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The Amish Voice 4
say this because they have heard others
say it; and I have met people who could
not tell what they believed, except that it
was what their ministers believed. They
have no time to read the Word of God,
though they have time to read all the
novels of the day. Let me say to you
people who believe in the Sermon on the
Mount and nothing else, that we are told
of a broad and a narrow way; the broad
that leads to death, and the narrow to life
eternal. Which way is yours, my friend?
Are you in the narrow way that leads into
life eternal, or in the broad way that leads
to death?
There are a great many that do not want
to give up the broad way, because they
like their own way; they do not like to
give up the amusements of the world.
There are plenty of churches in the broad
way, for you can get almost any kind of
preaching now-a-days. They want men
that will tell them everything is going on
smoothly, that everybody will be saved,
and the Lord is going to take them all into
heaven. They can find that kind of
preaching. A good many say: "I don't like
that narrow, bigoted man that preaches
the narrow way; I believe we will all be
swept into heaven, whether we want to be
or not.” But some shake their heads and
say they think they will be put into
purgatory, and be punished perhaps a
million of years. I would rather bow to
Scripture. I can find no chance of
repentance in the grave. But even if it
were so, why not repent here?
Is sin so sweet that you cannot give it up?
The broad way is filled with unhappiness.
God does not want us to do that which
will bring ruin upon ourselves and upon
others. If we live as God would have us,
we mount higher and higher every year.
That is taught in the Word of God. How
is it with those who serve Satan?
There is no praying down the broad way,
though they may say prayers. They do
not believe in conversion. Look down the
two ways and decide to-day which way
you will take.
With the new birth, we also get a new
tongue.
There is, perhaps as much
trouble caused in the world by slandering
as by drinking. That question was
brought up at the dinner table to-day and
we came to the conclusion that there were
about as many dark and miserable homes
resulting from slander as from drink. If a
person is born of God, he has a new
tongue, and he will not go out and slander
people.
If you love a person, you cannot slander
him. Many a man has gone to his grave
with a broken heart, because he has been
slandered and lied about, perhaps by
those who professed to be friends. When
we are born of God, we get a new tongue,
and there will be no slandering with it.
The tongue that is blaspheming to-day
may be praising God tomorrow. We get a
new tongue when we get a new heart; and
then we get a new song.
No one can sing the song of the
redemption till he has been born again. I
do not know but a man can sing a lie as
well as speak it. Now, though I have
heard "Rock of Ages," perhaps once a
day for twenty years, I could not start it;
but I can sing in my heart just as well as
Mr. Sankey, or anybody else. I cannot get
it through these thick lips, but it is in my
heart; and, by and by, I want to sing
around the throne the song of Moses and
the Lamb. I want to sing of him who
redeemed me with his precious blood.
Every true church is a singing church.
Such a church won't hire three or four
women to do their singing; they burst
right out singing. And by and by you will
see them on resurrection morning,
coming from their graves singing. This is
the only thing we have heard of that they
do in heaven.
The next thing we get is new food.
If a
man is converted, he is not going to live
on the New York Ledger, and dime
novels. I believe that one of the things
that are poisoning the people is this
miserable stuff. If we are born of God,
we want better than that. When we have
read the Bible through three or four
times—and when we have done that, we
will find it has spoiled nearly every other
book for us.
Another thing that a man gets is new
friends.
I thank God every day for the
friends he has given me. 1 cannot go into
a city or town but the best people in it
gather around me. Thank God for
Christian friends. My friends, if you want
true friends, you want the friends of Jesus
Christ. When I received Christ, I thought
I got a great blessing. I thought it was the
best gift I ever received; and I used to
wonder if he would continue that
precious to me. But I can say without
exaggeration that he has been a thousand
times more to me than I thought he would
be. If you want to know how to become a
Christian, just receive Christ; and you
will get everything in him.
If you will let him into your heart, he will
bless you and save you. This is the new
birth, the new creation, the new nature.
Have you got them?
Then the new name—have you got that?
Can you say you are a child of God?
Have you got into the new way?
Have you got the new song in your
mouth?
Are you living on this heavenly food?
Have you got new friends?
Romans 10:13 says:
For whosoever shall
call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved.
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