John Charles Ryle (1816 – 1900) was an evangelical Anglican bishop who preached on the importance of prayer, reading the Bible, and living a life of holiness. Ryle was thoroughly evangelical in his doctrine and uncompromising in his principles. He was a very prolific writer eventually publishing over 200 gospel tracts with a circulation of over 2 million.
Ryle was one of the most quoted evangelicals of the nineteenth century. Below are a collection of my favorite Ryle quotations showing his amazing ability to distill important Christian life principles into a few short words. I pray that you take the time to read each quotation and meditate and reflect on the wisdom it contains.1
“We must give up the vain idea of trying to please everybody. That is impossible, and the attempt is a mere waste of time. We must be content to walk in Christ’s steps, and let the world say what it likes.”
“Read the Bible daily. Make it part of your everyday business to read and meditate on some portion of God’s Word. Gather your manna fresh every morning. Choose your own seasons and hours. Do not scramble over and hurry your reading. Give your Bible the best, and not the worst, part of your time. But whatever plan you pursue, let it be a rule of your life to visit the throne of grace and the Bible every day.”
“If you want to find out how much someone loves you, find out how much they pray for you.”
“We must read our Bibles like men digging for hidden treasure.”
“A Christian is a walking sermon. They preach far more than a minister does, for they preach all week long.”
“By affliction He teaches us many precious lessons, which without it we should never learn. By affliction He shows us our emptiness and weakness, draws us to the throne of grace, purifies our affections, weans us from the world, makes us long for heaven.”
“Let us cleave to Christ more closely, love Him more heartily, live to Him more thoroughly, copy Him more exactly, confess Him more boldly, and follow Him more fully.”
“Faith in the Lord Jesus is the only sure medicine for troubled hearts.”
“The Word of God is ROCK. All else is sand.”
“Praying and sinning will never live together in the same heart. Prayer will consume sin, or sin will choke prayer.”
“We know but little of true Christianity, if we don’t feel a deep concern about the souls of unconverted people.”
“How can we love sin, when we remember that because of our sins Jesus died?”
“Prayer is the mightiest weapon that God has placed in our hands.”
“The temple in which the Lord Jesus delights most, is a broken and contrite heart, renewed by the Holy Spirit.”
“People may refuse to see the truth of our arguments, but they cannot evade the evidence of a holy life.”
“If you love Christ, never be ashamed to let others see it and know it. Speak for Him. Witness for Him. Live for Him.”
“Hell, itself is truth known too late.”
“The minister who keeps back hell from his people in his sermons is neither a faithful nor a charitable man.”
“The Bible applied to the heart by the Holy Ghost is the chief means by which men are built up and established in the faith, after their conversion. It is able to cleanse them, to sanctify them, to instruct them in righteousness, and to furnish them thoroughly for all good works.”
“The true Christian delights to read the Scriptures, because they tell him about his beloved Savior.”
1 All of these quotes are from the websites below:
109 J. C. Ryle Quotes | ChristianQuotes.info