John R. Rice Quotes of the Week

Darwinism came along. It had hard sledding in America and in England for awhile, but Germany swallowed it whole. The schools there began to take it up. The Bible, they said, may contain the Word of God, but it is not the Word of God. They said Jesus was a good man but not Deity. They said Jesus may have represented God in some form but He was not virgin-born. They said Jesus' spirit may have rose from the dead, but there was no bodily resurrection. But bodily resurrection is the only kind of resurrection there is! It is only the body that was buried. There could be no resurrection but a bodily resurrection. If anyone talks to you about a so-called spiritual resurrection of Jesus or people, that one is either a common and deliberate deceiver, or he is an ignorant fool. The only kind of resurrection the Bible knows is that the body of Jesus Christ came out of Joseph's tomb, because it was the body that was buried. - John R. Rice [Ten Messages That Changed Ten Thousand Lives, pg. 45-46]

A woman came to Dr. R. A. Torrey and said, "Dr. Torrey, God has called me to preach."
Dr. Torrey said, "Is that so? I thought you were married."
"I am. I have a husband and eight children."
He said, "Well, that is wonderful. He has not only called you to preach, He has given you a congregation. Now go home and get to work to win your congregation."
You have a crowd. In God's name win those you are accountable for. We can't win everybody, but we ought to be able to win our own. - John R. Rice [Ten Messages That Changed Ten Thousand Lives, pg. 66]

One young preacher who had spent some time in a Christian college and who had had two years in a seminary, told me, "I want to be a teaching pastor. I do not want to have too large a church because I would have too many people to visit. I would like a church just big enough to pay me well. I want to be a teaching pastor and spend most of my time in the study. I enjoy my books. I do not feel called to evangelism."
I told him what I tell you" "There is nothing wrong with you that a good old-fashioned revival won't fix. If you would get over your backsliding and get right with God, that would fix your conception of the ministry." - John R. Rice [Ten Messages That Changed Ten Thousand Lives, pg. 72-73]

You are to be a soul winner. If you are not a soul winner, you are not a good Christian but a backslider, disobedient, and you are not fulfilling the Great Commission. Your life is on the wrong track. You have left God's blueprint. You are not in God's plan. You are out of the will of God. If you are not a soul winner you are a rebel. - John R. Rice [Ten Messages That Changed Ten Thousand Lives, pg. 83]

Excuses! Excuses! Lying, insolent, deceiving excuses! That is all that men offer when they will not have Jesus as Saviour and pretend that it is for some good reason. - John R. Rice [Immanuel--God With Us, page 151]

"I am as good as most church members," someone tells me. Perhaps you are. . . . But then, on the other hand, I doubt whether you are as good as church members. You critics, you Christ-rejecters, you who stand outside and point the finger of scorn at church people, let me tell you of a difference between you and them. Church people at least are for Christ, or claim to be, and you are against Him. Most of these in the church want Christ, and you do not want Him. They love Him, and you despise Him. They accepted Him while you rejected Him. They have confessed Him openly while you have denied Him. And every church member who is honest and has really come to Jesus Christ is a thousand times better off than the man on the outside who points the finger of scorn and either derides or imitates the church member. - John R. Rice [Immanuel--God With Us, page 151]

He [Jesus Christ] did not say, "Now, I'll tell you what to do. You are sort of an ignorant bunch, but I have trained you the best I could. Be sure to learn your Scripture. Then when you go get somebody converted, get him baptized, then put him through a Bible institute. Put him through Tennessee Temple Schools, or through Baptist Bible College, or Moody Bible Institute or some seminary." He did not say that. You will not misunderstand me--I am not against education. I was a college teacher. (I have been forgiven for my past sins--you ought not to hold that against me!) But I was a college teacher! I am for education. And I have some degrees (not all deserved, maybe). But, my friends, education is like the snap of a finger--it is an incidental. It is like a feather in the road beside this one main matter of the power of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. - John R. Rice [Ten Messages That Changed Ten Thousand Lives, pg. 86]