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

"But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God." -John 1:12 [KJV] Man lost paradise by receiving a gift from Satan: there is no way to regain it, but by receiving Christ, the gift of God. Am I one of the many, who have received Christ? This question is of eternal moment. If I have not, no matter what I profess, by what name I am called, what I think of myself, or others think concerning me; for I am certainly in a state of wrath, exposed to eternal damnation.  What answer does conscience return to this important question? God may this night require my soul. I may be in eternity before the morning light. Have I received Christ or not? What is it to receive Christ? Many precious souls are sadly perplexed and greatly distressed here. But why should they? St. John plainly tells us, to receive Christ, is to believe on His name, that He is the anointed Saviour of lost sinners.   Do you receive this truth into your heart? Does your mind g...

"He wakeneth morning by morning: He wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned." -Isaiah 50:4 [KJV] Who is this but Jesus in His human nature, of whom the prophet speaks? Eminently to Him doth it refer, to whom was given the tongue of the learned, that He might know how to speak a word to him that is weary. Precious Lord, it is indeed Thy province, and Thine only, to speak a word to weary souls, and to be the rest wherewith Thou causeth the weary to rest, and to be their refreshing.  Not only to give them rest, but Thyself to be their rest. Not only to give them salvation, but Thyself to be their salvation.—But, blessed Lord! may not a poor soul like myself say of Thee also, that Thou wakenest me morning by morning?— for who is it but Jesus, that, by the sweet influences of the Spirit, wakens His people morning by morning, and openeth the ear to hear, and the eye to see, and the heart to feel  the blessed tokens of His coming?    Have I not found Thee, Lord,...

"The LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all."   -Isaiah 53:6 [KJV] What heart can conceive, what tongue express what the holy soul of Christ endured when "the LORD laid on Him the iniquity of us all?"  In the garden of Gethsemane, what a load of guilt, what a weight of sin, what an intolerable burden of the wrath of God did that sacred humanity endure, until the pressure of sorrow and woe forced the drops of blood to fall as sweat from His brow.  The human nature in its weakness recoiled, as it were, from the cup of anguish put into His hand. His body could scarce bear the load that pressed Him down; His soul, under the waves and billows of God's wrath, sank in deep mire where there was no standing, and came into deep waters where the floods overflowed Him (Psalm 69:1-2) . And how could it be otherwise when that sacred humanity was enduring all the wrath of God, suffering the very pangs of hell, and wading in all the depths of guilt and terror...

‘Acts 13:48  ... and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed . The cause [of life] is not faith, but ordination of God.’  -John Gill The text of Acts 13.48 is God’s word.  The interpretation of it by John Gill is as concise as it can be stated.  Is this my doctrine, is this the doctrine of my church? Or do I have another doctrine, a doctrine that is nothing more than of man’s opinion?  Look at this portion of the verse again.  The subject is ‘ as many [Gentiles] as were ordained to eternal life .’  The verb is ‘believed.’  So first we may reduce this to the simplest terms, ‘They believed.’  Now let’s look again at who they are that believed? They are the ones ordained [appointed, set, determined] to eternal life. In this verse the Gentiles that were appointed to life believed.   See the order?  First, there is life (eternal life), then faith.  IT IS NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND, FAITH THEN LIFE. ...

"It is true that I have sin in me, but it is pardoned. God has forgiven me all trespasses. I stand before Him in my Redeemer, Who undertook for me, and I am perfect in Him. The Father chose me in His Son: He looks upon the face of His beloved, and sees me in Him. In Christ He is well pleased, so He is with me! As He loves Christ, He loves me! This is the glorious privilege which by faith I now enjoy. I deny sight and sense, and I believe the Word of God! I adhere strictly to the Word of God concerning me, believing myself to be dead indeed unto sin in Christ, and in Him absolutely freed from guilt and condemnation. The Father is at peace with me, and He loves me in His son, with the same love with which He loves Christ – His Father and my Father. With this persuasion I go to war with my corruptions. They are fighting against everything that is dear and precious to my soul. But having the promised grace of the almighty Savior for my help, I desire to set upon them i...

"Mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden, they are too heavy for me." -Psalm 38:4 [KJV] Though there may be pleasures in sin for a season, yet at the last, “it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.”  O come hither and see, how the venom of sin has overspread poor David’s whole frame. Read this Psalm. Mark the anguish of his conscience, and the distress of his soul; and say, is not sin exceedingly sinful? What pain, out of hell, can be compared to the anguish of a guilty conscience?   But better, infinitely better, to smart for sin here, than to cry out under the smart of sin and hell. Conviction of sin by the Spirit, is in order to cleansing of sin by the blood of Christ. Better to roar from disquietude of the soul on earth, than to sleep secure in sin, till we drop into and roar for sin in the bottomless pit. One or other will be the portion of all flesh. Two similes are before us, expressive of David’s distress.  (1st.) “Mi...

"That ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel." -Exodus 11:7 [KJV] Who shall mark down all the properties of distinguishing grace? What a vast difference doth grace make, in this life, between him that serveth God, and him that serveth Him not! And what an everlasting difference will be made in the life which is to come. My soul, make this thought the subject of thine unceasing meditation.  Thou canst not walk the street, nor go to public worship, nor watch the Lord's dealings in all the vast and numberless dispensations going on in life, in the wide world of providence and grace, but what every thing speaks, in the language of the morning portion, of the difference there is still put between the Egyptians and Israel.   Every thing proclaims it, every event confirms it. And do not overlook the great point of all- it is the Lord that doth all this. "Who maketh thee to differ from another?" Oh for grace to...