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

" The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against ungodliness and unrighteousness by men." -Romans 1:18 [KJV] One sin ruined the whole race of Adam. It brought curse and wrath upon every soul of man. Every man that ever lived, that now lives, and that ever shall live upon this earth, is by nature a child of wrath; and the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against his sin, not one soul excepted. How is this wrath revealed?  (1st.) At the giving the holy law on Mount Sinai (Exodus ch. 19.) There the Lord revealed all the terror and glory of His majesty, as the most holy, sin-hating God. O think of the mount that burned with fire! the blackness, darkness, and tempest!—the awful sound of the trumpet!—the terrible voice of words, which they who heard, entreated they should not be spoken any more. And so terrible was the sight, that even Moses said, “I exceedingly fear and quake” (Hebrews 12:21.) O! think of this; and think not what is called the least sin, a ...

" If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." -I Corinthians 15:19 [KJV] Here is a supposition, and a consequence drawn from it. Consider, (1st.) This hope in Christ. It is not common to all men. It is a precious grace of the Holy Spirit. It springs from faith in Christ. It looks to the promises in Christ, and is nourished and supported by them. It is a lively hope. We are “begotten again to it, according to the abundant mercy of God our Father, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (I Peter 1:3.) By it, we are made to differ from all other men, who, though they may talk of hope in God, yet have no hope; but are without Christ, and without God in the world (Ephesians 2:12.) Here is the proof of it: “Every man who hath this hope in him, purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (I John 3:3.)   Mind—Christ is the object of this hope. It is in, or on Christ. The man who is the subject of it, purifies himself. How? ...

" Is His mercy clean gone for ever? doth His promise fail for evermore?" -Psalm 77:8 [KJV] It is one thing for God to desert, and another to disinherit. The former He frequently does by His children; the latter He never did to any one of them. He may change in His conduct to them, but never in His love for them. That is a sweet expostulation of the Lord’s, “How shall I give thee up Ephraim?” (Hosea 11:8.) It reminds us of the tender affection of a loving father to a disobedient son, with a pen in his hand, just going to execute a deed to disinherit him. But love pleads: his fatherly bowels yearn; his heart melts. Though he is disobedient, yet he is my child, my heir, the son of my loins; I cannot give him up; I cannot cut him off; I will not do it!  The love of God to His children infinitely exceeds that of the most tender parent. He allows there may be such monsters in nature, for a mother not to have compassion on the son of her womb. But, says the Lord, “I ...

"O, death! where is thy sting? O grave! where is thy victory?" -I Corinthians 15:55 [KJV] Says a celebrated poet, “All men think all men mortal but themselves.” True, there is a natural philosophy in us so to think; but new-born souls, not only know they are mortal, dying creatures, but, in the exercise of grace, they can indulge the thoughts of death with pleasing reflections. For death is not only a conquered enemy by the Captain of our salvation; but he is also enumerated in the catalogue of our blessings.— “Death is yours.” Yours, to deliver you from all your evils of sin, sorrow, and temptations; yours, to introduce you into the presence of your God and Saviour, and into the enjoyment of all the glory and blessedness of His kingdom.    But death has a sting, and the grave a victory: this sting is sin. And what gives strength to sin, and victory over the sinner, is, the law. The darts that sting into us, and so fixes it in us, that, for any thing that we c...

 Approaching God   No matter how many religious things we do or feel, whether praying, generous giving or abstaining from our ideas of worldliness, we cannot find, in any of them, a qualification by which we can approach God. Religious activity provides no resting place on which to discover the smile of God.  If sin were a simple thing like a disease then perhaps religious observations might be helpful in mending the separating gulf between man and the Almighty. But sin is much worse than any disease; the unsaved sinner is not merely ‘sin-sick’, he is ‘sin-dead’ (Ephesians 2:1). Worse still, he is under the righteous condemnation of inflexible justice (John 3:18). God, the unchangeable judge has an unalterable hatred of sin and has warned about His coming wrath against the unsaved sinner and his sin (Matthew 23:33). Unbelieving self-righteous religious people make the awful mistake of trying to present their chara...

" Nothing is requisite in order to a participation of Christ and His benefits but a grant from God." -James Hervey

" Thou shalt swear, The L ORD liveth." -Jeremiah 4:2 [KJV] A rebel under an attainder, a malefactor under sentence of death, cannot be sworn to give evidence in any court. Such is thy case, O sinner! Thou art naturally under an attainder, as a rebel against the King of kings; and art under sentence of death, by the law of God. But if an earthly monarch, by a royal act of sovereign mercy, forgives a rebel, and pardons a malefactor, they are then good evidences in court. So it is with thee, O believer! thy attainder is taken off, thy pardon is passed under the broad seal of heaven, by a sovereign act of thy gracious Lord: but never forget the love of Jesus, Who obtained this for thee.  Well, now thy Lord challenges thee: “Ye are My witnesses, saith the L ORD ” (Isaiah 43:10.) He subpoenas us into court. He commands us, Ye shall swear. The Lord, in our days of ignorance, got great dishonour from us, by our taking His holy and sacred name in vain. If not by prof...