Of all the things that He might have said, perhaps no more beautiful, blessed, needful, and significant speech could have been made by Him to His sorrowing disciples—and, beyond them, to the struggling, battling Church in all ages, and even to the sinful world itself.

Our getting to heaven depends upon the life we live here. If I owned the whole world I would rather lose it all than to miss heaven. But, except we live the true Christian life, this beautiful happy, eternal heaven will never be ours.

Our Ishmaels exist because we listen to some voice other than that of the Holy Spirit. Our motives may be pure, and the cause laudable, but we are badly out of our depth when we lean on human wisdom and understanding to attempt the work of God.