Think what a solemn warning there is to all worldly and hypocritical professors of religion. Let all such read, mark, and digest these words. Jesus says to you, “I know thy works”.You may deceive me or any other minister; it is easy to do so. You may receive the bread and wine from my hands, and yet be cleaving to iniquity in your hearts. You may sit under the pulpit of an Evangelical preacher, week after week, and hear his words with a serious face, but believe them not. But remember this, you cannot deceive Christ. He who discovered the deadness of Sardis and the lukewarmness of Laodicea, sees you through and through, and will expose you at the last day, except you repent.
~ J.C. Ryle
Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots, “Visible Churches Warned”, [Moscow, ID: Charles Nolan Publishing, 2001], 279.
