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

" Christ's house are we, if we hold fast the confidence, and the rejoicing of the hope, firm unto the end." —Hebrews 3:6 [KJV] The tabernacle, with its furniture—the ark of the covenant— the institution of sacrifices, etc. were appointed by Jehovah, to shew the nature of His house—to typify God's dwelling in the human nature of Jesus—His sacrifice for and special presence with the household of faith. David asks, "LORD, who shall abide in Thy tabernacle?" —Psalm 15:1 The answer is, Only those whose hearts are furnished with the graces of Jesus, and whose lives evidence it. It bespeaks a person's propriety of and delight of residence in a house, when he adorns and furnishes it. This Jesus doth by the hearts of all His members. He is our brother in flesh. He complies with His own command, When thou lettest a servant go free, "thou shalt furnish him liberally." —Deuteronomy 15:14 Out of the fullness of Jesus, most liberally, His member...

"What, think ye that He will not come to the feast?" -John 11:56 [KJV] Is this thy inquiry, my soul, when at any time thou art seeking Jesus in His word, in His ordinances, at his table? Will He not come? Will Jesus not be there? Think how, He hath dealt in times past. Did not Jesus rejoice when the hour arrived for coming into the world for salvation? Doth He not rejoice, when coming to the heart of the poor sinner for conversion? and will He not come with joy in all the renewed visits of His love? Besides, doth not Jesus know that it is a time of need to thee? And hath He not opened a way to the throne of grace, on purpose that His poor helpless children might come boldly to a throne of grace to obtain help, and find grace in every time of need?  Oh then, mark it down as a sure thing, thy Jesus will be there. He spreads the feast, and He will be present, He waits to be gracious; waits to be kind to thee. Love is in His heart, and salvation in His hands. Hasten th...

"Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth; for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak; and He will shew you things to come." -John 16:13 [KJV] "He shall not speak of Himself." There is something peculiarly gracious in this feature of the Holy Spirit, that, if we may use the expression, He does not glorify Himself by speaking of Himself in the same direct, personal manner as the Father and the Son speak of themselves. Thus the Father speaks of Himself all through the word; and the Son speaks of Himself in Scripture after Scripture; but the Holy Ghost, though He speaks in the Scripture, for by His divine inspiration the whole was written, yet does not speak of Himself in a positive, direct manner, nor call upon us in a clear, personal way to believe in, worship, and adore Him.  But His office and work are to testify to our conscience and bear witness to our spirit of both th...

" The wicked flee when no man pursueth; but the righteous are bold as a lion." —Proverbs 28:1 [KJV] WATCHFUL and BOLD, is the Christian's motto. Watchful, to avoid sin; bold, to resist the enemies of his soul. For he is engaged in a righteous cause, animated by righteous hopes, made righteous by a righteous Lord; from Whom he derives all his strength and courage. "In Jehovah (Jesus) have I righteousness and strength." —Isaiah 45:24 . This is the glorying of his soul. Not his own inherent strength, nor his own personal righteousness, are the cause of his fortitude; but the arm of Jehovah is his shield, and the perfect righteousness of Jesus is his breast-plate of defence against every enemy. Being cleansed from guilt by the blood of Jesus, and clothed with His righteousness, by faith the soul experiences a holy boldness at a throne of grace—appeals against the fury of the enemy and oppressor—and finds supplies of strength in every time of need. This ...

"That in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace, in His kindness towards us through Christ Jesus." -Ephesians 2:7 [KJV] Pause, my soul, and gather in all the powers of arithmetic, and try if thou art able to count what the exceeding riches of God's grace amount to. Think how great, how free, how sovereign, how inexhaustible, how everlasting! All that a poor sinner hath in time, all that we can enjoy to all eternity, all is of grace. And what a title hath thy God chosen to be known by among His people, when, to make Himself known more fully in Jesus, He styles Himself "the God of all grace!" All grace? Yes, all grace, and all sorts and degrees of grace: pardoning grace, renewing grace, quickening grace, strengthening grace, comforting grace; in short, all grace.  And is all this treasured up in Jesus? Oh then, my soul, see that Jesus be thine, and all is thine. And mark this down as a sure unerring rule as grace hath no s...

"Let us run with patience the race that is set before us." -Hebrews 12:1 [KJV] None can run this race but the saints of God, for the ground itself is holy ground, of which we read that "no unclean beast is to be found therein." None but the redeemed walk there; and none have ever won the prize but those who have run this heavenly race as redeemed by precious blood. Now no sooner do we see by faith the race set before us than we begin to run; and, like Christian in the "Pilgrim’s Progress," we run from the City of Destruction, our steps being winged with fear and apprehension. All this, especially in the outset, implies energy, movement, activity, pressing forward; running, as it were, for our life; escaping, as Lot, to the mountain; fleeing, as the prophet speaks, "like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah" (Zechariah 14:5) ; or as the manslayer fled to the city of refuge from the avenger of blood. As, then...

"He that believeth on Him is not condemned." —John 3:18 [KJV] Dost thou believe on the Son of God? is the most important question in the world. Faith in Jesus is the "one thing needful." Without this the day of life is a state of sin and condemnation. The night of death, full of terror; and the day of judgment, most dreadful. It cannot be otherwise. As we are all malefactors, under the sentence of the law, the thoughts of execution must be most alarming. But 'what the eye doth not see, the heart doth not rue.' Sin naturally blinds men's eyes, hardens their hearts; and vain self-righteous hopes deceive their souls into an insensibility of their undone state. What a special mercy to know one's self! what distinguishing grace to know Jesus! what peculiar favor to know one is delivered from condemnation by Him! This is the joyful privilege of every believer. Though the law condemns him as a transgressor, yet God doth not impute sin, but ...

  The Athenians mocked when they heard of the resurrection of the dead; and the Sadducees greatly erred on this subject, "not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God , " and many of the Corinthians imbibed the same poison of unbelief. But Job thought it not "a thing incredible that God should raise the dead." He firmly believed the doctrine, and gave it a prominent place in his confession. He knew that God is able to watch and preserve the dust of His saints; has His eye upon every particle, throughout all the periods of time; and through the Divine Mediator, "will raise it up at the last day."   This doctrine was to him a great consolation in his unparalleled afflictions. Though my skin, says he, is a tissue of disease and corruption, yea, though my body sink into the earth, and be eaten up of the worms, and my very reins be consumed within me, yet in my flesh, in this same body - reorganized, reanimated, and made immortal from the tomb - ...

"If the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go out free. Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul (- awl ) , and he shall serve him for ever." -Exodus 21:5, 6 [KJV] How sweet is scripture explained by scripture! Jesus saith, when sacrifice and offering under the law were both unprofitable, "Mine ears hast Thou opened;" or, as it might have been rendered, "Mine ears hast Thou digged." -Psalm 40:6   And elsewhere, "The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious." -Isaiah 50:5 The apostle to the Hebrews decidedly explains this in reference to Christ, Hebrew 10:5 And what was all this but to shew the voluntary service of Jesus to the office and work of the Redeemer. Was not Jesus, in all that high work, the servant of Jehovah?  Though He was in the form...

The Gospel and Faith , Part II by D G Miles McKee     “Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God...” -Romans 5:1 [KJV] What a wonderful gift of God faith really is! It enables us to take hold of the ‘so great salvation’ that has been accomplished in and by Christ Jesus. When we are given faith, it agrees with God’s verdict that our human righteousness is no cleaner than a filthy rag (see Isaiah 64:6) . In the light of this, faith causes us to abandon all hope of ever being saved by our own goodness. The more we are bathed and washed in the gospel, however, the more we will realize that it is not because we have been born again or been filled with the Spirit or have had this or that new blessing that we are fully accepted. Faith sees clearly that we are not made more accepted in heaven because of experiences. Faith’s vision is not foggy! Faith does not rest on our experiences no matter how intense they have been. Faith sees that our full acceptan...

"Lay hold on eternal life." -I Timothy 6:12 [KJV] The main office of the hand is to take hold of and grasp an object. The human hand is the master-piece of anatomy, the fingers and the strong opposing thumb being expressly constructed by their Divine Artificer to seize and retain objects; and therefore every muscle, artery, vein and nerve conspire together to fulfil this destined office. Is there not in the office of faith something analogous to and corresponding with this? What says the Lord? "Let him take hold of My strength that he may make peace with Me, and he shall make peace with Me." -Isaiah 27:5   There is a taking hold, then, of God's strength. Is not this by faith? Is there any other grace of the Spirit which takes hold of the Lord, as Jacob took hold of the wrestling angel, or as sinking Peter laid hold of the hand of Jesus? "Lay hold on eternal life" is Paul's charge to Timothy. But how is eternal life, and especially J...

" Ye have need of patience; that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise." —Hebrews 10:36 [KJV] Are the Christian's exercises great, and his patience small? Yet can he ever be at a loss to know by whom this grace is increased? Verily the Lord he serveth is "the God of patience." —Romans 15:5 Hath he need of patience? Hear the Comforter's declaration, by St. Paul: "My God shall supply all your need, according to His riches in glory." Mind, disciple, this is covenant mercy; therefore, with every other grace it comes through a Mediator: hence it is added, "by Jesus Christ."—Phil. 4:19.  We do the will of God when we believe on the name of his Son Jesus, and love one another . —see I John 3:23 "And all the promises are in Christ Jesus, yea and amen," sure and certain to every believing soul. "By faith we have the earnest of eternal life." Having received the first fruits, the harv...

"As having nothing, and yet possessing all things." -II Corinthians 6:10 [KJV] My soul, hast thou learnt this holy science? There are three blessed lessons the Holy Ghost teacheth on this ground. As, first, the believer is thoroughly emptied of himself. Art thou thus taught of God? Hast thou been led to see, to feel, to know, to be convinced that, after all thine attainments, after all thy long standing in the school of Jesus, thou hast nothing, canst do nothing, art worse than nothing, and, literally, hast no more in thyself now to recommend thee to Jesus, than the first moment thou didst hear of His name? This is to have nothing; this is to be poor in spirit.  Secondly , dost thou possess all things in Jesus? Yes, if so be thou art living out of thyself wholly upon Him; and how is this known? Nothing more evident. When a sense of my emptiness endears to me His fulness; my poverty, His riches; my weakness, His strength; my sins, His righteousness; my guilt, His...

"The fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is." -I Corinthians 3:13 [KJV] How careful and anxious we should be to have two points well secured in our hearts. First, to be right as concerns the foundation. "Do I believe in the Son of God? Have I clear views of the Sonship, the Deity, and the pure humanity of the Christ of God? Have I drunk in no secret error? Am I hiding in my bosom no corrupt doctrine? Is my creed sound? Is the word of God received by me, as God has revealed it, into a believing heart?" How many are wrong as to the foundation itself. Then comes, "Am I upon the foundation? Did God Himself put me there? Did I see its suitability to my lost and undone soul? Did the blessed Spirit take of the things of Christ and reveal them to me in the hour of need? Was the Son of God made precious to my soul by an act of faith? Am I looking to Him, cleaving to Him, longing for Him, hanging upon Him, and trusting wholly to His Person and w...

It’s the bad news that makes good news good. The bad news according to God’s word in Ecclesiastes 7:20 is, “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.”   To intensely clarify the bad news, “For the wages of sin is death.”    The good news is, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”   And again, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”     And again, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” -copied

"And Jesus said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father, which art in heaven ..." —Luke 11:2 [KJV] Faith in the heart excites prayer from the lips. So the faith of God's elect manifests itself. It cometh from the Lord the Spirit. By it the soul is led to Jesus the Mediator; and by Him to God the Father. So each person in the Godhead is known, worshipped, and glorified by believing souls. While we see and feel nothing of our misery and wants, no marvel prayer is an irksome task. From a sight of ourselves, and the knowledge of Jesus, we come to Him daily with simplicity of heart, Master, teach us to pray!   It is the highest honor, the sweetest privilege, the most blessed exercise of the soul to draw nigh to God . What greater on earth than to come to the throne of the King of kings? And that fear and shame may not beset and keep us back, knowing our vile nature and sinful practice, hear our Lord and Saviour's encouraging direction, "When ye pray, s...

"He shall glorify Me; for He shall receive of Mine, and shall shew it unto you." -John 16:14 [KJV] Some precious souls are at a loss to apprehend how the Holy Ghost makes application of Jesus and His benefits to His people. Hence they ask, How am I to know that the righteousness of Jesus, and the blood of Jesus, are applied to me? But be not thou, my soul, ignorant of so important a matter, on the clear apprehension of which thy daily comfort depends. Attend, my soul, to what thy Jesus saith in those precious words; and, under the blessed Spirit's teaching, the matter will appear abundantly plain. He shall glorify Me , saith Jesus.  And doth not the Holy Ghost do this in every believer's view, when He gives the soul to see that all that vast extent of redemption-blessings which the Father treasured up in His dear Son for poor sinners, flow immediately from Jesus? And observe, the Holy Ghost doth not at first shew the sinner that all result from the ever...

"The eyes of all wait upon Thee; and Thou givest them their meat in due season." -Psalm 145:15 [KJV] The Lord will bring all His children sooner or later, each in their measure, to "wait upon Him." Whatever trouble they are in, "the eyes of all wait upon Thee;" whatever temptations they have to pass through, "the eyes of all wait upon Thee;" whatever difficulty in temporal things, whatever conflict in spiritual things, whatever strait in providence, whatever exercise in grace be their lot, the Lord will bring all His children at one time or another into this experience, "the eyes of all wait upon Thee."   "Wait upon Thee" for deliverance; "wait upon Thee" for a manifestation; "wait upon Thee" for the lifting up the light of Thy countenance; "wait upon Thee" for one soft word spoken by Thy mouth to the soul; "wait upon Thee" for one smile of Thine approving countenance...