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

" A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves..." -Luke 10:30 [KJV] An awful down-hill journey! Here is a true picture of the woeful backsliding of a believer from his Lord. (1st.) “He went down from Jerusalem,” which signifies the visions of peace. These are enjoyed by faith, in communion with Christ, and close walking with God. When these are departed from, it is going down, indeed! The way of sin is down hill; the descent is easy; the event, dreadful!  It is going down from the delectable mountains, into the dreary vale of Jericho. This place was cursed by Joshua, (6:26.) It was very wicked in the days of Christ; so is this present world now. (2d.) “He fell among thieves;” so the believer, when he gives up himself to sinful company, vain delights and carnal diversions. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, steal his heart from God, and strip him of his raiment of purity and peace.  (3d.) “They wounde

" Teaching us, that, denying all ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present evil world." -Titus 2:12 [KJV] We read in Esdras of three young men, who wrote of the strength of different subjects. The first chose Wine; the second, the King; the third Women and Truth. He fully demonstrated, that truth is superior to all the charms of women and the power of a king. “As for truth, it endureth, and is always strong; it liveth and conquereth for evermore. And all the people shouted, and said, great is truth, and mighty above all things” (1 Es. 4:38, 41.)   Surely, so it is with the truth of God’s grace. The stoutest rebels have been conquered by it: the most mighty kings have fallen before it. Whom it conquers, them it also teaches. When it has brought the heart to yield to its sovereign power, it captivates the affections by its sweet influence, and regulates the life by its salutary rules. There is a most vile sp