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

" Now abideth faith, hope, charity." -I Corinthians 13:13 [KJV] Where do these graces abide? in regenerate hearts. What is faith? a precious grace, the gift of God to miserable sinners. Lord, give us the comfort of it to-night. Say some, ‘faith is an assurance that my sins are pardoned; that Christ loved me, and gave Himself for me.’ Indeed it is not. They further add, ‘No one has faith without this assurance: if they have it not, they are in a state of wrath.’ This is false: this notion has inflated many with a vain hope, while it has distressed sincere souls without reason. Many who contend for this assurance of faith, believe a lie with it; for they say, ‘Those whom Christ has so loved as to die for, and whose sins are now forgiven, may at last perish.’  Such an assurance is not worth a straw. This is not the faith of God’s elect; for it gives the lie to Jesus, Who is the Author and Finisher of our faith: it contradicts His double oath, “Verily, verily, I sa...

" Men ought always to pray, and not to faint." -Luke 18:1 [KJV] Then, there can be no room for despair; for prayer exports wants, and imports blessings. But our dear Lord knows, there is in us, at all times, a backwardness to prayer; this He would remove. It arises from fainting; this He would prevent. Therefore He opposes prayer to fainting; for fainting prevents praying. Have you not found it so? When weary and faint in your mind, when your spirits are oppressed, your frame low and languid, you have thought, this is not a time for prayer. Yea, but it is.  Pray always. Now, sigh out the burden of your heart and the sorrows of your spirit; now, though in broken accents, breathe your complaints into your Father’s ear; now, cry to Him who loveth you, and careth for you with the love and care of the most affectionate parent. What makes us faint? Do troubles and afflictions? here is a reviving cordial: “Call upon Me in the day of trouble, I will deliver thee, and t...

" His name shall be called Counsellor." -Isaiah 9:6 [KJV] Litigious spirits are fond of law. Paul absolutely forbids the brethren of Christ going to law one with another (I Corinthians 6:7.) Among other reasons this is the greatest. They are concerned in a suit, which will last their whole lives, and which requires all their time and attention. Though their cause has been tried again and again: though they have gained cause after cause, yet their adversary continues as litigious as ever. He is continually accusing them, and preferring bills of indictment against them. He sets the world upon us. He stirs up the flesh in us. He brings heinous charges against us. He is the accuser of the brethren before God, and to our own consciences night and day (Revelation 12:10.)  Have you heard nothing from Satan your adversary and accuser this day? If you have, be not dejected. Let him accuse, say, and do his worst. It is our unspeakable comfort, we have a wonderful Couns...

  The Sinless Saviour   by D.G. Miles McKee    I John 3:5 describes Jesus by saying, “in Him is no sin.” In I Peter 2:22 we read of Jesus that, “He did no sin.” Then, Hebrews 4:15 declares – “He was without sin.”   Also, Hebrews 7:26 affirms, “He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners.” In addition, 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us that “He knew no sin.” Notice this verse does not merely say that He did no sin, but that He knew no sin. He may have been acquainted with grief, but He had no acquaintance with sin. The Christ whom we love and serve is the Christ of the Scriptures --no other Christ will do! And the Scriptures tell us that Jesus was absolutely sinless. The Word says it, that settles it. We believe it, that settles us. Furthermore, Christ taught the message of His own sinlessness. In John 14:30 He declared, “The prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in Me.” There was no sin which the Devil could accuse Him of. The demons test...

"Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren, that are in the world." -I Peter 5:9 [KJV] I had no sooner wrote this text, but was constrained to say, Blessed be God for His holy scriptures. My poor mind has been often perplexed and distressed with sore attacks of Satan. Hence, I have been ready to call in question my state. Have been almost brought to conclude, that if I was a member of Christ, and a child of God, surely He would not suffer the enemy to His glory and my peace, thus to tempt, buffet, and distress my soul. I am persuaded, this is not my case only. All the brethren of Christ are subject to the same perplexity, from the same cause.  Satan gains an advantage over us, for want of knowing and considering what the apostle here lays down. It is a fixed truth. All the brethren of the Lord Jesus are subject to the same trials and afflictions from Satan, one as well as another. Therefore we should ...

" Have salt in yourselves." -Mark 9:50 [KJV] Salt preserves our food from putrefying, and makes it savoury to our palate. Job asks, “Can any thing that is unsavoury be eaten without salt? is there any taste in the white of an egg?” —(16:6.) What salt is to our food, that the doctrines of the grace of God, and the grace of these doctrines are to the soul. Why could not our Lord have plainly told us so, without using the symbol of salt? He loves to deliver Himself in familiar images: they are best suited to our present state.  Natural things sensibly strike us, and easily convey spiritual truths to the heart. Our tables are not furnished, if salt be wanting. Meat, without salt, is unsavoury. O! then let every meal remind us of our Lord’s words, “Have salt in yourselves.” You have daily need to have your souls seasoned with the grace of God, and the words of Christ.  (1st.) These will preserve our hearts from receiving, and being putrefied by the seeds of false...

" Behold, if the L ORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be?" -II Kings 7:2 [KJV] This is a daring reply to, “Thus saith the Lord!” The word of the Lord promises, by a great plenty, instantly to relieve his people from a great famine. Doubtless, with a witty sneer, this great peer of the earth uttered this reply to Elisha, as though he had said, “Behold, ye people, do not mind what this mad fellow says; use your reason; judge of the nature of things by your senses: do you think God will make windows in heaven, to pour down corn for you? there is no other possible way for such a supply as Elisha talks of.” Thus, with an imperious air he insults the prophet, and exalts his carnal reason and unbelief against the Lord’s word of promise. Today, he prides himself in his wisdom; to-morrow, he perishes, and is trod under foot, as an unbelieving fool. Here, see the cursed nature of carnal reason; here, behold the dreadful evil of rejecting the word of the ...