Faith is the root of salvation. It is the hand by which the soul grabs hold of Jesus Christ, and is united to Him and saved. It is the secret of all spiritual comfort and health. From our faith will come peace, hope, strength, courage, and victory over the world. When the apostles ask for more faith, they are wise. Faith

It is a great sin to put stumbling-blocks in front of other people’s souls. When does this happen? When do men or women cause others to stumble? Whenever they try to stop or slow down believers from serving Christ. But this isn’t the only way men and women cause others to stumble. Those who claim to be Christians can do

What a man has or doesn’t have on this earth is no indication of whether he has a saved heart or not. In this parable, the poor man has grace and the rich man has none. The poor man lives by faith, and the rich man is thoughtless, selfish, and dead in sins. We must never give in to the

It is useless to attempt to serve God with a divided heart. This seems pretty obvious, but thousands are constantly trying to do this very thing that Christ calls impossible. They are trying to be friends of the world and friends of God at the same time. They realise that they need some kind of religion, but they love the

This is a difficult passage to understand. The fault isn’t with the Bible, but with us and our limited understanding. We need to be careful that we don’t draw from these verses lessons which they are not meant to teach. Jesus is not saying that dishonesty and stealing are ok. This manager cheats and steals from his boss who is

The older brother is angry and finds fault because of the rejoicing over his brother’s return. He complains that his father is treating the returning prodigal too well, and that he himself has not been treated as well as he deserves. He is unable to share in the joy over his younger brother, and he gives way to envious thoughts.

The prodigal son is a picture of everyone before they are saved. We are all naturally proud and selfish. We have no pleasure in fellowship with God. We turn away from Him, going as far as we can. We spend our time, and strength, and mind, and heart on worthless things. The prodigal son finds out that the ways of sin

What the Scribes and Pharisees say is strictly and literally true. The Lord Jesus does welcome sinners. He welcomes them to forgive them, and to make them holy and ready for heaven. It is His job to do so. This is why He came to the world - to call sinners to repent. He came to earth to save sinners.

True Christians must be ready, if necessary, to give up everything for Christ’s sake. Jesus is not saying that it is the duty of Christians to hate their relatives. He means that those who follow Him must love Him with a deeper love even than their nearest and dearest relatives and friends, or their own lives. He is not saying

Jesus is taking the opportunity through this parable to remind those around Him that men may have the kingdom of God offered to them, and yet may choose to neglect, ignore, or reject it, and be lost forever. First, we are taught in this parable that God has provided everything necessary to save men’s souls. The great supper with enough food