Warnings To the Churches – Apostolic Fears - John Charles Ryle

I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s
cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your
sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

The text which heads this page, contains one part of the experience of a
very famous Christian. No servant of Christ perhaps has left such a mark
for good on the world as the Apostle Paul. When he was born the whole
Roman Empire, excepting one little corner, was sunk in the darkest
heathenism; when he died the mighty fabric of heathenism was shaken to
its very center and ready to fall. And none of the agents whom God used
to produce this marvelous change did more than Saul of Tarsus, after his
conversion. Yet even in the midst of his successes and usefulness we
find him crying out, “I am afraid.”

There is a melancholy ring about these words which demands our attention.
They show a man of many cares and anxieties. He who supposes that Paul
lived a life of ease, because he was a chosen Apostle, worked miracles,
founded Churches, and wrote inspired Epistles, has yet much to learn.
Nothing can be more unlike the truth! The eleventh chapter of the second
Epistle to the Corinthians tells a very different tale. It is a chapter
which deserves attentive study. Partly from the opposition of the
heathen philosophers and priests, whose craft was in danger–partly from
the bitter hatred of his own unbelieving countrymen–partly from false or
weak brethren–partly from his own thorn in the flesh–the great Apostle
of the Gentiles was like his Master–“a man of sorrows, and familiar with
suffering” (Isaiah 53:3).

But of all the burdens which Paul had to carry, none seems to have
weighed him down so much as that to which he refers, when he writes to
the Corinthians, “my concern for all the churches” (2 Corinthians 11:28).
The scanty knowledge of many early Christians, their weak faith, their
shallow experience, their dim hope, their low standard of holiness–all
these things made them peculiarly liable to be led astray by false
teachers, and to depart from the faith.

Like little children, hardly able to walk, they required to be treated
with immense patience. Like exotic plants in a hothouse, they had to be
watched with incessant care. Can we doubt that they kept their Apostolic
founder in a state of constant tender anxiety? Can we wonder that he
says to the Colossians, “How much I am struggling for you,” and to the
Galatians, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who
called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel.
“You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?” (Colossians 2:1; Galatians
1:6; 3:1).

No attentive reader can study the Epistles without seeing this subject
repeatedly cropping up. And the text I have placed at the head of this
paper is a sample of what I mean: “I am afraid that just as Eve was
deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray
from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” That text contains three
important lessons, which I wish to press on the attention of all my
readers. I believe in my conscience they are lessons for the times.

I. First, the text shows us a spiritual “disease to which we are all
susceptible, and which we ought to fear.” That disease is corruption of
our minds: “I am afraid your minds may somehow be led astray.”

II. Secondly, the text shows us an “example which we ought to remember,
as a beacon:” “Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning.”

III. Thirdly, the text shows us “a point about which we ought to be
especially on our guard.” That point is being led astray “from sincere
and pure devotion to Christ.”

The text is a deep mine, and is not without difficulty. But let us go
down into it boldly, and we shall find it contains much precious metal.

I. First, then, there is “a spiritual disease, which we ought to fear:”
“Minds that are led astray.”

I take “Minds that are led astray” to mean injury of our minds by the
reception of false and unscriptural doctrines in religion. And I believe
the sense of the Apostle to be, “I am afraid that your minds would
partake of erroneous and unsound views of Christianity. I am afraid that
you should receive as truths, principles which are not the truth. I am
afraid that you would depart from the faith once delivered to the saints,
and embrace views which are intrinsically destructive of the Gospel of
Christ.”

The fear expressed by the Apostle is painfully instructive, and at first
sight may create surprise. Who would have thought that under the very
eyes of Christ’s own chosen disciples–while the blood of Calvary was
hardly yet dry, while the age of miracles had not yet passed away–who
would have thought that in a day like this there was any danger of
Christians departing from the faith? Yet nothing is more certain than
that “the secret power of lawlessness” began already to work before the
Apostles were dead (2 Thessalonians 2:7). “Even now,” says John, “Many
antichrists have come” (1 John 2:18). And no fact in Church history is
more clearly proved than this–that false doctrine has never ceased to be
the plague of Christendom for the last eighteen centuries. Looking
forward with the eye of a prophet, Paul might well say “I am afraid:” “I
am not only afraid of the corruption of your morals, but of your minds.”
The plain truth is that “false doctrine” has been the chosen device which
Satan has employed in every age to stop the progress of the Gospel of
Christ. Finding himself unable to prevent the Fountain of Life being
opened, he has labored incessantly to poison the streams which flow from
it. If he could not destroy it, he has too often neutralized its
usefulness by addition, subtraction, or substitution. In a word he has
“led astray men’s minds.”

(a) False doctrine soon spread throughout the Early Church after the
death of the Apostles, despite what some may wish to say of the Early
Church’s purity. Partly by strange teaching about the Trinity and the
Person of Christ, partly by an absurd multiplication of newfangled
rituals, partly by the introduction of monasticism and a man-made
asceticism, the light of the Church was soon dimmed and its usefulness
destroyed. Even in Augustine’s time rituals grew to such a number that
the estate of Christian people was in a worse case concerning this matter
than were the Jews. Here was the leading astray of men’s minds.

(b) False doctrine in the middle ages so completely spread throughout the
Church, that the truth as it is in Jesus was nearly buried or drowned.
During the last three centuries before the Reformation, it is probable
that very few Christians in Europe could have answered the question,
“What must I do to be saved?” Popes and Cardinals, Archbishops and
Bishops, Priests and Deacons, Monks and Nuns, were, with a few rare
exceptions, steeped in ignorance and superstition. They were sunk into a
deep sleep, from which they were only partially roused by the earthquake
of the Reformation. Here, again, was the leading astray of men’s minds.

(c) False doctrine, since the days of the Reformation, has continually
been rising up again, and marring the work which the Reformers began.
Neologianism in some districts of Europe, Socinianism in others,
formalism and indifferentism in others, have withered blossoms which once
promised to bear good fruit, and made Protestantism a mere barren form.
Here, again, has been the “leading astray of the mind.”

(d) False doctrine, even in our own day and under our own eyes, is eating
out the heart of the Church and endangering her existence. One school of
Christians does not hesitate to avow its dislike to the principles of the
Reformation, and travels over the sea and the land to Romanize the
Establishment. Another school, with equal boldness, speaks lightly of
inspiration, sneers at the very idea of a supernatural religion, and
tries hard to cast overboard miracles as being useless extra weight.
Another school proclaims liberty to every shade and form of religious
opinion, and tells us that all teachers are equally deserving our
confidence, however heterogeneous and contradictory their opinions, if
they are only clever, earnest, and sincere. To each and all the same
remark applies. They illustrate the “leading astray of men’s minds.”

In the face of such facts as these, we may well remember the words of the
Apostle in the text which heads the paper. Like him we have abundant
cause to feel afraid. Never, I think, was there such need for English
Christians to stand on their guard. Never was there such need for
faithful ministers to proclaim a loud warning. “If the trumpet does not
sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle?”
(1 Corinthians 14:8).

I charge every loyal member of the Church to open his eyes to the peril
in which his own Church stands, and to beware lest it is damaged through
apathy and a morbid love of peace. Controversy is an odious thing; but
there are days when it is a positive element. Peace is an excellent
thing; but, like gold, it may be considered too dear. Unity is a mighty
blessing; but it is worthless if it is purchased at the cost of truth.
Once more I say, Open your eyes and be on your guard.

The nation that rests satisfied with its commercial prosperity, and
neglects its national defenses, because they are troublesome or
expensive, is likely to become a prey to the first Napoleon, who chooses
to attack it. The Church which is “rich; and has acquired wealth,” may
think it, “does not need a thing,” because of its antiquity, traditions,
and endowments. It may cry “Peace, peace,” and flatter itself that it
sees no evil. But if it is not careful about the maintenance of sound
doctrine among its ministers and members, it may be surprised someday
when its light is taken away.

I denounce, from the bottom of my heart, despondency or cowardice at this
crisis. All I say is, let us exercise a godly fear. I do not see the
slightest necessity for forsaking the old ship, and giving it up for
lost. Bad as things look inside our ark, they are not one bit better
outside. But I do protest against that careless spirit of slumber which
seems to seal the eyes of many Christians, and to blind them to the
enormous peril in which we are placed by the rise and progress of false
doctrine in these days. I protest against the common notion so often
proclaimed by men in high places, that “unity” is of more importance than
sound doctrine, and peace
more valuable than truth.

I call on every reader who really loves the Church to recognize the
dangers of the times, and to do his duty, courageously and energetically,
in resisting them by united action and by prayer. It was not for nothing
that our Lord said, “If you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy
one” (Luke 22:36). Let us not forget Paul’s words, “Be on your guard;
stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong”
(1 Corinthians 16:13). Our noble Reformers bought the truth at the price
of their own blood, and handed it down to us. Let us be careful that we
do not cheaply sell it for some bread and stew, under the seeming names
of unity and peace.

II. Secondly, the text shows us an “example we ought to remember, as a
beacon:” “Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning.”

I need hardly remind my readers that Paul in this place refers to the
story of the fall in the third chapter of Genesis, as a simple historical
fact. He does not afford the least appearance to the modern notion that
the book of Genesis is nothing more than a pleasing collection of myths
and fables. He does not hint that there is no such being as the devil,
and that there was not any literal eating of the forbidden fruit, and
that it was not really in this way that sin entered into the world. On
the contrary, he narrates the story of the third chapter of Genesis as a
truthful history of a thing that really took place.

You should remember, also, that this reference does not stand alone. It
is a noteworthy fact that several of the most remarkable histories and
miracles of the Pentateuch are expressly mentioned in the New Testament,
and always as historical facts. Cain and Abel, Noah’s ark, the
destruction of Sodom, Esau’s selling his birthright, the destruction of
the first-born in Egypt, the passage of the Red Sea, the brazen serpent,
the manna, the water flowing from the rock, Balaam’s donkey speaking–all
these things are named by the writers of the New Testament, and named as
matters of fact and not as fables. Let that never be forgotten. Those
who are fond of pouring contempt on Old Testament miracles, and making
light of the authority of the Pentateuch, would do well to consider
whether they know better than our Lord Jesus Christ and the Apostles. To
my mind, to talk of Genesis as a collection of myths and fables, in the
face of such a text of Scripture as we have before us in this paper, is
unreasonable and profane. Was Paul mistaken or not, when he narrated the
story of the temptation and the fall? If he was, he was a weak-minded
accepting person, and may have been mistaken on fifty other subjects. At
this rate there is an end of all his authority as a writer! From such a
monstrous conclusion we may well turn away with scorn. But it is well to
remember that much infidelity begins with irreverent contempt of the Old
Testament.

The point, after all, which the Apostle would have us mark in the history
of Eve’s fall, is the “cunning” with which the devil led her into sin.
He did not tell her flatly that he wished to deceive her and do her harm.
On the contrary, he told her that the thing forbidden was a thing that
“was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for
gaining wisdom” (Genesis 3:6). He did not hesitate to assert that she
could eat the forbidden fruit and yet “not die.” He blinded her eyes to
the sinfulness and danger of sin. He persuaded her to believe that to
depart from God’s plain command was for her benefit and not for her ruin.
In short, “he deceived her by his cunningness.”

Now this “cunningness,” Paul tells us, is precisely what we have to fear
in false doctrine. We are not to expect it to approach our minds in the
garment of error, but in the form of truth. Counterfeit money would
never become currency if it did not appear like the real thing. The wolf
would seldom get into the fold if he did not enter it in sheep’s
clothing. Catholicism and liberalism would do little harm if they went
about the world under their true names. Satan is far too wise a general
to manage a campaign in such a fashion as this. He employs fine words
and high-sounding phrases, such as “Catholicity, Apostolicity, Unity,
Church order, sound Church views, Ecumenicalism, free thought, broad
sense, kindly judgment, liberal interpretation of Scripture,” and the
like, and thus effects a lodging place in unwary minds. And this is
precisely the “cunningness” which Paul refers to in the text. We need
not doubt that he had read his Master’s solemn words in the Sermon on the
mount: “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s
clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves” (Matthew 7:15).

I ask your special attention to this point. Such is the simplicity and
innocence of many Christians in this day, that they actually expect false
doctrine to look false, and will not understand that the very essence of
its mischievousness, as a rule, is its resemblance to God’s truth. A
young Christian, for instance, brought up from his cradle to hear nothing
but Evangelical teaching, is suddenly invited some day to hear a sermon
preached by some eminent teacher of semi-Catholic, or semi-skeptical
opinions. He goes into the church, expecting in his simplicity to hear
nothing but heresy from the beginning to the end. To his amazement he
hears a clever, eloquent sermon, containing a vast amount of truth, and
only a few drops of error. Too often a violent reaction takes place in
his simple, innocent, unsuspicious mind. He begins to think his former
teachers were narrow, and uncharitable, and his confidence in them is
shaken, perhaps forever. Too often, it ends with his entire perversion,
and at last he is enrolled in the ranks of the Legalist, Ritualists, or
the liberal Christians! And what is the history of the whole case? Why,
a foolish forgetfulness of the lesson Paul puts forward in this text.
“As Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning,” so Satan charms unwary
souls in the our century by approaching them under the garb of truth.

I beg every reader of this paper to remember this part of my subject, and
to stand on his guard. What is more common than to hear it said of some
false teacher in this day, “He is so good, so devoted, so kind, so
zealous, so laborious, so humble, so self-denying, so charitable, so
earnest, so fervent, so clever, so evidently sincere, there can be no
danger and no harm in hearing him. Besides he preaches such a real
Gospel: no one can preach a better sermon than he does sometimes! I
never can and never will believe he is unsound.” Who does not hear
continually such talk as this? What discerning eye can fail to see that
Christians expect unsound teachers to be open vendors of poison, and
cannot realize that they often appear as “angels of light,” and are far
too wise to be always saying all they think, and showing their whole hand
and mind. But so it is. Never was it so needful to remember the words,
“Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning.”

I leave this part of my subject with the sorrowful remark that we have
fallen upon times when suspicion on the subject of sound doctrine is not
only a duty but a virtue. It is not the avowed Pharisee and Sadducee
that we have to fear, but the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. It
is the “show of wisdom” with which Ritualism is invested that makes it so
dangerous to many minds (Colossians 2:23). It seems so good, and fair,
and zealous, and holy, and reverential, and devout, and kind, that it
carries away many well-meaning people like a flood. He that would be
safe must cultivate the spirit of a sentinel at a critical post. He must
not mind being laughed at and ridiculed, as one who “has a keen nose for
heresy.” In days like these he must not be ashamed to suspect danger.
And if any one scoffs at him for doing so, he may well be content to
reply, “Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning.”

III. The third and last lesson of the text remains yet to be considered.
It shows us “a point about which we ought to be especially on our guard.”
That point is being led astray from “Sincere and pure devotion to
Christ.”

Now the expression before us is somewhat remarkable, and stands alone in
the New Testament. One thing at any rate is abundantly clear: the words
“sincere and pure” means that which is single and unmixed, in
contradistinction to that which is mixed and double. Following out that
idea, some have held that the expression means “singleness of affection
towards Christ;” we are to fear lest we should divide our affections
between Christ and any other. This is no doubt very good theology; but I
question whether it is the true sense of the text. I prefer the opinion
that the expression means the simple, unmixed, unadulterated, unaltered
doctrine of Christ–the simple “truth as it is in Jesus,” on all
points–without addition, subtraction, or substitution. Departure from
the simple genuine prescription of the Gospel, either by leaving out any
part or adding any part, was the thing Paul would have the Corinthians
especially to fear. The expression is full of meaning, and seems
especially written for our learning in these last days. We are to be
ever jealously on our guard, lest we depart from and corrupt the simple
Gospel which Christ once delivered to the saints.

The expression before us is exceedingly instructive. The principle it
contains is of unspeakable importance. If we love our souls and would
keep them in a healthy state, we must endeavor to adhere closely to the
simple doctrine of Christ, in every jot, tittle, and particular. Once we
add to it or take away anything from it, and we risk spoiling the Divine
medicine, and may even turn it into poison. Let your ruling principle
be, “No other doctrine but that of Christ, nothing less, and nothing
more!” Lay firm hold on that principle, and never let it go. Write it
on the tablet of your heart, and never forget it.

(1) Let us settle it, for example, firmly in our minds, that there is
“no way of peace” but the simple way marked out by Christ. True rest of
conscience and inward peace of soul will never come from anything but
direct faith in Christ Himself and His finished work. Peace by
confession to a priest, or bodily asceticism, or incessant attendance at
Church services, or frequent reception of the Communion as a ritual, is a
delusion and a snare. It is only by coming straight to Jesus Himself,
laboring and heavy laden, and by believing, trusting communion with Him,
that souls find rest. In this matter let us stand firm in “sincere and
pure devotion to Christ.”

(2) Let us settle it next in our minds that there is “no other priest”
who can be in any way a mediator between yourself and God but Jesus
Christ. He Himself has said, and His word shall not pass away, “No one
comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). No sinful child of
Adam, whatever be his office, and however high his ecclesiastical title,
can ever occupy Christ’s place, or do what Christ alone is appointed to
do. The priesthood is Christ’s peculiar office, and it is one which He
has never delegated to another. In this matter also let us stand firm in
“sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”

(3) Let us settle it next in our minds that there is “no sacrifice for
sin” except the one sacrifice of Christ upon the cross. Do not listen
for a moment to those who tell you that there is any sacrifice in the
Lord’s Supper, any repetition of Christ’s offering on the cross, or any
oblation of His body and blood, under the form of consecrated bread and
wine. The one sacrifice for sins which Christ offered was a perfect and
complete sacrifice, and it is nothing short of blasphemy to attempt to
repeat it. “By one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are
being made holy” (Hebrews 10:14). In this matter also let us stand firm
in the “sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”

(4) Let us settle it next in our minds that there is “no other rule of
faith,” and judge of controversies, but that simple one to which Christ
always referred–the written Word of God. Let no man disturb our souls
by such vague expressions as “the voice of the Church, primitive
antiquity, the judgment of the early Fathers,” and the like tall talk.
Let our only standard of truth be the Bible, God’s Word written. “What
does the Scripture say?” “What is written?” “To the law and to the
testimony!” “Diligently study the Scriptures.” (Romans 4:3; Luke 10:26;
Isaiah 8:20; John 5:39). In this matter also let us stand firm in the
“sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”

(5) Let us settle it next in our minds that there are “no other means of
grace” in the Church which have any binding authority, except those well
known and simple ones which Christ and the Apostles have sanctioned. Let
us regard with a jealous suspicion all ceremonies and forms of man’s
invention, when they are invested with such exaggerated importance as to
thrust into the background God’s own appointments. It is the invariable
tendency of man’s inventions to supersede God’s ordinances. Let us
beware of making the Word of God of none effect by human devices. In
this matter also let us stand firm in the “sincere and pure devotion to
Christ.”

(6) Let us settle it next in our minds that “no teaching about the
Ordinances” is sound which gives them a power of which Christ says
nothing. Let us beware of admitting that either baptism or the Lord’s
Supper can confer grace “ex opere opere operato,” that is, by their mere
outward administration, independently of the state of heart of those who
receive them. Let us remember that the only proof that baptized people
and communicants have grace, is the exhibition of grace in their lives.
The fruits of the Spirit are the only evidences that we are born of the
Spirit and one with Christ, and not the mere reception of the Ordinances.
In this matter also let us stand firm in the “sincere and pure devotion
to Christ.”

(7) Let us settle it next in our minds that “no teaching about the Holy
Spirit” is safe which cannot be reconciled with the simple teaching of
Christ. They are not to be heard who assert that the Holy Spirit
actually dwells in all baptized people, without exception, by virtue of
their baptism, and that this grace within such people only needs to be
“stirred up.” The simple teaching of our Lord is, that He dwells only in
those who are His believing disciples, and that “the world cannot accept
him, because it neither sees him nor knows him” (John 14:17). His
indwelling is the special privilege of Christ’s people, and where He
is–He will be seen. On this point also let us stand firm in the
“sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”

(8) Finally let us settle it in our minds that no teaching can be
thoroughly sound, in which truth is not set forth in “the proportion of
Christ and the Apostles.” Let us beware of any teaching in which the
main thing is an incessant exaltation of the Church, the ministry, or the
ordinances, while such grand truths as repentance, faith, conversion,
holiness, are comparatively left in a subordinate and inferior place.
Place such teaching side by side with the teaching of the Gospels, Acts,
and Epistles. Count up texts. Make a calculation. Mark how
“comparatively” little is said in the New Testament about baptism, the
Lord’s Supper, the Church, and the ministry; and then judge for yourself
what is the proportion of truth. In this matter also, I say once more,
let us stand firm in the “sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”

The simple doctrine and rule of Christ, then–nothing added, nothing
taken away, nothing substituted–this is the mark at which we ought to
aim. This is the point from which departure ought to be dreaded. Can we
improve on His teaching? Are we wiser than He? Can we suppose that He
left anything of real vital importance unwritten, or liable to the vague
reports of human traditions? Shall we take on ourselves to say that we
can mend or change for the better any ordinance of His appointment? Can
we doubt that in matters about which He is silent we have need to act
very cautiously, very gently, very moderately, and must beware of
pressing them on those who do not see with our eyes? Above all we must
beware of asserting anything to be needful to salvation of which Christ
has said nothing at all? I only see one answer to such questions as
these. We must beware of anything which has even the appearance of
departure from the “sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”

The plain truth is that we cannot sufficiently exalt the Lord Jesus
Christ as the great Head of the Church, and Lord of all ordinances, no
less than as the Savior of sinners. I take it we all fail here. We do
not realize how high and great and glorious a King the Son of God is, and
what undivided loyalty we owe to One who has not delegated any of His
offices, or given His glory to another. The solemn words which John Owen
addressed to the House of Commons, in a sermon on the “Greatness of
Christ,” deserve to be remembered. I fear the House of Commons hears few
such sermons in the present day.

Christ is the “Way”–men without Him are Cains, wanderers,
vagabonds.

His is the “Truth”–men without Him are liars, like the
devil of old.

He is the “Life”–men without Him are dead in trespasses and
sins.

He is the “Light”–men without Him are in darkness, and do
not know where they go.

He is the “Vine”–men that are not in Him are withered
branches prepared for the fire.

He is the “Rock”–men not built on Him are carried away with
a flood.

He is the “Alpha and Omega,” the first and the last, the
author and the One that ends, the founder and finisher of
our salvation–he that does not have Him has neither the
beginning of good nor shall have the end of misery.

Oh, blessed Jesus, how much better it would be not to exist
than to exist without You! Never to be born than not to die
in You! A thousand hells is nothing compared to eternally
wanting Jesus Christ.

This witness is true. If we can say Amen to the spirit of this passage
it will be well with our souls. And now let me conclude this paper by
offering a few parting words of counsel to any one into whose hands it
may fall. I offer them not as one who has any authority but one who is
affectionately desirous to do good to his brethren. I offer them
especially to all Christians. And I offer them as counsels which I find
helpful to my own soul, and as such I venture to think they will be
helpful to others.

(1) In the first place, if we would be kept from falling into false
doctrine, “let us arm our minds with a thorough knowledge of God’s Word.”
Let us read our Bibles from beginning to end with daily diligence, and
constant prayer for the teaching of the Holy Spirit, and so strive to
become thoroughly familiar with their contents. Ignorance of the Bible
is the root of all error, and a superficial acquaintance with it accounts
for many of the sad perversions and defections of the present day. In a
hurrying age of travel and communication, I am firmly persuaded that many
Christians do not give time enough to private reading of the Scriptures.
I believe seriously that English people knew their Bibles better two
hundred years ago than they do now. The consequence is, that they are
“tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every
wind of teaching,” and fall an easy prey to the first clever teacher of
error who tries to influence their minds. I entreat my readers to
remember this counsel, and take heed to their ways.

It is as true now as ever, that the person who is versed in, or adheres
strictly to, the text of the Bible, is the only good theologian, and that
a familiarity with great Scriptures, is, as our Lord proved in the
temptation, one of the best safeguards against error. Arm yourself then
with the sword of the Spirit, and let your hand become used to it. I am
well aware that there is no royal road to Bible-knowledge. Without
diligence and pains no one ever becomes “mighty in the Scriptures.”
“Justification,” said Charles Simeon, with his characteristic quaintness,
“is by faith, but knowledge of the Bible comes by works,” But of one
thing I am certain: there is no labor which will be so richly repaid as
laborious regular daily study of God’s Word.

(2) The second and last counsel which I venture to offer is this. “Let
us make ourselves thoroughly acquainted with the history of the
Reformation.” My reason for offering this counsel is my firm conviction
that this highly important part of history has of late years been
undeservedly neglected. Thousands of Christians nowadays have a most
inadequate notion of the amount of our debt to our martyred Reformers.
They have no distinct conception of the state of darkness and
superstition in which our fathers lived, and of the light and liberty
which the Reformation brought in. And the consequence is that they see
no great harm in the Roman Catholic movement of the present day, and have
very indistinct ideas of the real nature and work of Catholicism. It is
high time that a better state of things should begin. Of one thing I am
thoroughly convinced: a vast amount of the prevailing apathy about the
Romanizing movement of the day may be traced up to gross ignorance, both
of the true nature of Catholicism and of the Protestant Reformation.

Ignorance, after all, is one of the best friends of false doctrine. More
light is one of the great wants of the day, even in our century.
Thousands are led astray by Catholicism or infidelity from sheer want of
reading and information. Once more I repeat, if men would only study
with attention the Bible and the History of the Reformation, I should
have little fear of their “minds being led astray from their sincere and
pure devotion to Christ.”

John Charles Ryle