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

"And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins."  -Ephesians 2:1 [KJV] Death in sin is of course a figure, and must be interpreted as such; for moral death is its meaning, and by moral death we understand the utter absence of everything holy, heavenly, spiritual, and divine; the entire want of participation in, and conformity to the life which God lives as essentially and eternally holy, pure, wise, and good, and for ever dwelling in the glorious light of His own infinite perfections.  To be dead, then, is to have no present part or lot with God; no knowledge of Him, no faith, no trust, no hope in Him; no sense of His presence, no reverence of His terrible Majesty; no desire after Him or inclination toward Him; no trembling at His word, no reliance on His promise, no longing for His grace, no care or concern for His glory. It is to be as a beast before Him, intent like a brute on satisfying the cravings of lust, or the movements of mere animal passion, witho...

"And they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus." -Acts 4:13  [KJV] Oh! for the same grace to rest upon me, as upon those faithful servants of my Lord; that, like them, I may manifest the sweet savour of Jesus's name in every place; wherever I am, with whomsoever I converse, in every state, and upon every occasion, that all may witness for me, and every thing bear witness to me, that I have been with Jesus! I would entreat Thee, my honoured Lord, that I may honour Thee so before men, that after my morning visits to Thy throne of grace, my mid-day communion, my evening and nightly fellowship, my return to the society of men might so be distinguished as one that had just been with Jesus.     And as it might be supposed, if an angel was to come from heaven that had seen Thy face, and heard Thy voice, and been an eye witness of Thy glory; so, Lord, having by faith enjoyed such views, I might delight to tell, as He would relate to the inhabitants of the earth,...

"And He taught them many things by parables."   -Mark 4:2 [KJV] The Scripture employs two beautiful figures to illustrate the reception of the divine testimony. One is the committing of the seed to the ground, as in the parable of the sower. The husbandman scatters the seed in the bosom of the earth, and the ground having been previously ploughed and reduced to a beautiful tilth, opens its bosom to receive the grain. After a little time the seed begins to germinate, to strike a root downward, and shoot a germ upward; as the Lord speaks, "First the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear."   This emblem beautifully represents how the testimony of Jesus Christ finds an entrance to the soul, takes root downward and carries a shoot upward. The root downward is into the depths of a tender conscience, and the shoot upward is the aspiration, breathing, and longing of the soul for the living God. The other figure is that of grafting. "Receive," says J...

  The ABCs of Jesus. by D.G. Miles McKee   The Scriptures tell us that Jesus is all in all (Colossians 3:11). Let’s look at that today.   Jesus is The Advocate ( 1 John 2.1 ), The Anointed ( Hebrews 1:9 ), The Apostle ( Hebrews 3:1 ), The Author ( Hebrews 12:2 ), The Amen ( Revelation 3:14 ), The Alpha ( Revelation 1:8 ), The Adonai ( Psalm 135: 5 ), and The Almighty God ( Revelation 1:8).   But He is more.   He is The Beginning ( Revelation 1:8 ), The Beloved ( Matthew 3:17 ), The Branch ( Isaiah 11:1-2),  The Bread ( John 6:35 ), The Bridegroom ( John 3:28-30) ,  The Bright and Morning Star ( Revelation 22:16 ), The  Bishop of our Souls  ( 1 Peter 2:25 ), The Brightness of the Father’s Glory ( Hebrews 1:3 ) .   And Jesus is … The Captain ( Hebrews 2:10 ), The Consolation ( Luke 2:25-32 ), The Chief Cornerstone ( Ephesians 2:20 ), The Counselor ( Isaiah 9:6 ), The  Covenant  (Isaiah 42:6), The Chosen of God ( Isaiah 42:1 ), an...

"As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my Beloved among the sons." -Song of Solomon 2:3  [KJV] My soul! if the church found so much blessedness in making comparisons between her Lord and any of the beautiful objects of nature around her; see if thou canst raise a subject for thy meditation, this evening, from the statement she hath made in this lovely verse.     Why should not Jesus be in thy view as in hers? Doth He not infinitely transcend all sons, of whatever description or character that can be found? Angels, no doubt, by creation may be called "the sons of God;" and when God had finished the works of His hands, we are told that "the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." But Jesus as far excels all angels of light, as the apple-tree the trees of the wood: for "He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they." Neither did God at any time say unto the angels, "Sit Thou on...

"Turn Thou us unto Thee, O L ORD , and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old."   -Lamentations 5:21 [KJV] Are you not often destitute of the power to repent, and confess your sins before God? Does not conscience often bring to view a melancholy retrospect of carnal thoughts, wicked desires, vain imaginations, foolish words, frivolous speeches, and all that catalogue of evils, that huge bill which godly fear sometimes files in the court within, as seen in all our departures from the life of God?   But are you able to repent? Are you able to feel cut to the very heart? Are you able to mourn and sigh because conscience brings against you this long indictment? Can you always feel your soul melted down with sorrow on account of it? Are you always able to feel contrition because you are proud, worldly, covetous, everything that is evil, everything that is hateful in God's sight?  But, then, there are times and seasons when the Lord is pleased to work upon the conscience,...

"...Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh, for His body's sake, which is the church." -Colossians 1:24  [KJV] What can the apostle mean from these expressions? Not, surely, that the sufferings of Jesus were incomplete, or that the sufferings of His people were to make up a deficiency: for in treading the wine-press of the wrath of God against sin, Jesus trod it alone, and of the people there was none with Him. And so perfectly finished and complete was the whole work of redemption by Jesus, that by the ONE offering of Himself, once offered, "He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." But what a sweet scripture is this of the apostle's, when it is interpreted with reference to Jesus, that in all the sufferings of His people Jesus takes a part! Jesus suffered in His own person fully and completely, when as an expiatory sacrifice for sin He died, the just for the unjust, ...