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

It is not possible that any one attribute of God should ever shadow another.  He is perfect.  Infinitely merciful He is, but He will not be merciful at the expense of justice.  Justice shall never triumph against mercy.  Mercy, on the other hand, shall never cut off the skirts of the flowing robe of justice.  It is in the person of Jesus Christ, and especially in the blood of Jesus Christ, that the great riddle of the ages is unriddled.  God can be just and yet the Justifier of him that believes in Jesus Christ.  We have sinned; God must punish sin. According to the inexorable laws which God has stamped upon the universe, the sinners cannot go unpunished.  But "the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and BY HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED ;" and "now in Christ Jesus, we who sometime were afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ ."   God can be gracious without the violation of the severity of His judgment.  His moral government rem...

One great part of the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart is to empty us, strip us of self, lead us to feel our own weakness, and bring us as poor sinners to LOOK TO JESUS ALONE, as our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption [I CORINTHIANS 1:29-31] . And just in proportion as we feel our need of Christ, and realize our absolute nothingness without Christ - shall we prize Him, enjoy Him, and exercise dependence upon Him. O how little do many of us know our need of Christ, and therefore it is that we make so little use of Christ, receive so little from Christ, and do so little for Christ!  We come to Him at first ­ as poor, lost, helpless sinners ­ that we may be saved by His merit and mercy. And as believers, we must continually come to Him with all our burdens ­ that He may bear them; with all our cares ­ that He may manage them; with all our sorrows ­ that He may sanctify them; with all our foes ­ that He may conquer them; with all our sins ­ that He may cleanse...

"The Spirit of the L ORD spake by me, and H is word was in my tongue." - II SAMUEL 23:2 [KJV] We read that "no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation;" that is to say, it is the public property of the whole family of Jehovah; and "holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost;" the Holy Ghost so influencing and working upon their minds as to make them bring forth out of their hearts that which should be suitable to the whole family of God. For instance, we read in Psalm 51, David's confession of sin; but David's confession of sin applies to every soul that is condemned on account of sin. When Job, too, poured out his piteous complaints, he was speaking; though he might know it not, for the children of God to the remotest time. So when the Lord said to Joshua, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee," it was a promise specially given to Joshua; it seemed to be confined to that individual; it ...

“ For in HIM dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in HIM, which is the head of all principality and power.” -COLOSSIANS 2:9-10 [KJV] What a great and glorious message this is! All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and all who are united in Him are complete in HIM! Christ is the fullness of all the wisdom, righteousness, sanctification (holiness), and redemption, God requires, and this is true of all who believe in Him, all who rest in the blessed fact that His righteousness alone entitles them to the whole inheritance of eternal life and final glory in Heaven. If all who believe in Him are complete in Him, and it is all based on the merits of His righteousness alone, then there is nothing left for believers to do in order to attain salvation. They have it completely, and it will never be lost. There is nothing for believers to do in order to be qualified, fit, or entitled to any part of eternal life. CHRI...

“When the Holy Spirit shows us the necessity, the beauty and the sufficiency of the death of Christ, we repent of our own foolish works of self-righteousness, we forsake every other way of seeking to please God, we look to Christ and His substitutionary death as the only ground of our acceptance with God and our conscience rests in the quiet assurance that Christ has satisfied God on our behalf and saved us in a way that glorifies God in all His holy character. Thus the “blood” purges our consciences of every false hope, of natural self-righteousness, and all fear and doubt!” -preacher Gary Shepard Sovereign Grace Baptist church of Jacksonville, North Carolina USA https://www.sermonaudio.com/source_detail.asp?sourceid=allsovgrace

"O L ORD , correct me, but with judgment; not in T hine anger, lest T hou bring me to nothing." -J EREMIAH 10:24 [KJV] "Fury is not in M e," saith the Lord. No; there is no wrath in the bosom of God against the persons of His people. They are for ever "accepted in the Beloved," and stand in Him before the throne of God without spot or wrinkle; but there is displeasure against their sins; and this displeasure their kind and gracious Father makes them feel when He withdraws from them the light of His countenance, and sends his keen reproofs and sharp rebukes into their conscience. But these very "judgments" help them [ P SALM 119:175 ] , for they lead to deep searchings of heart; and as the same blessed Spirit who sets home the reproof communicates therewith repentance, they sorrow after a godly manner, and this godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of [II CORINTHIANS 7:10 ] . If, then, our afflictions, cross...

“For His merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD.” -Psalm 117:2 [KJV] Sinners are unable to save themselves so if anyone is to be delivered from the curse of the law, from sin and from Satan, GOD MUST DO IT . You will concur with that, will you not? Since it is clear from Scripture and from experience that some are indeed saved, then God must have saved them. You are still in agreement with me, aren’t you? And, it being true that sinners are unable to save themselves and yet some are indeed saved and God must have saved them, then is it not evident that the Lord made a distinction between those who are saved and those who are not? That distinction is called divine election.  "For God saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy" [Romans 9:15] . -preacher Jim Byrd Thirteenth Street Baptist church of Ashland, Kentucky USA https://www.sermonaudio.com/source_detail.asp?sourceid=13thstbaptist...