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

Last eve I passed beside a blacksmith's door And heard the anvil ring the vesper chime: Then looking in, I saw upon the floor Old hammers, worn with beating years of time. “How many anvils have you had,” said I, “To wear and batter all these hammers so?” “Just one,” said he, and then, with twinkling eye, “The anvil wears the hammers out, you know.” And so, thought I, the anvil of God's Word, For ages skeptic blows have beat upon; Yet though the noise of falling blows was heard, The anvil is unharmed . . . the hammers gone.   —Author Unknown

  O, blessed God how kind, are all Thy ways to me Whose dark, benighted mind, was enmity with Thee Yet now subdued by sovereign grace My spirit longs for Thine embrace,  My spirit longs for Thine embrace! How precious are Thy thoughts, that o’er my spirit roll They swell beyond my faults, and captivate my soul How great their sum, how high they rise Can ne’er be known beneath the skies,  Can ne’er be known beneath the skies! Preserved by Jesus when, my feet made haste to hell And there should I have gone, but Thou dost all things well Thy love was great, Thy mercy free Which from the pit delivered me,  Which from the pit delivered me! Before Thy hands had made, the sun to rule the day Or earth’s foundation laid, or fashioned Adam’s clay What thoughts of peace and mercy flowed In Thy great heart of love, O God,  In Thy great heart of love, O God! A monument of grace, a sinner saved by blood The streams of love I trace, up to the fountain – God   And in His s...

     One preacher of the past has rightly said, “Every sermon should contain the three R’s, ruin by sin in Adam, redemption by the blood atonement of Christ and regeneration by the quickening power of the Holy Spirit."  We rejoice in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:3) .  It is indeed the message of God to guilty sinners how God can justly save His people from their sins through Christ’s redeeming blood to His own glory (Romans 3:24-26; Revelation 1:5-6) .   The gospel of Christ Jesus declares that He came to save sinners (Matthew 9:10-13) .  If all men are not guilty and can work up or work out their own righteousness and salvation, there is no need for Christ to come in the flesh (John 1:14) and to establish a righteousness and die for sinners  (Galatians 2:21) .  All men are totally depraved, guilty before God and unable to perform any righteous action or notion (Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:9-12) .  T...

"My son, be strong in the grace that is in CHRIST JESUS."   -II Timothy 2:1 [KJV]   St. Paul had known what it was to be strong in vain confidence and self-righteous hopes: to be strong in rage and persecution against Christ and His people. But his soul had severely smarted for that. Now Christ had taken possession of his heart. He was all in all to him. He thought he could never enough recommend Him and His grace to his dear friends. O let us imitate him.    (1st.) The grace that is in Christ Jesus. Because of our low, mean, scanty thoughts of His rich grace, we are low in courage against our enemies, and weak in the comforts of our souls. Know, there is much more in this, than many weak Christians suppose, who unscripturally think Christ came into the world, to procure some grace for us, that He puts it into us, as men do seeds in a hot-bed, but leaves us to be faithful to it, and so to secure our own salvation. What kind of grace is this? Not saving grace. If th...

"Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation." -Philippians 2:6, 7 [KJV] My soul, after all thy meditations upon the person of thy Lord, how very far short hast thou come in thy thoughts of the unequalled humility of the Son of God! Let thy present evening's contemplation be on this subject. But where, and at what part shall I enter upon it? Who shall speak, or what heart conceive the wonders contained in it! Blessed Spirit of all truth! do Thou glorify the Lord Jesus to my evening meditation, in this interesting view of His person.    He that, before all worlds, lay in the bosom of the Father, and was attended by the services of legions of angels, condescended to be made not only flesh, but in the likeness of sinful flesh; to be born in a stable, and to sleep in a manger; to advance in human intellect, and grow in wisdom and in stature; to labour for bread, and to gain that bread by the sweat of the bro...

“That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us." -Hebrews 6:18 [KJV] If ever there was in your experience a season never to be forgotten of alarm, of fear, of terror, of guilt, of apprehension; and then when you scarcely knew what to do, think or say, there was a view opened up to you of a refuge in the Person and work, blood and righteousness of the Lord the Lamb; if as driven or drawn you fled to it, were kindly received, and found safe harbourage from guilt and doubt and fear, then you surely know what it is to have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before you. It is these, and these only, who are heirs of promise; and therefore how important it is to have had some personal experience of these things. How are we to know whether we possess the life of God in our soul, the grace of God in our heart, unless there has been some such fleeing ...