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

  The Pharisees were very offended that some rag tag fishermen would follow Jesus and teach contrary to what they taught. They said to Christ, "Why do Thy disciples transgress the traditions of the elders?" (Matthew 15:2) A tradition is something that is passed down from generation to generation and with the Pharisees it was the oral law. It was not the scriptures but what they and those like them that preceded them, said about the scriptures and the rules they added to them. They could not defend their teachings from the scriptures alone so they accused the disciples of teaching contrary to "the traditions." Our merciful God spoke audibly from heaven on one occasion some very important words. "This is My beloved Son, hear ye Him..." The Word of God supersedes all the teachings of men, especially what they teach about the Word! Christ said to these Pharisees, "Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition" ...

  "Ho, every one that thirsteth , come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." -Isaiah 55:1 [KJV] How many a poor sensible sinner has, upon the strength of these words, looked unto Jesus and been lightened (Psalm 34:5) , come to H im and met with a kind reception. By the power which attends such invitations the heart is opened, as was the heart of Lydia, to attend unto the things spoken in the gospel. It is not put away as too holy for a poor polluted sinner to touch, nor is the Lord Jesus viewed as an angry judge; but in these invitations H is clemency, tenderness, and compassion are seen and felt, and beams and rays of H is mercy and grace both enlighten the understanding and soften and melt the heart. Thence spring confession of sin, self-loathing, renunciation of one's own righteousness, earnest desires and breathings after the Lord, and an embracing of the love of the truth s...

“ But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father . Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” –Galatians 4:4-7 [KJV] Christ Jesus came into the world, NOT TO TRY to redeem His people, but to redeem them as adopted children of God. By His death, He established the one ground upon which His people, sinners saved by grace, can and do approach God as “Abba, Father." -copied  

"Beloved of God, called to be saints." -Romans 1:7 [KJV] The very word "saint" has become, through man's perverseness and wickedness, a word of reproach and contempt. But God will honour it, let men dishonour it as they please. God has put a crown of glory upon it, let men despise it as they may. There is no privilege or blessing that God can confer so great and glorious as to crown you with the crown of saint. He might have given you titles without number; H e might have showered riches upon your head in the greatest profusion; rank, fame, talent, beauty, health, all might have been poured at your feet; but what would all these be compared to making you a saint of God?   But what is it to be a saint? It is to be sanctified by God the Father, set apart for H imself, to shew forth H is praise. It is to be washed in the atoning blood and clothed in the justifying righteousness of the Son, and to be regenerated by the Spirit of God. It is to be introduced into a...

"What think ye of Christ?" -Matthew 22:42 [KJV]   I am ashamed of my thoughts of Him—they are so poor, and so unworthy of Him. He is so great, and so glorious, and so good, and so gracious—that I cannot think of Him as I desire to. Do you inquire what I think of His person? He is the chief among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely One! He unites in Himself Deity and Manhood— "All human beauties—all Divine, In my Beloved meet and shine!" Do you ask what I think of His work? It is perfect! His obedience is spotless! His atonement is complete! His work of redemption is accomplished, "It is Finished!" Do you ask what I think of His love? Ah, here it is that I am most at fault—and no wonder, for His love surpasses knowledge! Its height and depth, its length and its breadth—are immeasurable! His love is free, unchanging, and eternal. It is unparalleled—it is Dying love! He loved me—and gave Himself for me! Greater love has no man than this, tha...

That page is the brightest, in which most of Christ is found. That sermon is the brightest sermon, in which most of Christ is heard. That life is the brightest life, in which most of Christ is seen...without Christ religion is a sunless firmament; the home is no abode of peace; and prosperity is an adverse flood. Without Christ, birth is no boon, life is no gain, and death is a downfall into an unfathomable abyss. Can I know this and not beseech men to make Christ theirs? -preacher Henry Law (1797-1884 A.D.)

  "Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength ." -Isaiah 45:24 [KJV]   The same blessed Spirit who shines as with a ray of light and life into the conscience, to make it feel the guilt of sin, the curse of the law, and its own miserable state as a transgressor, leads it also into this secret, that it has no strength. Have you never felt that you were utterly powerless—that you would believe, but could not; would hope, but could not; would love, but could not; would keep God's word, but could not; would obey His commandments, but were not able? Has a sense of your own miserable impotency and thorough helplessness never pressed you down almost to despair?     You felt sure that there was a faith, a hope, a love, a blessing, and a blessedness in the truth of God; a pardon, a peace, a heavenly joy; an assurance of salvation, a union and communion with the Lord Jesus, which you saw, but could not reach. You felt that if you could be...