John R. Rice Quotes of the Week

You ask, "Is Jesus coming again?" Yes. "Do you know when?" Nobody knows when. ". . .for in such an hour as you think not the Son of man cometh." The Lord is coming suddenly, unexpectedly, with no signs. There are no preliminary ways to know when He will come, but in a moment He is coming with the sound of a trumpet. The dead in Christ shall rise and we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air. - John R. Rice [Comments on 1st Thessalonians, pg. 25]

God Himself moved the men when they wrote the Scriptures. Inspiration. What do you mean then? Not just supervision, not just some correction of mistakes, but the words come from God. The Scriptures were breathed out from God. The men who wrote held the pen, but God held the man who held the pen. Literally, then, this is the Word of God and not the word of men. The words are the words of God, not simply the words of men. - John R. Rice [Sweet Family Ties in Heaven and Hell, pg. 30]

You cannot hold on to the Christ of the Bible unless you hold on to the Bible itself. Anybody who is ashamed of the Word of Jesus Christ is ashamed of Christ. They stand or fall together. The Bible is the Word of Christ, and the words are the words of Christ, "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. - John R. Rice [Sweet Family Ties in Heaven and Hell, pg. 28]

Incidentally, as you know, in the Greek the term for "breath" or "wind," and the word for "spirit," are the same. So the Holy Spirit of God came upon men and God breathed out through His Spirit the Word of God. Notice, not that God supervised men; not that God touched men, but that God moved men to say what He breathed out Himself. The Bible is breathed out from God. It is a product of God, and so the Word of God. - John R. Rice [Sweet Family Ties in Heaven and Hell, pg. 29]

Notice this wonderful truth. Paul said to these people, "Ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for His Son from heaven." To these people of Thessalonica Paul said, "I wasn't there for very long, but while there I taught you to look for Jesus, for He is coming." Christians in Bible times were taught to expect Christ to return at any moment. - John R. Rice [Comments on 1st Thessalonians, pg. 25]

Note this. Paul the apostle expected to be alive when Jesus comes, for he said, "The dead in Christ shall rise first: Then WE which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air." - John R. Rice [Comments on 1st Thessalonians, pg. 25]

Nobody knows when Jesus is coming. Don't listen to those who say, "I know by some signs that we are in the last days and that Jesus is coming soon."

A foolish man said the other day, "In 1984 [this was published in 1980] Jesus has to set up His kingdom." That is not found in the Bible. People have silly ways of reading in something as if it were spiritual truth, something they figured out.

- John R. Rice [Comments on 1st Thessalonians, pg. 25]