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

“ Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; W ho for the joy that was set before H im endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” - HEBREWS 12:2 [KJV] The Lord Jesus Christ is “the Author and Finisher of our faith.” The faith of God’s elect begins with Christ giving us faith in Him by His sovereign will [EPHESIANS 2:8-9; T ITUS 1:1 ] . This faith, that is the gift of God, which is a definite and sure faith, looks back to the Giver, Author and Finisher of faith, Christ Himself, He is the only object of saving faith. This faith of God’s elect, is also called, “precious faith” [II PETER 1:1 ] ; because it is given to us as a purchased gift of the precious blood of Christ [I PETER 1:18-20 ] . This special and saving faith is given sovereignly and exclusively to the church of Christ alone. His sheep hear His voice, His call, they fall in love with Him and follow Him fully to the end of the...

"And H e is the head of the body, the church." - COLOSSIANS 1:18 [KJV] That the Lord Jesus Christ should have a people, in whom he should be eternally glorified, was the original promise made by the Father to the Son. "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession" (Psalm 2:8). This was "the joy that was set before him, for which he endured the cross, despising the shame." This was "the purchased possession," "the travail of his soul," and the reward of his humiliation and sufferings (Phil. 2:9, 10). This people form the members of his mystical body, all of which were written in his book, the book of life, when as yet, as regards their actual existence, there was none of them (Psalm 139:16). All these were given to him in eternity, when he was constituted their covenant Head in the everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure....

Weekend Gospel message to follow for All Hands (23-25AUG19) 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: “ Of H is own will begat H e us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of H is creatures.” - JAMES 1:18 [KJV] The believer’s salvation begins with THE WILL OF GOD, not his own will. The natural will is NOT to come to Christ. “And ye will not come to M e, that ye might have life” [JOHN 5:40 ] . However, by the will of God and the Word of Truth, the Gospel is sown in the heart of God’s child and, in due time, when God gives the increase, a child of God is born. For the first time he is willing to come to Christ. Only God can do such a work: “Thy people shall be willing in the day of T hy power” [PSALM 110:3 ] . ...

Evangel is a Greek word, meaning glad tidings, good news, welcome information, a shout, or something that makes one oft sing, talk or rejoice. When David defeated the giant Goliath, there was a great shout, and an encouraging message was passed round among the Jews to say that their terrible enemy had been killed, and that they were free to enjoy liberty and peace; thereupon, they sang and danced, and made merry. Similarly, God's evangel , THE NEW TESTAMENT, IS A GOOD PIECE OF NEWS, A WAR CRY . It was echoed throughout the world by the apostles. They proclaimed a true David, W ho had done combat with, and gained the victory over, sin, death, and the devil. In so doing, H e had taken those who were enchained by sin, threatened by death, and overpowered by the devil; though they had merited no rewards H e redeemed them, justified them, gave them life and salvation, and so brought them peace, and led them back to God . -unknown Gospel preacher   ...

"They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come and let us join ourselves to the L ORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten ." - JEREMIAH 50:5 [KJV] "Come, let us join ourselves to the L ORD ." Does this imply any power in the creature to join himself to the Lord? No; but it implies this— that when the Lord unites us to Himself, then we unite ourselves to Him; when the Lord brings the believer into a manifested union with Himself, then there is a leaping forth of the soul, a going forth of the affections, a cleaving to Him with purpose of heart, a believing in Him with all the powers of the mind, and a solemn renunciation, a casting aside, a trampling under foot, a rejection of everything but that which stands in the power of God, as made known to the soul by the Holy Spirit. It is not spoken in a presumptuous way: "Come, let us join ourselves to the L ORD ." It does not indicate any bold pr...

The blessing of God’s grace in what He calls “imputation” has both a positive and a negative sense. Both are described by the apostle Paul in Romans 4 and both are inseparably joined together. Also, as all spiritual blessings are, they are in Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Paul says first in verse 6, “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works.” Secondly, it has to do with what he says in verse 8. “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.” God has not imputed our sins to us and He has imputed righteousness to us without works. He laid our sins on Christ who died for them and He made us the very righteousness of God in Him . What was said of Abraham can be said of every person in Christ and it is enjoyed by each of them through believing. “Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” What a joy it is to look to Christ crucified and to count all things as God has...

“ And, behold, there was a certain man before H im which had the dropsy. And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? And they held their peace. And H e took him, and healed him, and let him go.” - LUKE 14:2-4 [KJV] Our testimony before the Lord is not what we have done for Him but rather what the Lord has done for us in infinite love, sovereign mercy and in saving grace [II TIMOTHY 1:9; T ITUS 3:5-7 ] . Every believer can identify with this diseased and dying man, the Lord in amazing grace took us to Himself, chose us in the eternal covenant of grace and made us His own [JOHN 6:37; E PHESIANS 1:3-6; II THESSALONIANS 2:13 ] . Not only is that true, but the Lord Jesus Christ also healed us, by taking all our spiritual diseases of our sin to Himself [PSALM 40:12; MATTHEW 8:16-17 ] , bearing our sin in His own body upon the tree [ISAIAH 53:4-6; I PETER 2:24 ] and “With His stripes we are hea...