John R. Rice Quotes of the Week

Some people foolishly say, "I can turn to Christ any time I get ready." No, the simple truth is you can't even get ready or get willing unless the Spirit of God moves you. A heart that continually hardens itself cannot suddenly soften itself. A man who decides again and again to drink will, after awhile, get to where he cannot decide yes or no but has a compulsion for drink. Oh, the time before your heart is hardened, before God is angered by your delay and rejection, before sin so utter deceives and distorts your mind so you cannot understand the truth or be impressed with the urgency of it - that is the day to be saved. Today is "the day of salvation." - John R. Rice

Is there a man who goes to Hell because he wants to go to Hell? I think not, not even Judas Iscariot. Though torn by the awfulness of his sin, yet he was so hardened that he could not turn to Christ and would not turn. So Judas was in despair as he hung himself and died "to go to his own place," the Scripture says. I am sure the rich man in Hell did not intend to go to Hell. He just neglected salvation. Neglect is the main traveled road to Hell. - John R. Rice

Only Christ in the heart can make a father's love always good and never selfish, or make a mother's love holy and without undue possessiveness or self-will. The happy, settled character that Christ gives can make the marriage ship safe in the storm. There is no settled happiness, long-term happiness, without Christ. young people without Christ may be hopeful, expectant, exuberant, with an eager thirst for life and confidence. But all too soon they find that Satan has no happy old people. - John R. Rice

Why do we not plainly rejoice that our disappointments are His appointments, that God's train never comes in late, that God will never leave His own? No, a Christian walking in the presence of God and in the will of God can truly say, "This is the house of God, this is the gate of Heaven." And we ought to say, "God is in this place," and we ought to believe it. - John R. Rice

Why did Jesus speak in parables? So that those who would not seek would not be compelled to see. Those who did not want to love God would not be compelled to love Him. Those who did not open their mouths for blessing would not receive blessings. What is God saying? He is saying the richest mines of spiritual truths are there for God's people, but they are not visible, they are not discernible to those who have unbelieving and uninterested hearts. Jesus said again and again, "He that hath ears to hear let him hear." Surely He meant that only those whose ears are tuned to the truth will get it, and that was by God's choice. - John R. Rice

God could convince every infidel in the world that He is the Saviour, that the Bible is the Word of God. Strangely He does not seek to do so. You see, the trouble with an infidel is not head trouble but heart trouble. God feels no obligation to reveal Himself to the stubborn, rebellious heart. - John R. Rice

Miracles are not often apparent. The Lord Jesus is a little jealous about His power; and so when Jesus would raise from the dead the little twelve-year old maiden, He took the father and mother of the damsel and Peter, James and John and went in and closed the door, and then said to the maiden, "I say unto thee, arise," and He delivered her to her mother. But the unbelieving crowd outside that scoffed did not see the miracle. - John R. Rice