John R. Rice Quotes of the Week

Now what about the Bible? Every word of it proceedeth from the mouth of God. Not in English. We have a good English translation, but that is a matter of scholarship. The manuscripts have been very carefully preserved. But the original monographs, the very words, were given by the mouth of God. So said Jesus Christ,. Not only are the words inspired, but not a jot or tittle shall pass away until all be fulfilled, as Jesus said in Matthew 5:18. Every little breath mark; the tiniest bit of spelling and punctuation were given in the original manuscripts by the Spirit of God. I am trying to show you the sacredness, the living miracle of the Word of God, so you can depend on it and follow it. - John R. Rice

The Bible! In some sense when I breathe in the Bible I breathe in God's thoughts and God's power and God's will, and the Saviour. Plant the Word of God and it sprouts, and one is born again, and behold it is Christ in you, the living Word. Then live by the Word of God like breathing. - John R. Rice

Divorced people who have married again should not break the second marriage. The second marriage has broken the first marriage. God Himself holds the second marriage binding. To break it would do no good but would do great harm. Many people, even Christians, have the tragedy of divorce in their past. Many people, like a Christian woman who wrote to me recently, either married a divorced person, or were themselves divorced and married again, before their conversion. Should the second home be broken? Is it a sin for a wife or husband to be true to a second marriage? Can God be pleased as long as the second marriage is maintained?
These are serious questions. The answer, according to God's Word is this: DO NOT BREAK THE SECOND MARRIAGE! Two wrongs never made a right. It would usually be impossible to restore the first marriage, and the Bible does not command it, even if it were possible. Confess the sins of the past, but do not sin again by another divorce or separation! - John R. Rice

Scriptural divorce gives a right to remarry; one who has a right to divorce has a right to remarry. The modern idea of some Christians that one has a right to divorce but should remain single thereafter and never remarry, has no warrant in the Scriptures. In the Bible it is everywhere taken for granted that a right to divorce means a right to remarry. A divorce, on Bible grounds, means that the former marriage is no longer binding. The former husband is no longer a husband. The former wife is no longer a wife. Those who are divorced on Bible grounds are really divorced, are single, unmarried, unbound. - John R. Rice

Let husband and wife both determine that the home shall be kept inviolate; that they will maintain love and keep their marriage vows and ties at any cost in the world. Love has much to do with maintaining a happy home, but a Christian's love for God ought to be greater than his love for wife or husband. Love for God involves another word that, for the happiness of the home, is greater. Love for God means duty, and duty in the home is a greater safeguard of happiness than are sex attraction and the fluctuating selfish love of a husband and wife for the other. Does some young couple think that they love each other so much that they will always be happy? Do they think their love is so great that there will never be a cross word, never a bitter difference of opinion, never wounded pride nor flaming anger? If so, they are mistaken. The people who get divorces were once just as earnest in their love as other people. Love by itself is not a sufficient basis for marriage. Real character has more to do with the happiness of marriage than love. Blessed is the woman who has a husband who owns that he has a duty to God and who steadfastly and unflinchingly determines that he will do right, whether he is happy or not; that he will do right whether he feels like doing right or not. When a husband and wife decide that this marriage has to last, that they are bound by solemn vows in the sight of God and men, and that character and reputation and their welfare through life and the welfare of their children are involved, then the happiness and success of married life can be maintained. - John R. Rice

Both husband and wife should get right with God, trusting Christ as Saviour and Lord. Regeneration, a new heart given from God to a penitent sinner who trusts Christ for salvation, will do more than everything else in the world can do to make a happy home. All over America I have found cases, literally thousands of them, where the home was unhappy and miserable until husband and wife accepted Christ as Saviour and set out to live for Him. Then character was made stable and strong. Then moral standards were such as would please any wife in her husband and please any husband in his wife. When Christ comes in, happiness comes in. - John R. Rice

Where the will goes, the heart will follow. - John R. Rice