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

"Because she judged Him faithful who had promised." -Hebrews 11:11  [KJV] I admire what the Holy Ghost hath here recorded of Sarah's faith. After what we read of the weakness of her faith at first, in the history to which this refers, I cannot but rejoice in the recovery of the great mother in Israel, through grace; and read with very much pleasure, this honourable testimony, which the Holy Ghost Himself hath given of her. And I admire yet more, the grace and goodness of the Eternal Spirit, in causing it to be handed down to the church, among the list of such worthies, and desire to bless His holy name for this scripture.     And while I bless God for the memorial, I pray Him to give me a spirit of wisdom, to improve it to my own furtherance in faith. The faith of Sarah, like that of her husband's, was the more illustrious, from the seeming impossibilities which lay in the way of the accomplishment of God's promise. For what the Lord engaged to do, was contrary t...

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world."   -I John 2:15 [KJV] This is a very wide sentence. It stretches forth a hand of vast grasp. It places us, as it were, upon a high mountain, such as the Lord stood upon when tempted of Satan, and it says to us, "Look around you: now there is not one of these things which you must love." It takes us, again, to the streets of a crowded city; it shews us shop windows filled with objects of beauty and ornament; it points us to all the wealth and grandeur of the rich and noble, and everything that the human heart admires and loves. And having thus set before us, as Satan did before our Lord upon the high mountain, the kingdoms of the world, it says, not as he did, "All this will I give you," but, "All this I take from you. None of these things are for you. You must not love one of these glittering baubles; you must not touch one of them, or scarcely look at them, lest, as with Achan, the gold...

  "She bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the L ORD ." -I Samuel 1:20  [KJV] It is really both blessed and profitable to observe, how holy men of old made memorandums of the Lord's kind dealings with them, as well in providence as grace, by way of preserving alive a due sense of divine mercies upon their souls. A night or two since, the evening portion remarked a beautiful instance of this sort in the case of Hagar: and in the scripture I have brought forth for our present meditation, is another, equally beautiful in the instance of Hannah. In the former, the memorial was set up to perpetuate the place of the Lord's graciousness; in this latter, the dedication is of the person concerning whom divine favour was shewn.     But in both, the design is one and the same, to glorify God. I pause by the way, to-remark, how much to be lamented it is, that this truly scriptural and pious custom is so little followed by christians, and ...

"Thou hast delivered my soul from death."   - Psalm 56:13 [KJV] You may have been delivered from death, as much as David was, but not so fully in the assurance of the deliverance. God may have quickened your soul into life divine; He may have communicated His grace to your heart, and yet you have many doubts and fears whether it be a real work of grace upon your soul. It is not every child of God who has been delivered from death by regenerating grace who can use the words with the confidence expressed here: "Thou hast delivered my soul from death."   But I will shew you when he can.    When God is pleased to bless him with a sense of His pardoning love; when Jesus is revealed to his heart, and manifested with power to his soul; when the blood of sprinkling is applied to purge his conscience from guilt, filth, and dead works, to serve the living God; when the Spirit of adoption is given, and he is enabled to cry, "Abba, Father;" when he can "read his...

"Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" -Galatians 3:3  [KJV] While beholding the church of Galatia, which set out upon true gospel principles, and before whose eyes Jesus Christ had been evidently set forth as crucified among them; yet after this, turning aside to seek justification by works; let thine evening meditation, my soul, be directed to this heart-searching inquiry: upon what art thou building thine hopes of salvation? Is it simply on Christ; or art thou mingling with the blood and righteousness of Jesus, somewhat of thine own, by way of justification? The question is exceedingly important; and the clear answer to it, of the first consequence to thy present peace, and everlasting welfare.     See to it then, that there be no reserves, no limitations, nothing to qualify the plain and direct answer to the apostle's words; but that having begun in the Spirit, thou mayest truly say, thou dost not seek to be made perfect by the flesh. If ...

"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." - Revelation 2:29 [KJV] These words extend the message beyond the church to which they were spoken, and address themselves to every one to whom the word comes, and to whom an ear is given to hear and receive it. Thus each message sent to the churches becomes a message sent personally to us. If we have a spiritually circumcised ear, if we are willing to listen to the voice of the Lord, He speaks to us in every message as personally and as distinctly as He spoke to each individual church. It is indeed an unspeakable blessing to have this ear given to us that we may receive in humility, simplicity, and godly sincerity what the Lord speaks in the word of His grace. It is by His word that He knocks at the door of our hearts; and what a blessing He has pronounced on the man who hears His voice and opens the door when he hears the knock, like a fond and affectionate wife when she hears the knock of her hus...

Weekend Gospel message to follow for All Hands (04-06MAR22) 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: THE GREAT LOVE OF GOD “ But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us”   (Ephesians 2:4).  The love of God to His chosen people is very great, if it be considered who it is that has loved them, God and not man, who is an infinite, unchangeable, and sovereign Being.  His love is like Himself, for God is love.  It has heights and depths, and lengths and breadths immeasurable.  It admits of no variation nor alteration and is altogether free, arising from Himself and not from any motives and conditions in men.  If the persons themselves are considered who are the objects of it, they are sinful men, unworthy of divine notic...