JOHN R. RICE QUOTES OF THE WEEK

Many a life of sin and shame is simply the outgrowth of a life without any discipline, without rebuke and without reproof. The child who was not punished for sin at home will naturally feel that he can get by with sin. And the same child will grow into a man without self-control, without a fear of sin, without a conscience well-developed. Proverbs 29:15 says that, "The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame." Do you leave your child to himself? Do you let him have his own way? Then, mother, you might as well get ready to be brought to shame by the same boy or girl that you now refuse to punish! - John R. Rice

Hear me! If you begin the road of sin you will come out at a destination you never expected! I have talked with many a criminal. I say "criminals," but actually they were ordinary people, very little different from you and me. And again and again the man or woman who was an embezzler, or a murderer, has said to me, "Whatever possessed me to commit such a sin! I never dreamed I would do a thing like that!" You see, the harlot never intended to become a harlot when she first we...nt to the dance or when she allowed promiscuous necking and petting. You see, the man never intended to be a whoremonger when he looked at a woman to lust after her. you see, a murderer never intended to be a murderer when he first allowed hate to find lodgment in his heart. Sin may have small beginnings but it has fearful endings! Lust may seem a long way from murder but in James 1:15 we are told: "Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." - John R. Rice

One sin leads to another. And I will tell you now, that there is only one remedy that can stop the growing floodtide of sin when it starts in the heart. There is only one way that one may break the chords that are beginning to bind and enslave a man or woman in sin. And that one remedy is confession to God, in honest repentance. As long as one covers his sin and tries to hide it, he will go further in sin. As long as one excuses his sin and has an alibi for it, and hugs the sin to his bosom, he will commit more sin and go on in his enslavement. But, thank God, when a man turns to god in honest, heartbroken confession and admits his sin and comes for the mercy that is promised to the penitent sinner, then the enchantment that ensnares him is broken. The enslaving passion is cleansed. -  John R. Rice

I studied most carefully the career of one great criminal in Texas who for murders and every kind of crime was finally assessed total penalties of some four hundred years in the penitentiary before he was at last given the death penalty for another murder. Do you know how he started? He started by first stealing chickens, and then stealing tires and batteries off cars! Hardly anybody believes that stealing watermelons or chickens is the way to murder and the electric chair. B...ut it is! And hardly any Christian will believe that promiscuous necking and the dance and nude pictures are the way to adultery and murder. But they are! Oh, sin, unconfessed sin, sin that is hidden in the heart, sin that is appeased and temporized with- such sin leads to utter ruin. So it did even with the godly man David, the anointed king, the Spirit-filled prophet. And so it will with you, whoever you be, who temporize with sin, coddle it, do not confess it, and forsake it. - John R. Rice

It is not always God's will to heal, and so God does not always give faith. Sometimes there is sin in the life and God will give no faith until the sin is confessed and forsaken. But in many cases there is no unconfessed sin that hinders, yet it is simply not God's will to heal the sick. We must face the simple and blessed truth that ofttimes God has something far better than healing. It is better to be sick in the will of God than to be well out of the will of God. It is better to glorify God in trouble than never have trouble. It is better even for a Christian to die and go to Heaven and be with the Lord than to remain on earth well and strong. - John R. Rice

It ought to be obvious to any spiritually minded Christian that to follow self is not to follow God and that if a Christian has his own way, God cannot have His way. - John R. Rice

Moses said, "Lord, I am an old man and don't talk well. I can't make speeches." He was very bold forty years ago, but I guess now that he lost his patience and faith, he thinks it is too late. God is not too late. God doesn't get there too late. God's train comes in on time. And Moses, you can trust it. God will have a way. - John R. Rice