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

"And He must needs go through Samaria." -John 4:4  [KJV] And what was there, blessed Jesus, that constrained Thee to this necessity? Was it because there was a poor adulterous woman there, that needed Thy grace, and the hour was come for her conversion? Sweet thought! let me cherish it this morning. Was there not the same needs be for the Father setting Thee up, from everlasting, for the Head of Thy church and people? Could there have been a church without Thee? And when Thy church had fallen by sin, what archangel could have recovered her but Thee? Why then there was a needs be that Thou shouldest take the nature of Thy people upon Thee, and come to seek and save that which was lost. And as it is said of Thee concerning this poor woman, that "He must needs go through Samaria," so must it be equally said, Jesus must needs go to Jerusalem, to save Jerusalem sinners by His blood. Oh yes, there was a blessed necessity upon Thee, Thou Lamb of God, that Thou shouldest ...

"And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates."   -Deuteronomy 6:9  [KJV] See, my soul, what a gracious provision the Lord made for the glory and honour of His Israel, that every traveller passing by might say, 'Here dwelleth an Israelite indeed; he hath the name of the Lord of Hosts upon his house.' And did it please the Lord God of Israel so to have his people known, and shall it be not my desire to have thy name, Lord, upon the gates of my house. Shall any pass by my door, ignorant that a lover of the Lord Jesus dwelleth there? Nay, shall I not esteem it my highest honour to have it known whose I am, and whom I serve, in the gospel of' His dear Son? Shall I be ashamed of that name before which every knee bows in heaven and in earth? Oh Lord Jesus, not only write Thy name upon the gates of my house, but engrave it in the centre of my heart, my affections, my first, and last, and earliest, and latest thoughts!     Let it be my rapture a...

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life." -John 3:14, 15  [KJV] Pause, my soul, over these words, and remember that they are the words of Jesus. Call to mind the wonderful event to which Christ refers, in the church's history in the wilderness, as related, Numbers 21:5-9. Israel had sinned; and the Lord sent fiery flying serpents among the people, which bit them, and they died. In their distress they cried unto the Lord, and the Lord appointed this method of cure. A figure of a serpent was made in brass, to which Israel was commanded to look only, and be healed. They who did so, lived. If any refused, he died. This was the ordinance of God. "Now," saith Jesus, "as Moses, at the command of God, lifted up the serpent, so must I be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in Me shall never perish, but have eternal life."     Now, my soul...

"For Thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall." -Isaiah 25:4  [KJV] Who so poor as Jesus's poor? Who so needy as the needy of the Redeemer? The world knoweth them not, because it knew Him not. And as the Master was, so are His servants in this world. But, my soul, observe how sweetly Jesus is all this. A strength to the poor in his distress, by taking all the storm Himself. He is a shadow from the heat, the heat of the wrath of a broken law, which Jesus bore Himself, when He died to expiate the breaches of it. His blood and righteousness cool the heat of sin, and quench all the fiery darts of the wicked: these terrible ones which beat upon a poor sinner like a storm against the wall.     Moreover, when the showers of wrath shall fall at the last day on the wicked, when that horrible tempest of fire and brimstone, the P...

  Weekend Gospel message to follow for All Hands   (10-12SEP21) 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: SUBSTITUTION AND SATISFACTION The great truth which makes the gospel worth proclaiming, is the truth that  “Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners,” that Christ also hath suffered for sin, “the Just for the unjust that He might bring us to God;” “Who Himself bare our sins in His own body on the tree;” “For the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.”  In one word, the great fact on which the Christian’s hope rests is substitution. -copied ============================================================= "Storm Warning: Prove All Things,"   is a fifteen-minute Go...

"In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found; for I will pardon them whom I reserve." -Jeremiah 50:20  [KJV] What those days and that time refer to is very plain; namely, the day when the great trumpet shall be blown, and when they shall come which were ready to perish; the glorious day of gospel grace by Jesus. For God the Father, having appointed and accepted a Surety for poor sinners, in the blood and righteousness of His dear Son, beholds no iniquity in Jacob, nor perverseness in Israel. Blessed thought to comfort a poor soul—that, seen in Christ, and accepted in the Beloved, "there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit!"     Pause, my soul, over this precious scripture, and take to thyself the comfort of it. If thou art in Christ, thou art beheld righteous in His righteous...

  Cities of Refuge, Part 5 -  Ramoth by  D. G. Miles McKee To date, we have considered 4 of the 6 Cities of Refuge, … Kedesh, Shechem, Hebron and Bezer.  These were cities to which a person guilty of manslaughter could flee and find safety. Each of the cities, in their individual name, point us towards Christ. Today we encounter a fifth city, a place named Ramoth.   We don’t know a lot about Ramoth.  It was, it is thought, situated in Gilead about 20 miles east of the Jordan and it is believed that it was a heavily fortified stronghold. So, does the name RAMOTH tell us anything regarding Christ?  Yes, it does.  Ramoth literally means EXALTATION.  Jesus, we say, without fear or contradiction, is the true Ramoth.  When He came to this earth He was despised, rejected and brutally murdered.  However, now He is exalted on the throne of the Universe as our glorious King.  He is exalted. All heaven exalts Him...