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

"Them also which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with Him." -I Thessalonians 4:14 [KJV] My soul, thy last night's thoughts, with which thou fell asleep, were upon a subject so truly connected with Jesus, that I hope thou couldest and didst say, "My meditation of Him was sweet!" There is another blessed thought, connected both with Jesus and it, that may be, proper to take along with it. Seek of God the Spirit to unfold its beauties in Jesus to thy view, this evening, and lead thee with it to fall asleep, this night, as on the former, in the Lord. The apostle opens it to thy meditation in these words; "They which sleep in Jesus, God will bring with Him." The bodies, as well as the souls of the redeemed, are alike the purchase of Christ's blood, and Jesus will have them all with Him. They are His jewels, His treasure, His segullah. He suffers them to lie among the dust, it is true; but He saith Himself, though they have so lain, yet shall they be ...

"And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope; and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt." - Hosea 2:15 [KJV] Now the "valley of Achor" signifies the "valley of trouble." It was the valley in which Achan was stoned. And why stoned? Because he had taken the accursed thing; because his eye had been captivated by the Babylonish garment and golden wedge, and he had buried them in the tent. This may throw a light on what the "valley of Achor" is spiritually. Perhaps you have been guilty of Achan's sin; you have been taking the accursed thing; have been too deeply connected with the world; have done things which God's displeasure is against. Let conscience speak in the bosom of each. The consequence has been, that you have got into the "valley of Achor!" Trouble, sorrow, and confusion are your lot, and you do not ...

"And they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads." -Revelation 22:4 [KJV] My soul, thy morning thoughts were directed to the sweet subject of being called to fellowship with thy Lord Jesus Christ in grace. Do thou, this evening, beg of God the Holy Ghost to enable thee to connect with it the transporting subject of the everlasting enjoyment of Jesus in glory. This is the great end and final consummation of all. This blessed scripture leads immediately  to the contemplation: "They shall see His face;" and on "their foreheads shall be His name:" that is, the token of their oneness, union, and relationship in and with Jesus; so that He will be their glory, their supreme happiness and joy; and thus He will never cease to be the immediate Head of all His body, the church, "the fulness that filleth all in all;" yea, the only and everlasting medium of communication in glory, as He is of grace in this life.   Pause, my soul, ove...

"That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."   -I Corinthians 2:15 [KJV] It is true that real grace can suffer neither loss nor diminution, but its manifestations and its actings may. Who that possesses faith is not conscious that it ebbs and flows, rises and sinks, is strong and weak, and varies from day to day and from hour to hour? Thus when a sharp trial comes, its immediate effect is to depress faith. It falls upon it like a weight, and bends it down to the ground. Faith may be compared to the quicksilver in a weather-glass, or in a thermometer. The quantity of mercury in the  bulb  never varies; but it rises or falls in the  tube,  according to the weight of the air, or the heat of the day. Thus faith, though it abides in the heart without loss or diminution, yet rises or sinks in the feelings, as the weather is fair or foul, or as the sun shews or hides himself.   Did Job's faith, for instance, mount equally high ...

"The daughters saw her, and blessed her."   -Song of Solomon 6:9 [KJV] These are the words of Jesus, in commendation of His church. He holds her forth as lovely not only in His view, but in the eyes of others. The daughters probably, mean true believers, in whose esteem Christ and His church are most engaging; and it is more than probable that by daughters, young believers are particularly meant, whose first love, like the blossom of the apple-tree, is most beautiful in its first opening.   Pause, my soul, and behold, from what Jesus Himself saith of His church, how truly lovely she must be in the Redeemer's view; and indeed without a proper apprehension of the infinite value of the human soul, it is not possible to conceive of the exalted light wherein the church must appear to Jesus. We may form some faint idea of its value, from the vast price it cost Jesus in the redemption. None but the Son of God could make the purchase; and even Jesus only by blood. Who shall say h...

"That I may be found in Him." - Philippians 3:9 [KJV] The apostle knew a time was coming when God would search Jerusalem as with candles. He knew a day was hastening on when the secrets of all hearts would be revealed. He knew an hour was approaching when the eyes of the Lord would try, and the eyelids of the righteous judge would weigh the words and actions of men. And he knew in his own soul's experience, that all who, in that awful day, were not found in Christ, would be consigned to the eternal pit of woe. He knew that when the Judge took His seat upon the great white throne, and heaven and earth fled away from His presence, no one could stand before His look of infinite justice and eternal purity, but those who had a vital standing in the Son of God. And therefore, looking to that awful time, and the solemnities of that day of judgment, that day of wonders, this was the desire of his soul—and towards that he pressed forward, as an active runner presses towards the g...

"All my springs are in Thee." -Psalm 87:7 [KJV] Sweet thought! And this, as Solomon saith upon another occasion, forms the conclusion of the whole matter. Jesus is the Source, the Fountain, the Author, the Finisher of all our mercies; for every thing of life and salvation, of grace and glory, flow from Him, center in Him; and therefore in Him and from Him, as the source of blessedness, all our springs must flow. In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. All glories are in Him: the glory of the church above; the glory of the church below; yea, the glory of angels and of God Himself; for the Father hath given all His glory into His almighty hands. Hence, my soul, from whom should thy springs flow, but from Jesus? If all divine attributes, all divine perfections are in Him; if grace be no where but in Jesus; no blessing, no redemption but in His blood; if all gifts, and graces flow from Him, and can no where else be found, to whom shall the gathering of the people...