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

Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. " -John 20:20 [KJV] “Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun , ” (Ecclesiastes 11:7.) But, O how much more sweet and pleasant, to see the light, and behold the glory of the Sun of Righteousness! This inspires the heart with gladness. These disciples had lost their dear Lord, and mourned in darkness for His absence. Tongue cannot tell their inexpressible joy, at seeing Him again. Their sight was by the eye of sense: ours is by the eye of faith. Yet our sight is not less real than theirs: and it brings the same gladness to our hearts also. Therefore it is highly prized by us . For we can neither live comfortably, walk holily, nor die happily, without seeing the Lord Christ. For,    (1st.) A sight of Christ by faith, brings peace to the conscience. There is ever a war within, between the flesh and the spirit: grace and nature: the old man and the new. The motion of sin in our memb...

"The Tent Dissolved, and the Mansion Entered" (Be sure to   LISTEN to the Audio , as you  READ the text  below.) II Corinthians 5:1-2, "We know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in Heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling." Paul was a maker and mender of tent s. Unlike the substantiality of a house, a tent is a very frail structure . In that respect it is quite like this feeble body of ours, which is crushed before the moth. Our bodies are liable to death from causes so small as to be almost imperceptible: a breath of foul air, a particle of poisonous matter, a trifle, a mere nothing, may end this mortal life. I trust that we duly remember the frailty of our bodies. We are not so foolish as to think that because we are in robust health today, then we must necessarily live to old age. Our crowded cemeteries supply ten thousand argument...

"For when I am weak, then am I strong."   -II Corinthians 12:10 [KJV] We have read of St. Paul’s revelations, exaltings, buffetings, and his praying: now of his humbling sight of himself. He is brought down to his right place, low in self; and to his right feelings, weak in self. Hence we see the true nature and blessed end of Christian experience. It keeps the soul from being puft up with pride, lest it fall into the condemnation of the devil. It sinks it low in humility: under a sense of weakness; and it leads out of self, to look for all its strength in Christ. Here the strength of faith is opposed to the weakness of sense. When I am sensibly weak, then I am believingly strong. This, though a difficult lesson, yet is a precious one.    (1st.) Do we see ourselves weak? Christ is held forth to us as our strength, and He calls upon us to be strong in Him. “Trust in the LORD for ever, for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength,” (Isaiah 26:4.) But surely, folly is b...

"For I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her." -Zechariah 2:5 [KJV] Precious promises these, my soul! and, like all the other promises of our God, are "Yea and amen in Christ Jesus." Is the church, in this wilderness-state, exposed to the ravages of Satan, who goeth about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour? then will God "be unto her a wall , " and that "of fire , " which (like travellers in the desert, who encircle themselves with fire against the attacks of wild beasts by night) will keep her secure from all approaches. Doth the church, in her poor circumstances, need comfort within? then will God in Christ be "the glory in the midst of her." And hence, all around, within and without, in every direction, and in every way, Jesus will be the hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; and upon all the glory shall be a defence.   Look up t...

"Through the tender mercies of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us." -Luke 1:78 [KJV]   By "day-spring" is meant the day-dawn, the herald of the rising sun, the change from darkness to light, the first approach of morn, in a word, the spring of the day. But what is this "day-spring" spiritually? It is the intimation of the rising of the Sun of righteousness. It is not the same thing as the Sun of righteousness; but it is the herald of His approach; the beams which the rising sun casts upon the benighted world, announcing the coming of Jesus, "the King in His beauty."     This expression was singularly applicable in the mouth of Zacharias. The Lord of life and glory had not then appeared; He was still in the womb of the virgin Mary. But His forerunner, John, had appeared as the precursor, the herald of His approach, and was sent to announce that the Sun of righteousness was about to arise. "There was a man sent from...

     "Remember thy sins and Christ’s pardonings; thy hell-deservings and Christ’s merits; thy weakness and Christ’s strength; thy pride and Christ’s humility; thy many infirmities and Christ’s restorings; thy guilts and Christ’s new applications of His blood; thy fallings and Christ’s raisings-up; thy wants and Christ’s fulness; thy temptations and Christ’s tenderness; thy vileness and Christ’s righteousness." -Wilcox

The Gospel and a Good Death , Part II In the Gospel we see God's victory over death; In the Gospel we see that our sins are judged upon Christ. In the Gospel we see Satan exposed and stripped.  Because of the Gospel, the reign of death has been replaced by the reign of life and grace. Paul tells us, " For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ " (Romans 5:17) . He further states,  "That as sin has reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord , "   (Romans 5:21) . To speak of 'reigning' is to speak of Kings and Kingdoms. This is why the believer can declare that Christ Jesus has destroyed the Kingdom of Death, (II Timothy 1:10).   By faith we believe that we have already been translated and transplanted into another Kingdom, the kingdom of God's dear Son...

"There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan, to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure."   -II Corinthians 12:7 [KJV]   I dearly love St. Paul’s experience. For there is so much of the artless simplicity of the poor humble sinner; such a dread of self-glorying, while it ever exalts the rich grace of the dear Saviour. Let us make a few remarks on it, and pray our gracious Lord to bless them.    (1st.) Here is a painful experience, a thorn in his flesh. What was that? Fanciful men have entertained strange ideas. Some have said the cholic: others the ear-ache, others the head-ache, etc. If it were a bodily pain, we might as well guess, the gout in his great toe. But would the apostle have been thus anxious to have a bodily pain removed? Would the most excruciating pain prevent soul exalting? Surely it was something more. It was the heart-ache. He plainly tells it was, “the messenger of Satan to buffet him.” His very soul was harassed ...

"Should not a people seek unto their God?" -Isaiah 8:19 [KJV] To be sure they should. My soul, what would become of thee, in thine exercises, hadst thou not had a God in Christ to fly to, and a God in Christ to depend upon? Where wouldest thou find a bosom to pour all thy griefs into, did not Jesus say to thee, as to the sorrowful father, concerning his child, "Bring him hither to Me?" Thou knowest, dearest Lord, that there are circumstances into which I am cast, where none but Thyself can help; and even if help could be derived from man, yet who is there to whom I could seek with a certainty of success? "My friends , " saith Job, "have dealt deceitfully, like a brook ; " like a brook which, dried up by the summer heat, disappoints the traveller when he most needs supply to slake his thirst.    Oh for grace to centre all my desires in Thee, and to seek unto Thee with all my concerns! Blessed Lord! Let that devout frame of David, in the wilder...

"Abide in Me, and I in you." -John 15:4 [KJV] The Lord did not use these words as though there were any power in the creature to abide in Him. But He was pleased to use them that they might be blessed to His people when the Holy Spirit applied them to the heart; for He adds, "And I in you." The one is the key to the other. If we abide in Christ, Christ abides in us. It is by Christ abiding in us, that we are enabled to abide in Him. But how does Christ abide in us? By His Spirit. It is by His Spirit He makes the bodies of His saints His temple; it is by His Spirit that He comes and dwells in them. Though it is instrumentally by faith, as we read, "that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; " yet it is through the communication of His Spirit in the soul, and the visits of His most gracious presence.    Thus He bids us, encourages us, and influences us to abide in Him by His abiding in us. But His abiding in a child of God may be known by certain effec...

Form or Faith? | The Difference Between Religion and True Faith | Matthew 23 | Pastor Henry Mahan (24 minutes) Link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbvnB7OyipE   In this message from Matthew 23, we examine the difference between outward religion and genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ strongly rebuked the religious leaders of His day for placing emphasis on outward form, ceremony, religious duties, public recognition, and human tradition while neglecting the weightier matters of God’s Word: judgment, mercy, and faith.  This message asks a serious question: Is your religion merely outward form, or does it arise from true faith in Christ? The sermon examines the seven charges Christ brought against the religious leaders in Matthew 23, including hypocrisy, seeking the praise of men, religious showmanship, making converts without true salvation, emphasizing religious duties while neglecting matters of the heart, outward cleanliness without inward transfo...

"I AM He that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." -Revelation 1:18 [KJV]   O what a mercy that He Who was dead lives at God's right hand! that He lives as a risen Head; that He is not a dead Saviour; but a Saviour that lives for evermore; that can and does bless; that can and does comfort; that can and does bring the soul safely through all. He is not a Saviour that stands as it were upon the brink of a river, and pulls us out when we have swum half way out ourselves; He is not a Saviour that will take us half way to heaven, and then, as Rutherford says, let us "fend" or shift for ourselves . He must take us to heaven throughout. We are nothing, we have nothing without Him .    He must be, as He is, our "All in all." We value Him in His death, nothing but His death could reconcile us to God; we value Him in His life, nothing but His life can save. We want salvation now; salvation i...

"If ye do these things, ye shall never fall."   -II Peter 1:10 [KJV]   What things? add to your faith every Christian grace and good work. If ye live in the exercise of grace, and the discharge of duty, ye shall never fall. But it is here plainly implied, if ye do not these things, ye certainly will fall. How fall? Into all manner of sin; yea, and into hell too, if the Lord Christ keep you not. But He most assuredly will keep all His sheep from thus falling. For He hath said, They shall never perish—I give unto them eternal life . But what evidence can any one have that he is Christ’s sheep, if he do not hear His voice, and obey His word?    My dear fellow-sinner, deceive not thy own soul. Beware of corrupt notions, and unscriptural ideas. It is most true, salvation is sure . Every one who believes in Christ shall most assuredly be saved . But surely there is such a thing, as living and walking close with Christ—cleaving to Him with full purpose of heart, cheerfully ...

"Who maketh thee to differ from another?" -I Corinthians 4:7 [KJV]   My soul, sit down, in the cool of this lovely evening, and in the recollection of distinguishing mercies look up and behold the gracious hand that "maketh thee to differ from another;" until thine heart overflow, in a view of the wonderful subject, with thanksgiving, love, and praise. If thou wilt open the volume of thine own life (and surely, of all volumes, when explained by the word of God, it is the most interesting to read) thou wilt behold such a multitude of instances, in all the departments of "nature, providence, and grace," as under divine teaching, will bring home the question with the most awakened earnestness to the heart, and cause thee frequently to exclaim, as thou passest on, "Who maketh thee to differ from another?"   Every defect of nature in others, every poor cripple, or the blind, or deaf, which thou meetest with; the want of intellect, or the want of un...

"They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us." -I John 2:19 [KJV]   How solemn! How awful! These antichrists came out of the apostolical church of Jesus. They had been in it. Their names had been registered in their church book. They had been church members with the best of saints. Yet all this did not preserve them from the foulest apostasy. They had heard and professed to have received and believed the very same doctrine the Apostles preached!  Yet this did not keep them steadfast in the faith. They were carried away with lust and lasciviousness. This led them to corrupt the doctrine of God’s free grace: to suit it to encourage their own corrupt affections, and from hence to proceed to set forth such a different "christ," such a different gospel, and such a different spirit as eclipsed the whole glory of that...

"The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power." -I Corinthians 4:20 [KJV] It is through the word of God in the hands of the Spirit, that this kingdom is set up in the soul. All God's people are agreed on this point, that they have no more religion than they have inward power. And all the living family are sighing, each according to his measure and season, after the manifestation of this divine power in their souls. Those that are under the law, and toiling under heavy burdens, are sighing after relief, and for that relief to come in divine power—power that shall cast all their sins into the depth of the sea. Those who having tasted that the Lord is gracious have lost their first love, are at times breathing out their inmost desire after power to revive their souls.    Those who are beset with powerful temptations, and struggling, often ineffectually, with base lusts, are crying after power to deliver their feet from the fowler's snares. Those who are hard, need po...

“Filled with the fullness of God”    -Ephesians 3:19 [KJV]   In Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians, his last request was, “That ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.”   It is said of Christ, “In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and you are complete (- full ) in Him.”   “Of His fullness have all we received.”   Among the many blessings believers receive from God is His fullness.   Words are inadequate to describe all that means.   It can only be received by faith, because God said it in His Word.   Were it not written, we could never believe that we have been filled with all the fullness of God.   This is true of every believer without exception, “Filled with all the fullness of God.” ***** Did Christ Finish His Work?   How dangerous it is to join anything of our own to the righteousness of Christ, in pursuit of justification before God!   Jesus Christ will never endure this; it reflects upon His work...