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

"Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace." -Romans 14:19 [KJV] What a sweetness is contained in the word "peace." Bunyan well represents this in his Pilgrim's Progress, where he speaks of Christian, after having been entertained in the "house Beautiful," going to sleep in the chamber called "Peace." And what blessed sensations are couched in that word "Peace!" It was the legacy that Jesus left to His Church. "Peace I leave with you, M y peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you;" and the Apostle says of it that it "passeth all understanding."   Now many even of the Lord's people seem as if they wanted and were expecting raptures. There is, I believe, a vast deal of enthusiasm in the natural mind of man, as is evident from what I may call its religious history in all ages; and this leads many who, in other points, seem rightly taught to look for wonderful vis...

  The Wonderful Cross   by D. G. Miles McKee (see Romans 3:23-28 ). “When I survey the wondrous cross, On which the young prince of glory died; My richest gain I count but loss And pour contempt on all my pride.” -Watts   Christ in His death opened the way into God's presence for us. Thank God for the Wonderful Cross! When Jesus said, “I am the way” (John 14:6) He meant, He was and is the only way to God.  If you are looking for God anywhere else other than the Lord Jesus, you, according to the Master, are going the wrong way. To look for another way is a subtle attack on the Lord Jesus.  Why? Because Jesus is not one of many ways, He is the way! He didn’t even say His teachings led to the way. No indeed, He boldly declared “I am the way.”   ‘The way’ was a particularly important idea to Israelites. Moses had instructed them, “You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God has comm...

"And H e said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven ." -Luke 10:18 [KJV] It deserves our utmost attention and prayerful consideration to see, by the eye of faith, the display of wisdom and power shining forth in the way in which the all-wise God sent his dear Son "to destroy" or, as the word is in the original, to unloose "the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8) . Satan had, so to speak, spun a ravelled knot when he cast the cords of sin round man's heart. This tangled and tight-drawn knot could not be cut through as by a sword of omnipotent power; but had by infinite wisdom and patience to be unravelled through its whole length. The work which Satan had done was to be undone. Disobedience had to be repaired by obedience—the voluntary obedience of the Son of God, and therefore of infinite value. Sin had to be atoned for by sacrifice—the sacrifice of the nature which had sinned, in union with the Person of the Son of God, and therefore...

"Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands; thy walls are continually before Me " (Isaiah 49:15-16) . This is a revelation of the Lord’s everlasting concern for and faithfulness to His people; here is our eternal security. How delightful to meditate upon our Lord’s unceasing care and concern for His children. If we could by faith behold the Lord’s unending designs of grace toward us, then like Paul we would be joyful in the Lord even in the midst of dark trials. We would lean upon His word of promise, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5) . Pay special attention to those words, "I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands." Our names are not painted on His hands lest we might think they could be rubbed out. Neither are our names said to be written on His hands lest we concl...

Then learn one thing! Jesus Christ is ALL in our justification before God! Only through Christ can a sinner have peace with the Holy God. Only by Christ alone can a sinner be accepted and admitted into God’s presence. HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS is the only robe which will cover us. HIS BLOOD is the only mark that will save us from eternal death. HIS NAME is the only name by which we shall obtain an entrance through the gate of eternal glory. I pity those who try to obtain God’s favor by their works; and I sound a clear warning—you are building on sand; you are spending money for that which is not bread; you will hear Him say, “Depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:21-23) . BUT THIS I KNOW—not one person has ever entered heaven’s courts with any testimony but this: “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood—to Him be the glory” (Rev elation 1:5, 6) .   -preacher Henry Mahan http://www.sermonaudio.com/source_detail.asp?sourceid=mahan

"Blessed is the man whom T hou chastenest, O L ORD , and teachest him out of T hy law." -Psalm 94:12 [KJV] We may observe in the words before us, that the Lord puts chastening before teaching. Is there not something remarkable in this? Why should chastening precede teaching? For this reason. We have no ear to hear except so far as we are chastened. It was so with the prodigal. Until he was brought to his right mind by strokes of hunger, he did not think of his father's house; he had no heart to return; but a mighty famine sent him home. So it is with God's children; as long as they are allowed to wander in their backslidings, they have no heart to return. But let the rod come; let them be driven home by stripes; then they have an ear to listen, while God teaches them to profit, instructs them by His blessed Spirit, and speaks into their heart those lessons which are for their eternal good.   "And teachest him out of T hy law." "The law" in th...

  “ A debtor to mercy alone, Of covenant mercy I sing; Nor fear with Thy righteousness on, My person and offering to bring; The terrors of law and of God, With me can have nothing to do; My Savior’s obedience and blood, Hide all my transgressions from view. The work which His goodness began, The arm of His strength will complete; His promise is Y ea and A men, And never was forfeited yet; Things future nor things that are now, Not all things below nor above, Can make Him His purpose forego, Or sever my soul from His love. My name from the palms of His hands, Eternity will not erase; Impressed on His heart it remains, In marks of indelible grace. Yes, I to the end shall endure, As sure as the Earnest is given; More happy, but not more secure, The glorified spirits in heaven.” -preacher Augustus Toplady, 1771 A.D.