The Bondage Project

Holiness

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 23:40:13 -0700

Holiness

A Sermon by J.C. Ryle

"Holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord."

- Hebrews 12:14

THE text which heads this page opens up a subject of deep importance. That subject is practical holiness. It suggests a question which demands the attention of all...Read More

Christ Is Able to Help

Thu, 09 Jul 2026 22:10:54 -0700

Christ Is Able to Help

Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)

For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.—Hebrews 2:18

Ye that are tempted—and I suppose the major part of this present [readership] are included in the list—ye that are tempted—and indeed if you know yourselves, you are all in your measure thus exercised—ye that are tempted, listen to me this morning whilst I endeavor to speak of your temptations, and in parallel lines of the temptations of Him Who, having known your trials, is able to help you at all times…They that are tempted have great need of help, and Christ is able, having Himself been tempted, to help them that are tempted.

Of course, this is true of Christ as God. Apart from any temptation He has ever endured, He would be able to help the tempted; but we are now speaking in our text of Christ as a High Priest, in which we are to regard Him in His complex character as God-man. For Christ is not only God but man and not only man but God. The Christos, the anointed one, the High Priest of our profession, is in His complex character able to help them that are tempted. How?

Why, first, the...Read More

Watchfulness in Temptation

Thu, 09 Jul 2026 12:38:55 -0700

Watchfulness in Temptation
William Gurnall (1616-1679)
Stand therefore.—Ephesians 6:14
To stand, here, is opposed to sleep and sloth. Standing is a waking, watching posture. When the captain sees his soldiers lying secure upon the ground asleep, he bids, “Stand to your arms,” that is, stand and watch. In some cases, it is death for a soldier to be found asleep, as when he is appointed to stand sentinel or the like. Now, to sleep deserves death because he is to keep awake that the whole army may sleep; and his sleep may cost them their lives. Therefore, a great captain thought he gave that soldier but his due, whom he ran through with his sword because he found him asleep when he should have stood sentinel, excusing his severity with this, that he left him but as he found him: “I found him dead in sleep, and left him but asleep in death.”
Watchfulness is more needful for the Christian soldier than any other because other soldiers fight with men that need sleep as well as themselves; but the Christian’s grand enemy, Satan, is ever awake and walking his rounds, seeking whom he may surprise. And if Satan be always awake, it is dangerous for the Christian at any time to be spiritually asleep; that is, secure and careless. The Christian is seldom worsted by this his enemy, [except when] there is either treachery or...Read More