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

     “ Commit thy way unto the L ORD ; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.” -Psalm 37:5 [KJV] Some of you are having great trouble and are walking a rough way. It may seem to you right now that these sorrows are more than you can bear. Indeed, they ARE more than you can bear; but you do not have to bear them alone. David said, “Commit thy way unto the L ORD ” , and Peter wrote, “Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7) . You have committed your soul to Him; then you can surely trust Him with your home, children, and business. These things are far inferior to your immortal soul. He has promised us troubles in this world, but not without HIS SUFFICIENT GRACE to carry us through them. -preacher Henry Mahan http://www.sermonaudio.com/source_detail.asp?sourceid=mahan

"It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn T hy statutes." -Psalm 119:71 [KJV] We may have everything naturally that the carnal heart desires, and only be hardened thereby into worldliness and ungodliness. But to be brought down in body and soul, to be weaned and separated from an ungodly world by affliction sanctified and made spiritually profitable, to be brought to feel our need of Christ, and that without an interest in His precious blood our soul must be for ever lost—how much better it is really and truly, to be laid on a bed of affliction, with a hope in God's mercy, than to be left to our own carnality and thoughtlessness.   Affliction of any kind is very hard to bear, and especially so when we begin to murmur and fret under the weight of the cross; but when the Lord afflicts it is in good earnest; He means to make us feel. Strong measures are required to bring us down; and affliction would not be affliction, unless it were full of grie...

“ My times a re in Thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me. Make Thy face to shine upon Thy servant: save me for Thy mercies' sake.” -Psalm 31:15-16 [KJV] Firmly believing that my times are in God's hand, I here submit myself and all my affairs for the ensuing year, to the wise and gracious disposal of God's divine providence. Whether God appoints for me health or sickness, peace or trouble, comforts or crosses, life or death, may His holy will be done! It is my earnest expectation, hope, and desire, my constant aim and endeavor that Jesus Christ may be magnified in me. In everything I have to do, my entire dependence is upon Jesus Christ for righteousness and strength. If this should prove a year of affliction and sorrow, I will seek all my comforts from the Lord Jesus and stay myself upon Him, His everlasting consolations, and the good hope I have in Him through grace; for I cannot be condemned as long as I am in Him. God w...

"And H e that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because H e maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God." -Romans 8:27 [KJV] God's will must ever stand, it is as unchanging and as unchangeable as God Himself. Our wills are ever fluctuating; God's will fluctuates not. And as that will must ever live and rule, it will be our highest wisdom and richest mercy to submit to, and be conformed unto it. Now the will of God to you who desire to fear His name is not your destruction, but your salvation; your profit now, your happiness hereafter; your present grace, and eternal glory. And the Spirit is making intercession for you according to the will of God; for is it not your earnest desire and prayer that your soul should be saved and blessed, that you should serve God and live to His glory, and when you die be with Him for ever?   Lie, then, at His feet. Be the clay, and let Him be your heavenly Potter. Think not of saving y...

“ We do not find rest, hope, nor comfort in our faith but in Christ.” If you will give careful thought to that statement, it will be of great help to you. Faith is not a foundation, a refuge, nor a source of help. Faith is a means, a look, an empty hand. I T IS CHRIST WHO IS OUR REFUGE , Who protects from every storm. He is our rock on which we build. He is our source of every mercy and our only plea. My faith may be weak or weaker, but He cannot fail. If all my debts have been paid by my Surety, I don’t have to be ashamed to come before God. The praise and credit goes not to my boldness and faith but to my gracious Benefactor! I am not debt-free because I believe (though I do, and that faith united me to Him) BUT BECAUSE HE SET ME FREE AND PAID MY DEBT. Christ is our confidence and our assurance. The moment I seek a reason for hope in anything I do, even in the blessed grace of faith, I forfeit any possibility of peace. “Blessed is that man that maketh the L ORD his trust” (P...

The sacrifice of Christ unites all the attributes of God together for a believer’s interest. The flames of justice focus on Christ so that the streams of mercy might flow down to us. Rivers of mercy do not quench the flames of justice nor the flames of justice suck up the rivers of mercy. As the sacrificing of Christ is a vengeance against sin, it is an act of justice; as it is the means of remission of sins, it is an act of mercy. Both justice and mercy join hands to lift the fallen creature up. God is just in being merciful and merciful in being just so we well may cry aloud with the Psalmist, “ Gracious is the LORD, and righteous” (Psalm 116:5) . Justice struck Christ, the sacrifice, that the streams of mercy might be fully released to sinners. Compassion helped justice to a satisfaction more honorable than could have been had from creatures for it was fully satisfied in punishing Christ for our sins; and justice helped mercy to a fuller and more illustrious exercise of itself th...

"In W hom, though now ye see H im not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." - I Peter 1:8 [KJV] Here we have linked together faith, love, joy, and glory. The word translated "rejoice" means a high degree of joy, and signifies literally, to leap with joy. Spiritual joy, holy joy, is therefore distinguished from earthly joy, natural joy, not only in nature, but in degree. Natural joy can never rise very high, nor last very long. It is of the earth, earthy, and therefore can never rise high nor long endure. It is always marred by some check, damp or disappointment; and, as in the bitterest cup of the righteous "There's some thing secret sweetens all," so in the sweetest cup of the ungodly there is something secret embitters all. All their mirth is madness; for even "in laughter the heart is sorrowful, and the end of that mirth is heaviness." God frowns upon all the worldling's pleasure, conscience condemns i...