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.
According to the website GotQuestions.org: “Ryle came to faith in Christ while at Oxford, as he turned to the Bible during his recovery from a chest infection. He was an outstanding athlete at Oxford and then went on to study law in London with the intention of a run for Parliament. However, the smog in London exacerbated earlier health problems, and then his father suffered financial ruin, which meant that Ryle would not have the necessary financial backing for a political career. Instead, he turned to the ministry and was ordained in the Church of England.”1
Ryle was the first Anglican bishop of Liverpool. Under his ministries of pastor and later bishop Ryle was a staunch supporter of living the principles taught in the Bible. He combined this love of the Word with an equal love of people and as a result of his preaching many came to Christ.
Rev. Richard Hobson, three days after Ryle’s burial in 1900, had this to say about this great man of God: “He [J.C. Ryle] was great through the abounding grace of God. He was great in stature; great in mental power; great in spirituality; great as a preacher and expositor of God’s most holy Word; great in hospitality; great as a writer of Gospel tracts; great as a Bishop of the Reformed Evangelical Protestant Church in England, of which he was a noble defender; great as first Bishop of Liverpool. I am bold to say, that perhaps few men in the nineteenth century did as much for God, for truth, and for righteousness, among the English speaking race, and in the world, as our late Bishop.”2
One of the most quoted evangelicals of the nineteenth century, Ryle always seem to emphasize the importance of prayer, Bible reading, and living a life of holiness. Below is a sampling of Ryle’s 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.3
“Trials are intended to make us think, to wean us from the world, to send us to the Bible, to drive us to our knees.”
“Until we give God our heart, we give Him nothing at all.”
“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.”
“Let us receive nothing, believe nothing, follow nothing which is not in the Bible, nor can be proved by the Bible.”
“Do nothing that you would not like God to see. Say nothing you would not like God to hear. Write nothing you would not like God to read. Go no place where you would not like God to find you. Read no book of which you would not like God to say, ‘Show it to Me.’ Never spend your time in such a way that you would not like to have God say, ‘What are you doing?’”
“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.”
“Let your Christianity be so unmistakable, your eye so single, your heart so whole, your walk so straightforward, that all who see you may have no doubt whose you are, and whom you serve.”
“There is only one door, one bridge, one ladder, between earth and heaven – the crucified Son of God.”
“There is a common, worldly kind of Christianity in this day, which many have, and think they have enough-a cheap Christianity which offends nobody, and requires no sacrifice-which costs nothing, and is worth nothing.”
“A Christian is a walking sermon. They preach far more than a minister does, for they preach all week long.”
“There is more Bible buying, Bible selling, Bible printing and Bible distributing than ever before in our nation. We see Bibles in every bookstore – Bibles of every size, price and style. There are Bibles in almost every house in the land. But all this time I fear we are in danger of forgetting that to HAVE the Bible is one thing, and to READ it quite another.”
“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.”
“No time is so well spent in every day as that which we spend upon our knees.”
“A religion that costs nothing is worth nothing. A cheap Christianity, without a cross, will prove in the end a useless Christianity, without a crown.”
“The blood of Christ can cleanse away all sin. But we must ‘plead guilty’ before God can declare us innocent.”
“Faith in the Lord Jesus is the only sure medicine for troubled hearts.”
“It is neglect of the Bible which makes so many a prey to the first false teacher whom they hear.”
“The Word of God is ROCK. All else is sand.”
“God does not look at riches, titles, education, or beauty. There is only one thing that God does look at, and that is the soul.”
“Praying and sinning will never live together in the same heart. Prayer will consume sin, or sin will choke prayer.”
“There are no lessons so useful as those learned in the school of affliction.”
1 Who was J. C. Ryle? | GotQuestions.org
2 Sermons & Devotionals by J.C. Ryle (bibleportal.com)
3 All of these quotations below are from the following website:
TOP 25 QUOTES BY J. C. RYLE (of 374) | A-Z Quotes (azquotes.com)