John R. Rice Quotes of the Week

Somebody says, "Well, Brother Rice, the Holy Spirit began dwelling in the bodies of Christians at Pentecost." I am sorry to tell you, my friend, but you are mistaken. That is not the time at all. That dispensation began at the resurrection of Christ, the day Jesus was glorified, the day Jesus was raised from the dead. That is when that dispensation began. We read in John 7:37-39, "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)" At that time of that feast Jesus was not glorified, was not raised up in His glorified body. So the Holy Spirit had not been given to dwell in the bodies of Christians.
Now turn to John, chapter 20, and you will read in verses 19 and 20 that Jesus came and showed them His hands and His side, then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord, and He said, "Peace be unto you." That is the peace of the blood; that is the peace of the assurance of salvation. "Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you... And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost" (Vss. 21-22). Now the disciples, from the day Jesus rose from the dead, from the day He was glorified, received the Holy Spirit; and from that time on every Christian already has the Holy Spirit living in his body. - John R. Rice

It is true that Christ has a Viceregent on this earth, but He doesn't dwell at Rome. It is true that Christ has Somebody who perfectly represents Him, who has all His authority on earth, but it is not the head of some church, humanly speaking. The blessed Spirit of God now represents Jesus Christ. Jesus said, It is expedient for you that I go away," and now the Spirit of God will come and abide with you. - John R. Rice

In I Corinthians 3 the Lord says, "If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." You mean the body of a Christian is a temple? Oh, yes. A temple better than Solomon's Temple. It is true the Shekinah Glory of God dwelt there and in the wilderness there was the pillar of fire in the night over the Tabernacle and a pillar of cloud by day and the Spirit of God was there. But now the Spirit of God dwells in the body (temple) of every one who is born again. The real church house is the body of a Christian. Oh, take care then, Christians, what you put in your mouth, how you dress, what you hear, what you say, where you go, because your body is now the temple of the Holy Spirit and you ought to keep it sacred and separated. - John R. Rice 

We are shocked when someone smokes a cigarette in the church. But how much more we ought to be shocked that one defiles the body, the temple of God, with tobacco or drink or dope or wicked thoughts or wicked words or takes that body where the Lord would not approve. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. "If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy." - John R. Rice

It was amazing, it was wonderful that Jesus should be born with a human body, that He should enter into the seed of Abraham and the seed of David and that Jesus should have a human mother and grow a human body. That is wonderful. But is this not wonderful, too, that God the Holy Spirit should come to make His home in the bodies of Christians? No wonder we are commanded not to grieve the Spirit. We are commanded to walk in the Spirit. We are commanded not to quench the Spirit. We are commanded to be filled with the Spirit. - John R. Rice

So the blessed Holy Spirit is God's Agent on earth, living now in the body of every Christian. That same Holy Spirit who dictated the Bible and had holy men write down what He said, that same blessed Holy Spirit who came upon the Virgin Mary and she conceived in her body the Lord Jesus, conceived of the Holy Ghost, is the same Holy Spirit who comes to convict the sinner and to change us and regenerate those who trust in Christ. Now He lives in the body. - John R. Rice

Romans 14:17 tells us that "the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." He is the sweet Comforter. The joy of the Holy Ghost is the part of every Christian. In Ephesians 5:18, 19, the Lord tells us that the Holy Spirit is back of the songs of a Christian. "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit" -and that isn't the end of the sentence -"Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." Oh, the sweet Spirit of God puts the song in the heart.
I rejoice to say, I have a song. I sing so much perhaps I make a nuisance of myself to some. I am glad I have a song in my heart. Well, that is what a Christian is supposed to have. The work of the blessed Holy Spirit in our hearts to make melody. - John R. Rice