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

"At evening-time it shall be light."   -Zechariah 14:7  [KJV] Then must it be miraculous; for nothing short of a supernatural work could produce such an effect. Sunrise at even-tide is contrary to nature; and the rising of the Sun of righteousness is a work of grace. Pause then, my soul, over the promise, and see whether such an event hath taken place in thy circumstances. As every thing in Jesus, and His salvation, in respect to His church and people, is the sole result of grace, not nature; so all the Lord's dispensations carry with them the same evidences. It is even-time in the soul, yea, midnight darkness, ere first the Lord shines in upon it; it is so in all the after dispensations, when some more than ordinary manifestation is made; it is among the blessed methods of grace, when the Lord surprizeth His people with some rich visits of His love and mercy. "I said, (cried the church, at a time when the waters of the sanctuary ran low) My way is hidden from the ...

Weekend Gospel message to follow for All Hands (14-16JAN22) 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: True Godly, Christ-Honoring Assurance True Godly, Christ-honoring assurance of salvation cannot be enhanced by our working more. It cannot be improved by our striving to love and serve one another. True Godly, Christ-honoring assurance of salvation comes by looking to, trusting, and resting in Christ more and more for ALL salvation, from its origin to its culmination in glory.   This is why all true believers, sinners saved by God’s grace, are told to “labor therefore to enter into THAT REST” (Heb rews 4:11). This is the rest that Christ entered into after He finished the work of redeeming us from our sins and establishing righteousness for us by which God has justif...

"Come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you."   -II Corinthians 6:17 [KJV] If we are entangled in the love of the world, or fast bound and fettered with worldly anxieties, and the spirit of the world is rife in our bosom, all our profession will be vapid, if not worthless. We may use the language of prayer, but the heart is not in earnest; we may still manage to hold our head high in a profession of the truth, but its power and blessedness are neither known nor felt. To enjoy any measure of communion with the Lord, whether on the cross or on the throne, we must go forth from a world which is at enmity against Him. We must also go forth out of self, for to deny it, renounce it, and go forth out of it lies at the very foundation of vital godliness.  There must be "a mortifying, through the Spirit, of the deeds of the body;" a being "always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the...

"Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you."  -I Peter 4:12 [KJV] The "fiery trial," then, is not a strange thing which happens only to a few of the Lord's family, but is more or less the appointed lot of all . Do we not hear the Lord saying to His Zion, "I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction?" All then that are chosen must pass through the furnace of affliction, and all  know experimentally the fiery trial, for by it they are made partakers of Christ's sufferings.  But this is indispensable in order to be partakers of His glory. "If so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together." Thus they suffer with Him, "that when His glory shall be revealed, they may be glad also with exceeding joy." And this suffering with and for Christ in the furnace of affliction salts the soul, preserves it from corruption, communicat...

  Are You a Grace Believer? Part 2 by D.G  Miles McKee   We are looking at some of the marks of the Grace Believer. Continuing from last time, we want to notice that,   7)  Grace Believers are confident of God's past, present and future grace, yet they refuse to make a practice of abusing that grace.  Grace, not Law, teaches them to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. Grace, not law, teaches them to live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world (Titus 2:11-12).   8)  Grace Believers are learning to not get discouraged with their performance. Instead, they are learning to focus on Christ and His performance on their behalf.  One of the Grace Believer’s theme songs could be; “It is finished!” yes, indeed, Finished, every jot; Believer, this is all you need, Tell me, is it not?”   9) Grace Believers are humbled by the continual reality that, in themselves, they are wretches. Because of this, they discover they have no r...

"Watch and pray."   -Mark 13:33 [KJV] There is no keeping up faith except by  prayer and watchfulness.  As prayer declines in the bosom, so does the strength of faith. You may go on neglecting prayer and supplication until every grain of faith seems lost out of your bosom, and may come at last to think you never knew anything of a work of God upon your heart, and have been deceived in believing there was any grace there. By watchfulness also is the love of God maintained. Unless you watch against your besetting sins, against the snares spread for your feet, against the temptations that daily and hourly beset your path, against being overcome by the strength or subtlety of your unwearied foe, you are sure to fall; and if you fall you will bring guilt and bondage, darkness and distress into your mind, and cut off for a time all friendly intercourse with God.   Therefore you must pray and watch; for without watchfulness, prayer is of little efficacy. And if we neglect t...

"We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."   -I John 2:1 [KJV] This advocacy is here called, as elsewhere, "pleading the cause" of the believer, and is connected with deliverance, for such an advocate can never fail: "O Lord, Thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; Thou hast redeemed my life" (Lamentations 3:58) . The figure is taken from a lawyer pleading the cause of a criminal, and using his best endeavours to bring him off uninjured. But  such advocacy may fail for two reasons: 1. the incompetency of the advocate; or 2. the badness of the cause. But there are no such hindrances to the success of the advocacy of Christ. How he can plead his own sufferings, blood, and obedience?  His very Person as the Son of God, and yet son of man, gives unspeakable value and validity to every plea of the great Intercessor. What validity, then, has His intercession in the court of heaven! It is true that He cannot deny the truth of the charge...