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

"Trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before Him." - Psalm 62:8 [KJV] Have we not sometimes been enabled to pour out our hearts at a throne of grace, and tell the Lord what we really wanted, what we really asked for, and tell Him that nothing but that which He alone could give would satisfy our souls? There have been such times of access to the God of grace. And afterwards perhaps we have forgotten the things we told Him of; we have been heedless of the prayers we laid at His feet; and though very earnest at the time in seeking after certain blessings, we left them at the Lord's feet and forgot them all.   But the Lord does not forget them; they are treasured up in His heart and memory; and in His own time He brings them to light, and gives the fulfilment of them. But before He does it, He will bring us into the spot where we want them again; and then we have to tell Him, and supplicate and ask Him again, ashamed of ourselves perhaps that we should h...

"And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them." -Isaiah 42:16 [KJV] Never, surely, was there a promise of a covenant God in Christ more strikingly fulfilled as to what is said in the former part of this verse, than in thine instance, my soul. By nature and by practice, thou wert so totally blind to any apprehension of divine things, that not a right thought hadst thou ever conceived of God and Christ, when the Lord first manifested His grace to thy heart! No being in the universe was so near to me as God, but none so little known or understood. No heart was nearer to me than my own, but to all its errors and deceitfulness I remained the most perfect stranger! In the works of providence, as well as of grace, I had no consciousness whatever of any guide, nor even of needing a guide. Self-wille...

"For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith."   -I John 5:4 [KJV] If we are to be saved our faith must gain the day; we must have a faith that shall triumph over death and hell and gain a glorious conquest over every internal and external and infernal foe. This is just the state, then, in which the matter stands: we must either conquer or be conquered; we must either gain the day and be crowned with an immortal crown of glory, or else sink in the strife, defeated by sin and Satan. But none of God's people will be defeated in the fight; and yet they often seem, as it were, to escape defeat by the very skin of their teeth; yet faith will sooner or later gain the day, for Jesus is its Finisher as well as its Author. He will crown the faith of His own gift with eternal glory. He will never suffer His dear family to be overcome in the good fight of faith, for He will give strength to every weak arm and ...

"The golden censer." -Hebrews 9:4 [KJV] It is blessed, my soul! to behold the numberless types and shadows of "good things to come," which the church of old contained; and it is blessed to see them all fulfilled in Christ, the substance. Jesus, thy Jesus, in His glorious high priestly office, is at once the censer, the incense, the high priest, and offering, and is now unceasingly engaged in carrying on the glorious purposes of His redemption "by appearing in the presence of God for us."   He is the "mighty angel" spoken of, Revelation 8:3. For upon the "golden censer" of His own merit and righteousness, and by the efficacy of His own glorious person, are all presentations made. "No man cometh to the Father but by Him." coming by Him, and in Him, and through Him, all thy poor offerings come up "for a memorial before God." And what is the much incense here spoken of, but the merits of that finished salvation of...

"O satisfy us early with Thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days." - Psalm 90:14 [KJV] Many of the dear children of God are tossed up and down on a sea of great uncertainty, doubt and fear, because they have not had sensible manifestations of Christ to their soul. He has not come into them in the power of His love; still they often say, "When wilt Thou come unto me? O visit me with Thy salvation; speak a word to my soul; it is Thyself, and Thyself alone, I want to hear, to see, and to know!"   Now these are drawings of the gracious Lord, the secret beginnings of His coming, the heralds of His approach, the dawning of the day before the morning star arises and the sun follows upon his track. But when the Lord does come in any sweet manifestation of His presence or of His power, then He will abide where He has come, for He never leaves or forsakes a soul which He has once visited. He may seem to do so; He may withdraw Himself; and then who can behold...

Weekend Gospel message to follow for All Hands (20-22MAY22) 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 - Almighty God's unmerited favor - from our sins and from Hell: THE WORD OF THE CROSS “ For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God” - I Cor inthians 1:18 [KJV] The natural man considers the preaching of salvation in, through and by Christ crucified, buried and risen again to be foolishness. The Holy Spirit tells us, however, in verse 24, that to those who are believing Christ, “ it is the power of God and the wisdom of God.” We have not come together today to have a testimony meeting, a gospel singing, or a time of sharing. Instead, we have been gathered to hear a man proclaim the true character of God, our own sinfulness ...

"And the L ORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word. But as truly as 1 live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the L ORD ." -Numbers 14:20, 21 [KJV] My soul! ponder over this solemn scripture, and observe how truly awful Jehovah is, even in His mercies. Well may it be said to the people of God, "rejoice with trembling." This was a memorable moment in the history of Israel, when the spies returned from searching the promised land. The evil report which the greater number brought back, in denying God's faithfulness, is most solemnly recorded; and the falling carcases in the wilderness, most awfully set forth the divine judgment. And what is unbelief now but the same, aggravated, if possible, to a ten thousand times greater degree of guilt, in denying and disbelieving the record which God hath given of His Son? The apostle saith, "it is making God a liar,"  see 1 John 5: 10. And John the Baptist confirms the same; and adds a dreadf...