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

"Speak thou the things which become sound doctrine." -Titus 2:1 [KJV] “Like people, like priest,”  is a Scripture adage (see Hosea 4:9.) Professors generally possess the same ideas of the minister they sit under. Our Lord advises, “Take heed what ye hear”   (Mark 4:24.) The seeds of all heresies are in our nature; they are sooner learned than sound doctrine . Hence Paul’s jealousy of, and advice to Titus. He was not only to preach sound doctrine, but the things also which become it. Sound doctrine is to be highly prized, yet it is not to be alone. Good as it is, to have a sound judgment in the doctrines of grace, yet we are ever to consider, they are all according to, and tend to promote godliness. They are all of a practical and experimental nature: productive of love in the heart, and holiness in the life.  Many err here. Some make little of sound doctrine. They cry out, Away with your doctrines, give us practical holiness . These cast contempt upon the ...

"None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: (for the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever : )"   - Psalm 49:7-8 [KJV] How very striking is the former of these verses! And Oh! how justly true! If it were possible for the rich worldling to keep back from the grave, by purchase, his worldly friend, would he do it? Yes, indeed, it is possible he might, under the presumption, that when it came to his turn, he should himself be redeemed. It is, however, of little consequence to estimate human friendship, when they are altogether helpless in the most important of all concerns. But, my soul, doth not this scripture point to Him, and tend to endear Him to thy warmest affections, who was indeed "a brother born for adversity ; "  and who, "though rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that through His poverty we might be made rich?" Jesus was, and is, the brother (mentioned in that scriptu...

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." -Colossians 3:1 [KJV] How many there are even of those who desire to fear God who are kept down by the world, and to whom it has not lost its attractive power; who are held fast, at least for a time, by worldly business, or entangled by worldly persons or worldly engagements. Their partners in business or their partners in life; their carnal relatives or their worldly children; their numerous connections or their social habits; their strong passions or their deep-rooted prejudices, all bind and fetter them down to earth.  There they grovel and lie amid, what Milton terms, "The smoke and stir of this dim spot which men call earth;"  and so bound are they with the cords of their sins that they scarcely seek deliverance from them, or even desire to rise beyond the mists and fogs of this dim spot into a purer air, so as to breathe a heavenl...

CHRIST IS ALL!   Every child of God realizes that without Christ, he is nothing. Christ is our peace, our hope, our joy, our preservation, our life, our wisdom, our sanctification, our righteousness and our redemption; He is our all .  Should He forsake us or withdraw His presence from us (something that can never happen), we would again be lost, dead and absolutely unacceptable to a holy God. The fact of the matter is that we are totally dependent upon the blessed Savior for everything.  Our eternal safety does not hinge upon our feeble hold of faith upon Him (though we do believe and rely on Him), but upon His almighty grasp of us. And if we ever become too self-confident and "think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think" (Romans 12:3) , may the Lord remind us that if He should ever release us from the omnipotent embrace of His grace, we would immediately revert back to unbelief, dead works of religion and self-righteousness.  We would be like...

"Godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation, not to be repented of." -II Corinthians 7:10 [KJV] By legal preaching, setting forth the curses of the law, and the terrors of hell, a sinner’s conscience may be made to tremble under the dread of damnation. He may be said to repent. “Judas thus repented himself, and said, I have sinned.”  He might be sorry for it. His sin might make his heart ache, and fill his soul with horrors. But here was no godly sorrow. God was not in all his thoughts. No repentance unto salvation: this was out of his sight. His repentance was unto damnation. For “he went out and hanged himself” (Matthew 27:5.) Natural fears and legal terrors may excite sorrow without the grace of repentance.  (1st.) What then is godly sorrow? It springs from God, it is excited by the views of God, it is directed to God, and arises in the heart on account of God. With David the soul cries, “Against Thee only have I sinned , ”   (Psalm  51:4.) ...

Our Lord Jesus Christ saying to a prominent religious cleric,   “If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things?" -John 3:12 [KJV] Was there ever condescension like that of Jesus, to accommodate Himself to the dull and senseless capacities of His people? Kind, compassionate, indulgent Teacher , I would say, How shall I sufficiently admire or adore Thy love? Oh! that a consciousness of my ignorance would endear to me Thy wisdom! And Oh! that a sense of the deep things of God would induce in me a temper and frame of mind suited to the docility and humbleness of a weaned child! Now, my soul! mark from these words of thy Jesus to that master in Israel, Nicodemus, that so sublime are the wonders of redemption, even in that part of it which is connected with earthly things, that our capacities, until opened and fitted for the apprehension of divine truths by grace, cannot enter into the enjoyment or belief of them....

"But the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him." -I John 2:27 [KJV] Have you ever had a solitary drop of this holy anointing oil fall upon your heart? One drop, if it be but a drop, will sanctify you for ever to the service of God. There was not much of the holy anointing oil used for the service of the tabernacle, when we consider the size and quantity of what had to be consecrated, for Moses had to anoint therewith the whole of the tabernacle of the congregation, as well as all the vessels, with all their various appurtenances. When he went through the sacred work, he touched one vessel after another with a drop of oil; for one drop sanctified the vessel to the service of the tabernacle.  There was no repetition of the consecration wanted; it abode. So if you ever had...

"And the LORD went His way, as soon as He had left communing with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his own place." -Genesis 18:33 [KJV] Love is the bond of friendship. Unless love be mutual, friendship cannot subsist. The sweets of friendship are enjoyed in free communications. Friends are delighted with each other’s presence. Long absence causes pain. This is true between God and the soul. If you feel concern at the absence of God, you love God: you are a friend of the Lord’s. The Lord stoops to earth: He takes our flesh: He visits and converses with us as friends. This same Lord communes with Abraham.  Consider, (1st.) Abraham was a poor sinner, as we are; he could no more behold the essential glory of the Godhead, without a mediator, than we can. Nor can God in His essential glory, as perfectly holy and righteous, draw near to fallen man, without a mediator, but sudden destruction must be his awful doom. Therefore it was Jesus the Lord, the sinner’s Friend, Med...

“In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and he that is feeble among them at that day, shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them." -Zechariah 12:8 [KJV] My soul! in the calculation of times and seasons, thou art entering this day upon a new month; stand still and consider what progress thou art making in the spiritual path. Here is a sweet promise for the gospel dispensation. It is an old testament promise to be fulfilled in a new testament day. The weak and feeble, in our spiritual David, being really and truly in David, shall be as David, that is, strong in the grace and strength that are in Christ Jesus. And the whole house of David, every true believer in Jesus, shall be as Jesus; that is, so accounted before God, as one in Christ, and accepted in Him the Beloved; for in the eye of God, and of His holy law, they are one and the same. But what a sad consideration is it that the progress...

"They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them."  -Jeremiah 31:9 [KJV] Until God is pleased to pour out upon us the spirit of grace and of supplications, we cannot worship Him aright; for God is a Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth ; nor can we without this spirit offer up that spiritual sacrifice which is acceptable to Him through Jesus Christ. When this spirit has been once given and kindled in a believer's breast, it never dies out. It is like the fire upon the brazen altar, which was first given by the Lord Himself from heaven, and concerning which God gave this command: "The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out" (Leviticus  6:13).   This fire might sink low; it might be covered with the ashes of sacrifice, but it never was suffered to go out for want of supply of fuel. So at times it may seem to you as if there were scarcely any spirit of prayer alive in yo...