John R. Rice Quotes of the Week

 Oh, weak, stumbling Christians, how foolish for us not to see that Christ with us can solve every problem! He is the Creator of the worlds. We are plainly told, "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made" (John 1:3). In Hebrews 1:2, we are plainly told that it was "by his Son," Jesus Christ, "by whom also he made the worlds." How can we fear hunger when the Creator of all the fields of the earth, the One from whose providential and loving hand every living creature in the universe is fed, is with us as our beloved, literally God with us and God within! How can we fear circumstances when the God of all circumstances is "the God of all grace," and He is with us! How can we fear sorrow and trouble when "the God of all comfort" is with us! Oh, the riches of love in Christ Jesus! Oh, the wealth of every Christian who has Christ! At Christmastime, every one of us might muse and meditate on the wonderful gift that God gave and say with the inspired apostle, "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift" (II Cor. 9:15). We have Immanuel! We have God with us! - John R. Rice [The Birth of the Saviour, pg. 89-90]

All Christianity, I say, stands or falls with the Bible doctrine of the virgin birth of Christ. The doctrine of the virgin birth and the doctrine of the deity of Christ are one and the same. The doctrine of the virgin birth and the doctrine of the blood atonement are so interrelated that they cannot be separated. They are Siamese-twin doctrines and neither doctrine can stand without the other. The virgin birth of Christ and His Saviourhood are one and the same doctrine. - John R. Rice [The Birth of the Saviour, pg. 98-99]

Anybody who denies the virgin birth of Christ is an infidel. He has already rejected Christianity. He has already denied the inspiration of the Bible. He has already denied the blood atonement of Christ. The man who denies the virgin birth of Christ may be counted a minister of the Gospel, but actually he is a brother of Bob Ingersoll and Tom Paine, a brother of every infidel and Christ-denier and Bible-hater in the world. - John R. Rice [The Birth of the Saviour, pg. 99]

If anybody says the deity of Christ is not essential, then he does not even know what essential Christianity is. To deny the virgin birth is to deny Christ Himself! - John R. Rice [The Birth of the Saviour, pg. 99]

Jesus is wonderful, but most wonderful as our Saviour. He made all life, and yet He chose to be born the Seed of the woman, chose to be carried in a woman's body, born in a woman's sorrow, nursed at a woman's breast! He Himself planted a mother's love instinctively in the heart of women, yet He had a human mother! He who is God of very God, one with the Father, became a man. He who made all the wealth in the world became poor, lived as a peasant, had not a home, was born in a borrowed stable and buried in a borrowed grave, and left no estate but a seamless robe. Yet this wonderful Saviour is on the right hand of the Father, assumes the management of the universe, hears every prayer, sees every need, loves every sinner, offers mercy to every heart! Wonderful Jesus! - John R. Rice [The Birth of the Saviour, pg. 116]

You can never truly enjoy Christmas until you can look up into the Father's face and tell him you have received his Christmas gift. -- John R. Rice [internet search]

The predictive prophecy in the Old Testament in hundreds of verses foretold the coming of the Saviour, foretold that He would be born in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2), His cry on the cross (Ps. 22:1), and a multitude of details of His birth, life, death and resurrection. One who reads the Old Testament and does not see some of the many, many miraculous Scriptures that prophesy of Jesus to come must surely read with a calloused, unspiritual, and indifferent heart! It is not intelligent, it is not scholarly, it is not even ordinary honesty, for one to read the Old Testament and not find there prophecies which have been wonderfully fulfilled. It is only the bias of unconverted and perverted hearts that keep people from seeing that this wonderful Jesus was foretold in the Old Testament. - John R. Rice [The Birth of the Saviour, pg. 117]