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

"Blessed is the man whom T hou  chastenest, O L ORD , and teachest  him out of T hy law."   -Psalm 94:12 [KJV] We may observe in the words before us, that the Lord puts chastening before teaching. Is there not something remarkable in this? Why should chastening precede teaching? For this reason. We have no ear to hear except so far as we are chastened. It was so with the prodigal. Until he was brought to his right mind by strokes of hunger, he did not think of his father's house; he had no heart to return; but a mighty famine sent him home. So it is with God's children; as long as they are allowed to wander in their backslidings, they have no heart to return. But let the rod come; let them be driven home by stripes; then they have an  ear to listen, while God teaches them to profit, instructs them by H is blessed Spirit, and speaks into their heart those lessons which are for their eternal good. "And teachest him out of thy law." ...

Out of The Depths   It makes the wounded spirit whole, And calms the troubled breast; 'Tis manna to the hungry soul, And to the weary rest. Dear Name! the Rock on which I build My Shield and Hiding-place; My never-failing Treasury fill'd With boundless stores of grace. By Thee my prayers acceptance gain, Although with sin defiled; Satan accuses me in vain, And I am own'd a child. Jesus! my Shepherd, Husband, Friend, My Prophet, Priest, and King; My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End, Accept the praise I bring. Weak is the effort of my heart, And cold my warmest thought; But when I see Thee as Thou art, I'll praise Thee as I ought. Till then I would Thy love proclaim With every fleeting breath; And may the music of Thy Name Refresh my soul in death! -Gospel report by preacher John Newton

Salvation is found only in trusting the Lord Jesus Christ.   “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:31).  Let us not think, however, that salvation is in believing Christ to the exclusion of believing His doctrine. “ Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son” (II John 1:9). What is “the doctrine of Christ” ? The doctrine of Christ is the teaching which the Lord gave to His apostles of which He is the sum and substance. It concerns who He is, the work He did and the reason He alone had to do that work. He is truly God and Man, the Surety and Mediator of the everlasting Covenant; He is our Prophet, Priest and King. His work was that of Substitution, Satisfaction, Reconciliation and Redemption. He suffered, bled, died and arose in the stead of His sinful people to make reparation ...

By nature, we are all mixed up in our priorities. We esteem that which is natural, temporal and fleeting as much and that which is spiritual, eternal and lasting as little. The body and its pleasure and comforts are very important to people but their soul and its redemption and welfare are viewed as of little importance. The Psalmist rightly declared in Psalms 49:8, “ For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever ”. Precious? How precious? Only Christ can tell us and He did: “ For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul ?” (Matthew 16:26) If we gain the “whole world” and everything that is counted precious in it and lose our soul we have really lost all! John Gill said to lose your soul is to “be consigned to everlasting torment and misery, be banished from the divine presence, and continually feel the gnawings of the worm of conscience that never dies...

"Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise H im, W ho is the health of my countenance, and my God." -Psalm 43:11 [KJV] "Let not your heart be troubled..." -John 14, vss. 1 & 27 [KJV] It is clear from scripture, and it is our day to day experience, that in this world, God's children, like the rest of Adam's race, will have trials, troubles and difficulties. Though we are the elect of God, chosen in eternal love and redeemed by the almighty blood of Jesus Christ, yet we have many a bitter cup of trouble and trial to drink before we finally enjoy everlasting glory and rest. But there is a sure remedy for this heart trouble. "Ye believe in God, believe also in Me." The only real medicine for troubled hearts is - faith - confidence in the sovereign Christ! This is the only prescription our Lord gives in the fourteenth chapter of John ...

Weekend Gospel message to follow for All Hands (16-18NOV18) Heads-Up --- Please find enclosed encouragement in "SO GREAT SALVATION" by the perfect and finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ in saving poor, needy and wretched sinners by His sovereign free grace - God's unmerited favor - from their sins and from Hell: "Look to this one grand thing, that all thy confidence and all thy joy ariseth wholly from Jesus's person and righteousness; let Jesus have ALL thy confidence. Faith brings nothing, for it hath nothing: it casts itself wholly upon Jesus. Amidst all its guilt, and fear, and tears, it is Jesus only to whom faith looks, it is Jesus alone upon whom it depends . It hath nothing to do with self; neither our own feelings, nor the exercise of our graces." - Gospel report by preacher Robert Hawker

"And H e said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables ."   -Mark 4:11 [KJV] By "the kingdom of God" is meant the same thing as "the kingdom of heaven," that is, the internal kingdom set up in the heart by the power of the Spirit—that kingdom which shall stand for ever and ever, and last when time shall be no more. This the Lord calls a mystery. And if it is a mystery, it will have these three marks; it will be beyond nature, sense, and reason, will be hidden from the wise and prudent, and will be revealed unto babes. Let us see if we can find these marks belonging to the kingdom of heaven set up in the heart. It certainly is above nature, sense, and reason, that God should dwell in a man's heart, as the Apostle says, "Christ in you, the hope of glory" and again, "Ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath ...