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

“And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit”   (I Corinthians 15:45) .  Jesus is the federal head of His elect.  As in Adam, every heir of flesh and blood has a personal interest, because he is the covenant head and representative of the race as considered under the law of works; so, under the law of grace, every redeemed soul is one with the Lord from heaven, since He is the Second Adam, the Sponsor and Substitute of the elect in the new covenant of love.   The apostle Paul declares that Levi was in the loins of Abraham when Melchisedek met him: it is a certain truth that the believer was in the loins of Jesus Christ, the Mediator, when in old eternity the covenant settlements of grace were decreed, ratified, and made sure forever.  Thus, whatever Christ hath done, He hath wrought for the whole body of His Church.  We were crucified in Him and buried with Him (Colossians 2:10‑...

Why did Jesus Christ come into this world and die the agonizing death of the cross?  The answer is to be found in His name and its meaning.  “Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins”   (Matthew 1:21) .  He did not come to help sinners save themselves.  He did not come to make salvation a possibility.  He did not come to offer men the opportunity to be saved.  He did not come to put all men in a savable condition.  He came to “Save His people from their sins.” -preacher Jim Byrd 

"Ye are all one in CHRIST JESUS." - Galatians 3:28 [KJV]   Will a covetous man be contented with the notion that he is rich? If your body was in pain, would it give you ease, to think of a remedy, without experiencing its salutary effects? What avails all the refined notions of eternal union, without experiencing that the soul is vitally united to Christ, by the power of the Spirit, through faith? O my soul, I charge thee not to rest satisfied, with the notion of the doctrine of union, without the comforts of the grace of being united to Christ, and being one with Him in heart and affection. O my Jesus, to Thee I look and pray, to find and feel more and more the sweet experience of this. Give it my soul, out of Thy fulness.    Consider, (1st.) The persons here spoken of, ye. Ye Jews, who had the form of godliness, without the power: ye Gentile sinners, who once had neither the form nor the power of Christianity: ye apostate sinners, who yesterday were haters...

"For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed: but My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed, saith the LORD, that hath mercy on thee." -Isaiah 54:10 [KJV]   What a rest is here for a poor redeemed sinner to stand firm upon, in time, and to all eternity! Well may he cry out concerning Jesus, and His great salvation in Him, "He is a rock, and His work is perfect." Yes, yes, Thou Lord God of my salvation: Thou art my dwelling-place in all generations. My soul, look all around thee, look within thee, look every where about thee. Search, behold, examine diligently, what else will or can afford thee any security. And think what a dying world it is in which thou art dwelling, or rather travelling through.    What friend, what brother, what child, what relation, can give thee help of soul, or even of body, when thou most shalt need it? Think what a day, a week, an hour, may bring forth! Amidst all ...

"They shall mount up with wings as eagles." - Isaiah 40:31 [KJV]   It is said of the eagle, that he mounts up towards the sun; and that of all birds, he is the only one which can gaze upon the sun with unshrinking eye. So with faith in the soul. The Lord's people alone can look by faith upon the "Sun of righteousness , " gaze upon a glorious Immanuel at the right hand of the Father, and see a precious Jesus ever interceding for them, and drawing them near to His bosom. And when this blessed Jesus communicates a measure of His love and blood to their consciences, and raises up and draws forth faith in His name, then the soul begins to mount up with these wings like eagles, soaring higher and higher, till it comes into the presence of God; mounting up in higher and higher circles of spiritual flight, till it penetrates into the very sanctuary of Jehovah.    Now, has not your soul thus soared sometimes as upon eagle's wings? Have there not been t...

"To reveal His Son in me." - Galatians 1:16 [KJV]   From hence begins spiritual life: a life from God, in God, with God, and to God. By the gospel the Son of God is revealed to us. By the Spirit, He is revealed in us. External revelation by the word, and internal by the Spirit, are both necessary to salvation. Though St. Paul was separated from his mother’s womb, to be called by the grace of God, yet he had not this inward revelation of Jesus Christ to his heart, till he heard the external word of Christ with his ear, saying, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” (Acts 9:4.) Hence learn to prize, both the outward testimony of the word and the inward testimony of the Spirit.    Consider, (1st.) to reveal, signifies to discover, or make clear to a person, what he did not know before. So, (Philippians 3:15) “If in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal this unto you.” So the gospel is a revelation of Jesus Christ, without which we could never h...

"Jesus Christ of the seed of David."   -II  Timothy 2:8 [KJV]   Sweet thought! Jesus will have regard to both sexes in His incarnation. He will be of the seed of the woman . He will be also truly and properly man. As both the man and woman had sinned, so redemption shall be for both. But in the holy nature, in which as Redeemer He will come, He will partake of none of their sins. The man shall have no hand in His generation. And the womb of the woman shall be but the deposit of that holy thing so called, (Luke 1:35) by the miraculous conception of the Holy Ghost. So that the body which God the Father prepared Him, belonged to both, but was unconnected with either. He must be truly man; for the law had said, "Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy unto the LORD."    He must be a priest; and no woman could minister in that office. He must be a prophet; and no woman could exercise that province, for it is not permitted for a woman to ...