Grace Audio Treasures

'Tis a point I long to knowJohn Newton, 1779'Tis a point I long to know,Oft it causes anxious thought;Do I love the Lord or no?Am I His, or am I not?If I love, why am I thus?Why this dull and lifeless frame?Hardly sure can they be worse,Who have never heard His name!Could my heart so hard remain,Prayer a task and burden prove,Every trifle give me pain,If I knew the Savior's love?When I turn my eyes within,All is dark and vain and wild;Filled with unbelief and sin,Can I deem myself a child?If I pray, or hear, or read,Sin is mixed with all I do!You who love the Lord indeed,Tell me, Is it thus with you?Yet I mourn my stubborn will,Find my sin a grief and thrall;Should I grieve for what I feel,If I did not love at all?Could I joy His saints to meet,Choose the ways I once abhorred,Find at times, the promise sweet,If I did not love the Lord?Lord decide the doubtful case!You who are Your people's sun,Shine upon Your work of grace,If it is indeed begun.Let me love You more and more,If I love at all, I pray;If I have not loved before,Help me to begin today!

'Tis not that I did choose TheeJosiah Conder, 1789–1855'Tis not that I did choose Thee,For Lord that could not be;This heart would still refuse Thee,Had You not chosen me.You from the sin that stained me,Have cleansed and set me free,Of old You have ordained me,That I should live to Thee.Twas sovereign mercy called me,And taught my opening mind;The world had else enthralled me,To heavenly glories blind.My heart owns none before Thee,For Your rich grace I thirst;This knowing, if I love Thee,You must have loved me first!

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

"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 12:1Around 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 salv

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

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

"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!