You may weep under preaching one day, and be lifted to the third heaven by joyous excitement another day, and yet be dead to God.

 

Your religion, if it is authentic, and given by the Holy Spirit,

must be in your heart.

It must hold the reins.

It must sway the affections.

It must lead the will.

It must direct the tastes.

It must influence the choices and decisions.

It must fill the deepest, lowest, inmost seat in your soul.

Is this your religion?

– JC Ryle –  Practical Religion

In a day like this, when hearing and thinking without doing, is so common, no one can rightly wonder that I press upon men the absolute need of self-examination.  Once more, then, I ask my readers to consider the question of my text, “How is it with our souls?”

 

Let me ask, in the third place, whether we are trying to satisfy our consciences with a mere formal religion?

 

There are myriads at this moment who are making shipwreck on this rock. Like the Pharisees of old, they make much ado about the outward part of Christianity, while the inward and spiritual part is totally neglected.

 

– J.C. Ryle – Practical Religion

If you follow me on twitter, you will know that one of my all time favorite Christian author and theologian is JC Ryle. I call him my bishop. Every morning on my twitter account, I tweet the proverbs for the day, some other scripture verses and JC Ryle.  Bishop Ryle was a master theologian and a prolific writer.  Some of His famous works are:

• Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots
• Practical Religion
• Commentary on the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John)
• The Cross
• Knots Untied
• Repentance
• A Call to Prayer
• Thoughts for Young Men
• The Duties of Parents

All his works are truly a gift to the body of Christ. His work on holiness, practical religion and commentaries on the gospel are by far my favorites.  Honestly, I love all of his works, they are all my favorites.  A modern preacher that compares to JC Ryle today would be John MacArthur. Both are similar in their love for scripture, in-depth  knowledge of the word and boldness in proclaiming the gospel.

Over the next several weeks, I intend to share some quotes from his works on this blog. First let me introduce you to the man I call my bishop.

John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) was born in Macclesfield, England the son of a wealthy banker. He was headed for a career in politics before being called into the ministry. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford where he was an athlete who rowed and played Cricket. He was offered a teaching position, which he declined.

He was spiritually awakened in 1838 while hearing Ephesians 2 read in church. He was ordained by Bishop Sumner at Winchester in 1842. After holding a curacy at Exbury in Hampshire, he became rector of St Thomas’s, Winchester (1843), rector of Helmingham, Suffolk (1844), vicar of Stradbroke (1861), honorary canon of Norwich (1872), and dean of Salisbury (1880).

In 1880, at age 64, he became the first bishop of Liverpool, at the recommendation of Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. In his diocese, he formed a clergy pension fund for his diocese and built over forty churches. Controversially, he emphasized raising clergy salaries ahead of building a cathedral for his new diocese. He retired in 1900 at age 83 and died later the same year. He is buried in the All Saints’ Church, Childwall, Liverpool.

Ryle was a strong supporter of the evangelical school and a critic of ritualism. J.C. Ryle was a prolific writer, vigorous preacher, faithful pastor, husband of three wives, [widowed three times: Matilda died in 1847, Jessie died in 1860, Henrietta died in 1889] and the father to five children [1 with Matilta and 4 with Jessie]. He was thoroughly evangelical in his doctrine and uncompromising in his Biblical principles.

But it does cost something to be a real Christian, according to the standard of the Bible.

 

There are enemies to be overcome, battles to be fought, sacrifices to be made, an Egypt to be forsaken, a wilderness to be passed through, a cross to be carried, a race to be run.

 

Conversion is not putting a man in an arm-chair and taking him easily to heaven. It is the beginning of a mighty conflict, in which it costs much to win the victory. Hence arises the unspeakable importance of “counting the cost.”…………….

 

Surely a Christian should be willing to give up anything which stands between him and heaven.

 

A religion that costs nothing is worth nothing! A cheap Christianity, without a cross, will prove in the end a useless Christianity, without a crown.

 

– JC Ryle – Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots