2
" When I go down the valley of the shadow of death, and my feet touch the cold waters, I want something better than vague, high-sounding words, or the painted playthings and gilded trifles of man-made ceremonials. Give me no stone altars and would-be confessors. Give me no surpliced priests or pretended sacrifice in my bedroom. Put no man or form between me and Christ. Give me a real staff for my hand such as David had, and real meat and drink for my soul such as aged Paul felt within him, and feeling cried, “I am not ashamed.” (2 Timothy 1:12) I must know distinctly whom I believe, what I believe, and why I believe, and in what manner I believe. "
― J.C. Ryle , Knots Untied: Being Plain Statements on Disputed Points in Religion from the Standpoint of an Evangelical Churchman
3
" the perpetual presence of Christ with that Holy Catholic Church, which is His body, is the great secret of its continuance and security. It lives on, and cannot die, because Jesus Christ is in the midst of it. It is a ship tossed with storm and tempest; but it cannot sink, because Christ is on board. Its members may be persecuted, oppressed, imprisoned, robbed, beaten, beheaded, or burned; but His true Church is never extinguished. "
― J.C. Ryle , Knots Untied: Being Plain Statements on Disputed Points in Religion from the Standpoint of an Evangelical Churchman
4
" Now, if children were considered to be capable of admission into the Church by an ordinance in the Old Testament, it is difficult to see why they cannot be admitted in the New. The general tendency of the Gospel is to increase men’s spiritual privileges and not to diminish them. Nothing, I believe, would astonish a Jewish convert so much as to tell him his children could not be baptized! “If they are fit to receive circumcision,” he would reply, “why are they not fit to receive baptism?” And my own firm conviction has long been that no Baptist could give him an answer. In fact I never heard of a converted Jew becoming a Baptist, and I never saw an argument against infant baptism that might not have been equally directed against infant circumcision. No man, I suppose, in his sober senses, would presume to say that infant circumcision was wrong. "
― J.C. Ryle , Knots Untied: Being Plain Statements on Disputed Points in Religion from the Standpoint of an Evangelical Churchman
5
" He does not say, “Whatsoever Apostles,—whatsoever evangelists, pastors, and teachers,—whatsoever your Bishops,—whatsoever your ministers tell you is truth, that you are to believe.” No! he says, “Prove all things.” He does not say, “Whatsoever the universal Church pronounces true, that you are to hold.” No! he says, “Prove all things.” The principle laid down is this: “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.—Compare all with the standard of the Bible.—Weigh all in the balances 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. "
― J.C. Ryle , Knots Untied: Being Plain Statements on Disputed Points in Religion from the Standpoint of an Evangelical Churchman
7
" In the second place, if Christ is really the Priest of our souls, let us use Him regularly, and keep back nothing from Him. It is a sorrowful fact that many believers enjoy the Gospel far less than they ought to do, for lack of boldness in using the priestly office of Jesus Christ. They go mourning and weeping along the Way to heaven, perplexing themselves by poring over their infirmities and sins, and carrying ten times as much weight on their backs as Christ ever meant them to bear. Ignorance, sad ignorance, is too often the simple account of the condition of these people. They think only of the death of Christ, and not of the life of Christ. They think of His finished work on the cross, but forget His priestly intercession. If this be our case, let us turn over a new leaf, and change our plan this very day. Let us think of Jesus Christ as a loving Friend, to whom we may go morning, noon, and night, and get relief from Him every day. “Cast thy burden on the Lord, and He will sustain thee.” (Psalm 55:22) Let us live the life of faith in the Son of God, and hold communion with Him continually. Let us use Him every morning as a Fountain of grace and help, and drink freely of that Fountain. Let us use Him every evening as a Fountain of absolution and refreshment, and draw out of Him living water. He that tries this plan will find it for the health of his soul. "
― J.C. Ryle , Knots Untied: Being Plain Statements on Disputed Points in Religion from the Standpoint of an Evangelical Churchman
9
" You may spoil the Gospel by substitution. You have only to withdraw from the eyes of the sinner the grand object which the Bible proposes to faith,—Jesus Christ; and to substitute another object in His place,—the Church, the Ministry, the Confessional, Baptism or the Lord’s Supper,—and the mischief is done. Substitute anything for Christ, and the Gospel is totally spoiled! Do this, either directly or indirectly, and your religion ceases to be Evangelical. "
― J.C. Ryle , Knots Untied: Being Plain Statements on Disputed Points in Religion from the Standpoint of an Evangelical Churchman
Knots Untied: Being Plain Statements on Disputed Points in Religion from the Standpoint of an Evangelical Churchman