Grace Gems for MARCH 2025

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

John 4:13-14, "Everyone who drinks this water, will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I give him, will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

We see in these words of Jesus, the mirage of worldly satisfaction. The world offers a thousand fleeting pleasures, each promising contentment, but leaving the soul emptier than before. Wealth, success, romance, entertainment—these are the unsatisfying waters of this world, and those who drink them will always thirst again. Many chase after these things, believing that if they only had a little more—more money, more fame, more indulgence—that they would finally be fulfilled. King Solomon testifies that this is a vain pursuit: "Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!" Ecclesiastes 1:2

Sinful pleasures, though they may be sweet in the mouth, are bitter in the belly. They are poisoned wells, that lead only to destruction! Those who seek their satisfaction in these noxious things, will find that they have exchanged their everlasting souls for poor fleeting trifles. Their end is eternal thirst—eternal regret—eternal torment in Hell. Jesus Himself warns us: "What will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and loses his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" Mark 8:36

Yet Jesus offers something infinitely greater—living water. This is not a temporary refreshment that fades away, but a perpetual spring welling up to eternal life. Those who drink of this water will never thirst again, for in Jesus all the soul's deepest needs are met. Those whom Jesus has truly saved, have experienced the fleeting nature of worldly pleasures, and His all-satisfying sufficiency. This is why Paul could say: "I consider everything a loss, compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ!" Philippians 3:8

To those who drink the "living waters", the promise is not only genuine satisfaction in this life, but eternal joy with Him forever. The well of this living water never runs dry. While the wicked will suffer everlasting thirst in Hell, those who belong to Jesus will forever drink of His rivers of delights! To have Jesus is to have everything. He is our eternal portion, our supreme joy, and our greatest treasure!

Believer, rejoice! If you have Jesus, you have a spring of life that can never be exhausted. Let the world chase its empty pleasures; you have a Savior who is infinitely better. He is not only the giver of living water—He is the water itself. Drink deeply of Him, and you will never thirst again!

Charles Spurgeon:

"We never know the preciousness of Jesus, until we experience the emptiness of everything else."

"Come then and drink, O thirsty soul, and ask no more—for this fountain will never be empty, and this water will never lose its soul-satisfying power!"

"He who drinks deeply of Jesus, shall find that eternity itself cannot exhaust the sweetness and satisfaction that He alone can give!"

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

John 13:1, "Having loved His own who were in the world, He now showed them the full extent of His love."

Romans 4:25, "He was delivered over to death for our sins"

Romans 5:8, "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us"

Ephesians 5:2, "Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us"

1 Peter 2:24, "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree"

Christian! When the Savior was bleeding and suffering on the sin-atoning cross—He specifically thought of you! He particularly bore the Father's wrath for your sins!

As Jesus hung on the cross, suffering infinitely beyond what we can comprehend, He was dying for you. Every nail driven into His hands and feet, was for your redemption. Every drop of blood He shed, was to cleanse you from your sin.

The eternal wrath that would have fallen upon you, was poured out on Jesus instead.

Imagine standing at the foot of the cross, looking up at the suffering sin-atoning Savior, His blood pouring out, and His face twisted in agony. As the sky darkens and the ground trembles, someone asks, "Why would the Son of God endure such suffering?" The answer is both simple and profound: For you, Christian! Yes, as your sin-atoning Savior.

While the Savior hung in agony upon the cursed tree, He knew each one of us intimately. He knew your every secret sin—of act, of word, and of thought. And yet, He chose to bear the full punishment for your sins. The Father's wrath, which was rightfully yours because of sin, fell upon Him instead! Jesus bore the eternal punishment that you deserved.

Christian! In that moment of excruciating pain, Jesus was thinking of you! Your name was written on His heart, and for you He suffered and died.

As Jesus cried out, "It is finished!" He declared that your sin-debt had been paid in full. The Father's righteous wrath was satisfied, and you were set free.

Let that sink in.

The King of Kings, the Creator of all things—thought of you individually. He did not endure the cross grudgingly, but out of an incomprehensible love for you.

To see His hands fastened to the wood, and His feet pierced, and His heart gashed, and His life flowing out in blood, and Himself bearing unutterable agonies for my sins—should cause us to treasure Him.

"Precious Lord Jesus, I cannot comprehend the depth of Your love for me. Thank You for having me on Your heart as You suffered on the cross. Thank You for specifically bearing my sins and taking my punishment, to secure eternal life for me. Help me to always remember the price You paid for me. Amen."

"We love Him, because He first loved us!" 1 John 4:19

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to this precious hymn, as you READ the text below. Or you may want to WATCH the Video on YouTube)

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

There is no treasure so satisfying as Christ, for He is the fountain of all happiness, and the source of eternal joy.

The believer values Christ above all, for He is the chief good—and in Him, all desires are fully satisfied.

Christ is the pearl of great price, for whom the believer gladly sells all to possess.

The true saint delights to behold the beauty and glory of Christ, for He is altogether lovely!

The true believer prizes Christ above the world, counting all things but loss for the excellence of knowing Him.

The love of Christ fills the soul as the sweetest treasure, making all earthly pleasures seem as nothing.

When Christ is our treasure, we rejoice in Him as our eternal inheritance—one that can never fade away.

The believer's heart rests only in Christ, for He is the treasure that can never be exhausted.

Jesus Christ is . . .
the sum of all good things,
the fountain of all beauty,
and the source of all joy to the soul.

There is an infinite excellence in Christ, which is worthy of our highest esteem and most ardent love.

The soul that has tasted the sweetness of Christ, sees that He is infinitely more glorious than all the world.

Christ is . . .
a treasure that never diminishes,
a fountain that never runs dry,
and a Savior who is all-sufficient for every need.

He who has Christ, has a possession of infinite worth—for He is the eternal and unchangeable God, given to us as our eternal portion.

The soul that treasures Christ, finds all earthly possessions as nothing compared to the riches of His grace.

Christ is the great treasure-house of Heaven, from which all blessings flow to His people.

In Christ, the soul finds a Savior who is both the remedy for all its miseries, and the source of all its felicity.

A true saint will part with anything and everything for Christ, because He is the most precious treasure.

The love of Christ constrains the believer to count all things as loss, for the surpassing worth of knowing Him.

Christ is the most precious of all possessions, for He is an infinite good that can never be lost or taken away.

All the treasures of wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption are laid up in Christ for His people.

There is more value in one drop of Christ's blood, than in all the gold and silver of the world.

The believer finds its greatest joy in the contemplation of Christ's beauty, love and glory.

The soul that treasures Christ, looks with disdain upon the fleeting pleasures of this world—for they are as shadows compared to the reality of His love.

A heart that values Christ as its treasure, will not be drawn away by the vanities of the world, for it is satisfied in Him.

The riches of the world are like broken cisterns that hold no water, but Christ is a well-spring of eternal life.

Christ is the believer's treasure, not only because of what He gives, but because of who He is—God Himself, dwelling with His people.

Christ is the key to the treasury of Heaven, and through Him, the believer gains access to boundless riches of grace and glory.

When Christ is the treasure of the heart—He transforms the soul, making it beautiful with His own holiness and love.

The more the soul treasures Christ, the more it is lifted above the cares and trials of this life, finding peace and joy in Him.

The believer who treasures Christ learns to view all things in light of eternity, for Christ becomes the measure of all value and worth.

Christ is the eternal portion of His people, the inexhaustible treasure they will enjoy forever in Heaven.

In the world to come, the saints will rejoice in Christ as their treasure more fully, seeing Him as He is in His infinite glory and love.

The riches of Christ's glory will never be exhausted, for He is an infinite fountain of joy that flows forever to His people.

The delight of the saints in Heaven, consists chiefly in the joy of beholding Christ as their everlasting treasure!

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also!" Matthew 6:21

You will find this beautiful rendition of Psalm 118 to be quite uplifting.

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

There are many idolaters in the world, besides those who worship blocks of wood and stone. There are men who would scorn to be called idolaters, who, nevertheless, are not worshipers of the true God, but votaries of a deity of their own making. They have not made him with wood, or clay, or gold, or silver—but they have fashioned him out of their own conceptions. They believe in a god such as they think God ought to be; and according to the general rule and fashion now-a-days, the god whom men invent for themselves, is a being entirely devoid of justice.

They say that the God of the Bible, who is the real, living and true God—is vindictive, because He punishes all rebellion against His law; because, being at the head of all moral government, He will not allow His law to be trampled on with impunity, and will by no means spare the guilty.

The God who executes vengeance upon sinners, is not the God for men of the modern school. They want an easier deity, a far more lenient governor, a soft God for themselves.

The God of Scripture never was loved by proud and carnally-minded men. They set up an effeminate deity of their own, who is like themselves, who cares nothing about the evil of sin, and will simply overlook sin, and will allow sinners to go unpunished—a god who does their bidding, for he quenches the fire of Hell, or renders it only a transient punishment for a few years. They set up a god who gives them license to think as they like, and treat His Word as a scroll of cloth for them to cut according to their own fashion. The god of modern thought, is not the God of the Bible, neither is he any more the true God than Baal or Ashtareth, Jupiter or Apollo.

The true God is the God who is revealed in the Scriptures, and manifested in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is known only to those to whom He sovereignly reveals Himself—and the rest, by their own carnal wisdom, are blinded, so that they have not seen Him, neither known Him.

"These things you have done and I kept silent.
You thought I was altogether like you!
But I will rebuke you and accuse you to your face.
Consider this, you who forget God—or I will tear you to pieces, with none to rescue!"
Psalm 50:21-22

We have published Don Fortner's uplifting hymn, "Begone Unbelief".

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

It was while C.T Studd was studying at Cambridge University in 1833, that he came across the following tract written by an anonymous atheist:

"If I firmly believed, as millions say they do, that the knowledge and practice of religion in this life, influence destiny in the eternal world—then religion would mean everything to me. I would cast away all . . .
earthly enjoyments as dross,
earthly cares as follies,
and earthly thoughts and feelings as vanity.

"I would esteem one soul gained for Heaven, worth a life of suffering. Earthly consequences would never stay my hand nor seal my lips. Earth—its joys and its griefs—would occupy no moment of my thoughts. I would strive to look upon eternity alone, and on the immortal souls around me—soon to be everlastingly happy or everlastingly miserable.

"I would speak to my fellow men in season and out of season; and as far as my influence reached, I would strive to save them from eternal doom.

"Yet, you Christians who profess to believe this truth, and who say that you have been saved from eternal damnation—you do nothing! You profess to believe that the unconverted are going to Hell, yet you are as unconcerned about your fellow men as if they were only brutes. If I believed what you claim to believe, I would not rest, day or night, until I had ensured that everyone I met heard and had the opportunity to be saved. My text would be: "What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" Mark 8:36

The tract's argument was that if Christians truly believed in the reality of Heaven and Hell, then their lives should reflect an urgent and relentless commitment to evangelism.

This tract had a powerful impact on Studd, and deeply convicted him about the urgency of evangelism. It reinforced his belief that he could not live for worldly comforts, while souls perished without Christ. It helped propel him into radical missionary work, first in China, then in India, and later in Africa.

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:19–20

(We have just published a powerful new video on Noah's Ark.)

J.C. Ryle, "The Gospel of Mark" 1857

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

Mark 14:27, "All of you will desert Me!" Jesus told them.

We see in this verse, how well our Lord knew the weakness and infirmities of His disciples. He tells them plainly what they were going to do: "All of you will desert Me!"

Let us take comfort in the thought that the Lord Jesus does not cast off His believing people because of failures and imperfections.

He knows exactly what they are. He takes them, as the husband takes the wife, with all their blemishes and defects; and once joined to Him by faith, He will never leave them. He is a merciful and compassionate Savior. It is His glory to pass over the transgressions of His people, and to cover their many sins.

He knew what they were before conversion:
wicked, guilty, and defiled—yet He loved them.

He knows what they will be after conversion:
weak, erring, and frail—yet He loves them.

He has undertaken to save them, notwithstanding all their deficiencies and failings. And what He has undertaken, He will perform.

Let us learn to pass a charitable judgment on the conduct of professing believers. Let us not set them down in a low place, and say they have no grace—because we see much weakness and sin in them. Let us remember that our Master in Heaven bears with their infirmities, and let us try to bear with them too.

The Church of Christ is little better than a great hospital. We ourselves are all, more or less, weak. We all daily need the skillful treatment of the heavenly Physician. There will be no 'complete cures' until the resurrection day.

"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Luke 5:31-32

"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are" Hebrews 4:15

You may want to listen to Don Fortner's comforting hymn, "All is Well if Christ is Mine!"

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One incessant fight!

Henry Law

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

The life of faith is one incessant fight. Beneath the cross a sword is drawn, of which the scabbard is cast far away. Until the victor's crown is won, unflinching combat must go on. Our foes are . . .
many,
mighty,
wily,
restless,
malicious,
and diabolic.

They meet us at each step.

They lurk in every corner.

They infest our public life.

They enter our closed doors.

They are outside us—around us—within us!

Count, if you can, the hateful legions who compose Hell's hosts.
They all rush at the soul.

Survey the WORLD . . .
its snares,
its foul seductions,
its enticing arts,
its siren calls,
its deceitful smiles,
its envenomed sneers,
its terrifying threats.
Each in its turn assails us. And each, when foiled, renews the assault.

Behold the HEART, and all its brood of lusts and raging passions. How often it betrays us! Yes, the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked!

Believer go forth in faith and hope! You have a Captain . . .
by whose side no battle can be lost;
beneath whose banner, no warrior was ever slain.

Face all your foes.

Grasp manfully your sword.

Use skillfully your shield.

Lift up your head, safe in salvation's helmet.

The fight will soon be over.

The victor's song will soon be on your lips!

"To Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen." Jude 24-25

You may want to listen to this comforting hymn on "Effectual Calling".

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Dead or Wounded?

Henry Law

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

When grace subdues the heart, a wondrous change ensues!
Earth knows no greater change—but words are too weak to picture it.

Here is a feeble outline of the new creation:

Light shines, where once night brooded.

Satan's chains no more enslave.

The prison bars are broken.

Holy principles direct.

Holy ends are sought.

Holy means are used.

Life is now life indeed, for the man lives for God.

But is SIN therefore dead?

Indeed it is wounded, but it retains power to sting. Sometimes it revives in fearful strength. Though crippled, it strives to conquer. It may seem for a season to regain its hold, and win brief victory. It may roll the new man in the mire. But it cannot keep him down.

Sin's real dominion is gone.

Its existence only lingers, until full escape from this world delivers wholly from its touch.

Where is the saint who is not conscious that the foe still lives?

Witness the secret prayers of the man of God:
What bitter humblings!
What smitings of the bosom!
What sensitive laments!
What writhing under the motions of corruption's filth!
Tears, sobs, and cries are frequent.

"When I would do good, evil is present with me."

"O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

Faithful Scripture warns of this constant conflict. It tells that the heavenward march is over treacherous roads, where many pilgrims slip and stumble!

"So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do." Galatians 5:16-17

We have published a beautiful rendition of Psalm 23.

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Don't touch their filthy things!

Stephen Tyng

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

"Therefore, come out from them and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don't touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you." 2 Corinthians 6:17

As a Christian, I am to be separated from the sinful world around me. Separated in actual character and conduct, by the work of the Holy Spirit in my heart and life. I have come out from them, for my lot is no longer with them.

I cannot walk in their paths.
I cannot pursue their objects.
I cannot partake of their pleasures.

While they reject the gospel—my heart thankfully embraces it.
While they live without Christ—it is my desire and delight to live for Him and with Him.
While they are earthly in all their plans and objects—I am to seek the things which are above. There is my treasure, and there my heart must be also.

Their opinions, and maxims, and plans are of no consequence to me. I cannot yield . . .
to their judgments,
nor to their examples,
nor to their authority.

I cannot find my pleasures in this wilderness world!

I must not run out for the trifling vanities of the world around me.

I must not form a part of its foolish passing pageant.

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Romans 12:2

"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things." Colossians 3:1-2

"You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God." James 4:4

"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world." 1 John 2:15-17

We have posted Don Fortner's uplifting hymn, "Dear Savior, My Adoring Praise".

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You sell them to be slaves of Satan!

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

Charles Spurgeon:
Parents! Your children need to be saved! Their salvation should be a subject of your incessant prayer. You must make earnest endeavors that your children would be converted to God. There must be pleading with, and praying for, the conversion of your children unto the Lord Jesus Christ.

Parents! What have you done for the conversion of your children?

Father, do you ever put your arms around your boy's neck and pray for him, and with him?

Mother, do you ever talk to your little children about Christ and Him crucified? Under God's blessing, you may be a spiritual as well as a natural mother to that beloved child of yours!

Richard Baxter:
Parents! Your children have an everlasting inheritance of happiness to attain—and it is that which you must bring them up for. They have an endless misery to escape—and it is that which you must diligently teach them.

If you don't teach them to know God, and how to serve Him, and be saved, and to escape the flames of Hell—you teach them nothing, or worse than nothing.

Parents! It is in your hands to do your children the greatest kindness—or cruelty, in all the world! Help them to know God and to be saved—and you do more for them than if you helped them to be kings or princes. If you neglect their souls, and breed them in ignorance, worldliness, ungodliness, and sin—then you betray them to the devil, the enemy of souls, even as truly as if you sold them to him. You sell them to be slaves of Satan! You betray them to him who will deceive them and abuse them in this life—and torment them in eternity!

"Children are better whipt, than damned!" Cotton Mather, 1663-1728

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"Hold me up—and I will be safe!" Psalm 119:117

Various authors

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

Every true believer knows the danger of . . .
their own deceitful heart,
their tendency to wander,
the pull of the flesh,
and the constant assaults of the world.

Were it not for God's restraining grace, we would surely fall into flagrant sin. That is why the psalmist pleads, "Hold me up—and I will be safe!"

It is one thing to be saved by grace, but another to be kept by grace. Just as a child walking along a dangerous path needs the firm grip of his father's hand, so too do we need the steadying grasp of God's upholding grace to keep us from stumbling. We are prone to pride, self-reliance, and every other sin—but God, in His mercy, restrains us from going where our sinful nature would lead.

Consider Peter—how easily he fell when he boasted, "Even if everyone falls away, I will not!" (Mark 14:29). And left to himself, he denied his Savior three times. But when Jesus prayed for him (Luke 22:32), his faith did not ultimately fail. This is God's gracious, omnipotent, upholding hand—preventing His redeemed people from utterly falling away.

How often have we been spared from sin, not because of our own wisdom and strength, but because the Lord upheld us? Perhaps we were tempted by a sin that would have ruined us, but were providentially hindered by God's restraining grace.

Christian! We continually need God's upholding grace, as we have a heart that is able to commit every sin that was ever committed in Heaven, Earth or Hell! (Jeremiah 17:9)

Paul reminds us, "So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!" (1 Corinthians 10:12). True safety lies not in our resolve, but in God's upholding power. Like a sheep that would stray without the shepherd's oversight, we constantly need the Lord's guidance, and loving interventions, to keep us safe.

We must daily pray as the psalmist did: "Hold me up—and I will be safe!" This is a humble acknowledgment that we cannot persevere by our own strength and wisdom. It is a confession that, apart from God's upholding hand, we would rush headlong into ruinous sin.

May we walk in daily dependence, not trusting in ourselves, but in the almighty hand of our sovereign God. His grace is not only sufficient to save us, but also to sustain us until we stand before Him in glory!

"Father, I acknowledge my weakness and my need for Your restraining grace. Left to myself, I would stumble and fall. Hold me up, O Lord, and I will be safe. Keep me from sin, uphold me by Your mighty hand, and let my confidence rest in You alone. In Jesus' name, Amen."

"Unto Him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now, and forevermore! Amen." Jude 24-25

We have published John Kent's encouraging hymn, "Effectual Calling".

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That dagger which stabbed the Savior's heart to death!

Charles Spurgeon

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

We never know the full evil of our iniquities—until we see what it cost our precious Redeemer to put them away.

The true Christian looks upon sin, as we would regard a knife rusted with gore with which some villain had killed our mother, our wife, or our child.

Could we play with it?

Could we wear it as a jewel hung around our necks?

Could we even endure it in our sight?

Accursed thing, stained with the heart's blood of my beloved—I would gladly fling you into the bottomless abyss!

Sin is that dagger which stabbed the Savior's heart to death! Henceforth it must be the abomination of every man who has been redeemed by the sin-atoning sacrifice of Jesus.

"A bleeding Savior I have viewed,
And now I hate my sin!"

"May you have the power to understand, as all God's people should—how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully." Ephesians 3:18-19

You may want to listen to Isaac Watts' beautiful hymn, "The Sovereignty of God".

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The Gospel

Octavius Winslow

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

The gospel is the 'master work' of Jehovah, presenting the greatest display of His manifold wisdom, and the most costly exhibition of the riches of His grace. In constructing it He would seem to have summoned to His aid all the resources of His own infinity . . .
His fathomless wisdom,
His boundless love,
His illimitable grace,
His infinite power,
His spotless holiness
—all contributed their glory, and conspired to present it to the universe as the most consummate piece of Divine workmanship!

The revelations it makes,
the facts it records,
the doctrines it propounds,
the effects it produces,
proclaim it to be the "glorious gospel of the blessed God."

We live encircled by SHADOWS . . .
our friends are shadows,
our comforts are shadows,
our supports are shadows,
our pursuits are shadows, and
we ourselves are shadows passing away.

But in the precious gospel we have SUBSTANCE—we have reality, we have that which remains with us when all other things disappear, leaving the soul desolate, the heart bleeding, and the spirit bowed in sorrow to the dust.

But the gospel . . .
guides our perplexities,
mitigates our griefs,
sanctifies our sorrows,
heals our wounds,
dries our tears,
because it leads us to . . .
the love,
the tenderness,
the sympathy,
the grace of JESUS.

The gospel . . .
reveals Jesus,
speaks mainly of Jesus,
leads simply to Jesus,
and this makes it "glad tidings of great joy," to a poor, lost, ruined, tried and tempted sinner!

You may want to listen to Charles Butler's heart-felt hymn, "A Sinner Like Me".

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Alas! I slander the beasts when I compare them to such men!

Charles Spurgeon

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

Romans 6:16, "Don't you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey?"

There are many whose great object in life is to get money. But is not the greed for wealth one of the most detestable passions that can possess a human bosom? The ant, which labors for its companions, is to my mind up among the angels—when compared with a man who sweats and toils merely for the sake of heaping up for himself a mass of yellow metal!

Can I more highly condemn the lover of pleasure? What is pleasure? It is a hollow sham, a thin veneer of mirth which only covers deep dissatisfaction. I often think when I hear worldlings laughing at their nonsensical amusements, that they pull each other's sleeves and say, "Laugh—you ought to laugh!"

I cannot see the gratification which their amusements seem to bring to them. They struggle to appear happy, and what emptiness it is to have lived to be amused? To have spent all one's time in killing time—is anything more contemptible?

How horrible it is when man lives for lust, and puts forth all his strength to indulge his sinful passions! They live like brutes and beasts! Alas! I slander the beasts when I compare them to such despicable men!

"But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness."
Romans 6:17-18

You may want to listen to John Ryland's insightful hymn, "God's Decrees".

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God's sovereignty over disasters!

By Spurgeon and others

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

The absolute sovereignty of God extends to all things, including wars, disasters and plagues. Scripture testifies that these events are neither random nor outside of His control. God ordains all things, including calamities. Nothing happens outside His sovereign decree. Yet, while God decrees and governs all things, He remains perfectly holy and unstained by sin.

"Come and see the works of the Lord; the desolations He has brought on the earth!" (Psalm 46:8)

From the decimating earthquake, to the devouring fire;
from the devastating tsunami, to the deadly plague;
from the volcanic eruption, to the destructive hurricane
—the Bible clearly teaches that all what we call "natural disasters" fall under the sovereign decree of Almighty God. He governs all of His creation according to His decreed will—yet He remains unstained by sin, executing His sovereign purposes in justice, wisdom and righteousness.

"Then the Lord rained down fire and burning sulfur from the sky on Sodom and Gomorrah." (Genesis 19:24)

"He moves mountains without their knowing it and overturns them in His anger.
He shakes the earth from its place and makes its pillars tremble." (Job 9:5–6)

"I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land, or send a plague among My people." (2 Chronicles 7:13)

"Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants." (2 Chronicles 34:24)

"Then the earth shook and quaked, the foundations of the mountains trembled; they shook because He burned with anger." (Psalm 18:7)

"The Lord rules over the flood-waters.
The Lord reigns as king forever!" (Psalm 29:10)

"He looks at the earth, and it trembles; He touches the mountains, and they pour out smoke." (Psalm 104:32)

"Fire and hail, snow and clouds, wind and weather obey Him." (Psalm 148:8)

"I will bring disaster on the world . . . Therefore I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the Lord Almighty, in the day of His burning anger." (Isaiah 13:11, 13)

"The Lord Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire!" (Isaiah 29:6)

"I am the Lord, and there is no other.
I form the light, and create darkness,
I bring prosperity, and create disaster;
I, the Lord, do all these things!" (Isaiah 45:7–8)

"Look. The Lord's anger bursts out like a storm, a whirlwind that swirls down on the heads of the wicked. The anger of the Lord will not diminish, until it has finished all He has planned." (Jeremiah 23:19–20)

"When He thunders, the waters in the heavens roar;
He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning with the rain and
brings out the wind from His storehouses." (Jeremiah 51:16)

"Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?" (Lamentations 3:37–38)

"Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: In My wrath I will unleash a violent wind, and in My anger hailstones and torrents of rain will fall with destructive fury." (Ezekiel 13:13)

"Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it?" (Amos 3:6)

"I sent plagues on you like the plagues I sent on Egypt long ago.
I killed your young men in war and led all your horses away." (Amos 4:10)

When the earth quakes beneath us, let us not attribute it to chance, or accident, or laws of nature—but to Him who alone shakes the pillars thereof. Storms at sea, earthquakes on land, and tempests in the sky—are but the outstretched rod of Jehovah, calling men to repentance and reminding them that He alone is God!

Though God ordains all these events, He remains holy and without sin. "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." (1 John 1:5). He does not do evil, nor can He be accused of injustice. God's purposes are always just and righteous. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?" (Genesis 18:25).

Let us, therefore . . .
acknowledge God's sovereign hand in all things,
bow in reverent fear,
and trust in His perfect wisdom.

"All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of Heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand or say to Him: What have you done?" (Daniel 4:35)

"Hallelujah. For our Lord God Almighty reigns! Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory." Revelation 19:6–7

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The expulsive power of a new affection

John MacDuff

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

"For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God." Romans 8:14

"I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes and be careful to obey My rules." Ezekiel 36:27

God has made gracious provision to secure, on the part of His ransomed people, a holy walk and obedience; and that, not through their own strength, but through the strength and power of His indwelling Spirit.

By that Spirit, we are not only renewed, but led. We are sweetly constrained to walk in harmony with the divine will as manifested in His Word, and the impulses of our regenerated nature. We have here, what is called the expulsive power of a new affection.

This expulsive power of a new affection, is a plant which our Heavenly Father must plant. It is not indigenous to the natural soil of the human heart, which is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.

The power of sin, becomes slowly weaker and weaker.
The power of grace, slowly, it may be imperceptibly, becomes stronger and stronger.

Reader, have you in any feeble measure, been able to realize the presence and power of the indwelling Spirit, leading you to the surrender of your heart and life to Christ? Is the Spirit gradually leading you to the conquest of sin, and the expulsion of whatever is . . .
impure and corrupt,
grasping and covetous,
unloving and unholy?

"I will put fear of Me in their hearts, so they will never again turn away from Me!" Jeremiah 32:40

You may want to listen to Psalm 1 set to music.

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Have you heard the sermon of the falling leaves?

Charles Spurgeon, October fifth, 1873

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

Have any of you been abroad in the fields during the past week? If so, you must have marked the waning year. The leaves are fading all around us, clothing the departing year with a wonderful beauty. As they fade away one by one, they preach to us and say: "You too, O men, will soon fall to earth and wither!" Have you heard the sermon of the falling leaves?

You say to yourselves, "Winter will soon be here." You begin to store up your stocks of fuel to meet the coming cold. But do you not see those gray hairs upon your head—are they not wintry tokens too? Do you not note those trembling limbs, those loosened sinews, that furrowed brow? Do not these betoken that your winter is hastening on?

Have you made no provision for eternity?

Will you be driven away forever, where there shall be no hope?

Have you laid up no stores of comfort for another world?

O fools and slow of heart—even the birds of the air rebuke you!

It was but the other day I saw the swallows gathering, and away they flew across the sea to sunnier climates. They did not wait here until all their food was gone and they must famish. No, they took to themselves wings, and followed the sun.

Has all the wisdom entered into birds—and have men none left? "Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons, and the dove, the swift and the thrush observe the time of their migration. But My people do not know the requirements of the LORD." Jeremiah 8:7

Will you wait in this poor world, and linger among its dying joys—until you die and perish forever?

Oh, that you would take the wings of faith, and fly where the Sun of Righteousness points out the way, and you will reach the land of everlasting summer, where fading flowers and withering leaves are never known.

"If only they were wise, and would understand this and discern what their end will be!" Deuteronomy 32:29

"Show me, O LORD, my life's end, and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life." Psalm 39:4

"Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12

We have published another comforting hymn, "Be Still My Heart".

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What shall the swearer say?

James Meikle, "The Traveler" June 15, 1758

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below. Or you may want to WATCH the Video on either YouTube or SermonAudio)

"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain." Exodus 20:7

How justly will God, the righteous Judge, repay the imprecations into the bosoms of these blasphemers!

They sin in sport—but God hears in earnest, and will punish in zeal. They call on God profanely in their words; and God hears and will answer them in wrath!

They swear, and forget—but God has sworn that He will remember. That which they think adds vigor to their words—shall indeed add anguish to their grief, and fierceness to their torments!

What shall the swearer say, when tossing on the fiery billows, shrieking under consummate despair!

"O miserable state of intolerable torments, which I must endure! How shall I spend this eternity of pain! It was nothing to me in time to hear others curse and blaspheme—and to join in the infernal dialect myself! And now I am encircled with unceasing blasphemies, from all the legions of demons, from all the millions of miserable sinners, suffering under infinite vengeance! And I mingle in the uproar, and join in the terrible tumult against the throne of God, although dreadfully tortured in my rebellion. Then, curses accented every sentence; now, every sentence is one continued curse! I thought God was altogether such a one as myself—and that He would never remember my swearings, which I never minded; nor call me to account for committing what I made no account of. Damn me! damn me! was always on my tongue—and now I am damned forever! The oaths and curses which I sowed in time—have now sprung up into bitter bewailings, and eternal blasphemings! As I took pleasure in cursing, so it is come unto me—but with inexpressible pain! O eternity, eternity, how long!"

"They cursed the God of Heaven for their pains and sores. But they did not turn from their evil ways." Revelation 16:11. This is, indeed, the lamentable end of profane swearers, who shall confess the equity of God in their torments!

But, as the wicked shall be repaid according to their ways, so shall the righteous be in theirs. All their imperfect . . .
attainments,
longings,
wrestlings,
hopes,
desires,
prayers,
meditations,
tears,
godly sorrows,
spiritual joys,
and the seeds of every other grace—shall come to a wondrous conclusion at last. Now they serve God with weakness—but then they shall enjoy Him with a vigorous immortality! They sow in tears, and go weeping heavenward—but shall possess Him in a triumphant state, where sorrow and sighing shall forever flee away!

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Ear stoppers!

Charles Spurgeon

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

"But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and stopped up their ears!" Zechariah 7:11

Alas, men's ears are still stopped up! An old Puritan has mentioned seven kinds of what he calls "ear stoppers," which need to be taken out of the human ear.

They are frequently blocked up by ignorance.
They know not the importance and value of the truth, and therefore they refuse to give earnest heed to it. Judging the Gospel to be an idle tale, they go their ways to their farms and to their business.

Some ears are stopped up by unbelief.
They have heard the glad tidings of salvation, but they have not received it as an infallible revelation from God, a message backed by divine authority.

Skepticism and philosophy, falsely so called, barricade the Ear-gate against the assaults of the Gospel, so that even the great battering-rams of the gospel prove powerless to force an entrance. "He could not do many mighty works, because of their unbelief!"

Others ears are stopped up by impenitence.
The hardness of the heart, causes a deadness of the ear! You may discharge the great cannons of the law in the ears of some men, but they will not stir. The thunders of God startle the wild beasts of the forest, but impenitence is not moved thereby. The gospel itself sounds upon such ears with no more effect than upon a marble statue. The groans of Calvary are nothing to them.

Some ears are stopped by prejudice.
They have made up their minds as to what the gospel ought to be, and they will not hear it as it is. They have set up for themselves a standard of what the truth should be, and that standard is a false one, for they have put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter, darkness for light and light for darkness.

The entrance into many ears is also effectually barred by the love of sin.
He who loves vileness, will not hear of repentance. The lover of pleasure, detests holy mourning. The immoral think holiness to be another name for slavery. The man who finds delight in sin, is a deaf adder whom the wisest charmer cannot charm. The poison of asps is under his tongue, and he cannot renounce his deadly hatred of a gospel which rebukes his evil ways. It would be vain to teach cleanliness to the swine which wallows in the mire—it loves impurity, and after impurity will it go.

Some ears are stopped through pride.
The plain, unflattering, humbling gospel of the sinner's Savior is not to their taste. The gospel for lost sinners, they think, is not addressed to them—for they imagine themselves to be good enough, and are by no means worthy of any great blame, or in danger of any great punishment. If the gospel flute could be tuned to notes of flattery, to praise the dignity of man—then they would attend to its music. But they will have nothing to do with a gospel for vulgar sinners! With their fine feathers all ruffled in disdain, they turn away in a rage.

Alas! how many ears are stopped through worldliness!
If you stand in a busy street where the constant thunder of rumbling wheels creates a din—it would be difficult to preach so as to command an audience, for the street noise would prevent all hearing. In the same way to a great extent, the mass of mankind are just in that position as to the joyful sound of the gospel. The rumbling of the wheels of commerce, the noise of trade and the cries of competition, the whirl of cares and the riot of pleasures—all these drown the persuasive voice of heavenly love, so that men hear no more of it than they would hear a pin fall in the midst of a hurricane. Only when God unstops the ear, is the still small voice of truth heard in the chambers of the heart.

"Whoever belongs to God hears what God says.
The reason you do not hear, is that you do not belong to God!"
John 8:47

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The Necessity of Affliction

John MacDuff

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

"Though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials" 1 Peter 1:6

What a blessed motto and superscription over the dark lintels of sorrow: "There is a necessity for this!" Every arrow from the quiver of God is feathered with it! Write it, child of affliction, over every trial that your God sees fit to send!

If He calls you down from the sunny mountain-heights, to the darksome valleys—hear Him saying: "There is a necessity for this!"

If He has dashed the cup of earthly prosperity from your lips, curtailed your creature comforts, diminished your "basket and store"—hear Him saying: "There is a necessity for this!"

If He has plowed and furrowed your soul with severe bereavement, extinguished light after light in your dwelling—hear Him thus stilling the tumult of your grief, "There is a necessity for this!"

Yes, believe it—there is some profound reason for your trial, which at present may be indiscernible to you. No furnace will be hotter than He sees to be needed.

Be still, and know that He is God! That "necessity," remember, is in the hands of infinite Love, infinite Wisdom, and infinite Power! Trust Him in little things, as well as in great things; in trifles as well as in disasters. Seek to have an unquestioning faith. Though other paths, doubtless, would have been selected by you had the choice been in your hands—be it yours to listen to His voice at every turn of the road, saying, "This is the way, walk in it!"

We may not be able to understand it now, but one day we shall find that affliction is one of God's most blessed ministers, sent forth to "minister to those who are heirs of salvation."

Sorrowful one! There is a reason for your chastisement. "For the Lord disciplines those whom He loves, and chastens every child whom He accepts." Hebrews 12:6

What! God loves me, when He is discharging His quiver upon me, emptying me from vessel to vessel, causing the sun of my earthly joys to set in clouds? Yes, afflicted, tempest-tossed one! He chastens you, because He loves you! This trial comes from His own tender, loving hand—from His own tender, unchanging heart!

Are you laid on a sick bed, are sorrowful months and wearisome nights appointed unto you? Let this be the pillow on which your aching head reclines: It is because God loves me!

Is it bereavement which has swept your heart and desolated your dwelling? God appointed that chamber of death, He opened that tomb—because He loves you!

Believer! Rejoice in the thought that the chastening rod is in the hands of the living, loving Savior who died for you! Tribulation is the King's Highway, and yet that highway is paved with love. As some flowers require to be pressed before shedding their fragrance—so does your God see fit to bruise you, to bring out your graces.

If your heavenly Father's smile has for the moment been exchanged for the chastening rod, be assured there is some deep necessity for the discipline. There is nothing capricious in His dealings. Love is the reason of all that He does. There is no drop of wrath in that bitter cup you are called upon to drink!

Erring human wisdom has no place in God's allotments. An earthly father may err—yes, he is ever erring. But "as for God, His way is perfect!" This is the explanation of His every dealing: "Your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things!"

In our seasons of trial, when under some inscrutable painful dispensation, how apt is the murmuring thought to rise in our hearts:
"All these things are against me!
Might not this overwhelming blow have been spared?
Might not this dark cloud, which has shadowed my heart and my home with sadness, have been averted?
Might not my trial have been less severe?
Surely the Lord has forgotten to be gracious!"

No! These afflictions are errands of mercy in disguise! "He does not afflict willingly." There is nothing capricious or arbitrary about your God's dealings. Unutterable tenderness is the character of all His allotments! He appoints no needless pang. He has precious lessons that could not otherwise have been taught!

Afflicted one! Be assured that there is some deep necessity in all that He does. In our calendars of sorrow we may put this luminous mark against every trying hour: "It was needed!" Some excess branch in the tree required pruning, to increase its fruitfulness.

Mourning one! He might have dealt far otherwise with you! He might have cut you down as a fruitless, worthless cumberer! He might have abandoned you to drift—disowned and unpiloted on the rocks of destruction, joined to your idols! He might have "left you alone" to settle on your lees, and forfeit your eternal bliss! But He loved you better. It was kindness—infinite kindness, which blighted your fairest blossoms, and hedged up your way with thorns!

Trust His heart, when you cannot trace His hand!

"As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten." Revelation 3:19

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The teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit

Various authors

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

John 14:26, "But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you."

One way in which the Holy Spirit comforts us, is by His teaching. It is His work to help us understand the Scriptures.

The Holy Spirit is the master teacher who takes the things of Christ and reveals them to us, making our hearts burn within us.

The Spirit's work is not to deliver new truths, but to make the truths in the Word shine with living clarity before our eyes.

The Spirit does not merely teach us doctrine, but makes us feel its power and sweetness in the depths of our souls.

The Spirit's teaching is heart-teaching. It is not learned in the intellect alone, but in the soul's deepest experience.

The Spirit is the great interpreter of God's Word—and without His teaching, we cannot rightly divide the Scriptures.

I can teach you the letter of God's Word, but there is only One who can teach you effectually and savingly.

The Spirit not only reveals, but transforms—for it is His nature to lead us from knowledge into holiness.

As the sun brings light to the natural world, so the Spirit brings spiritual light to the darkened soul.

When the Spirit breathes upon the Word, the truth leaps from the page and fastens upon the heart, as an arrow of conviction or comfort.

When the Spirit comes with power, every doctrine sparkles like a diamond in the sunlight, and glows with divine warmth.

The Spirit of God gives us not only light, but sight. For what is the use of daylight to a blind man? The Spirit opens the eyes of our understanding.

When the Spirit works within, even the simplest truths of Scripture shine with divine brilliance, filling the soul with joy.

Without the Spirit of God, we can do nothing—we are as,
ships without wind,
branches without sap,
and coals without fire.

The Spirit's illumination goes beyond words, for He makes us taste the sweetness of Christ, and feel the importance of eternal realities.

The Spirit of God first imparts light to the soul, by which we see,
ourselves,
our sin,
and our Savior.

The Spirit shows us our sin as exceedingly sinful, and Jesus as altogether lovely!

We are blind until the Spirit takes the scales from our eyes.
We are deaf until He unstops our ears.
We are dead until He gives us life.

The Holy Spirit is the great revealer of Christ to the soul, making Him known, loved, and adored—where He was once despised.

By the Spirit's enlightening, we see,
the glory of the cross,
the beauty of holiness,
and the hope of Heaven—as never before!

Without the Spirit's teaching, we are like travelers in the wilderness without a compass, wandering aimlessly in search of truth.

"But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth." John 16:13

We have published one of John Newton's most precious poems, 'Tis a Point I Long to Know.

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The Saints' Everlasting Rest!

Richard Baxter

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

Heaven is the presence of God. It is . . .
to be filled with His love,
to partake of His infinite joys, and
to be satisfied with His all-sufficient goodness.

What a glorious state will it be . . .
when we shall fully enjoy God,
when we shall be perfectly united in love with all the saints, and
when we shall join together with them in the perpetual praises of our Creator and Redeemer!

There is no toil in Heaven. There is no weariness nor weakness. Their rest is not in idleness, but in sweet and perfect activity—always delighting in the service of their King.

Every holy desire shall find its fulfillment in Heaven.
All that the soul desires, shall there be fulfilled.
Every longing for beauty,
every craving for truth,
every thirst for love,
every holy aspiration,
shall be abundantly satisfied in the immediate enjoyment of God!

If one drop of heavenly joy could fall into this world, it would swallow up all earthly pleasures as the ocean swallows a grain of sand. What then must the infinite ocean of delight be, in its full and eternal measure?

In Heaven, the saints shall have no other activity but to worship the Lord. They shall continually behold His glory, and forever sing His praises.

Heaven is the place where the unveiled glory of God shall be fully displayed, where His perfections shall shine forth in their fullest splendor, and where every soul shall bask in the light of His countenance forever!

No more shall there be misunderstandings, divisions, or offenses among the saints. Perfect harmony, perfect love, and perfect joy shall reign in that blessed assembly, united forever in the presence of God.

All the pleasures of earth are but a drop, compared to the ocean of joys that await the saints in Heaven. Their joy shall never wane, but shall increase as they plunge ever deeper into the infinite treasures of God.

If the sight of Christ in His humiliation could ravish the souls of His disciples—then how much more will the sight of Him in His glory satisfy and delight us! If His love to us on earth was so sweet—then what will His glorious Heavenly love be?

To see the face of Jesus, to behold the scars by which we are saved, to gaze upon the King in His beauty—this will be the crowning joy of Heaven, the height of blessedness, the satisfaction of every holy soul.

"There remains therefore a rest for the people of God." Hebrews 4:9

We have published Anne Steele's comforting poem, "O Lovely Source of True Delight!"

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Enter through the narrow gate

Various authors

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

Matthew 7:13-14
"Enter through the narrow gate.
For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

In these verses, Jesus presents a sobering truth: the way to life is narrow, and few find it; while the way to destruction is broad and heavily traveled. This passage stands as a solemn warning against self-deception. It challenges us to examine whether we are truly walking in the narrow path, or merely following the religious crowd down the broad road of worldly ease and self-indulgence.

The broad road is appealing because it requires no self-denial, no submission to God's Word, and no transformation of heart. It is the road of pride, worldliness, and self-sufficiency—the very things that sinful man loves. Tragically, this road ends in eternal destruction.

Conversely, the narrow gate is the way of faith, repentance, and holiness. It is a path marked by trial, persecution, and self-denial—but it leads to eternal life.

The narrow road is not for the half-hearted or the double-minded. Only those whom the Spirit has regenerated and drawn to Christ in true saving faith, walk in the narrow road.

This passage dismantles the false gospel of easy-believism that pervades much of modern Christianity. Jesus does not present the narrow road as an optional, higher-tier discipleship path for the especially devout. It is the only road to eternal life.

Many profess faith in Christ, yet walk the broad road, deceived into thinking they are saved, while refusing to submit to Christ's Lordship!

True faith produces obedience; not perfection, but a life genuinely marked by repentance and growing holiness.

Jesus' words should cause us to examine ourselves.
Have we truly entered the narrow gate?

Let us not be numbered among the many who take the broad and easy road to destruction, but among the few who follow Jesus on narrow road that leads to eternal life.

"Then He said to them all: If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me!" Luke 9:23

We have published Don Fortner's precious poem, "My Father's Loving Heart"

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Entangling things!

Charles Spurgeon

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

"Let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us" Hebrews 12:1

Around us are a thousand entangling things!

I see all around me a crowd of alluring, fascinating, pleasurable and dazzling things.

Pleasure calls to me; I hear her siren song.

Philosophy and learning charm me; gladly would I yield my heart to them.

This world is very much like the pools we have heard of in India, in which grows a long grass of so clinging a character that, if a man once falls into the water, it is almost certain to be his death, for only with the utmost difficulty could he be rescued from the meshes of the deadly, weedy net, which immediately wraps itself around him.

In the same way, this world is entangling.

All the efforts of grace are needed to preserve men from being ensnared with the deceitfulness of riches, and the cares of this life . . .
the ledger demands you,
the shop requires you,
the warehouse bell rings for you;
the theater invites you,
the ballroom calls you.

You must live, you say, and you must have a little enjoyment—and consequently, you give your heart to the world.

These things, I say, are very entangling; but we must be disentangled from them, for we cannot afford to lose our souls.

"What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?"

If a ship is going down, and a passenger has his gold in a bag, see how he acts. With regret he flings his bag of treasure down upon the deck, for his life is dearer than gold. If he may but save his life, he is willing to lose all else besides.

Oh, sirs! For the one thing needful—the salvation of your eternal soul—all entangling things must be given up.

"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." 1 John 2:15

We have published Anne Steele's comforting poem, "When I Survey Life's Varied Scene".

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Living in the Light of Eternity!

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

"Show me, O LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is." Psalm 39:4-5

Richard Baxter:
"This life was not intended to be the place of our rest. Let us live as strangers and pilgrims, longing for a better country."

"You have no time but what is given to you by God, and it is given to you to use for Him."

"Live as men who must shortly die, and as men who must live forever."

Thomas Boston:
"Since time is so uncertain, we must live every day as if it were our last.
When we lie down at night, we do not know if we shall rise in the morning."

Thomas Brooks:
"The world is but a great inn where we are to lodge a night, and to be gone in the morning. Oh, that we would consider this, that we might sit loose from all things below, and use the world as travelers use their inns."

"Eternity is at the door! Let us not dream away our time in the pursuit of vanities."

Jonathan Edwards:
"Time is far more precious than money, and yet there is nothing that is so much wasted, as time."

"Resolved, never to do anything which I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life."

John Flavel:
"God has set eternity in our hearts, yet how often do we foolishly barter it away for momentary pleasures!"

"Man's life is a shadow, a dream, a flower, a vapor. It is but a moment between the cradle and the grave."

William Gurnall:
"Time is a rich treasure; see that you do not spend it unprofitably.
Redeem it, because it is precious.
Redeem it, because it is short."

John Owen:
"God has given us a short time here upon the earth, and we must give account for how we have spent it."

"Consider the shortness and uncertainty of time, and the eternity that is to come. Do not set your hearts on fleeting things."

Thomas Manton:
"It is folly to set our hearts upon that which is so uncertain, and to neglect that which is eternal."

"Live as if you were presently to die, and as if the day of judgment were at hand."

Samuel Rutherford:
"Do not build your nest here on earth.
Set your heart on Heaven; let it be your home and treasure."

Thomas Watson:
"Eternity to the godly is a day that has no sunset.
Eternity to the wicked is a night that has no sunrise."

"Live in the world as a traveler in an inn, whose home is in another country."

"Time is short,
death is certain,
and eternity is long.
Live as if you are on the brink of Heaven."

"Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12

We have published Anne Steele's comforting poem, "When I Survey Life's Varied Scene".

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Whatever gives you the most pleasure

Charles Spurgeon

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

Luke 12:34, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

A person's desires manifest the genuine state of his heart.

When I have heard of Christians attending sinful amusements as an occasional treat, I have seen at once what their hearts truly desired; they evidently loved worldly pleasures better than spiritual joys. Where either a man's pleasure or treasure is—there his heart is. Whatever gives you the most pleasure, is really your God.

To be flattered is the greatest delight of many—their God is themselves.

"To make money is my greatest delight," says one. Then the golden calf is your God.

Whatever is your greatest joy and treasure, that is your Heaven and your God. If you do not find the greatest pleasure in the things of God, then you do not know what the Christian life means, neither will you ever know the pleasures which are at God's right hand.

"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things." Colossians 3:1-2

"But our citizenship is in Heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ" Philippians 3:20

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts.
See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
Psalm 139:23-24

"The dearest idol I have known,
Whatever that idol be,
Help me to tear it from Your throne,
And worship only Thee!"

We have published Annie Johnson Flint's precious poem, "I Look Not Back".

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The old Toledo blade!

Charles Spurgeon, "Counting the Cost" 1874

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

"Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow Me, cannot be My disciple!"
"In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has, cannot be My disciple!"
Luke 14:27, 33

The old Toledo blade cost the warrior much at first, but when he had once procured it he knew that it would cut through joint and marrow in the day of battle. So he was not afraid to dash into the thick of the fray, trusting to its unrivaled temper and keen edge.
Could he not find a cheaper sword? He could have found it easily enough, and with small expense, but then in the moment when his sword smote upon his enemy's helmet—instead of cleaving through the skull, it would snap in the warrior's hand and cost him his life!

In the same way, many professors of the gospel take up a cheap religion. There is,
no self-denial in it,
no forsaking of the world,
no giving up of sinful amusements.
They are just the same as the world. Their religion costs them nothing and at last when they need it, it will fail them—it will snap like the cheap, poorly-made sword in the day of battle, and leave them defenseless. Oh, if you want that which will endure the conflict, you must expend cost upon it.

Many professing Christians never separate from the world—no, not they! They fall in with the fashions of the day, as the dead fish floats with the current!

Have they any cross to bear? Does anybody mock them for living a holy life? Oh, no! for theirs is the easy religion which the world praises, and consequently the religion which God abhors. "If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him!" He who has the smile of the ungodly, must expect the frown of God.

No man has truly committed himself to Christ, unless he has also said, "My Lord, this day I give to You my body, my soul, my talents, my goods, my house, my children, and all that I have. Henceforth I will hold them as Your steward. As for me, I have nothing. I have surrendered all to You."

You cannot be Christ's disciples at any less cost than this. If you possess a farthing that is your own—then Christ is not your Master. It must be all His, every single jot and tittle, and your life also—or you cannot be His disciple.

Oh, count the cost! If any of you have taken up a religion which costs you nothing—then throw it down and flee from it, for it will be your curse and your ruin.

But may we not get to Heaven without all this cost? No! You may be counterfeits, you may be hypocrites, you may be brethren of Judas—but you cannot be real Christians.

The cost of the cross is unavoidable, it cannot be lessened one solitary mite.

Salvation is not merely deliverance from Hell and eternal suffering.
It is deliverance from this world's vain and wicked ways.

If you would have justification, you must have sanctification.

If you would have pardon of sin, you must have holiness of life.

If you would walk the streets of gold above, you must walk the road of holiness below.

We have published Josiah Conder's outstanding poem, 'Tis Not That I Did Choose Thee.

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He gives more grace

Annie Johnson Flint

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to this comforting hymn, as you READ the text below. Or you may want to WATCH the Video on YouTube)

He gives more grace as our burdens grow greater,

He sends more strength as our labors increase.

To added afflictions He adds His mercy,

To multiplied trials He multiplies peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,

When our strength has failed ere the day is half done;

When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,

Our Father's full giving is only begun.

Fear not that your need shall exceed His provision,

Our God ever yearns His resources to share.

Lean hard on the arm everlasting availing;

The Father both you and your load will upbear.

His love has no limits His grace has no measure,

His power no boundary known unto men;

For out of His infinite riches in Jesus,

He gives and gives, and gives again!

"From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another!" John 1:16

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Christ is Himself the vital thing

Don Fortner

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to this Christ-exalting hymn, as you READ the text below. Or you may want to WATCH the Video on YouTube)
Christ is Himself the vital thing.
We must, we must have Him!
My God, deny me anything,
But give, oh give me Him!

Christ in you, is what free grace brings,
God's giving Gift of gifts!
With Christ He gives us everything.
With hope our souls He lifts.

Christ in you, is the hope bestowed,
The hope of glory, He.
He paid all that to God I owed,
And gives glory to me!

"It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus,
who has become for us wisdom from God—that is,
our righteousness, holiness and redemption."
1 Corinthians 1:30