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

"If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His."   - Romans 8:9 [KJV] This is one of the most awful truths in the Bible. He who hath not the Spirit of Christ, doth not know Christ, will not believe on Him, cannot love Him. Then that dreadful sentence stands out against him, and living and dying so, will certainly fall upon him. “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, maranatha”  that is, under the most dreadful curse, till the Lord come to execute the severest vengeance of it (I Corinthians 16:22.) Jesus, Master, save us from this. Holy Spirit, rather let us be destitute of every blessing, than want love to Christ. O shed a Saviour’s love abroad in our hearts, and that shall kindle ours. What is it to have the Spirit of Christ? How may we know that we have the Spirit of Christ?  Consider, (1st.) the appellation here given, the Spirit of Christ. This will greatly help us to solve these questions. You may perceive what sp...

"Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to Thy voice; cause me to hear it." -Song of Solomon 8:13 [KJV] Hark, my soul! Is not this Jesus speaking to thee? Listen to thy Lord, for sweet is His voice, and His countenance is comely. But how know I that Jesus is speaking to me in these words of the Song? Search, and see if it be so. What are these gardens, the Lord speaks of? Surely the special congregations of His churches. Is not Jesus' church, one universal church, of jew and gentile, made up of the several assemblies of the faithful throughout the earth? And art thou, my soul, brought into the church of Jesus, by regeneration, by adoption, by the special call of God the Father, the purchase of Christ's blood, the conquest of the Spirit, and the voluntary surrender of thine heart to God? And dost thou dwell in those gardens? Are Jesus' ordinances thy delight; His holy days thy beloved days; His presence thy joy; His tabernacles amiab...

"Watch and pray."   - Mark 13:33 [KJV]   There is no keeping up faith except by prayer and watchfulness. As prayer declines in the bosom, so does the strength of faith. You may go on neglecting prayer and supplication until every grain of faith seems lost out of your bosom, and may come at last to think you never knew anything of a work of God upon your heart, and have been deceived in believing there was any grace there. By watchfulness also is the love of God maintained. Unless you watch against your besetting sins, against the snares spread for your feet, against the temptations that daily and hourly beset your path, against being overcome by the strength or subtlety of your unwearied foe, you are sure to fall; and if you fall you will bring guilt and bondage, darkness and distress into your mind, and cut off for a time all friendly intercourse with God.   Therefore you must pray and watch; for without watchfulness, prayer is of little efficacy. And if we ...