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

" Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." -Romans 8:15 [KJV] The Spirit of God never was, never is, nor ever can be the Spirit of bondage to any soul. Some have asserted it, but it is a mistake. It is contrary to His name, the Comforter . He is a free Spirit, a Spirit of liberty to the soul. It is inconsistent with His office, He takes of the things of Christ, and shews them to us—testifies of Christ—brings us into the liberty of Christ— enables us to glory in the adoption of children, and to call God Father, in the faith of Christ.  When He convinces of sin, it is not to bring the soul into bondage, but to break the bondage of sin, of the law, of death, and of Satan, in the conscience, and to cast away the cords thereof, that the soul may be united to Christ by faith . In all this, He is the Comforter. What then is this Spirit of bondage? It is the Spirit of the law...

"That they all may be one, as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me." -John 17:21 [KJV] The apostle declares, "He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit" (I Corinthians 6:17) . If, then, we are joined to the Lord, in other words, have a union with Him, this is the closest of all unions. A man and his wife are one flesh, but Jesus and the saint are one spirit. If possessed of this we are one spirit with Him; we understand what He says; we have the mind of Christ; we love what He loves, and hate what He hates. But out of this spiritual union flows communion with Him, intercourse with Him, communications from Him, and the whole of that divine work upon the heart whereby the two spirits become one.  The Spirit of Christ in His glorious Person and the Spirit of Christ in a believing heart meet together, and meeting together as two drops of rain running down a pane of ...

"Behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him." -Isaiah 40:10 [KJV] The whole scope of prophecy, as referring to the person and offices of Christ, was comprised in the two great branches of "the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." From everlasting, the work of Jesus was before Him. To His infinite and comprehensive mind, all that He had to do and to suffer for His church, was always in His view. He saw His church in all the glory and beauty that, in His comeliness, He would one day put upon her; He saw this before creation took place, when "His delights were with the sons of men;" and He saw His church also, in all the depths of guilt and pollution, into which, by apostacy, she would fall, and from whence He undertook to redeem her with His blood. Hence, "for the joy that was set before Him , " it is said, "He endured the cross, and despised the shame ; " and having, as well by His active...

" I will lift up my hands in Thy name." -Psalm 63:4 [KJV] From the little which carnal men see of the conduct of saints, they pronounce them fools and madmen. But were they to follow them to their closets, and be witness to what passes there, between God and their souls, they would deem it the excess of folly, and the height of madness. Two Christian friends were conversing together of the plague of their hearts, and the workings of hypocrisy and evil in their best duties. An unconverted brother of one of them overheard, and upbraided them, saying, I always thought you were two hypocrites, now I have heard it from your own mouths. I have no wandering thoughts at church—I always go with a good heart.  Brother, replied the Christian, putting a piece of money in his hand, that is your own, if, when you go to church next, you will watch your heart, and tell me honestly, if you found no wandering thoughts. The poor man faithfully returned the money, and frankly owne...

"When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee ." -Isaiah 43:2 [KJV] How many of the dear saints of God, when they have been brought into tribulation and sorrow, have found the fulfilment of this most gracious promise! And is there not one of these waters through which all must go—that deep and rapid Jordan which every one must pass through? How dark and gloomy those waters have appeared to the eyes of many a child of God, in whom is continually fulfilled the experience of the words, "Who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."   But how often have these waters only been terrible in prospect, in anticipation. How different has been the reality. When he comes down to the river's bank and his feet dip in these waters, and it appears as though they would rise higher and higher, the Lord suddenly appears in His power and presence, and then the water sinks. He speaks a word of peace to his soul upon a dying bed—revea...

"For whatsoever is not of faith is sin." -Romans 14:23 [KJV] My soul, thou last long known, and I hope in a great measure felt, the vast importance of that blessed principle, faith, without the possession of which, "it is impossible to please God." But last thou also considered what the Holy Ghost here saith, by the apostle, that "whatsoever is not of faith, is sin?" Pause over the expression: "whatsoever is not of faith, is sin!" Why then it will follow, that whatever is undertaken without an eye to God in Christ, and for God's glory in Christ, is sin. All the acts of creatures, as sinful creatures, must partake of sin. It is by faith in Christ, that the iniquity of our most holy things is taken away.  Hence, love to our neighbour, is no love, unless it be a stream from the love of God: for what doth not begin in God, will never end in God. Such views of faith are striking; and this portion of God's word certainly opens to...

" He who eateth Me, even he shall live by Me." -John 6:57 [KJV] Why is the meek Saviour so very wroth against self-righteous people, while He is nothing but love and tenderness to poor sensible sinners? Why does He stamp the highest indignity and contempt on the character of the former, while He receives the publicans and harlots with open arms? Is it not hard, because a man esteems his own righteousness, and values his own perfection, that the Saviour should reject him? Are we not to do good, to be very good, yea, to strive to be as righteous as an angel? Yes, we are to have a better righteousness than angels ever had.  But if we think that righteousness is to be obtained by us, to cover our wicked nature, to recommend us to God, and to justify us either first or last, in whole or in part, we deceive ourselves—the truth is not in us—there is the pride of the devil at the bottom of all this. Woe unto us, we are full, but we shall hunger , (see Luke 6:25.) If full...