What They Said

“Great is the power which Christ displays in building His Church. He carries on his work in spite of opposition from the world, the flesh, and the devil. In storm, in chaos, through troublesome times—silently, quietly, without noise, without stir, without excitement—the building progresses.”

J. C. Ryle

“Great is the wisdom with which the Lord Jesus Christ builds His Church. All is done at the right time, and in the right way. Each stone in its turn is put in the right place. Sometimes He chooses great stones, and sometimes He chooses small stones. Sometimes the work moves fast, and sometimes it moves slowly. Man is frequently impatient, and thinks that nothing is happening. But man's time is not God's time.”

J. C. Ryle

“The Church of our text is made up of all true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. It comprehends all who have repented of sin, and fled to Christ by faith, and been made new creatures in Him. It comprises all God's elect, all who have received God's grace, all who have been washed in Christ's blood, all who have been clothed in Christ's righteousness, all who have been born again and sanctified by Christ's Spirit.”

"On this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it." Matthew 16:18

J. C. Ryle

“When the church is absolutely different from the world, she invariably attracts it. It is then that the world is made to listen to her message, though it may hate it at first.”

“We do not want a newspaper to give us a vision of the world made perfect; we want a Church for that. We do not want a newspaper to give us good news; we want a Gospel for that. We want a newspaper to give us true news; not elevating news or improving news.”

“We do not want, as the newspapers say, a Church that will move with the world. We want a Church that will move the world.”

"A fear-stricken church cannot help a scared world.  We who are in the secret place of safety must begin to talk and act like it"

"A scared world needs a fearless church."

"We should be zealous for the Lord's cause. He has a cause upon the earth. It is the cause of holiness and truth. It is distinct from the world, but is intended to be a blessing to the world. It is called his Church. The Church in which he dwells, by which he works, through which he communicates his blessings."

"In proportion as a church is holy, in that proportion will its testimony for Christ be powerful."

“For as a kingdom, divided into many shires, and more towns and villages, is called one, because it has one and the same king, one and the same law; so the church is one, because it liveth by one and the same Spirit, and is ruled by one and the same Lord, and professeth one and the same faith; hath one and the same hope, and hath been baptized with one and the same baptism.”

"O be not quick to bury the Church before she is dead."

"When the church joins up with the world it is the true church no longer but only a pitiful hybrid thing, an object of smiling contempt to the world and an abomination to the Lord."

"The Christian church exists to worship God first of all.  Everything else must come second or third or fourth or fifth."

"Happy indeed is that church whose members not only desire to reach heaven themselves, but desire also to take others with them."

"Divisions in the church always breed atheism in the world."

"The church must worship, and worship and entertainment are at opposite ends of the table."

"A painfully large proportion of all the congregations in the land consists of unconverted people, who know nothing of heart-religion, never come to the Lord's Table, and never confess Christ in their daily lives. Myriads of those who are always running after preachers, and crowding to hear special sermons, are nothing better than empty tubs, and tinkling cymbals, without a bit of real vital Christianity at home."

"Is there no refuge from strife? Is there no place of refreshing where a man can prepare for the battle of life? Is there no place where two or three can gather in Jesus’ name, to forget for the moment all those things that divide nation from nation and race from race, to forget human pride, to forget the passions of war, to forget the puzzling problems of industrial strife, and to unite in overflowing gratitude at the foot of the Cross? If there be such a place, then that is the house of God and that the gate of heaven. And from under the threshold of that house will go forth a river that will revive the weary world."

"From the moment that the idea began to gain currency that the Bible was the history of the quest of mankind for God, rather than God’s revelation of Himself and the only way of salvation to mankind, the Church began to decline and to wane in her influence and in her power. "