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

An old writer said “Christ burst forth from the tomb, which could no longer hold Him.  He broke out of the prison which could not confine Him.”   There is no doubt but what the almighty Savior could have pulverized the stone that lay across the entrance into His sepulcher, but He did not do that.  The idea of the Lord Jesus breaking out of the tomb is actually inconsistent with Scripture.     When someone breaks out of prison, they are a fugitive because they short-changed justice and failed to pay the penalty for their crimes; they have failed to live up to the demands of the law.  However, when someone serves their time, the prison door opens for them because all that was demanded by the legal system has been satisfied.  Christ did not break out of the tomb, He was released!  By His death He had paid the indebtedness His people owed to divine justice.     All that the law demanded as remuneration for our guilt, ...

    The Name of Jesus is so sweet, ‘Tis music to our ears; For He alone could save our souls, And drive away our fears. The Lord of glory long ago, Came to this world of woe; To save the chosen of the Lord, And pay the debt we owe.   Here is a wondrous mystery, That God the Savior came; And gave Himself the sacrifice, To save us from our shame. O what a great Redeemer this, Whose blood atonement made; Our guilt in all its blackest hue, Was on the Savior laid.   For us Christ died upon the cross, And wrath divine He bore; The risen Savior ever reigns, We’re safe forevermore. So sing, “All glory to the Lamb,” Whose face we soon shall see; Then satisfied we all shall be, Throughout eternity.   Tune: “There is a Fountain” CM/double Words by Jim Byrd       “ BY GRACE YE ARE SAVED”        If you could have been a witness when God chose a multitude of sinners unto salvation before the world was made, you would have observ...

Several years ago, I saw a video clip of a famous talk show host in which she said that, as a teenager, she began being skeptical about the God of the Bible when her church kept speaking of God being a jealous God. Her thought was something like this: “How small and petty God must be that He wants my stuff.” I recall thinking, “She does not know what jealous means.”   But, she is not to be blamed for her misunderstanding, for the meaning of jealous is somewhat different from what it was in the days when the KJV was translated. Now we consider jealousy and envy to be very nearly synonymous. But that was not always so. Long ago, jealous and zealous were essentially the same word. Both come from the same Latin background but each entered our vocabulary through different languages.   But eventually, jealous became associated with one’s possessions. The idea is that one was fiercely or “zealously” protective of what he had. So, at that time, the distinction between envy and jealou...

Paul the apostle speaks of “the grace of God that brings salvation” (Titus 2:11) .       This is indeed a glorious picture! God’s grace is here portrayed as a vehicle – His chariot. In it is the salvation He is delivering to His people. This salvation is both a person and a blessing.       First, the salvation in this chariot of grace is a person . He is the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Jehovah in Old Testament times called Jesus “ My salvation” whom He would send to His people (Isaiah 49:6; 56:1) . When Jesus came, Simeon called Him “Jehovah’s salvation” (Luke 2:30) , for He is the very embodiment of the salvation Jehovah ordained for His people. Every saint knows Jesus as “my salvation” (Psalm 27:1) , for Jesus is not only our Savior but also the salvation wrought by the Savior.       Second, the salvation in this chariot of grace is a blessing . And this blessing of salvation is in the hands of Hi...

His Priceless Will and Testament by DG Miles McKee   Occasionally professed believers have told me that they lack the peace of God.  Have you ever felt like that?   If this is our case, the smartest thing we can do is to examine which gospel we have embraced (II Corinthians 11:3-4) !  If we know nothing of the peace of God, we need to take time to see if we really have believed the Gospel or have merely understood something that looks like it (see Galatians 1:6-7) !   Maybe the “gospel” we have received contains no peace. Maybe we’ve got a hold of some facts about the real Gospel, but we have missed the joyful sound (Psalm 89:15) . On the other hand, we may be saved, but we just don’t know our Gospel inheritance.   In John 14 we are presented with the priceless last will and testament of our Lord. In verse 27, He says, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you.”  This is excellent... notice whose peace it is. He says it’s “My” peace....

"Behold, we come unto Thee; for Thou art the LORD our God."   - Jeremiah 3:22 [KJV]   Peter was an awful backslider: his crimes deserved hell: so do yours and mine. Both he and we should be sent there, if love did not reign in heaven, and grace abound to sinners on earth. One look of love from Christ broke Peter’s heart, made him weep bitterly, and return to a crucified Saviour earnestly. A bone broken and set, is stronger than it was before. This I am sure of, a heart broken by forgiving love, grows stronger in love: having much forgiven, we love much. I have often thought, fresh love added speed to Peter’s feet, when he ran to the sepulchre, to see his dear, his crucified Lord (John 20:4.)     See the happy effects of loving speeches and gracious words from a loving Lord. We saw the backsliding children arraigned, and their conduct condemned, in our last meditation. What was the sentence passed on them? Was it “Go ye cursed, vile wretches! ye have gone...

"And this is the name, wherewith she shall be called, the LORD our righteousness." -Jeremiah 33:16 [KJV]   My soul! the subject of thy morning meditation would not be complete, if thy personal interest in it were not taken into the account; and therefore let thy mind be led forth, this evening, in sweet contemplation upon what the Holy Ghost hath said, in this scripture, by His same servant, the prophet, concerning the church of Jesus. If Jesus be called "the LORD our righteousness , " and be, as He is well known to be, the husband of His people, surely His wife shall be called by her husband's name. She shall be called so because it is her husband's name; "the LORD our righteousness." And as He became sin for her, when He knew no sin; so she, when she knew no righteousness, shall, by virtue of her union and relationship with Him, be righteousness, even "the righteousness of God in Him , "   -II Corinthians 5:21 . Now, my s...

"That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ." - Philippians 1:10 [KJV]   If divine light has enlightened your mind, divine life quickened your heart, and you love the Lord and His people, you must approve of the things that are excellent. For they are so commended to your conscience that you can no more do otherwise than you can tell a deliberate lie or call black white. And as you approve of them, you will disapprove of everything which is contrary to, or falls short of this excellency. Now this is what distinguishes us from the world and the spirit of it, and from all whose eyes are blinded by the god of this world—that whilst they approve of the things God abhors, we approve of the things that God loves.    Here is the mind of Christ; here is the teaching of the Spirit giving us in some measure to see as Christ sees, to feel as Christ feels, to love as Christ loves, and to approve as C...