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Full text of Thirsty? | |
“Just give me a glass of cold water, please.” | |
Nothing quite satisfies us when we are really thirsty, like water. Our bodies naturally crave it, and it’s the single most important ingredient, next to air, for life. Water has a deficiency, however. That tall glass of ice water I enjoyed two hours ago no longer satisfies. | |
That’s the way it is in life. The car I bought last year doesn’t have the features of the newer models, so now I want the newer car. The salary I earned last year doesn’t meet all my desires, so I would like more. The house which used to be perfect no longer seems big or fancy enough. The cycle goes on and on—we want it . . . we get it . . . and we want more. Isn’t there anything that completely satisfies, once and for all? | |
Truly Satisfying | |
The Bible says there is. As a matter of fact, it tells us about a Man who promised us that if we were to drink of His water, we would never thirst again. His name is Jesus, and these are His words to a thirsty woman who came to get water from a well where He was sitting: “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14). | |
This water of life which Jesus had to offer this woman so completely satisfied her that she left her waterpot and went into the city crying, “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” (John 4:29). She had found that living water which so completely satisfies: the Person of the Lord Jesus. She recognized that He was the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God who should come into this world to save sinners. As a sinner she came and tasted that living water. | |
Won’t You Come? | |
“Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17). | |
For more information, read the story of the woman at the well: John 4:4-30. |
Matt loses his dog Laddie and has to buy him back from the neighborhood bully. Christ paid to buy us back from sin and Satan. Former title: "Getting Laddie Back" Full text of gospel tract: | |
Laddie was the most wonderful dog in the world. At least that’s what Matt thought. To anyone else he might seem very ordinary, but since Matt’s birthday when his father had brought home the playful puppy, Matt’s life was changed. | |
Matt and Laddie soon were almost inseparable. Even running errands for Mom was fun when Laddie came along. When Matt came home from school, Laddie was always at the gate to meet him. But one day, when Matt got home, his dog had vanished. | |
“Where’s Laddie?” he asked his Mom. | |
“He’s probably curled up in a corner sleeping somewhere,” she replied. “He’ll likely be back soon.” | |
By the time Matt’s dad got home from work, Laddie was still missing. “Where did you see him last?” he asked Matt. | |
“He followed me partway to school this morning,” said Matt. “Do you suppose he got lost and couldn’t find his way home?” | |
“We’ll go out and look for him after supper,” his father promised. But when bedtime came, Laddie still hadn’t been found. Long, lonesome days followed, and still no trace could be found of his dog. | |
Another Puppy? | |
“I’m afraid a car has run over him, son,” Dad said at last. “But don’t worry. We’ll get another puppy for you.” | |
“Another puppy?” Matt felt awful. There would never be another puppy like Laddie. | |
Several weeks later, Matt was walking, when he heard a low whimper coming from the other side of a hedge. Peering through the gate, he saw Laddie straining at a rope tied to his collar. In an instant Matt was through the gate and fumbling at the knot that held Laddie prisoner. | |
“What are you doing to my dog?” angrily demanded a boy several years older and a lot bigger than Matt. | |
“But this is my puppy,” answered Matt. “I lost him a few weeks ago. How did you get him?” | |
“Your dog, is it?” scoffed the older boy. “Well, he’s mine now. Just try to get him.” | |
Matt felt like crying at the thought of leaving Laddie behind. Suddenly he had an idea. “Would you sell him to me?” he asked. | |
Ransom | |
For a while the older boy considered. “How much will you give me?” he asked finally. | |
“Well, I’ve only got three dollars. But you can have it all.” | |
“Tell you what,” said the boy. “You give me the three dollars. Then I’ll untie the dog, and if he wants to go home with you, you can have him. If he wants to stay with me, he’s mine.” | |
Matt raced home. As he ran, fear gnawed at his heart. What if Laddie had forgotten him? What if he stayed with the older boy? Minutes later he was giving all his money to the boy. | |
“OK, pup, it’s up to you,” said the boy, as the knot was untied. With one joyful bark, Laddie ran through the gate toward Matt, and together they ran home. | |
“You know, son,” said Dad, “that reminds me of what the Lord Jesus did for us. We were really His because He created us. But we were lost, just like your dog was, tied up by sin. But the Lord Jesus loved us so much that He came and paid the price to redeem us. It cost Him all that He had—He gave His life to buy us back. And now all those whom He has purchased with His precious blood He has set free to follow Him. They are His forever.” | |
Whenever Matt thinks of the time that Laddie was lost, he remembers that he himself was once a lost sinner, that he was bought with a great price, and that he now belongs to Jesus. | |
The Lord Jesus saw us in our sin and came down here to redeem us from hell and from Satan. All who put their trust in Him as their Saviour will someday be in heaven, where they will sing, “Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation” (Revelation 5:9). “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold . . . but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18-19). |
Full text of One Word Prevents a Suicide | |
Czar Nicholas, the leader of Russia, in order to find out what was really going on with his army, used to wander through his military camps, dressed as an ordinary officer. | |
Late one night, when all the lights were supposed
to be out, the Czar was making one of these tours of inspection. He noticed a
light under the paymaster’s door, and, quietly opening it, he stepped inside,
intending to have the offender punished. A young officer, son of an old friend
of the Czar, was seated at a table, his head resting on his arms, sound asleep.
The Czar stepped over to awaken him, but noticed a loaded revolver, a small
pile of money, and a sheet of paper with a pen that had fallen from the hand of
the sleeping man. The Czar read what had just been written, and in a moment he
understood the situation.
| |
On the sheet of paper was a long list of debts — gambling and similar debts. The total
ran into many thousands of rubles. The officer had used army funds to pay these
reckless debts, and now, having worked till late into the night trying to get
his accounts straight, he had discovered for the first time how much he owed.
It was hopeless; the pitifully small balance on hand left such a huge deficit
to be made up! On the sheet of paper, below the terrible total, he had written
this question: “Who can pay so great a debt?”
Unable to face the disgrace, the officer had
intended to shoot himself, but exhausted, he had fallen asleep.
| |
One-Word Answer
As the Czar realized what had happened, his first
thought was to have the man immediately arrested and court-martialed. Justice
must be done in the army. But he remembered the long friendship with the young
officer’s father and love overcame judgment. He quickly came up with a plan to
be just toward the army and yet justify the culprit. The Czar took up the pen
that had dropped from the hand of the wearied, hopeless offender, and he
answered the question with one word: “Nicholas.”
The Czar himself, Nicholas, could pay that debt and
voluntarily chose to do it. The young officer woke up soon after the Czar had
gone and reached for his revolver to blow out his brains, but as he did so, his
eye caught the answer to his question. In bewilderment he gazed at that one
word, “Nicholas.” Surely such an answer was impossible! He had some papers in
his possession which bore the genuine signature of the Czar, and quickly he
compared the names. To his intense joy and humiliation, he realized that his
Czar knew all about his debt, and yet, instead of inflicting the penalty he
deserved, his Czar had paid the debt himself.
Joyfully and peacefully he lay down to rest, and
early the next morning bags of money arrived from the Czar — sufficient to pay the last ruble of “so great a debt.”
You and I have a mighty debt. We may ask, “Who can
pay it?” Thank God, love has provided an answer, and, like the answer given by
the Czar, it is only one word long — “Jesus”!
Jesus
Yes, Jesus knows all about your debt. He knows how
great it is. He knows how you came by it. He knows all the shame of it. He
knows the cost of payment, and in spite of such intimate knowledge of you and
it, He has assumed the full liability of it Himself. One word, “Nicholas,” set
the heart of that young man at rest — even filled it with joy. One word, “Jesus,” has set
my heart at rest and filled it with joy. Has that “one word” — that one name — filled your heart with rest, peace and
joy? It can.
“Be
it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is
preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by Him all that believe are
justified from all things” (Acts 13:38-39).
Gospel tractPages: 4 Size: 89 x 139mm Bible Truth Publishers Pack quantity: 100 Bible Version: KJV #TB41568 To purchase: No minimum quantities on any tract purchase so single copies or whatever is required may be ordered. Pack quantities are given for those who want to purchase a complete pack. | |
Full text of How the Lost Sheep Was Found | |
On entering the miserable hovel in a wild district of Ireland, I looked around me and at first found no sign of any inhabitant, except an old woman who sat crouching over the embers of a peat fire. She rose as I entered and offered me her stool. I thanked her, and passing on, discovered in one corner of the hut a heap of straw, on which lay the poor sufferer. Some scanty covering, probably his own clothing, had been thrown over him, but as to bed or bedclothes, I saw none in this humble home. I approached and saw a young lad about seventeen or eighteen years old, evidently in a state of extreme suffering and exhaustion and, it was to be feared, in the last stage of consumption. | |
His eyes were closed, but he opened them on my approach and stared at me with a kind of wild wonder, like a frightened animal. I told him as quietly as possible who I was and the reason I had come, and I put a few of the simplest questions to him respecting his hope of salvation. He answered nothing; he appeared totally unconscious of my meaning. On pressing him further and speaking to him kindly and affectionately, he looked up, and I ascertained from the few words he uttered that he had heard something of a God and future judgment, but he had never been taught to read. The Holy Scriptures were a sealed book to him and he was altogether ignorant of the way of salvation as revealed to us in the gospel. His mind on this subject was an utter blank. | |
Desperation | |
I was struck with dismay and almost with despair. Here was a fellow-creature whose immortal soul, apparently on the verge of eternity, must be saved or lost forever. Not a moment was to be lost, and what was I to do? What way was I to take to begin to teach him, as it were at the eleventh hour, the first rudiments of Christianity? | |
I had scarcely ever before felt such a sinking within me. I could do nothing, but on the other hand, God could do all. I therefore raised up my heart and called to my heavenly Father for Christ’s sake to direct me in this most difficult position and to open to me, by His Spirit of wisdom, a way to set forth the glad tidings of salvation, so as to be understood by this poor boy. I was silent for a few moments, while praying silently and gazing with deep anxiety on the lad before me. It struck me that I ought to try to discover how far his intelligence in other things went and whether there might not be reasonable hope of his understanding me, when I should start to open to him the gospel message of salvation. I looked down on him with a pity which I most sincerely felt, and I thought he observed that compassionate look, for he softened as I said, “My poor boy, you are very ill; I fear you suffer a great deal.” | |
“Yes, I have had a bad cold; the cough takes away my breath and hurts me greatly.” | |
“Have you had this cough long?” I asked. | |
“Oh yes, a long time, near a year now.” | |
“And how did you catch it? A Kerry boy I should have thought would have been reared hardily and accustomed to this sharp air!” | |
“Ah,” he answered, “and so I was until that terrible night. It was about this time last year, when one of the sheep went astray. My father keeps a few sheep on the mountains, and this is the way we live. When he counted them that night, there was one missing and he sent me to look for it.” | |
A Bitter Night | |
“No doubt,” I replied, “you felt the change from the warmth of the peat fire in this small little hut to the cold mountain blast.” | |
“Oh! I did; there was snow on the ground, and the wind cut through me, but I didn’t mind it much, as I was so anxious to find father’s sheep.” | |
“And did you find it?” I asked with increased interest. | |
“Oh yes, I had a long, weary way to go, but I never stopped until I found it.” | |
“And how did you get it home? You had trouble enough with that too, no doubt. Was it willing to follow?” | |
“Well, I didn’t like to trust it, and besides it was dead tired, so I laid it on my shoulders and carried it home that way.” | |
“And were they not all glad to see you when you returned with the sheep?” | |
“Sure enough, and that they were,” he replied. “Father and Mother and the people around that heard of our loss all came in the next morning to ask about the sheep, for the neighbors in these matters are mighty kind to each other. Sorry they were, too, to hear that I was kept out the whole dark night; it was morning before I got home, and the end of it was, I caught this cold. Mother says I will never be better now; God knows best. Anyways, I did my best to save the sheep.” | |
“Wonderful!” I thought. “Here is the whole gospel history. The sheep is lost; the father sends his son to seek for and recover it. The son goes willingly, suffers all without complaining, and in the end sacrifices his life to find the sheep. When it is recovered, he carries it home on his shoulders to the flock and rejoices with his friends and neighbors over the sheep which was lost, but is found again.” My prayer was answered, my way was made plain, and by the grace of God I availed myself of this opening. I explained to this poor, dying boy the plan of salvation, making use of his own simple and affecting story. I read to him the few verses in the fifteenth chapter of Luke’s Gospel, where the care of the shepherd for the strayed sheep is so beautifully expressed, and he at once perceived the likeness and followed me with deep interest while I explained to him the full meaning of the parable. | |
The Good Shepherd | |
The Lord mercifully opened not only his understanding but his heart also to receive the things spoken. He himself was the lost sheep and Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd who was sent by the Father to seek for him and who left all the joys of that Father’s heavenly glory to come down to earth and search for him and other lost ones like himself. As the poor boy had borne without murmuring the freezing snowstorm and the piercing wind, so has the blessed Saviour endured the fierce contradiction of sinners against Himself and the bitter judgment of a holy and a righteous God, without opening His mouth to utter one word of complaint. And at last He laid down His precious life that we might be rescued from destruction and brought safe to our everlasting home. Neither will He trust His beloved ones, when rescued, to walk the perilous path alone, but He carries them on His shoulders, rejoicing, to the heavenly fold. | |
My poor sick lad seemed to drink it all in. He received it all. He understood it all. I never saw a clearer proof of the power of the divine Spirit to apply the Word of God. He survived our first meeting but a few days. I had no time to read or expound to him any other portion of the Scripture. At times we could hear nothing but a stifling, rending cough; at others he slumbered heavily for a little. But whenever he was able to think and listen, these verses in the fifteenth chapter of Luke satisfied and cheered him. He accepted Christ as his Saviour, he earnestly prayed to be carried home, like the lost sheep, in the heavenly Shepherd’s arms. He died humbly, peacefully, almost exulting, with the name of “Jesus, my Saviour and my Shepherd” the last upon his lips. | |
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). | |
“The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). |
Full text of Good Night or Good-bye? | |
Dr. Langdale of New York tells of a Christian businessman who was hit by a car and rushed to the hospital. He was told he had only two hours to live. Calling his family together, he spoke to each in turn. | |
“Good night, dear wife. Through sunshine and shadow we have walked together. You have been my inspiration in everything I have undertaken. Many times I have seen the Spirit of God shining in your face. I love you far more than the day you became my bride. Good night, dear; I’ll see you in the morning; good night.” | |
“Good night, Mary. You are our firstborn. What a joy you have been to your father. What a Christian you are, Mary; you will never forget how your father loved you. Good night, Mary, good night.” | |
He turned to his oldest son. “Good night, Will. Your coming into our home has been an unmixed blessing. You love the God of your father. You will continue to grow in every Christian grace and virtue. You have your father’s love and blessing. Good night, Will, good night.” | |
Charlie was next in line. He had gotten into bad company and bitterly disappointed his father and mother. The dying man skipped him and spoke to the youngest child, a beautiful young girl. | |
“Gracie, you have long been a song of gladness, a ray of light. When not long ago you surrendered your life to Christ, my cup of happiness was full to overflowing. Good night, little girl, good night.” | |
“Good-bye, Charlie.” He then called Charlie to his side. “Charlie, what a fine, promising boy you were. Your father and mother believed you would develop into a noble man. We gave you all the opportunities we gave to the other children. If there has been any difference, you yourself must admit that difference was all in your own favor. You have disappointed us. You have followed the broad and downward road. You have not heeded the warnings of God’s holy Word. You have not listened to the call of the Saviour. But I have always loved you and love you still, Charlie. God only knows how much I love you. Good-bye, Charlie, good-bye, good-bye.” | |
Charlie seized his father’s hand and between sobs he cried out, “Father, why have you said good night to the others and goodbye to me?” | |
“For the simple reason that I shall meet the other members of the family ‘in the morning,’ but by all the promises that assure us of a reunion, by those same statements of God’s Word I can have no hope of seeing you ‘over there.’ Good-bye, Charlie, good-bye.” | |
Charlie fell on his knees by his dying father’s bed and cried out in agony of his soul, praying God to forgive his sins. | |
“Do you mean it, Charlie? Are you in earnest?” | |
“God knows I am,” said the heartbroken young man. | |
“Then God will hear you and save you, Charlie, and it is good night and not goodbye. Good night, Charlie, good night, my boy.” And he was gone. | |
“Behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). | |
“I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him” (Revelation 3:20). | |
“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3). | |
“What must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:30-31). |