The wise old pastor in Liverpool, J.C. Ryle, calls us to openly own Christ. I pray none of us flinches in the face of godless men…
“We are not to be ashamed to confess Christ before men, and to let others know what He has done for our souls. If we have found peace through His blood and been renewed by His Spirit, we must not shrink from avowing it, on every proper occasion. It is not necessary to blow a trumpet in the streets, and force our experience on everybody’s notice.
“All that is required is a willingness to acknowledge Christ as our Master, without flinching from the ridicule or persecution which by so doing we may bring on ourselves. More than this is not required; but less than this ought not to content us. If we are ashamed of Jesus before men, He will one day be ashamed of us before His Father and the angels.”
~ J. C. Ryle
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark, 101, 102.
over themselves (Acts 20:28). That is to be their first priority, and then he adds, ‘and all the flock over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God’, but the focus is first on the elders’ self-watch. What a tragedy to hear a man saying, ‘I watched the flock, but I failed to watch myself. I gave other people fine advice about problems. I even gave fellow ministers who called me for help wise counsels and yet I failed to exhort my own heart.’ Continue reading
The Breadline 