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

"Thy rebuke hath broken My heart."   -Psalm 69:20 [KJV] Hast thou, my soul, still upon thee the solemn savour of thy morning meditation? Surely Gethsemane is not forgotten by thee! Pause over the subject; and from the whole mass of the soul sufferings of thy Lord, behold what crowned the whole: "Thy rebuke, (saith Jesus to the Father,) Thy rebuke hath broken My heart." To search into the depths of this mediation is impossible; for who shall describe it? What human, or even angelic intellect can fathom the profound subject? That this was the greatest and heaviest weight in the whole curse, we may venture to suppose: because we read of nothing which bore so hard upon the holy Jesus, amidst all His agonies, as the Father's rebuke. It was this which "broke His heart."   My soul! repeat the solemn scripture, as if Jesus was in the moment uttering the words: "Thy rebuke hath broken My heart." Precious Lord! could not this have been spared Thee?—...

"And when they were alone, He expounded all things to His disciples." - Mark 4:34 [KJV] What is the exact meaning of the word disciple ? It means properly a learner , one who is under a teacher, whose submissive and devoted pupil he has become, and from whom he receives continual instruction. And thus a disciple of Christ is one who is admitted by the Lord Jesus into His school, whom He Himself condescends personally to instruct, and who therefore learns of Him to be meek and lowly of heart. A disciple of Jesus is one who sits meekly at the Redeemer's feet, receiving into his heart the gracious words which fall from His lips. This was Mary's happy posture, whom the Lord commended for choosing the better part. Such is also the posture of all the saints of God, according to the ancient declaration, "Yea, He loved the people; all His saints are in Thy hand; and they sat down at Thy feet, every one shall receive of Thy words" (Deuteronomy 33:3) .   But a true ...

"For Him hath God the Father sealed." -John 6:27 [KJV] My soul, hast thou ever remarked the peculiar glory of those scriptures, which comprise within a small compass all the persons of the Godhead, as concurring and co-operating in the grand business of salvation? No doubt, all scripture is blessed, being given by inspiration of God; but there is a peculiar blessedness in these sweet portions, which at one view, represent the Holy Three in One, unitedly engaged in the sinner's redemption.   My soul, ponder over this divine passage, in thy Saviour's discourse, as thus: who is the Him here spoken of, but the Lord Jesus? And whom but God the Father could seal Christ? And with whom was Christ sealed and anointed, but by God the Holy Ghost? Would any one have thought, at first view, that in seven words, such a blessed testimony should be given to the glorious foundation-truth of the whole bible? "For Him hath God the Father sealed." Precious Jesus! enable me to...

"Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." - Hebrews 12:14 [KJV] To possess this holiness is a necessary and indispensable meetness for the inheritance of the saints in light; but this meetness must be wrought in us by the power of God's grace, for I am sure that in ourselves of it we have none. But see its necessity. What happiness could there be in the courts of bliss unless we had a nature to enjoy it? Unless we were made capable of seeing Christ as He is, and enjoying His presence for evermore, heaven would be no heaven to us. Nothing unclean or unholy can enter there. Sanctification therefore must be wrought in us by the power of God, to make us meet for the heavenly inheritance, and He therefore communicates of His Spirit and grace to give us heavenly affections, holy desires, gracious thoughts, tender feelings; and above all that love whereby He is loved as the altogether lovely.   By the sanctifying operations of His Spirit, He separates us from everything evi...

"I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." - Isaiah 48:10 [KJV] According to God's own testimony, it is "through much tribulation" that we are to enter into the kingdom; and therefore there is no entering into the kingdom of grace here or the kingdom of glory hereafter without it. But let this be ever borne in mind, that whatever affliction befall the saints, it is laid upon them by the hand of God, and that for the express purpose of putting them into a situation and of making them capable of receiving those comforts which God only can bestow.   None but Jesus Himself and the Father can comfort a truly afflicted heart. And He can and does from time to time comfort His dear people by a sense of His presence; by a word of power from His gracious lips; by the light of His countenance; by the balm of His atoning blood and dying love; and by the work and witness of the Spirit within. And as they receive this consolation from the mouth of God, their hearts ...

"And this is the name, wherewith she shall be called, the L ORD our righteousness ."   -Jeremiah 33:16 [KJV] My soul! the subject of thy morning meditation would not be complete, if thy personal interest in it were not taken into the account; and therefore let thy mind be led forth, this evening, in sweet contemplation upon what the Holy Ghost hath said, in this scripture, by His same servant, the prophet, concerning the church of Jesus. If Jesus be called "the Lord our righteousness," and be, as He is well known to be, the husband of His people, surely His wife shall be called by her husband's name. She shall be called so because it is her husband's name; "the Lord our righteousness." And as He became sin for her, when He knew no sin; so she, when she knew no righteousness, shall, by virtue of her union and relationship with Him, be righteousness, even "the righteousness of God in Him , "   -II Corinthians 5: 21 .     Now, my soul, see...

  "That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ."  - Philippians 1:10 [KJV] If divine light has enlightened your mind, divine life quickened your heart, and you love the Lord and His people, you must approve of the things that are excellent. For they are so commended to your conscience that you can no more do otherwise than you can tell a deliberate lie or call black white. And as you approve of them, you will disapprove of everything which is contrary to, or falls short of this excellency.   Now this is what distinguishes us from the world and the spirit of it, and from all whose eyes are blinded by the god of this world—that whilst they approve of the things God abhors, we approve of the things that God loves. Here is the mind of Christ; here is the teaching of the Spirit giving us in some measure to see as Christ sees, to feel as Christ feels, to love as Christ loves, and to approve as Christ approves....