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

"Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, the labour of the olive shall fail, and the field shall yield no meat, the flocks shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the L ORD , I will joy in the God of my salvation!"   -Habakkuk 3:17-18 [KJV] See, my soul, in the prophet's example, the blessedness of living above creature enjoyments, by living upon Creator fulness. Here is a sun, which never goes down! Here is a fountain, whose streams can never dry up! He that lives upon creature excellency, will want both food and comfort when that excellency dies, for they must die with it, when the period of its flourishing is over. But the soul that draws all from Jesus, the God of his salvation, will have Jesus and His salvation to live upon, and to be an everlasting source, when nature, in all its varieties, ceases to supply. My soul, what are thy resources for a day of famine? Canst thou jo...

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us."   - Hebrews 12:1 [KJV]  Every fervent desire of your soul after the Lord Jesus Christ; every inward movement of faith, and hope, and love toward His blessed name; every sense of your misery and danger as a poor, guilty, lost, condemned sinner, whereby you flee from the wrath to come; every escaping out of the world and out of sin for your very life, with every breathing of your heart into the bosom of God, that He would have mercy upon you and bless you; all these inward acts of the believing heart in its striving after salvation as a felt, enjoyed reality, as the prize of our high calling, are pointed out by the emblem— "running the race set before us."   The Christian sees and feels that there is a prize to be obtained, which is eternal life; a victo...

  Weekend Gospel message to follow for All Hands (30SEP-02OCT22 A.D.) 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 Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified .” - 1st Corinthians 1:22-23 [KJV] It is the same today; men want clever preachers, not Christ preachers, reason, not revelation, their minds challenged and not their hearts pricked. The wisdom of this world says, “ If you wish to reach the people of this day, you must not be dogmatic; share, discuss, exchange ideas, and counsel people; don’t preach !” I hear people say, “ If you would enlist today’s youth, you must adapt to their lifestyle and their language; pick up the rock beat, use comedy, puppets, and social entertainment; DON’T PREACH TO THEM!” Others i...

"Yet they seek Me daily, and delight to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of Me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God." -Isaiah 58:2 [KJV] My soul, when thou readest a scripture like this, which, as far as the outward observance of religion goes, seems to carry a fair face, it may be well to consider the wretched delusion under which such men labour. The world, indeed, calls them very good sort of people; but the Lord speaks most awfully concerning them. Persons of this complexion do not venture to say, that they hope to be found before God without sin: for they will tell you, that they know "we have all sinned and come short of God's glory:" but their faith is, that for their sins they have endeavoured to repent, and made amends; and they hope Christ will make up the deficiency. They have not been so bad as many others; and in point of doing, they have done a grea...

"Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away."   -II Corinthians 3:16 [KJV] The blessed Spirit, as a needful preparation for His own divine instruction, convinces us of our  ignorance , of the veil of unbelief that is by nature spread over our heart, and of our utter inability to take it away. So great is this darkness, as a matter of personal inward experience, that like the darkness in Egypt, it may be "felt;" so deep this ignorance that all knowledge or capability of knowledge seems utterly gone; so strong, so desperate this unbelief that it seems as if thoroughly incurable.   And yet amidst all this deep and dense cloud of ignorance, darkness and unbelief, rays and beams of light every now and then break through, which, though they seem at the time only to shew the darkness and make it deeper, yet really are a guiding light to the throne of God and the Lamb. There Jesus sits enthroned in glory, not only as an interceding High Pries...

"Thou art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey." -Psalm 76:4 [KJV] My soul, the more thou turnest over the word of God in inquiries after Thy beloved, the more will thou be astonished at the relation given of Him in His excellency and glory. By every thing that can represent the adorable Redeemer, in His beauty, loveliness, grace, fulness, and all-sufficiency, whether considered in His absolute, His comparative, His relative, or His official glory, or in His glory as the Head of His body, the church, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all; thou art constrained, with the church to cry out at every view, "Yea, He is altogether lovely; the chief among ten thousand." There is somewhat particularly striking to this amount in this verse for thine evening portion: "Thou art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey." Yes! it must be so: for when the soul hath found Jesus, like the merchant-man seeking goodly pearls, having fo...

"But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He hath prepared for them a city." - Hebrews 11:16 [KJV] In desiring a better country these ancient pilgrims wanted something heavenly, something that tasted of God, savoured of God, smelt of God, and was given of God; a heavenly religion, a spiritual faith, a gracious hope, and a love shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost; something which came from heaven and led to heaven; which gave heavenly feelings, heavenly sensations, heavenly delights, and heavenly joys, whereby the heart was purified from the love of sin, carnality, and worldliness by having something sweeter to taste, better to love, and more holy to enjoy.   It is these heavenly visitations, droppings in of the favour, goodness, and mercy of God, which keep the soul alive in its many deaths, sweeten it amidst its many bitters, hold it up amidst its many sinkings, and keep it from being drowned ...