Going to Jesus

Gospel Tracts

 Select a tract to read:

• Tracts 1-50

  1. How I Received the Holy Ghost 2. Jesus Is Coming Again 3. You Must Be Born Again 4. Stir Up the Gift of God 5. The World’s Most Dreaded Hour 6. What is Salvation? 7. Stand Still in Jordan 9. Grieved Hearts 10. The Second Death 11. The Father and the Son 12. Suffering and the Saints 13. Cancer Conquered 14. The Church? 15. How Shall They Preach, Except They Be Sent? 16. Have You Received the Holy Ghost Since You Believed? 17. Patience 18. Alone With God 19. Tithes and Offerings 20. Prayer 21. The True Sabbath 22. The Besetting Sin 23. The Cry of the Righteous 24. What Will the Harvest Be? 25. Marriage and Divorce 26. Taking the Name of the Lord 27. The Keys of the Kingdom 28. Works 29. Politics and Believers 30. Unequally Yoked in Marriage 31. Coming Out of Babylon 32. The Forgiven Woman 33. The New Earth 34. The Sin of Silence 35. Freedom 36. Gods of the Gentiles 37. Why Some Are Not Healed 38. The Seven Pillars 39. Life, More Abundantly 40. Fear 41. The Comforter’s Testimony 42. This is My Friend 43. Conversion 44. The Time Is Drawing Near? 45. Songs in the Night 46. The Master’s Net 47. Trials are Opportunities 48. Receiving the Messenger 49. Seven Messages to the Seven Pastors 50. Keep Yourself Pure

• Tracts 51-100

  51. The New Birth 52. John the Baptist and Jesus 53. Denying Jesus 54. Bruised Reeds 56. The Wise and the Foolish 57. Holiness 58. Is Jesus God? 59. Christ or Christianity 60. Have Faith In God 61. Worthy to Suffer 63. Four Kinds of Soil 64. Communion 65. The Fullness of Time 66. Baptism 68. No Room 69. Crucified With Christ 70. Homosexuality and the Bible 71. The Kingdom of God 72. The Gospel of Christ 73. A Wedding Garment 74. Perseverance 75. The Resurrection 76. Salvation 77. Sanctification 78. New Commandments 79. The Sacrifice of Christ 81. The Sound of the Spirit 82. The Wrath of God 84. God’s Compass 85. Perfection 86. The Abomination of Desolation 87. Antichrist 88. The Way of Grace 90. Relationships 91. The Vineyard of God 93. Subdued 94. The Spirit of Christ 95. The Blood of Christ 96. Spirit of a Serpent, Spirit of a Dove 97. Gluttony 98. The Lost Lamb 99. Scripture Burners 100. Bleating and Lowing

 

The body of Christ is, at present, composed of both the bad and the good, described by Jesus as the wise and the foolish (Mt. 25:1–2).  The wise seek and enter into the kingdom of God, and then continue to grow in His righteousness.  The foolish seek and enter the kingdom of God also, but they do not afterward pursue God’s righteousness.  This is an important matter, for only a life of holiness after we are born again will lead us into salvation at the end.  The author of Hebrews taught us to “pursue peace with everyone, and holiness, without which no man will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14).  It is so that we may be found worthy to see Him that our heavenly Father chastens us, as the same author explained: “We have had fleshly fathers who chastened us, and we reverenced them.  Shall we not much rather submit ourselves to the Father of spirits, and live?  They, for just a short time, disciplined us as it pleased them, but He for our benefit, that we might partake of His holiness” (Heb. 12:9–10).

Yes, to be saved in the end will require more than entering into the kingdom of God.  It will take seeking – yea, striving – to attain to eternal life.  Jesus sent a message to the congregation at Sardis, saying, “He who overcomes, the same shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot his name out of the Book of Life” (Rev. 3:5).  What are these garments?  According to the vision given to John, God will grant to those who pursued His righteousness “to be clothed with fine linen, bright and clean, for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints” (Rev. 19:8).

Self-Righteousness

Jesus warned us about self-righteousness in a parable about a Pharisee who was praying (Lk. 18:9–14).  In this parable, the Pharisee mentioned the name of God when he gave thanks for being better than others, but Jesus said this Pharisee was trusting in himself, not in God.  In reality, he himself was the god whom he was thanking.  Unconsciously, he was trusting in his own righteousness, not God’s.  Those who are truly thankful for a virtue feel compassion for one who is lacking that virtue; they recognize that, but for the grace of God, they would be like the other.  To look with disdain on them is proof that one is taking the credit for being free from that particular weakness.  If a brother errs, he needs me to help him.  I may need him to help me tomorrow, for I may be tried.

All religious forms are forms of self-righteousness, and they are like a filthy garment to God (Isa. 64:6).  We may perform many religious acts, and be admired for doing so, but it is being led by the Spirit that makes us true children of God (Rom. 8:14).  Let us pursue God’s righteousness, my Friend, for that alone can make us worthy to see God’s face when the time comes for us to be judged.

The wisdom of men can conceive of nothing more sublime than human efforts to be righteous; that kind of righteousness is man’s highest attainment.  But it is man’s greatest folly to imagine he is capable of true righteousness.  Only by walking in the Spirit can we overcome the corrupt nature of all mankind.  Genuine faith does God’s will, and it is crowned with God’s righteousness – the wedding garment of the saints.