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

"Every saved sinner is a miracle of grace. The Lord will make every vessel of mercy know and acknowledge this—for He will give him from time to time such deep discoveries of his sin, as will convince him beyond all question that nothing but the rich, sovereign, distinguishing, and super-abounding grace of God in Christ can save his soul from the bottomless pit!"  —preacher J. C. Philpot

  Prepare me, gracious God To stand before Thy face Thy Spirit must the work perform For it is all of grace.   In Christ’s obedience clothe And wash me in His blood So shall I lift my head with joy Among the sons of God.   Do Thou my sin subdue Thy Sovereign love make known The Spirit of my mind renew And save me in Thy Son.   Let me attest Thy power Let me Thy goodness prove Till my full soul can hold no more Of everlasting love!    -old Gospel Hymn, “I Love Thy Kingdom”    “A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: to understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”   -Proverbs 1:5-7    “How sweet are Thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through Thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate e...

"We walk by faith, not by sight." -II Corinthians 5:7 [KJV] Thus we quit sense for faith. So we overcome the lust of the eyes. To gratify these, is contrary to the walk of faith. Then is it any marvel, that we lose the peace, comfort, and joy of faith? But this is not what is here meant by sight, as opposed to faith.  Here is an infallible truth. Though a Christian, by the eye of sense, can neither see God, Christ, the things of the heavenly world, etc. yet he walks in the firm belief of what the word of God tells him of them: and hence, they have the supreme affection of the soul, from day to day.  Faith supplies the sight of them. They are as real to the mind, as though seen by the bodily eye. Thus, a lively hope of enjoying them, is kept up in the heart. “We are always confident,” we are sure of the existence of spiritual, heavenly, and invisible objects, as we are of our own being. O ye sons of carnal sight and sense! ye deride us: we pity you. Ye look onl...

"The King is held in the galleries." -Song of Solomon 7:5 [KJV] And who but Jesus is King in Zion? As one with the Father over all, God blessed for ever, he is indeed the King eternal, immortal, invisible. And as Mediator God-man, He is my God and King, both by His conquest of my heart, and the voluntary surrender of my soul.  Yes, blessed Jesus, I not only hail Thee my God and King, but I would have every knee bow before Thee, and every tongue confess that Thou art LORD and King, to the glory of God the Father.  But, my soul, what are those galleries where thy King is held? Are they the scriptures of truth, where Jesus is held and retained, adored and admired? Or are they the public ordinances of thine house, or the place where thine honour dwelleth; or the secret chamber, or the closet of retirement and meditation; when thou comest to visit Thy people, and when Thou knockest at the door of their hearts, when Thou comest in to sup with them, and they with Thee?...

"...be not conformed to this world." -Romans 12:2 [KJV] In proportion as we are conformed to the spirit of this world our understanding becomes dull in the things of God, our affections cold and torpid, and our consciences less tender and sensitive. There is an eternal opposition between God and the world lying in wickedness.  In order, then, that our spiritual experience of the truth of God should maintain its ground, it must not be dulled and deadened by conformity to the world. It is like the sabre that the soldier carries into battle; it must not trail unsheathed upon the ground lest point and edge be dulled; both must be kept keen and sharp, that execution may be done upon the foe. So it is with our enlightened understanding , with our tender conscience , and our heavenly affections . If we let them fall upon the world, it is like a soldier trailing his sabre upon the pavement; every step he takes dulls both edge and point. If we are conformed to this worl...

It is Finished , Part III by D G Miles McKee   If we wish to be effective in the Christian life, we must never tire of hearing and meditating upon the Gospel.  In the light of the cross, we can learn to agree with the old Puritan, John Flavell, who, referring to Christ, declared "The condemnation was Thine, that the justification might be mine.  The agony was Thine, that the victory might be mine. The pain was Thine, that the ease might be mine. The stripes Thine, that the healing balm issuing from them might be mine. The vinegar and gall Thine, that the honey and the sweet might be mine. The curse was thine, that the blessing might be mine. The crown of thorns was Thine, that the crown of glory might be mine. The death was Thine, that the life purchased by it might be mine. You paid the price, that I might enjoy the inheritance." We were lost and condemned by sin.  We could not satisfy the claims and demands of God's holiness, yet Christ's complete obedience ...

"Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth." -Joshua 23:14 [KJV] Though fully assured of his near dissolution, yet with what calm composure doth Joshua utter these words! Though you are a sinner, and must fall under the sentence of death for sin, yet you need not be under bondage all your life time through fear of death. Why should you? Has not the sinner’s Friend gained a complete and everlasting victory over death, the sinner’s enemy?  Consider, (1st.) what Christ hath done for us sinners. For sinners we are, and shall be, though redeemed by the blood, and sanctified by the Spirit of Christ. When the messenger of death kills the body, and calls the soul to glory, then honour thy Lord’s work by the faith of thy heart. So fear and terror shall flee thy soul.  By His death, He has appeased divine Justice. As Jonah, His type, being cast into the sea, quelled the storm; so Christ, being cast into the furnace of divine wrath, quenched the flames. God is ju...