J.C. Ryle: Spiritual Thirst (Part 2 of 2)

See Part 1 here.

How does the true believer and disciple of Jesus Christ come to salvation?  Some say that love is the central figure in salvation.  That the true Christian's love for others alone (and this may be code for the acceptance of all things in one's life) opens the avenue of salvation.  Still others may say, "We must teach others to love themselves before they can truly understand how much God loves them."  What a worldly point of view!  Loving others is important for the believer.  After all, this is how the world knows who is and is not a true disciple of Christ.  But the reality of spiritual depravity is that we cannot know that we are in need of God until we see that we are in need of God.  In the words of J.C. Ryle below, "It is not when we begin to feel good, but when we feel bad, that we take the first step towards heaven." All of humanity is sinful and in need of salvation.  But one cannot "accept" salvation if there is no sense of a need for salvation.  May these words of J.C. Ryle be an encouragement for us today.

"But who is there among the readers of this message that feels the burden of sin, and longs for peace with God?  Who is there that really feels the words of our Prayer Book confession, 'I have erred and strayed like a lost sheep, there is no health in me, I am a miserable offender'?  Who is there that enters into the fullness of our communion service, and can say with truth, 'The remembrance of my sins is grievous, and the burden of them in intolerable'?  You are the man that ought to thank God.  A sense of sin, guilt and poverty of soul is the first stone laid by the Holy Spirit, when He builds a spiritual temple.  He convinces of sin.  Light was the first thing called into being in the material creation (Gen. 1:3).  Light about our own state is the first work in the new creation.  Thirsting soul, I say again, you are the person that ought to thank God.  The kingdom of God is near you.  It is not when we begin to feel good, but when we feel bad, that we take the first step towards heaven.  Who taught you that you were naked?  Whence came this inward light?  Who opened your eyes and made you see and feel?  Know this day that flesh and blood has not revealed these things unto you, but our Father which is in heaven. Universities may confer degrees, and schools may impart knowledge of all mysteries, but they cannot make men feel sin.  To realize our spiritual need, and feel true spiritual thirst, is the ABC in saving Christianity.

"It is a great saying of Elihu, in the book of Job, 'God looks upon men, and if any say, "I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not," he will deliver his soul from death, and his life shall see the light' (Job 33:28).  Let him that knows anything of spiritual 'thirst' not be ashamed.  Rather let him lift up his head and begin to hope.  Let him pray that God would carry on the work He has begun, and make him feel more" (Holiness, J.C. Ryle).