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

" 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 th...

"Help, L ORD ; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men." -Psalm 12:1 [KJV] My soul, art thou sometimes distressed in the recollection of the languishing state of Zion - are faithful men, faithful ministers, taken away from the evil to come! And dost thou sometimes, at a mercy-seat, feel thyself drawn out in fervent prayer, that the Lord would fill up the vacancies He is making by death, and raise up pastors after His own heart, and believers who love Zion, to supply their place? Take comfort, my soul; thy Jesus loves Zion; and she is still engraven on the palms of His hands, and her walls are continually before Him. Jesus must have a church in the earth as long as the sun and moon endure.   Remember, the reins of government are in Jesus' hands; and however the enemies of Zion, like wild horses, would ride over the children of Zion, Jesus puts His bridle in their jaws, and will turn them back by the way they came. Rememb...

"Shew me Thy ways, O L ORD ; teach me Thy paths." -Psalm 25:4 [KJV] To lie with a broken heart and contrite spirit at the footstool of mercy beseeching God to teach us, is indeed a blessed spot to be in. It is the evidence of a childlike spirit, and shows such simplicity, reality, and genuineness that it bears stamped upon it the indubitable marks of true discipleship. Wherever we see such a coming out of SELF, with a renunciation of our own wisdom, strength, and righteousness, such a putting aside of all creature religion, and such a real spirit of humility before God, we must receive it as something beyond and above nature. Nothing but the power of God seems able to bring a soul so completely out of the shell and crust of self-righteousness, and so to lay open its spiritual nakedness before Him .   Naturally there is something very sweet in seeing a docile, teachable disposition. And on the other hand, few things are more offensive than the pride of ignorance...

" 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 Co...

"...with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord." -Acts 11:23 [KJV] My soul, art thou cleaving to thy Jesus? It is a grand thing so to do; and it must be from continued supplies of grace in Jesus, if thou art really doing it. A few points will shew. Is Jesus thy all? Is He uppermost in all things? Faith hath for its one object, Jesus. Let a true believer be wheresoever he may—at home, or abroad; alone, or in company; the closet, or the church is all the same, if he really, truly, cleaves to the Lord with purpose of heart; there is a looking unto Jesus for all thinks, and in all things . Again; if I cleave to the Lord, I shall do no one thing but in His strength, and deliberately desire nothing but for His glory. The graces of the Holy Spirit, implanted in the souls of the faithful, are fed and kept alive, and brought forth into exercise by the communications of Jesus. My joy then is in Jesus; not in myself, not in what I feel. These feelings of mine m...

" And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven , Now is come salvation." -Revelation 12:10 [KJV] "Salvation." What "salvation?" Salvation by grace, full and free; salvation without any intermixture of creature righteousness; salvation gushing from the bosom of God; salvation flowing wholly and solely through the blood of the Lamb. But salvation can never be tasted without a previous foretaste of condemnation. Heaven can never be looked up into before there has been a looking down into the wicket-gate of hell. There must have been an experience of guilt, before there can be the enjoyment of pardon. "Now is come salvation." From what? From the accusations of Satan, the curses of the law, the fear of death, the terrors of hell, and sentence of damnation. And how does salvation come? Whilst the battle is going on, whilst the issue is doubtful, whilst hand to hand, foot to foot, and shoulder to shoulder, Satan and the soul are engaged i...

"...w hom 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 sh...