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

"Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at ." -Z ECHARIAH 3:8 [KJV]   A SINNER SAVED IS A SPECTACLE for angels to contemplate. As the Apostle says, "We are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels and to men." The ancients used to say that "a good man struggling with difficulties was a sight for the gods to look at." We may say, with all Christian truth, that the mysteries of redemption are "things the angels desire to look into;" and among the mysteries of redemption, what greater than a redeemed sinner? That a man who deserves, by sin original and sin actual, nothing but the eternal wrath of God, should be lifted out of perdition justly merited into salvation to which he can have no claim, must indeed ever be a holy wonder. And that you or I should ever have been fixed on in the electing love of God, ever have been given to Jesus to redeem, ever quicken...

IF ANY DENY THAT SALVATION be by the free and sovereign grace of God in Christ alone, it is because they do not know themselves! They do not know themselves and their real condition because they do not believe God! We are so blinded by self-righteousness and Satan that unless the Spirit give us the gift of faith, we can never know our true state and condition as sinners before God. We can never know our helplessness except we believe Christ’s words, “no man can come to M e except the Father draw him.” We can never know what we imagine our righteousness to be unless we believe God who says that “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” and “there is none righteous, no not one.” When we believe God, we know that we are “lost, blind, dead in trespasses and sins, and without strength.” We are what God says we are, not what men say we are or what we think ourselves to be. When the Spirit of God gives a person faith to believe God and reveals to them what they tr...

"Thus saith the L ORD ; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after M e in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown." -J EREMIAH 2:2 [KJV]   IF WE LOOK AT SALVATION, we shall see that it consists of three parts; salvation past , salvation present , and salvation future . Salvation past consists in having our names written in the Lamb's book of life before the foundation of the world. Salvation present consists in the manifestation of Jesus to the soul, whereby H e betroths it to H imself. And salvation future consists in the eternal enjoyment of Christ, when the elect shall sit down to the marriage-supper of the Lamb, and be for ever with the Lord. Now, as none will ever enjoy salvation future who have no interest in salvation past; in other words, as none will ever be with Christ in eternal glory whose names were not written in the book of life from all eternity; so none will enjoy salvation future,...

How oft, alas, this wretched heart Has wandered from the Lord! How oft my roving thoughts depart, Forgetful of His Word. Yet sov’reign mercy calls, ‘Return!’ Dear Lord, and may I come? My vile ingratitude I mourn! O take this wanderer H ome! And canst Thou, wilt Thou yet forgive, And bid my crimes remove? And shall a pardoned rebel live, To speak Thy wondrous love? Almighty grace, Thy healing pow’r How glorious, how divine! That can to life and bliss restore So vile a heart as mine! Thy pard’ning love, so free, so sweet, Dear Savior, I adore; O keep me at Thy sacred feet, And let me rove no more! - Hymn, Amazing Grace

"NEITHER DO I CONDEMN THEE." - JOHN 8:11 These are the priceless, life-giving words spoken by our Saviour to the woman taken in adultery. This poor creature was discovered in the actual act of fornication and dragged before Jesus by those who thought themselves righteous. These men knew full well Christ´s love and compassion for poor sinners and had no doubt heard His blistering denunciations against the Pharisees. But here was a case in which they were convinced Christ would be compelled to condemn this miserable woman. There was no denial on her part. It appears she had nothing to say; … she was guilty. And like all of us when at first we stood guilty before God, we had no reason to give as to why a swift sentence should not be passed. These men, the poor woman´s accusers, depended for their salvation upon their strict fulfilment of the ceremonial law and were judged accordingly. In other words, they relied upon themselves and their works. But when convic...

"We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work Thou didst in their days, in the times of old. How Thou didst drive out the heathen with Thy hand, and plantedst them; how Thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out. For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but Thy right hand, and Thine arm, and the light of Thy countenance, because Thou hadst a favour unto them ." - P SALM 44:1-3 [KJV]   It is one of the best and strongest of all arguments, when pleading for the renewals of divine love, to put the Lord in remembrance of past mercies. It is as if we should say, Shall we despond now, when the Lord hath blessed so often? Shall our hope fail when God’s mercies fail not? Reader! think what an additional argument the church hath now to bring on this ground, since God’s dear Son came down from heaven. -Gospel report by preacher Robert Hawker (1753–1827 A.D.)

Brethren, true godly assurance of salvation comes NOT by looking within ourselves to see if we have done enough or have grown enough, nor even to determine if we are sincere enough. True godly assurance of salvation comes by God-given faith that causes us to look only to Christ crucified and risen from the dead and to Christ as our Great High Priest Who ever lives to make intercession for us and Who keeps us by His grace and power . Consider – In Christ , and by God-given faith in Him, we are assured in God’s Word that no sin can be charged to us, and we are righteous in God’s sight based on Christ’s righteousness imputed to us (R OMANS 4:6-8; 8:33-34) . In Christ , and by God-given faith in Him, we are assured that we cannot be condemned by the law or separated from God’s love in Christ (R OMANS 8:1,35-39) . In Christ , and by God-given faith in Him, we are assured that Satan’s and our enemy’s accusations against us are futile because THEY AR...