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

"And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people : for the thing was done suddenly ." - II Chronicles 29:36 [KJV] Sweet thought, ever to keep in view, that it is the Lord that prepares the heart, and gives answers to the tongue. And Oh! how sudden, how unexpected, how unlooked-for, sometimes, are the visits of His grace! "Or ever I was aware (saith the church) my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadab." Is my heart cold, my, mind barren, my frame lifeless? Do thou, then, dearest Lord, make me to rejoice, in warming my frozen affection, making fruitful my poor estate, and putting new life into my soul. All I want is a frame of mind best suited to Thy glory. And what is that? Truly, that when I have nothing, feel nothing, can do nothing, am worse than nothing, that then, even then, I may be rich in Thee amidst all my own bankruptcy. This, dear Lord, is what I covet. And if Thou withholdest all frames which might melt, or warm, or...

  "For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king: HE WILL SAVE US." -Isaiah 33:22 In 1773 a sermon was preached by Charles Turner from Romans, XIII. 4, in which he meets the objections that ministers should not meddle in politics, and while he concedes its force in mere local matters, he boldly asserts that it is their duty to interfere where the liberties of the land are assailed, not only for the sake of their own posterity as well as that of others, but because, "...When the civil rights of a country receive a shock, it may justly render the ministers of God deeply thoughtful for the safety of sacred privileges - for religious liberty is so blended with civil, that if one falls it is not to be expected that the other will continue." "If they (government authorities) command anything against Him (God), let it go un-esteemed. And here let us not be concerned about all the dignity which the magistrates possess." -John Calvin (...

Weekend Gospel message to follow for All Hands ( 15-17 JAN21) Heads-Up --- Please find enclosed encouragement in  SO GREAT SALVATION  by the perfect and finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ in saving poor, needy and wretched sinners by His sovereign free grace - God's unmerited favor - from their sins and from Hell: BEING JUSTIFIED FREELY “ Being justified freely by H is grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). What does it mean to be justified? I am sure that there have been many  definitions given and I by no means can fully expound all that is involved in sinners being justified before God. However, I am sure that it means to be eternally pardoned from all sin by the precious blood of Jesus Christ (1  Peter 1:18). It means to be acquitted and vindicated of all charges before the holy justice of God (Jude 24). It means to be made and regarded righteous in God’s sight (Col ossians 1:21-22). How are sinners justified? By God as ...

"I was brought low, and H e helped me.” -Psalm 116:6 [KJV] It is blessed sometimes that the streams of creature comforts should be dry, in order to compel us to go to the fountain head. When the fig-tree doth not blossom and the field yields no meat, then a covenant God is precious to fly to. My soul, say, was not that assault of Satan sanctified, when it brought Jesus thereby to thy rescue? Was not that cross sweetly timed, when it tended to wean thee from the world? And wouldest thou have been without that sickness, when Jesus sat up by thee, soothed thee in thy languor, and made all thy bed in thy sickness? Well was it for me that I was brought low, or I should never have known, in a thousand instances, the help of my God. Oh then, my soul, like Paul, learn to glory in thy infirmities, that the power of Jesus may rest upon thee.  -preacher Robert Hawker (1753-1827 A.D.) January 15 th , FOR THE POOR MAN’S MORNING PORTION

Pharaoh, David, and Judas all confessed, “I have sinned.” Yet the confessions of Pharaoh and Judas brought them no saving benefit while David’s confession met with the response, “The Lord has forgiven your sin.” Why is that?  What was lacking in the repentance of Pharaoh and Judas that made it  ineffective? Some say that Pharaoh was not sincere, and that Judas was concerned only with being caught and his life ruined. But the real contrast between the repentance of Pharaoh and Judas and that of David is that neither Pharaoh’s  nor Judas’ repentance never moved them to seek God’s mercy in Christ for their sin. But David did seek God’s mercy, as it is written, “Have mercy on me O God!” (Psalm 51.1) All repentance that brings a sinner TO PLEAD GOD’S MERCY IN CHRIST is saving repentance no matter what other deficiencies it may have. Any repentance that does not bring a sinner to trust in God’s mercy in Christ is a repentan...

"And she said to the king, I t was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me." - I Kings 10:6,7 [KJV] If the queen of the South was so astonished in the view of Solomon's wisdom, what ought to be thy surprise, my soul, in the contemplation of Jesus, in Whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge! When thou didst first hear of Jesus, and when constrained by necessity to come to Him, a poor blind ignorant sinner, how little didst thou conceive either of thyself or Him. He told thee indeed, all that was in thine heart, and made thy very spirit, like her's, to faint within thee, when He shewed thee thy, sin and His Salvation. Surely then, and often since, even now, hast thou been constrained to say, as she did, the half was not told thee by others, of what sweet discoveries He hath made to thee of Himself. Think th...

"Christ died for the ungodly."   -Romans 5:6 [KJV] This is the sum and substance of our gospel and is the great article of faith. • Who died? Christ ­ the only begotten, well beloved Son of God in human nature (Romans 8:34; Matthew 3:16-17). • Why did He die? He died for, in the stead of, and as a Substitute for all God's elect in order that God might be just and Justifier (Romans 3:24-26). • For whom did He die? "For the ungodly," not for righteous men, nor religious men, nor deserving men, but for those who are ungodly in nature and practice (Ephesians 2:1-5). • When did He die for us? When we were without strength to obey Him or to keep His law, and without ability to help ourselves. We were in bondage to law and to sin and unable to change our condition (Jeremiah 13:23). He died for us "in due time," at the time appointed by the Father (Galatians 4:2-5; 1 Timothy 2:5-6). This is the greatest single proof of love ­ to give one's life for the o...