JOHN R. RICE QUOTES OF THE WEEK

In Texas, I one time said to a young man, "Don't you want to be a Christian?"
"I could be a Christian if I wanted to, couldn't I?" he asked.
"Why of course you could," I said.
"Then it seems obvious that I do not want to be a Christian," he said, and turned away.
He was right! One who wants to be a Christian can be. One who wants to have everlasting life can have it. The only ones who do not turn to Jesus Christ and find peace and forgiveness; the only ones who do not accept the gospel invitation and plan to attend the heavenly banquet in the kingdom of God are those who love theirs sins and are not willing to face Jesus Christ honestly on that matter. - John R. Rice [Immanuel--God With Us, page 148-149]

Oh, sinner, why will you die with excuses upon your lips and lies in your heart! You turn down Jesus Christ and pretend to be for morality. You reject the Saviour who died for you and pretend to have a tender heart. You pick flaws in others and point out hypocrites and argue about doctrine when in your poor, wicked heart you are not willing to come to Christ and do not want Him to change your heart and make you a Christian. Excuses, excuses--lying, insulting, silly excuses! That is what men offer instead of accepting Christ as Saviour! - - John R. Rice [Immanuel--God With Us, page 149]

"There are so many hypocrites in the church," someone says. Indeed there are! Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, was a hypocrite who never did trust in Jesus Christ as Saviour, never was converted, and who betrayed Him. If one out of the twelve, then, was a deceiver and hypocrite, there may be one of twelve in the church today who is a hypocrite. I do not know. Hypocrites? They are all around us. There are hypocrites in the lodge, but you do not leave the lodge. There are hypocrites in the grocery business, but you do not leave the grocery business. Hypocrites work on railroads, and yet, some of you hold your railroad jobs. The Bible makes it clear that there will always be unconverted people in the churches and that Jesus Himself will have to show who is saved and who is not. He alone knows the heart and knows who has honestly repented and trusted Him for salvation. But what has that to do with you, poor sinner rejecting Christ? The question is not the church but Jesus. - John R. Rice [Immanuel--God With Us, page 149-150]

The question is not the hypocrites but Jesus Christ. Do you have any fault to find with Him? Was He ever insincere? Did He ever fail to keep His promise? Was there any lack in His holiness and purity? How have you a right to reject the Son of God, to crucify Him afresh, to harden your heart against His entreaty, to stubbornly go on in your sins against Jesus on the foolish alibi that there are hypocrites in the church? It is silly; it is senseless; it is wicked! That is an insolent excuse for those who do not love Jesus Christ and do not want to serve Him. - John R. Rice [Immanuel--God With Us, page 150]

"I am as good as most church members," someone tells me. Perhaps you are. In that case, you will go to Hell like every church member who is depending on his morality. You will go to Hell like every church member who depends on his confirmation or his baptism. You will go to Hell like every church member who depends on living according to the square and compass of his lodge, or keeping the golden rule or the Ten Commandments. I tell you frankly that every person who depends on his character and his morality will land in Hell, in the fire that never goes out and among worms that never die according to the clear teaching of the Word of God. - John R. Rice [Immanuel--God With Us, page 150]

As good as church members? Poor, lost sinner, that is not good enough! Jesus said, "For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of Heaven." Not by righteousness of men, not by good works, not by human morality can a poor sinner with a black heart get into Heaven. It is only by the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ, and by the righteousness of Jesus Christ which is accounted to the merit of a poor, undone sinner, that one can enter Heaven. As good as a church member is not enough! You must have a new heart, washed in the blood. You must have the righteousness of Christ counted to your credit. You must be born anew! - John R. Rice [Immanuel--God With Us, page 150-151]

“Jesus Himself also said, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life" (John 3:36). When you trusted Jesus Christ, He saved you. I will pray for you that you will believe God and quit depending on your feelings and emotions. It would be wrong for me to be praying for God to give you the kind of feeling you want. That is not the way we are to know we are saved. We know we are saved because God said it and we have faith to believe it. Faith takes God's Word as true and relies upon it.”
― John R. Rice, Dr. Rice, Here Are More Questions