The Cross: A Tract for the Times

“I look at the cross of Christ. There I see that sin is so black and damnable, that nothing but the blood of God's own Son can wash it away. There I see that sin has so separated me from my holy Maker, that all the angels in heaven could never have made peace between us. Nothing could reconcile us, short of the death of Christ. Ah, if I listened to the wretched talk of proud men, I might sometimes fancy sin was not so very sinful! But I cannot think little of sin, when I look at the cross of Christ.””

— J. C. Ryle

“Give up your secret pride. Cast away your vain ideas of your own goodness. Be thankful if you have grace, but never glory in it for a moment. Work for God and Christ with heart and soul and mind and strength, but never dream for a second of placing confidence in any work of your own.””

— J. C. Ryle

“As the sun gazed upon makes everything else look dark and dim , so does the cross darken the false splendour of this world.””

— J. C. Ryle

“I can find a stronger proof of love than anything of this sort. I look at the cross of Christ. I see in it not the cause of the Father’s love, but the effect. God increased the price of his charity toward us in that while we were yet sinners the Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). There I see that God so loved this wicked world that he gave his only begotten Son – gave Him to suffer and die – that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). I know that the Father loves us because He did not withhold His Son from us, His only Son.””

— J. C. Ryle

“This is what he lived all his life from the time of his conversion. He””

— J. C. Ryle

“You may know several precepts of the Bible and admire them, just as a man admires Plato, Aristotle, or Seneca. But if you have not yet found out that Christ crucified is the foundation of the whole volume, you have read your Bible to very little profit. Your religion is a heaven without a sun, an arch without a keystone, a compass without a needle, a clock without spring or weights, or a lamp without oil. It will not comfort you. It will not deliver your soul from hell.””

— J. C. Ryle

“Miserable indeed is that religious teaching which calls itself Christian but contains nothing of the cross. A man who teaches in this way might as well profess to explain the solar system but tell his hearers nothing about the sun.””

— J. C. Ryle

“Hundreds of places of worship exist today in which there is almost everything except the cross. There are carved oaks and sculptured stones; there are stained glass and brilliant paintings; there are solemn services and a constant round of ordinances, but the real cross of Christ is not there. Jesus crucified is not proclaimed in the pulpit. The Lamb of God is not lifted up, and salvation by faith in Him is not freely proclaimed. Therefore, all is wrong. Beware of such places of worship.””

— J. C. Ryle

“The world we live in would have fallen upon our heads, had it not been upheld by the pillar of the cross; had Christ not stepped in and promised a satisfaction for the sin of man. By this all things consist – not a blessing we enjoy but may remind us of it; they were all forfeited by sin, but merited by His blood. If we study it well, we shall be sensible how God hated sin and loved a world.” – Charnock.””

— J. C. Ryle