J. C. Ryle Quotes

Doubting does not prove that a man has no faith, but only that his faith is small. And even when our faith is small, the Lord is ready to help us.

How is it that many who profess and call themselves Christians, do so little for the Savior whose name they bear?

We are evidently no friends of Satan. Like the kings of this world, he wars not against his own subjects. The very fact that he assaults us should fill our minds with hope.

Tomorrow is the devil's day, but today is God's. Satan does not care how spiritual your intentions are, or how holy your resolutions, if only they are determined to be done tomorrow.

Never does a person see any beauty in Christ as a Savior, until they discover that they are a lost and ruined sinner.

Lastly, we must be holy, because without holiness on earth - we will never be prepared to enjoy Heaven. ...I do not know what others may think - but to me it does seem clear that Heaven would be a miserable place to an unholy man. It cannot be otherwise. People may say in a vague way, that they "hope to go to Heaven, but they do not consider what they say. There must be a certain "fitness for the inheritance of the saints in light.

Another real danger to young men is thoughtlessness and lack of consideration. Lack of thought is one simple reason why thousands of souls are cast away forever. Men will not consider,-will not look forward,-will not look around them,-will not reflect on the end of their present course, and the sure consequences of their present ways,-and awake at last to find they are damned for lack of thinking.

‎"A humble and prayerful person will find a thousand things in the Bible, which the proud student will utterly fail to discern." ~ J.C. Ryle

Faith in the Lord Jesus is the only sure medicine for troubled hearts.

Christ is never fully valued, until sin is clearly seen. We must know the depth and malignity of our disease, in order to appreciate the great Physician.

Nothing is so fickle and uncertain as popularity. It is here today and gone tomorrow. It is a sandy foundation, and sure to fail those who build upon it.

What will it cost [a person] to be a true Christian? It will cost him his self-righteousn ess. He must cast away all pride and high thoughts, and conceit of his own goodness. He must be content to go to heaven as a poor sinner, saved only by free grace, and owing all to the merit and righteousness of another.

Every fresh act of sin lessens fear and remorse, hardens our hearts, blunts the edge of our conscience, and increases our evil inclination.

A zealous man feels that like a lamp he is made to burn; and if consumed in burning, he has but done the work for which God appointed him. Such a one will always find a sphere for his zeal. If he cannot preach and work and give money, he will cry and sigh and pray.

I maintain that to tell a person they are born again, while they are living in carelessness or sin, is a dangerous delusion.

Let us receive nothing, believe nothing, follow nothing which is not in the Bible, nor can be proved by the Bible.

The love of our Lord Jesus Christ towards sinners is strikingly shown in His steady purpose of heart to die for them.

Beware of manufacturing a God of your own: a God who is all mercy, but not just. Such a God is an idol of your own.

Take away the cross of Christ, and the Bible is a dark book.

If you want to warm a church, put a stove in the pulpit.

Bibles read without prayer; sermons heard without prayer; marriages contracted without prayer; journeys undertaken without prayer; residences chosen without prayer; friendships formed without prayer; the daily act of prayer itself hurried over, or gone through without heart: these are the kind of downward steps by which many a Christian descends to a condition of spiritual palsy, or reaches the point where God allows them to have a tremendous fall.

The highest form of selfishness is that of the man who is content to go to heaven alone.

When I speak of a man growing in grace, I mean simply this - that his sense of sin is becoming deeper, his faith stronger, his hope brighter, his love more extensive, his spiritual mindedness more marked.

Do nothing that you would not like God to see. Say nothing you would not like God to hear. Write nothing you would not like God to read. Go no place where you would not like God to find you. Read no book of which you would not like God to say, "Show it to Me." Never spend your time in such a way that you would not like to have God say, "What are you doing?

The love of Christ towards His people is a deep well which has no bottom.

Let it be a settled principle in our minds, in reading the Bible, that Christ is the central sun of the whole book. So long as we keep Him in view, we shall never greatly err in our search for spiritual knowledge. Once losing sight of Christ, we shall find the whole Bible dark and full of difficulty.

The beginning of the way to heaven, is to feel that we are on the way to hell.

Obedience is the only reality. It is faith visible, faith acting, and faith manifest. It is the test of real discipleship among the Lord's people.

Are you tempted? Look unto Jesus. Are you afflicted? Look unto Jesus. Do all speak evil of you? Look unto Jesus. Do you feel cold, dull, and backsliding? Look unto Jesus.

Holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God, according as we find His mind described in Scripture. It is the habit of agreeing in God's judgment, hating what He hates, loving what He loves, and measuring everything in this world by the standard of His Word.

Sin rarely seems sin at first beginnings.

The minister who keeps back hell from his people in his sermons is neither a faithful nor a charitable man.

The children of God all have a cross to bear. A suffering Savior generally has suffering disciples.

Do we profess to love Christ? Then let us show it by our lives.

When you cannot answer a skeptic, be content to wait for more light; but never forsake a great principle.

What is the reason that some believers are so much brighter and holier than others? I believe the difference, in nineteen cases out of twenty, arises from different habits about private prayer. I believe that those who are not eminently holy pray little, and those who are eminently holy pray much.

He that would be conformed to Christ's image, and become a Christ-like man, must be constantly studying Christ Himself.

If Christ had not gone to the cross and suffered in our stead, the just for the unjust, there would not have been a spark of hope for us. There would have been a mighty gulf between ourselves and God, which no man ever could have passed.

Miserable indeed is that religious teaching which calls itself Christian, and yet contains nothing of the cross.

Let us awake to a sense of the perilous state of many professing Christians. 'Without holiness no man shall see the Lord'; without sanctification there is no salvation (Hebrews 12:14). Then what an enormous amount of so-called religion there is which is perfectly useless!

The love of the Bible will show itself in a believer's actions.

Let us daily strive to copy our Savior's humility.

We should no more tolerate false doctrine that we would tolerate sin.

Why is a believer patient? Because he looks for the coming of the Lord...He waits quietly for the King.

The harvest of the Lord’s field is seldom ripened by sunshine only. It must go through its days of wind, rain and storm.

Let it never surprise true Christians if they are slandered and misrepresented in this world. They must not expect to fare better than their Lord.

No salvation without regeneration - no spiritual life without a new birth - no heaven without a new heart.

Abide in Me says Jesus. Cling to Me. Stick fast to Me. Live the life of close and intimate communion with Me. Get nearer to Me. Roll every burden on Me. Cast your whole weight on Me. Never let go your hold on Me for a moment. Be, as it were, rooted and planted in Me. Do this and I will never fail you. I will ever abide in you.