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

"So did not I, because of the fear of God" -N EHEMIAH 5:15 [KJV] We can never praise God sufficiently for His restraining grace; for what should we be without it? What an unspeakable mercy, then, it is, that you cannot be what you would be, nor act as you would act, nor speak what you would speak, nor do the things you would do, because there is in you who fear God a spiritual principle which holds you up, and keeps you back from the ways of sin and death in which the flesh would walk. How this spirit of grace and godly fear kept Joseph in the hour of temptation! How it preserved David when he had Saul in his power as he lay asleep in the cave! How it kept Nehemiah in the fear of God from extortion and oppression [ see NEHEMIAH 5:1-15] ! And how, in thousands of instances, it has preserved the feet of the saints, and kept them from doing things that would have ruined their reputation, blighted their character, brought reproach upon the cause of God, and th...

“ As a believer contemplates the mercy, compassion, and keeping power of God toward all that He has everlastingly loved in Christ…God the Father who chose them in Christ their Surety...God the Son who redeemed them at Calvary being made sin for them...and God the Holy Spirit who shall surely regenerate and keep them from falling, that believer willingly bows in adoration to Him who is omnipotent.” -Gospel report by preacher Marvin Stalnaker

"And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them." -G ALATIANS 6:16 [KJV] And what is this rule we walk by? The law? It is this, "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" [GALATIANS 6:14 ] . Truly, this is the believer's rule of life. This is our standard of measurement. Jesus Christ and Him crucified. This is our rule for understanding the Scriptures. All Scripture points to Him. This is the rule of our faith. He is the object of our faith. This is the rule of our assurance. Any assurance derived anywhere but simply glorying in the cross is a false assurance. This is the rule of our motives. Any motive other than His glory is a wrong motive. This is the rule of our doctrine. All of our doctrine finds Christ crucified as its sum and substance. This is the rule of our motivation. His love to us "constraineth us." He is our rule in everything. He is that "one pearl of great price , ...

"My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God." - PSALM 42:2 [KJV] Has your heart ever panted after the Lord Jesus as the hart panteth after the water brooks? Do you ever lie in the dust mourning over your sins against such bleeding, dying love? Do you ever ask God to kindle in your soul an intense desire to have Jesus as your Christ, that He may be your delight here and your portion for ever? Surely there is that in Him which is not in anything below the skies, and which if not found here will not be found hereafter. If you have no love or affection for Him, why is it but because He has not endeared Himself to your soul? But if He has manifested Himself to you, you have seen and felt enough of His blessedness to convince you that there is no real peace or happiness out of Him. It is true that you may have many trials and temptations to encounter; many perplexities and sorrows may be spread in your path; but be not dismayed, for the love of Christ, if you ...

W HERE MUST A MAN GO FOR PARDON ? Where is forgiveness to be found? There is a way both sure and plain, and into that way I desire to guide every inquirer’s feet. That way is simply to trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. It is to cast your soul, with all its sins, unreservedly on Christ. It is to cease completely from any dependence on your own works or doings, either in whole or in part, and to rest on no other work but Christ’s work, no other righteousness but Christ’s righteousness, no other merit but Christ’s merit, as your ground of hope. Take this course and you are a pardoned soul. "To Christ," says Peter, "give all the prophets witness, that through His Name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins" [ACTS 10:43 ] . "Through this Man," says Paul at Antioch, "is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by Him all that believe are justified from all things" [ACTS 13:38] . "In ...

"For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things." -A CTS 15:28 [KJV] When the brethren in Jerusalem wrote this inspired letter to the church in Antioch they declared this strong Biblical principle that the testimony of God plainly sets forth, "For it seemed good (pleasing) to the Holy Ghost, and to us." What is pleasing to God in creation, providence and salvation is also most pleasing to His covenant people. We say with David, "But our God is in the heavens: He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased" [PSALM 115:3 ] . Or with Eli, "It is the LORD: let Him do what seemeth Him good [I SAMUEL 3:18 ] . It was most pleasing to God to sovereignly and unconditionally choose His people in Christ before the foundation of the world [I SAMUEL 12:22; E PHESIANS 1:3-6 ] . We thank our Lord that He purposed to choose us in electing love or we never would have chosen Him or beli...

"Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." -E CCLESIASTES 12:7 [KJV]   Nature shrinks from death, even apart from that which following after death makes it to so many a king of terrors. Even where grace has set up its throne, and mercy rejoices over judgment, many unbelieving, infidel thoughts at times will cross the mind and perplex the judgment about the separation of body and soul, and the launching of the spirit into an unseen, unknown world. Faith, it is true, can subdue these perplexing thoughts, better hinted at than described, but faith needs some solid ground on which to build and rest. If, then, the soul is blessed with any assured hope or sweet persuasion of interest in the blood and obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ, so as to remove guilty fears, how strengthening to faith is a view of His death, not merely as the only sacrifice for sin, but as the exemplar, so to speak, of our own. ...