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

"The great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come, who were ready to perish."   -Isaiah 27:13 [KJV] One trumpet has been blown, at the giving of the law, on mount Sinai: the voice of it sounded long, and waxed louder and louder. It made even Moses to fear and quake exceedingly, and all the people tremble. Soon, very soon, (who knows but it may be the next moment, in the twinkling of an eye?) the last trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised (see I Corinthians 15:52.) Tremendous voice! most solemn sound! The prophet asks, “Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid?” (Amos. 3:6.) If the alarm of war, and the approach of an enemy should be sounded in the dead of the night, what fear and terror would seize us! Must we hear the sound of the last trumpet, calling us to judgment?    Blessed, eternally blessed be our God, for the blowing of this great trumpet: it is the sound of great love: it proclaims salvation—to whom? Even ...

"Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field: let us lodge in the villages. Let us get up early to the vineyards, let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves." -Song of Solomon 7:11,12 [KJV]   My soul! wilt thou do as the church here hath done, and invite Jesus to come with thee into retirement, to enjoy sweet fellowship and communion, and to tell Him how exceedingly thou lovest Him, or desirest so to do? Jesus invites thee repeatedly to this, and why shouldest not thou invite Him? It is blessed to catch the gracious words of thy Lord from His mouth, and to say to Him what He first saith to thee. See Isaiah 26:20 , Song of Solomon 2:10 , Matthew 11:28 & Revelation 22:17 .    And where wouldest thou have thy Lord to go with thee? Surely thou wilt say, to the field of His own scriptures, and to the villages of His own people, and to the vineyards of His own church; t...

"Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober." -I Thessalonians 5:6 [KJV]   Here sobriety is opposed to sleepiness, and is connected with walking in the light and in the day, as sleepiness and its frequent cause, drunkenness, are connected with darkness and night. One of the greatest curses God can send on a people and its rulers, its prophets and seers, is a spirit of deep sleep, as the prophet speaks: "For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes; the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath He covered." But to be sober is to be awaked out of this sleep, and, as a consequence, to walk not only wakefully but watchfully. It implies, therefore, that careful, circumspect walking, that daily living, moving, speaking, and acting in the fear of God, whereby alone we can be kept from the snares spread for our feet at every step of the way.    How many have fallen into outward evil and ...

     "The Bible has become a moving target. One can strip it down, twist it, misread it, add to it, supplement it, and even overrule it, and, unfortunately, 95 percent of the congregation will not realize it. Why? Because Americans no longer know the Bible. The evidence is overpowering that contemporary Christianity is Bible- ish , at best, and at worst, in some cases, Bible- less ."   -Jeremiah J. Johnston 

"Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things."   -I John 2:20 [KJV]   A Christian may falsely indulge this covetous wish, to have his head filled with the knowledge, and his heart with the love of Christ. What is knowledge without love? The very devils could say of Christ, “I know Thee who Thou art, the holy one of God.” They have a more distinct knowledge of Christ, believe more of Him, and have just as much love to Him, as Arians, Socinians, and other infidels, who deny His eternal power and godhead, and His self-existent deity. The devils declare, “what have we to do with Thee, Thou Jesus of Nazareth?”     Infidelity in men causes them to give our Saviour no higher name than this, and to allow Him to be no more than a prophet, mighty in word and deed. But they will have nothing to do with Him as the eternal Son of God, atoning sin by His precious blood, justifying sinners by His perfect righteousness, and finishing salvation for them b...

"Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest." -John 4:35 [KJV] My soul, the month hath opened most graciously; the season of the year is very interesting; all the reapers of the fruits of the earth are now busy in the fields to gather in the food that perisheth. Oh! let it never be said of thee, "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and thou art not saved!" Jeremiah 8:20 . Pause, my soul, over the sweet words of Jesus, in the evening and cool of the day, and consider their import.    As in nature there is a seed time and harvest, so is there in grace. And we are told, that the Lord hath given "the appointed weeks of harvest."  At what season dost thou now stand? Surely, thou art advanced to the time of ripening. How wilt thou discover this? Is there not a similarity here also between nature and grace? As the ri...

"This is His name whereby He shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." -Jeremiah 23:6 [KJV] What a sweet view does this give of Jesus! We look sometimes at Christ's righteousness as distinct from Christ. Shall I use a figure? We look at the garment as distinct from the maker and wearer of the garment. We look at the righteousness so much, that we scarcely look at Him who wrought out that righteousness. Now, we must not separate Jesus from His righteousness. We must not look merely at the garment, the imputed robe, and forget Him that wrought it out, that puts it on, and that keeps it to this day in firm possession. But when we can see, that not only the obedience of Christ, but Christ Himself—all that Jesus is—all that Jesus has, as head of His Church, as the risen Mediator, as the great High Priest over the house of God—when we can see that this God-man, Immanuel, is made unto His people righteousness, how it expands the prospect!    Then we look, not m...