Lost Without JESUS - (Salvation)

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CHRIST CRUCIFIED - Page 1

by J. C. Ryle (1816-1900)


There is no doctrine in Christianity so important as the doctrine of
Christ crucified. There is none which the devil tries so hard to destroy.
There is none which it is so needful for our own peace to understand.

By “Christ crucified,” I mean the doctrine that Christ suffered death on
the cross to make atonement for our sins,-that by His death He made a
full, perfect, and complete satisfaction to God for the ungodly,-and that
through the merits of that death all who believe in Him are forgiven all
their sins, however many and great, entirely, and for ever.

About this blessed doctrine let me say a few words.

The doctrine of Christ crucified is the grand peculiarity of the
Christian religion. Other religions have laws and moral precepts, forms
and ceremonies, rewards and punishments; but other religions cannot tell
us of a dying Saviour: they cannot show us the cross. This is the crown
and glory of the Gospel; this is that special comfort which belongs to it
alone. Miserable indeed is that religious teaching which calls itself
Christian, and yet contains nothing of the cross. A man who teaches in
this way might as well profess to explain the solar system, and yet tell
his hearers nothing about the sun.

The doctrine of Christ crucified is the strength of a minister. I for one
would not be without it for all the world. I should feel like a soldier
without arms, like an artist without his pencil, like a pilot without his
compass, like a labourer without his tools. Let others, if they will,
preach the law and morality; let others hold forth the terrors of hell,
and the joys of heaven; let others dwell on the sacraments and the
Church: give me the cross of Christ. This is the only lever which has
ever turned the world upside down hitherto, and made men forsake their
sins: and if this will not, nothing will. A man may begin preaching with
a perfect knowledge of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew; but he will do little or
no good among his hearers unless he knows something of the cross. Never
was there a minister who did much for the conversion of souls who did not
dwell much on Christ crucified. Luther, Rutherford, Whitfield, M’Cheyne,
were all most eminently preachers of the cross. This is the preaching
that the Holy Ghost delights to bless: He loves to honour those who
honour the cross.

The doctrine of Christ crucified is the secret of all missionary success.
Nothing but this has ever moved the hearts of the heathen. Just according
as this has been lifted up missions have prospered. This is the weapon
that has won victories over hearts of every kind, in every quarter of the
globe: Greenlanders, Africans, South Sea Islanders, Hindus, and Chinese,
all have alike felt its power. Just as that huge iron tube which crosses
the Menai Straits is more affected and bent by half an hour’s sunshine
than by all the dead weight that can be placed in it, so in like manner
the hearts of savages have melted before the cross, when every other
argument seemed to move them no more than stones. “Brethren,” said a
North American Indian after his conversion, “I have been a heathen. I
know how heathens think. Once a preacher came and began to explain to us
that there was a God; but we told him to return to the place from whence
he came. Another preacher came and told us not to lie, nor steal, nor
drink; but we did not heed him. At last another came into my hut one day,
and said, ‘I am come to you in the name of the Lord of heaven and earth.
He sends to let you know that He will make you happy, and deliver you
from misery. For this end He became a man, gave His life a ransom, and
shed His blood for sinners. I could not forget his words. I told them to
the other Indians, and an awakening begun among us. I say, therefore,
preach the sufferings and death of Christ, our Saviour, if you wish your
words to gain entrance among the heathen.” Never indeed did the devil
triumph so thoroughly as when he persuaded the Jesuit missionaries in
China to keep back the story of the cross!

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CHRIST CRUCIFIED - Page 2

by J. C. Ryle (1816-1900)


The doctrine of Christ crucified is the foundation of a Church’s
prosperity. No Church will ever be honoured in which Christ crucified is
not continually lifted up. Nothing whatever can make up for the want of
the cross. Without it all things may be done decently and in order;
without it there may be splendid ceremonies, beautiful music, gorgeous
churches, learned ministers, crowded communion tables, huge collections
for the poor; but without the cross no good will be done. Dark hearts
will not be enlightened, proud hearts will not be humbled, mourning
hearts will not be comforted, fainting hearts will not be cheered.
Sermons about the catholic church and an apostolic ministry, sermons
about baptism and the Lord’s supper, sermons about unity and schism,
sermons about fasts and communion, sermons about fathers and saints,-such
sermons will never make up for the absence of sermons about the cross of
Christ. They may amuse some, they will feed none.

A gorgeous banqueting room, and splendid gold plate on the table, will
never make up to a hungry man for the want of food. Christ crucified is
God’s grand ordinance for doing good to men. Whenever a Church keeps back
Christ crucified, or puts anything whatever in that foremost place which
Christ crucified should always have, from that moment a Church ceases to
be useful. Without Christ crucified in her pulpits, a Church is little
better than a cumberer of the ground, a dead carcass, a well without
water, a barren fig-tree, a sleeping watch­man, a silent trumpet, a dumb
witness, an ambassador without terms of peace, a messenger without
tidings, a lighthouse without fire, a stumbling-block to weak believers,
a comfort to infidels, a hot-bed for formalism, a joy to the devil, and
an offense to God.

The doctrine of Christ crucified is the grand centre of union among true
Christians. Our outward differences are many without doubt: one man is an
Episcopalian, another is a Presbyterian; one is an Independent, another a
Baptist; one is a Calvinist, another an Arminian; one is a Lutheran,
another a Plymouth Brother; one is a friend to Establishments, another a
friend to the Voluntary system; one is a friend to Liturgies, another a
friend to extempore prayer: but after all, what shall we hear about most
of these differences in heaven? Nothing, most probably: nothing at all.
Does a man really and sincerely glory in the cross of Christ? That is the
grand question. If he does, he is my brother: we are traveling in the
same road; we are journeying towards a home where Christ is all, and
everything outward in religion will be forgotten. But if he does not
glory in the cross of Christ, I cannot feel comfort about him. Union on
outward points only is union only for time: union about the cross is
union for eternity. Error on outward points is only a skin-deep disease:
error about the cross is disease at the heart. Union about outward points
is a mere man-made union: union about the cross of Christ can only be
produced by the Holy Ghost.

Reader, I know not what you think of all this. I feel as if the half of
what I desire to tell you about Christ crucified were left untold. But I
do hope that I have given you something to think about. Listen to me now
for a few moments, while I say something to apply the whole subject to
your conscience.

Are you living in any kind of sin? Are you following the course of this
world, and neglecting your soul? Hear! I beseech you, what I say to you
this day: “Behold the cross of Christ.” See there how Jesus loved you!
See there what Jesus suffered to prepare for you a way of salvation! Yes:
careless men and women, for you that blood was shed! for you those hands
and feet were pierced with nails! for you that body hung in agony on the
cross! You are they whom Jesus loved, and for whom He died! Surely that
love ought to melt you: surely the thought of the cross should draw you
to repentance. Oh, that it might be so this very day! Oh, that you would
come at once to that Saviour who died for you and is willing to save!
Come and cry to Him with the prayer of faith, and I know that He will
listen. Come and lay hold upon the cross, and I know that He will not
cast you out. Come and believe on Him who died on the cross, and this
very day you shall have eternal life.

Are you inquiring the way toward heaven? Are you seeking salvation, but
doubtful whether you can find it? Are you desiring to have an interest in
Christ, but doubting whether Christ will receive you? To you also I say
this day, “Behold the cross of Christ.” Here is encouragement if you
really want it. Draw near to the Lord Jesus with boldness, for nothing
need keep you back: His arms are open to receive you; His heart is full
of love towards you. He has made a way by which you may approach Him with
confidence. Think of the cross. Draw near, and fear not.

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CHRIST CRUCIFIED - Page 3

by J. C. Ryle (1816-1900)


Are you an unlearned man? Are you desirous to get to heaven, and yet
perplexed and brought to a stand-still by difficulties in the Bible that
you cannot explain? To you also I say this day, “Behold the cross of
Christ.” Read there the Father’s love and the Son’s compassion. Surely
they are written in great plain letters, which none can well mistake.
What though you are now perplexed by the doctrine of election? What
though at present you cannot reconcile your own utter corruption and your
own responsibility? Look, I say, at the cross. Does not that cross tell
you that Jesus is a mighty, loving, ready Saviour? Does it not make one
thing plain,-and that is that if not saved it is all your own fault? Oh,
get hold of that truth, and hold it fast!

Are you a distressed believer? Is your heart pressed down with sickness,
tried with disappointments, overburdened with cares? To you also I say
this day, “Behold the cross of Christ.” Think whose hand it is that
chastens you: think whose hand is measuring to you the cup of bitterness
which you are now drinking. It is the hand of Him that was crucified: it
is the same hand that in love to your soul was nailed to the accursed
tree. Surely that thought should comfort and hearten you. Surely you
should say to yourself, “A crucified Saviour will never lay upon me
anything that is not good for me. There is a needs be. It must be well.”

Are you a dying believer? Have you gone to that bed from which something
within tells you you will never come down alive? Are you drawing near to
that solemn hour when soul and body must part for a season, and you must
launch into a world unknown? Oh, look steadily at the cross of Christ,
and you shall be kept in peace! Fix the eyes of your mind firmly on Jesus
crucified, and He shall deliver you from all your fears. Though you walk
through dark places, He will be with you: He will never leave you,-never
forsake you. Sit under the shadow of the cross to the very last, and its
fruits shall be sweet to your taste. There is but one thing needful on a
death-bed, and that is to feel one’s arms around the cross.

Reader, if you never heard of Christ crucified before this day, I can
wish you nothing better than that you may know Him by faith, and rest on
Him for salvation. If you do know Him may you know Him better every year
you live, till you see Him face to face.

(My Note: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5  NASB  And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. - The Apostle Paul)

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ABLE TO SAVE - Page 1

by J. C. Ryle (1816-1900)

                                 _________

 "He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him,
    seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them." ---HEBREWS
                               vii. 25.
                                ___________


There is one subject in religion, about which you can never know too
much. That subject is Jesus Christ the Lord. This is the mighty subject
which the text that heads this page unfolds,--Jesus Christ, and Jesus
Christ's intercession.

I have heard of a book entitled "The Story without an End." I know no
story deserving that title so well as the everlasting Gospel: this is
indeed and in truth the story without an end. There is an infinite
"fulness" in Christ; there are in Him "unsearchable riches;" there is in
Him a "love which passeth knowledge;" He is an "unspeakable gift."
(Coloss. i. 19; Ephes. iii. 8; iii. 19; 2 Cor. ix. 15.) There is no end
to all the riches that are treasured up in Him,--in His person, in His
work, in His offices, in His words, in His deeds, in His life, in His
death, in His resurrection. I take but one branch of the great subject
this day. I am going to speak to you about the intercession and priestly
office of our Lord Jesus Christ. May God the holy Ghost bless the
consideration of this subject! May He, without whom ministers preach and
write in vain, apply the subject with power to your soul! If His blessing
goes with this tract, good will be done. If His blessing goes not with
it, the words that I write will fall to the ground.

There are three points which I purpose to consider, in opening the text
which heads this tract.

I--You have here a description of all true Christians: they are a people
who come to God by Christ.

II.--You have the work that Jesus Christ is ever carrying on on behalf of
true Christians: He ever lives to make intercession for them.

III.--You have the comfortable conclusion built by St. Paul upon Christ's
work of intercession. He says: "He is able to save to the uttermost them
that come unto God by Him, because He ever liveth to make intercession
for them."

I.--You have, first, a description of all true Christians. It is most
simple, most beautiful, and most true. Great is the contrast between the
description given by the Holy Ghost of a Christian and the description
which is given by man. With man it is often enough to say that such a one
"is a Churchman," or that such a one "belongs to this body of Christians
or to that." It is not so when the Holy Ghost draws the picture. The Holy
Ghost describes a Christian as a man "who comes unto God by Christ."

True Christians come unto God. They are not as many, who turn their backs
upon Him; who "go into a far country," like the prodigal son; "who go
out," like Cain, "from the presence of the Lord"; who are "alienated,
strangers and enemies in their mind by wicked works." (Coloss. i. 21.)
They are reconciled to God and friends of God. They are not as many, who
dislike everything that belongs to God,--His Word, His day, His
ordinances, His people, His house. They love all that belongs to their
Master. The very footprints of His steps are dear unto them. His name is
as ointment poured forth.--They are not as many, who are content with
coming to church, or with coming to chapel, or with coming to the Lord's
Table. They go further than that. They "come unto God," and in communion
with God they live.

But, more than this, true Christians come unto God in a certain peculiar
way. They come unto God by Christ; pleading no other plea, mentioning no
other name, trusting in no other righteousness, resting on no other
foundation than this,--that Jesus hath lived, Jesus hath died, Jesus hath
risen again for their souls.

"I the chief of sinners am,

But Jesus died for me."

This is the way by which the true Christian draws near to God.

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ABLE TO SAVE - Page 2

by J. C. Ryle (1816-1900)

Reader, the way of which I have been speaking is an old way. It is well
nigh 6,000 years old. All that have ever been saved have drawn near to
God by this way. From Abel, the first saint that entered Paradise, down
to the last infant that died this morning, they have all come to God only
by Jesus Christ. "No man cometh unto the Father but by Christ." (John
xiv. 6.)

It is a good way. It is easy for the worldly-wise to sneer at and
ridicule it. But all the wit and wisdom of man has never devised a way
more perfect, more complete, and that will bear more thoroughly all fair
and reasonable investigation. It has been to the Jew a stumbling-block;
it has been to the Greek foolishness. But all who have known their
hearts, and understood what God demands, have found the way made by Jesus
Christ a good way, and a way that stands the fullest examination that can
be made as to its wisdom. Therein they find justice and mercy met
together, righteousness and peace kissing one another; God a holy God,
yet loving, kind, and merciful; man knowing himself a poor, weak sinner,
yet drawing near to God with boldness, having access with confidence,
looking up into His face without fear, seeing Him in Christ his Father
and his Friend.

Not least, it is a tried way. Thousands and tens of thousands have walked
in it, and not one of all that number has ever missed heaven. Apostles,
prophets, patriarchs, martyrs, early fathers, reformers, puritans, men of
God in every age, and of every people and tongue: holy men of our own
day,--men like Simeon, Bickersteth, Havelock,--have all walked in this
way. They have had their battles to fight, and their enemies to contend
with; they have had to carry the cross; they have found lions in their
path; they have had to walk through the valley of the shadow of death;
they have had to contend with Apollyon. They have had to cross at last
the cold dark river; but they have walked safely through to the other
side, and entered with joy into the celestial city. And now they are
waiting for you and me to walk in their steps, to follow them, and to
share in their glory.

Reader, this is the way I want you to walk in. I want you to come unto
God by Jesus Christ. Let there be no mistake as to the object which true
ministers of the Gospel have in view. We are not set apart merely to
perform a certain round of ordinances; to read prayers, to Christen those
that are Christened, to bury those that are buried, to marry those that
are ruined. We are set apart for the grand purpose of proclaiming the one
true living way, and inviting you to walk in it. We ought to labour day
and night, until we can persuade you, by God's blessing, to walk in that
way,--the tried way, the good way, the old way,--and to know the peace
which passeth all under standing, which in that way alone is to be found.

II. I pass on now to the second point which I purpose to consider. The
text which heads this tract speaks of the work which the Lord Jesus
Christ is ever doing on behalf of true Christians. I ask your special
attention to this point. It is one of deep importance to our peace, and
to the establishment of our souls in the Christian faith.

There is one great work which the Lord Jesus Christ has done and finished
completely. That work is the work of atonement, sacrifice, and
substitution. It is the work which He did when He suffered for sin, the
just for the unjust, that He might bring us unto God. He saw us ruined by
the fall, a world of poor, lost, ship-wrecked sinners. He saw and He
pitied us; and in compliance with the everlasting counsels of the Eternal
Trinity, He came down to the world, to suffer in our stead, and to save
us. He did not sit in heaven pitying us from a distance: He did not stand
upon the shore and see the wreck, and behold poor drowning sinners
struggling in vain to get to shore. He plunged into the waters Himself:
He came off to the wreck and took part with us in our weakness and
infirmity becoming a man to save our souls. As man, He bore our sins and
carried our transgressions; as man, He endured all that men can endure,
and went through everything in man's experience, sin only excepted; as
man He lived; as man He went to the cross; as man He died. As man He shed
His blood, in order that He might save us, poor shipwrecked sinners, and
establish a communication between earth and heaven! As man He became a
curse for us, in order that He might bridge the gulf, and make a way by
which you and I might draw near to God with boldness, and have access to
God without fear. In all this work of Christ, remember, there was
infinite merit, because He who did it was not only man, but God. Let that
never be forgotten. He who wrought out our redemption was perfect man;
but He never ceased for a moment to be perfect God.

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ABLE TO SAVE - Page 3

by J. C. Ryle (1816-1900)

But there is another great work which the Lord Jesus Christ is yet doing.
That work is the work of intercession.--The first work He did once for
all: nothing can be added to it; nothing can be taken away from it. It
was a finished, perfect work, when Christ offered up the sacrifice upon
the cross: no other sacrifice need be offered beside the sacrifice once
made by the Lamb of God, when He had His own blood at Calvary. But the
second work He is ever carrying on at the right hand of God, where He
makes intercession for His people.--The first work He did on earth when
He died upon the cross: the second work He carries on in heaven, at the
right hand of God the Father.--The first work He did for all mankind, and
offer all benefit of it to all the world: the second work He carries on
and accomplishes solely and entirely on behalf of His own elect, His
people, His servants, and His children.

Reader, how does our Lord Jesus Christ carry on this work? How shall we
comprehend and grasp what is the meaning of Christ's intercession? We
must not pry rashly into things unseen. We must not "rush in where angels
fear to tread." Yet some idea we can obtain of the nature of that
continual intercession which Christ ever lives to make on behalf of His
believing people.

Our Lord Jesus Christ is doing for His people the work which the Jewish
high-priest of old did on behalf of the Israelites. He is acting as the
manager, the representative, the mediator in all things between His
people and God.--He is ever presenting on their bed of His own perfect
sacrifice, and His all sufficient merit, before God the Father.--He is
ever obtaining daily supplies of fresh mercy and of fresh grace for His
poor, weak servants, who need daily mercy for daily sins, and daily grace
for daily necessities.--He ever prays for them. As He prayed for Simon
Peter upon earth, so I believe He prays for His people now.--He presents
their names before God the Father. He carries their names upon His heart,
the place of love; and upon His shoulder, the place of power,--as the
high-priest carried the names of all the tribes of Israel, from the least
to the greatest, when he wore his robes of office. He presents their
prayers before God. They go up before God the Father mingled with
Christ's all-prevailing intercession, and so are so acceptable in God's
sight. He lives, in one word, to be the friend, the advocate, the priest,
the all-prevailing agent, of all who are His members here upon earth. As
their elder brother He acts for them; and all that their souls require
He, in the court of heaven, is ever carrying on.

Does any reader of this tract need a friend? In such a world as this, how
many hearts there are which ought to respond to that appeal! How many
there are who feel "I stand alone." How many have found one idol broken
after another, one staff failing after another, one fountain dried after
another, as they have traveled through the wilderness of this world. If
there is one who wants a friend, let that one behold at the right hand of
God an unfailing friend, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let that one repose his
aching head and weary heart upon the bosom of that unfailing friend,
Jesus Christ the Lord. There is one living at God's right hand of
matchless tenderness. There is one who never dies. There is one who never
fails, never disappoints, never forsakes, never changes His mind, never
breaks off friendship. That One, the Lord Jesus, I commend to all who
need a friend. No one in a world like this, a fallen world, a world which
we find more and more barren, it may be, every year we live,--no one ever
need be friendless while the Lord Jesus Christ lives to intercede at the
right hand of God.

Does any reader of this tract need a priest? There can be no true
religion without a priest, and no saving Christianity without a
confessional. But who is the true priest? Where is the true confessional?
There is only one true priest,--and that is Christ Jesus the Lord. There
is only one real confessional,--and that is the throne of grace where the
Lord Jesus waits to receive those who come to Him to unburden their
hearts in His presence. We can find no better priest than Christ. We need
no other priest. Why need we turn to any priest upon earth, while Jesus
is sealed, anointed, appointed, ordained, and commissioned by God the
Father, and has an ear ever ready to hear, and a heart ever ready to feel
for the poor sinful sons of men? The priesthood is His lawful
prerogative. He has deputed that office to none. Woe be to anyone upon
earth who dares to rob Christ of His prerogative! Woe be to the man who
takes upon himself the office which Christ holds in His own hands, and
has never transferred to any one born of Adam, upon the face of the globe!

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ABLE TO SAVE - Page 4

by J. C. Ryle (1816-1900)

Reader, I charge you solemnly, never to lose sight of this mighty truth
of the Gospel,--the intercession and priestly office of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ. I believe that a firm grasp of this truth is one
great safeguard against the errors of the Church of Rome. I believe that
losing sight of this great truth is one principal reason why so many have
fallen away from the faith in some quarters, have forsaken the creed of
their Protestant forefathers, and have gone back to the darkness of Rome.
Once firmly established upon this holy truth,--that we have a Priest, an
altar, and a Confessor; that we have a unfailing, never-dying,
ever-living intercession, who has deputed His office to none,--and we
shall see that we need turn aside nowhere else. We need not hew for
ourselves broken cisterns that can hold no water, when we have in the
Lord Jesus Christ a fountain of living water, ever flowing and free to
all. We need not seek any human priest upon earth, when we have a Divine
Priest living for us in heaven.

Reader, beware of regarding the Lord Jesus Christ only as one that is
dead. Here, I believe, many greatly err. They think much of His death,
and it is right that they should do so. But we ought not to stop short
there. We ought to remember that He not only died and went to the grave,
but that He rose again, and ascended up on high, leading captivity
captive. We ought to remember that He is now sitting on the right hand of
God, to do a work as real, as true, as important to our souls, as the
work which He did when He shed His blood. Christ lives, and is not dead.
He lives as truly as any one of ourselves. Christ sees us, hears us,
knows us, and is acting as a Priest in heaven on behalf of His believing
people. The thought of His life ought to have as great and important a
place in our souls as the thought of His death upon the cross.

III. I will now speak, in the third place, of the comfortable conclusions
that the Apostle builds upon the everlasting intercession of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We need much comfort and consolation in a world like this.
It is no easy matter for a man to carry the cross and reach heaven. There
are many enemies to be encountered and overcome. We have often to stand
alone. We have at the best times few with us and many against us. We need
cordials and strong consolation to sustain and cheer us, and to preserve
us from fainting on the way as we travel from Egypt into Canaan. The
Apostle appears deeply conscious of all this in the words he uses. He
says, "He is able to save to the uttermost,"--to save perfectly, to save
completely, to save technically,--"all that come unto God by Him, because
He ever liveth to make intercession for them."

Reader, I might say much on the glorious expression

which is before you. But I forbear. I will only point out a few of the
thoughts which ought to arise in our minds when we hear of Christ's
ability to save to the uttermost. I have not space to dwell on them at
length. I rather throw them out as suggestions to supply matter for
private meditation.

1. Think, for one thing, that Christ is able to save to the uttermost,
notwithstanding the old sins of any believer. Those old sins shall never
rise again, not stand up to condemn the child of God. For what says the
Scripture: "Christ has not entered into the holy place made with hands,
but into heaven itself; to appear in the presence of God for us." (Heb.
ix. 24.) Christ, to use a legal phrase, is ever making an appearance in
the court of heaven on behalf of them that believe in Him. There is not a
year, nor a month, nor a day, nor an hour, nor a minute, but there is One
living in the presence of God, to make an appearance there on behalf of
all the saints. Christ is ever appearing before God the Father on behalf
of the men and women that believe in Him. His blood and His sacrifice are
ever in God's sight. His work, His death, His intercession are always
sounding in God the Father's ears.

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ABLE TO SAVE - Page 5

by J. C. Ryle (1816-1900)

I remember reading a story in ancient history which may help to
illustrate the truth on which I am now dwelling. It is the story of one
who was put upon trial for a capital charge, at Athens, shortly after the
great battle of Marathon. In that famous battle the Athenians had
preserved, by their valour, liberty for their little state, against the
mighty hosts of the Persians; and among those who had distinguished
themselves greatly, the brother of the prisoner was one; and had been
sorely wounded in the fight. The man was put upon his trial. The evidence
against him was strong and unanswerable; there seemed no chance of the
prisoner escaping condemnation. Suddenly there came forward one who asked
to be heard on his behalf. And who was this? It was his own brother. When
he was asked what evidence he had to give, or what reason he had to show
why the prisoner at the bar ought not to be found guilty, he simply
lifted up his mutilated arms--nothing but stumps--the hands completely
cut off; the wounded stumps alone remaining. He was recognized as a man
who, at the battle of Marathon, had done prodigies of valour, and in the
service of the State had lost his hands. By those wounds he had helped to
win the victory which was then ringing in Athenian ears. Those wounds
were the only evidence he brought forward. Those wounds were the only
plea he advanced why his brother ought to be set free, and sentence ought
not to be passed upon him. And the story states that for the sake of
those wounds--for the sake of all his brother had suffered, the prisoner
was acquitted. The case was dismissed at once, and the prisoner obtained
his liberty. Reader, in like manner the wounds of the Lord Jesus Christ
are ever before God the Father. The nail-prints in His hands and
feet--the marks of the spear in His side--the thorn marks upon His
forehead--the marks of all that he suffered as a lamb slain, are ever
before God the Father in heaven. While Christ is in heaven, the
believer's sins will never rise in judgment against him. Think not with
fear upon those old sins of yours, my believing brother or sister. Christ
lives, and those old sins will not condemn you. We have an ever-living,
ever-interceding Priest. Christ is not dead, but alive.

2. Think again, that Christ is able to save to the uttermost,
notwithstanding all the present weakness of His believing people. How
great that weakness is, time would fail me to show. There are many of
God's children who know their hearts' bitterness, who bewail with strong
crying and tears their shortcomings, their unprofitableness, and the
scanty fruit they bring forth. But oh, my beloved reader, take comfort in
the words of St. John: "If any man sin, we have an advocate with the
Father,-- "ever present with the Father,"-- "Jesus Christ the righteous:
and He is the propitiation for our sins." (1 John ii. 1.) Those
weaknesses may well humble thee. Those infirmities may well make thee
walk softly before thy God. But while the Lord Jesus Christ lives, those
infirmities need not make thee entirely despair. We have an ever-living,
ever-interceding Priest. Christ is not dead, but alive.

3. Think again, that Jesus Christ is able to save to the uttermost,
notwithstanding all the trials that believers have to go through. Hear
what the Apostle Paul says to Timothy: "I suffer: nevertheless I am not
ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is
able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day." (2
Tim. i. 12.) So long as Jesus Christ lives, the believer in the Lord
Jesus Christ may be assured that no affliction shall be allowed to break
off the union between him and his risen Head. He may suffer greatly and
be sorely tried. But while Christ lives he shall never be forsaken.
Neither poverty, nor sickness, nor bereavements, nor separations, shall
ever separate Jesus and His believing people. We have an ever-living,
ever-interceding Priest. Christ is not dead, but alive.

4. Think again, that Christ is able to save to the uttermost,
notwithstanding all the persecutions that believers have to go through.
See what is said of St. Paul, when he met with much opposition at
Corinth. We are told that the Lord stood by him in the night, and said,
"Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace, for I am with thee,
and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee, for I have much people in this
city." (Acts xviii. 10.) Remember what He said to St. Paul at a former
time, when He met him on the way to Damascus: "Saul, Saul, why persecute
thou Me?" (Acts ix. 4.) Every injury done to the believer is an injury
done to the living Head in heaven. And every persecution showered down
upon the head of the poor child of God here is known, felt, and, I may
add with all reverence, resented, by our Great Elder Brother, who is ever
living to make intercession for us. Christ lives, and therefore
believers, though persecuted, shall not be destroyed. "In all these
things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us." (Rom.
viii. 87.) We have an ever-living, ever-interceding Priest. Christ is not
dead, but alive.

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ABLE TO SAVE - Page 6

by J. C. Ryle (1816-1900)

5. Think again, that Christ is able to save to the uttermost,
notwithstanding all the temptations of the devil. Remember that famous
passage in the Gospel of St. Luke, where our Lord, speaking to St. Peter,
says, "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may
sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not."
(Luke xxii.32.) Prayer like that is still carried on. Those words were
spoken as an emblem of what the Lord is ever doing on behalf of His
believing people. Satan, the prince of this world, is ever going about as
a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. But Christ lives; and,
blessed be God, while Christ lives Satan shall not be able to overcome
the soul that believes on Him. We have an ever-living, ever-interceding
Priest. Christ is not dead, but alive.

6. Think again, that Christ is able to save to the uttermost,
notwithstanding the sting of death, and all that death brings with it.
When David remembered that, he said, "Though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod
and Thy staff they comfort me." (Ps. xxiii. 4) You and I may die, but
Christ still lives. The hour may come when friends can do us no more
good, when faithful servants can no longer minister to our wants, when
all that love, and kindness, and affliction can do to alleviate pain and
make the last journey pleasant, can no longer render any service to us.
But then the thought that Christ lives--Christ interceding, Christ caring
for us, Christ at the right hand of God for us,--ought to cheer us. The
sting of death will be taken away from the man that leans upon a dying
and also a living Saviour. Christ never dies. Through faith in that
living Saviour we shall have a complete victory. We have an ever-living,
ever-interceding Priest. Christ is not dead, but alive.

7. Think again, that Christ is able to save to the uttermost,
notwithstanding the terrors of the judgment day. Mark how St. Paul rests
upon that in the 8th chapter of the Epistle to the Romans,--in that
wonderful conclusion to that wonderful chapter,--a chapter unrivaled in
the Word of God for privilege, beginning with "no condemnation," and
concluding with "no separation!" Observe how he dwells upon Christ's
intercession in connection with the judgment of the last day. After
saying, "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God
that justifieth," he goes on: "Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ
that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right
hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." The thought of
Christ's intercession, no less than His dying and rising again, was one
ground of the Apostle Paul's confidence in looking forward to the great
day. His strong consolation was the recollection of a living Christ. That
consolation is for us as well as for St. Paul. We have an ever-living,
ever-interceding Priest. Christ is not dead, but alive.

8. Think, lastly, and above all, that Christ is able to save to the
uttermost throughout all eternity. "I am He," He says, "that liveth, and
was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore." (Rev. i. 18.) The root
of the believer never dies, and the branches, therefore, shall never die.
Christ being "raised from the dead, dieth no more; death hath no more
dominion over Him." (Rom. vi. 9.) He lives, that all who trust in Him may
receive honour and glory to all eternity; and because He lives, His
believing people shall never die. "Because I live," to use His own words,
"ye shall live also." (John xiv. 19.) We have an ever-living,
ever-interceding Priest. Christ is not dead, but alive.

Reader, would you know the security for the perseverance of God's own
people? Would you know why it is that Christ's sheep shall never perish,
and none shall ever pluck them out of His hand? It is a miraculous thing.
When you look at the believer's heart, listen to the believer's prayers,
mark the believer's confessions,--when you see how a just man may fall,
sometimes seven times,--when you see, with all this, the believer's
perseverance, it is a marvel indeed. To carry a candle upon a stormy
night, when winds and gusty blasts are blowing from every quarter,--to
carry it still burning, steadily burning, along the street,--this is a
wonderful achievement. To go over a stormy sea in a little boat,--to
mount billow after billow, and not see the waves breaking over the boat,
and overturning it,--this is well-nigh a miracle. To see a little child
tottering along the crowded street, a child some three or four years old
--to see it tottering on and making its way in safety, from one end of a
long street to the other,--this is a mighty marvel. But, after all, what
is this, but the life, and history, and experience of every true
Christian? Though he falls, he rises again; though he is cast down, he is
not destroyed. He goes on from one position to another, like the moon
upon a stormy night, plunging from one cloud into another, yet by-and-by
shining out again and walking in brightness. What is the secret of it
all? It is the continual intercession of a mighty Friend at the right
hand of God: a Friend that never slumbers and never sleeps: a Friend who
cares for the believer morning, noon, and night. The intercession of
Christ is the secret of the perseverance of the Christian.

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ABLE TO SAVE - Page 7

by J. C. Ryle (1816-1900)

Reader, you would do well to study the words of the Apostle in the 5th
chapter of Romans: "Much more then," he says, "being now justified by His
blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were
enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more,
being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." Mark the connection:
"Being already justified by His death, we shall be saved,"--and saved by
what? "By his life:" by His ever living to make intercession for us. Wise
and beautiful is the comparison made by that master of allegory, John
Bunyan, in the "Pilgrim's Progress." He tells us how Christian was taken
into the Interpreter's house, and how the Interpreter showed him many
things wonderful and instructive. In one place he took him into a room
where there was a fire burning, and showed him one ever pouring water
upon that fire, and yet the water did not quench the fire. However much
water he poured on, still the fire went on burning steadily. Then said
the Interpreter, "Knowest thou what this means?" When Christian did not
know, he took him behind the fire, and showed him one pouring on oil out
of a vessel. This oil fed the fire, and made it burn more fiercely,
notwithstanding all the water that was poured upon it. Then the
Interpreter told him that this was a picture of Jesus Christ's
intercession. That fire was the fire of grace in the believer's heart. He
that poured on the water was the enemy of souls, the devil. But He that
poured on the oil, standing behind the fire, was the Lord Jesus Christ,
who by continual intercession and the supply of His Spirit, secretly and
unseen by man, kept alive His own work in the believer's heart, and did
not allow Satan and all his agents to get a victory over Him.

Would you know the secret of the believer's boldness in prayer? It is a
marvel how a man that feels his sins so deeply as the believer does, can
speak with the confidence the believer frequently does. How one that
acknowledges he is wretched, miserable, poor, blind, naked, ruined,
undone; who often does what he ought not to do, and leaves undone what he
ought to do, and finds no health in him; how such a one as this can go
before God with confidence, pour out his heart before Him freely, ask
from Him what he requires day after day and not feel afraid,--this is
wonderful indeed. What is the secret of it? It is the intercession of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, whereby the true Christian knows his
prayers are made acceptable, and received in the court of heaven. What is
the believer's prayer in itself? A poor, weak thing, unfit to rise above
the ground. I know nothing it is more like than a banknote without the
signature in the corner. What is the value of that banknote without the
signature? Nothing at all. Once get a few words, a very few letters,
traced in ink upon the corner of that banknote, and that which was a
piece of waste paper a few moments before becomes worth, it maybe, many
hundred pounds, through the signature being attached to it. So it is with
the intercession of Christ. He signs, endorses, and presents the
believer's petitions, and through His all-prevailing intercession they
are heard on high, and bring down blessings upon the Christian soul.

Would you know the secret of daily comfort in all the toil, and business,
and distractions we have to go through? We all know that they who have to
do work in any secular calling, find the work oftentimes a sore burden to
their souls. Oftentimes in the morning they feel, "How can I get through
this day without a defiled conscience, without being sorely troubled and
tempted to forget my God?" How shall a man get through the day with
comfort, fill his office in the world, do his duty in the position to
which God has called him? Let him lay hold upon the intercession of Jesus
Christ. Let him grasp the great thought, that Christ not merely died for
him, but rose again, and still lives for him.

There is a story recorded of one who lived 200 hundred years ago; a man
well known in his day and generation--a man who left behind a character
as pure and unsullied as anyone who fell in the unhappy Commonwealth
wars: I allude to the great Lord Falkland. It is recorded of Lord
Falkland during the Commonwealth wars, when he was often engaged in
duties from morning to night time that a common prayer of his before
leaving his tent was something of this kind,-- "Lord, I am going this day
to do the duty whereunto I am called. I may sometimes forget Thee. I
cannot have my thoughts at all times as fully fixed upon Thee as I wish.
But, Lord, if I this day I forget Thee, do not Thou forget me." This is
the thought that every believer should lay hold upon who has much to do
in the business of this world. Rising from his bed in the morning, going
from his room every morning, leaving his house every morning, let him
bear in mind, "There is One living in heaven who intercedes for me, while
I am following my lawful calling. Although I may be absorbed in business,
and obliged to give up all the powers of my poor weak mind to it, still
there lives One who never forgets me." He may say, as Lord Falkland said,
"Lord, if I this day forget Thee, do not Thou forget me."

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by J. C. Ryle (1816-1900)

Last of all, would you know the secret of comfort in looking forward to
that heaven whereunto every believer desires to go? I believe there are
few children of God who do not sometimes feel anxious, troubled, and cast
down, when they think quietly about the eternal habitation towards which
they are traveling. The nature of it, the manner of it, the employments
of it, their own apparent unfitness and uniqueness for it, will sometimes
perplex their minds. These thoughts will sometimes come across the
believer's mind, especially in times of sickness, filling him with
heaviness, and making his heart sink. Now I know no remedy against these
thoughts to be compared to the recollection of the continual intercession
of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Christ is gone into heaven to be
the forerunner of a people who are to follow after Him. He is gone to
prepare a place for them, and the place whereto He goes is the place
whereto His people are to go by and by. When they go there they will find
all things made ready,--a place for every one, and a fitting and proper
place too, through the intercession of their Lord and Saviour. There
never will be a time when their company will not be liked in heaven There
never will be a time when their old sins,--the sins of their youth and
their backslidings, their wickedness before conversion, their profligacy,
it may be, before the grace of God came into their hearts,--there never
will be a day when all these sins shall come up against them, and make
them feel abashed and ashamed in heaven. Christ will be in the midst.
Christ will ever stand interceding. Where Christ is, there His people
will be. Where He lives, His perfect merit, His spotless righteousness,
His

intercession, will make them perfect in the sight of God the Father. They
will stand in heaven, seen in Christ, clothed in Christ, members of
Christ, part of Christ; and so will possess a firm and solid and eternal
title to the eternal joys which shall be hereafter.

I will now conclude this tract by a few words of application to all into
whose hands it may fall. My hearts desire and prayer to God is that the
words I have been writing may yet bear fruit in your soul. In order that
they may do so, I offer a few words of faithful and affectionate counsel.

1. I would offer counsel, first, to all who are anxious and troubled
respecting their soul's salvation, and yet know not what to do. Reader,
if you are such a person, I charge you and entreat you, I beseech you and
invite you, to come into the way of which I have been speaking in this
tract. I beseech you to come to God by the old and tried way,--the way of
faith in Jesus Christ. Draw near to God, pleading the name of Jesus.
Begin this very day to cry mightily unto God, in the name of
Jesus, on behalf of your soul. Say not you have anything to plead for
yourself. You have nothing to plead. Your life, your thoughts, your ways,
all alike condemn you. Say nothing about yourself but this,--that you are
a sinner, a great sinner, a guilty sinner, a condemned sinner; but
because you are a sinner, you turn to God. Come unto Him in the name of
Jesus, saying, you have heard that through Jesus a sinner may come near
Him. Tell Him that you are a sinner, a great sinner, and an unworthy one.
But tell Him that you come in the faith of His promises, in the
confidence of His own Bible invitation; and in the name of Jesus, and for
the sake of Jesus, and on account of Jesus, you ask to be received,
heard, pardoned, forgiven, and accepted. Tell Him that you wish to have
your name--even that name of yours, connected hitherto with worldliness,
thoughtlessness, carelessness, and sin added to the list of God's dear
children.

Will you say that you are afraid to come to God? Your fear is needless.
You shall not be cast out, if you will but come in the way of faith in
Christ. Our God is not "austere man." Our Father in heaven is full of
mercy, love, and grace. I yield to none in desire to exalt the love,
mercy, and tenderness of God the Father. I will not concede, for one
moment, that what is called an Evangelical ministry will not magnify the
mercy, love, and compassion of God the Father as much as any ministry on
earth. We know that God is holy. We know He is just. We believe that He
can be angry with them that go on still in sin. But we also believe that
to those who draw near to Him in Christ Jesus, He is most merciful, most
loving, and most tender, most compassionate. We tell you that the cross
of Jesus Christ was the result and consequence of that love. The cross
was not the cause and reason of God's mercy, but the result and
consequence of the everlasting love of God the Father, God the Son, and
God the Holy Ghost, towards a poor, lost, and bankrupt world. Draw near
in faith, dear reader, by that living way, Christ Jesus, to the Father.
Think not for a moment--the unworthy thought shall never prove true--that
so drawing near to God the Father by Christ, God the Father will not
receive you. He will receive you gladly. As the father did to the
prodigal son when he ran to meet him,--fell on his neck and kissed
him,--so will God the Father do to that soul that draws near to Him in
the name of Christ.

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by J. C. Ryle (1816-1900)

2. In the next place, I would cheer those readers who have walked in the
way of God, and yet are afraid of falling. Why should you be afraid? What
should make you fear? What should make you suppose that you shall ever be
allowed to fall away, while Jesus Christ lives at the right hand of God
to make intercession for you? All the power of the Lord Jesus Christ is
pledged upon your behalf. He has undertaken to care for all the flock
that God the Father has committed into His hand. He will care for it. He
has cared for it. He went to the cross for it. He died for it. He is ever
at the right hand of God, and has not ceased to care for it. Every member
of that flock--the weakest, the feeblest member of that flock--is equally
dear to the Lord and Saviour, and none shall pluck the least of Christ's
sheep out of God's hand. Can you stop the tides of the sea, and make them
not rise at your command? Can you make the waters stay when the tide
begins to fall? Can you prevent the sun in heaven going down in the west,
or prevent the same sun from rising tomorrow morning in the east? You
cannot do it: the thing is impossible And all the power of devils, all
the power of the world, and all the enemies of the Christian, shall not
be able to pluck out of the hand of Jesus Christ one single soul who has
been brought by the Spirit's teaching to true union with Christ, and for
whom Jesus Christ intercedes. The days of Christ's weakness have passed
away. He was "crucified through weakness," and was weak on our account
when He went to the cross. The days of His weakness are over: the days of
His power have begun. Pilate shall no more condemn Him: He shall come to
condemn Pilate. All power is His in heaven and earth, and all that power
is engaged on behalf of His believing people.

3. Finally, let me gladden all believers who read this tract, by
reminding them that Christ is yet to come again. The Great High Priest is
yet to come forth from the holy of holies, to bless all the people who
have believed on Him. One part of His work He did when He died upon the
cross; another part of His work He is still doing,--interceding for us at
God's right hand. But the third part of the High Priest's office remains
yet to be done. He has yet to come forth from the holy of holies, as the
high priest did upon the day of atonement,-- to come forth from within
the veil to bless the people. That part of Christ's work is yet to come.
He is now gone into Heaven itself,--He is within the holy of holies: He
is gone behind the veil. But our Great High Priest--a greater one than
Aaron's--shall yet come forth one day. He shall come in power and great
glory. He shall come as He left the world, when He went up in the clouds
of heaven. He shall come to gather from the north and from the south,
from the east and from the west, all who have loved His name and
confessed Him before men,--all who have heard His voice and followed Him.
He shall gather them together into one happy company. There shall be no
more weakness, and no more sorrow,--no more parting, and no more
separation,--no more sickness, and no more death,--no more disputing, and
no more controversy,--no more fighting with the world, the flesh, and
devil,--and, best of all, no more sin. That day shall be a happy day
indeed, when the High Priest comes forth to do the third, last part of
His work--to bless His believing people.

"He that testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even
so, come, Lord Jesus." (Rev. xxii.20)

(My Note: I hope that you enjoy the old and very beautiful messages of J.C. Ryle as much as I do. Some of the sentence structures and word usage are done in older ways, but it's still easy enough to understand. The message is one of power and Salvation in no other way but JESUS CHRIST, Very GOD!)

[nChrist]

This tract is a classic of Gospel Truth that readers of J. C. Ryle have
come to expect from all his writings. His tracts are “pure gold.” This
tract was first published by Drummond’s Tract Depot, Stirling, Scotland.

CHRIST IS ALL - Page 1

by J. C. Ryle (1816-1900)

"Christ is all."-COLOSSIANS iii. 11.

THE words of the text which heads this page are few, short, and
soon spoken; but they contain great things. Like those golden sayings:
"To me to live is Christ,"-"I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in
me,"-they are singularly rich and suggestive. (Phil. i. 21; Gal. ii. 20.)

These three words are the essence and substance of Christianity. If our
hearts can really go along with them, it is well with our souls; if not,
we may be sure we have yet much to learn.

Christ is the mainspring both of doctrinal and practical
Christianity. A right knowledge of Christ is essential to a right
knowledge of sanctification as well as justification. He that follows
after holiness will make no progress unless he gives to Christ His
rightful place.

Let me try to set before my readers in what sense "Christ is all;"
and let me ask them, as they read, to judge themselves honestly, that
they may not make shipwreck in the judgment of the last day.

I. First of all let us understand that Christ is all, in all the counsels
of God concerning man.

(a) There was a time when this earth had no being. Solid as the mountains
look, boundless as the sea appears, high as the stars in heaven
look,-they once did not exist. And man, with all the high thoughts he now
has of himself, was a creature unknown.

And where was Christ then?

Even then Christ was "with God, was God, and was equal with God." (John
i. 1; Phil. ii. 6) Even then He was the beloved Son of the Father: "Thou
lovedst Me," He says, "before the foundation of the world."-"I had glory
with Thee before the world began."-"I was set up from everlasting, from
the beginning, or ever the earth was." (John xvii. 5, 24; Prov. viii.
23.) Even then He was the Saviour "for ordained before the foundation of
the world" (1 Peter i. 20), and believers were "chosen in Him." (Ephes.
i. 4.)

There came a time when this earth was created in its present order.
Sun, moon, and stars,-sea, land, and all their inhabitants, were called
into being, and made out of chaos and confusion. And, last of all, man
was formed out of the dust of the ground.

And where was Christ then?

Hear what the Scripture says: "All things were made by Him, and without
Him was not any thing made that was made." (John i. 3.) "By Him were all
things created, that are in heaven and that are in earth." (Colos. i.
16.) "And Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the
earth; and the heavens are the works of Thine hands." (Heb. i. 10.) "When
He prepared the heavens, I was there: when He set a compass upon the face
of the depth: when He established the clouds above: when He strengthened
the foundations of the deep: when He gave to the sea his decree, that the
waters should not pass His commandment: when He appointed the foundations
of the earth: then I was by Him, as one brought up with Him." (Prov.
viii. 27-30.) Can we wonder that the Lord Jesus, in His preaching, should
continually draw lessons from the book of nature? When He spoke of the
sheep, the fish, the ravens, the corn, the lilies, the fig-tree, the
vine,-He spoke of things which He Himself had made.

(c) There came a day when sin entered the world.-Adam and Eve ate the
forbidden fruit, and fell. They lost that holy nature in which
they were first formed. They forfeited the friendship and favour of God,
and became guilty, corrupt, helpless, hopeless sinners. Sin came as a
barrier between themselves and their holy Father in heaven. Had He dealt
with them according to their deserts, there had been nothing before them
but death, hell, and everlasting ruin.

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by J. C. Ryle (1816-1900)

And where was Christ then?

In that very day He was revealed to our trembling parents, as the only
hope of salvation. The very day they fell, they were told that "the seed
of the woman should yet bruise the serpent's head,"-that a Saviour born
of a woman should overcome the devil, and win for sinful man an entrance
to eternal life. (Gen. iii. 15.) Christ was held up as the true light of
the world, in the very day of the fall; and never has any name been made
known from that day by which souls could be saved, excepting His. By Him
all saved souls have entered heaven, from Adam downward; and without Him
none have ever escaped hell.

(d) There came a time when the world seemed sunk and buried in ignorance
of God. After 4,000 years the nations of the earth appeared to have clean
forgotten the God that made them. Egyptian, Assyrian, Persian, Grecian,
and Roman empires, had done nothing but spread superstition and idolatry.
Poets, historians, philosophers, had proved that, with all their
intellectual powers, they had no right knowledge of God; and that man,
left to himself, was utterly corrupt. "The world, by wisdom, knew not
God." (1 Cor. i. 21.) Excepting a few despised Jews in a corner of the
earth, the whole world was dead in ignorance and sin.

And what did Christ do then?

He left the glory He had had from all eternity with the Father, and came
down into the world to provide a salvation. He took our nature upon Him,
and was born as a man. As a man He did the will of God perfectly, which
we all had left undone: as a man He suffered on the cross the wrath of
God which we ought to have suffered. He brought in everlasting
righteousness for us. He redeemed us from the curse of a broken law. He
opened a fountain for all sin and uncleanness. He died for our sins. He
rose again for our justification. He ascended to God's right hand, and
there sat down, waiting till His enemies should be made His footstool.
And there He sits now, offering salvation to all who will come to Him,
interceding for all who believe in Him, and managing by God's appointment
all that concerns the salvation of souls.

(e) There is a time coming when sin shall be cast out from this
world.-Wickedness shall not always flourish unpunished,-Satan shall not
always reign,-creation shall not always groan, being burdened. There
shall be a time of restitution of all things. There shall be a new heaven
and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness, and the earth shall be
full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. (Rom.
viii. 22; Acts iii. 21; 2 Pet. iii. 13; Isai. xi. 9.)

And where shall Christ be then? And what shall He do?

Christ Himself shall be King. He shall return to this earth, and make all
things new. He shall come in the clouds of heaven with power and great
glory, and the kingdoms of the world shall become His. The heathen shall
be given to Him for His inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth
for His possession. To Him every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall
confess that He is Lord. His dominion shall be an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be
destroyed. (Matt. xxiv. 30; Rev. xi. 15; Ps. ii. 8; Phil. ii. 10, 11;
Dan. vii. 14.)

(f) There is a day coming when all men shall be judged. The sea shall
give up the dead which are in it, and death and hell shall deliver up the
dead which are in them. All that sleep in the grave shall awake and come
forth, and all shall be judged according to their works. (Rev. xx. 13;
Dan. xii. 2.)

And where will Christ be then?

Christ Himself will be the Judge. "The Father hath committed all judgment
unto the Son."-"When the Son of man shall come in His glory, then shall
He sit upon the throne of His glory:-and before Him shall be gathered all
nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd
divideth the sheep from the goats."-"We must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ: that every one may receive the things done in
his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."
(John v. 22. Matt. xxv. 32. 2 Cor. v. 10.)

Now if any reader of this paper thinks little of Christ, let him know
this day that he is very unlike God! You are of one mind, and God is of
another. You are of one judgment, and God is of another. You think it
enough to give Christ a little honour,-a little reverence,-a little
respect. But in all the eternal counsels of God the Father, in creation,
redemption, restitution, and judgment,-in all these, Christ is "all."

Surely we shall do well to consider these things. Surely it is not
written in vain, "He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father
which hath sent Him." (John v. 23.)

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[nChrist]

CHRIST IS ALL - Page 3

by J. C. Ryle (1816-1900)


II. In the second place, let us understand that "Christ is all" in the
inspired books which make up the Bible.

In every part of both Testaments Christ is to be found,-dimly and
indistinctly at the beginning,-more clearly and plainly in the
middle,-fully and completely at the end,-but really and substantially
everywhere.

Christ's sacrifice and death for sinners, and Christ's kingdom and future
glory, are the light we must bring to bear on any book of Scripture we
read. Christ's cross and Christ's crown are the clue we must hold fast,
if we would find our way through Scripture difficulties. Christ is the
only key that will unlock many of the dark places of the Word.
Some people complain that they do not understand the Bible. And the
reason is very simple. They do not use the key. To them the Bible is like
the hieroglyphics in Egypt. It is a mystery, just because they do not use
the key.

It was Christ crucified who was set forth in every Old Testament
sacrifice. Every animal slain and offered on an altar, was a practical
confession that a Saviour was looked for who would die for sinners,-a
Saviour who should take away man's sin, by suffering, as his Substitute
and Sin-bearer, in his stead. (1 Peter iii. 18.) It is absurd to suppose
that an unmeaning slaughter of innocent beasts, without a distinct object
in view, could please the eternal God!

It was Christ to whom Abel looked when he offered a better sacrifice than
Cain. Not only was the heart of Abel better than that of his brother, but
he showed his knowledge of vicarious sacrifice and his faith in an
atonement. He offered the firstlings of his flock, with the blood
thereof, and in so doing declared his belief that without shedding of
blood there is no remission. (Heb. xi. 4.)

It was Christ of whom Enoch prophesied in the days of abounding
wickedness before the flood.-"Behold," he said, "the Lord cometh with ten
thousand of His saints, to execute judgment upon all." (Jude 15.)

It was Christ to whom Abraham looked when he dwelt in tents in the land
of promise. He believed that in his seed,-in one born of his family,-all
the nations of the earth should be blessed.. By faith he saw Christ's
day, and was glad. (John viii. 56.)

It was Christ of whom Jacob spoke to his sons, as he lay dying. He marked
out the tribe out of which He would be born, and foretold that "gathering
together" unto Him which is yet to be accomplished. "The sceptre shall
not depart from Judah, nor the law-giver from between his feet, until
Shiloh come, and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be." (Gen.
xlix. 10.)

It was Christ who was the substance of the ceremonial law which God gave
to Israel by the hand of Moses. The morning and evening sacrifice,-the
continual shedding of blood,-the altar,-the mercy seat,-the high
priest,-the passover,-the day of atonement,-the scape-goat:-all these
were so many pictures, types, and emblems of Christ and His work. God had
compassion upon the weakness of His people. He taught them "Christ" line
upon line, and, as we teach little children, by similitudes. It was in
this sense especially that "the law was a schoolmaster to lead" the Jews
"unto Christ." (Gal. iii. 24.)

It was Christ to whom God directed the attention of Israel by all the
daily miracles which were done before their eyes in the wilderness. The
pillar of cloud and fire which guided them,-the manna from heaven which
every morning fed them,-the water from the smitten rock which followed
them,-all and each were figures of Christ. The brazen serpent, on that
memorable occasion when the plague of fiery serpents was sent upon them,
was an emblem of Christ. (1 Cor. x. 4; John iii. 14.)

It was Christ of whom all the Judges were types. Joshua, and David, and
Gideon, and Jephthah, and Samson, and all the rest whom God raised up to
deliver Israel from captivity,-all were emblems of Christ. Weak and
unstable and faulty as some of them were, they were set for examples of
better things in the distant future. All were meant to remind the tribes
of that far higher Deliverer who was yet to come.

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