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

Christ designs to make us both safe and sound.  Justification gives the first – safety; sanctification gives the second – soundness. -O. P. Gifford, Systematic Theology , A. H. Strong, p.869

" The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit." -II Timothy 4:22 [KJV] A most precious benediction! How blind are all who deny the divinity of Christ! how miserable are all who live without the presence of Christ! how ignorant are all who know not that such a blessing is to be enjoyed! how stupid are all those who seek it not! Art thou not, O Christian, too negligent in not more earnestly seeking and constantly praying for more of the presence of thy Lord? Consider, what is implied in this wish? It is heaven in the heart, glory in the soul, to have Christ with our spirits. It disposes and qualifies the soul for heavenly glory.  For, (1st.) Christ’s presence restrains our bad tempers, and subdues our unruly passions. Boisterous waves are changed into a profound calm; rough winds are at peace; foaming billows are still: there is the calm sunshine of heartfelt joy within: all is serene and happy without. Christ’s presence causes haughty pride and furious anger to subs...

" But the lad knew not any thing: only Jonathan and David knew the matter." -I Samuel 20:39 [KJV] Had any one asked this lad, what Jonathan was doing in the field? he would doubtless have replied, only shooting arrows for his amusement, and I ran and brought them to him. But, O! there was a much greater matter here: no less than the precious life of David was at stake. Love directed these arrows: the voice of love proclaimed by them, David’s danger, or his safety. The fatal word, Is not the arrow beyond thee? reminds David of his danger, and warns him to flee for his life.  Observe, (1st.) Never did more generous, faithful love dwell in a mere human breast, than in Jonathan’s to David. But it diminishes, like the light of the stars when the sun appears, compared to that infinitely greater, and more intense love, which dwells in the heart of our spiritual Jonathan, i.e., the gift of the Lord: this Jesus is to all His Davids, i.e., beloved ones.  (2d.) There was a ...

" And He said unto them, Why are ye troubled? And why do thoughts arise in your hearts?" -Luke 24:38 [KJV] Help, O help us, Thou dear Lord, Who spake these words to Thy affrighted disciples, to gather some sweet consolation from them to our hearts this night. We know Thou prayest for us, when Thou prayest for all who should believe on Thee. (John 17:20.) O speak in life and power these words to our troubled hearts, and for the rising thoughts of distress. Thine is the power: Thine shall be the glory.  (1st.) We here see, though their dear Lord was present, yet his beloved disciples were troubled. Yea, and though he had but that moment pronounced peace unto you, yet fears again rose in their hearts. They were as we are, flesh, as well as spirit: men of like passions with us. The frights, fears and troubles which nature is subject to, discompose the spiritual frames of disciples.  But, (2d.) They do not alter our state, nor separate us from the love of Christ. Th...

" Thus saith thy L ORD , the L ORD , and thy GOD Who pleadeth the cause of His people" -Isaiah 51:22 [KJV] Thou poor soul, who art almost at thy wits’ end, drunk with trouble, and intoxicated with affliction, over thee do men insult, and Satan triumph? Are they saying to thee, “Bow down, thou poor, insignificant wretch! that we may go over thee.” You a Christian! you are not what you profess. In the lowliness of thy mind, and in the meekness of thy heart, dost thou take all this? And, as it were, hast thou laid thy body on the ground, and suffered thyself to be walked over? All this cannot satisfy the fury of thine enemies. Wherein art thou to take comfort under all this? Verily, from, thus saith thy Lord. Thy Lord: mind that.  However men treat thee, they cannot take thy Lord, nor His love from thee: nor should they at any time disturb thy peace, or destroy thy comfort in Him. For the Lord Is thy God. Thy is again repeated. Why? that thou shouldest take special ...

"O that I knew where I might find Him! that I might come even to His seat! I would order my cause before Him, and fill my mouth with arguments." -Job 23:3, 4 [KJV] Was not Job in the same spot where we often are? If this aged patriarch had not known what it was to be shut up in his mind, harassed and distressed, and well-nigh overwhelmed with the attacks of the wicked one, he would not have said, "O that I knew where I might find Him! that I might come even to His seat! I would order my cause before Him, and fill my mouth with arguments." Has that ever been, is it now, the genuine feeling, the real experience of your soul?  Do look into your heart, you that fear God. Do look for a moment, if you have never looked before, at the work of grace (and where are you, if you have never looked at it?) and consider if you know any of these matters. Did you ever, in a feeling of darkness, gloom, bondage, and distress of soul, cry (I do not say the words, it i...

"Iniquities prevail against me: as for our transgressions, Thou shalt purge them away." -Psalm 65:3 [KJV] My soul, ponder over this important verse. I t is but short, but it is full of precious things. Blessed the man that can, from his heart, make use of what is here said as his own experience! He hath learned much of Christ, that can do so. In a time when a sense of sin abounds, when comforts run low, and the rebellion of the remains of indwelling corruptions riseth high; when the enemy cometh in like a flood, and no answers return from the sanctuary; yea, when the very spirit of prayer fails, and the heaven that is over the head, is as brass, and the earth that is under the feet, is as iron; then to rest simply upon Christ, and to say, "Iniquities prevail against me!" I feel the dreadful consequences of a fallen state; but all those transgressions Jesus will purge them away; though the Canaanites are yet in the land, my almighty Joshua will, by l...