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

"I AM the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys." -Solomon 2:1  [KJV] Yes! dearest Lord Jesus, Thou art all this, and infinitely more to my soul; more fragrant than both, and more precious than all the flowers of the field. Help me, this evening, to contemplate my Lord under those sweet similitudes. Do I not, and shall I not henceforth, in the red blushing beauty of the rose, behold Thy human nature, which Thou hast assumed for the redemption of Thy people?     Are not Thy bloody sufferings, and Thy red apparel, strikingly set forth by the image of the rose; as Thy spotless purity is shewn under the loveliness of the white lily? Can the sweet-scented rose, even of Sharon, vie with the perfume of the incense of Thy righteousness, to a poor sinner's soul? Or can the beauty of the lily be as grateful to the eye, as the purity of Jesus to a mind conscious of its own pollution, and beholding itself complete in His salvation, Who is "holy, harmless, undefiled, separ...

"These all died in faith." - Hebrews 11:13 [KJV] When death came it did not rob them of their faith. They held with their believing hand in death every truth which they had held with their believing hand in life. It is in death that the gospel is such a blessing when held by a believing hand. What should we do upon a dying bed, with all our sins staring us in the face in all their awful magnitude, accused by Satan, condemned by conscience, terrified by a holy law, and frowned upon by an indignant God? What must be our end upon the bed of death if we had nothing to look to but a God who is a consuming fire, with nothing but the bitter recollection of past sins to agonise the mind and distress the conscience?  O, if ever faith is needed, it will be needed then; if ever the gospel embraced, embraced then; if ever Christ looked to, looked to then; if ever laid hold of by the hand of faith, laid hold of then! Now if you know what faith is, and your faith has embraced the Son of G...

"And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found; know now, whether it be thy son's coat, or no. And he knew it, and said, It is my son's coat." -Genesis 37:32, 33 [KJV] The life of the patriarch Joseph is very beautiful and interesting, as a history only; and the several incidents arising out of it are such as cannot but more or less affect every heart. But when we have gone through the whole relation, in the mere letter of the word, we are constrained to believe, that in the spiritual sense and meaning of it, almost every thing in the life of Joseph was typical of Jesus! I would not strain scripture upon any account. Neither would I to myself any thing fanciful of Jesus and His frame blessed offices; so as to see Him where He is not.   Yet I cannot but think, that since in so many instances, as is universally allowed, Joseph is a lively type of Christ, the Holy Ghost, in His glorifying the Lord Jesus, was, i...

"In Whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory." - Ephesians 1:13, 14 [KJV] Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. Holy are its inhabitants, holy its employments, holy its enjoyments. Therefore unless we know something of the teaching, the work, and witness of the Holy Spirit here, and are made partakers of a new, holy, spiritual, and heavenly nature we have no pledge or earnest of our interest in the inheritance of the saints in bliss.    A carnal, unsanctified, unholy, unrenewed heart is utterly incapable of understanding, entering into, longing after, and loving an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away. But every holy desire, heavenly affection, gracious longing, spiritual enjoyment, and believing, hoping, loving,    looking unto and cleaving to the Lord of life and glory...

  CHRIST’S PEOPLE HERE SHALL SING A people shall on earth lift up, A song in every place; And sing redemption’s lovely song, Of God’s redeeming grace. That grace which from His sovereign hand, Did in His Son come down. Who in His perfect life and death, Wrought works of great renown. His blood here shed upon the cross, The Father’s will secured. There all the wrath for all my sins, He by Himself endured. Thus everlasting righteousness, Christ did in coming bring. In death, eternal life He gave. Let praises to Him ring! May we, as sinners justified, Among that people be, And sing the praise of Christ alone For all eternity! 8.6 8.6  words by preacher Gary Shepard Sovereign Grace Baptist church of Jacksonville, North Carolina USA Sermon Audio web-site:  https://www.sermonaudio.com/source_detail.asp?sourceid=allsovgrace

"For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. And hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man." -John 5:22, 27 [KJV] Here, my soul! here is a sweet and blessed portion to take with Thee, night by night, as a sleeping draught, to lie down with in holy composure; or if thou lie watchful, to give thee songs in the night. Everynight is a new watchword of the night of death; and none can tell thee when thou droppest asleep, whether, in the next opening of thine eyes, thou mayest not open them in eternity, and find thyself standing before the judgrnent-seat of Christ!     Dost thou not wish to be prepared for such an event, and not to leave so infinitely momentous a concern to a peradventure? Read then, again and again, this sweet scripture. I take for granted, that thou knowest Jesus; and art acquainted, yea, savingly acquainted with His glorious person, as thy Surety; and the merits of His blood and righteousnes...

"Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed." -II Corinthians 4:9 [KJV] You may be cast down by many doubts and fears, and lose the sense of the Lord's love to your soul, but you cannot lose the reality, nor is your faith destroyed by the hottest flame. It is like gold; the fire melts away and separates the dross and tin, but never touches the gold. In your hottest trials your faith will not have lost a particle. Neither will your hope be destroyed, however you may be cast down about your state or standing; for not a particle of hope, or of any one Christian grace can ever be lost. They may seem to suffer diminution as the apostle speaks, "If a man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss" (1 Corinthians 3:15); but it is no real loss,—it is merely the dross taken away, that he may come forth a vessel for the finer. The work of the Holy Spirit is as indestructible as the work of Christ; and thus every grace which He implants in the soul...