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

" What then?" -Romans 6:15 [KJV] These short and frequent interrogations of Scripture are greatly to be prized. There is a vast deal contained in these questions: “What shall we say then? What then?” They are like the word Shibboleth, with which they tried the people of old; but they could not frame their mouths to pronounce it. They corrupted the word, and said, Sibboleth. So many at this day corrupt the word of the glorious doctrine of grace, by leaving out the H, holiness , which all the doctrines of the holy gospel are divinely calculated to promote. “What then?” comes most suitable after the precious doctrine of the justified saints of God, being kept by His power unto eternal salvation.  “What then?” O! whenever you think of God’s everlasting love, and Christ’s finished salvation, and of glory being sure and certain to you, ask your heart, What then? Shall I continue in sin, because such unmerited love, grace, and mercy abounds to me? No. You will reject ...

"Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began." -I Timothy 1:9 [KJV] Have you any testimony that God has called you by His grace, quickened your soul into divine life, brought you under the curse of a condemning law, given you repentance for your sins, raised up a sigh and a cry in your breast for a sense of His pardoning love, brought you to the footstool of mercy, given you faith to believe in His dear Son, with any sweet hope that He has begun a gracious work upon your heart? Can you look back upon any never-to-beforgotten period when the Lord, by His special and omnipotent grace, quickened your soul into divine life?  For I do believe we never can forget the first sensations of the Spirit of God in His quickening movements upon the soul; when He, to use the figure of Moses, fluttereth over it as an eagle which stirreth u...

"I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it and come down to you?" -Nehemiah 6:3 [KJV] My soul, a very blessed instruction is held forth to thee, in these words. Nehemiah met with sad interruptions in his service, while building the Lord's house. Various were the attempts made by the enemies of God and his cause, to call him off from his labours. But this was his answer to all. Now, my soul, thou hast many enemies also, both from within and without; the world, and the powers of darkness, and thine own corruptions, are all in league to interrupt thy pursuit of divine things. When, therefore, the Sanballats and the Geshems of the day invite thee to the villages, in the plain of Ono, here is thine answer: "Why should the work of the Lord cease, when the King's business requires dispatch?" Wherefore should the body, with all its corrupt affections, drag down the soul? Is it reasonable, is it ...

What do we mean by this expression - the sovereignty of God? We mean the supremacy of God, the kingship of God, the godhood of God. To say that God is sovereign is to declare that God is God. To say that God is sovereign is to declare that He is the Most High , doing according to His will in the army of Heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, so that none can stay His hand or say unto Him what doest Thou? [Daniel 4:35] .  To say that God is sovereign is to declare that He is the Almighty, the Possessor of all power in heaven and earth, so that none can defeat His counsels, thwart His purpose, or resist His will [Psalm 115:3] . To say that God is sovereign is to declare that He is “The Governor among the nations , ” [Psalm 22:28] , setting up kingdoms, overthrowing empires, and determining the course of dynasties as pleaseth Him best.  To say that God is sovereign is to declare that He is the “Only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords” [I ...

" Who are kept by the power of God, through faith, unto salvation." -I Peter 1:5 [KJV] The wicked, who are totally ignorant of the doctrine of grace, assert this truth by their common saying, “They only are well kept, whom God keeps.” Many, who profess to preach the gospel, do not hold forth such sound divinity as this. Consider, these three points: Who are thus kept? How are they kept? Unto what are they kept?  (1st.) Who are kept? St. Paul tells us, they are the elect according to the foreknowledge of God.  (2d.) “Sanctified by the Spirit unto obedience.” They obey the Father’s voice: they hear and believe on His beloved Son.  Hence, (3d.) Sprinkled by the blood of Christ from the guilt of sin in their consciences.  (4th.) “Begotten to a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, to an inheritance reserved in heaven for them.” The work of the glorious Trinity has passed upon them.  (5th.) Christ calls them, “My sheep” (John 10:14.) Th...

"But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation." -I Thessalonians 5:8 [KJV] Sobriety in religion is a blessed gift and grace. In our most holy faith there is no room for lightness. The things which concern our peace are solemn, weighty matters, and if they lie with any degree of weight and power on our spirit, they will subdue that levity which is the very breath of the carnal mind. But sobriety implies not merely the absence of all unbecoming levity in speech and conduct, but the absence also of all wild, visionary imaginations in the things of God. It denotes, therefore, that "spirit of a sound mind" which the apostle says is the gift of God. Vital godliness, it is true, has its mysteries, its revelations and manifestations, its spiritual and supernatural discoveries and operations; but all these come through the word of truth, which is simple, weighty and solid, an...

"The day-dawn, and the day-star." -II Peter 1:19 [KJV] And what is "the day-dawn, and day-star," arising in the hearts of God's people, but Jesus, "the dayspring from on high, visiting us?" Is not Jesus "the bright and morning star, the light and the life of men?" Yea, is He not "the Sun of righteousness arising with healing in His wings?" And when He ariseth on our benighted minds, may He not be called, "the day-dawn, and the day-star?" Pause, my soul, over the sweet thought. It was all darkness in the creation of God, until Jesus arose. And His coming was as the breaking forth of the morning, the sure harbinger of day.  Indeed, Jesus was "the day-dawn, and the day-star," in the light of redemption, before the world was formed: for in the council of peace, as man's light and salvation, He came up, at the call of God, from all eternity. And in time, during all His eventful ministry upon earth...