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

The words of Elijah express the hearts of all God’s people in every apostate age. " And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, thrown down Thine altars, and slain Thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away " [I KINGS 19:14 ] . There is no doubt that God is jealous of His Bride, the Church which the Lord Jesus purchased with His own blood. He says so time after time. But the true people of God are jealous for God and His glorious name in the world. Elijah was rebuked to some degree for his lapse of faith, for his inability to see that there were other believers besides himself, and for his giving up and requesting to die. But he was not rebuked for his "jealousy" for the living God. Where there is love for God, there is holy jealousy for His glory and honor. The subjects of the beloved King cannot bear to hear His name...

"I will put M y fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from M e." -J EREMIAH 32:40 [KJV]   As the fear of God springs up in a believing soul, and is maintained and kept alive by the influences which come out of Christ as a covenant Head, it produces, as its effects, an abiding in Him. We cannot depart from Him through the fear of God. It is therefore called "a fountain of life to depart from the snares of death." If a fountain of life, it must be fed out of Him who is the life; and as it departs from the snares of death, it cleaves more fully and closely to Him as these snares are broken to pieces and left behind.   If we examine the movements of godly fear in our hearts, we shall see that all its tendencies are toward life and the Source of life; toward hatred of sin and love of holiness; toward a desire after the enjoyment of heavenly realities, and a deadness to the things of time and sense; toward a knowledge of Christ in the mani...

“ The throne of grace. ” -H EBREWS 4:16 [KJV]   Do not forget, dear reader, it is the throne of grace, to which you come in prayer. It is a throne, because God is a Sovereign. He will ever have the suppliant recognize this perfection of His nature. He hears and answers as a Sovereign. He hears whom He will, and answers what and when He will. There must be no dictation to God, no refusing to bow to His sovereignty, no rebelling against His will. If the answer is delayed, or God should seem to withhold it altogether, remember that "He gives no account of any of His matters," and that He has a right to answer or not to answer, as seems good in His sight. Glorious perfection of God, beaming from the mercy seat! But it is also a throne of grace. And why? Because a God of grace sits upon it, and the scepter of grace is held out from it, and all the favors bestowed there are the blessings of grace. God has many thrones. There is the throne of creation, the t...

“ Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins .” -P SALM 25:18 [KJV] It is well for us when prayers about our sorrows are linked with pleas concerning our sins—when, being under God's hand, we are not wholly taken up with our pain—but remember our offences against God. It is well, also, to take both sorrow and sin to the same place. It was to God that David carried his sorrow—it was to God that David confessed his sins. We must take our sorrows to God. Even your little sorrows you may roll upon God—for He counts the hairs of your head. You may also may commit your great sorrows to Him—for He holds the ocean in the hollow of His hand. Go to Him, whatever your present trouble may be—and you shall find Him both able and willing to support you. But we must also take our sins to God. We must carry them to the cross, that the blood may fall upon them to purge away their guilt, and to destroy their defiling power. The special lesson of the text is this—...

"We are saved by hope." -R OMANS 8:24 [KJV] What is the meaning of being saved by hope? It does not mean saved actually, but instrumentally; not saved as regards our eternal security, but as regards our experience of salvation. By hope we are instrumentally saved from despair, saved from turning our backs upon Christ and the gospel, saved from looking to any other Saviour, or any other salvation; and especially saved from making this world and this life our happiness and home, as "waiting patiently for what we see not," even "the redemption of our body."   Now it is by hope that we hang upon and cleave to the Lord Jesus, and thus by this grace we abide in Him. It is therefore spoken of as an "anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that which is within the veil." What holds the ship firm in the storm, and prevents it falling upon the rocks? The anchor. The ship abides firm as long as the anchor...

“ Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.” -ROMANS 14:19 [KJV] 1. Be careful to LOVE one another with a true heart. “for charity (love) shall cover the multitude of sins.” 2. Avoid a spirit of ARGUMENT AND DEBATE. One may win an argument and lose a friend. 3. Beware of JEALOUSY. Jealousy destroys happiness and builds suspicion. 4. Beware of ENVY. Let us learn to rejoice in another’s gifts, blessings, and happiness. God gives as HE will! 5. Do not MEDDLE in the private lives and domestic affairs of others. 6. Guard against a TOUCHY TEMPER: “For every trifling thing to take offense shows either great pride or little sense.” 7. Learn to KEEP A CONFIDENCE. “He that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.” 8. Strive to HEAL DIFFERENCES. “Blessed are the peacemakers.” 9. Be always ready to FORGIVE ANYTHING. “Forgive us our sins AS we forgive those who sin ag...

"And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest." -I SAIAH 32:2 [KJV]   Who is this man? Need I ask the question? Is there not a response in every God-fearing breast? It is the man Christ Jesus—the man who is God's fellow. How blessed it is to have a scriptural and spiritual view of the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, to see Him not merely as God, truly essential God, one in essence, glory, and power with the Father and the blessed Spirit, but also man, made in all things like unto us, sin only excepted.   And what a suitability there is in the humanity of the Lord Jesus, when we view it in union with this glorious Deity! As man He suffered, as man He bled, as man He died, as man He stands a Mediator for His fellow men between God and man; as man, He has for human distress an affectionate, compassionate, sympathising heart; as man, He obeyed the law in every particular; as man, He bore all the sufferings of human...