John R. Rice Quotes of the Week

 "Fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken" - Jesus said that. We are reminded that "the fool hath said in his heart, there is no God" (Ps. 14:1; 53:1). So only a fool is slow to believe the Bible, too. The evidences for the supernatural accuracy and authority of the Bible are so obvious to every seeking heart that only a perverse spirit, only a wicked determination to go on in sin, would keep people from knowing that the Bible is the Word of God and that it is true. - John R. Rice [Luke, pg. 555]

John 17:17, "If any man will do his will [or chooses to do His will], he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." Those who draw nigh to God find that God draws nigh to them and makes the truth clear. Those who have sinned and hate the light, do not come to the light (John 3:19-21). Any man with an honest, open heart who sets out to find for himself whether or not the Bible is the Word of God and whether or not Christ is the Son of God, will certainly find out that They are all They claim to be. God will not leave a seeking heart in darkness, but a perverse and wicked heart has no claim on God for light. - John R. Rice [Luke, pg. 555]

Some would say that the Great Commission is given officially to the church and therefore it is not the individual responsibility of Christians to win souls. But they are wrong. Churches do not win souls: individual Christians do. And you will note that not in a single instance where Jesus gave the Great Commission did He mention the church as a body, nor were the people assembled as a church. - John R. Rice [Luke, pg. 560]

Verse 49 [Luke 24] settles what the meaning of Pentecost is: the apostles and others tarried till they were "endued with power from on high" to witness and win souls. And what those people needed - the power of God - is exactly what all of us need and what we can have on the same terms. It we tarry and seek the power of God to obey Jesus Christ and get out the Gospel, we may have that power. - John R. Rice [Luke, pg. 562]

Let it be understood also that I do not believe God has ever had more than one plan of salvation nor that He will have any other. Unsaved Jews who died without Christ are lost without remedy, just as is every other person who has died without Christ. The plan of salvation to be offered Jews through the tribulation time and afterward will be exactly the same as offered Jews and Gentiles today. - John R. Rice [Matthew, pg. 13-14]

If Matthew copied anything, he did it only under the clear instruction of the Holy Spirit, and we have not a hint in the Scriptures themselves that Matthew copied. The Holy Spirit gave the matter; the Holy Spirit gave the words, so Matthew did not need to rely upon his own judgment, his memory, the testimony of eyewitnesses, upon manuscripts before him, or any other human source. If he used any human source, he did it by divine inspiration which would correct all the mistakes and make a perfect, infallibly accurate part of the divine revelation, the Word of God. - John R. Rice [Matthew, pg. 17-18]

Why did not Jesus make bread out of stones? He certainly had power to do so. But it would have been wrong

(1) because it would be putting self first when God had Him there for another purpose.

(2) It is always wrong to listen to any suggestion of Satan. If Satan tells you to do something that seems right, still you had better flee.

(3) What man needs, any man, in the most desperate time of temptation, is not bread first, but the will of God. I do not agree with those who say you must first give poor people bread and then the Gospel. The Gospel is always more important than bread, and to be in the will of God is better than any human prosperity. If Jesus had chosen bread here, then He could not have later given in Matthew 6:33 the command, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." If the poor have Christ first, then they can get daily bread. The heathen do not need civilization first, with higher standards of living; they need the Gospel first, then other needed things follow. - John R. Rice [Matthew, pg. 67-68]