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

"If we trust God for our heavenly inheritance, we may well trust him for our daily maintenance, which he vouchsafeth to the birds of the air, to the beast of the field, and even to his enemies.  He that feedeth a kite (- falcon or hawk ) , will he not feed a child? He that supplies His enemies, will He not take care of His family?  You would think that person monstrously cruel who would feed his dogs and stave his children.  This cannot, without blasphemy, be imagined of our gracious and heavenly Father."   -preacher Thomas Manton (1620-1677 A.D.

"Lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing."   - Luke 22:35 [KJV]   Precious words to me! One is unwilling to speak of oneself. There is danger of pride and self-seeking in it. Yet, with a view to our Lord’s glory, a sincere desire to exalt His grace and goodness, and to encourage fellow Christians’ confidence therein, a poor sinner may speak of his experience. With tears of thankfulness, I record the goodness of my Lord to the chief of sinners. Upwards of twenty years ago, when it pleased Him to call me by His grace, and make me happy in His love, my name was cast out—friends became foes—their hands were against me—they withdrew their favours from me, and derided me.    Under narrow circumstances, tender feelings for a large family, carnal reasonings of my corrupt nature, and strong temptations from the enemy, I was often sore distressed. But my Lord was gracious. Many, and many a time, did He bring this text to my mind; and, as it were, with all love ...

"All that the Father giveth Me, shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day." -John 6:37-40 [KJV]   My soul, commit this blessed portion to thy memory; yea, beg of God the Holy Ghost to commit, and write all the gracious things contained in it, on the inner tablets of thine heart! It is in itself a gospel, yea, a full gospel. Methinks, I would have it proclaimed on the house-tops, and published, day by day, in every place of public concourse throughout the earth, until the saving truths were every one of them known, and felt,...

"The just shall live by faith." -Romans 1:17 [KJV]   A life of faith in Christ is as necessary to our present and experimental salvation as His death upon the cross was to our past and actual salvation. If you are alive to what you are as a poor fallen sinner, you see yourself surrounded by enemies, temptations, sins, and snares; and you feel yourself utterly defenceless, as weak as water, without any strength to stand against them. Pressed down by the weight of unbelief, you see a mountain of difficulty before your eyes, sometimes in providence and sometimes in grace. You find, too, that your heart is a cage of unclean birds, and that in you, that is, in your flesh, there dwelleth no good thing; neither will nor power have you in yourself to fight or flee. How then shall this mountain become a plain? How shall you escape the snares and temptations spread in your path? How shall you get the better of all your enemies, external, internal, infernal, and reach hea...

       "The motto upon the escutcheon of the Earl of Lonsdale, is Magistratus indicat virum : ' the magistracy shows the man .'  Office-holding is a test of character.  He who can resist the temptations to injustice, fraud, deceit, and self-aggrandizement generally, which beset one who either inherits office or obtains it by the popular suffrage, is unquestionably a person of deep convictions of truth, and of high moral principle.  For this reason, public life would not be sought by one who distrusts himself.   He who puts up the petition, “Lead me not into temptation,” would be thankful for the providence that should forever keep him in the quiet and independent walks of private life.  Should the will of God oblige him to assume the responsibility  of a judge, a magistrate, or a legislator, he would enter upon them, not because he preferred them, but because duty must be discharged toward God. It was in this spirit ...

      "Those for whom the Savior shed His blood and so redeemed them by price, are by-and-by redeemed by power .  The Spirit of God finds them, like other men, fond of sin; like other men, blind to the beauties of the Savior, deaf to the commands of Christ; but if Christ has bought them with His blood, He never paid for what He will not have.   The price was too precious to be paid for those who are not saved.  If Christ has paid for a soul with His blood, He will have that soul.  Neither will God’s honor rob Him of His purchase, nor will Christ be content to lose what He so dearly bought."                                                                                     - preacher C.H. Spurgeon (1834-1892 A.D.)

          "It is impossible to preach:   1.  That man is both  totally and partially depraved.   2.  That election is both  conditional and unconditional.   3.  That regenerating grace is both  irresistible and resistible.   4.  That redemption is both  limited and unlimited.   5.  That perseverance is both  certain and uncertain.        Nor can there be a modification of one by the other; it is impossible to blend the two .  History records such efforts in the past; but despite the efforts, sovereign grace and 'free-willism' will not mix, nor can they walk together in peace, nor can those holding either system force the other to take their view ."                                  ...