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

"So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy ." -R OMANS 9:16 [KJV] He that is not interested in the eternal election of God the Father, in the atoning blood and justifying righteousness of God the Son, in the work and witness of God the Holy Ghost, whatever be his name, sect, denomination or profession; whatever be his outward conduct, the doctrines he professes, or the creed to which he signs his name, he will die as Esau died, as Balaam died, as Saul died, as Judas and Ahithophel died. He will never see the King in His beauty; never see the land afar off; never see the new Jerusalem, nor the blood of sprinkling, "that speaketh better things than the blood of Abel." But every living soul that has been feelingly taught his lost condition, that has known something of a resting-place in Christ, that has turned his back upon the world and the professing church, and gone weeping Zionward, in whose...

“ Out of the depths have   I cried unto Thee, O L ORD .” -PSALM 130:1 [KJV] There is a difference between knowing that I need to cry out for mercy, and actually crying out for mercy. There is a difference between knowing that Christ came to save sinners, and actually being a sinner who desperately needs and desires to be saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. The difference is: the head and the heart! Knowing that I need to be saved is in the head, but the actual cry for mercy can only come from God giving a new heart that believes, loves, and sees its only hope to be in the Christ who purges sinners from all their sins! -Gospel report by preacher Gabe Stalnaker

"Deal bountifully with T hy servant,   that I may live, and keep T hy word." - PSALM 119:17 [KJV] Can the Lord deal any way but bountifully with His servants? Why has He made you His servants? Why did He strike the chains of former servitude off your hands? Why did He bring you out of the service of sin, the world, Satan, and self? Why did He ever make Himself precious to your heart, win your affections, and enable you to give yourselves wholly unto Him? That He might cast you off? that He might mock your calamity? that He might trample you one day into hell? that He might leave you to yourself, that He might suffer Satan to overcome you, permit your lusts to destroy you; or allow your sins to be tied one day, like a mill-stone, round your neck to sink you into hell? Oh, can our heart ever indulge thoughts so derogatory to sovereign grace? Was it not because the Lord had bounty in His heart towards you, that He first turned your heart towards Hi...

Weekend Gospel message to follow for All Hands (19-21JUL19) 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: “ No man has a true desire for the salvation of men's souls who does not first have a desire for God to be honored and glorified above all things. The individual who believes or preaches a gospel in which God is not glorified, one in which His justice is not fully satisfied as His grace is shown, not only doesn't truly desire to see men's souls saved but most likely is not saved himself. A salvation which does not begin with God, which is not provided for altogether by God, which does not save all whom He purposes to save and which does not keep all He saves...does not glorify God. The chief end of all things in salvation as well as in general ...

"When your faith endures many conflicts, and your spirit sinks low, do not condemn yourself. There is a reason for your season of heaviness. Great soldiers are not made without war. Skillful sailors are not trained on the shore. It appears that if you are to become a great believer, you will be greatly tested. If you are to be a great help to others, you must pass through their trials. If you are to be instructed in the things of the kingdom, you must learn from experience. The uncut diamond has little brilliance, and the unthreshed corn feeds no one, and the untried believer is of little use or beauty. There are GREAT BENEFITS to come from your trials and depression. The one who is much plowed and often harrowed will thank God if the result is a larger harvest to the praise and glory of God by Jesus Christ. If your face is now covered with sorrow, the time will come when you will bless God for that sorrow. The day will come when you will see great gain from your...

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; the clouds ye so much dread; Are big with mercy, and shall break, in blessings on your head. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust Him for His grace; Behind a frowning providence, He hides a smiling face. His purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour; The bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower. Blind unbelief is sure to err, and scan His work in vain; God is His own interpreter, and He will make it plain. -brother W m. Cowper (1731-1800 A.D.)

It is an astounding thing that such a sinner as I could ever call the justice of God my friend. God is infinitely and unchangeably holy. I know that. Also, He is just and His justice is inflexible, the same for all as it pertains to sin. He must and He will punish all sin. Being a sinner, there is no way that I in myself could ever look at divine justice with anything but absolute terror and fear! Having made myself an enemy to God, I became a fugitive from His justice. At least that’s what I thought for a good portion of my life. What I didn’t know and what I found out at His appointed time, was that He had already dealt with the matter of my sins . He had already dealt with them justly , satisfying His justice by demanding the full penalty of them against Another. He had in grace appointed a Substitute for me, the Lord Jesus Christ. The eternal Son of God had become Surety for me. He had assumed all the responsibility for my sins before I was even born. God h...