John R. Rice Quotes of the Week

Bible conversions were always simple, and always an instantaneous matter. Sinners may be convicted before they are saved, struggle with God before they are saved, but that is always part of our wicked self-will. The instant any poor sinner is willing to receive Christ and depend upon Him, he has salvation and everlasting life. - John R. Rice [Revival Appeals, pg. 115]

Of all the race of mankind, the only two men that we know definitely went to Heaven without dying were Enoch and Elijah. They were translated while yet alive and physically transferred to Heaven. With chariot and horses of fire, Elijah was carried to Heaven in a whirlwind. Therefore, we know there are at least three beings in Heaven with physical bodies—Jesus, Enoch and Elijah.
― John R. Rice, Bible Facts About Heaven

Note that they said [in Acts 1], "THIS SAME JESUS." The Jesus in Heaven is not another but the same. The Jesus who will return for His saints is not another but the same. When He comes again to Jerusalem, Jews will look on Him whom they have pierced (Zech. 12:10). They will ask, "What are these wounds in thine hands?" He will answer, "Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends" (Zech. 13:6). His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives (Zech. 14:4). Jesus now has hands and feet, the same with which He went away, hands and feet with the marks of nails! And this same Jesus now abides in Heaven with a physical body. I tell you, Heaven must be and is a real, literal, physical place! ― John R. Rice, Bible Facts About Heaven

Eventually, if enough masses are said and prayers uttered, the soul may pass from purgatory into Heaven. But that is not taught in the Bible. It is based on a doctrine of salvation by works and by the [Roman Catholic] church instead of redemption by the blood of Christ. It is used to extort money from those who hope to shorten the period of suffering of their loved ones that they may the sooner enter Heaven.
― John R. Rice, Bible Facts About Heaven

In Luke 23:39-43 we see how the repenting thief turned to Jesus on the cross beside him and said, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” With loving forgiveness, Jesus turned to the penitent sinner and promised salvation not only in the distant day of His kingdom but "to day," said Jesus, "shalt thou be with me in paradise." That very day the dying thief entered into the Paradise of God with Jesus or, in the term to which we are accustomed, entered Heaven that day.”
― John R. Rice, Bible Facts About Heaven

Paul said in II Corinthians 5:8, "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." Every saint who is absent from the body is present with the Lord Jesus in Heaven. At death the soul of the Christian is carried by the angels of God straight Home where Christ and the Father are.
― John R. Rice, Bible Facts About Heaven

For what did Jesus pray [in the Garden of Gethsemane]? Some have thought Jesus prayed to be spared the crucifixion. Some have thought that after agreeing to die for man's sin, planning it with the Father even before the world began, that Jesus would now avoid it! Some have thought Jesus was here praying against the Scriptures, contrary to the will of God. Some have thought that even now Jesus supposed there might be some other way to save poor sinners. God forbid! No, no; Jesus was praying IN the will of God, and not contrary to it. And He got what He asked. To understand the prayer of Jesus, twice-repeated, see the explanation of it in Hebrews 5:7, "Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared." Jesus prayed in Gethsemane to the Father "that was able to save him from death' that night, save Him from the unscriptural death in the Garden of Gethsemane, and spare Him for the Scriptural death on the cross tomorrow. That is what Jesus asked, and that is what He got! - John R. Rice [Revival Appeals, pgs. 135-136]