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

"Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God that ye may be able to stand in the evil day, and having done all to stand."   - Ephesians 6:13 [KJV]   St. Paul was an experienced veteran in the camp of Christ. He had been in many campaigns: fought many battles under the Captain of his salvation, against the combined enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil. He warns his fellow soldiers of their foes and dangers, by exhorting them to take, and put on, nothing less than the whole armour of God. The very same armour, which he himself fought in, is provided for us also. Blessed be God for that.    So sure as Paul fought his way through, and safely arrived in glory, so shall we also, in this armour of God. O Christian, consider, this is not an armour of flesh and blood—not what is natural to man, or is in the power of man to provide for himself; but the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of the whole earth, hath provided it for all Christ’s soldiers ...

"...and continued all night in prayer to God." -Luke 6:12 [KJV]   My soul! contemplate thy Lord in the view here represented of Him. "Jesus continued all night in prayer to God." But did Christ need to use prayer? Yes, as Christ, the sent, the anointed, the servant of Jehovah, when He voluntarily stood up as the Surety of His people, at the call of God the Father. But as God, "one with the Father, over all, God blessed for ever , "  He prayed not; for all divine perfections were His in common with the Father and the Holy Spirit, eternally, essentially, and underived.   But, my soul, as thy representative, Jesus needed the use of prayer, and hath both endeared it, and recommended it by His bright example. And observe the fervency and earnestness of His prayers, by the length of time. For whereas one short hour is found long by thee, (yea, sometimes in that hour, what coldness and deadness creep in!) thy Redeemer "continued all night in ...

"He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform." -Romans 4:20, 21 [KJV]   This, then, was Abraham's faith. It was a firm credence in the promise of God made to him, and yet a faith that lived under opposition, hoping against hope, and being fully persuaded that what God had promised He would perform. Our faith, then, if it be genuine, must resemble that of Abraham. It must anchor in the truth of God as made life and spirit to our soul. It must meet with every opposition from without and within; from sin, Satan, and the world; from nature and flesh and reason all combined against it. But in spite of all, it must hope against hope, and be fully persuaded that what God has promised He is able to perform; and thus by perseverance and patient waiting obtain the victory.    Take another example, that of Moses: his faith was of...