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

The Cities of Refuge part IV: Bezer by D.G. Miles McKee   Again, just to stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance, Israel, by the command of the Lord, established 6 cities as cities of refuge.  Any person guilty of manslaughter could flee to anyone of these places and find a refuge and a place of safety (Numbers 35:11; Joshua 20:7-8). The names of these cities tell us a great deal about Jesus.  To date we have covered three of them, Kedesh, Shechem and Hebron.  Today we encounter the fourth, a city named …  Bezer. So, let’s ask, does the name Bezer tell us anything about Jesus?  Well, yes it does.  Bezer literally means " Stronghold ," or  Rock .  Jesus is our stronghold, the rock on which we stand.  We may be surrounded by danger, but in Jesus we find safety.  Indeed, the Scriptures tell us that though an army encamp against us we need not fear (see Psalm 27:3). And, what an awful force encamps against the believer! ...

"And His name, through faith in His name, hath made this man strong." -Acts 3:16 [KJV] My soul, begin this month as the Lord in mercy hath enabled thee to begin some that are past, in taking the name of Jesus for thy theme. Let His name be as ointment poured forth, whose fragrancy shall make thee strong, as it made the poor man whole. And as the Lord hath opened a new month to thee in grace, do thou take up His name, through faith in His name, in praise and prayer. And see to it, my soul, that through the month, and indeed the whole of life, improve His name in every case, in every want, in every need. Depend upon it, His name will answer all.     Whatever thy necessities are, in Jesus's name there is a supply for all. Art thou poor, He is rich: sick, He is thy health; weak, He is strong; sinful, He is the Lord thy righteousness. Every thing, and in every way, upon all accounts, and upon all occasions—His name, through faith in His name, is the universal cha...

"One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see." -John 9:25  [KJV] This is a great thing to say, my soul: on what foundation dost thou rest this knowledge? If the Lord Jesus hath opened thine eyes, then indeed thou canst not but discover thy former blindness; for during that state of nature thou literally couldst discern nothing. And if thy former blindness be discovered, then thy present sight hath brought thee acquainted with new objects.     Pause over the review of both this morning. The blindness of nature to spiritual things is marked in scripture in strong characters. A poor blind sinner sees nothing of the light of life. The Sun of Righteousness is not risen upon him. He discerns nothing of the love of God in Christ. If he reads the scripture, the vail is upon his heart. If he hears of Jesus, he sees no beauty in Him. Nothing is nearer to him than the Lord, and nothing further from his thoughts. To tell him of the sweetness of the word of God, is strange...

"And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee." -Deuteronomy 15:15 [KJV]   Say, my soul, canst thou ever forget the wormwood and the gall of that state of nature, from which the Lord thy God brought thee? Figure to thyself the most horrid state of captivity which the world ever knew; and what could the whole be, bounded, as it must be, by the short period of human life, compared to the everlasting vassalage of sin and Satan, in which thou didst lay when Jesus passed by and brought thee out? No galley-slave, chained to the oar, could equal thy misery, bound with the chain of sin. No duration of misery, bounded by time, equals that endless state of woe to which thou wast exposed.     Thou weft a bondman to the power of sin, to the love of sin, to the desire of sin, to the punishment of sin; a bondman to the law of God, to the justice of God, to the displeasure of God, to the threatenings of God; a bondman to thin...

"The creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen." -II Kings 4:1  [KJV] My soul, how doth this affect thee? Art thou in debt? By nature and by practice thou wast miserably so, unless the debt be cancelled. As a creature, and as a sinful creature, thou art in thyself for ever insolvent. Thou hast nothing to pay, and art shut up in a total impossibility ever to pay. And how much owest thou unto my Lord? Alas, my soul, thou owest millions of debts to thy Almighty Creditor. The law thou hast broken; justice demands retribution; conscience condemns; Satan accuses; and the creditor is come to take not thy two sons only, but both thy two parts, soul and body, to the prison of death and hell, unless some almighty Surety hath stepped in and paid the dreadful debt, that thou mayest be free.     At death, and at judgment that follows, the everlasting release, or the everlasting imprisonment, will take place. And who knows whether the decision may not be to-morrow? n...

"I have exalted One chosen out of the people." -Psalm 89:19 [KJV]   My soul, wert thou refreshed on the past day with the precious meditation of the God of our fathers glorifying His Son Jesus? Suffer not, then, the blessed subject to pass away from thy thoughts this day, or any day, but look at the same delightful meditation proposed in the words which God spake to His Holy One in vision— "I have exalted One chosen out of the people." Yes, the Lord Jesus, as man and Mediator, was chosen in the infinite mind of Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, from everlasting.     And before that God went forth in the immediate acts of creation, when that vast mass of beings the Lord determined to call into existence arose in His own infinite mind at His command, this blessed one, this glorious, this distinguished, this precious individual which was to become one with the uncreated Word, in order to constitute the Wisdom-man, Mediator, was from everlasting chosen. This was t...

  Weekend Gospel message to follow for All Hands   (27-29AUG21) 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 to save us  from our sins and from Hell: "Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD,  in the light of Thy countenance. In Thy name shall they rejoice all the  day: and in Thy righteousness shall they be exalted. For Thou art the glory of their strength: and in Thy favour our horn shall be exalted."  -Psalm 89:15-16 [KJV] ABIDE IN ME! It is true that once a man is saved by God’s grace through faith, he will  remain saved forever; yet the Scriptures are full of warnings to believers  against unbelief (Hebrews 3:12-14) , against drawing back  (Hebrews 10:38-39 ), and  against neglecting the Wo...