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

" Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to be accounted?" -Isaiah 2:22 [KJV] This precious text my dear Lord preached to my heart, day after day, upwards of twenty years ago; when it first pleased Him to make me happy in His love: though not then, yet I have seen abundant cause for it. That soul is in good health, that can say, I am sick of sin, sick of men, and sick of myself . The Lord is teaching us this lesson day after day: it is a hard one to flesh and blood. For we are naturally prone to look to, trust in, and depend upon an arm of flesh. But this is to depart, in heart, from the Lord: a curse is denounced upon this, (Jeremiah 17:5.)   Consider, man’s breath is in his nostrils. The best of men are subjects of sin, and liable to the stroke of death: the breath that promises you to-day, ere to-morrow’s drawn, may be vanished into air, and all your hopes blasted: the arm of flesh, which to-day is strong and stretched forth in ...

"For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." -Hebrews 10:14 [KJV] To be "sanctified" is to be made a partaker of that holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord; to be made a new creature; to "put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness;" in a word, to be "made a partaker of the divine nature," and thus have the holiness of God breathed into and communicated to the soul. Without this inward sanctification, none can enter the gates of heaven. To be made meet, therefore, for the heavenly inheritance, you must have a heavenly heart and a praising, adoring, loving spirit; you must delight yourself in the Lord as being so holy and yet so gracious, so pure and yet so loving, so bright and glorious and yet so condescending and sympathising. Now this meetness for the holiness, happiness, and employments of heaven is communicated at regeneration, in which the new m...

"The precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments." -Psalm 133:2 [KJV] My soul, behold, in the anointing here set forth of the Jewish high priest, a type of His anointing Who is a Priest for ever, and a Priest upon His throne; and while looking at Aaron, say, as the Lord Jesus did upon another occasion concerning Solomon, "A greater than Aaron is here." It is sweet, very sweet, and very profitable, to behold the old church shadowing forth the new, and the law ministering to the gospel.  Yes, blessed Jesus, I behold in Aaron, and in the precious ointment poured forth upon his head, thus running down to the skirts of his garments, the beautiful representation of that fulness of the Spirit, which was poured out upon Thee without measure; that from Thee the communication might flow down to the poorest, the humblest, the lowest of Thy members, even to the very skirts of ...

" I will sow her unto me in the earth, and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy: and I will say to them which were not My people,Thou art My people; and they shall say, Thou art our God." -Hosea 2:23 [KJV] Declarations of grace depend not on the will of the flesh for their accomplishment. Sovereign power brings sovereign purposes to effect. Human will can neither forward nor frustrate them. So the Lord raises up and forms a people, for His glory on earth, and the Redeemer’s crown in heaven. See the process of it.  (1st.) “I will sow her.” This alludes to the word Jezrael in the last verse, which signifies the seed of God . God’s people are His own precious seed: He sows them in the earth.  (2d.) “Unto Me.” As they are sown by Him, they spring up unto Him. Though they lie long under the clods of nature’s darkness and corruption, and for a while spring up only to the world, the flesh, and the devil, yet there is a set time to favour them; a fi...

"For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth." -Hebrews 9:16, 17 [KJV] Behold, my soul, how graciously the Holy Ghost hath here represented the necessity of Jesus' death, in order that the testament, or will, He left behind Him, might have the intended effect; and all the benefits and blessings He bequeathed in it to His people, might be fully paid and made over to them for their present peace and everlasting happiness. Now, my soul, mark down, for this day's special meditation, the many precious things here contained. Observe how very accommodating the Holy Ghost is to explain to thee divine things, by the similitude of human transactions. As a man makes his will, so Jesus made His. As what a man gives is altogether a free and voluntary act, so Jesus was not constrained by what He gave in His blessed ...

"For Thou wilt not leave My soul in hell; neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption." -Psalm 16:10 [KJV] When the adorable Lord by a voluntary act laid down His life, the last words that He spoke were, "Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit." By His "spirit" we are to understand His human soul which at once went into paradise, into the immediate presence of God, as He intimated in the words, "And now come I to Thee" (John 17:13) . Nor did He go thither that day alone. A trophy was soon to follow Him; the soul of that repenting, believing malefactor, who, a partner with Him in suffering, had become by His sovereign grace a partner with Him in glory. There was, then, an actual separation of the Redeemer's body and soul; but this did not destroy or affect the union of His Deity with His humanity.  That union remained entire, as His holy soul went into paradise in union with His Deity, and thus He was still God...

"Most folks in the West do not appreciate simply being given the exact words of truth and authority to live by, so they treasure their own opinions and tolerance as scripture. Perhaps one good thing the Lord brings forth under Communist rule is the submission to truth when it's heard without reservation.  This may be why without fellowship, radio programs, bible schools, etc. the persecuted churches come before the Lord God in full faith that He is the only hope and provider of all things now and in eternity. This makes them seek knowledge of Him and His word every day and then simply practice it in their lives whatever the cost." -Dan Freeman