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

Impossible Things Believed!     I am so thankful for the ministry of the Holy Spirit in relation to the gospel. He gives us faith (Eph 2:8) and then persuades us of impossible things, the most unfeasible of these being the gospel itself!   Have you ever considered the unlikeliness of the whole gospel story?  Here we are on a tiny, insignificant speck of a planet, un-noticeable in the vast array of galaxies and yet God, the creator of all things, has a special interest in us. And the sceptic says, “What a far-fetched idea!” Well it may be far fetched to some, but the truth is He came here and became one of us! And the doubter says, “Wait a minute, I don’t believe in fairy stories!” But this is no fairy story my friend; not only did He become one of us, He also died the cruelest of deaths for us as He took responsibility for our sins and failures. And not only did He die for us, He also became a curse for us and at the cross became the greatest rejec...

" Will the Lord cast off for ever? will He be favourable no more?" -Psalm 77:7 [KJV] St. Paul speaks of some who had cast off their first faith. What was the consequence? having damnation (I Timothy 5:12.) If the power and liveliness of faith abate in the heart, a sense of condemnation will be in the conscience. Hence, enlightened, sensible sinners call in question the Lord’s love and grace towards them. They are prone to think, they have quite tired out His patience, and that nothing but wrath and misery await them. What shall we say to such? The Saviour Himself speaks to them. Is it in wrath? Does He say, because you have forsaken me, I will cast you off for ever; die and be damned for your folly! I will show you no more favour?  True, they have deserved this: they have reason to fear and expect this, was it not for the love of His heart and the grace of His word: therefore, they may joyfully sing, The love divine, which made us Thine, Shall keep us Thine for...

" ...Who remembered us in our low estate, for His mercy endureth for ever." -Psalm 136:23 [KJV] O my soul, never, never forget these two things, thy Lord’s memory, and His mercy. The one was towards thee from eternity: the other endures for ever. What hast thou to do in this little space of time, but to love, serve, and delight in thy mindful, ever merciful Lord?  (1st.) Consider thy low estate. Never lose sight of that. Never forget it, lest thou grow vain in thy imagination, and unmindful of our Lord’s love. At hell’s dark door we lay. Lower we could not be, unless shut up in the bottomless pit. Most awful state! O tremble at the thought! dead in sin. A child of wrath by nature. Under the curse of the law, and the power of the devil. Blind to our danger. Insensible of our destruction. Not a desire to escape damnation. Nay, we sported ourselves with our own deceivings.  Yet, (2d.) He remembered us. Who? Jehovah: Father, Son, and Spirit. The Father loved us from ...

" The kingdom of God suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force." -Matthew 11:12 [KJV] We say hunger will break through stone walls. Desperate circumstances make men violent. Thus is it with a convinced sinner. He sees himself in the city of destruction, and Moses has set his house on fire about his ears, as Mr. Bunyan says in his Pilgrim’s Progress. Now, he cannot think of God, sin, death, judgment, heaven, and hell with indifference. No, he is awake. He sees the importance of them. His soul is alive. He feels the weight of them. He finds sin has destroyed him. The law terrifies him. Death stares him in the face. Judgment alarms him. He trembles to see hell moved from beneath to receive him.  Now his fancied good works, his morality, etc. stand him in no stead. He hungers after righteousness. His apprehensions of wrath make him violent. His hunger is keen. He besieges the kingdom of God with eager prayer. He forces his way through every opposition. He...

" When she was come to Solomon, she communed with him, of all that was in her heart." -I Kings 10:2 [KJV] Behold a rare instance of sovereign grace. A king and queen met, to talk of the things of God! Human pomp and worldly grandeur, do not always shut the heart against the grace of God. Though “Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called” (I Corinthians 1:25.) yet it pleases our Saviour to call some. He chooses one and another of the wise, mighty, and noble, to bow to His grace, honour His name, and shine as distinguished lights in the world.  But in general, the gospel runs most and thrives best among the poor. “Hearken, my beloved, hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom?” (James 2:5.) Here is a visit paid by a happy queen to a wise king. They were both wise and happy; for they were wise unto salvation.  (1st.) See the cause of her visit. She heard of Solomon’s fame concerning th...

" He answered and said unto them, My mother and My brethren are these, who hear the word of God and do it. " -Luke 8:21 [KJV] Looking at things which are not seen keeps the soul from fainting, and invigorates it to every holy duty. Do I believe Christ now thinks of me, and is this moment pleading my cause in heaven? how then can I live unholy, and walk uncomfortable on earth? True, if I did but know that Christ loved me. How do you expect to know it? Do you believe He loved His mother and His brethren after the flesh? It cannot be doubted. See then how near and dear to Christ, in a spiritual sense, are all who hear the word of God and do it.  They hear Christ in their hearts, as truly as His virgin mother carried Him in her womb. They are as verily allied to Him by faith, are His brethren in spirit, as others were by blood. (1st.) To hear the word of God, implies to have such an understanding of it, faith in it, hope from it, and love to it, as to cause our souls ...

True Love and Worship by D. G. Miles McKee Ref: Genesis 22:1-14   Have you ever heard of The Law of First Mention? It’s a principle of biblical interpretation which states that the first mention of something in the Scriptures is especially significant and sets the stage for how it is to be understood in the rest of the Word. It is of great interest, therefore, to notice that in this passage (Genesis 22:1-14), we get the first mention of the word “Love” in the Bible. It is found in verse 2, “ Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest.” Notice how love is first mentioned in the context of Abraham’s blood sacrifice of Isaac.  Love was not mentioned in the Garden of Eden where we would expect it to have been, but rather, first mentioned in the story whose central truth is that of substitution. Thus, we are, once again, pointed towards Calvary. It is there, at the cross, that we see the greatest proof of God’s love for us. God so loved that He substitute...