Prove all things by the Word of God—all ministers, all teaching, all preaching, all doctrines, all sermons, all writings, all opinions, all practices—prove all by the Word of God. Measure all by the measure of the Bible. Weigh all in the balance of the Bible. Examine all by the light of the Bible. Test all in the crucible of the Bible. That which can abide the fire of the Bible, receive, hold, believe and obey. That which cannot abide the fire of the Bible, reject, refuse, repudiate and cast away.
https://banneroftruth.org/us/about/banner-authors/j-c-ryle/
https://www.gracegems.org/23/ryle_sermons.htm
Knots Untied
http://www.preachershelp.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/ryle-knots-untied.pdf
“Evangelical Religion”
We hold that an experimental [personal experiential] knowledge of Christ crucified and interceding, is the very essence of Christianity, and that in teaching men the Christian religion we can never dwell too much on Christ himself, and can never speak too strongly of the fullness, freeness, presentness, and simplicity of the salvation there is in him for every one that believes. We say that life eternal is to know Christ, believe in Christ, abide in Christ, have daily heart communion with Christ, by simple personal faith…
Holiness, 1879 (Highly recommended)
http://www.gracegems.org/Ryle/holiness.htm
The most pertinent question to ask is this: "Are you holy?" Listen, I beg you, to the question I put to you this day. Do you know anything of the holiness of which I have been speaking? I do not ask whether you approve of holiness in others, whether you like to read the lives of holy people and to talk of holy things and to have on your table holy books, whether you mean to be holy and hope you will be holy some day. I ask something further: are you yourself holy this very day — or are you not?
The Christian Race
https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/ryle/ChristianRace.pdf
Practical Religion, 1878
https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/ryle/Practical%20Religion%20-Ryle.pdf
Old Paths Jeremiah 6:16 "Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it."
http://www.preachtheword.com/bookstore/old-paths-ryle.pdf
Let us strive every year to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is sad to be content with a little religion. It is honourable to covet the best gifts. We ought not to be satisfied with the same kind of hearing, and reading, and praying, which satisfied us in years gone by. We ought to labour every year to throw more heart and reality into everything we do in our religion. To love Christ more intensely, to abhor evil more thoroughly, to cleave to what is good more closely, to watch even our least ways more narrowly, to declare very plainly that we seek a country, to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and be clothed with Him in every place and company, to see more, to feel more, to know more, to do more, these ought to be our aims and desires every year we begin. Truly there is room for improvement in us all.
Faith is simply the grasp of a contrite heart on the outstretched hand of an Almighty Saviour (Matthew 14:30, Philippians 3:12). It is the hand of the drowning man which lays hold on the rope thrown to him. Cast away all idea of work, or merit, or doing, or performing, or paying, or giving, or buying in the act of believing on Christ. Faith is not giving, but taking; not paying, but receiving; not buying, but being enriched.
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels
On John 3
The change which our Lord declares needful for salvation is evidently no slight or superficial one. It is not merely reformation or amendment or moral change or outward alteration of life. It is a thorough change of heart, will and character. It is a resurrection. It is a passing from death unto life. It is the implanting in our dead hearts of a new principle from above. It is the calling into existence of a new creature, with a new nature, new habits of life, new tastes, new desires, new appetites, new judgements, new opinions, new hopes, new fears. See this, and nothing less than this, is implied, when our Lord declares that we all need a new birth.
A Call To Prayer
https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/ryle/A%20Call%20to%20Prayer%20-%20J.%20C.%20Ryle.pdf
The Upper Room, Being a Few Truths for the Times, 1888
https://www.ccel.org/ccel/r/ryle/upper_room/cache/upper_room.pdf
A collection of sermons, addresses, lectures, and tracts that Ryle composed over forty-five years of ministry, as relevant then as to today.
Novelty is the idol of the day. Free handling, enlightened views, rational interpretation, science (so called) before the Bible, these are the guiding principles of many in this age...not old-fashioned divinity.
Chapter IV 1 Cor. 15:3-4. “Foundation Truths”
https://www.ccel.org/ccel/ryle/upper_room.vi.html
"Vital Principles of Christianity"
1. The extreme sinfulness of sin, and my own personal sinfulness, hopelessness and spiritual need.
2. The entire suitableness of our Lord Jesus Christ by His sacrifice, substitution and intercession, to be the Saviour of the sinner’s soul.
3. The overwhelming value of the soul, as compared to anything else.
4. The absolute necessity of anybody who would be saved being born again, or converted by the Holy Ghost.
5. The indispensable necessity of holiness in life being the only evidence of a true Christian.
6. The absolute need for coming out from the world and being separate from the vain customs, recreations and standard of what’s right, as well as from its sins.
7. The supremacy of the Bible as the only rule of what is true in faith, or right in practice, and the need of regularly reading and studying it.
8. The absolute necessity of daily private prayer and communion with God, if anyone intends to lead the life of a true Christian.
9. The unspeakable excellence and beauty of the doctrine of the Second Advent of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Nothing has ever been found to do good to a sin-stricken soul but the sight of a Divine Mediator between God and man, a real living Person of almighty power and almighty mercy, bearing our sins, suffering in our stead, and taking on Himself the whole burden of our redemption.
Chapter V Jeremiah 6:16 “The Good Way”, preached in the Chapel Royal, Whitehall, 1883
https://www.ccel.org/ccel/ryle/upper_room.vii.html
Jeremiah says to you, “Stand, and see, and ask.” I take these words to be a call to thought and consideration. They are as though the prophet said, “Stop and think. Stand still, pause, and reflect. Look within, behind, and before. Do nothing rashly. What are you doing? Where are you going? What will be the end and consequence of your present line of action? Stop and think.”
Resolve by the grace of God, if you love life, that you will have regular seasons for examining yourself, and looking over the accounts of your soul. “Stand, and see” where you are going, and how matters stand between you and God. Commune at least once a week with thine own heart, and be still.
The victories of Christianity, wherever they have been won, have been won by distinct doctrinal theology; by telling men of Christ's vicarious death and sacrifice; by showing them Christ's substitution on the cross, and His precious blood; by teaching them justification by faith, and bidding them believe on a crucified Saviour; by preaching ruin by sin, redemption by Christ, regeneration by the Spirit; by telling men to…believe, repent, and be converted. These are the “old paths.”
The man…who has the “rest” which Christ gives in the “old paths”…possesses that which nothing can take away.
The way of the world is a way which will not bear calm reflection now, and of which the end is shame and remorse. Men may ridicule and mock you, and even silence you in argument; but they can never take from you the feelings which faith in Christ gives. They can never prevent you feeling, “I was weary till I found Christ, but now I have rest of conscience. I was blind, but now I see. I was dead, but I am alive again. I was lost, but I am found.”
Chapter VI Acts 17:26 “One Blood”
https://www.ccel.org/ccel/ryle/upper_room.viii.html
One plague of our age is the widespread dislike to what men are pleased to call dogmatic theology. In the place of it, the idol of the day is a kind of jelly-fish Christianity, - a Christianity without bone, or muscle, or sinew, without any distinct teaching about the atonement or the work of the Spirit, or justification, or the way of peace with God, - a vague, foggy, misty Christianity, of which the only watch words seem to be, “You must be earnest, and real, and true, and brave, and zealous, and liberal, and kind. You must condemn no man's doctrinal views. You must consider everybody is right, and nobody is wrong.” And this Creedless kind of religion, we are actually told, is to give us peace of conscience!
What are we doing to lessen the growing sense of inequality between rich and poor, and to fill up the yawning gulf of discontent? Socialism, and communism, and confiscation of property are looming large in the distance, and occupying much attention in the press. Atheism and secularism are spreading fast in some quarters.
Where is that brotherly love which used to be the distinguishing mark of the (New Testament) Christians? Where, amidst the din of controversy and furious strife, where is the fruit of the Holy Spirit and the primary mark of spiritual regeneration? Where is that love by which our Lord declared all men should know His disciples? (John 13:35)
Read the frightfully violent language of opposing (opinions). Mark the hideous bitterness of controversial theologians, both in the press and on the platform. Observe the fiendish delight with which anonymous (social media bullies) endeavour to wound the feelings of opponents, and then to pour vitriol into the wound.
Look at all this ghastly spectacle which any observing eye may see any day in England. And then remember that this is the country in which men are reading the New Testament and professing to follow Christ, and to believe that they are all of “one blood.” Can anything more grossly inconsistent be conceived?
Chapter VII John 7:37-38 “Let Any Man Come”, a sermon delivered in St. Paul's Cathedral, London, 1878.
https://www.ccel.org/ccel/ryle/upper_room.ix.html
"I am the bread of life: he that cometh unto Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on ME shall never thirst." John 6:35
"In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." John 7:37-38 (John 4:14)
"I am the Light of the world: he that followeth ME shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." John 8:12
" I am the (Gate): by ME if any man enter in, he shall be saved." John 10:9
“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father but by ME." John 14:6
"Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28
"Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." John 3:37
In Him, as our Redeemer and Substitute, crucified for our sins and raised again for our justification, there is an endless supply of all that men can need, pardon, absolution, mercy, grace, peace, rest, relief, comfort, and hope. This rich provision Christ has bought for us at the price of His own precious blood. To open this wondrous fountain He suffered for sin, the just for the unjust, and bore our sins in His own body on the tree. He was made sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him (1 Peter 2:24, 3:18; 2 Corinthians 5:21).
It is not when we begin to feel good, but when we feel bad, that we take the first step towards heaven. Who taught thee that thou wast naked? Whence came this inward light? Who opened thine eyes and made thee see and feel? Know this day that flesh and blood hath not revealed these things unto thee, but our Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 16:17)
Think not for a moment that your own soul is the only soul that will be saved, if you come to Christ by faith and follow Him. Think of the blessedness of being a "river of living water" to others. Who can tell that you may not be the means of bringing many others to Christ? Live, and act, and speak, and pray, and work, keeping this continually in view.
Do you know anything of spiritual thirst? Have you ever felt any-tiring of genuine deep concern about your soul? Is your conscience awake and working? Are you sensible of spiritual thirst, and longing for relief?
The poor wearied sinner can never believe on Jesus Christ till he finds he can do nothing for himself; and in his first believing doth always apply himself to Christ for salvation, as a man hopeless and helpless in himself.
Chapter IX Acts 17:16-17. “Athens”
https://www.ccel.org/ccel/ryle/upper_room.xi.html
What are we to understand St. Paul preached?
(a) St. Paul at Athens preached the person of the Lord Jesus, - His divinity, His incarnation, His mission into the world to save sinners, His life, and death, and ascension up to heaven, His character, His teaching, His amazing love to the souls of men.
(b) St. Paul at Athens preached the work of the Lord Jesus, - His sacrifice upon the cross, His vicarious satisfaction for sin, His substitution as the just for the unjust, the full redemption He has procured for all, and specially effected for all who believe, the complete victory He has obtained for lost man over sin, death, and hell.
(c) St. Paul at Athens preached the offices of the Lord Jesus, has the one Mediator between God and all mankind, as the great Physician for all sin-sick souls, as the Rest-giver and Peace-maker for all heavy-laden hearts, as the Friend of the friendless, the High Priest and Advocate of all who commit their souls into His hands, the Ransom-payer of captives, the Light and Guide of all wandering from God.
(d) St. Paul at Athens preached the terms which the Lord Jesus had commanded His servants to proclaim to all the world;--His readiness and willingness to receive at once the chief of sinners; His ability to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by Him; the full, present, and immediate forgiveness which He offers to all who believe; the complete cleansing in His blood from all manner of sin; faith, or simple trust of heart, the one thing required of all who feel their sins and desire to be saved; entire justification without works, or doing, or deeds of law for all who believe.
(e) Last, but not least, St. Paul preached at Athens the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. He preached it as the miraculous fact on which Jesus Himself staked the whole credibility of His mission, and as a fact proved by such abounding evidence that no (denier of) miracles has ever yet honestly dared to (refute) - He preached it as a fact, which was the very top-stone of the whole work of redemption, proving that what Christ undertook He fully accomplished, that the ransom was accepted, the atonement completed, and the prison doors thrown open for ever.
Need we be ashamed of the weapons of our warfare? Is the gospel, the old Evangelical creed, unequal to the wants of our day? I assert boldly that we have no cause to be ashamed of the gospel at all. It is not worn out. It is not feeble. It is not behind the times. We want nothing new, nothing added to the gospel, nothing taken away. We want nothing but “the old paths,” the old truths fully, boldly, affectionately proclaimed. Only preach the gospel fully, the same gospel which St. Paul preached, and it is still “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth,” and nothing else called religion has any real power at all. (Romans 1:16)
Leave man without a Bible, and he will have a religion of some kind, for human nature, corrupt as it is, must have a God. But it will be a religion without light, or peace, or hope. “The world by wisdom knew not God”. (1 Corinthians 1:21).
Where there is true sonship to God, there will always be zeal for the Father's glory. It is written of the ungodly, that they not only commit things worthy of death, but “have pleasure in them that do them”. (Romans 1:32). It may be said with equal truth of the godly, that they not only mourn over sin in their own hearts, but mourn over sin in others.
Chapter X Acts 26:24-29 “Portraits” (Festus, Agrippa & Paul)
(a) St. Paul was altogether convinced of the truth of the facts of Christianity. That the Lord Jesus Christ was actually “God manifest in the flesh,” (1 Timothy 3:16) - that He had proved His divinity by doing miracles which could not be denied, - that He had, finally, risen from the grave and ascended up into heaven, and was sitting at God's right hand as man's Saviour, - on all these points he had thoroughly made up his mind, and had not the slightest doubt of their credibility. On behalf of them he was willing to die.
(b) St. Paul was altogether convinced of the truth of the doctrines of Christianity. That we are all guilty sinners, and in danger of eternal ruin, that the grand object of Christ coming into the world was to make atonement for our sins, and to purchase redemption by suffering in our stead on the cross, - that all who repent and believe on Christ crucified are completely forgiven all sins, - and that there is no other way to peace with God and heaven after death, but faith in Christ, - all this he most steadfastly believed. To teach these doctrines was his one object from his conversion till his martyrdom.
(c) St. Paul was altogether convinced that he himself had been changed by the power of the Holy Spirit, and taught to live a new life, - that a holy life, devoted and consecrated to Christ, was the wisest, happiest life a man could live, that the favour of God was a thousand times better than the favour of man, - and that nothing was too much to do for Him who had loved him and given Himself for him. He ran his race ever “looking unto Jesus,” and spending and being spent for Him (Hebrews 12:2; 2 Corinthians 5:15, 12:15).
(d) Last, but not least, St. Paul was altogether convinced of the reality of a world to come. The praise or favour of man, the rewards or punishments of this present world, were all as dross to him. He had before his eyes continually an inheritance incorruptible, and a crown of glory that would never fade away (Philippians 3:8; 2 Timothy 4:8). Of that crown he knew that nothing could deprive him...“neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)
Chapter XI John 6:68 “To Whom?”, a sermon delivered 1880
https://www.ccel.org/ccel/ryle/upper_room.xiii.html
Nothing but an almighty personal Friend will ever meet the legitimate wants of man's soul. Metaphysical notions, philosophical theories, abstract ideas, vague speculations about “the inner light” may satisfy a select few for a time. But the vast majority of mankind, if they have any religion at all, will never be content with a religion which does not supply them with a Person to whom they may look and trust.
The disposition to go back from Christ was never so strong as it is in these days. Never were the objections to vital Christianity so many, so plausible, and so specious. For it is an age of free thought and liberty of action, an age of scientific inquiry, and determination to question and cress-examine ancient opinions, an age of greedy pursuit of pleasure and impatience of restraint, an age of idolatry of intellect, and extravagant admiration of so-called cleverness, an age of Athenian craving for novelty and constant love of change, an age when we see on all sides a bold but ever shifting scepticism, which at one time tells us that man is little better than an ape, and at another that he is little less than a god, an age when there is a morbid readiness to accept the shallowest arguments in favour of unbelief, and a simultaneous lazy unwillingness to investigate the great fundamental evidences of Divine revelation.
Chapter XII Hebrews 4:14. “Our Profession”
https://www.ccel.org/ccel/ryle/upper_room.xiv.html
“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.”
We must never be ashamed of showing ourselves boldly on Christ's side, by honouring His word, His day, and His ordinances, by speaking up for Christ's cause on all proper occasions, and by firmly refusing to conform to the sins and the follies of the children of this world. The words of our Lord Jesus Christ ought never to be forgotten: “Whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed when He shall come in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels”. (Luke 9:26)
If we will not confess Christ upon earth, and openly profess that we are His servants, we must not expect that Christ will confess us in heaven at the last day.
(The Christian) lives the life of faith in the Son of God by continually looking back to Him on the cross, and to the fountain of His blood for daily pardon and peace of conscience, and by daily looking up to Him at the right hand of God interceding for us, and daily drawing from Him supplies of grace in this world of need.
Cultivate the habit of fixing your eye more simply on Jesus Christ, and try to know more of the fulness there is laid up in Him for every one of His believing people. Do not be always poring down over the imperfections of your own heart, and dissecting your own besetting sins. Look up. Look more to your risen Head in heaven, and try to realize more than you do that the Lord Jesus not only died for you, but that He also rose again, and that He is ever living at God's right hand as your Priest, your Advocate, and your Almighty Friend.
Chapter XIV 2 Samuel 23:4-5 “Without Clouds”
https://www.ccel.org/ccel/ryle/upper_room.xvi.html
There is unspeakable consolation in the thought that the salvation of our souls has been provided for from all eternity, and is not a mere affair of yesterday. Our names have long been in the Lamb's book of life. Our pardon and peace of conscience through Christ's blood, our strength for duty, our comfort in trial, our power to fight Christ's battles, were all arranged for us from endless ages, and long before we were born. Here upon earth we pray, and read, and fight, and struggle, and groan, and weep, and are often sore let and hindered (by our sins) in our journey. But we ought to remember that an Almighty eye has long been upon us, and that we have been the subjects of divine provision though we knew it not.
Chapter XIX Titus 2:6 “Thoughts For Young Men”
https://www.ccel.org/ccel/ryle/upper_room.xxi.html
Satan knows well that you will make up the next generation, and therefore he employs every art betimes to make you his own. You are those on whom he plays off all his choicest temptations. You are the grand object of his attack. You are the prize for which he is specially contending. He foresees you must either be the blessings or the curses of your (generation).
People never reject the Bible because they cannot understand it. They understand it only too well; they understand that it condemns their own behaviour; they understand that it witnesses against their own sins, and summons them to judgment. They try to believe it is false and useless, because they do not like to allow it is true.
"Occupy Till I Come" on Luke 19:13
http://www.biblebb.com/files/ryle/occupy_till_i_come.htm