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

"The church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood." -Acts 20:28 [KJV] Atonement for sin stands or falls with the Deity of Christ. If we deny His Deity, we must deny the atonement, for what value or merit can there be in the blood of a mere man that God, for its sake, should pardon millions of sins? This the Socinians clearly see, and therefore deny the atonement altogether. But if there be no atonement, no sacrifice, no propitiation for sin, where can we look for pardon and peace? Whichever way we turn our eyes there is despair, and we might well take up the language of the fallen angel:  "Me miserable! which way shall I fly Infinite wrath, and infinite despair? Which way I fly is hell; myself am hell; And, in the lowest deep, a lower deep Still threatening to devour me opens wide, To which the hell I suffer seems a heaven." But when by the eye of faith we see the Son of God obeying the law, rendering, by doing and dying, acting and suffering...

" He will rest in His love; He will joy over thee with singing." -Zephaniah 3:17 [KJV] Instead of two meditations on this verse, it is worthy the study of our whole lives. Eternity itself will never exhaust the fulness of that rich and glorious grace contained in it. When the vanity of the creature, and the richness of God’s everlasting love and free grace are the subjects, well might the preacher say, Of making many books there is no end; though much study may be weariness to the flesh (see Ecclesiastes 12:12.) Yet such study is reviving and refreshing to the spirit. Well, saith the poor sinner, ‘I remember the day of my espousal to Jesus: it was sweet. My heart was filled with peace and joy in believing. But, ah me! I have lost my first love: I am cold, and dark, and dead: I go on heavily, while the enemy oppresses me, and is daily saying to me, Where is now your God, in whom you once delighted, and of whom you formerly made your boast? Thy love is cold to Him...

"Leaning on Jesus' bosom." -John 13:23 [KJV] Methinks I would contemplate for a while the privilege of this highly-favoured disciple John. Surely to sit at the feet of Jesus, to look up at His face, to behold the Lamb of God, and to hear the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth, what should I have thought of this but a happiness unspeakable and full of glory! But the beloved apostle leaned on Jesus' bosom. Oh, Thou condescending Saviour! didst Thou mean to manifest, by this endearing token, how dear and precious all Thy redeemed ones are in Thy esteem? But stop, my soul. If John lay on Jesus' breast, where was it Jesus Himself lay, when He left all for thy salvation? The disciple whom Jesus loved lay upon Jesus' bosom; but He, Whom the Father loved, lay in the bosom of the Father - nay, was embosomed there; was wrapt up in the very soul of the Father from eternity. Who shall undertake to speak of the most glorious state of the Son of G...

"And enlarge my coast." -I Chronicles 4:10 [KJV] A coast means a boundary line such as divides one territory from another, or terminates a country, as the sea coast is the boundary of our island. Every quickened soul has a coast; that is, a territory of inward experience, which is limited and bounded by the line that the Holy Spirit has drawn in his conscience. As the Lord divided the tribes, to cast their inheritance by line (Psalm 78:55) , so hath He cast the lot for every vessel of mercy, and His hand hath divided it unto them by line (Isaiah 34:17) . This is as it were the tether which fastens down every quickened soul to his own appointed portion of inward experience. Within this tether he may walk, feed, and lie down. It is "the food convenient for him," the strip of pasture allotted him. He cannot, he dare not break this tether, which is fastened round a tender conscience, and every stretching forth beyond his measure to boast in another man...