Cited in sermons
J. C. Ryle
316 sermons · All people cited
Paul at Athens
Paul's encounter with the philosophers of Athens in Acts 17:16–34 sets the pattern for faithful gospel witness in any pagan culture. The sermon works through Paul's provocation at Athenian idolatry, his proclamation of God as sovereign Creator and righteous Judge, and his call to universal repentance grounded in the resurrection of Christ. Idolatry — whether ancient image-worship or modern self-worship, money, or pleasure — is shown to be not an approximate form of true religion but a passionate flight from God. The congregation is urged to imitate Paul: to be outraged at idolatry, to proclaim Christ without apology, and to resist the indifferentism that treats the gospel as something to consider another day.
An Overview of Galatians
Galatians 1:1–5 functions not merely as a conventional epistolary greeting but as a programmatic summary of the entire letter, establishing two interlocking themes: the divine origin of Paul's apostleship and the nature of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Against the Judaizing error that faith in Christ must be supplemented by works of the law, this passage declares that Christ gave Himself as a penal substitute for sin, delivering His people from this present evil age according to the sovereign will of the Father. Justification is by faith alone, not by any human contribution, and this gospel of free and sovereign grace issues necessarily in doxology. The sermon calls hearers to recognise that there are only two places to be — in Christ, delivered from this present evil age, or still in sin under the wrath of God — and to believe the gospel without addition or delay.
A Spiritual Inventory
First Corinthians 1:30–31 presents Christ as the believer's wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption — a fourfold treasure that Paul sets against the competing philosophies and worldviews of his day. The source of every gospel blessing is God alone: 'of him you are in Christ Jesus,' which excludes every ground of human boasting and demands a radical humility before the triune God. Justification is not a moral improvement but a legal imputation of Christ's perfect righteousness to the believer's account, and sanctification is equally a work of Christ's power, not the believer's unaided effort. The goal of this entire arrangement is the glory of God, so that all boasting is directed to the Lord alone.
A Little Sinner and a Big Savior
Luke 19:1–10 presents the conversion of Zacchaeus as a concentrated display of sovereign, covenant-keeping grace. The sermon works through Zacchaeus's identity as a chief tax collector, a rich man, and above all a lost sinner, before turning to the mission of Christ: he condescends, calls by name, and saves by grace alone through faith alone, with repentance and good works following as inevitable fruit. The closing application presses both the unconverted to make haste to Christ and the converted to receive him joyfully as they come to the Lord's Supper.
The Pharisee and the Publican
Luke 18:9–14 presents two men who go to the temple to pray — one a celebrated Pharisee, the other a despised tax collector — and the parable exposes the fatal error of self-righteousness and the only ground on which a sinner may stand before a holy God. The Pharisee's prayer is a catalogue of self-achieved merit; the publican's cry — 'God, be propitious to me, the sinner' — is the only prayer that avails, because it casts the soul entirely on divine mercy rather than human performance. Justification is declared a forensic act of God alone, grounded in the imputed righteousness of Christ received by faith, not in fasting, tithing, or any work of the law. The sermon closes with the charge that the same gospel that humbles the self-righteous must produce in the justified a charity toward others and a watchfulness against out-Phariseeing the Pharisee.
Jesus Was Born to Reign
Christ's appearance before Pontius Pilate in John 18:33–38 forces a confrontation with the nature of his kingdom and his identity as king. The sermon examines three particulars from this exchange — the issue Pilate raises, the clarification Jesus gives, and the response Jesus offers — showing that the incarnation is inseparable from the crown: Christ was born not merely as a helpless infant but as the eternal king whose kingdom originates not from man but from God, and whose conquest advances not by military power but by truth. The passage calls every hearer to reckon with the sovereign reign of Christ and to believe the gospel, knowing that what one does with Jesus determines one's eternal destiny.
Simeon and God's Salvation
The account of Simeon in Luke 2:25–35 presents a model of genuine biblical piety — a man who was just toward men and devout toward God because he was first rightly related to God by grace through faith in the promised Messiah. The sermon traces three features of Simeon's life: his character (just and devout), his conduct (waiting and worshiping in anticipation of the consolation of Israel), and his fourfold confession when he holds the infant Christ (the truth of God's word, the glory of God's salvation, the comprehensive mission of Christ to Jew and Gentile, and a prophetic word of sorrow to Mary). Listeners are called to examine whether their own character, conduct, and confession mirror Simeon's — living now in watchful, holy expectation of Christ's return, knowing that the only preparation for death is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Sovereignty of God in the Salvation of Sinners
Matthew 11:25–30 presents the sovereignty of God in salvation not as a theological puzzle to be argued but as a doxology to be prayed. Jesus praises the Father for hiding gospel truth from the self-sufficient wise and revealing it to those whom the Spirit reduces to babes — an act that is not injustice but divine judgment upon rebels who have no excuse. The passage then sets forth Christ's mediatorial authority as the sole ground upon which any sinner may know the Father, and issues three commands — come, take the yoke, learn — backed by the power of the one who commanded a dead man out of a tomb. The sermon calls hearers to abandon both hyper-Calvinist fatalism and Arminian manipulation, resting instead in the sovereign grace that humbles pride and fuels genuine gospel proclamation.
The Glory of Christ in His State of Humiliation
What does the eternal Son of God's descent from infinite glory to a cattle trough reveal about the nature of his saving work? This sermon on Luke 2:1–14 traces five aspects of Christ's state of humiliation — the timing, place, purpose, manner, and cost of the incarnation — showing that each detail, from the manger to the mocking soldiers to Gethsemane, is not an occasion for embarrassment but for worship. The incarnation was not a sentimental seasonal event but the arrival of the eternal Son, veiled in flesh, to bear the wrath of God and the curse of the cross as the active and passive obedient substitute for guilty sinners. Hearers are called to centre their daily praise on this Christ, to learn humility from his condescension, and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.
Conversion in the Eleventh Hour
The conversion of the dying thief in Luke 23:39–43 displays the anatomy of saving faith and the character of Christ as a willing, able, and glorious Savior. Working through five marks of genuine conversion visible in the thief — concern for others, fear of God's judgment, ownership of guilt, confession of Christ's holiness, and calling upon the Lord — the sermon demonstrates that saving faith is not a human achievement but a sovereign work of grace. The passage equally reveals that Jesus, even in the agony of bearing the wrath of God on the cross, is actively and assuredly saving sinners. The application is urgent: salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, and no sinner should presume upon a future opportunity to repent.
The Doctrine of Sanctification
Philippians 2:12–13 grounds the doctrine of sanctification in both divine sovereignty and human responsibility: God works in believers both to will and to do for his good pleasure, and on that basis Paul commands the church to work out their salvation with fear and trembling. This sermon expounds those two verses and then surveys the historic Reformed distinction between justification and sanctification, drawing at length from J.C. Ryle's Holiness to show how the two doctrines are alike in origin yet differ in nature, completeness, and progression. The practical thrust is that genuine justification necessarily produces sanctification — growth in conformity to Christ through the Spirit, the Word, and the means of grace — and an absence of any such growth calls one's justification into question.
Christ's Circumcision
Colossians 2:11–12 is frequently marshalled by paedobaptists to argue that baptism has replaced circumcision as the covenant sign and therefore ought to be administered to infants, but the passage cannot bear that weight. This sermon works through three preliminary observations — the structure of covenant theology, the relationship between circumcision and baptism, and the actual point of the passage — before exegeting verses 11–12 directly. The circumcision Paul describes is spiritual regeneration performed by Christ without hands, and baptism is its retrospective public sign, not a parallel to the prospective sign of physical circumcision given to Abraham's infant sons. The sermon closes with a sharp warning against any gospel that supplements Christ's finished work, insisting that justification is an alien, forensic righteousness imputed to the believer by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
The Letter to Laodicea
Revelation 3:14–22 contains the most severe of the seven letters to the churches of Asia Minor: Laodicea receives no commendation, only a devastating indictment of lukewarmness, self-sufficiency, and spiritual blindness. Christ identifies himself as the Amen, the faithful and true witness, and the inaugurator of the new creation — credentials that expose the Laodiceans' faithlessness, their inaccurate self-assessment, and their complacency born of material prosperity. The threat of being vomited from Christ's mouth is not a final verdict but a conditional warning, issued in love, calling the church to zealous repentance and renewed communion with Christ. The sermon applies five Laodicean sins — pride, self-sufficiency, spiritual ignorance, misplaced trust in material wealth, and worldly compromise — as a mirror for any church prone to confuse outward comfort with genuine spiritual health.
A Cross-Centered Mother's Day
John 19:26–27 records the third of Christ's seven sayings from the cross — his provision for his mother Mary by entrusting her to the apostle John. This saying is examined under three headings: as a moral example of honoring one's mother rooted in the fifth commandment, as an illustration of Christ's active obedience rendered on behalf of his people who fail that commandment, and as a display of sovereign control by the one who lays down his own life according to the Father's decree. The sermon rejects the Roman Catholic doctrine of Mary as co-mediatrix and calls every hearer — regardless of age — to concrete, costly care for their parents, grounded first in faith in the crucified and risen Christ whose perfect obedience alone avails before God.
But Now Christ is Risen
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not a peripheral doctrine but an inseparable component of the gospel itself — Paul's argument in 1 Corinthians 15 demands that it be treated as a truth of the first rank. This exposition works through four movements: the resurrection's cardinal importance, its absolute certainty established by both Old Testament Scripture and eyewitness testimony, the devastating logical implications if it were false, and the blessed realities that flow from the fact that Christ is indeed risen. Believers are called to find in the risen Christ the ground of their regeneration, justification, sanctification, and hope; unbelievers are warned that the same resurrection that secures salvation for the elect guarantees a righteous judgment against all who reject it.
The Necessity of Fleeing from Sodom
Genesis 19:12–29 confronts the Christian with the necessity of decisive obedience when God calls His people to flee from wickedness. Through four observations — the deliverance of Lot, the demonstration of God's wrath, Abraham's meditation on the destruction, and the repetition of Sodom's sin in Judges 19 — the sermon exposes how worldly attachment deadens spiritual vitality and how lingering in sin has long-term consequences. Lot's compromised life, his wife's backward glance, and Israel's later repetition of Sodom's wickedness in Gibeah all warn the believer against being so enamored with the world that obedience to God is delayed. The governing application is that the choices of where to live, what profession to pursue, and whom to marry must be governed by Scripture rather than by emotion or comfort.