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

"He is near that justifieth me." -Isaiah 50:8 [KJV] My soul, hast thou ever considered one of the sweet properties of justification; not only in the fulness and completeness of it, and in all the several blessings connected with it, as it ariseth out of Jehovah in his own threefold character of persons; all and each taking part in it; but also in that which this portion points out, the nearness in which Jesus, the glorious Justifier, always stands to thee, and surrounds thee? Sit down, this evening, and contemplate the subject of justification in this point of view, for it is indeed most blessed.   All the persons of the Godhead have, and are engaged in making it effectual to every poor sinner, so as to give the mind always somewhat to rest upon, in the assurance of it. God the Father is the source and fountain of it, not only in having provided it in His dear Son, but also as having by the justification of all the Redeemer's work, to all intents and purposes, justified ...

"For it became Him, for Whom are all things, and by Whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings." - Hebrews 2:10 [KJV] When, with believing eyes, we can view God the Son as the eternal salvation of all whom the Father gave unto Him; when we can see Him, by the eye of faith, coming down into this lower world, taking our nature into union with His own Divine Person; when, by faith, we can accompany the Man of Sorrows into the gloomy garden of Gethsemane, or behold Him groaning, bleeding, and dying on the cross, an object of ignominy and shame, and believe that in this way, and this alone, salvation could be wrought out, O, what a view it gives us of the demerit and awful nature of sin, that nothing short of the incarnation of God's only begotten Son, nothing short of such a tremendous sacrifice could put away sin, and bring the elect back unto God!   On the one hand, as we take a glance at the suf...

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit." - Philemon vs. 25 [KJV] It is the regenerating breath of the Lord Jesus Christ which makes the soul alive unto Himself. This is manifest from His own language: "It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life" (John 6:63) . Then for the first time "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is with our spirit." For you will observe that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is not with our carnal mind: that ever remains the same, a body of sin and death, flesh, corrupt flesh, "in which dwelleth no good thing," and therefore not the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.   His grace is with our spirit, that "new man" of which we read that "it is after God, [that is, after the image of God] created in righteousness and true holiness." This is called our "spirit," because it is born of the Sp...

  Jesus The Prophet  by  D.G. Miles McKee   “Never man spake like this man.” (John 7:46).   Our Lord Jesus holds several wonderful and remarkable offices, which He exercises in His church.  He is, for example, our Prophet, our Priest, and our King.  Let’s look at this a little more closely.    As our prophet, Christ Jesus is the revealer of the Father, the declarer of the name of God, the teacher, the true and faithful witness and the beloved Son whom we are to hear (John 1:18; John 17:26; Revelation 3:14; Matthew 17:5).   Jesus is the all-sufficient prophet for, as our prophet, He taught us the true meaning of the Law (see Matthew 5:21 and following verses).   Not only did He instruct during His earthly ministry, but, also as our prophet, He continues to teach and motivate, by His Spirit, through His Word.  (John 5:39; 15:26; 16:13-14a).   It is written of Him, “Never man spake like this man” (John 7:46).   No...

"Ready to be revealed in the last time." -I Peter 1:5 [KJV] My soul, hast thou ever considered the very great and blessed things contained in these few words? Sit down, this evening, and look them over. Dost thou ask, what is ready to be revealed in the last time? The answer is direct. All the fulness, glory, grace, provision, peace, and everlasting happiness, that are in the covenant of redemption, and all centered in the person and finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.   Thou hast now but obscure views of Jesus, and His fulness, suitableness, and all-sufficiency. Thou hast believed indeed unto salvation, and art resting upon Christ for thy justification, and sanctification, and comfort; but of the fulness in which believers stand complete in Christ, no saint upon earth hath ever had a conception equal to what it really is. "Beloved, (saith John) now are we the sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that when He shall appear we shall be...

"Exercise thyself unto godliness."   -I Timothy 4:7 [KJV] "The Lord trieth the righteous" (Psalm 11:5) . In fact, a righteous life is for the most part a tried life. There is not a child of God, whose graces are lively and active, that is not tried in his soul. I have no more belief that the soul can live without exercise than that the body can. The more the soul is exercised, the healthier it will be. Trial is one main source of exercise. If you are tried as to your standing; tried as to your state; tried as to the reality of the work of grace upon your soul; tried as to your experience; tried as to your manifestations, deliverances, and evidences; tried by your sins; tried by Satan; tried by professors; tried by profane; and above all tried by your own heart, and that continually—it will keep your soul in exercise. And this is "exercise  unto  godliness."   If these exercises are  unto  godliness, they lead to godliness, they take you on your way to go...

"While the earth remaineth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease." -Genesis 8:22 [KJV] My soul, look at this gracious covenant promise of God, which was made more than four thousand years since, and is as faithfully confirmed to thy experience this night, as in the first hour wherein the Lord delivered it. How hath the seedtime and harvest, the cold and heat, the summer and winter, and day and night, through every generation, proclaimed the unfailing truth! And although we are taught to expect, and by faith both to look and to long for the "new heavens and the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness;" yet is this blessed promise not less sure, or less to be depended upon, while the present earth remaineth. And do not overlook that special feature of divine faithfulness, in the fulfilment of this gracious promise; I mean that amidst all the unworthiness of man, God's bounty continues the same. Wer...