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

 Length of sermon, 32 minutes, by preacher Clay Curtis.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6058-Y_v2M  

When the Lord Jesus said, “It is finished.”   What was finished? The payment for sin was completed, not reduced, not negotiated, no balance remained. The demands of the law in terms of condemnation were met.   The power of death had been broken.   Finished was the whole will of God.   Nothing to add, nothing to improve, nothing to do but rest.   - David Eddmenson   *****   When Dr. James W. Alexander was dying his wife sought to comfort him with precious words, as she quoted them to him: “ I know in whom I have believed. ”   Dr. Alexander at once corrected her by saying, “Not in whom I have believed,” but, “I know Whom I have believed.” He would not even suffer a little preposition to be between his soul and his Savior.   ***** When Thomas Hooker was dying, one said to him, “Brother, you are going to receive the reward of your labors.”   He humbly replied, “Brother, I am going to receive mercy.”   ***** A friend is one to whom ...

  Thy presence, gracious Lord, afford Prepare us to receive Thy Word Now let Thy voice engage our ear And faith be mixed with all we hear. Distracting thoughts and cares remove And fix our hearts and hopes above With food divine may we be fed And satisfied with Living Bread. To us Thy sacred Word apply With sovereign power and majesty May we in faith and godly fear Rejoice and walk in what we hear. Father, in us Thy Son reveal Teach us to know and do Thy will Thy saving pow’r and love display And crown Thy Gospel with success. O bless Thy servant, dearest Lord While he shall preach Thy blessed Word O may we hear our Saviour’s voice And in His precious Name rejoice! -old Gospel hymn: Doxology       AFTER THIS LIFE IS ETERNITY     This life is not the end.   We all will spend eternity somewhere glorifying God: either glorifying His grace for saving us or glorifying His justice for justly condemning us.   Some of you are already making plans for wh...

"This is His commandment, that we should believe on the name of His Son JESUS CHRIST, and love one another."   -I John 3:23 [KJV]   When a weary traveller has lost his way, what pleasure must the sight of a directory afford him? How must his joy be increased, if it informs him he is near a dear friend’s house, who will kindly receive him? Weary pilgrim, look at this directory, and rejoice. You are near a dear Friend, who will kindly receive, and heartily welcome you. Obey this command, and enjoy the comfort.    Consider, (1st.) who commands. God the Father of heaven: that God against whom you have sinned, and by sin art become miserable. He would have you be both holy and happy. You can be neither without believing. Both are enjoyed in faith.    (2d.) The command. Believe . By the ten commandments thou art condemned: thou art brought in guilty by them. The law ministers nothing but wrath and condemnation. God be merciful to us miserable sinners! ...

"An altar of earth." -Exodus 20:24 [KJV]   Every thing, and every service, in the old testament dispensation, as well as in the gospel church, points to Christ. Behold, my soul, in the Lord's appointment of "an altar of earth," how jealous the Lord is of His honour. If the altar dedicated to the Lord's service, be of earth, or if it be of stone, there was not to be the least mixture. Nothing hewn, nothing polished by man's art, or man's device; "for if," saith Jehovah, "thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it." Behold, how fully Jesus was preached here! There can be nothing offered to the Lord for His acceptance, but what is the Lord's Jesus is the Father's gift to poor sinners; and when a poor sinner presents before the Father, the Lord Jesus as His whole altar, sacrifice, and offering, He presents to the Father what the Father first presented to Him. If the sinner were to join any thing of h...

"And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried; they shall call on My name, and I will hear them; I will say, It is My people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God." -Zechariah 13:9 [KJV]   It is a mercy to be in the furnace, and it is a mercy to be brought through it. The Lord's promise to the third part is, that He will bring them through the fire. They must therefore, according to His own word, be put into it, and yet not left in it. It is "through the fire" —right through it from beginning to end, whether it be a long and slow one or short and fierce one. The Lord knows exactly what we can bear, and it is not always the hottest fire which produces the most softening effects. Some metals indeed are so stubborn, and the dross is so deeply engrained into them, that they seem to require a hotter fire than others. But after the law has done its work, and the dross a...