J.C. Ryle on the True Christian's Comfort

"Christ is . . . all in [the true Christian's] comfort in time present.  A saved soul has many sorrows.  He has a body like other men, weak and frail.  He has a heart like other men, and often a more sensitive one, too.  He has trials and losses to bear like others, and often more.  He has his share of bereavements, deaths, disappointments, crosses.  He has the world to oppose a place in life to fill blamelessly, unconverted relatives to bear with patiently, persecutions to endure and a death to die.

"And who is sufficient for these things?  What shall enable a believer to bear all this?  Nothing but the consolation there is in Christ (Phil. 2:1)" (Holiness, J.C. Ryle).

J.C. Ryle on Holiness (Part 1)

"Christ is not only all in the justification of a true Christian, but He is also all in his sanctification.  I would not have anyone misunderstand me.  I do not mean for a moment to undervalue the work of the Spirit.  But this I say, that no man is ever holy until he comes to Christ and is united to Him.  Until then his works are dead works, and he has no holiness at all.  First you must be joined to Christ, and then you shall be holy.  'Without Him, separate form Him, you can do nothing' (John 15:5).

"And no man can grow in holiness except he abides in Christ.  Christ is the great root from which every believer must draw his strength to go forward.  The Spirit is His special gift, His purchased gift for His people.  A believer must not only 'receive Christ Jesus the Lord' but 'walk in Him, and be rooted and built up in Him' (Col. 2:6, 7)" (Holiness, J.C. Ryle).

J.C. Ryle: The True Church and Talking to Christ

"If we love a person, we like to talk to him.  We tell him all our thoughts, and pour out all our heart to him.  We find no difficulty in discovering subjects of conversation.  However silent and reserved we may be to others, we find it easy to talk to a much-loved friend.  However often we may meet, we are never at a loss for matter to talk about.  We have always much to say, much to ask about, much to describe, much to communicate.  Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!  The true Christian finds no difficulty in speaking to his Savior.  Every day he has something to tell Him, and he is not happy unless he tells it.  He speaks to Him in prayer every morning and night.  He tells Him his wants and desires, his feelings and his fears.  He asks counsel of Him in difficulty.  He asks comfort of Him in trouble.  He cannot help it.  He  must converse with his Savior continually, or he would faint by the way.  And why is this?  Simply because he love Him" (Holiness, JC Ryle).

J.C. Ryle: The True Church Is Jealous About Christ

"If we love a person, we are jealous about his name and honor.  We do not like to hear him spoken against, without speaking up for him and defending him.  We feel bound to maintain his interests and his reputation.  We regard the person who treats him ill with almost as much disfavor as if he had ill-treated us.  Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!  The true Christian regards with a godly jealousy all efforts to disparage his Master's word, or name, or church, or day.  He will confess Him before princes, if need be, and be sensitive of the least dishonor put upon Him.  He will not hold his peace, and suffer his Master's cause to be put to shame, without testifying against it.  And why is all this?  Simply because he loves Him" (Holiness, J.C. Ryle).

J.C. Ryle: The True Church Loves the Friends of Christ

"If we love a person, we like his friends.  We are favorably inclined to them, even before we know them.  We are drawn to them by the common tie of common love to one and the same person.  When we meet them we do not feel that we are altogether strangers.  There is a bond of union between us.  They love the person that we love, and that alone is an introduction.  Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!  The true Christian regards all Christ's friends as his friends, members of the same body, children of the same family, soldiers in the same army, travelers to the same home.  When he meets them, he feels as if he had long known them.  He is more at home with them in a few minutes than he is with many worldly people after an acquaintance of several years.  And what is the secret of this?  It is simply affection to the same Savior and love to the same Lord" (Holiness, JC Ryle).

J.C. Ryle: The True Church Loves to Read About Christ

"If we love a person, we like to read about him.  What intense pleasure a letter from an absent husband gives to a wife, or a letter from an absent son to his mother.  Others may see little worth notice in the letter.  They can scarcely take the trouble to read it through.  But those who love the writer see something in the letter which no one else can.  They carry it about with them as a treasure.  They read it over and over again.  Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!  The true Christian delights to read the Scriptures, because they tell him about his beloved Savior.  It is no wearisome task with him to read them.  He rarely needs reminding to take his Bible with him when he goes on a journey.  He cannot be happy without it.  And why is all this?  It is because the Scriptures testify of Him whom his soul loves, even Christ" (JC Ryle, Holiness).

J.C. Ryle: The Christian's Love for Christ

"Do you love me?" (John 21:16)

"Let me show you the peculiar feeling of a true Christian towards Christ - he loves Him.  A true Christian is not a mere baptized man or woman.  He is something more.  He is not a person who only goes, as a matter of form, to a church or chapel on Sundays, and lives all the rest of the week as if there was no God.  Formality is not Christianity.  Ignorant lip worship is not true religion.  The Scripture speaks expressly: 'They are not all Israel which are of Israel' (Rom. 9:6).  The practical lesson of those words is clear and plain.  All are not true Christians who are members of the visible church of Christ.

"The true Christian is one whose religion is in his heart and life.  It is felt by himself in his heart.  It is seen by others in his conduct and life.  He feels his sinfulness, guilt and badness, and repents.  He sees Jesus Christ to be that divine Savior whom his soul needs, and commits himself to Him.  He puts off the old man with his corrupt and carnal habits, and puts on the new man.  He lives a new and holy life, fighting habitually against the world, the flesh and the devil.  Christ Himself is the cornerstone of his Christianity.  Ask him in what he trusts for the forgiveness of his many sins, and he will tell you, in the death of Christ.  Ask him in what righteousness he hopes to stand innocent at the judgment day, and he will tell you it is the righteousness of Christ.  Ask him by what pattern he tries to frame his life, and he will tell you that it is the example of Christ.

"But, beside all this, there is one thing in a true Christian which is eminently peculiar to him.  That thing is love to Christ.  Knowledge, faith, hope, reverence, obedience are all marked features in a true Christian's character.  But his picture would be very imperfect if you omitted his 'love' to his divine Master.  He not only knows, trusts and obeys
.  He goes further than this - he loves."

J.C. Ryle: The True Christian is Victorious

"If you would prove you are born again and going to heaven, you must be a victorious soldier of Christ.  If you would make it clear that you have any title to Christ's precious promises,you must fight the good fight in Christ's cause, and in the fight you must conquer.

"Victory is the only satisfactory evidence that you have a saving religion.  You like good sermons perhaps.  You respect the Bible, and read it occasionally.  You say your prayers night and morning.  You have family prayers, and give to religious societies.  I thank God for this.  It is all very good.  But how goes the battle?  How does the great conflict go on all this time?  Are you overcoming the love of the world and the fear of man?  Are you overcoming the passions, tempers and lusts of your own heart?  Are you resisting the devil and making him flee from you?  How is it in this matter?  You must either rule or serve sin and the devil and the world.  There is no middle course.  You must either conquer or be lost.

"I know well it is a hard battle that you have to fight, and I want you to know it, too.  You must fight the good fight of faith and endure hardships if you would lay hold of eternal life.  You must make up your mind to a daily struggle if you would reach heaven.  There may be short roads to heaven invented by man, but ancient Christianity, the good old way, is the way of the cross, the way of conflict.  Sin, the world and the devil must be actually mortified, resisted and overcome."

These words from J.C. Ryle may on the surface seem very works based when it comes to salvation.  But a closer look reveals that he is speaking of enduring and persevering through the hardships of life until eternity comes upon us.  For it is only the true soldier of Christ who endures to the end.  As the apostle Paul says,

2 Timothy 2:8-13 (ESV) 
⁸ Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, ⁹ for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! ¹⁰ Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. ¹¹ The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; ¹² if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; ¹³ if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.

J.C. Ryle: The True Christian is a Soldier of Christ

"Every professing Christian is the soldier of Christ.  He is bound by his baptism to fight Christ's battle against sin, the world and the devil.  The man that does not do this breaks his vow.  He is a spiritual defaulter.  He does not fulfill the engagements made for him.  The man that does not do this is practically renouncing his Christianity.  The very fact that he belongs to a church, attends a Christian place of worship, and call himself a Christian, is a public declaration that he desires to be reckoned a soldier of Jesus Christ.

"Armor is provided for the professing Christian, if he will only use it.  'Take unto you,' says Paul to the Ephesians, 'the whole armor of God.'  'Stand, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness.'  'Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.'  'Above all, take the shield of faith' (Eph. 6:13-17).  And, not lest, the professing Christian has the best of leaders: Jesus the Captain of salvation, through whom he may be more than conqueror; the best of provisions, the bread and water of life, and the best of pay promised to him, an eternal weight of glory.

"The one point I want to impress upon your soul just now is this, that the true believer is not only a soldier, but a victorious soldier.  He not only professes to fight on Christ's side against sin, the world and the devil, but he does actually fight and overcome.

"Now this is one grand distinguishing mark of true Christians.  Other men, perhaps, like to be numbered in the ranks of Christ's army.  Other men may have lazy wishes and [unhurried] desires after the crown of glory.  But it is the true Christian alone who does the work of a soldier.  He alone fairly meets the enemies of his soul, really fights with them and in that fight overcomes them."