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

" A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh." — Ezekiel 36:26 [KJV] What absolute declarations are here! all display the sovereign will and almighty favor of a covenant God. As God's heart of love is towards His people in Christ, so His spirit of power works in them according to the counsel of His will. Hence they know, love and serve Him. By the blood of Jesus their sins are pardoned and their consciences cleansed from guilt.  By the Spirit of Jesus they are inwardly sanctified from their filthiness and idols: a new heart and a new spirit is put within them; and they are enabled to walk in His statutes, and keep His judgments. Thus "all things are of God, who hath reconciled us unto Himself by Jesus Christ , " — II Corinthians 5:17, 18. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away; behold...

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." -Romans 8:1 [KJV] There is not a more blessed declaration than this in the whole word of truth. It is the sweetest note sounded by the gospel trumpet, for it is the very crown of the whole jubilee. Is not condemnation the bitterest drop in the cup of trembling? the most thrilling, piercing note of that terrible trumpet which sounded so long and so loud from Sinai's blazing top that all the people that were in the camp trembled? See Exodus 19:13, 16. Condemnation is the final execution of God's righteous law, and therefore carries with it all that arms death with its sting and the grave with its terror. The apprehension of this; the dread and fear of being banished for ever from the presence of God; of being lost, and that without remedy; of sinking under the blazing indignation of Him who is a consuming fire , has filled thousands of hearts with horror. And it must be so as long ...

" Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering: (for He is faithful that promised)." — Hebrews 10:23 [KJV] Poor Christian! thy profession is envied by the malice of devils; it is the scorn and ridicule of natural men; and is contrary to thy carnal reason. Hence thou hast the combined force of a threefold alliance in arms against thee; if that by any means they may rob thee of thy hope. Happy Christian! who like thy blessed Master, in the face of every adversary, hast "witnessed a good profession," — I Timothy 6:13 . What an animating exhortation backed with a most precious assertion is this!  Thou must expect to be assaulted by the rage of devils, treated with scorn and contempt from wicked men; and often put to a stand by the carnal reasonings of thy flesh. Here is thy duty: "HOLD FAST" in spite of all opposition: hold fast the truths of God. "It is written," is sufficient to silence every carnal argument, to suppo...

" He will guide you into all truth." — John 16:13 [KJV] Our Lord here gives His disciples a farther exhibition of the covenant of grace, and a fuller display of the grace of the covenant. Here is a full proof of the personality of the Holy Spirit, and also of His sovereignty in His operations and influences upon His members. Christ did not tell His apostles, as some ignorantly talk, "If ye will but be yielding and tractable, and suffer My Spirit to lead you, ye shall enjoy His kind assistance." No: this were to degrade the glory of this divine agent, to exalt the pride of the creature, and render the gracious guidance of the Spirit dependent upon the will of the flesh . As though instead of being the cause of life, He was to be only a mere auxiliary to aid and assist man's pious motions and good dispositions. Far be such thoughts from our hearts. All glory to this heavenly paraclete, "He will work, and who shall let Him?"   He WILL GUIDE ...

"The L ORD is in His holy temple: Let all the earth keep silence before Him." — Habakkuk 2:20 [KJV] What God's people of old were favored with in type and figure, we now enjoy in reality and substance. The temple of old was an eminent type of the body of Jesus. In it Jehovah made His presence known. Here troubled consciences sought relief. The mercy-seat was set up for poor sinners to approach to. Here Jehovah was consulted. From hence He spoke in grace and love to His people, and silenced every guilty fear. Thus God was in His holy temple: thus God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. Was this ministration glorious in the eyes of spiritual worshippers? How doth ours exceed in glory! The fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily in Jesus. This is the temple in which God delights to dwell. Hence grace is dispensed, peace communicated, mercy bestowed, life and salvation freely given. Here, Christian, believe and adore; behold and wonder; look and admire;...

" Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life; and few there be that find it." —Matthew 7:14 [KJV] So Jesus taught. But teachers in every age have taught a broad way and wide gate. The greatest part of professors have readily received their doctrine. This is a melancholy truth. Therefore Jesus adds, "Beware of false prophets." It is the sole prerogative of the King of saints to open a gate and make a way to His own kingdom. Glory to our God, who in sovereign grace and everlasting love hath done this. The gospel proclaims, FREE WELCOME: COME WHO WILL: ENTER FREELY, WITHOUT MONEY AND WITHOUT PRICE.  Jesus is the strait gate of God's love, the only gate of righteousness: by Him we enter with access to God, stand perfectly justified and graciously accepted before Him. Jesus is the narrow way. By the blood of His cross He hath made peace, atoned for the sins of transgressors by one offering. Hence called strait and narrow, because the only way...

  Justice v Love by D.G. Miles McKee   “ For God hath made Him ( Jesus ) to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” -II Corinthians 5:21 [KJV]   God is Love, but He is also Just.  In His Justice, God demanded the death penalty for those who had sinned (Romans 6:23). But, at the same time that Justice called for the death penalty, Love called for Mercy. Now, here’s the problem, Mercy cannot be granted at the expense of Justice.  He who sits upon the Throne is "the high and lofty One, that inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy." (Isaiah 57:15). The Holy God must ruthlessly punish sin because He is Just.   Now here is a divine fact that can’t happen in a human courtroom.  A man comes in to stand before the Judge. He is a lawbreaker. He is guilty; therefore, he must pay. But God takes this person’s sin and charges it to someone else and that other person has no sin of his own....