I Give My Sheep Eternal Life By J.C. Ryle

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I Give My Sheep Eternal Life By J.C. Ryle

And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. -John 10:28

The Lord Jesus says of His sheep, "I give unto them eternal life!" What is the portion which Jesus gives His people? "eternal life", a perfect, never-ending happiness for that which is the most important part of a man, his immortal soul. They shall not be hurt by the second death, which alone is to be really feared. What greater things could our Lord bestow upon His people? Health and riches and honor and pleasures, houses and lands, and wives and children, what are they? How long do they last? It is but threescore years and ten, and we must leave them all, and six feet of vile earth is room enough for us. Naked came we into the world, and naked must we return unto the dust, and carry nothing with us. What is the difference between the rich and the poor in death? They both go unto one and the same place; the worm feeds sweetly on them both; it is but a short time, and you would not be able to distinguish between their bones.

But if the poor man sleeps in Jesus, while the rich man dies in his sins, oh, what a mighty gulf then is between them! The rich will take up his abode in that fire which is never quenched; the poor will awake to find he has an everlasting treasure in heaven, even eternal life. Eternal life! Compared to which this world's concerns, weighty and important as they seem, are like a drop of water. 

Consider with yourselves how glorious that doctrine is; how thoroughly it takes away all excuse from the impenitent. Pardon and forgiveness are here unconditionally bestowed; we are not told that we must pay off so much every day, and then shall be saved, that would drive us to doubt and despair, but if a man will only hear Christ's voice and follow Him, "Behold "says Jesus, "I give unto him eternal life, there remains no condemnation for him.”

THIS SHORT DEVOTIONAL IS ON YOUTUBE CLICK HERE TO LISTEN. 

From the sermon “The Privileges of Christian"

The Precious Promises of the Bible by J.C. Ryle

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UPDATE: The new devotional, "Morning Grace, Evening Truth" 365 Days in the Psalms and Gospels with Charles Spurgeon and J.C. Ryle has been released and is available for purchase on Amazon (soft cover and kindle) order HERE. 

The Precious Promises of the Bible by J.C. Ryle

Let us read our Bibles in private more, and with more pains and diligence. Ignorance of Scripture is the root of all error, and makes a person helpless in the hand of the devil.

There is less private Bible reading, I suspect, than there was fifty years ago. I never can believe that so many men and women would have been “tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine,” some falling into skepticism, some rushing into the wildest and narrowest fanaticism, and some going over to Rome, if there had not grown up a habit of lazy, superficial, careless, perfunctory reading of God’s Word. “You do err not knowing the Scriptures” (Matt. 22:29). The Bible in the pulpit must never supersede the Bible at home.

~ J.C. Ryle

Tract: Needs of the Times

When Secret Backsliding Goes Public by J.C. Ryle

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UPDATE: The new devotional, "Morning Grace, Evening Truth" 365 Days in the Psalms and Gospels with Charles Spurgeon and J.C. Ryle has been released and is available for purchase on Amazon (soft cover and kindle) order HERE. 

When Secret Backsliding Goes Public by J.C. Ryle

Great illnesses seldom attack the body, without a previous train of premonitory symptoms. Great falls seldom happen to a saint, without a previous course of secret backsliding.

The church and the world are sometimes shocked by the sudden misconduct of some great professor of religion. Believers are discouraged and stumbled by it. The enemies of God rejoice and blaspheme. But if the truth could be known, the explanation of such cases would generally be found to have been private departure from God. People fall in private, long before they fall in public. The tree falls with a great crash, but the secret decay which accounts for it, is often not discovered until it is down on the ground.

~ J.C. Ryle

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1986], 376, 377. {Matthew 26:69-75}

Train Your Children in the Habit of Faith By J.C. Ryle

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Train Your Children in the Habit of Faith By J.C. Ryle

Train them to have a habit of faith. 

By this I mean, you should train them to believe what you say. You should try to make them feel confidence in your judgment, and respect your opinions, as better than their own.

You should cause them to think that, when you say a thing is bad for them, it must be bad, and when you say it is good for them, it must be good; that your knowledge, in short, is better than their own, and that they may rely implicitly on your word. Teach them to feel that what they do not know now, they will probably know later, and to be satisfied there is a reason for everything you require them to do. 

Who can describe the blessedness of a real spirit of faith? Or rather, who can tell the misery that unbelief has brought on the world? Unbelief made Eve eat the forbidden fruit—she doubted the truth of God's word: "You will surely die." Unbelief made the old world reject Noah's warning, and so perish in their sin. Unbelief kept Israel in the wilderness—it was the barricade that kept them from entering the promised land. Unbelief made the Jews crucify the Lord of glory—they did not believe the voice of Moses and the prophets, even though they were read to them every day. And unbelief is the reigning sin of man's heart down to this very hour—unbelief in God's promises—unbelief in God's wrath and discipline—unbelief in our own sinfulness—unbelief in our own danger—unbelief in everything that runs counter to the pride and worldliness of our evil hearts. Your training of your children is worth very little if you do not train them to have a habit of implicit faith—faith in their parents' word, confidence that what their parents say must be right. 

I have heard it said by some, that you should require nothing of children which they cannot understand, and that you should explain and give a reason for everything you desire them to do. I solemnly warn you against such a notion. I tell you plainly, I think it is an unsound and corrupt principle. No doubt it is absurd to make a mystery of everything you do, and there are many things which it is good to explain to children, in order that they may see that what we say is reasonable and wise. But to bring them up with the idea that they must take nothing on trust, that they, with their weak and imperfect comprehension, must have the " why " and the "wherefore" made clear to them at every step they take—this is indeed a fearful mistake, and likely to have the worst effect on their minds. 

At certain times, if you are so inclined, reason with your child, but never forget to keep in mind (if you really love him) that he is only a child—that he thinks as a child, he understands as a child, and therefore must not always expect to know the reason for everything. 

Set before him the example of Isaac, in the day when Abraham took him to offer him as a sacrifice on Mount Moriah [Genesis 22]. Isaac asked his father a simple question, "Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" and he got no answer but this, "Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb." How, or where, or when, or in what manner, or by what means—all this Isaac was not told; but the answer was enough. He believed that it would all be okay, because his father said so, and he was content. 

Also, tell your children, that we must all be learners in all of our beginnings, that there is an alphabet to be mastered in every kind of knowledge—that the best horse in the world once needed to be broken—that a day will come when they will see the wisdom of all your training. But in the meantime if you say a thing is right, it must be enough for them—they must believe you, and be content. 

Parents, if any point in training is important, it is this. I charge you by the love that you have for your children, use every means to train them to have a habit of faith.

The book "The Duties of Parents" can be found here: J.C. Ryle

Get Rid of Your Idols! By J.C. Ryle

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UPDATE: The new devotional, "Morning Grace, Evening Truth" 365 Days in the Psalms and Gospels with Charles Spurgeon and J.C. Ryle has been released and is available for purchase on Amazon (soft cover and kindle) order HERE. 

Get Rid of Your Idols! By J.C. Ryle

Are we honest and sincere in our professed desire to be true Christians? Have we given up all our idols?

Is there no secret sin that we are silently clinging to, and refusing to give up? Is there no thing or person that we are privately loving more than Christ and our souls? These are questions that ought to be answered. The true explanation of the unsatisfactory state of many hearers of the Gospel, is spiritual idolatry. We need not wonder that John says, “Keep yourselves from idols.” (1 John 5:21.)

~ J.C. Ryle

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1986], 240, 241.

Find Out the State of Your Soul! 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.

Find Out the State of Your Soul! By J.C. Ryle

You cannot live forever. You must one day die. You cannot avoid the judgment after death. You must stand before the bar of Christ.

The summons of the Archangel cannot be disobeyed. The last great assembly must be attended. The state of your own soul must one day undergo a thorough investigation. It will be found out one day what you are in God’s sight. Your spiritual condition will at length be brought to light before the whole world. Oh, find out what it is now! While you have time, while you have health, find out the state of your soul.

~ J.C. Ryle

Tract: Never Perish

What Will They Do In Heaven? 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.

What Will They Do In Heaven? By J.C. Ryle

Look at the greater part of those who are called Christians, in every part throughout the land…What are the tastes and pleasures of the majority of the people who live there?…

Observe the manner in which they spend their Sundays. Mark how little delight they seem to feel in the Bible and prayer. Take notice of the low and earthly notions of pleasure and happiness which everywhere prevail, among young and old—among rich and poor. Mark well these things—and then think quietly over this question: ‘What would these people do in heaven?’

~ J.C. Ryle

Regeneration, 26.

Do Not Tolerate False Teaching 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.

Do Not Tolerate False Teaching by J.C. Ryle

If we would hold fast that which is good, we must never tolerate or support any doctrine which is not the pure doctrine of Christ’s Gospel.

There is a hatred which is downright charity – that is the hatred of erroneous doctrine. There is an intolerance which is downright praiseworthy – that is the intolerance of false teaching in the pulpit. Who would ever think of tolerating a little poison given to them day by day? If men come among you who do not preach “all the counsel of God,” who do not preach of Christ, sin, holiness, of ruin, redemption, and regeneration, and do not preach of these things in a Scriptural way, you ought to cease to hear them.

~ J.C. Ryle

Knots Untied, “Private Judgment” [Cambridge, England: James Clarke & Co., 1977], 44.

Taking Stock of Your Spiritual Condition 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.

   Taking Stock of Your Spiritual Condition by J.C. Ryle

Let us cultivate the habit of keeping up more private meditation and communion with Christ. Let us resolutely make time for getting alone occasionally, for talking with our own souls like David, for pouring out our hearts to our great High Priest, Advocate, and Confessor at the right hand of God.

I see some professing Christians always running about after spiritual food, always in public, and always out of breath and in a hurry, and never allowing themselves leisure to sit down quietly to digest, and take stock of their spiritual condition. I am never surprised if such Christians have a dwarfish, stunted religion and do not grow and if, like Pharaoh’s lean kin, they look no better for their public religious feasting, but rather worse. Spiritual prosperity depends immensely on our private religion, and private religion cannot flourish unless we determine that by God’s help we will make time, whatever trouble it may cost us, for thought, for prayer, for the Bible, and for private communion with Christ. Alas! That saying of our Master is sadly overlooked: “Enter into your closet and shut the door” (Matt. 6:6).

~ J.C. Ryle

Tract: Needs of the Times

4 Great Doctrines To Always Keep in Mind 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.

4 Great Doctrines To Always Keep in Mind by J.C. Ryle

“I feel that we all need more and more of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, to guide, to teach and to keep us sound in the faith. There are certain great truths, which, in a day like this [1874!], we are especially bound to keep in mind. I believe there are times and seasons in the Church of Christ when we are bound to tighten our hold upon certain great leading truths, to grasp them with more than ordinary firmness in our hands, to press them to our hearts and not let them go.”

#1: The Total Corruption of the Human Nature

“The corruption of human nature is no slight thing. It is no partial, skin-deep disease, but a radical and universal corruption of man’s will, intellect, affections, and conscience. We are not merely poor and pitiable sinners in God’s sight: we are guilty sinners; we are blameworthy sinners: we deserve justly God’s wrath and God’s condemnation. I believe there are very few errors and false doctrines of which the beginning may not be traced up to unsound views about the corruption of human nature. Wrong views of a disease will always bring with them wrong views of the remedy. Wrong views of the corruption of human nature will always carry with them wrong views of the grand treatment and cure of that corruption.”

#2: The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible

“Let us boldly maintain, in the face of all the opposition, that the whole of the Bible is given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that all is inspired completely, not one part more than another, and that there is an entire gulf between the Word of God and any other book in the world. We need not be afraid of difficulties in the way of the doctrine of absolute inspiration. There may be many things about it far too high for us to comprehend: it is a miracle, and all miracles are necessarily mysterious. But if we are not to believe anything until we can entirely explain it, there are very few things indeed that we shall believe. We need not be afraid of all the assaults that criticism brings to bear upon the Bible. From the days of the apostles the Word of the Lord has been incessantly ‘tried,’ and has never failed to come forth as gold, uninjured and spotless.”

#3: The Atonement and Priestly Office of Christ

“We must boldly maintain that the death of our Lord on the cross was no common death. It was not the death of one who died only as a martyr. It was not the death of one who only died to give us a mighty example of self-sacrifice and self-denial. The death of Christ was an offering up to God of Christ’s own body and blood, to make satisfaction for man’s sin and transgression. It was a sacrifice and appeasement; a sacrifice typified in every offering of the Mosaic law, a sacrifice of the mightiest influence on all mankind. Without the shedding of that blood there could not be, there never was to be, any remission of sin.”

#4: The Work of God in the Holy Spirit

“Let us settle it in our minds that His work is no uncertain invisible operation on the heart: and that where He is, He is not hidden, not unfelt, not unobserved. We do not believe that the dew, when it falls, cannot be felt, or that where there is life in a man it cannot be seen and observed by his breath. So is it with the influence of the Holy Spirit. No man has any right to lay claim to it, except its fruits and its experimental effects can be seen in his life. Where He is, there will ever be a new creation, and a new man. Where He is, there will ever be new knowledge, new faith, new holiness, new fruits in the life, in the family, in the world, in the Church. And where these new things are not to be seen we may well say, with confidence, there is no work of the Holy Spirit.”

~ J.C. Ryle

Warnings to the Churches, “Pharisees and Sadducees”, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1967], 61-66.

Praying to Increase Your Faith 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.

Praying to Increase Your Faith by J.C. Ryle

Make it your daily prayer that you may have an increase of faith. According to your faith will be your peace. Cultivate that blessed root more, and sooner or later, by God’s blessing, you may hope to have the flower.

You may not perhaps attain to full assurance at once: it is good sometimes to be kept waiting; we do not value things that we get without trouble. But though it tarry, wait for it. Seek on, and expect to find.

~ J.C. Ryle

Tract: Faith and Assurance

Repentance and the Real Gospel 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.

Repentance and the Real Gospel by J.C. Ryle

Let no man ever persuade you that any religion deserves to be called the Gospel, in which repentance toward God has not a most prominent place. That is no Gospel in which repentance is not a principal thing.

It is the Gospel of man – not of God. It comes from earth – not from heaven. It is not the Gospel at all – it is rank antinomianism and nothing else. So long as you hug your sins, and cleave to your sins, and will have your sins – your sins are not forgiven.

So long as you do not repent of sin, the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is no Gospel to your soul. Christ is a Savior from sin – not a Savior for man in sin. If a man will have his sins, the day will come when that merciful Savior will say to him, “Depart from Me, you worker of iniquity! Depart into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matt. 25:41.)

~ J.C. Ryle

Old Paths, “Repentance”, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1999], 415, 416.

The Behavior of a Soldier by J.C. Ryle

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UPDATE: The new devotional, "Morning Grace, Evening Truth" 365 Days in the Psalms and Gospels with Charles Spurgeon and J.C. Ryle has been released and is available for purchase on Amazon (soft cover and kindle) order HERE. 

 The Behavior of a Soldier by J.C. Ryle

The true Christian is called to be a soldier, and must behave as such from the day of his conversion to the day of his death. He is not meant to live a life of religious ease, indolence and security.

He must never imagine for a moment that he can sleep and doze along the way to heaven, like one traveling in an easy carriage. If he takes his standard of Christianity from the children of the world, he may be content with such notions; but he will find no countenance from them in the Word of God. If the Bible is the rule of his faith and practice, he will find his course laid down very plainly in this matter. He must fight.

Conduct is the Test of Character by J.C. Ryle

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UPDATE: The new devotional, "Morning Grace, Evening Truth" 365 Days in the Psalms and Gospels with Charles Spurgeon and J.C. Ryle has been released and is available for purchase on Amazon (soft cover and kindle) order HERE. 

 Conduct is the Test of Character by J.C. Ryle

What fruits are we bringing forth in our lives? Are they, or are they not, fruits of the Spirit? What kind of evidence do our words supply as to the state of our hearts?

Do we talk like people whose hearts are “right in the sight of God?” Conduct is the grand test of character. Words are one great evidence of the condition of the heart.

~ J.C. Ryle

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke volume 1, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1986], 193.

Prove Your Profession By Fruits! BY J.C. Ryle

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UPDATE: The new devotional, "Morning Grace, Evening Truth" 365 Days in the Psalms and Gospels with Charles Spurgeon and J.C. Ryle has been released and is available for purchase on Amazon (soft cover and kindle) order HERE. 

Prove Your Profession By Fruits! BY J.C. Ryle

Is not every fruitless professor of Christianity in dreadful danger of becoming a withered fig tree? There can be no doubt of it.

So long as a man is content with the leaves of religion–with a name to live while he is dead, and a form of godliness without the power–so long his soul is in great peril. So long as he is satisfied with going to church or chapel, and receiving the Lord’s supper, and being called a Christian, while his heart is not changed, and his sins not forsaken–then he is daily provoking God to cut him off without remedy. Fruit, fruit–the fruit of the Spirit, is the only sure proof that we are savingly united to Christ, and on our way to heaven. May this sink down into our hearts, and never be forgotten!

~ J.C. Ryle

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1986], 270, 271. {Matthew 21:23-32}