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

"And the LORD spoke unto Moses, face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend."   - Exodus 33:11 [KJV] In the opinion of infidels, Moses is as vile a hypocrite, and as great an enthusiast as ever existed. You see your calling, brethren. What shall be done unto the men, whom the King of saints delighteth to honour? Treat them as the filth and offscouring of all things, say the world. Thank you, ye sons of folly. You give us an evident token of our salvation, and that of God (Philippians 1:28.) If Moses is not to be credited, Christ is to be rejected. He puts His cause upon the testimony of Moses. “Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me, for he wrote of Me”   (John 5:46.)   He was a friend of the Bridegroom. He was admitted to close and intimate converse with Him, before He appeared in flesh. Our Saviour saith to all His disciples, “ye are My friends” (John 15:14.) He admits them into sweet fellowship, and free communion with Himself. A preci...

"And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. And He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness." -Malachi 3:3 [KJV] My soul, contemplate this gracious office of thy Jesus, and then see, whether He hath as graciously wrought it on thee. Jesus found our whole nature, when He came to save it, wanting refining and purifying indeed. By the operation of His holy word, and by the influences of His blessed spirit, He brings the souls of His people into the furnace of purification.  By the fire of troubles, of afflictions, of persecutions, He melts down their stubborn nature there. By the Spirit of judgment, and by the Spirit of burning, He purgeth their dross, taketh away their tin, and forms all His people into vessels of mercy and sanctification; that He may at length present them unto Himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that they m...

"So did not I, because of the fear of God." -Nehemiah 5:15 [KJV] We can never praise God sufficiently for His restraining grace; for what should we be without it? What an unspeakable mercy, then, it is, that you cannot be what you would be, nor act as you would act, nor speak what you would speak, nor do the things you would do, because there is in you who fear God a spiritual principle which holds you up, and keeps you back from the ways of sin and death in which the flesh would walk. How this spirit of grace and godly fear kept Joseph in the hour of temptation! How it preserved David when he had Saul in his power as he lay asleep in the cave! How it kept Nehemiah in the fear of God from extortion and oppression!  And how, in thousands of instances, it has preserved the feet of the saints, and kept them from doing things that would have ruined their reputation, blighted their character, brought reproach upon the cause of God, and the greatest grief and distress...

What a Magnificent Name , Part II by D G Miles McKee   The Greek word for Lord is ‘ Kurios’  and means quite literally ‘Supreme Authority’. In the Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures (the Septuagint) this word was consistently used to translate the four-letter Hebrew name for Yahweh.  The Christians, knowing the usage of this word Kurios, in scripture, refused, therefore, to swear an oath of allegiance to the Roman Emperor.  People were required to declare, “Cesar is Lord.”    You see, in the AD 90s, the Emperor Domitian ruled over Rome and insisted he be worshiped as God. The Roman state saw this declaration as an affirmation of political loyalty, but the Christians saw it quite differently.  They saw this as an act of betrayal and idolatry.  To them there was but one Kurios --- Jesus!  There could be only one supreme authority.  Since there is no authority higher than that which is supreme, the Christians knew...

"Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father ." -Romans 8:15 [KJV] The Spirit of God never was, never is, nor ever can be the Spirit of bondage to any soul. Some have asserted it, but it is a mistake. It is contrary to H is name, the Comforter. He is a free Spirit, a Spirit of liberty to the soul. It is inconsistent with His office, He takes of the things of Christ, and shews them to us—testifies of Christ—brings us into the liberty of Christ— enables us to glory in the adoption of children, and to call God Father, in the faith of Christ.  When He convinces of sin, it is not to bring the soul into bondage, but to break the bondage of sin, of the law, of death, and of Satan, in the conscience, and to cast away the cords thereof, that the soul may be united to Christ by faith. In all this, He is the Comforter. What then is this Spirit of bondage? It is the Spirit of the law. Just as the Egy...

"But there the glorious LORD will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ships pass thereby." -Isaiah 33:21 [KJV] See, my soul, how thy God condescends to represent Himself to thee as thy God, under various similitudes, so as to strengthen thy faith and thy confidence in Him. He that is thy gracious  Lord, is also thy glorious  Lord; for He is both a sun and a shield; and He that gives grace, will give glory; one is the earnest of the other. Well, then, this glorious Lord will be there. Where? Why in Jesus, in thy Jesus, God in covenant with Him. "He will be unto thee a place of broad rivers and streams." What is that? Why as Jerusalem had no navigable rivers, or seas, to defend her from the approach of enemies all around; so God's people are unprotected by nature, or by art, and lie open to their foes. But what they want in nature; shall be abundantly made up to them in grace. And as they hav...

"My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God." -Psalm 42:2 [KJV] Has your heart ever panted after the Lord Jesus as the hart panteth after the water brooks? Do you ever lie in the dust mourning over your sins against such bleeding, dying love? Do you ever ask God to kindle in your soul an intense desire to have Jesus as your Christ, that He may be your delight here and your portion for ever? Surely there is that in Him which is not in anything below the skies, and which if not found here will not be found hereafter. If you have no love or affection for Him, why is it but because He has not endeared Himself to your soul? But if He has manifested Himself to you, you have seen and felt enough of His blessedness to convince you that there is no real peace or happiness out of Him. It is true that you may have many trials and temptations to encounter; many perplexities and sorrows may be spread in your path; but be not dismayed, for the love of Christ, if you have ever felt that...