J.C. Ryle Quotes

The End of the J.C. Ryle Emails

Erik — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 03:29:56 +0000

To the many faithful J.C. Ryle email subscribers:

Please read the letter below, which is now posted on the front page of the Ryle site.

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My name is Erik Kowalker and welcome to my website dedicated to John Charles Ryle.

The aim of this site, since launching in the summer of 2009, is to “expose Christians to the writings of J.C. Ryle by providing his Christ-centered quotes Monday-Friday to stir the mind toward the glory of God.”

3 years later, in the summer of 2012, my mission has been completed.

With over 850 quotes on this site and over 20,000 people following Ryle via Facebook, Twitter and Email, this site is will now be used exclusively as an archive for all things J.C. Ryle. [Short quotes from Ryle will continue via Facebook and Twitter.]

Feel free to use the tabs on the top of this site to navigate your way, as well as searching the over 50 topics on the right to find a Ryle quote for your particular need.

All quotes come from Ryle’s books and sermons. The book/link is provided directly under every Ryle quote, giving you the option of viewing the source of the quote.

Seeing that Ryle died in 1900, his writings are public domain, so feel free to use any of Ryle’s quotes without requesting permission from me.

The sole purpose of this site is for the glory of God and the edification of His church.

May you be strengthened, convicted and encouraged by John Charles Ryle as he points you toward the one and only Savior Jesus Christ.

- Erik Kowalker

Summer 2012

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Filed under: Blogging

Rest on Nothing But Christ Crucified

Erik — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 07:00:02 +0000

Look steadily at Jesus on the cross, if you want to feel inward peace. Look to anything of your own, and you will never feel comfortable. Your own life and doings, your own repentance, your own morality and regularity, your own church-going, your own Bible-reading and your prayers, what are they all but a huge mass of imperfection? Rest not upon them for a moment, in the matter of your justification. As evidences of your wishes, feelings, bias, tastes, habits, inclinations, they may be useful helps occasionally. As grounds of acceptance with God they are worthless rubbish. They cannot give you comfort; they cannot bear the weight of your sins; they cannot stand the searching eye of God. Rest on nothing but Christ crucified, and the atonement He made for you on Calvary. This, this alone is the way of peace.

~ J.C. Ryle

Tract: Are You Looking?

Filed under: Christ

Do You Have True Peace With God?

Erik — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 07:00:43 +0000

There is no peace with God except through Christ! Peace is His peculiar gift. Peace is that legacy which He alone had power to leave behind Him when He left the world. All other peace beside this, is a mockery and a delusion. When hunger can be relieved without food, and thirst quenched without drink, and weariness removed without rest—then, and not until then, will people find peace without Christ. Now, is this peace your own? Bought by Christ with His own blood, offered by Christ freely to all who are willing to receive it—is this peace your own? Oh, rest not—rest not until you can give a satisfactory answer to my question, have you true peace with God?

~ J.C. Ryle

Tract: Justification

Filed under: Peace

Declaring War On Your Besetting Sins

Erik — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 07:00:13 +0000

There are particular besetting sins, of which each separate Christian can alone furnish an account; every single person has some weak point, each person has a thin, weak spot in their wall of defense against the devil, each person has a traitor in their camp ready to open the gates to Satan, and they who are wise will never rest until they have discovered where this weak point is. This is that special sin which you are exhorted to watch against, to overcome, to cast forth, to spare no means in bringing it into subjection—that it may not entangle you in your race towards Zion. One person is beset with lust, another with a love of drinking, another with evil temper, another with malice, another with covetousness, another with worldly-mindedness, another with idleness—but each of us has got about them some besetting infirmity, which is able to hinder them far more than others, and with which they must keep an unceasing warfare—or else they will never so run as to obtain the prize.

~ J.C. Ryle

Tract:The Christian Race

Filed under: Christian Walk

Leave This World a Better Place

Erik — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 07:00:12 +0000

I charge you never to neglect the duty of brotherly love, and practical, active, sympathetic kindness towards every one around you, whether high or low, or rich or poor. Try daily to do some good upon earth, and to leave the world a better world than it was when you were born. If you are really a child of God, strive to be like your Father and your great elder Brother in heaven. For Christ’s sake, do not be content to have religion for yourself alone. Love, charity, kindness, and sympathy are the truest proofs that we are real members of Christ, genuine children of God, and rightful heirs of the kingdom of heaven.

~ J.C. Ryle

Tract: One Blood

Filed under: Christian Walk

Protect Your Assurance in Christ

Erik — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 07:00:16 +0000

Do not forget that assurance is a thing that may be lost. Oh! it is a most delicate plant. It needs daily, hourly watching, watering, tending, cherishing. So take care. David lost it. Peter lost it. Each found it again—but not until after bitter tears. Quench not the Spirit; grieve Him not; vex Him not. Drive Him not to a distance by tampering with small bad habits and little sins. Little jarrings make unhappy homes, and petty inconsistencies will bring in a distance between you and the Spirit. The nearest walker with God will generally be kept in the greatest peace. The believer who follows the Lord most fully will ordinarily enjoy the most assured hope.

~ J.C. Ryle

Tract: Ready to Be Offered

Filed under: Christian Walk

Do Not Lose Your Soul to Hell!

Erik — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 07:00:28 +0000

If I thought there was no such place as hell I would not write as I do. If I thought that as a matter of course all people would go to heaven at last, I would be quiet and leave them alone. But I dare not do so. I see danger ahead, and I would sincerely warn every man to flee from the wrath to come. I see peril of shipwreck, and I would light a beacon and entreat every man to seek the harbor of safety. Do not despise my warning. Examine your own heart—find out whether you are in a way to be lost or saved. Search and see how matters stand between yourself and God—do not commit the enormous folly of losing your own soul. We live in an age of great temptation. The devil is going about and is very busy. The night is far spent. The time is short. Do not lose your own soul!

~ J.C. Ryle

Tract: Our Souls!

Filed under: Hell

The State of the ‘Almost Christian’

Erik — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 07:00:49 +0000

There are many whom I must call “almost Christians,” for I know no other expression in the Bible, which so exactly describes their state. They have many things about them which are right, good and praiseworthy in the sight of God. They are regular and moral in their lives. They are free from glaring outward sins. They keep up many decent and proper habits. They appear to love the preaching of the Gospel. They are not offended at the truth as it is in Jesus, however plainly it may be spoken. They have no objection to religious company, religious books, and religious talk. They agree to all you say when you speak to them about their souls. And all this is well.

But still there is no movement in the hearts of these people that even a microscope can detect. They are like those who stand still. Weeks after weeks, years after years roll over their heads, and they are just where they were. They sit under our pulpits. They approve of our sermons. And yet, like Pharaoh’s lean cows, they are nothing the better, apparently, for all they receive. There is always the same regularity about them—the same constant attendance on means of grace—the same wishing and hoping—the same way of talking about religion—but there is nothing more. There is no going forward in their Christianity. There is no life, and heart, and reality in it. Their souls seem to be at a deadlock. And all this is sadly wrong.

~ J.C. Ryle

Tract: Where Are You?

Filed under: Conversion

The One Road to Heaven: Jesus Christ

Erik — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 07:00:17 +0000

Before the mountains were brought forth, or the earth and world were formed, Jesus Christ was like the Father, very God. From the beginning He was foreordained to be the Savior of sinners. He was always the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, without whose blood there could be no remission. The same Jesus, to whom alone we may look for salvation, that same Jesus was the only hope of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and all the patriarchs; what we are privileged to see distinctly they doubtless saw indistinctly – but the Savior both we and they rest upon is one. It was Christ Jesus who was foretold in all the prophets, and foreshadowed and represented in all the law – the daily sacrifice of the lamb, the cities of refuge, the brazen serpent, all these were so many emblems to Israel of that Redeemer who was yet to come, and without whom no person could be saved. There never was but one road to heaven: Jesus Christ was the way, the truth and the life yesterday as well as today.

~ J.C. Ryle

Tract: The Unchanging Christ

Filed under: Christ

Fruit Bearing Christianity

Erik — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 07:00:14 +0000

The Christianity which is from above will always be known by its fruits. It will produce in the person who has it repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, spirituality, kindness, self-denial, unselfishness, forgiving spirit, moderation, truthfulness, hospitality, and patience. The degree in which these various graces appear may vary in different believers. The germ and seeds of them will be found in all who are the children of God. By their fruits they will be known. Is this your faith? If not, you should doubt whether it is authentic.

~ J.C. Ryle

Tract: Authentic Religion

Filed under: Christian Walk

The Precious Promises of the Bible

Erik — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 07:00:10 +0000

How precious are the promises which the Bible contains for the use of those who love God! There is hardly any possible emergency or condition for which it does not have a word of hope and encouragement. And it tells people that God loves to be put in remembrance of these promises, and that if He has said He will do something, His promise will certainly be fulfilled. How blessed are the hopes which the Bible holds out to the believer in Christ Jesus! Peace in the hour of death—rest and happiness on the other side of the grave—a glorious body in the morning of the resurrection—a full and triumphant acquittal in the day of judgment—an everlasting reward in the kingdom of Christ—a joyful meeting with the Lord’s people in the day of gathering together—these, these are the future prospects of every true Christian. They are all written in the book—in the book which is all true.

~ J.C. Ryle

Tract: Bible Reading

Filed under: Bible

The Perfect Unison of the Trinity

Erik — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 07:00:36 +0000

I hold that there is a perfect harmony and unison in the action of the three People of the Trinity, in bringing any person to glory, and that all three cooperate and work a joint work in his deliverance from sin and hell. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit. The Father is merciful, the Son is merciful, the Holy Spirit is merciful. The same Three who said at the beginning, “Let us create,” said also, “Let us redeem and save.” I hold that everyone who reaches heaven will ascribe all the glory of his salvation to Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three People in one God.

~ J.C. Ryle

Tract: Christ is All

Filed under: Conversion

God Delights in Honoring Zeal

Erik — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 07:00:39 +0000

Nothing is so effective in keeping true Christianity alive as the yeast of zealous Christians scattered throughout the Church. Like salt, they prevent the whole body from falling into a state of decay. No one but people of this kind can revive Churches that are about to die. It is impossible to overestimate the debt that all Christians owe to zeal. The greatest mistake the leaders of a Church can make is to drive zealous people out of its congregation. By doing so they drain out the life-blood of the system, and advance the church’s decline and death. God delights in honoring zeal. Look through the list of Christians who have been used most mightily by God. Who are the people that have left the deepest and most indelible marks on the Church of their day? Who are the people that God has generally honored to build up the walls of His Zion, and also to fight the enemy at the gate? He does not use people of learning and literary talent as readily as people of zeal.

~ J.C. Ryle

Tract: Christian Zeal

Filed under: Zeal

Christ the Only Way

Erik — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 07:00:21 +0000

Only the blood of Christ can cleanse us; only the righteousness of Christ’s can clothe us; Only the sacrifice of Christ can give us a title to heaven. Jews and Gentiles, educated and uneducated, rich and poor—everyone, no matter what their position or standing in life must either be saved by Jesus Christ or lost forever. And the Apostle emphatically adds, “There is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” There is no other person commissioned, sealed, and appointed by God the Father to be the Savior of sinners, except Christ. The keys of life and death are only found in His hand, and all who want to be saved must go to Him.

~ J.C. Ryle

Tract: One Blood

Filed under: Christ

Proving Your Faith in Christ

Erik — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 07:00:08 +0000

I charge you never to neglect the duty of brotherly love, and practical, active, sympathetic kindness towards every one around you, whether high or low, or rich or poor. Try daily to do some good upon earth, and to leave the world a better world than it was when you were born. If you are really a child of God, strive to be like Christ in heaven. For Christ’s sake, do not be content to have Christianity for yourself alone. Love, charity, kindness, and sympathy are the truest proofs that we are real members of Christ, genuine children of God, and rightful heirs of the kingdom of heaven.

~ J.C. Ryle

Tract: One Blood

Filed under: Christianity