A Love in God

 There is a love in God towards sinners which is unspeakable and unsearchable--but it is for those who "hear Christ's voice and follow Him." Seek to have an interest in that love. Break off every known sin; come out boldly from the world; cry mightily to God in prayer; cast yourself wholly and unreservedly on the Lord Jesus for time and eternity; lay aside every weight. Cling to nothing, however dear, which interferes with your soul's salvation; give up everything, however precious, which comes between you and heaven. This old shipwrecked world is fast sinking beneath your feet: the one thing needful is to have a place in the lifeboat and get safe to shore.

Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots

J. C. Ryle

1816 –1900

Every Hour

 "Let us not expect too much from our own hearts here below. At our best we shall find in ourselves daily cause for humiliation, and discover that we are needy debtors to mercy and grace every hour." - J. C. Ryle

Carrying the Cross

 "A single day (hour) in Hell will be worse Than a whole life spent Carrying the Cross."  

J.C. Ryle

Carrying our Cross doesn't save us, but knowing that Jesus has delivered us from the justice of God by being our substitute in His Active and Passive Obedience and bearing our sins on the cross and bearing the wrath of God for our sins --- means we WILL be unashamed of Him and being unashamed of Him we will gladly proclaim His righteousness and gift --- and we WILL be willing carry the cross of the world's hatred of Jesus.  Their hatred of Jesus is seen in the cross they put Him on, and their hatred of Jesus is seen in rejecting those who proclaim Him;  Hence they hate Him, they hate us in Him, and therefore we bear the cross of their hatred of Jesus as we proclaim Him.

It's not our job

 Post by a J.C. Ryle twitter account, though perhaps not from the material of J.C. Ryle's works.

It’s not our job to convert people.
It’s not our job to save people.
It’s not our job to convict people.
It’s not our job to convince people.

It’s our job to tell people.

The convincing, convicting, converting, and saving is the work of the Holy Spirit.

Faith is not giving but receiving.

 Cast away all idea of work, or merit, or doing or performing, or paying, or giving, or buying, or labouring, in the act of believing on Christ.

Faith is not giving, but taking, — not paying, but receiving— not buying, but being enriched. —JC Ryle, Old Paths, Pg. 160

NOT JUST PROPOSITIONS

 

Organized Idolatry

 

YET HE LOVES US

 

LOOK UP

 

This is JC Ryle, Upper Room Pg. 197-98

Entirely Independent

 

Shadow

 

JUST LIKE OTHER PEOPLE

 

BROUGHT TO KNOW THEIR NEED

 "Until men and women are brought to feel their sinfulness and need, no real good is ever done to their souls. Until a sinner sees himself as God sees him, he will continue careless, trifling, and unmoved. By all means we must labor to convince the unconverted man of sin, to pierce his conscience, to open his eyes, to show him himself. To this end we must expound the length and breadth of God's holy law. To this end we must denounce every practice contrary to that law, however fashionable and customary. This is the only way to do good. Never does a soul value the Gospel medicine until it feels its disease. Never does a man see any beauty in Christ as a Savior, until he discovers that he is himself a lost and ruined sinner. Ignorance of sin is invariably attended by neglect of Christ." - J. C. Ryle

Thankful for Thorns

 

HOW WE PRAY, READ, AND LISTEN

Private PRAYER lies at the very foundation of religion--yet the mere formal repetition of a set of words, when "the heart is far away"--does good to no man's soul.

Reading the BIBLE is essential to the attainment of sound Christian knowledge--yet the mere formal reading of so many chapters as a task and duty, with out a humble desire to be taught of God, is little better than a waste of time.

Just as it is with praying and Bible reading--so it is with LISTENING. It is not enough that we go to Church and hear sermons. We may do so for fifty years, and be nothing bettered, but rather worse! "Consider carefully," says our Lord, "how you listen!"

Would anyone know how to listen aright? Then let him lay to heart three simple rules:

For one thing, we must listen with FAITH, believing implicitly that every Word of God is true, and shall stand. The Word in old time did not profit the Jews, "not being mixed with faith in those who heard it." Hebrews 4:2

For another thing, we must listen with REVERENCE--remembering constantly that the Bible is the book of God. This was the habit of the Thessalonians. They received Paul's message, "not as the word of men--but the Word of God." 1 Thessalonians 2:13

Above all, we must listen with PRAYER--praying for God's blessing before the sermon is preached, and praying for God's blessing again when the sermon is over. Here lies the grand defect of the hearing of many. They ask no blessing--and so they receive none. The sermon passes through their minds like water through a leaky vessel, and leaves nothing behind.

Let us bear these rules in mind every Sunday morning, before we go to hear the Word of God preached. Let as not rush into God's presence careless, reckless, and unprepared--as if it did not matter how we listened. Let us carry with us faith, reverence, and prayer. If these three are our companions--then we shall listen with profit, and return with praise!

--J.C. Ryle.

Happy is that Christian

Our Lord has . . .
many weak children in his family,
many dull pupils in his school,
many raw soldiers in his army,
many lame sheep in his flock. ...
Yet He bears with them all, and casts none away.
Happy is that Christian who has learned to do likewise with his brethren.--- JC. Ryle

Naked We Go Forth

PRAYER IN ALL

If Jesus is to save you, you must pray. If your sins are to be forgiven, you must pray. If the Spirit is to dwell in your heart, you must pray. If you are to have strength against sin, you must pray. If you are to dwell with God in heaven, your heart must talk with God upon earth by prayer. Oh! do not be a prayerless Christian, whatever others may think right. Begin to pray this day if you never prayed before. Remember if you and I are to meet each other with joy at Christ’s appearing, you must pray. -J.C. Ryle-

CHRIST EVIDENT

Boast not of Christ's work "for you", unless you can show the Spirit's work "in you." Think not that Christ and the Spirit can ever be divided. I doubt not that many believers know these things, but I think it good for us to be put in remembrance of them. Let us prove that we know them by our lives. ~Ryle

ONLY AXES

"The wickedest of enemies of God are only axes and saws and hammers in his hands, and are ignorantly his instruments for doing his work in the world." - J. C. Ryle