’s reply is astonishing: He says, “Lord, I’ve talked to You and I’m already incinerated.” Actually, what he said was, I am "but dust and ashes” but it’s the same thing. (Genesis 18:27) . Abraham had drawn close to God and had encountered true holiness: as a result, he felt as vile as the people of the doomed cities. He felt the same judgment they were about to receive was due to him. Consider also Job and his miserable comforters. Remember Job? He was afflicted with a plague of Sabeans, a plague of Chaldeans, a plague of wicked weather and because of these things he lost everything. Then he endured a plague of boils, the plague of a nagging wife and then fin