Christ’s View of His Servants by J.C. Ryle

Christ’s View of His Servants by J.C. Ryle

The least and lowest of believers will find that he is counted among Christ’s servants, and that his labor has not been in vain in the Lord.

He will discover to his amazement, that his Master’s eye saw more beauty in his efforts to please Him, than he ever saw himself. He will find that every hour spent in Christ’s service, and every word spoken on Christ’s behalf, has been written in a book of remembrance. Let believers remember these things and take courage. The cross may be heavy now, but the glorious reward shall make amends for all.

~ J.C. Ryle

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1986], 338, 339.

UPDATE: A new J.C. Ryle 365 Day Devotional has been released from Reformation Heritage Books. This devotional was taken from hundreds of J.C. Ryle's sermons. You can order the devotional HERE.

Grasping Biblical Christianity by J.C. Ryle

Grasping Biblical Christianity by J.C. Ryle

Hundreds of professed converts, under religious revivals, go back to the world after a time, and bring disgrace to religion. They begin with a sadly mistaken notion of what is true Christianity. They fancy it consists in nothing more than a so-called ‘coming to Christ’, and have strong inward feelings of joy and peace.

“And so, when they find, after a time, that there is a cross to be carried, that our hearts are deceitful, and that there is a busy devil always near us, they cool down in disgust, and return to their old sins. And why?  Because they had really never known what Bible Christianity is. They had never learned that we must ‘count the cost’.

~ J.C. Ryle

Faithfulness and Holiness: The Witness of J.C. Ryle,

“The Cost”, 179.

UPDATE: A new J.C. Ryle 365 Day Devotional has been released from Reformation Heritage Books. This devotional was taken from hundreds of J.C. Ryle's sermons. You can order the devotional HERE.

Steadily Following Christ by J.C. Ryle

Steadily Following Christ by J.C. Ryle

Oh that Christians, the very best of them, were not so slack in following! Some stop to trifle with the perishable things of earth. Some stop to pick up the gaudy, scentless flowers by the wayside.

Some stop to sleep, forgetting this is not our rest, it is enchanted ground. Some stop to pick holes and find fault with their fellow-travelers. Few of Christ’s sheep do hold on their way as steadily as they might. But still, compared with the world, they are following Christ Jesus.

Oh that they would only remember, those who follow Him most fully, shall follow Him most comfortably! They are following Christ Jesus, and they know where they are going; and even in the dark river, in the valley of the shadow of death, they feel a confidence that their Shepherd will be with them, and His rod and His staff will comfort them. They would all tell you they are poor wandering sheep, less than the least of all God’s mercies, ashamed of the little fruit they bear—but still, weak as they are, they are determined to follow on to the end, and to say, “None but Christ, in life and in death, in time and in eternity.”

~ J.C. Ryle

The Christian Race & Other Sermons, “The Character of the True Christian”, [Moscow, ID: Charles Nolan Publishing, 2002], 100.

UPDATE: A new J.C. Ryle 365 Day Devotional has been released from Reformation Heritage Books. This devotional was taken from hundreds of J.C. Ryle's sermons. You can order the devotional HERE.

Equal Before Christ by J.C. Ryle

Equal Before Christ by J.C. Ryle

There is no royal road to rest of soul. Let that never be forgotten. There is only one way to the Father – Jesus Christ. One door into heaven – Jesus Christ. One path to heart-peace and rest – Jesus Christ. By that way all laboring and heavy-laden ones must go, whatever their rank or condition.

Kings in their palaces and paupers in the workhouse, all are on the same level in this matter. All alike must walk in the ‘old paths’ and come to Christ, if they feel soul-weary and thirsty. All must drink of the same fountain, if they would have their thirst relieved.

~ J.C. Ryle

The Upper Room, “The Good Way”, 89.

UPDATE: A new J.C. Ryle 365 Day Devotional has been released from Reformation Heritage Books. This devotional was taken from hundreds of J.C. Ryle's sermons. You can order the devotional HERE.

We Cannot Know This Christ Too Well! By J.C. Ryle

We Cannot Know This Christ Too Well! By J.C. Ryle

He that would be conformed to Christ’s image, and become a Christ–like man, must be constantly studying Christ Himself. Now the Gospels were written to make us acquainted with Christ. The Holy Spirit has told us the story of His life and death, His sayings and His doings, four times over.

Four different inspired hands have drawn the picture of the Savior His ways, His manners, His feelings, His wisdom, His grace, His patience, His love, His power are graciously unfolded to us by four different witnesses. Ought not the sheep to be familiar with the Shepherd?

Ought not the patient to be familiar with the Physician? Ought not the bride to be familiar with the Bridegroom? Ought not the sinner to be familiar with the Savior? Beyond doubt it ought to be so.

The Gospels were written to make men familiar with Christ, and therefore I wish men to study the Gospels.

On whom must we build our souls if we would be accepted with God? We must build on the Rock, Christ. From whom must we draw that grace of the Spirit which we daily need in order to be fruitful? We must draw from the Vine, Christ.

To whom must we look for sympathy when earthly friends fail us or die? We must look to our elder Brother, Christ. By whom must our prayers be presented, if they are to be heard on high? They must be presented by our Advocate, Christ.

With whom do we hope to spend the thousand years of glory, and the after eternity? With the King of kings, Christ. Surely we cannot know this Christ too well!

Surely there is not a word, nor a deed, nor a day, nor a step, nor a thought in the record of His life, which ought not to be precious to us. We should labor to be familiar with every line that is written about Jesus.”

–John Charles Ryle, Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots (Moscow, Idaho: Charles Nolan, 1877/2002), 234-235.

UPDATE: A new J.C. Ryle 365 Day Devotional has been released from Reformation Heritage Books. This devotional was taken from hundreds of J.C. Ryle's sermons. You can order the devotional HERE.

Wealth and Poverty from God’s View by J.C. Ryle

UPDATE: A new J.C. Ryle 365 Day Devotional has been released from Reformation Heritage Books. This devotional was taken from hundreds of J.C. Ryle's sermons. You can order the devotional HERE.

Wealth and Poverty from God’s View by J.C. Ryle

Let us never give way to the common idea that people are to be valued according to their income, and that the person who has most money is the one who ought to be the most highly esteemed.

There is no authority for this notion in the Bible. The general teaching of Scripture is flatly opposed to it. “Not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble are called” (1 Cor. 1:26). “Let not the rich man glory in his riches. But let him that glories glory in this, that he knows and understands me” (Jeremiah 9:24). Wealth is no mark of God’s favor. Poverty is no mark of God’s displeasure. Those whom God justifies and glorifies are seldom the rich of this world. If we would measure people as God measures them, we must value them according to their grace.

~ J.C. Ryle

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke volume 2 , [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1986], 212. {Luke 16:19-31}

The Tender Mercy of Christ by J.C. Ryle

UPDATE: A new J.C. Ryle 365 Day Devotional has been released from Reformation Heritage Books. This devotional was taken from hundreds of J.C. Ryle's sermons. You can order the devotional HERE.

The Tender Mercy of Christ by J.C. Ryle

Never, never let us curtail the freeness of the glorious Gospel, or clip its fair proportions. Never let us make the gate more straight and the way more narrow than pride and the love of sin have made it already.

The Lord Jesus is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

“He does not regard the quantity of faith, but the quality. He does not measure its degree, but its truth. He will not break any bruised reed, nor quench any smoking flax. He will never let it be said that any perished at the foot of the cross. ‘Him that cometh unto Me’, He says, ‘I will in no wise cast out’ (John 6:37).

~ J.C. Ryle

Faithfulness and Holiness: The Witness of J.C. Ryle,

“Assurance”, 210, 211.

The Right Heart in Prayer by J.C. Ryle

UPDATE: A new J.C. Ryle 365 Day Devotional has been released from Reformation Heritage Books. This devotional was taken from hundreds of J.C. Ryle's sermons. You can order the devotional HERE.

The Right Heart in Prayer by J.C. Ryle


Of all the list of Christian duties there is none to which there is such abounding encouragement as prayer. It is the duty which concerns all.

High and low, rich and poor, learned and unlearned – all must pray. Above all, it is a duty in which everything depends on the heart and motive within. Our words may be feeble and ill-chosen, and our language broken and ungrammatical, and unworthy to be written down. But if the heart if right, it matters not. He that sits in heaven can spell out the meaning of every petition sent up in the name of Jesus, and can make him that asks know and feel that he receives.

~ J.C. Ryle

Day by Day with J.C. Ryle, “Prayer”, [Ross-shire, UK: Christian Focus, 2004], 226.

7 Marks of a Right Heart Before God by J.C. Ryle

UPDATE: A new J.C. Ryle 365 Day Devotional has been released from Reformation Heritage Books. This devotional was taken from hundreds of J.C. Ryle's sermons. You can order the devotional HERE.

7 Marks of a Right Heart Before God by J.C. Ryle

1) A right heart is a NEW heart (Ezek. 36:26). It is not the heart with which a person is born—but another heart put in them by the Holy Spirit.
It is a heart which has new tastes, new joys, new sorrows, new desires, new hopes, new fears, new likes, new dislikes. It has new views about the soul, sin, God, Christ, salvation, the Bible, prayer, heaven, hell, the world, and holiness. It is like a farm with a new and good tenant. “Old things are passed away. Behold all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17).

2) A right heart is a BROKEN and CONTRITE heart (Psalm 51:17). It is broken off from pride, self-conceit, and self-righteousness. Its former high thoughts of self are cracked, shattered, and shivered to atoms. It thinks itself guilty, unworthy, and corrupt. Its former stubbornness, heaviness, and insensibility have thawed, disappeared, and passed away. It no longer thinks lightly of offending God. It is tender, sensitive, and jealously fearful of running into sin (2 Kings 22:19). It is humble, lowly, and self-abased, and sees in itself no good thing.

3) A right heart is a heart which BELIEVES ON CHRIST ALONE for salvation, and in which Christ dwells by faith (Rom. 10:10; Eph. 3:17). It rests all its hopes of pardon and eternal life on Christ’s atonement, Christ’s mediation, and Christ’s intercession. It is sprinkled in Christ’s blood from an evil conscience (Heb. 10:22). It turns to Christ as the compass-needle turns to the north. It looks to Christ for daily peace, mercy, and grace—as the sun-flower looks to the sun. It feeds on Christ for its daily sustenance, as Israel fed on the manna in the wilderness. It sees in Christ a special fitness to supply all its needs and requirements. It leans on Him, hangs on Him, builds on Him, cleaves to Him, as its physician, guardian, husband, and friend.

4) A right heart is a PURIFIED heart (Acts 15:9; Matt. 5:8). It loves holiness, and hates sin. It strives daily to cleanse itself from all filthiness of flesh and spirit (2 Cor. 7:1). It abhors that which is evil, and cleaves to that which is good. It delights in the law of God, and has that law engraved on it, that it may not forget it (Psalm 119:11). It longs to keep the law more perfectly, and takes pleasure in those who love the law. It loves God and people. Its affections are set on things above. It never feels so light and happy as when it is most holy; and it looks forward to heaven with joy, as the place where perfect holiness will at length be attained.

5) A right heart is a PRAYING heart. It has within it “the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba Father” (Rom. 8:15). Its daily feeling is, “Your face, Lord, will I seek” (Psalm 27:8). It is drawn by an habitual inclination to speak to God about spiritual things—weakly, feebly, and imperfectly perhaps—but speak it must. It finds it necessary to pour out itself before God, as before a friend, and to spread before Him all its needs and desires. It tells Him all its secrets. It keeps back nothing from Him. You might as well try to persuade a person to live without breathing, as to persuade the possessor of a right heart to live without praying.

6) A right heart is a heart that FEELS CONFLICT within it (Gal. 5:17). It finds within itself two opposing principles contending for the mastery—the flesh lusting against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. It knows by experience what Paul means when he says, “I see a law in my members warring against the law of my mind” (Rom. 7:23). The wrong heart knows nothing of this strife. The strong man keeps the wrong heart as their palace, and their goods are at peace (Luke 11:21). But when the rightful King takes possession of the heart, a struggle begins which never ends until death. The right heart may be known by its warfare, quite as much as by its peace.

7) A right heart is HONEST, UNDIVIDED and TRUE (Luke 8:15; 1 Chron. 12:33; Heb. 10:22). There is nothing about it of falsehood, hypocrisy, or image-acting. It is not double or divided. It really is what it professes to be, feels what it professes to feel, and believes what it professes to believe. Its faith may be feeble. Its obedience may be very imperfect. But one thing will always distinguish the right heart. Its religion will be real, genuine, thorough, and sincere.

► Summary:

A heart such as that which I have now described, has always been the possession of all true Christians of every name, nation, people and tongue. They have differed from one another on many subjects—but they have all been of a right heart. Some of them have fallen, for a season, like David and Peter—but their hearts have never entirely departed from the Lord. They have often proved themselves to be men and women laden with infirmities—but their hearts have been right in the sight of God. They have understood one another on earth. They have found that their experience was everywhere one and the same. They will understand each other even better in the world to come. All that have had right hearts upon earth, will find that they have one heart when they enter heaven.

~ J.C. Ryle

Old Paths, “The Heart”, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1999], 348-351.

When Believers Die by J.C. Ryle

UPDATE: A new J.C. Ryle 365 Day Devotional has been released from Reformation Heritage Books. This devotional was taken from hundreds of J.C. Ryle's sermons. You can order the devotional HERE.

When Believers Die by J.C. Ryle

The very moment that believers die, they are in paradise. Their battle is fought; their strife is over. They have passed through that gloomy valley which we must one day tread; they have gone over that dark river which we must one day cross. They have drunk that last bitter cup which sin has mingled for man; they have reached that place where sorrow and sighing are no more!

Surely, we would not wish them back again! We should not weep for them — but for ourselves!"

Desire Holiness? Start with Christ by J.C. Ryle

UPDATE: A new J.C. Ryle 365 Day Devotional has been released from Reformation Heritage Books. This devotional was taken from hundreds of J.C. Ryle's sermons. You can order the devotional HERE.

Desire Holiness? Start with Christ by J.C. Ryle

Would you be holy? Would you become a new creature? Then begin with Christ! You will do nothing, until you feel your sin and weakness—and flee to Him! He is the beginning of all holiness.

He is not only wisdom and righteousness to His people—but sanctification also. People sometimes try to make themselves holy first—and sad work they make of it! They toil, labor, and turn over many new leaves, and make many changes—and yet they feel nothing bettered, but rather worse. They run in vain and labor in vain! Little wonder, for they are beginning at the wrong end! They are building up a wall of sand; their work runs down as fast as they throw it up. They are baling water out of a leaky vessel. The leak gains on them, not they on the leak. Other foundation of holiness, can no person lay, than that which Paul laid, even Christ Jesus. Without Christ, we can do nothing.

~ J.C. Ryle

Tract:  We Must Be Holy