Posted on 05/01/2008 4:03:03 AM PDT by alpha-8-25-02
"Every man who has his hope in Christ, purifies himself." 1 John 3:3
Suppose for a moment, that you were allowed to enter heaven without holiness. What would you do? What possible enjoyment could you feel there? To which of all the saints would you join yourself—and by whose side would you sit? Their pleasures are not your pleasures, their tastes are not your tastes, their character not your character. How could you possibly be happy in heaven—if you had not been holy on earth?
Now you love the company of the frivolous and careless, the worldly-minded and the covetous, the reveler and the pleasure-seeker, the ungodly and the profane. There will be none such in heaven! Now you think that the people of God are too strict and particular and serious. You rather avoid them. You have no delight in their society. But remember, there will be no other company in heaven.
Now you think that praying and Scripture reading, and hymn singing, are dull and melancholy and stupid work. But remember, the inhabitants of heaven rest not day and night, saying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!" and singing the praise of the Lamb! How could an unholy man find pleasure in such an environment as this?
An unholy man would feel like a stranger in a land he knew not, a black sheep amid Christ's pure flock. The song of angels and archangels, and all the company of heaven—would be a language he could not understand! The very air would seem an air he could not breathe! I know not what others may think, but to me it does seem clear—that heaven would be a miserable place to an unholy man! It cannot be otherwise.
People may say, in a vague way—that they "hope to go to heaven after they die." But surely, they do not consider what they say. We must be heavenly-minded, and have heavenly tastes, in the present life—or else we shall never find ourselves in heaven, in the life to come.
Are you holy? I do not ask whether you attend your church regularly, whether you have been baptized, or whether you profess to be a Christian. Are you yourself holy this very day—or are you not? Why do I ask so straightly, and press the question so strongly? I do it because the Scripture says, "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." It is written—it is not my imagination; it is the Bible—not my private opinion; it is the Word of God—not of man: "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." (Heb. 12:14).
Alas, what searching, sifting words are these! I look at the world—and see the greater part of it lying in wickedness. I look at professing Christians—and see the vast majority having nothing of Christianity, but the mere name. I turn to the Bible and I hear the Spirit saying, "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." Surely it is a text which ought to make us solemnly consider our ways, and search our heart.
You may say, that "if you were so holy—you would be unlike other people." I answer, "I know it well. It is just what you ought to be. Christ's true servants were always unlike the world around them—a holy nation, a separate people—and you must be so too, if you would be saved!" You may say, "at this rate very few will be saved!" I answer, "I know it. It is precisely what Jesus told us in His sermon on the mount—Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads unto life, and few there are who find it!" Few will be saved, because few will take the trouble to seek salvation--men will not deny themselves the pleasures of sin for a little season.
You may say, "these are hard sayings; the way is very narrow!" I know it is. The Lord Jesus said so eighteen hundred years ago. He always said that men must take up the cross daily, and that they must be ready to cut off hand or foot, if they would be His disciples. That religion which costs nothing—is worth nothing!
5 SOLAS!
I PRAY BRETHREN,
TO ONE DAY,BE SITTING NEXT TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU.
5 SOLAS!
The notion of the narrow gate is a very key meditation. The confessionals in many old Catholic churches often are made out of wood with ornate carvings, and typically three small wooden doors, one for the priest, the alter Christus, and one on each side for the penitent. For the christian, the sacrament of confession is indeed the narrow gate through which the soul accuses everything that separates it from its Love. Perfection is achieved first and foremost by Jesus’ forgiveness, but the sacrament gives us a tangible exercise whereby we separate ourselves from everything that is not of God and we actively plead to be renewed in that friendship which will have no end. that is what I think of when I hear Jesus speak of the narrow gate.
“Suppose for a moment, that you were allowed to enter heaven without holiness.”
At least in my case, I hope this to be true. I will enter heaven only by the holiness of Christ imputed to my account - not my own “personal” holiness.
“If I knew God I’d be Him.”
My only problem with it is that, taken in isolation, it could give someone the impression that Ryle is saying that we'd better start working much harder on being better, more religions, and holier, so that in the end we can "be fit for" (i.e. deserve, or merit) Heaven.
That is NOTHING LIKE what Ryle taught.
Ryle believed and preached and taught that our only hope is the penal, substitutionary atonement of Christ, that none would get to Heaven but by resting on Jesus Christ and Him alone for salvation.
Indeed, conversion is transformational. But it is never a matter of deserving Heaven.
Psalm 51:
10Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
11Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
12Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
13Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
14Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
15O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
16For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Amen, and what a Joyous Time it will be!
'For Since the Beginning of the World
Men have not Heard,
Nor Perceived by the Ear,
Neither hath the Eye Seen,
O God, beside Thee,
What He hath Prepared
For him that Waiteth for Him.' (Is.64:4)
I saw how someone would get this impression from this select piece also. It seems to be written for those who already know that none are righteous of themselves:
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. ~Galatians 2:20God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. ~2 Corinthians 5:21
Bishop Ryle was an extraordinary hierarch and preacher. His theology in many ways is the most Orthodox of any I have read from Western, non Orthodox theologians written in the past, say, 500 years or so save for that of +BXVI. His comments here would be readily recognized by the Eastern Fathers, especially the Cappadocians, who taught that the love of God is like a fire that warms and refines those who have arrived at some likeness to Christ while it is a torment to the damned.
By the way, am I correct in assuming that the “5 SOLAS” at the close of the tract is your editorial comment?
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Speak the truth in love. Eph 4:15
YES!
5 SOLAS!
Jesus laid it out plainly: "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." (Luke 5:31)
None of us is righteous. We're all sinners. None of us can meet the standards set by Mr. Ryle. Not even Mr. Ryle can meet them, I suspect.
The unholy man who reaches heaven (i.e., any of us) will be made whole by God. That's what Ryle should have pointed out.
YOU CAN SEE RYLE’S POROFILE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Charles_Ryle
AND HIS WRITINGS AT:
http://www.gracegems.org/23/ryle_sermons.htm
PLEASE LOOK AT MY PROFILE AND TAGLINE,THE DOCTRINAL TRUTHS I HOLD DEAR ARE TOTTALY REFORMED.
I BELIEVE THE CONTEXT OF THE SERMON IS HOW THE UNREGENERATE IS A FORIEGNER TO GOD’S KINGDOM.
WOULD YOU NOT AGREE?
ALSO PLEASE SEE POST 6.
Must you shout?
My point is that we're all unregenerate foreigners to God's Kingdom. Were we not, there'd be no need for a Savior.
i don’t shout,i type with one finger because i am disabled.
“My point is that we’re all unregenerate foreigners to God’s Kingdom. Were we not, there’d be no need for a Savior.”
Ryle believed and preached and taught that our only hope is the penal, substitutionary atonement of Christ, that none would get to Heaven but by resting on Jesus Christ and Him alone for salvation.
http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2008/05/substitutionary-atonement-and-proverbs.html
GODSPEED!
Is this guy Catholic?
If an UNHOLY man were to get into heaven, he would be instantly MADE HOLY by the same atonement that got everyone else into heaven.
Is Ryrie talking about imputed righteousness, or sanctification?
Our Sanctification is a perfecting process and is not complete until after we leave this earth anyway. So on a sanctification level, nobody is HOLY. On an imputed righteousness basis, everyone who is saved is HOLY, regardless of how wretched a man he is.
So far the only HOLY man who has ever gone to Heaven is Christ. The rest of us wretched and miserable sinners are only going to get in by clinging to his coattails.
SEE POST 17
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