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

Dangerous is the path we go, In this wilderness below, Savage beasts, of every kind, Aiming to distress the mind. Christ the Master, LORD of all, Bids His children watch and call; May it be our blessed case, Both to watch and seek His face. Scarce an hour but pilgrims see They from danger are not free; In some unexpected way, Something fills them with dismay. Thus beset, they daily feel They have neither strength nor skill Rightly to oppose the foe, Or to guard against the woe. When we watch, then may we pray, And in prayer watch every day; And with pleasure ever prove All our strength is from above. Thus supported, we shall be More than conquerors, LORD, through Thee; And when every danger's past, Live and reign with Thee at last!   -Tune: "Everlasting Love"

  “Moreover, the Law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded grace did much more abound.” -R OMANS 5:20 [KJV] “ Many there are who think that the Law is the Gospel and who teach that men by good works of benevolence, honesty, righteousness and sobriety, may be saved. Such men do err. On the other hand, many teach that the Gospel is a Law–that it has certain commands in it by obedience to which men are meritoriously saved. Such men err from the Truth and understand it not.” -C.H. Spurgeon: Law and Grace “Run, John, run, the law commands But gives us neither feet nor hands, Far better news the gospel brings: It bids us fly and gives us wings.” -John Bunyan (1628-1688 A.D. ) What a contrast there is between living under the Law and living in Gospel Grace. It can be best illustrated by the final words of the two covenants. The Old Testament ends with this somber and sober warning, “Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” The New...

"The entrance of T hy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple." -P SALM 119:130 [KJV] The word "simple" means literally something which is not folded or twisted together. But owing to the treacherous and desperately deceitful heart of man, all, without exception, in a state of nature are the reverse of this. All their plots and contrivances for worldly profit or fleshly pleasure are tangled and complicated; and they are continually twisting together some thread or other of carnal policy. But when God the Holy Ghost begins the work of grace upon the souls of the elect, He proceeds (if I may use the expression) to untwist them. He takes hold of that rope which Satan and their own hearts have been twisting together for years, and He untwists it throughout its whole length, so as to leave the strands not intertwined as before, but riven, separated, and torn from each other. The light that shines into the soul out of the fulne...

“ The L ORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters .” -P SALM 23:1-2 [KJV]   He leads me. I certainly need someone to lead me. I am so poor, so blind, so weak, so foolish that, if left to myself, I would fatally err. Lord, never leave me nor forsake me, lest I be undone. My Shepherd leads me gently and wisely. He makes no mistakes. He knows the way I ought to go. He knows how much sweet and how much bitter, are best for me. He understands me fully. Oh, how He mingles mercy with judgment! True, He leads me often in a mysterious way. I see not the end from the beginning. I cannot see afar off. His footsteps are in the sea; clouds and thick darkness surround Him. He gives account of none of His matters. His judgments are a great deep. But He never does wrong. He leads me in the paths of righteousness. He leads me always--in prosperity and in adversity; in joy and in sorrow. If He left me...

"And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not." - JEREMIAH 45:5 [KJV] Whatever schemes and projects the Lord's people may devise that they may prosper and get on in the world, H e rarely suffers their plans to thrive. He knows well to what consequences it would lead;—that this ivy creeping round the stem would, as it were, suffocate and strangle the tree. The more that worldly goods increase, the more the heart is fixed upon them; and the more the affections are set upon idols, the more is the heart  drawn away from the Lord. He will not suffer H is people to have their portion here below. He, therefore, says to them in his providence, as well as in H is word, "Seek them not." But you will perhaps say, "What are we then to seek?" I will tell you in one word,—Realities. What are these great things that you are seeking after? say in religion. Could you see them in their right light, you would see that they are b...

Man is so utterly insignificant in comparison with the Almighty God, that men individually [PSALM 39:5 ] and even all men collectively [ISAIAH 40:15-17 ] are considered to be VANITY AND LESS THAN NOTHING. David said, "What is man that God would be mindful of him?" - PSALM 8:4 Yet, despite our sinful condition and great gulf that is fixed between God and the sinner, our merciful Lord has devised means to reconcile us together and bring His chosen people to Himself [II CORINTHIANS 5:18-21 ] . God's end is justified by His righteousness and ordained means. God has predestinated the glorious end of His elect to be just like His blessed Son, holy and without blame before Him in love [EPHESIANS 1:3-6 ] . But always remember, He has also predestinated the glorious means to accomplish that righteous end [ROMANS 8:28-30 ] . Because God is infinitely holy, He must devise means that will enable Him to be a just God and Saviour [ISAIAH 45:21 ] and to be jus...

Sermon title, The Sovereignty of God in Calamity ! preached on September 20, 1857, by Ebenezer Rogers — two days after the steamship 'Central America' sank during a hurricane. 560 of the 626 people on board lost their lives! “Upon the whole history of this solemn event, is stamped the record of the absolute sovereignty of God. It is not an enemy who has done this! God is sovereign, and this is the hand of God! All that occurs in His wide empire, from the falling of a leaf — to the extinction of a race; from the death of a sparrow — to the blotting out of a star; is only the fiat of Him, who is from everlasting to everlasting God — whose counsel shall stand and who will do all His good pleasure. There is a God who reigns in the earth! “Affliction does not come forth from the dust; neither does trouble spring out of the ground” — but “the Lord God omnipotent reigns!” God is sovereign on His throne! All the powers and processes of nature, are but the ministers who do...