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

God with Us , Part II  by D G Miles McKee   “And they shall call His name Emmanuel which being interpreted is God with us.” -Matthew 1:23     Christ is with us! He is, the incarnate God, Emmanuel.      Bishop Ryle with his usual insightfulness writes,   “Would you have a strong foundation for your faith and hope? Then keep in constant view your Saviour’s divinity. He in whose blood you are taught to trust is the Almighty God. All power is His in heaven and earth. None can pluck you out of His hand. If you are a true believer in Jesus, let not your heart be troubled or afraid.” -J.C Ryle: Commentary on Matthew     But did Jesus really believe that He Himself was Emmanuel, God with us?  He most certainly did!  This is why He told His disciples,  “Lo I am with you alway even unto the end of the world”   (Matthew 28:20) . Since repetition is the price of learning, let’s again remember that Jesus claimed...

"Infinitely better to have the whole world for our enemies and God for our friend, than to have the whole world for our friends and God for our enemy." -John Brown, Exposition of Hebrews, by   A. W. Pink, p.998  

"Hear now, O Joshua, the high-priest, thou, and thy fellows who sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth My servant, the BRANCH." -Zechariah 3:8 [KJV] Say, Christian soldier, did the Captain of thy salvation ever deceive thee? Did He not tell thee, before thou listed under His banner, who were His enemies, and what treatment thou wast to expect from them? His word speaks full and express on this point. Almost every page furnishes accounts, how the men of this world look upon the children of God.  Here is Joshua the high-priest, with the prophets and people of God, wondered at . Jehovah Himself takes notice of it, and acquaints them with it. Sweet to observe, there cannot be a disdainful frown, a contemptuous sneer, nor a reproachful word cast upon God’s people, but He notices all.  But why are we so much wondered at? Why truly, we are a set of visionaries. We see invisible objects; walk by faith; and have our conversation ...

"And My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, saith the LORD." -Jeremiah 31:14 [KJV] Examine thine heart, my soul, this morning, and see whether this blessed promise is really and truly fulfilled in thy experience. Art thou satisfied with Jehovah's goodness? Yes, if so be thou hast so received that goodness as manifested and treasured up in the person and work of Christ, and art so believing as to be living wholly upon it. This is a grand thing to do; and when it comes to be strictly enquired into, few, very few, are living so wholly upon it, and so completely satisfied with it, as to be seeking for no additional satisfaction elsewhere. Now, my soul, as there are but few that are so fully satisfied with the Lord's goodness in every thing that concerns salvation, both in providence and grace, let thy morning thoughts be directed to see whether thou art one of that happy few. I will, for the sake of shortening the inquiry, take up the subject from th...

"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength..." -Isaiah 40:31 [KJV] How different the religion of a living soul is from the religion of a dead professor! The religion of a dead professor begins in self, and ends in self; begins in his own wisdom, and ends in his own folly; begins in his own strength, and ends in his own weakness; begins in his own righteousness, and ends in his own damnation.  There is in him never any going out of soul after God, no secret dealings with the Lord, no actings of faith upon the divine perfections. But the child of God, though he is often faint, weary, and exhausted with many difficulties, burdens and sorrows; yet when the Lord does shew Himself, and renews his strength, he soars aloft, and never ceases to mount up on the wings of faith and love till he penetrates into the very sanctuary of the most High. A living soul never can be satisfied except in living union and communion with the Lord of life and glory. Ever...

"Some who have aimed at holiness have made the great mistake of supposing it needful to be morose, contentious, faultfinding, and censorious with everybody else.   Their holiness has consisted of negatives, protests, and oppositions for oppositions sake.  Their religion mainly lies in contrarieties and singularities; to them the text [of Hebrews 12.14] offers this wise counsel, follow holiness, but also follow peace .  Courtesy is not inconsistent with faithfulness. It is not needful to be savage in order to be sanctified. A bitter spirit is a poor companion for a renewed heart. Let your determination principle be sweetened by tenderness towards your fellow-men." -Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Exposition of Hebrews , by Arthur W. Pink, pg. 997

"Therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. The just shall live by faith." -Romans 1:17 [KJV] It is but lost labour, that poor sinners rise up early, late take rest, and eat the bread of carefulness, in order to make themselves righteous. The Lord makes His beloved people righteous, in a very different way. Righteousness is already perfectly wrought out, to the honouring and magnifying God’s law : it is fully brought into the court of heaven, to the satisfying God’s justice. It is clearly revealed in the gospel, for the hope and encouragement of poor sinners.  Observe, (1st.) By way of eminence it is styled “the righteousness of God.” Not as it is essential to His divine nature. For what comfort, what hope can a guilty sinner take from that? The more plainly that is revealed, the more clearly that is known, so much the more miserable must it make the unrighteous sinner. But it is the righteousness with which God is well pleased, and for t...