He Will Burn Up The Chaff With Unquenchable Fire # 2
And where is there warrant for saying that hell can ever change a heart, or make it fit for Heaven? hell must be eternal, or hell would cease to be hell altogether. Give a man hope - and he will bear anything. Grant a hope of deliverance, however distant - and hell is but a drop of water. Ah, reader, these are solemn things!
FOREVER is the most solemn word in the Bible! Alas, for that day which shall have no tomorrow! That day when men shall seek death, and not find it, and shall desire to die - but death shall flee from them! Who shall dwell with devouring fire! Who shall dwell with everlasting burnings!
Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, hell is a subject that ought not be be kept back. It is striking to observe the many texts about it in Scripture. It is striking to observe that none say so much about it as our Lord Jesus Christ, that gracious and merciful Saviour; and the apostle John, whose heart seems full of love. Truly it may well be doubted whether we ministers speak of it as much as we ought. I cannot forget the words of a dying hearer of Mr. Newton's - "Sir, you often told me of Christ and salvation; why did you not oftener remind me of hell and danger?"
Let others be silent about hell if they will - I dare not do so. I see it plainly in Scripture, and I must speak of it. I fear that thousands are on that broad way that leads to it, and I would sincerely arouse them to a sense of the peril before them. What ought to be said of us as ministers, if we call ourselves watchmen for souls, and yet see the fires of hell raging in the distance - and never give the alarm? Call it bad taste, if you like, to speak of hell. Call it charity to make things pleasant, and speak smoothly, and soothe men with a constant lullaby of peace. From such notions of taste and charity - may I ever be delivered! My notion of charity is to warn men plainly of danger! My notion of taste in the ministerial office, is to declare all the counsel of God. If I never spoke of hell - I would think I had kept back something that was profitable - and would look on myself as an accomplice of the devil!
Reader, I beseech you, in all tender affection, beware of false views of the subject on which I have been dwelling. Beware of new and strange doctrines about hell and the eternity of punishment. Beware of manufacturing a God of your own; a God who is all mercy - but not "just"; a God who is all love - but not holy; a God who has a Heaven for everybody - but a hell for none; a God who can allow good and evil to be side by side in time - but will make no distinction between good and evil in eternity. Such a God is an idol of your own imagination! It is as true an idol as any snake. The hands of your own imagination and sentimentality have him. He is not the God of the Bible - and beside the God of the Bible - there is no god at all. A Heaven containing all sorts of sinful people, would be miserable discord indeed. Alas, for the eternity of such a Heaven, there would be little difference between it and hell! Ah, dear reader, there is a hell! There is a fire for the chaff! Take heed, lest you find it out to your cost too late!
Beware of forming fanciful theories of your own, and then trying to make the Bible square with them. Beware of making selections from your Bible to suit your taste - refusing, like a spoiled child, whatever you think bitter. What does it amount to but telling God, that you, a poor short-lived worm - know better than He? It will not do! You must take the Bible as it is. You must read it all, and believe it all. You must come to the reading of it in the spirit of a little child. Dare not to say, "I believe this verse, for I like it. I reject that, for I do not like it. I receive this, for I can agree with it. I refuse that, for I cannot reconcile it with my views." Nay! but O man, who are you that replies against God? By what right do you talk in this way? Surely, it were better to say over every chapter in the Word, "Speak Lord, for your servant is listening!" Ah, reader, if men would do this, they would never deny hell, the chaff, and the fire!
~J. C. Ryle~
(The End)
Saturday, July 28, 2018
He Will Burn Up The Chaff With Unquenchable Fire! # 1
He Will Burn Up The Chaff With Unquenchable Fire! # 1
"He will gather His wheat into the barn - but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire!" (Matthew 3:12).
This text describes in words, which should make our ears tingle - Christ shall "burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire!"
When the Lord Jesus Christ comes to purge His threshing floor - He shall punish all who are not His disciples with a fearful punishment. All who are found impenitent and unbelieving - all who have held the truth in unrighteousness - all who have clung to sin, stuck to the world, and set their affection on things below - all who are without Christ. All such shall come to an awful end! Christ shall "burn up the chaff!"
Their punishment shall be most SEVERE. There is no pain like that of burning. Fire is the most destructive and devouring of all elements. Creatures can live in air, and earth, and water - but nothing can live in fire! Yet firs is the portion to which the Christless and unbelieving will come.
Their punishment shall be ETERNAL. Millions of ages shall pass away, and the fire into which the chaff is cast, shall still burn on. That fire shall never burn low and become dim. The fuel of that fire shall never waste away and be consumed. It is "unquenchable fire."
Oh reader, these are sad and painful things to speak of! I have no pleasure in dwelling on them. I could rather say with the apostle Paul, "I have great sorrow." But they are things written for our learning, and it is good to consider them. They are a part of that Scripture which is all profitable, and they ought to be heard. As painful as the subject of hell is - it is one about which I dare not, cannot, must not be silent. Who would desire to speak of hell-fire - if God had not spoken of it? When God has spoken of it so plainly - who can safely hold his peace?
I dare not shut my eyes to the fact, that a deep-rooted infidelity lurks in men's minds on the subject of hell. I see it oozing out in the utter apathy of some - they eat, and drink, and sleep - as if there was no wrath to come! I see it creeping forth in the coldness of others about their neighbor's souls - they show little concern to pluck brands from the fire. I desire to denounce such infidelity with all my might. Believing that there are terrors of the Lord, as well as the recompense of reward - I call upon all who profess to believe the Bible, to be on their guard.
I know that some do not believe there is any hell at all. They think it impossible there can be such a place. They call it inconsistent with the mercy of God. They say it is too dreadful an idea to be really true. The devil of course rejoices in the views of such people. They help his kingdom mightily. They are preaching up his favorite old doctrine, "You shall not surely die!"
I know furthermore, that some do no believe that hell is eternal. They tell us it is incredible that a compassionate God will punish men forever. He will surely open the prison-doors at last. This also is a mighty help to the devil's cause. "Take your ease," he whispers to sinners - "if you do make a mistake, never mind, it is not forever."
I know also that some believe that there is a hell - but never allow that anybody is going there! All people with them are "good" as soon as they die - all were sincere - all meant well - and all, they hope, got to Heaven. Alas, what a common delusion is this! I can well understand the feeling of the little girl who asked her mother where all the wicked people were buried, "for she found no mention on the gravestones of any except the good."
And I know very well that some believe there is a hell - but never like it to be spoken of. It is a subject that should always be kept back. They see no profit in bringing it forward, and are rather shocked when it is mentioned. This also is an immense help to the devil. "Hush, hush!" says satan, "say nothing about hell." The fowler wishes to hear no noise when he lays his snare. The wolf would like the shepherd to sleep while he prowls round the fold. Just so, the devil rejoices when Christians are silent about hell.
Reader, all these notions are the opinions of man. What is it to you and I - what man thinks in religion? Man will not judge us at the last day. Man's fancies and traditions are not to be our guide in this life. There is but one point to be settled - What says the Word of God?"
Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, hell is real and true. It is as true as Heaven - as true as justification by faith - as true as the fact that Christ died upon the Cross. There is not a fact or doctrine which you may not lawfully doubt - if you doubt hell, disbelieve hell - and you unscrew, unsettle, and unpin everything in Scripture! You may as well throw your Bible away at once. From "no hell" to "no God" there is but a series of steps.
Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, hell will have inhabitants. The wicked shall certainly be turned into hell, and all the people that forget God. These will go away into everlasting punishment. The same blessed Saviour who now sits on a throne of grace, will one day sit on a throne of judgment - and men will see there is such a thing as "the wrath of the Lamb!" The same lips which now say "Come - come unto Me," will one day say "Depart from Me, you who are cursed!" Alas, how awful the thought of being condemned by Christ Himself - judged by our Saviour; sentenced to eternally misery - by the Lamb!
Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, hell will be intense and unutterable woe. It is vain to talk of all the expressions about being only figures of speech. The pit, the prison, the worm, the fire, the thirst, the blackness, the darkness, the weeping, the gnashing of teeth, the second death - all these may be figures of speech if you please. But Bible figures mean something, beyond all question - and here they mean something which man's mind can never fully conceive. Oh, reader, the miseries of mind and conscience, are far worse than those of the body! The whole extent of hell, the present suffering, the bitter recollection of the past, the hopeless prospect of the future - will never be thoroughly known, except by those who go there!
Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, hell is eternal. It must be eternal, or words have no meaning at all. Forever and ever; everlasting; unquenchable; never-dying - all these are expressions used about hell, and expressions that cannot be explained away. It must be eternal, or the very foundations of Heaven are cast down. If hell has an end - then Heaven has an end too. They both stand or fall together. It must be, or else every doctrine of the Gospel is undermined. If a man may escape hell at length without faith in Christ, or sanctification of the Spirit - then sin is no longer an infinite evil, and there is no such great need for Christ making an atonement!
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 2)
"He will gather His wheat into the barn - but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire!" (Matthew 3:12).
This text describes in words, which should make our ears tingle - Christ shall "burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire!"
When the Lord Jesus Christ comes to purge His threshing floor - He shall punish all who are not His disciples with a fearful punishment. All who are found impenitent and unbelieving - all who have held the truth in unrighteousness - all who have clung to sin, stuck to the world, and set their affection on things below - all who are without Christ. All such shall come to an awful end! Christ shall "burn up the chaff!"
Their punishment shall be most SEVERE. There is no pain like that of burning. Fire is the most destructive and devouring of all elements. Creatures can live in air, and earth, and water - but nothing can live in fire! Yet firs is the portion to which the Christless and unbelieving will come.
Their punishment shall be ETERNAL. Millions of ages shall pass away, and the fire into which the chaff is cast, shall still burn on. That fire shall never burn low and become dim. The fuel of that fire shall never waste away and be consumed. It is "unquenchable fire."
Oh reader, these are sad and painful things to speak of! I have no pleasure in dwelling on them. I could rather say with the apostle Paul, "I have great sorrow." But they are things written for our learning, and it is good to consider them. They are a part of that Scripture which is all profitable, and they ought to be heard. As painful as the subject of hell is - it is one about which I dare not, cannot, must not be silent. Who would desire to speak of hell-fire - if God had not spoken of it? When God has spoken of it so plainly - who can safely hold his peace?
I dare not shut my eyes to the fact, that a deep-rooted infidelity lurks in men's minds on the subject of hell. I see it oozing out in the utter apathy of some - they eat, and drink, and sleep - as if there was no wrath to come! I see it creeping forth in the coldness of others about their neighbor's souls - they show little concern to pluck brands from the fire. I desire to denounce such infidelity with all my might. Believing that there are terrors of the Lord, as well as the recompense of reward - I call upon all who profess to believe the Bible, to be on their guard.
I know that some do not believe there is any hell at all. They think it impossible there can be such a place. They call it inconsistent with the mercy of God. They say it is too dreadful an idea to be really true. The devil of course rejoices in the views of such people. They help his kingdom mightily. They are preaching up his favorite old doctrine, "You shall not surely die!"
I know furthermore, that some do no believe that hell is eternal. They tell us it is incredible that a compassionate God will punish men forever. He will surely open the prison-doors at last. This also is a mighty help to the devil's cause. "Take your ease," he whispers to sinners - "if you do make a mistake, never mind, it is not forever."
I know also that some believe that there is a hell - but never allow that anybody is going there! All people with them are "good" as soon as they die - all were sincere - all meant well - and all, they hope, got to Heaven. Alas, what a common delusion is this! I can well understand the feeling of the little girl who asked her mother where all the wicked people were buried, "for she found no mention on the gravestones of any except the good."
And I know very well that some believe there is a hell - but never like it to be spoken of. It is a subject that should always be kept back. They see no profit in bringing it forward, and are rather shocked when it is mentioned. This also is an immense help to the devil. "Hush, hush!" says satan, "say nothing about hell." The fowler wishes to hear no noise when he lays his snare. The wolf would like the shepherd to sleep while he prowls round the fold. Just so, the devil rejoices when Christians are silent about hell.
Reader, all these notions are the opinions of man. What is it to you and I - what man thinks in religion? Man will not judge us at the last day. Man's fancies and traditions are not to be our guide in this life. There is but one point to be settled - What says the Word of God?"
Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, hell is real and true. It is as true as Heaven - as true as justification by faith - as true as the fact that Christ died upon the Cross. There is not a fact or doctrine which you may not lawfully doubt - if you doubt hell, disbelieve hell - and you unscrew, unsettle, and unpin everything in Scripture! You may as well throw your Bible away at once. From "no hell" to "no God" there is but a series of steps.
Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, hell will have inhabitants. The wicked shall certainly be turned into hell, and all the people that forget God. These will go away into everlasting punishment. The same blessed Saviour who now sits on a throne of grace, will one day sit on a throne of judgment - and men will see there is such a thing as "the wrath of the Lamb!" The same lips which now say "Come - come unto Me," will one day say "Depart from Me, you who are cursed!" Alas, how awful the thought of being condemned by Christ Himself - judged by our Saviour; sentenced to eternally misery - by the Lamb!
Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, hell will be intense and unutterable woe. It is vain to talk of all the expressions about being only figures of speech. The pit, the prison, the worm, the fire, the thirst, the blackness, the darkness, the weeping, the gnashing of teeth, the second death - all these may be figures of speech if you please. But Bible figures mean something, beyond all question - and here they mean something which man's mind can never fully conceive. Oh, reader, the miseries of mind and conscience, are far worse than those of the body! The whole extent of hell, the present suffering, the bitter recollection of the past, the hopeless prospect of the future - will never be thoroughly known, except by those who go there!
Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, hell is eternal. It must be eternal, or words have no meaning at all. Forever and ever; everlasting; unquenchable; never-dying - all these are expressions used about hell, and expressions that cannot be explained away. It must be eternal, or the very foundations of Heaven are cast down. If hell has an end - then Heaven has an end too. They both stand or fall together. It must be, or else every doctrine of the Gospel is undermined. If a man may escape hell at length without faith in Christ, or sanctification of the Spirit - then sin is no longer an infinite evil, and there is no such great need for Christ making an atonement!
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 2)
Few Saved # 5
Few Saved # 5
(d) Let us set aside, in the next place, all those who are formalists and self-righteous. I mean by this expression, those who value themselves on their own regularity in the use of the forms of Christianity, and depend either directly or indirectly on their own doings for their acceptance with God. I mean all who rest their souls on any work but the work of Christ, or any righteousness but the righteousness of Christ. Of such the Apostle Paul has expressly testified, "By the deeds of the law shall no flesh living be justified." "Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." (Romans 3:20; 1 Corinthians 3:11). And dare we say, in the face of such texts, that such as these will be saved? The answer is plain to my own mind - In their present condition they will not.
(e) Let us set aside, in the next place, all those who know the Gospel with their heads - but do not obey it with their hearts. These are those unhappy people who have eyes to see the way of life - but have not will or courage to walk in it. They approve sound doctrine. They will not listen to preaching which does not contain it. But the fear of man, or the cares of the world, or the love of money, or the dread of offending relations, perpetually holds them back. They will not come out boldly, and take up the cross, and confess Christ before people. Of these also the Bible speaks expressly, "Faith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone." To him that knows to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin." If any man is ashamed of Me and of My words, of him will the Son of man be ashamed when He shall come in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels." (James 2:17; 4:17; Luke 9:26). Shall we say that such as these will be saved? The answer is clear to my own mind - In their present condition they will not.
(f) Let us set aside, in the last place, all those who are hypocritical professors. I mean by that expression, all those whose religion consists in talk and high profession, and in nothing besides. These are they of whom the prophet Ezekiel speaks, saying, "With their mouth they show much love - but their heart goes after their covetousness." "They profess that they know God - but in works they have not the power of it." (Ezek. 33:31; Titus 1:16; 2 Tim. 3:5). They are saints at church, and saints to talk to in public. But they are not saints in private, and in their own homes; and worst of all, they are not saints in heart. There can be no dispute about such people. Shall we say that they will be saved? There can only be one answer - In their present condition they will not.
And now, after setting aside these classes which I have described, I ask any sensible thinking reader to tell me how many people in any church will there be left behind? How many, after sifting a church thoroughly and honestly - how many men and women will remain who are in a way to be saved? How many true penitents - how many real believers in Christ, how many truly holy people will there be found? I put it to the conscience of every reader of this volume to give an honest answer, as in the sight of God. I ask you whether, after sifting a church with the Bible in the fashion described, you can come to any conclusion but this, that few people - sadly few people, are in a way to be saved?
It is a painful conclusion to arrive at - but I know not how it can be avoided. It is a fearful and tremendous thought, that there should be so many churchmen, across the whole world, and so many dissenters, so many seat-holders, and so many pew-renters, so many hearers, and so many communicants - and yet, after all, so few in a way to be saved! But the only question is, "Is it not true?" It is vain to shut our eyes against facts. It is useless to pretend not to see what is going on around us. The statements of the Bible and the facts of the world we live in will lead us to the same conclusion - Many are being lost, and few being saved!
(a) I know well that many do not believe what I am saying, because they think there is an immense quantity of death-bed repentance. They flatter themselves that multitudes who do not live religious lives will yet die religious deaths. They take comfort in the thought that vast numbers of people turn to God in their last illness and are saved at the eleventh hour. I will only remind such people that all the experience of ministers is utterly against the theory. People generally die just as they have lived.True repentance is never too late - but repentance deferred to the last hours of life is seldom true. A man's life is the surest evidence of his spiritual state, and if lives are to be witnesses, then few are likely to be saved.
(b) I know well that many do not believe what I am saying, because they imagine that it contradicts the mercy of God. They dwell on the love to sinners which the Gospel reveals. They point to the offers of pardon and forgiveness which abound in the Bible. They ask us if we maintain, in the face of all this, that only few people will be saved. I answer, I will go as far as anyone in exalting God's mercy in Christ - but I cannot shut my eyes against the fact that this mercy profits no man as long as it is wilfully refused. I see nothing lacking, on God's part, for man's salvation. I see room in heaven for the chief of sinners. I see willingness in Christ to receive the most ungodly. I see power in the Holy Spirit to renew the most ungodly. But I see, on the other hand, desperate unbelief in man - he will not believe what God tells him in the Bible. I see desperate pride in man - he will not bow his heart to receive the Gospel as a little child. I see desperate sloth in man - he will not take the trouble to arise and call upon God. I see desperate worldliness in man - he will not loose his hold on the poor perishable things of time, and consider eternity. In short, I see the words of our Lord continually verified, "You will not come unto Me, that you might have life" (John 5:40), and therefore I am driven to the sorrowful conclusion that few are likely to be saved.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 6)
(d) Let us set aside, in the next place, all those who are formalists and self-righteous. I mean by this expression, those who value themselves on their own regularity in the use of the forms of Christianity, and depend either directly or indirectly on their own doings for their acceptance with God. I mean all who rest their souls on any work but the work of Christ, or any righteousness but the righteousness of Christ. Of such the Apostle Paul has expressly testified, "By the deeds of the law shall no flesh living be justified." "Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." (Romans 3:20; 1 Corinthians 3:11). And dare we say, in the face of such texts, that such as these will be saved? The answer is plain to my own mind - In their present condition they will not.
(e) Let us set aside, in the next place, all those who know the Gospel with their heads - but do not obey it with their hearts. These are those unhappy people who have eyes to see the way of life - but have not will or courage to walk in it. They approve sound doctrine. They will not listen to preaching which does not contain it. But the fear of man, or the cares of the world, or the love of money, or the dread of offending relations, perpetually holds them back. They will not come out boldly, and take up the cross, and confess Christ before people. Of these also the Bible speaks expressly, "Faith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone." To him that knows to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin." If any man is ashamed of Me and of My words, of him will the Son of man be ashamed when He shall come in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels." (James 2:17; 4:17; Luke 9:26). Shall we say that such as these will be saved? The answer is clear to my own mind - In their present condition they will not.
(f) Let us set aside, in the last place, all those who are hypocritical professors. I mean by that expression, all those whose religion consists in talk and high profession, and in nothing besides. These are they of whom the prophet Ezekiel speaks, saying, "With their mouth they show much love - but their heart goes after their covetousness." "They profess that they know God - but in works they have not the power of it." (Ezek. 33:31; Titus 1:16; 2 Tim. 3:5). They are saints at church, and saints to talk to in public. But they are not saints in private, and in their own homes; and worst of all, they are not saints in heart. There can be no dispute about such people. Shall we say that they will be saved? There can only be one answer - In their present condition they will not.
And now, after setting aside these classes which I have described, I ask any sensible thinking reader to tell me how many people in any church will there be left behind? How many, after sifting a church thoroughly and honestly - how many men and women will remain who are in a way to be saved? How many true penitents - how many real believers in Christ, how many truly holy people will there be found? I put it to the conscience of every reader of this volume to give an honest answer, as in the sight of God. I ask you whether, after sifting a church with the Bible in the fashion described, you can come to any conclusion but this, that few people - sadly few people, are in a way to be saved?
It is a painful conclusion to arrive at - but I know not how it can be avoided. It is a fearful and tremendous thought, that there should be so many churchmen, across the whole world, and so many dissenters, so many seat-holders, and so many pew-renters, so many hearers, and so many communicants - and yet, after all, so few in a way to be saved! But the only question is, "Is it not true?" It is vain to shut our eyes against facts. It is useless to pretend not to see what is going on around us. The statements of the Bible and the facts of the world we live in will lead us to the same conclusion - Many are being lost, and few being saved!
(a) I know well that many do not believe what I am saying, because they think there is an immense quantity of death-bed repentance. They flatter themselves that multitudes who do not live religious lives will yet die religious deaths. They take comfort in the thought that vast numbers of people turn to God in their last illness and are saved at the eleventh hour. I will only remind such people that all the experience of ministers is utterly against the theory. People generally die just as they have lived.True repentance is never too late - but repentance deferred to the last hours of life is seldom true. A man's life is the surest evidence of his spiritual state, and if lives are to be witnesses, then few are likely to be saved.
(b) I know well that many do not believe what I am saying, because they imagine that it contradicts the mercy of God. They dwell on the love to sinners which the Gospel reveals. They point to the offers of pardon and forgiveness which abound in the Bible. They ask us if we maintain, in the face of all this, that only few people will be saved. I answer, I will go as far as anyone in exalting God's mercy in Christ - but I cannot shut my eyes against the fact that this mercy profits no man as long as it is wilfully refused. I see nothing lacking, on God's part, for man's salvation. I see room in heaven for the chief of sinners. I see willingness in Christ to receive the most ungodly. I see power in the Holy Spirit to renew the most ungodly. But I see, on the other hand, desperate unbelief in man - he will not believe what God tells him in the Bible. I see desperate pride in man - he will not bow his heart to receive the Gospel as a little child. I see desperate sloth in man - he will not take the trouble to arise and call upon God. I see desperate worldliness in man - he will not loose his hold on the poor perishable things of time, and consider eternity. In short, I see the words of our Lord continually verified, "You will not come unto Me, that you might have life" (John 5:40), and therefore I am driven to the sorrowful conclusion that few are likely to be saved.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 6)
This Sacred Anointing (and others)
This Sacred Anointing (and others)
"But you have an anointing from the Holy One" (1 John 2:20.
Wherever the anointing of the Holy One touches a man's heart it spreads, widening and extending its operations. It thus communicates divine gifts and graces wherever it comes. It bestows and draws out faith, gives repentance and godly sorrow, causes secret self-loathing, and separation from the world, draws the affections upwards, makes sin hated, and Jesus and His salvation loved.
Wherever the anointing of the Holy Spirit touches a man's heart it diffuses itself through his whole soul, and makes him wholly a new creature. It gives new motives, communicates new feelings, enlarges and melts the heart, and spiritualizes and draws the affections upwards.
Without this sacred anointing all our religion is a bubble, all our profession a lie, and all our hopes will end in despair.
O what a mercy to have one drop of this heavenly anointing!
To enjoy one heavenly feeling! To taste the least measure of Christ's love shed abroad in the heart! What an unspeakable mercy to have one touch, one glimpse, one glance, one communication out of the fullness of Him who fills all in all!
By this anointing from the Holy One, the children of God are supported under afflictions, perplexities, and sorrows.
By this anointing from the Holy One, they see the hand of God in every chastisement, in every providence, in every trial, in every grief, and in every burden.
By this anointing from the Holy One they can bear chastisement with meekness; and put their mouth in the dust, humbling themselves under the mighty hand of God.
Every good word, every good work, every gracious thought, every holy desire, every spiritual feeling do we owe to this one thing: the anointing of the Holy One.
~J. C. Philpot~
_________________________
The Workings of Grace In The Heart
"The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell whee it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit" (John 3:8).
The workings of grace in the heart are utterly mysterious and unsearchable.
We cannot explain why the Word produces effects on one person in a congregation, and not upon another.
We cannot explain why, in some cases; with every possible advantage, and in spite of every entreaty; people reject the Word, and continue dead in trespasses and sins.
We cannot explain why in other cases; with every possible difficulty, and with no encouragement; people are born again, and become decided Christians.
We cannot define the manner in which the Spirit of God conveys life to a soul, and the exact process by which a believer receives a new nature. All these things are hidden to us. We see certain results, but we can go no further.
This is deeply instructive. It is humbling no doubt to ministers, and teachers of others. The highest abilities, the most powerful preaching, the most diligent working, cannot command success.
God alone can give spiritual life.
But it is a truth at the same time, which supplies an admirable antidote to excessive anxiety and despondency. Our principle work is to sow the seed. That done, we may wait with faith and patience for the result. We may leave our work with the Lord. He alone can, if He thinks fit, give success.
~J. C. Ryle~
___________________________
Wrought With Divine Power
"Our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction" (1 Thess. 1:5).
Most men's religion is nothing else but a round of forms - some have their doings, some have their doctrines, and others have their duties. And when the one has performed his doings, the other learned his doctrines, and the third discharged his duties - why, he is as good a Christian, he thinks as anybody. While all the time, the poor deceived creature is thoroughly ignorant of the kingdom of God, which stands not in simply in word - but in power.
But as the veil of ignorance is taken off the heart, we begin to see and feel that their is a power in vital godliness - a reality in the teachings of the Spirit - that religion is not to be put on and put off as a man puts on and off his Sunday clothes.
Where vital godliness is wrought with divine power in a man's heart, and preached by the Holy Spirit into his conscience - it mingles, daily and often hourly, with his thoughts - entwines itself with his feelings - and becomes the very food and drink of his soul.
Now when a man comes to this spot - to see and feel what a reality there is in the things of God made manifest in the conscience by the power of the Holy Spirit - it effectually takes him out of dead churches, cuts him off from false ministers, winnows the chaff from the wheat, and brings him into close communion with the the family of God.
Our Gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction" (1 Thessalonians 1:5).
~J. C. Philpot~
"But you have an anointing from the Holy One" (1 John 2:20.
Wherever the anointing of the Holy One touches a man's heart it spreads, widening and extending its operations. It thus communicates divine gifts and graces wherever it comes. It bestows and draws out faith, gives repentance and godly sorrow, causes secret self-loathing, and separation from the world, draws the affections upwards, makes sin hated, and Jesus and His salvation loved.
Wherever the anointing of the Holy Spirit touches a man's heart it diffuses itself through his whole soul, and makes him wholly a new creature. It gives new motives, communicates new feelings, enlarges and melts the heart, and spiritualizes and draws the affections upwards.
Without this sacred anointing all our religion is a bubble, all our profession a lie, and all our hopes will end in despair.
O what a mercy to have one drop of this heavenly anointing!
To enjoy one heavenly feeling! To taste the least measure of Christ's love shed abroad in the heart! What an unspeakable mercy to have one touch, one glimpse, one glance, one communication out of the fullness of Him who fills all in all!
By this anointing from the Holy One, the children of God are supported under afflictions, perplexities, and sorrows.
By this anointing from the Holy One, they see the hand of God in every chastisement, in every providence, in every trial, in every grief, and in every burden.
By this anointing from the Holy One they can bear chastisement with meekness; and put their mouth in the dust, humbling themselves under the mighty hand of God.
Every good word, every good work, every gracious thought, every holy desire, every spiritual feeling do we owe to this one thing: the anointing of the Holy One.
~J. C. Philpot~
_________________________
The Workings of Grace In The Heart
"The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell whee it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit" (John 3:8).
The workings of grace in the heart are utterly mysterious and unsearchable.
We cannot explain why the Word produces effects on one person in a congregation, and not upon another.
We cannot explain why, in some cases; with every possible advantage, and in spite of every entreaty; people reject the Word, and continue dead in trespasses and sins.
We cannot explain why in other cases; with every possible difficulty, and with no encouragement; people are born again, and become decided Christians.
We cannot define the manner in which the Spirit of God conveys life to a soul, and the exact process by which a believer receives a new nature. All these things are hidden to us. We see certain results, but we can go no further.
This is deeply instructive. It is humbling no doubt to ministers, and teachers of others. The highest abilities, the most powerful preaching, the most diligent working, cannot command success.
God alone can give spiritual life.
But it is a truth at the same time, which supplies an admirable antidote to excessive anxiety and despondency. Our principle work is to sow the seed. That done, we may wait with faith and patience for the result. We may leave our work with the Lord. He alone can, if He thinks fit, give success.
~J. C. Ryle~
___________________________
Wrought With Divine Power
"Our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction" (1 Thess. 1:5).
Most men's religion is nothing else but a round of forms - some have their doings, some have their doctrines, and others have their duties. And when the one has performed his doings, the other learned his doctrines, and the third discharged his duties - why, he is as good a Christian, he thinks as anybody. While all the time, the poor deceived creature is thoroughly ignorant of the kingdom of God, which stands not in simply in word - but in power.
But as the veil of ignorance is taken off the heart, we begin to see and feel that their is a power in vital godliness - a reality in the teachings of the Spirit - that religion is not to be put on and put off as a man puts on and off his Sunday clothes.
Where vital godliness is wrought with divine power in a man's heart, and preached by the Holy Spirit into his conscience - it mingles, daily and often hourly, with his thoughts - entwines itself with his feelings - and becomes the very food and drink of his soul.
Now when a man comes to this spot - to see and feel what a reality there is in the things of God made manifest in the conscience by the power of the Holy Spirit - it effectually takes him out of dead churches, cuts him off from false ministers, winnows the chaff from the wheat, and brings him into close communion with the the family of God.
Our Gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction" (1 Thessalonians 1:5).
~J. C. Philpot~
Saturday, July 21, 2018
It Will Even Make the Cross of Christ Into a Pedestal on Which to rerect its Deformed Visage!
It Will Even Make the Cross of Christ Into a Pedestal on Which to Erect Its Deformed Visage!
An attribute in the formation of an elevated standard of ministerial holiness - too essential and important to be overlooked - is a growing humbleness of mind.
Where is the spiritual minister of Christ who has not detected the latent existence, and who has not had to struggle against - the secret workings of the sin of pride? It is so insidious and powerful a sin - and is so exhilarating in the sensations it produces - that few are more liable to be enamored by its fair exterior, and ensnared by its specious and seductive form - than the minister of the gospel! And yet, pride is an evil more calculated to feed as a canker worm at the root of his ministry! A sin more loathed of God, against which His denunciations are more severely recorded, on which His wrath has more signally and fearfully fallen - is not fount to exist! Pride originated the first form of evil that ever existed - and it constitutes, at this moment, the great center of rebellion against God on earth!
Thus, the identical sin which we find to form so impregnable a stronghold of satan in the hearts of the unregenerate, and which has so sadly wounded the peace, retarded the prosperity, and deformed the beauty of Christ's Church - is the sin most rife in our own bosoms!
Its classifications are many. Among them may be specified the pride of office, the pride of denomination, the pride of knowledge, the pride of talent, the pride of scholarship, the pride of influence, the pride of orthodoxy, the pride of eloquence, the pride of pulpit, the pride of platform, the pride of success, and the pride of applause.
Pride is a protean evil - assuming a thousand varied and opposite forms! It will insinuate itself into the most spiritual and solemn of our services. There is no soil so holy - in which its root will not strike. There is no employment so sacred - on which it will not engraft itself. It will even make the Cross of Christ into a pedestal on which to erect its deformed visage! Yes, while exalting Jesus - we may be found but exalting ourselves! And while exclaiming, "Behold the Lamb of God!" - we may be but veiling His true glory behind our insignificant persons; virtually exclaiming, "Behold my talents, my eloquence, and my zeal!" We are often guilty of the awful sin of self-exaltation - while setting forth the person, work, glory and humiliation of the Son of God!
Is thee not in us, my brethren, a manifest deficiency of the humble, self-annihilating spirit of the divine Master whom we serve - and whom it should be our aim and glory to resemble? In maintaining our position in the Church - may there not be a lofty deportment, an air of self-sufficiency and importance - utterly at variance with the "mind that was in Christ Jesus?" Is there not an unholy ostentation, and a desire for self-promotion - in much that we do for Christ?
Is there not an eagerness for preferment to influential and wealthy churches, a fondness for conspicuousness of place, a shrinking from fields of labor where no laurels are to be won, a thirsting for human applause, a studied aim after popularity, a trimming policy designed to please the world, a trumpeting of our own fame, and a vaunting parade of our own success? We have plucked the crown from Christ's head - and placed it on our own! In setting forth Christ's infinite glory, and His deep abasement and sufferings - we have turned it into an occasion of pride and self-exaltation!
Instead of inquiring, "Who shall be most lowly - the most like Christ - the least in the kingdom?" Is it not - 'who shall be the greatest? Who shall stand upon the highest pinnacle of renown?'
Are we not, in many or in all these points - truly guilty before our God?
And yet how much is there in us, if soberly and frequently pondered - calculated ...
to abase our pride,
to repress our aspirings of vanity,
to rebuke our self-adulation,
and to lay us low in a low place?
Has not the cherishing of this sin of pride in our bosom...
deeply grieved the Holy Spirit? Is not the real secret...
of our barren souls,
of our ineffectual ministry,
of our languishing churches,
of our paralyzed efforts -
simply the sad but certain consequences of our accursed pride?
A holy ministry - is a humble ministry!
~Octavius Winslow~
An attribute in the formation of an elevated standard of ministerial holiness - too essential and important to be overlooked - is a growing humbleness of mind.
Where is the spiritual minister of Christ who has not detected the latent existence, and who has not had to struggle against - the secret workings of the sin of pride? It is so insidious and powerful a sin - and is so exhilarating in the sensations it produces - that few are more liable to be enamored by its fair exterior, and ensnared by its specious and seductive form - than the minister of the gospel! And yet, pride is an evil more calculated to feed as a canker worm at the root of his ministry! A sin more loathed of God, against which His denunciations are more severely recorded, on which His wrath has more signally and fearfully fallen - is not fount to exist! Pride originated the first form of evil that ever existed - and it constitutes, at this moment, the great center of rebellion against God on earth!
Thus, the identical sin which we find to form so impregnable a stronghold of satan in the hearts of the unregenerate, and which has so sadly wounded the peace, retarded the prosperity, and deformed the beauty of Christ's Church - is the sin most rife in our own bosoms!
Its classifications are many. Among them may be specified the pride of office, the pride of denomination, the pride of knowledge, the pride of talent, the pride of scholarship, the pride of influence, the pride of orthodoxy, the pride of eloquence, the pride of pulpit, the pride of platform, the pride of success, and the pride of applause.
Pride is a protean evil - assuming a thousand varied and opposite forms! It will insinuate itself into the most spiritual and solemn of our services. There is no soil so holy - in which its root will not strike. There is no employment so sacred - on which it will not engraft itself. It will even make the Cross of Christ into a pedestal on which to erect its deformed visage! Yes, while exalting Jesus - we may be found but exalting ourselves! And while exclaiming, "Behold the Lamb of God!" - we may be but veiling His true glory behind our insignificant persons; virtually exclaiming, "Behold my talents, my eloquence, and my zeal!" We are often guilty of the awful sin of self-exaltation - while setting forth the person, work, glory and humiliation of the Son of God!
Is thee not in us, my brethren, a manifest deficiency of the humble, self-annihilating spirit of the divine Master whom we serve - and whom it should be our aim and glory to resemble? In maintaining our position in the Church - may there not be a lofty deportment, an air of self-sufficiency and importance - utterly at variance with the "mind that was in Christ Jesus?" Is there not an unholy ostentation, and a desire for self-promotion - in much that we do for Christ?
Is there not an eagerness for preferment to influential and wealthy churches, a fondness for conspicuousness of place, a shrinking from fields of labor where no laurels are to be won, a thirsting for human applause, a studied aim after popularity, a trimming policy designed to please the world, a trumpeting of our own fame, and a vaunting parade of our own success? We have plucked the crown from Christ's head - and placed it on our own! In setting forth Christ's infinite glory, and His deep abasement and sufferings - we have turned it into an occasion of pride and self-exaltation!
Instead of inquiring, "Who shall be most lowly - the most like Christ - the least in the kingdom?" Is it not - 'who shall be the greatest? Who shall stand upon the highest pinnacle of renown?'
Are we not, in many or in all these points - truly guilty before our God?
And yet how much is there in us, if soberly and frequently pondered - calculated ...
to abase our pride,
to repress our aspirings of vanity,
to rebuke our self-adulation,
and to lay us low in a low place?
Has not the cherishing of this sin of pride in our bosom...
deeply grieved the Holy Spirit? Is not the real secret...
of our barren souls,
of our ineffectual ministry,
of our languishing churches,
of our paralyzed efforts -
simply the sad but certain consequences of our accursed pride?
A holy ministry - is a humble ministry!
~Octavius Winslow~
Few Saved # 4
Few Saved # 4
How was it in the days of Noah? The earth we are told expressly was "filled with violence." The imagination of man's heart was only "evil continually." (Gen. 6:5, 12).
How was it in the days of Abraham, and Isaac, and Lot? It is evident that in the matter of religion they stood very much alone. The family from which they were taken was a family of idolaters. The nations among whom they lived were sunk in gross darkness and sin.
How was it with Israel in the days of the Judges? From Saul, the first king, down to Zedekiah, the last king, their history is a melancholy account of backsliding, and declension, and idolatry - with a few exceptional periods.
How was it with the Jews when our Lord Jesus Christ was on earth? The words of John are the best account of their spiritual state, "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not." (John 1:11).
How was it with the world in the days of the Apostles? If ever there was a period when true religion flourished it was then. Never did the Holy Spirit call into the fold of Christ so many souls in the same space of time. Never were there so many conversions under the preaching of the Gospel as when Paul and his fellow-laborers were the preachers. But still, it is plain from the Acts of the Apostles, that true Christianity was "everywhere spoken against." (Acts 28:22).
I ask any honest-minded unprejudiced reader of the volume to weigh well the lessons of the Bible which I have just brought forward. Surely they are weighty and solemn, and deserve serious attention.
Let no one think to evade their force by saying that the Bible only tells the story of the Jews. Think not to comfort yourself by saying that "perhaps the Jews were more wicked than other nations, and many people were probably saved among other nations, though few were saved among the Jews." You forget that this argument goes against you. You forget that the Jews had light and privileges which the Gentiles had not, and with all their sins and faults, were probably the holiest and most moral nation upon earth. As to the moral state of people among the Assyrians, and Egyptians, and Greeks, and Romans, it is fearful to think what it must have been. But this we may be sure of, that if many were ungodly among the Jews, the number was far greater among the Gentiles.
The sum of the whole matter is this - the Bible and the people of the world, speak very differently about the number of the saved. According to the Bible, few will be saved = according to the people of the world, many. According to the people of the would few are going to the bottomless pit - according to the Bible few are going to heaven. According to the people of the world salvation is an easy business - according to the Bible the way is narrow and the gate is strait. According to the people of the world few will be found at last seeking admission into heaven when too late - according to the Bible many will be in that sad condition, and will cry in vain, "Lord, Lord, open to us." Yet the Bible was never wrong yet. The most unlikely and improbable prophecies about Tyre, Egypt, Babylon, and Nineveh, have all come true to the letter. And as in other matters, so it will be about the number of the saved. The Bible will prove quite right and the people of the world quite wrong.
4. Let me show, in the last place, some plain facts about the number of the saved.
I ask particular attention to this part of the subject. I know well that people flatter themselves that the world is far better and wiser than it was 1800 years ago. We have churches, and schools, and books. We have civilization, and liberty, and good laws. We have a far higher standard of morality in society than that which once prevailed. We have the power of obtaining comforts and enjoyments which our forefathers knew nothing of. Steam, and gas, and electricity, and chemistry, have effected wonders for us. All this is perfectly true. I see it, and I am thankful. But all this does not diminish the importance of the question - Are there few or many of us likely to be saved?
I am thoroughly satisfied that the importance of this question is painfully overlooked. I am persuaded that the views of most people about the quantity of unbelief and sin in the world, are utterly inadequate and incorrect. I am convinced that very few people, whether ministers or private Christians, at all realize how few there are in a way to be saved. I want to draw attention to the subject, and I will therefore bring forward a few plain facts about it.
But where shall I go for these facts? I might easily turn to the millions of heathen, who in various parts of the world are worshiping they know not what. But I shall not do so. I might easily turn to the millions of Muhammadans who honor the Koran more than the Bible, and the false prophet of Mecca more than Christ. But I shall not do so. I might easily turn to the millions of Roman Catholics who are making the Word of God of no effect by their traditions. But I shall not do so. I shall look nearer home. I shall draw my facts from the land in which I live, and then ask every honest reader whether it be not strictly true that few are saved.
I invite any intelligent reader of these pages to imagine himself in any parish in Protestant England or Scotland at this day. Choose which you please, a town parish, or a country parish - a great parish or a small one. Let us take our New Testaments in our hands. Let us sift the Christianity of the inhabitants of this parish, family by family, and man by man. Let us put on one side anyone who does not possess the New Testament evidence of being a true Christian. Let us deal honestly and fairly in the investigation, and not allow that anyone is a true Christian, who does not come up to the New Testament standard of faith and practice. Let us count every man a saved soul in whom we see something of Christ - some evidence of true repentance - some evidence of saving faith in Jesus, some evidence of real evangelical holiness. Let us reject every man in whom, on the most charitable construction, we cannot see these evidences, as one "weighted in the balances, and found lacking." Let us apply this sifting process to any parish in this land, and see what the result would be.
(a) Let us set aside, first of all, those people in a parish who are living in any kind of open sin. By these I mean such as fornicators, and adulterers, and liars, and thieves, and drunkards, and cheats, and revilers, and extortioners. About these I think there can be no difference of opinion. The Bible says plainly, that "those who do such things, shall not inherit the kingdom of God." (Gal. 5:21). Now will these people be saved? The answer is clear to my own mind - in their present condition they will not.
(b) Let us set aside, in the next place, those people who are Sabbath-breakers. I mean by this expression, those who seldom or never go to a place of worship, though they have the power, those who do not give the Sabbath to God - but to themselves - those who think of nothing but doing their own ways, and finding their own pleasure upon Sundays. They show plainly they are not fit for heaven! The inhabitants of heaven would be company they could not like. The employments of heaven would be a weariness to them, and not a joy. Now will these people be saved? The answer is clear to my mind - in their present condition they will not.
(c) Let us set aside, in the next place, all those people who are careless and thoughtless professors. I mean by this expression, those who attend many of the outward ordinances of religion - but show no signs of taking any real interest in its doctrines and substance. They care little whether the minister preaches the Gospel or not. They care little whether they hear a good sermon or not. They would care little if all the Bibles in the world were burned. They would care little if an Act of Parliament were passed forbidding anyone to pray. In short, religion is not the "one thing needful" with them. Their treasure is on earth. They are just like Gallio, to whom it mattered little whether people were Jews or Christians - he "cared for none of these things." (Acts 18:17). Now will these people be saved? The answer is clear to my own mind. In their present condition they will not.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 5)
How was it in the days of Noah? The earth we are told expressly was "filled with violence." The imagination of man's heart was only "evil continually." (Gen. 6:5, 12).
How was it in the days of Abraham, and Isaac, and Lot? It is evident that in the matter of religion they stood very much alone. The family from which they were taken was a family of idolaters. The nations among whom they lived were sunk in gross darkness and sin.
How was it with Israel in the days of the Judges? From Saul, the first king, down to Zedekiah, the last king, their history is a melancholy account of backsliding, and declension, and idolatry - with a few exceptional periods.
How was it with the Jews when our Lord Jesus Christ was on earth? The words of John are the best account of their spiritual state, "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not." (John 1:11).
How was it with the world in the days of the Apostles? If ever there was a period when true religion flourished it was then. Never did the Holy Spirit call into the fold of Christ so many souls in the same space of time. Never were there so many conversions under the preaching of the Gospel as when Paul and his fellow-laborers were the preachers. But still, it is plain from the Acts of the Apostles, that true Christianity was "everywhere spoken against." (Acts 28:22).
I ask any honest-minded unprejudiced reader of the volume to weigh well the lessons of the Bible which I have just brought forward. Surely they are weighty and solemn, and deserve serious attention.
Let no one think to evade their force by saying that the Bible only tells the story of the Jews. Think not to comfort yourself by saying that "perhaps the Jews were more wicked than other nations, and many people were probably saved among other nations, though few were saved among the Jews." You forget that this argument goes against you. You forget that the Jews had light and privileges which the Gentiles had not, and with all their sins and faults, were probably the holiest and most moral nation upon earth. As to the moral state of people among the Assyrians, and Egyptians, and Greeks, and Romans, it is fearful to think what it must have been. But this we may be sure of, that if many were ungodly among the Jews, the number was far greater among the Gentiles.
The sum of the whole matter is this - the Bible and the people of the world, speak very differently about the number of the saved. According to the Bible, few will be saved = according to the people of the world, many. According to the people of the would few are going to the bottomless pit - according to the Bible few are going to heaven. According to the people of the world salvation is an easy business - according to the Bible the way is narrow and the gate is strait. According to the people of the world few will be found at last seeking admission into heaven when too late - according to the Bible many will be in that sad condition, and will cry in vain, "Lord, Lord, open to us." Yet the Bible was never wrong yet. The most unlikely and improbable prophecies about Tyre, Egypt, Babylon, and Nineveh, have all come true to the letter. And as in other matters, so it will be about the number of the saved. The Bible will prove quite right and the people of the world quite wrong.
4. Let me show, in the last place, some plain facts about the number of the saved.
I ask particular attention to this part of the subject. I know well that people flatter themselves that the world is far better and wiser than it was 1800 years ago. We have churches, and schools, and books. We have civilization, and liberty, and good laws. We have a far higher standard of morality in society than that which once prevailed. We have the power of obtaining comforts and enjoyments which our forefathers knew nothing of. Steam, and gas, and electricity, and chemistry, have effected wonders for us. All this is perfectly true. I see it, and I am thankful. But all this does not diminish the importance of the question - Are there few or many of us likely to be saved?
I am thoroughly satisfied that the importance of this question is painfully overlooked. I am persuaded that the views of most people about the quantity of unbelief and sin in the world, are utterly inadequate and incorrect. I am convinced that very few people, whether ministers or private Christians, at all realize how few there are in a way to be saved. I want to draw attention to the subject, and I will therefore bring forward a few plain facts about it.
But where shall I go for these facts? I might easily turn to the millions of heathen, who in various parts of the world are worshiping they know not what. But I shall not do so. I might easily turn to the millions of Muhammadans who honor the Koran more than the Bible, and the false prophet of Mecca more than Christ. But I shall not do so. I might easily turn to the millions of Roman Catholics who are making the Word of God of no effect by their traditions. But I shall not do so. I shall look nearer home. I shall draw my facts from the land in which I live, and then ask every honest reader whether it be not strictly true that few are saved.
I invite any intelligent reader of these pages to imagine himself in any parish in Protestant England or Scotland at this day. Choose which you please, a town parish, or a country parish - a great parish or a small one. Let us take our New Testaments in our hands. Let us sift the Christianity of the inhabitants of this parish, family by family, and man by man. Let us put on one side anyone who does not possess the New Testament evidence of being a true Christian. Let us deal honestly and fairly in the investigation, and not allow that anyone is a true Christian, who does not come up to the New Testament standard of faith and practice. Let us count every man a saved soul in whom we see something of Christ - some evidence of true repentance - some evidence of saving faith in Jesus, some evidence of real evangelical holiness. Let us reject every man in whom, on the most charitable construction, we cannot see these evidences, as one "weighted in the balances, and found lacking." Let us apply this sifting process to any parish in this land, and see what the result would be.
(a) Let us set aside, first of all, those people in a parish who are living in any kind of open sin. By these I mean such as fornicators, and adulterers, and liars, and thieves, and drunkards, and cheats, and revilers, and extortioners. About these I think there can be no difference of opinion. The Bible says plainly, that "those who do such things, shall not inherit the kingdom of God." (Gal. 5:21). Now will these people be saved? The answer is clear to my own mind - in their present condition they will not.
(b) Let us set aside, in the next place, those people who are Sabbath-breakers. I mean by this expression, those who seldom or never go to a place of worship, though they have the power, those who do not give the Sabbath to God - but to themselves - those who think of nothing but doing their own ways, and finding their own pleasure upon Sundays. They show plainly they are not fit for heaven! The inhabitants of heaven would be company they could not like. The employments of heaven would be a weariness to them, and not a joy. Now will these people be saved? The answer is clear to my mind - in their present condition they will not.
(c) Let us set aside, in the next place, all those people who are careless and thoughtless professors. I mean by this expression, those who attend many of the outward ordinances of religion - but show no signs of taking any real interest in its doctrines and substance. They care little whether the minister preaches the Gospel or not. They care little whether they hear a good sermon or not. They would care little if all the Bibles in the world were burned. They would care little if an Act of Parliament were passed forbidding anyone to pray. In short, religion is not the "one thing needful" with them. Their treasure is on earth. They are just like Gallio, to whom it mattered little whether people were Jews or Christians - he "cared for none of these things." (Acts 18:17). Now will these people be saved? The answer is clear to my own mind. In their present condition they will not.
~J. C. Ryle~
(continued with # 5)
Saturday, July 14, 2018
Saving Faith # 3
Saving Faith # 3
No, beloved, the reason is this. Conscience tells every unconverted person, whether he like to confess it or not, that after death shall come the judgment; conscience tells him that all shall be judged according to their works- that he cannot abide this fiery trial, because he has sinner and not sought reconciliation, and he feels that he may one day have his part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone. Hence it is that he thinks death a most unpleasant subject, and with all his pride of life stands in cowardly fear of his last day; and hence you may understand how blessed these words would be to a sinner's ear, that "Whoever believes on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life."
Observe now the contents of this promise; look narrowly into it, for it will stand a close examination. The believer shall not perish; this earthly tabernacle may indeed be dissolved, and laid in the grave and see corruption - but the true sting of that death is sin, and this his Saviour has taken on Him and put away. He shall not perish in the day of judgment; the second death can have no power over him, and then the words of our blessed Master shall be found a truth. "This is the will of Him that sent Me, that everyone which sees the Son, and believes on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:40). "I am the resurrection and the life: he who believes on Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die" (11:25, 26).
And more than this: the believer shall have everlasting life. He shall be raised body and soul at our Lord's second coming. He shall have part in that first resurrection, which belongs only to the saints, and finally shall dwell forever in that blessed place where "there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain - for the former things are passed away" (Revelation 21:4).
And now, beloved, judge for yourselves whether it be not true, that our text contains a treasury of precious and most consoling doctrines, and he who can hear it without feeling its value may indeed tremble for the safety of his immortal soul. Believer, let it be your care to carry home these comfortable words on which we have dwelt, and meditate upon them as your daily food throughout the week which is now before you. Let them be ever in your mind, and prepare you for that holy sacrament which Jesus has mercifully ordained; let them add strength to your faith and growth to your sanctification; let them increase your humility and your thankfulness, your zeal for God's glory, and your desire to show forth His praise, your love towards Christ and your love towards your brethren; for surely, dear friends, if God so loved us, it is a small matter if we love our fellow sinners.
And you too, dear brethren, who have dared hitherto, like Gallio, to care for none of these things, you also are appealed to in this text. Learn then, now, if you have not learned it yet, that this single verse, if there were no other, would be sufficient to condemn you in the last day, because it leaves you without excuse for remaining in your sins. You have deserved nothing but wrath; and yet, behold, here is God willing to save, loving, giving, promising all things. Oh! remember how great must be your guilt if you reject so great salvation. You are the very world that God has so loved; for your sakes He gave His only begotten Son, and even now, at this minute, He is inviting you, by me, His minister, to accept the mercy which He freely offers, to be reconciled with Him who will one day be the judge of all (Isaiah 55:1, 2; 1:18; Acts 16:31).
Come then, I entreat you, to your Father, in the name of Christ, for through Him we have boldness and access with confidence. Resist the attempts of the world, the flesh and the devil to detain you; resist even your best friend, if he would keep you back from God and tell you there will be a more convenient season than today. "As though God did beseech you by us; we beg you in Christ's stead, be reconciled to God. For He has made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:20, 21).
~J. C. Ryle~
(The End)
No, beloved, the reason is this. Conscience tells every unconverted person, whether he like to confess it or not, that after death shall come the judgment; conscience tells him that all shall be judged according to their works- that he cannot abide this fiery trial, because he has sinner and not sought reconciliation, and he feels that he may one day have his part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone. Hence it is that he thinks death a most unpleasant subject, and with all his pride of life stands in cowardly fear of his last day; and hence you may understand how blessed these words would be to a sinner's ear, that "Whoever believes on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life."
Observe now the contents of this promise; look narrowly into it, for it will stand a close examination. The believer shall not perish; this earthly tabernacle may indeed be dissolved, and laid in the grave and see corruption - but the true sting of that death is sin, and this his Saviour has taken on Him and put away. He shall not perish in the day of judgment; the second death can have no power over him, and then the words of our blessed Master shall be found a truth. "This is the will of Him that sent Me, that everyone which sees the Son, and believes on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:40). "I am the resurrection and the life: he who believes on Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die" (11:25, 26).
And more than this: the believer shall have everlasting life. He shall be raised body and soul at our Lord's second coming. He shall have part in that first resurrection, which belongs only to the saints, and finally shall dwell forever in that blessed place where "there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain - for the former things are passed away" (Revelation 21:4).
And now, beloved, judge for yourselves whether it be not true, that our text contains a treasury of precious and most consoling doctrines, and he who can hear it without feeling its value may indeed tremble for the safety of his immortal soul. Believer, let it be your care to carry home these comfortable words on which we have dwelt, and meditate upon them as your daily food throughout the week which is now before you. Let them be ever in your mind, and prepare you for that holy sacrament which Jesus has mercifully ordained; let them add strength to your faith and growth to your sanctification; let them increase your humility and your thankfulness, your zeal for God's glory, and your desire to show forth His praise, your love towards Christ and your love towards your brethren; for surely, dear friends, if God so loved us, it is a small matter if we love our fellow sinners.
And you too, dear brethren, who have dared hitherto, like Gallio, to care for none of these things, you also are appealed to in this text. Learn then, now, if you have not learned it yet, that this single verse, if there were no other, would be sufficient to condemn you in the last day, because it leaves you without excuse for remaining in your sins. You have deserved nothing but wrath; and yet, behold, here is God willing to save, loving, giving, promising all things. Oh! remember how great must be your guilt if you reject so great salvation. You are the very world that God has so loved; for your sakes He gave His only begotten Son, and even now, at this minute, He is inviting you, by me, His minister, to accept the mercy which He freely offers, to be reconciled with Him who will one day be the judge of all (Isaiah 55:1, 2; 1:18; Acts 16:31).
Come then, I entreat you, to your Father, in the name of Christ, for through Him we have boldness and access with confidence. Resist the attempts of the world, the flesh and the devil to detain you; resist even your best friend, if he would keep you back from God and tell you there will be a more convenient season than today. "As though God did beseech you by us; we beg you in Christ's stead, be reconciled to God. For He has made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:20, 21).
~J. C. Ryle~
(The End)
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