I read somewhere the story of a group of teenagers who broke into a department store one night. They didn’t steal or destroy anything. They just had a wonderful time switching price tags. The next morning customers were puzzled and delighted to find fur coats selling for $5.00. Cold cream was priced at $150. A silver service was marked $1.75 and a pair of ladies’ hose $390. There were umbrellas...
There are two ways of salvation known to men—the way of merit and the way of mercy. Most people everywhere believe that they are saved either by their own goodness or by God’s grace. The basis of every world religion, except Christianity, is that man is saved by his own goodness. Through the years some people, not understanding the Bible, have tried to interject the idea of salvation by works i...
Nothing is more universal than trouble. In its many forms it comes to all men alike. Our only trouble-free days are those in the past. The question then is not “Will I have trouble in life?” or “Why do trials come?” but “How will I face them?” It is a question of attitude. The person who has not learned to deal successfully with trouble has not learned to live successfully.
Jesus Christ...
Ours is not a religion of payback. It is of grace. However, out of gratitude we do owe the Lord something. This psalmist understood that spirit of thanksgiving.
Psalm 116 is a peculiarly personal song. It is personal testimony of one man who was seriously ill and almost died. The Lord heard his prayer and delivered him. He now writes this psalm of grateful thanksgiving.
The ps...
Many of our national leaders sound the alarm that our society is sick. This is evident with all the violence, war, injustice, and immorality. Is there any hope for things to get better? Can we hope to solve these pressing problems on our own? Over one hundred years ago the answer would have been an emphatic “Yes.” We had just fought World War I—“the war to end all wars.” The future looked rosy...
British evangelist Alan Redpath (1907-1989) recalls going with a pastor friend to an old village church in the north of England during the early days of World War II. They met the vicar there in charge of that parish. Redpath wrote, "He took us into his old vicarage, and we went inside and discovered it had all been modernized. It had electric lights, an electric stove, electric heat, electric...
The king of all sins is pride. It is the sin that made a devil out of Satan. As English author John Milton once wrote, “He would rather reign in hell than serve in heaven.” Not only was pride the devil’s problem, it is also our problem. We all face the temptation to strut around before God and to look down our noses at other people.
Pride asserts itself in two directions: toward God an...
Author R. Lee Sharpe (1872-1951) once told a great story about his dad. He wrote, “One spring day long ago Father called me to go with him to old man Trussell’s blacksmith shop. He had left a rake and a hoe to be repaired. And they were ready when we came, fixed like new. Father handed over a silver dollar, but Mr. Trussell refused to take it. ‘No,’ he said. ‘There’s no charge for that little j...
One of the common denominators of all world religions except Christianity is that they do not correlate faith and works. In Christianity there is the closest correlation between them. In fact the Bible says, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:26).
The Bible is clear: a workless faith is worthless faith.
Faith and works mus...