The minister who keeps back hell from his people in his sermons is neither a faithful nor a charitable man.
J. C. RyleRead
It is not always those who have the most eminent gifts who are the most successful laborers for God. It is generally those who keep up closest communion with Christ and are most constant in prayer.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True success in service to God comes from a strong relationship with Him rather than just talent or gifts.
This quote emphasizes that genuine service and success in God's work are not determined solely by one's natural abilities or talents. Instead, it is the individuals who maintain a close connection with Christ and are diligent in their prayer life who truly excel in their spiritual labor. It suggests that faith and dedication surpass mere skill or status in achieving spiritual success.
Themes
SuccessFaithPrayerCommunionTalent
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared during a church service to inspire congregants to focus on their relationship with God.
More from J. C. Ryle
All quotes →Good hymns are an immense blessing to the Church. They train people for heaven, where praise is one of the principal occupations.
J. C. RyleRead
When I speak of a man growing in grace, I mean simply this - that his sense of sin is becoming deeper, his faith stronger, his hope brighter, his love more extensive, his spiritual mindedness more marked.
J. C. RyleRead
Those who confine God's love exclusively to the elect appear to me to take a narrow and contracted view of God's character and attributes....I have long come to the conclusion that men may be _x000D_ more systematic in their statements than the Bible, and may be led into grave error by idolatrous veneration of a system
J. C. RyleRead
Never be satisfied with the world's standard of Christianity!
J. C. RyleRead
Sunday morning, before we go to hear the Word of God preached...let us not rush into God’s presence careless, reckless, and unprepared, as if it mattered not in what way such work was done. Let us carry with us faith, reverence, and prayer. If these three are our companions, we will hear with profit, and return with praise.
J. C. RyleRead
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The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts.
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The Gospel purifies and renews, it bears fruit, wherever the community of believers hears it and receives God’s grace in truth and charity. This is my confidence, this is my joy.
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The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became Man for no other purpose.
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The Catholic Church has a dignity far surpassing that of every merely human society, for it was founded by Christ the Lord. It is altogether fitting, therefore, that the language it uses should be noble, majestic, and non-vernacular.
Pope John XxiiiRead