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

"...until the day-dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts." -II Peter 1:19 [KJV] And what is "the day-dawn, and day-star," arising in the hearts of God's people, but Jesus, "the dayspring from on high, visiting us?" Is not Jesus "the bright and morning star, the light and the life of men?" Yea, is He not "the Sun of righteousness arising with healing in His wings?" And when He ariseth on our benighted minds, may He not be called, "the day-dawn, and the day-star?" Pause, my soul, over the sweet thought. It was all darkness in the creation of God, until Jesus arose. And His coming was as the breaking forth of the morning, the sure harbinger of day. Indeed, Jesus was "the day-dawn, and the day-star," in the light of redemption, before the world was formed: for in the council of peace, as man's light and salvation, He carne up, at the call of God, from all eternity. And in time, during all His eventful...

"But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation."   -I Thessalonians 5:8 [KJV] Sobriety in religion is a blessed gift and grace. In our most holy faith there is no room for lightness. The things which concern our peace are solemn, weighty matters, and if they lie with any degree of weight and power on our spirit, they will subdue that levity which is the very breath of the carnal mind. But sobriety implies not merely the absence of all unbecoming levity in speech and conduct, but the absence also of all wild, visionary imaginations in the things of God. It denotes, therefore, that "spirit of a sound mind" which the Apostle says is the gift of God.   Vital godliness, it is true, has its mysteries, its revelations and manifestations, its spiritual and supernatural discoveries and operations; but all these come through the word of truth, which is simple, weighty and solid, and as far re...

  Jesus: The Amen by  D. G. Miles McKee   “And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning ( origin ) of the creation of God“ (Revelation 3:14) .   Notice how Christ is designated as ‘the Amen’.  When we say, “Amen” as someone prays, we are saying, “So let it be.”  By adding our ‘Amen’, we are identifying with and entering into the petition that has just been made.  When God says ‘Amen’, however, He is saying, “ And so it shall be .”    He is the God of truth and faithfulness. He is the ultimate Amen.  When He says something will happen, the mere fact that He has said it guarantees the matter.  He is the guarantor of His word.  He is the One who cannot lie (Titus 1:2) .  He is the One with all the power necessary to bring His word to pass.  That which God declares will, therefore, take place because He is the Amen.   Yes, Jesus ...

"And the king said unto Esther at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed." -Esther 5:6 [KJV] My soul, thou hast lately been at the banquet of wine indeed, even of the Redeemer's blood, which Jesus holds at His table; and didst thou not behold the numberless petitioners who attended there with thyself? Surely, if the Persian king made so generous an offer to Esther, to perform her petition, be it what it might, to the half of his kingdom; thy Jesus, thy heavenly King; with Whom are all the treasures, and the unsearchable riches of grace and glory, did not suffer a poor humble petitioner to go empty away. Tell me, ye that attended there, did ye not find the King most gracious? How went the matter with you? I pray you tell me. Did the poor man find Jesus indeed rich; and did the trembling sinner, under the apprehensions of wrath, find himself delivered by Him ...

"We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren."   -I John 3:14 [KJV] The Lord's people in their early days have a measure of heavenly love. Though perhaps they cannot say that Jesus is theirs; though they dare not declare they shall certainly go to heaven when they die; though they sometimes cannot even assert that the work of grace is really begun upon their souls; yet there is love manifested in them to God's word, God's people, God's servants, and God's truth. There is in them, in their weakest and tenderest days, a separation from the world, a casting-in of their lot amongst the people of God, a going-out in the tenderness of their heart and affection towards them. We see this in Ruth: though she was a poor heathen idolatress, no sooner was her heart touched by the finger of God, than she clave to Naomi.   Divine love can only spring from the teachings and operations of God upon the heart. Our "carnal mind is enmi...

"As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts, in your ignorance." -I Peter 1:14 [KJV] There is somewhat very striking in these words of the apostle; and they certainly mean more than not being found in actual transgression. The very fashion of a new-born child of God is supposed to distinguish his obedience; and his whole appearance, as well as his whole conduct, marks that the former lusts of his ignorant state, when unregenerated, are done away. And though the believer is not called upon to a singularity of dress or apparel, yet a singularity against customs leading to the confines of sin; and unsuited to the manners of a soul walking with Jesus, should certainly distinguish the Redeemer's people. It was said, as one among the characters by which they should be known; that "they should dwell alone, and should not be reckoned among the nations," Numbers 23:9 . And surely a total diversity of character, pursuit, and conduct, o...

"From the end of the earth will I cry unto Thee, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I." - Psalm 61:2 [KJV] There is something in this expression in our text,  "rock,"   which seems, to my mind, to throw a sweet and blessed light upon what Jesus is to the poor and needy. The rock must go down to the bottom of the deep waters, as well as rise out of them, to be a sufficient place of refuge for the shipwrecked mariner! If the rock did not go to the bottom of the deep, it would not be firm; it would be but a quicksand. Is not this agreeable to the Spirit's testimony concerning the humanity of Christ? How deep that went into all our sorrows, into all our sufferings, into all our sins, into all our shame! However deep the waters may be, the rock is deeper than all; however deep the sufferings, sins, and sorrows of the Church may be, the sufferings and sorrows of "Immanuel, God with us," were infinitely deeper. But the wav...