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

Thy promise, Lord, is perfect peace, And yet my trials still increase; Till fears at times my soul assail, That Satan's rage must yet prevail. Then, Savior, then I fly to Thee, And in Thy grace my refuge see; Thou heard'st me from Thy holy hill, And Thou wilt hear and help me still. Beneath Thy wings secure I sleep; What foe can harm while Thou dost keep? I wake, and find Thee at my side, My omnipresent Guard and Guide! Oh why should earth or hell distress, With God so strong, so nigh to bless? From Him alone salvation flows; On Him alone, my soul, repose. Hymn, “Just As I Am” -Words by Henry F. Lyte and William H Bradbury

SALVATION BY SUBSTITUTION WAS EMBODIED IN THE FIRST PROMISE regarding the woman's seed and His bruised heel. Victory over our great enemy, by His subjecting Himself to the bruising of that enemy, is then and there proclaimed. - The clothing of our first parents with that which had passed through death, in preference to the fig leaves which had not so done, showed the element of SUBSTITUTION as that on which God had begun to act in His treatment of fallen man. - Abel's sacrifice revealed the same truth, especially as contrasted with Cain's. For that which made Abel's acceptable, and himself accepted, was the death of the victim as SUBSTITUTED FOR HIS OWN; that which rendered Cain's hateful, and himself rejected, was the absence of that death and blood. - The slain firstling was accepted by God as (symbolically) Abel’s SUBSTITUTE, laid on the altar till He should come, the “woman’s seed,” “...made of a woman, made under the law, to redee...

“ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast ” -Ephesians 2:8-9 [KJV] "BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED." There is no present salvation except that which begins and ends with grace! No man can preach or possess a present salvation except those who preach and believe that we are saved by grace alone! The Work is finished! Any other way of salvation is dependent on the sinner and it will fail. -Gospel report by preacher Henry Mahan Audio Gospel Sermon, “Jesus – Friend of Sinners” here: [33 min, 16 sec] https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=11180521541

“ … and there is no God else beside M e; a just God and a Savior; there is none beside M e.” -I SAIAH 45:21 [KJV] The rareness of anything makes it valuable. This is apparent in gold, precious stones or automobiles. How rare is this statement found in Isaiah? It’s supported elsewhere but only here found in all the sixty-six books of the Bible. Let us be encouraged by such a matchless declaration. We find two singular truths. First, God is a “just God” . It’s an attribute; He can be no other way than just. He must dispense justice. God’s moral righteousness is articulated in His Laws and revealed in His judicial acts. Being an offense to His holy character, God must punish sin.    Consider: GOD IS A JUST GOD   Justice illustrated : Noah’s world was eradicated with the world-wide flood (G ENESIS ch. 6-8) . Lot’s world was leveled with fire and brimstone (G ENESIS ch. 18-19) .   Justice declared : The Lord would “…by no means clear the guilty...

Weekend Gospel message to follow for All Hands ( 03-05MAY 19) 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: “ For lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations; like as corn is sifted in a sieve; yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.” - AMOS 9:9 [KJV] Blessed promise to my poor soul; sifted, blown about by temptation. Look then to Jesus with it, and plead it under every new sifting time. Corn must be sifted, for it is much covered at times with tares and chaff. And so must the seed of Jesus, that the precious may be known and separated; "for what is the chaff to the wheat?" saith the Lord. Oh Lord, if it please Thee, for Thou knowest the necessity of it, sift me, try me, separate me, not only from the ungod...

"In that day shall the Branch of the L ORD be beautiful and glorious." -I SAIAH 4:2 [KJV] Where in heaven or on earth can there be found such a lovely Object as the Son of God? "What is thy beloved more than another beloved?" ask the companions of the Bride. But she answers, "My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand." If, then, you have never seen any beauty in Jesus, you have never seen Jesus; H e has never revealed H imself to you; you never had a glimpse of H is lovely face, nor a sense of H is presence, nor a word from H is lips, nor a touch from H is hand. But if you have seen H im by the eye of faith, and H e has revealed H imself to you even in a small measure, you have seen a beauty in H im beyond all other beauties, for it is a holy beauty, a divine beauty, the beauty of H is heavenly grace, the beauty of H is uncreated and eternal glory, such as no earthly countenance can wear, nor man or woman, no, not Adam,...

“ For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” -R OMANS 10:10 [KJV] Saving faith that God imparts to and implants in our hearts by His Spirit in the new birth is not a blind leap in the dark, nor is it wishful thinking, hope without substance, or positive determination. First, it is saving faith, not because faith itself saves us, but because it looks to Christ on the cross as our whole salvation. Faith that comes from God by the Spirit has an object – CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED. It is founded upon the fact that our redemption and justification before God was completed by our sovereign Lord at Calvary. True heart faith which the Holy Spirit works in us is the fruit and result of the finished work of Christ for us.  The act of believing, though necessary in salvation, is not the cause of salvation, nor is it any part of the righteousness by which God justifies sinners. That place belongs to Christ and Him ...