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

"It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto Me." -John 6:45  [KJV] Mark, my soul, these precious words of thy Jesus. It was one of the old testament promises, that all God's children should be taught of Him. And as this condescension of God, in teaching, implied the Father, so the blessed consequence and effect of it should be, that every one thus taught proved his being a child, and inclined his heart to come to God in Christ as a Father.    My soul, art thou come? Art thou looking to, leaning upon, trusting in, walking with, and seeking for Jesus? Is He the Lord thy righteousness, thine only righteousness, thine only hope, thine only confidence? Dost thou, like the apostle, count all things else but dung and dross to win Christ, and to be found in Him? Courage then, my soul! These are blessed tokens of thine adoption character. None but God the Father, by His Holy ...

  The Forgetfulness of Grace: Part 2 by D.G. Miles McKee There are some religious people who say we cannot know whether we are saved or not.  They say we cannot be sure whether we are going to heaven.  However, this kind of belief is not the case with the gospel believer.  Gospel believers know that their sins are forgiven. Why? Because in  Hebrews 1:3  it says that our sins are purged. Because in  Isaiah 43:25  it says that our sins are blotted out. Because in  Psalm 103:12  it says that our sins are removed. Because in  In Isaiah 38:17  it says they are behind God’s back. Because  In Micah 7:19,  they are cast into the depth of the sea. In Christ, the believer’s sins are gone. They are forgotten (Isaiah 43:25). Some years ago, in Belfast, a certain notorious character, involved in all sorts of evil deeds, was changed by the grace of God. In the aftermath of his conversion, he took every opportunity to tell the story...

"Praise waiteth for Thee, O God, in Zion." -Psalm 65:1  [KJV] Is this the language of my heart? Am I indeed waiting until that Jesus be ready to receive my poor praise? Hath God the Holy Ghost prepared my heart? Oh then, hasten to Him, my soul, with thy morning offerings, poor as they are; for sure I am, Jesus is waiting to be gracious. God will accept both thee and thy offering in Him the Beloved. Go forth to meet Him as early and as often as thine heart can wish: depend upon it, thy Redeemer will be beforehand with thee, and is waiting thy coming. Neither thy praise nor thy prayer can outrun His love; for both are the blessed effects of His grace, and of His own quickenings. Precious Jesus, grant me to come as often as I need Thee. And, Lord, if Thou wilt grant me this blessing, I shall never be from Thee, for I need Thee every moment.   -preacher Robert Hawker (1753-1827 A.D.) December 1st, THE POOR MAN'S MORNING PORTION      

"It is high time to awake out of sleep; for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed."   -Romans 13:11  [KJV] Solemn consideration! What time is it with thee, my soul? Let me ask, with the prophet, "Watchman, what of the night? The morning cometh, and also the night." Perhaps there may be but a step between me and death. Am I really awakened from the sleep of carnal security? Am I alive from spiritual death? Am I dead to the world, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord?     Oh Lord Jesus, impress these solemn enquiries upon my soul yet more and more, since everlasting happiness, or everlasting misery hangs upon the decision. My beating pulse is hastening to fulfil the appointed number. Even while I think of these things the account is increased. Every fleeting breath is one the less to take. Lord, make me wise to remember my latter end!   -preacher Robert Hawker   (1753-1827 A.D.) November 30th, THE POOR MAN'S MORNING PORTION   ...

"For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." -Romans 5:6  [KJV] My soul fold up this sweet and precious scripture, and carry it about with thee in thy bosom, and in thine heart, that it may help thee on at any time, and at all times, when thy strength seems gone, and there is no power left. Was it not when the whole nature of man was without strength, that Christ was given of the Father? And was it not equally so, when Christ came to seek and save that which was lost? And was it not in due time when Christ died for the ungodly; due time in His resurrection, due time in His ascension, "when He ascended up on high, led captivity captive, and received gifts for men, yea, even for the rebellious, that the Lord God might dwell among them?"    Go further yet, my soul, as it concerns thyself was it not due time indeed, when Jesus passed by and saw thee in thy loathsome state of sin, cast out to perish, and when no eye pitied thee, that...

  Weekend Gospel message to follow for All Hands (26-28NOV21) 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 our sins and from Hell: Blind Eyes Opened One of the many promises concerning God’s servant is that He would open the  eyes of the blind. In the Lord’s parable of the Pharisee and the Publican  who both went into the temple to pray we have an excellent example of what  this means (see Luke 18:9-14).  The Pharisee’s eyes had not been opened and thus he prayed: “I thank Thee  that I am not as other men.” A person whose eyes have not been opened is  blind to his sinfulness, that his righteousness is [in God’s sight] like  filthy rags and as Solomon said “the plague of his own heart.” The publican’s eyes had been opened and thus he prayed:  “God be...

"The religion of Christ is the religion of JOY. Christ came to take away our sins, to roll off our curse, to unbind our chains, to open our prison house, to cancel our debt; in a word, to give us the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Is not this joy?  Where can we find a joy so real, so deep, so pure, so lasting? There is every element of joy; deep, ecstatic, satisfying, sanctifying joy in the gospel of Christ. The believer in Jesus is essentially a happy man. The child of God is, from necessity, a joyful man. His sins are forgiven, his soul is justified, his person is adopted, his trials are blessings, his conflicts are victories, his death is immortality, his future is a heaven of inconceivable, unthought of, untold, and endless blessedness.  With such a God, such a Savior, and such a hope, is he not, ought he not, to be a joyful man?" -Octavius Winslow