Prayer needs neither learning, wisdom or book knowledge to begin it. It needs nothing but heart and will.
J. C. RyleThe more I read, the less I admire modern theology. the more I study the productions of the new schools of theological teachers, the more I marvel that men and women can be satisfied with such writings. There is a vagueness, a mistiness, a shallowness, an indistinctness, a superficiality, an aimlessness, a hollowness about the literature of the 'broader and kinder systems', as they are called, which to my mind stamps their origin on their face. They are of the earth, earthy.
J. C. RyleExamine your own hearts. Do you see there any habit or custom which you know is wrong in the sight of God? If you do, don't delay for a moment in attacking it. Resolve at once to lay it aside. Nothing darkens the eyes of the mind so much, and deadens the conscience so surely, as an allowed sin. It may be a little one, but it is not any less dangerous.
J. C. RyleA saved soul has many sorrows. They have their share of bereavements, deaths, disappointments , crosses. What shall enable a believer to bear all this? Nothing but the consolation there is in Christ.
J. C. RyleWe must be holy, because this is the only sound evidence that we have a saving faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
J. C. RyleElection is always to sanctification. Where there is no visible fruit of sanctification, we may be sure there is no election.
J. C. RyleTrials are intended to make us think, to wean us from the world, to send us to the Bible, to drive us to our knees.
J. C. RyleAny well-read man knows that the moral difference between the condition of the world before Christianity was planted and since Christianity took root is the difference between night and day, the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of the devil.
J. C. RyleInability to distinguish doctrine is spreading far and wide, and so long as the preacher is "clever" and "earnest," hundreds seem to think it must be all right, and call you dreadfully "narrow and uncharitable" if you hint that he is unsound!
J. C. RyleNo one ever said at the end of his days; 'I have read my bible too much, I have thought of God too much, I have prayed too much, I have been too careful with my soul'
J. C. RyleWherever we may be, or whatever our circumstances, the Lord Jesus sees them. We are never beyond the reach of His care.
J. C. RyleThe Christian who keeps his heart diligently in little things shall be kept from great falls.
J. C. RyleBy affliction He teaches us many precious lessons, which without it we should never learn. By affliction He shows us our emptiness and weakness, draws us to the throne of grace, purifies our affections, weans us from the world, makes us long for heaven.
J. C. RyleWe are all so sunk in sin, and so wedded to the world, that we would never turn to God and seek salvation, unless He first called us by His grace. Without a divine call, no one can be saved.
J. C. RyleBut if there is one thing clearly and plainly laid down about election, it is this: that elect men and women may be known and distinguished by holy lives.
J. C. RyleOur prayers may be weak, stammering, and poor in our eyes. But if they come from a right heart, God understands them. Such prayers are His delight.
J. C. RyleLet us watch against pride in every shape - pride of intellect, pride of wealth, pride of our own goodness. Nothing is so likely to keep a person out of heaven, and prevent them from seeing Christ, as pride. So long as we think we are something we shall never be saved. Let us pray for and cultivate humility; let us seek to know ourselves correctly, and to find out our place in the sight of a holy God.
J. C. RyleLet us never forget that our chief danger is from within. The world and the devil combined, cannot do us as much harm as our own hearts will, if we do not watch and pray.
J. C. RyleIf the Bible is not the Word of God and inspired, the whole of Christendom for 1800 years has been under an immense delusion; half the human race has been cheated and deceived, and churches are monuments of folly. If the Bible is the Word of God and inspired, all who refuse to believe it are in fearful danger; they are living on the brink of eternal misery. No man, in his sober senses, can fail to see that the whole subject demands most serious attention.
J. C. RyleConduct is the grand test of character. Words are one great evidence of the condition of the heart.
J. C. RyleFaith is to the soul what life is to the body. Prayer is to faith what breath is to the body. How a person can live and not breathe is past my comprehension, and how a person can believe and not pray is past my comprehension too.
J. C. RyleWhat is the cause of most backslidings? I believe, as a general rule, one of the chief causes is neglect of private prayer.
J. C. RyleIt may well be feared, that there is not enough Biblereading among us. It is not sufficient to have the Book. We must actually read it, and pray over it ourselves. It will do us no good, if it only lies still in our houses. We must be actually familiar with its contents, and have its texts stored in our memories and minds. Knowledge of the Bible never comes by intuition. It can only be obtained by diligent, regular, daily, attentive, wakeful reading.
J. C. RyleA tree may always be known by its fruit, and a true Christian may always be discovered by their habits, tastes & affections.
J. C. RyleA crucified Savior will never be content to have a self-pleasing, self-indulging, worldly-minded people.
J. C. RyleThe hand of the wicked can't stir one moment before God allows them to begin, and...one moment after God commands them to stop.
J. C. RyleTo be born again is, as it were, to enter upon a new existence, to have a new mind, a new heart, new views, new principles, new tastes, new affections, new likings, new dislikings, new fears, new joys, new sorrows, new love to things once hated, new hatred to things once loved, new thoughts of God, and ourselves, and the world, and the life to come, and salvation.
J. C. RyleHappy are they, who in the matter of marriage observe three rules. The first is to marry only in the Lord, and after prayer for God’s approval and blessing. The second is not to expect too much from their partners, and to remember that marriage is, after all, the union of two sinners, and not of two angels. The third rule is to strive first and foremost for one another’s sanctification. The more holy married people are, the happier they are.
J. C. RyleLook to the cross, think of the cross, meditate on the cross, and then go and set your affections on the world if you can.
J. C. RyleWithout the blessing of the Lord, your best endeavors will do no good. He has the hearts of all men in His hands, and except He touch the hearts of your children by His Spirit, you will weary yourself to no purpose. Water, therefore, the seed you sow on their minds with unceasing prayer.
J. C. RyleA deep sense of sin, a humble willingness to be saved in God's way, a teachable readiness to give up our own prejudices when a more excellent way is shown, these are the principal things. These things the two disciples possessed, and therefore our Lord "went with them" and guided them into all truth.
J. C. RyleAssurance of hope is more than life, it is health, strength, power, vigor, activity, energy, manliness, beauty.
J. C. RyleThere are few professing Christians, it may be feared, who strive to imitate Christ in the matter of private devotion. There is abundance of hearing, reading, talking, professing, visiting, contributing to the poor and teaching at schools. But is there, together with all this, a due proportion of private prayer? Are believing men and women sufficiently careful to be frequently alone with God?
J. C. RyleLet it be a settled principle in our minds that the first and chief business of the Church of Christ is to preach the Gospel.
J. C. RyleJust as the first sign of life in an infant when born into the world is the act of breathing, so the first act of men and women when they are born again is praying.
J. C. RyleIf you show me a man deliberately living an unholy and licentious life, and yet boasting that his sins are forgiven, I answer, 'He is under a ruinous delusion, and is not forgiven at all.' I would not believe he is forgiven if an angel from heaven affirmed it, and I charge you not to believe it too. Pardon of sin and love of sin are like oil and waterthey will never go together. All who are washed in the blood of Christ, are also sanctified by the Spirit of Christ.
J. C. Ryle