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Doctrine is useless if it is not accompanied by a holy life. It is worse than useless; it does positive harm. Something of 'the image of Christ' must be seen and observed by others in our private life, and habits, and character, and doings.
J. C. Ryle -
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!
J. C. Ryle
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A man may just as soon read the Scripture without eyes, as understand the spirit of it without grace.
J. C. Ryle -
A man may commit sin and yet be ignorant of it, and fancy himself innocent when he is guilty... We shall do well to remember that when we make our own miserably imperfect knowledge and consciousness the measure of our sinfulness, we are on very dangerous ground.
J. C. Ryle -
HATE SIN! Instead of loving it, cleaving to it, excusing it, playing with it, we ought to hate it with a deadly hatred.
J. C. Ryle -
Jesus hears us, and in His own good time will give an answer... He may sometimes keep us long waiting...but He will never send us empty away.
J. C. Ryle -
Let us receive nothing, believe nothing, follow nothing which is not in the Bible, nor can be proved by the Bible.
J. C. Ryle -
The Bible applied to the heart by the Holy Ghost is the chief means by which men are built up and established in the faith, after their conversion. It is able to cleanse them, to sanctify them, to instruct them in righteousness, and to furnish them thoroughly for all good works.
J. C. Ryle
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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.
J. C. Ryle -
No salvation without regeneration - no spiritual life without a new birth - no heaven without a new heart.
J. C. Ryle -
Knowledge of the Bible never comes by intuition. It can only be obtained by diligent, regular, daily, attentive reading.
J. C. Ryle -
Conversion is not putting a man in an armchair and taking him easily to heaven. It is the beginning of a mighty conflict, in which it costs much to win the victory.
J. C. Ryle -
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.
J. C. Ryle -
A 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. Ryle
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O Christian, look up and take comfort. Jesus has prepared a place for you, and those who follow Him shall never perish, neither shall anyone pluck them out of His hands.
J. C. Ryle -
Death is a solemn event for everyone. It is the winding up of all earthly plans and expectations. It is a separation from all we have loved and lived with. It is often accompanied by much bodily pain and distress. It opens the door to judgement and eternity - to heaven or to hell. It is an event after which there is no change, or space for repentance.
J. C. Ryle -
The standard of the world, and the standard of the Lord Jesus, are indeed widely different. They are more than different. They are flatly contradictory one to the other.
J. C. Ryle -
A tree may always be known by its fruit, and a true Christian may always be discovered by their habits, tastes & affections.
J. C. Ryle -
True faith will always show itself by its fruits . . . I suspect that, with rare exceptions, men die just as they have lived.
J. C. Ryle -
Weak, feeble and foolish as it may seem to people, the simple story of the Cross is enough for all mankind in every part of the globe.
J. C. Ryle
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All converted people should labor to adorn the doctrine they profess by humility. If they can do nothing else, they can strive to be humble.
J. C. Ryle -
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.
J. C. Ryle -
Let us resolve by God's grace, that however poor and feeble our prayers may seem to be, we will pray on.
J. C. Ryle -
I want people to fill their minds with passages of Scripture while they are well and strong, that they may have sure help in the day of need. I want them to be diligent in studying their Bibles, and becoming familiar with its contents, in order that the grand old Book may stand by them and talk with them when all earthly friends fail.
J. C. Ryle