My dear readers,

(Extracts from Daily Remembrancer by Pastor James Smith, edited by Dr SH Tow)

1. “Salvation is of the Lord” Jon 2:9 (June 17 MORNING)

“THERE IS NONE OTHER NAME ... WHEREBY WE MUST BE SAVED,” neither is there salvation in any other. Only Jesus saves!  This is the work of God. The love of the Father, the work of the Son, and the operation of the Holy Spirit, save the soul. The Father devised the scheme, the Son paid the ransom, and the Holy Spirit puts us in possession of the blessing. It is of God. It is by grace. It is through faith. Deliverance from dangers, trials, and wants, is of the Lord. He delivered Jonah when he cried, though he was a poor, proud, obstinate, fretful sinner: and He will deliver us. He says, “Look unto me and be delivered, for I am God. Look, for I bid you. Look, for I will deliver you.” He will deliver in six troubles, and in seven He will not forsake us. He will deliver our souls from death, our eyes from tears, and our feet from falling. Look not to men, or to the church, or to rituals and images. Look only to the Lord: salvation is of the Lord. Only Jesus saves. Are you looking to others? Are you drooping, fearing, or desponding? Your God asks, “Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver? Is anything too hard for me?”

Of all the crowns Jehovah bears,
Salvation is His dearest claim;
That gracious sound well pleased He hears,
And owns Emmanuel for His name;
He saves us by His precious blood,
And proves Himself the mighty God.

2. “He will ever be mindful of His covenant” Ps 111:5 (August 5 MORNING)

OUR LORD IS A COVENANT KEEPING GOD. By His covenant, He is reconciled to His people; He is at peace with them, and dwells among them, through the work of Jesus. He has made a covenant in which they have an interest, from which all their blessings flow, and on which their confidence is founded. Of this covenant, God is ever mindful. He is mindful of the sacrifice of Jesus as our surety; of the relationship in which He was pleased to manifest Himself as our Father; of the state in which He viewed us as wretched lost sinners; of the provision He made for His own glory and our needs; of the promise made to Jesus including all the promises made to us; of the oath He swore, that in Christ no one can take us out of His almighty hand; of the blood of His Son, as the victim slain to confirm and ratify it; of the end He had in view in making it, even the display of all His glorious perfections, our eternal salvation. He will ever be mindful of His covenant: He cannot forget it; He will not act contrary to it, but will confirm it even to the end. Beloved, let us also be ever mindful of His covenant.

Firmer than heaven His covenant stands,
Tho’ earth should shake, and skies depart;
We’re safe in our Redeemer’s hands,
Who bears our name upon His heart;
For us He lived, and died, and rose,
And triumphed over all our foes.

3. “The promises of God” 2 Cor 1:20 (June 5 EVENING)

IN CHRIST OUR LORD ALL GOD’S PROMISES ARE YEA AND AMEN. God’s promises are sure and certain: not one can ever be broken. This is the assurance He has given His people, that He will bless them and bestow favours upon them. They all originate in His divine sovereignty and flow spontaneously from His holy will. They are but the bounties and tokens of His love, the kind expressions and manifestations of His grace. They are acts of divine condescension which bring the promiser under a bond, and prove His fatherly care of us and concern for our welfare. They all rest on the same immutable basis, even His veracity and faithfulness, and are stored up in Jesus as the precious possession of His people. They open the heart of Jehovah, challenge the faith of the Christian, and enliven the hopes of the penitent sinner. They are connected with the mediatorial office of Christ; for as Prophet He publishes them, as Priest He confirms them, and as King He fulfils them. They all belong to the same persons, believers; they have the same design, our benefit; and aim at the same end, the praise of Jehovah’s grace. They all lead us to the same fountain, the fullness of Christ: and produce the same effects, even admonition, gratitude, and praise.

God’s promises surpass my thought,
But faithful is my changeless Lord;
In unbelief I stagger not,
For God hath spoken the timeless word.

4. “The love that God hath to us” 1 Jn 4:16 (October 29 MORNING)

“HE THAT DWELLETH IN LOVE DWELLETH IN GOD.” So writes the Apostle of love. Who can fully describe God’s love? What tongue or pen can set it forth? It is infinite: what can finite mortals say? It is eternal: how can we who are but of yesterday declare it? It is the token of heaven to the saints, to know and receive the love that God has to them. None can reveal it to us, or shed it abroad in our hearts, but the Holy Spirit. He can direct our hearts into the love of God, and into the patience of Jesus Christ. He is in office to show the saints the things of God, and enable them to receive and enjoy them. Let us, beloved, daily pray that we may know and enjoy the love that God hath to us; it will be an antidote to all our miseries, a comfort under all our sorrows. Our friends may change, but the love of God changes never. Our temporal prospects may be blighted, but if we know and accept the love of God, we cannot be unhappy. Who or what shall separate us from the love of God? Jesus has told us that we shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck us out of His hand. The love of God is the source of our happiness and the foundation of our safety. O to know and receive the wonderful love which God hath to us!

What shall I do my God to love?
’Twas He who first loved me;
I know when I’m safe home above,
My Saviour face-to-face I’ll see;
Before that day, e’en now, dear Lord,
I will love Thee by life and word.

God bless you dear readers.

Yours faithfully in the Saviour’s Service,
Dr SH Tow, Founding Pastor