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

" Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation, and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work." — II Thessalonians 2:16, 17 [KJV] Believers in Jesus know that "the remembrance of sin is grievous, and the burden intolerable." A sight and sense of sin affects their conscience with sorrow and distress. There is daily need that their poor hearts should be comforted; and also that they should be established in every good word and work. But from whence shall they derive this? from striving to forget, palliate, or excuse their past sins? by promising to be more stedfast for the future in the truths of God and obedience to His will?  Alas! he who truly knows what a sinful nature is, who is really acquainted with his own weakness and insufficiency to that which is good, and his proneness to all evil, will not, cannot thus deceive his ...

"We have not an high-priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are; yet without sin." — Hebrews 4:15 [KJV] "Without sin!" O, cries the sanctified soul, that this was my happy state. And verily, as sure as the word of God is true, thou shalt enjoy this perfect freedom from thy worst enemy. But thou must be content to wait God's time, and live in God's way; that is, by faith upon thy best friend Jesus. Thy present blessedness is to understand and rejoice in this great mystery, that Christ who knew no sin was made sin for us. Therefore, by faith we glory, knowing that God looketh on us, blesseth us as righteous in Christ, and doth not impute sin unto us.  As the Head is without sin, so are all the members, viewed and beloved in the sight of God. And this is the evidence that we are born of the Spirit and have the mind of Christ, that we hate all sin and long for entire deliveranc...

What If Jesus Is Not God?   by D.G. Miles McKee   John 8:24, "Unless you believe that I am (He), you shall die in your sins."    From all eternity Jesus Christ was and is the eternally, self-existent One. He was and is and is to come. He is Yahweh, the great I Am, the Alpha and the Omega, the Word made flesh (John 1:14).  He was and is God. His divine nature was unborrowed, underived, and unconferred.  It is Jesus, the Lord from heaven, who is above all and over all (John 3:31).   He is the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9).  He has and is both the wisdom and the power of God (1 Corinthians1:24). In Him dwells the fullness of the Godhead in all knowledge, power, grace, mercy, truth and holiness.   As believers, it is our privilege to propagate the message that the Lord Jesus possesses all that God is. If people want to know what God has said, we should point them to the words of Jesus. If they want to know how God ...

" All scripture is given by inspiration of God; and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." — II Timothy 3:16, 17 [KJV] The poor sinner who writes this, being in a dangerous illness, was in a very dark and comfortless frame of mind for two days. The third day, light, peace and joy overspread his soul by these words being brought to his mind: "After two days He will revive us, in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight." On this he called for a bible. O how was his inexpressible joy increased when he read these words in Hosea 6:2. On being asked, If he had done with the bible? he answered with a flood of joyful tears, 'No: never, never shall I have done with that blessed book, till I change time for eternity.' The Spirit of inspiration ever honors His own word of truth. All peace, comfort...

" Jesus said, Will ye also go away?" —John 6:67 [KJV] This, O soul, is the voice of thy Beloved. Thy Friend put this question to His own disciples. Our Captain keeps no pressed men [i.e., drafted ] in His service. All His subjects enter as volunteers. They are made willing to come to Him (Psalm 110:3) , believe on Him and greatly esteem the day of His power, to follow and cleave to Him. Force, restraint, and compulsion act not on their ingenuous minds. But what they find in Jesus now, present peace; what they expect from Jesus hereafter, glory and salvation, endears Him to their souls.  Daily observation furnishes with instances of many who profess to own Christ and to follow Him for a season; but anon, through not understanding His doctrine, not seeing their own misery and wretchedness, and not knowing His love, they are offended, forsake Christ, His truths and His ways. They go back again to the world, to the enjoyment of their lusts, and take up with carnal pre...

"No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." — I Corinthians 12:3 [KJV] "As the heavens declare the glory of the Lord, and the firmament sheweth His handy-work:" so every page of His sacred word proclaims His grace to His people, reminds them of the insufficiency of their natural power and will to any saving purposes. Formal professors say, that Jesus is the Lord. The confession is easy. It is common to the openly profane, and the most decent Pharisee; but is no more profitable to salvation than the true declaration from Satan, "Thou art the Holy One of God," — Mark 1:24 .  But saving confession of Jesus with the lips proceeds from inward believing on Jesus with the heart; and this from spiritual discoveries to the mind by the Holy Ghost. O believer, know thy distinguishing blessing! Esteem not this a common privilege, but special grace, that thou canst see, canst own, canst come to, trust in, and call the despised Nazarene,...

" And lo, an horror of great darkness fell on him." —Genesis 15:12 [KJV] There is somewhat very gloomy and awful in what is called 'a total eclipse of the sun.' When the earth is darkened, creation puts on a melancholy aspect and seems to mourn in silent sadness. But the surprise and astonishment which naturally affect us on these accounts are greatly abated, as these are not uncommon appearances in nature; and as they are foretold and accounted for. As in the natural, so it is in the spiritual world.  The children of God in all ages have experienced darkness of soul: therefore none should think this peculiar when they are exercised thus, "as though some strange thing had happened to them," — 1 Peter 4:12 . We see Abraham, the friend of God, and father of the faithful, under an eclipse of the bright shining of the sun of righteousness. The consequence of this darkness was a horror, yea a horror of great darkness fell on him. And this too, after...