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

"... a nd hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." -E PHESIANS 2:6 [KJV]   Jesus did not tarry upon the earth after His resurrection; He ascended up where He was before, and took His seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high. But when He ascended up on high, all the election of grace ascended with Him. He did not leave His members behind upon earth, but He took them all virtually into heaven. And this is a pledge that they will one day be with Him in the realms of eternal bliss, because they have already ascended with Him, as the members of His mystical body. This, in experimental manifestation, is the lifting up of the affections, the raising up of the soul to sit together with Christ in heavenly places. Sin, death, hell, and Satan, with all the misery and wretchedness we have brought upon ourselves—to have them all under our feet, as Christ now reigns, having put all enemies under His feet—to enjoy this,...

God speaks to His people in ways of such condescending grace so that they can understand and be comforted in what He promises. One way is what are called “anthropomorphisms.” An anthropomorphism is “the attribution of human characteristics or behavior to God.” God was described as walking in the garden of Eden and having His eyes on the sparrow. These are characteristics of men not God who is Spirit. But God became a man with all the characteristics of men (sin excluded) that He might save His people. He came as the GodMan in the man Christ Jesus. Now the Lord Jesus Christ has the hands of a man but they are the hands of God! Listen to Him in J OHN 10:28: “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of M y hand.” To assure us of our security and safety in Christ, He speaks of “ M y hand.” All who trust Christ, His sheep as He calls them here are safe in His HAND. He has laid down His life for them is the ...

"But God, W ho is rich in mercy, for H is great love wherewith H e loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together." -E PHESIANS 2:4-6 [KJV]   Eighteen hundred years have rolled away since the body of Christ was quickened in the sepulchre; but the virtual effect of that quickening reached all the election of grace, and will stretch down to the remotest period of time. Now, by virtue of this quickening, when the Holy Spirit comes forward for the execution of his purpose, life enters into the soul. "You hath he quickened who were dead." With quickening comes living sensations, such as conviction of sin, guilt of conscience, the fear of God, the heart broken, the spirit of prayer, repentance unto life; in a word, all the first work of grace in the soul. As in the body of Christ, when quickened by the Holy Ghost, there were vital movements before that body left the...

Great GOD by Whom all worlds were made On Whom all worlds rely, Reveal to us the mystery Of how You came to die.   The mystery of godliness God manifest a Man; We cannot see, You must reveal The wisdom of Your plan.   The Word made flesh to dwell with us The One begotten Son So full of grace, so full of truth Our dawning righteous Sun.   Great God from heaven’s lofty throne All things You did do well But You must come for sin to die If we are saved from hell.   Upon the cross the GodMan died And there upon the tree, Bore all His chosen people’s sin And now they must go free.   Enthroned the Man Christ Jesus sits As God the Savior Just; The Victor o’er our every foe So worthy of our trust!   -Words by preacher Gary Shepard 86.86

The wisdom of God therefore shines most gloriously in permitting Satan to bruise the heel of Christ; and the same wisdom will also overrule all the displays of his malice toward His Church. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it. He permits the enemy to put forth his mightiest efforts as against the saints; but He lives to redeem their souls from both “deceit and violence; and precious shall their blood be” in the sight of Him who shed His blood for them. His efforts are those of a conquered foe. All persecutions aimed by Satan against the Church have contributed to the spread and furtherance of the Gospel. And all his attacks upon individual believers are overruled to their profit and prosperity. We thereby learn our own weakness, and are driven to the Strong for strength. We discover our own foolishness, and are led to the Wise for wisdom. “The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath.” There are times when the life of God in ...

"Turn T hou us unto T hee, O L ORD , and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old." -L AMENTATIONS 5:21 [KJV] If we do not wish to deceive ourselves, if God has made us honest, if He has planted His fear in our hearts, if He has begun and is carrying on a good work in us, there will be evidences of the existence of the life of God within. Life is the commencement of salvation as an inward reality; for whatever the eternal purposes of God are, or whatever standing the vessel of mercy has in Christ previous to effectual calling, there is no more movement in the soul Godward till life is imparted, than there is natural life and motion in a breathless corpse that lies interred in the churchyard. But wherever divine life is implanted there will be certain fruits and feelings that spring out of this life. One fruit will be complaint , and this will arise sometimes from a feeling of the burden of sin, and at others from a sense of merited chastisement from Go...

“ It takes a miraculous, powerful, and even invincible work of the Holy Spirit to convince self-righteous sinners such as we are that our works and efforts to obey God, even our efforts to follow Christ, do not make us holy or righteous before God . Good works are the fruit of the life, power, and grace of God given us in and by the Lord Jesus Christ, but good works do not make us good. Tears of repentance and sorrow are the workings of Christ in the hearts of His people, but these tears do not and cannot wash away or cleanse us from our sins. It is the blood of Jesus Christ alone that cleanses us from ALL sin and makes us righteous in God’s sight . As we endeavor to worship the Lord with our songs, our prayers, our messages, let us remember that the only way God can and will accept us or our efforts is through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ alone.” Gospel report by preacher Bill Parker Eager Avenue Grace church of Albany, Georgia USA Please find Au...