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

  "Thus shalt thou say unto him, The L ORD saith thus, Behold, that which I have built, will I break down; and that which I have planted, I will pluck up ." -Jeremiah 45:4 [KJV] My soul, ponder well these words; and when thou hast duly meditated, behold and see, in the instance of the church at large, and in thine own circumstances in particular, whether the powerful operations of the Lord's grace be not thus frequently carried on, by seemingly opposite means? Doth not the Lord appear to be often breaking down what His own right hand hath built, and withering what He hath planted, when providences appear to run counter to His promises, and the way to their accomplishment seems impossible?   Thus the gourd of Jonah was blasted when the prophet needed most a covering: thus the poor man's child, in the gospel, when in the view of Christ, was thrown down by the devil, and torn more than ever he had been before; Mark 9:26 . Thus the children of Israel felt Pharaoh's ...

"But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound."   - Romans 5:20 [KJV] In order to know what grace is in its reign over sin, and in its superaboundings over the aboundings of iniquity, we must be led experimentally into the depths of the fall. We must be led by God Himself into the secrets of our own heart; we must be brought down into distress of mind on account of our sin and the idolatry of our fallen nature. And when, do what we will, sin will still work, reign, and abound, and we are brought to soul poverty, helplessness, destitution, and misery, and cast ourselves down at the footstool of His mercy— then we begin to see and feel the reign of grace, in quickening our souls, in delivering us from the wrath to come, and in preserving us from the dominion of evil. We begin to see then that grace superabounds over all the aboundings of sin in our evil hearts, and as it flows through the channel of the Saviour's sufferings, that it will never leave its favoured objec...

Jesus, The Grace of God   by DG Miles McKee   Titus 2:11-14 ;  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation …   As we wrote in a previous Wednesday Word, the Grace of God has appeared in the person of Jesus Christ, the eternal Word made flesh.  Let’s face it, our Master is full of grace and truth, (John 1:14), and "of His fullness have all we received and grace upon grace.” (John 1:16). Literally we have received grace "piled upon" grace. In much the same way as the seashore is subject to the continual arrival of waves, so we have received and are receiving continual waves of grace in Christ Jesus. Isn’t He wonderful?   Jesus is the grace of God in human form. When we say we are saved by grace, we are literally declaring that we are saved by someone else, the Lord Jesus Christ. As gospel believers, we consent and subscribe to the doing, dying and rising again of Christ as our only hope of salvation.    His works were perfect, His works were s...

  "I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and behold, a Watcher, and an Holy One came down from heaven."  -Daniel 4:13 [KJV] See my soul, that which terrified the impious monarch in his visions of the night, ought to be to thee a subject of holy joy! When Jesus proclaims "the day of vengeance which is in his heart;" he adds also, "the year of My redeemed is come!" A day is enough for destruction; a year, yea, an everlasting year, will not be too long to make His people happy. But what a striking character is this of "a Watcher, and an Holy One!"   To whom but to Jesus can it possibly refer? Jesus, at the call of God His Father, stood up from everlasting, to watch over His church, to water it every moment; yea, to keep it night and day least any hurt it. And who shall describe in how many ways the Lord Jesus is for ever performing this blessed office, and hath been, and will be to all eternity? Is He not for ever in the midst of them, to do ...

  "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ."   -I Peter 1:7 [KJV] Trials and temptations are the means which God employs to manifest to the soul the reality and strength of the faith which He bestows upon it; for there is in every trial and temptation opposition made to the faith that is in the heart; and every trial and temptation, so to speak, threaten the life of faith. And they threaten it in this way. Under the trial God for the most part hides Himself. He puts forth, indeed, a secret power whereby the soul is held up, or otherwise it would sink into utter despair, and be overcome and swallowed up by the power of unbelief. Hence comes the conflict between the trial that fights against the faith and the faith which fights against or rather under the trial.   Now, when in this trial, in this sharp conflict, in this h...

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." -Psalm 30:5 [KJV] It is most profitable, yea, blessed, to have right conceptions of the Lord's dealings with His people. Jesus is everlastingly pursuing one plan of love; and never, in a single instance, departs from it. But as we see only part of His ways, until the result come, exercises by the way much perplex our poor short-sighted view of things. Jesus, for the most part, brings His people into the wilderness, in order to speak comfortably to them there. But while in the wilderness, we are at a loss to trace the footsteps of His love. And when, after some sweet love-tokens of His favour, new trials arise, though Jesus, it should seem, designed by the mercy to prepare for trouble, yet, by our false interpretation of it, we aggravate the trouble, and make it greater.   My soul, do learn from the precious thoughts suggested by the scripture of the evening, to form a right estimate of the Lord's dealin...

"What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies." - Song of Solomon 6:13 [KJV] Are you not often a mystery to yourself? Warm one moment, cold the next; abasing yourself one half-hour, exalting yourself the following; loving the world, full of it, steeped up to your lips in it to-day; crying, groaning, and sighing for a sweet manifestation of the love of God tomorrow; brought down to nothingness, covered with shame and confusion, on your knees before you leave your room; filled with pride and self-importance before you have got down stairs; despising the world, and willing to give it all up for one taste of the love of Jesus when in solitude; trying to grasp it with both hands when in business.   What a mystery are you! Touched by love, and stung with enmity; possessing a little wisdom, and a great deal of folly; earthly-minded, and yet having the affections in heaven; pressing forward, and lagging behind; full of sloth, and yet taking the kingdom wit...