John R. Rice Quotes of the Week

Let it be understood that God's plan of salvation for the Jew is the same as for everybody else in the world. Jews are sinners, as are the Gentiles. To be saved, they must turn by faith to Christ as others must do. A Jew who dies unsaved, does not have any part in the promises made to Abraham. Those promises can be inherited only by those who are heirs through the righteousness of faith (Rom. 4:13). Unrepentant and unbelieving dead, whether Jews or Gentiles, are in Hell and will never be saved. The rich man about whom the Saviour told us in Luke 16:19-31 was a Jew, an unsaved Jew, who in Hell yet called Abraham his father, as he literally was, that is, his ancestor. - John R. Rice

The resurrected Jesus was not just a spirit. Jesus had a spiritual body in the sense that it was not carnal, with the taint of sin. But it was a literal, physical body. In [Luke 24] verse 39, Jesus said, "A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." The resurrected Jesus showed them that His was a body with flesh and bones. Jesus encouraged them to handle Him and see for themselves, and when they could scarcely believe Him for joy, He further proved the literalness of His physical, resurrection body by calling for food. Before them He ate a piece of broiled fish and part of an honeycomb. - John R. Rice

The second coming of Christ is as central, as emphatic, and as pervasive in the teaching of the Bible as is His first coming. - John R. Rice

The Second Coming is the Christian's "blessed hope" (Titus 2:13), his constant watch (Mark 13:33-37), and, according to the model prayer, it should be his daily prayer. The millions who daily pray, "Thy kingdom come," are praying, whether they know it or not, for the return of Jesus and the setting up of His reign on the earth. - John R. Rice

The kingdom was not set up at Pentecost. The pouring out of the Holy Spirit, which Jesus promised should come "not many days hence," was the subject of the discussion when the disciples brought up the question about the restoration of the kingdom to Israel under Christ. Jesus plainly indicated that when He talked about the baptism of the Holy Spirit He was not talking about the kingdom. - John R. Rice

One of the worst mistakes one can make in the study of prophecy is to try to set the times and seasons which is not for us to know and which the Father has put in His own power alone. - John R. Rice

Some people say the kingdom was set up at Pentecost, the restoration of this kingdom to Israel. They make the same mistake exactly as other date-setters. Jesus said that the times and seasons of that kingdom were not for the apostles to know and they did not know. Neither do we know. We know the kingdom will be restored to Israel, but WHEN is a matter not revealed. - John R. Rice