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

" Art thou made of the king’s council? forbear; why shouldest thou be smitten?" -II Chronicles 25:16 [KJV] Horrid ingratitude! No sooner was Amaziah returned from the slaughter of the Edomites, but, instead of erecting an altar to the Lord of Hosts, Who had given him success, he falls into idolatry, and burns incense to their gods. He went to war without God. He returns victorious, sets up idols, and forsakes the Lord. Vain confidence is departing from the Lord, and the first step to idolatry. Never think of a sin being subdued, a grace strengthened, or a comfort enjoyed, without giving all glory to the grace of Christ.  Look at thy victories with humility. Know self to be as great an idol, as the gods of the Edomites. Though the Lord’s anger was kindled against Amaziah, yet He is long-suffering to sinners. He sends His prophet to reprove him. He gives him a most severe sarcasm. “Why hast thou sought after the gods of the people, who could not deliver their own ...

"And He said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables ." -Mark 4:11 [KJV] By "the kingdom of God" is meant the same thing as "the kingdom of heaven," that is, the internal kingdom set up in the heart by the power of the Spirit—that kingdom which shall stand for ever and ever, and last when time shall be no more. This the Lord calls a mystery. And if it is a mystery, it will have these three marks -   It will be beyond nature, sense, and reason; It will be hidden from the wise and prudent; It will be revealed unto babes. Let us see if we can find these marks belonging to the kingdom of heaven set up in the heart. It certainly is above nature, sense, and reason, that God should dwell in a man's heart, as the apostle says, "Christ in you, the hope of glory ; " and again, "Ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath sa...

"This is He that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood." -I John 5:6 [KJV] My soul, ponder this weighty scripture well. There is much in it. When the soldier pierced the sacred side of Jesus, John recorded the act and its effects, as most significant and important. That it penetrated the heart, is most evident, because from no other part of the body could blood and water, in a full stream, flow together: and as both, in the purposes of redemption, strikingly set forth the great object of Christ's mission; so John is here impressing the great truth on the minds of the church, as a matter most essentially necessary to be regarded.  He repeats it, that it might not be overlooked or forgotten. It was not by water only, that Christ came, but by water and blood . Both represented the necessity of that redemption our nature universally required for the purpose of salvation, and therefore Christ came by both. The water...