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

“The gospel of God, to which Paul was separated, signifies the glad tidings of salvation which God has proclaimed. It is the supernatural revelation which He has given, distinguished from the revelation of the works of nature. It denotes that revelation of mercy and salvation, which excels in glory, as distinguished from the law, which was the revelation of condemnation. It is the gospel of God, inasmuch as God is its Author, its Interpreter, its Subject. Its Author, as He purposed it in His eternal decrees; its Interpreter, as He Himself hath declared it to men; its Subject, because in the gospel His sovereign perfections and purposes towards men are manifested. For the same reasons it is also called the gospel of the grace of God, the gospel of peace, the gospel of the kingdom, the gospel of salvation, the everlasting gospel, the glorious gospel of the blessed God.   This gospel is the glad tidings from God of the accomplishment of the promise of salvation that ha...

Precious Savior, friend of sinners, We, as such, to Thee draw near; Let Thy Spirit dwell within us With that love that casts out fear; Matchless Saviour, let us know Thee, As the LORD our Righteousness; Cause our hearts to cleave unto Thee, Come, and with Thy presence bless.   Open now Thy precious treasure, Let Thy word here freely flow; Give to us a gracious measure, ‘Tis Thyself we long to know; Come and claim us as Thy portion, Let us all find rest in Thee; Leave us not to empty notions, We would find our hope in Thee!   ----------0----------   "God’s sovereign, electing grace in and by the Lord Jesus Christ strips us of all merit, removes from us all ground for boasting in ourselves, leaves us helpless in the dust to save or keep ourselves, and ascribes all glory to God alone as He reveals Himself in the glorious Person and effectual, redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who alone has all the preeminence in the salvation of God’s elect."  —Arthur Pink ...

"Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings." -Jeremiah 3:22 [KJV] Backsliding is a species of apostacy from the faith. Apostacy is the high road to destruction. Total apostacy will certainly end in eternal damnation: for there can neither be repentance, or hope, for such a soul. The Son of God is the only sacrifice for sin: this, the backslider once professed to believe. But now he tramples on His precious blood, wilfully despises and rejects the Saviour; so that now, he has only “a certain fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery indignation, which shall devour every adversary of Christ”   (Hebrews 10:26, 27.) Most striking is the picture of such, drawn by Mr. Bunyan, in his Pilgrim’s Progress , as a man in an iron cage, who thus confesses: “I was once a fair and flourishing professor, both in mine own eyes, and the eyes of others; I was, as I thought, fair for the celestial city, and had even joy at the thoughts that I should get thi...

"And the desire of all nations shall come." -Haggai 2:7 [KJV] And who could this be, but Jesus? Who, but He alone, could be the object of desire; or able to gratify the desire of all nations? Sit down, my soul, this evening, and consider the subject to the full; and if the result be, as it surely must be, under divine teaching, that none but Jesus can answer to this character, and He most fully and completely comes up to it in every possible point of view; thou wilt find another sweet testimony to the truth as it is in Jesus, that He who alone is thy desire, hath ever been, and still is, to all that need and seek salvation, the desire of all nations.And, first, consider how universal the want of Jesus must be. "All the world is become guilty  (the scripture saith) before God."   -Romans 3:19 Hence, in every nation, kindred, tongue, or clime, every poor awakened and convinced sinner stands in need of a Saviour; and, however diversified by language, cus...

"For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." -II Corinthians 5:21 [KJV] Our blessed Lord offered Himself for sin; that is, that He might put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself— "Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree" (I Peter 2:24) . It was absolutely necessary either that the sinner should suffer in his own person, or in that of a substitute. Jesus became this Substitute; He stood virtually in the sinner's place, and endured in His holy body and soul the punishment due to Him; for He "was numbered with the transgressors." He thus, by the shedding of His most precious blood, opened in His sacred body a fountain for all sin and all uncleanness (Zechariah 13:1) . The cross was the place on which this sacrifice was offered; for as the blood of the slain lamb was poured out at the foot of the altar, sprinkled upon its horns, and burned in its ever-endur...

One of the declarations that Christ made by His Resurrection was how He completely satisfied the Covenant of Grace in His death on the Cross. He declared in His resurrection that He had completely “…put away sin by the Sacrifice of Himself”   -Hebrews 9:26 . This payment for sin was so successful, so complete, and so effective, that He came forth from the tomb victorious. By His resurrection, Christ declared that He was so successful in His work on the Cross, that the sin debt was paid in full, as He cried, “It is finished” -John 19:30 . These three words are translated from one Greek word. That word means, “concluding an action, discharging a debt.” He said the work of salvation was fully accomplished , not just possible. To me, it is very interesting that the religious Christian world would even consider celebrating the resurrection of Christ, since He (in their theology) is such an absolutely unsuccessful savior. They contend, “He loved everybody. He died f...

As the resurrection of the Messiah from the dead was predicted by the prophets, so the very time thereof was fixed by them. Hence the writers of the New Testament, as they declare that Christ rose from the dead, according to the scriptures of the Old Testament, so they likewise declare, that He rose from the dead the third day, (I Corinthians 15:4) which scriptures referred to. These scriptures are not merely some typical predictions of the Old Testament, as that of Isaac’s deliverance on the third day, after he had been given up to death by his father, Genesis 22:4 ; and that of Jonah’s being three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, Jonah 1:17 compared with Matthew 12:40 ; though undoubtedly reference is made to them; but to a real prophecy, which in its literal and obvious sense is to be understood of this affair.    The prophecy I have in view is Hosea 6:2 . After two days He will revive us, in the third day He will raise us up; and we shall live in...

"If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another; and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." -I John 1:7 [KJV] The walk of many professors seems to speak this language: Why cannot we love the world, indulge ourselves in the ways of it, and yet enjoy fellowship with God? Now we have clear notions of the doctrines of grace—of acceptance with God, and justification before Him, why need we be so very precise in our conduct? This seems as though they were desirous to walk as near as possible to the very borders of hell, and yet hope to get safe to heaven at last. Such walk not in the light of truth—in the comfort of love—in fellowship with God. (1st.) What is fellowship with God? It is a sweet, heart-felt concord, harmony, and agreement between God and our souls; a mutual communion of spirits; a free communication from the Lord to us, and from us to the Lord:—just as two loving friends have between each othe...

"I would lead thee, and bring thee into my mother's house, who would instruct me." -Song of Solomon 8:2 [KJV] My soul! hast thou ever noticed the peculiar beauties of this scripture? if not, make it the subject of this evening's meditation; it will amply recompense thine attention. The church is here in great liveliness, and actings of faith upon the person of her Lord; indeed, so much so, that we do not find any thing like this holy familiarity, used by the church towards her Lord, in any other part of the bible. It is the well-known office of Jesus, to lead His people, and to draw them to Himself. God the Father hath given Him for this blessed purpose, as "a Leader and Commander to His people."   -Isaiah 55:4 And Jesus Himself declared, that "if He was lifted up, He would draw all to Himself."   -John 12:32   But here, it is the church leading Christ. Pause, my soul. Dost thou know any thing of this, or like it, in thine own experien...

"Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples." -John 15:8 [KJV] The bearing of much fruit not only brings glory to God, but proves such rich fruit-bearers to be genuine disciples of the Lord Jesus. Now, though there is no merit in their bearing fruit, they sometimes get comfort from it, as proving an abiding union with Christ. "If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love; even as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love."  There is no maintaining of holy confidence in the soul but by walking in godly obedience; nor can there be any true spiritual communion with God whilst the guilt of disobedience lies hard and heavy on the conscience. To make straight paths for our feet; to walk in the fear of God; to live to His glory, are not only sweet tests of genuine discipleship, but faith, hope, and love cannot be maintained without them. And yet if we know anything of what gospel fruit is,...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhQ0La3ugdk Preached by Henry Mahan, 59 minutes 

"Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to be accounted?"   -Isaiah 2:22 [KJV]   This precious text my dear Lord preached to my heart, day after day, upwards of twenty years ago; when it first pleased Him to make me happy in His love: though not then, yet I have seen abundant cause for it. That soul is in good health, that can say, I am sick of sin, sick of men, and sick of myself . The Lord is teaching us this lesson day after day: it is a hard one to flesh and blood. For we are naturally prone to look to, trust in, and depend upon an arm of flesh. But this is to depart, in heart, from the Lord: a curse is denounced upon this, (Jeremiah 17:5.)     Consider, man’s breath is in his nostrils. The best of men are subjects of sin, and liable to the stroke of death: the breath that promises you to-day, ere to-morrow’s drawn, may be vanished into air, and all your hopes blasted: the arm of flesh, which to-day is strong and stretche...

"Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily, I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing." -Matthew 5:25-26 [KJV]   My soul! hast thou agreed with thine adversary, and made full payment of all the law charges? If so, it is blessed to review the account, and look over the several particulars, wherein thou wert a debtor, now struck out of God's book, and marked paid, paid, in red letters, with Jesus' blood. To thee, as a sinner, born in sin, and an insolvent debtor, both by nature and by practice, the law of God stood forth as thine adversary. To agree with him as quickly as possible, whilst in the way with him, and while life remains, which is every moment subject to be ended, is the first and most momentous of all concerns.   Hadst ...

"Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped." -Isaiah 35:5 [KJV]   That these miracles are effected by the power of the gospel is plain from the words that immediately precede, "Behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; He will come and save you" (Isaiah 35:4) . And how does God come and save but in the gospel, and by making it His own power unto salvation?    If you look back at your experience you will see that one of the first effects of the power of the gospel upon your heart was, to open your ears to receive it as a message from God. When, for instance, you were first brought under its sound, and began to understand and feel what you heard, was there not given you, as it were, new ears to hear it, and a new heart to receive it? Were not those with you memorable days when you first heard the joyful sound of salvation by free grace; when it first dropped that blessed news into ...

  A HYMN OF PRAISE TO CHRIST Tune: “Take My Life and Let it Be” 7.7.7.7. Words by Jim Byrd   Sing aloud this hymn of praise, Hallelujahs let us raise; Bless the Lord of earth and skies, Let our praises ever rise, Let our praises ever rise.   View His great creative might, In the morning’s glor’ous light; Study providence and see Proofs of His great sovereignty, Proofs of His great sovereignty.   Yet a greater work appears, What relief to all our fears! God for sinners gave His Son, Jesus, the Anointed One, Jesus, the Anointed One.   Lo He came the lost to save, His own life He freely gave; God was fully satisfied, When Christ Jesus bled and died, When Christ Jesus bled and died.   From His throne Christ reigns on high, By His grace He brings us nigh; He our sin has washed away, Turned our darkness into day, Turned our darkness into day.   So this song of praise we sing, Unto Christ our God and King; We are filled with thankfulness, For the Lord our Ri...

“Wherefore in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation ( atonement ) for the sins of the people.”   -Hebrews 2:17 [KJV] Those who are blessed to hear and believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ do not embrace or prescribe to a theory of atonement. In the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified we have a glorious atonement for all our sins by His precious blood (I John 4:10) . We don't have an "attemptment" we have an effectual and full atonement for our sin. Here are four things we know about His redeeming sacrifice and High Priestly work. 1). It is particular. The Lord Jesus laid down His life for His covenant people, all those chosen and given to Him in eternity (Matthew 1:21; John 6:37; 10:17; Ephesians 1:3-6) . 2). It is powerful. His blood sacrifice puts away all sins of His elect to the complete satisfaction of the holy law and infinite...