John R. Rice Quotes of the Week

How many of us are fair-weather Christians! How many of us can be happy when we are well but not when we are sick; can be gentle and unselfish and kind until we suffer, until we lose friends, until we face disaster! How many of us are good Christians until we are tired, are good Christians until someone speaks sharply, are good Christians as long as everything is easy! Bless God for the example of the dear Saviour who "the same night He was betrayed," knowing the torment that faced Him, still loved His disciples, still gently washed their feet and taught them to love one another! Does Jesus shine in you when you are sick or tired or disappointed or in trouble? Do you love people when under pressure? - John R. Rice [The Ruin of a Christian, pg. 229-230]

We had as well acknowledge the fact that all Christians walk in a dirty world and need day by day to confess their sins and failures and be cleansed anew. What shall be the attitude of a Christian toward Christians who fail, who do not live as they ought, who bring reproach on the name of Christ? Certainly, the first aim and effort of a Christian in such cases is to seek to wash the dirty feet, that is, seek to help the erring one to see and forsake the way that is wrong, or the sin into which he may have, unawares, fallen, tempted and trapped by Satan. Oh, how wicked it is to hurt an immature Christian, to discourage him, to disfellowship him! - John R. Rice [The Ruin of a Christian, pg. 240-241]

All Christians need, periodically, to make a new start. I have no patience with the shallow argument that because we have made good resolutions before and failed to keep them, therefore we should not make new resolutions. No man living ever did all he planned to do. No woman ever kept all her vows. But everyone who tried to do better was helped by it. People who try do more than those who do not try. People who resolve do more than those who do not resolve. And however much you may have failed in the past, the coming of the new year or of some special time of refreshing or conviction from God is an ideal time to start over again to live for God and to be what God wants you to be. - John R. Rice [The Ruin of a Christian, pg. 245]

Elisha said, "I am going to be a prophet of God." And he set out to be.
When Bill Rice was in a meeting close to Kansas City, he drove his car in to be serviced. The fellow working on the car said, "Brother Rice, my name is so and so."
"I am glad to meet you," said Bill. "You are a Christian?"
"Oh yes," he said. "I am called to be an evangelist just like you. I am called of God as an evangelist."
Bill said, "Well, are you preaching?"
"No, I have a family and there is no way to make a living without this work. But I am an evangelist just like you." Bill replied, "No, you are not just like me. I was called too and we starved but we went to Moody Bible Institute. I gave up my job when I only had one or two revivals ahead of time. I gave my life to it. I am going to preach or starve. No, you are not like me unless you are out preaching like I am."
Elisha said, I am going to be the prophet of God and put off the old garment and I am going to wear this mantle of the man of God the rest of my days." - John R. Rice [Ten Messages That Changed Ten Thousand Lives, pg. 24-25]

God's law, such as "The soul that sinneth, it shall die," is just as true about ten men as it is about one man; just as true about a whole city of men as one man; just as true about a nation of men as about one man. Sin brings death, ruin, failure. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" is just as true of a nation as an individual. - John R. Rice [Ten Messages That Changed Ten Thousand Lives, pg. 35]

It is clear, from many, many cases in the Bible, that nations are punished for their sins. And God is going to hold America accountable for her sins. We, as a nation, are heading on toward judgment, and it is time for repentance, time for Christians to take stock of themselves to see what they can do and what they ought to do to stop the judgment of God. - John R. Rice [Ten Messages That Changed Ten Thousand Lives, pg. 35]

I wish I could go into detail about France, how she got into a bloody revolution. We talk about communism as if that were so bad. But communism and socialism are about the same. The New Deal socialism in America is Karl Marx' teaching, just like communism of Russia is Karl Marx' teaching. It is godless, it is atheistic, it is against government, against Christianity, against American free enterprise. - John R. Rice [Ten Messages That Changed Ten Thousand Lives, pg. 44-45]