Practical Religion: Being Plain Papers on the Daily Duties, Experience, Dangers, and Privileges of Professing ChristiansRyle, J. C. (John Charles)
Religion
Practical Religion: Being Plain Papers on the Daily Duties, Experience, Dangers, and Privileges of Professing Christians
Ryle, J. C. (John Charles)
Christian life -- Anglican authors
I ask you, then, in all affection, Where is your zeal in religion? With
the Bible before me, I may well be bold in asking. But with your life
before me, I may well tremble as to the answer. I ask again, Where is
your zeal for the glory of God? Where is your zeal for extending
Christ's Gospel through an evil world? Zeal, which was the
characteristic of the Lord Jesus; zeal, which is the characteristic of
the angels; zeal, which shines forth in all the brightest Christians:
where is your zeal, unconverted reader?--where is your zeal indeed! You
know well it is nowhere at all; you know well you see no beauty in it;
you know well it is scorned and cast out as evil by you and your
companions; you know well it has no place, no portion, no standing
ground, in the religion of your soul. It is not perhaps that you know
not what it is to be zealous in a certain way. You have zeal, but it is
all misapplied. It is all earthly: it is all about the things of time.
It is not zeal for the glory of God: it is not zeal for the salvation of
souls. Yes: many a man has zeal for the newspaper, but not for the
Bible,--zeal for the daily reading of the _Times_, but no zeal for the
daily reading of God's blessed Word. Many a man has zeal for the account
book and the business book, but no zeal about the Book of Life and the
last great account,--zeal about Australian and Californian gold, but no
zeal about the unsearchable riches of Christ. Many a man has zeal about
his earthly concerns,--his family, his pleasures, his daily pursuits;
but no zeal about God, and heaven, and eternity.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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