JOHN R. RICE QUOTES OF THE WEEK

The reason that men do not believe is either that they are not living up to what they believe, that they have not surrendered their wills to God, or that they do not study the evidence that is calculated to produce belief. Men neglect their Bibles and read all kinds of trashy unbelieving books, and then say, "I can't believe!" A man might just as well feed himself on poison instead of food and then complain that he is not healthy. There is abundant evidence that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and faith is a matter of the will--it is willingness to yield to the sufficient evidence. Unbelief is the refusal to yield to the sufficient evidence. Thus unbelief is a matter for which every believer is responsible. - John R. Rice

I constantly use the King James Version. Practically all of my memory work is done in it. Because of its beautiful stately language and because it is loved by common people everywhere, I find it best to preach and quote from this version, unless some passage is more clear in another version.
The American Standard Version, translated in 1901, is perhaps the most accurate of all versions. It does not take the place of the King James Version, but in many places it has genuine help. Of course there are some mistakes, but many of the scholars who prepared it were devout Christians and believers. It takes advantage of the three great manuscripts--the Sinaiticus, the Vatican, and the Alexandrian manuscripts--which were not available when the King James Version was translated. However, they do not make many great changes. - John R. Rice

I think that to do right and to obey God and to put down crime is not a sign of lack of Christian love. It is not wrong for a parent to whip a child who needs it. It is not wrong for an officer to arrest a criminal. It is not wrong for a government to put to death a murderer. These things should be settled by the plain Word of God instead of by an emotional appeal to prejudice. So warfare may be necessary and right to put down an international criminal like Hitler, or to save a nation from enslavement. - John R. Rice

Exodus 20:13 says, "Thou shalt not kill," clearly meaning that no individual has the right to take killing into his own hands, for a personal grudge. But the same passage of Scripture continues, and in the following chapter, verse 12, the Lord says, "He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall surely be put to death." God plainly commands the death penalty in the next chapter after He gave the commandment, "Thou shalt not kill." See Exodus 21:15-17. So it is quite clear that God put the death penalty in the hands of organized society. And the New Testament teaches exactly the same thing. Romans 13:4 tells us that the ruler "is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid: for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath on him that doeth evil." - John R. Rice

The Bible makes no issue on the question of lipstick and other make-up, and so I make none. I prefer that women should be very restrained in any use of make-up. If lipstick and rouge are used heavily, they make a woman look worldly and artificial and take away from natural beauty. But I believe that overuse of rouge and lipstick is primarily a sin against good taste, not against morals. It is artificiality and indicates too much desire to keep up with the fads of fashion. A Christian must be very careful not to judge others and not to make artificial rules which the Bible does not make. If one says that the use of all cosmetics is wrong, then face cream or powder is wrong just the same as lipstick. A Christian had better just be modest and spiritual and keep a good conscience, without making rules for others unless he can prove his point by the Bible. - John R. Rice

Christian men might heed this matter of dress carefully, too. I do not believe it wise for men to go naked to the waist in a mixed crowd, whether in swimming trunks or at work. Little children ought not to be put in sun suits that unduly expose them and get them accustomed to a shameless lack of modesty and indifference to nakedness. Every Christian ought to remember that his body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and that it ought to be reverently and sacredly kept. The Christian woman should keep her body for her husband. The Christian husband should keep his body for his wife. And all of us should keep our bodies as the temples of the Holy Ghost with a consciousness of our weakness but with a desire to please God. - John R. Rice

Tobacco definitely hurts the health of many people. It hurried one of my brothers to a grave earlier than he otherwise would have died, the doctors thought. Certainly it affects the throat, sometimes to lead to cancer of mouth and throat or lips and tends to affect the lungs.
Christian's particularly ought not to use tobacco because it defiles the body, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit. God dwells in the Christian's body; and he ought to put away all filthiness and foulness of the flesh. the fact that a tobacco user stinks ought to make nice people know that it would be offensive to the Holy Spirit as it is to many good people. - John R. Rice