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

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 S

"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 ma

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,

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

Flint He gives more graceAnnie Johnson FlintHe 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 resourcesOur 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!

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

"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 20:7How 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

The Soul MeltedJoseph SwainWhen on my Beloved I gaze,So dazzling His beauties appear,His charms so transcendently blaze,The sight is too melting to bear.When from my own vileness I turn,To Jesus exposed on the tree,With shame and with wonder I burn,To think what He suffered for me.My sins, how black they appear,When in that dear bosom they meet!My sins were the nails and the spearThat wounded His hands and His feet.Twas justice that wreathed for His head,The thorns that encircled it round;Your temples, Immanuel bled,That mine might with glory be crowned.The wonderful love of His heart,Where He has recorded my name,On earth can be known but in part;Heaven only can bear the full flame.In rivers of sorrow it flowed,And flowed in those rivers for me,My sins are all drowned in His blood;My soul is both happy and free!

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 faste