J.C. Ryle: Suppose An Unholy Man Went to Heaven from Practical Christianity

About the Author

J.C. Ryle (1815-1900). Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones was one of the first in modern times to rediscover the writings of Bishop J.C. Ryle, whose name had been all but forgotten by the 1930’s, but whose writings at one time were sold by the millions all around the world. Lloyd-Jones said that he just happened to "stumble across" Ryle's Holiness in the 1930's in a second-hand bookshop. "I shall never forget the satisfaction – spiritual and mental – with which I read it." His works have been characterized as “a distillation of true Puritan theology presented in a highly readable and modern form." As a minister, he is considered one of the greatest of the Victorian evangelicals, and man whom Charles Spurgeon described as "the best man in the Church of England." He was converted at Oxford in 1837, so thoroughly that it was to have a profound effect on his later ministry, as he related nearly 40 years later: “Nothing I can remember to this day appeared to me so clear and distinct as my own sinfulness, Christ's preciousness, the value of the Bible, the absolute necessity of coming out of the world, the need of being born again and the enormous folly of the whole doctrine of baptismal regeneration....People may account for such a change as they like; my own belief is that … it was what the Bible calls "conversion" or "regeneration" ... and nothing to my mind can account for it, but the free sovereign grace of God." In his ministry, he relentlessly called for the reformation of the Church of England, both its clergy and laity, and especially focused on those whose lives did not match their professions. It is said he "… aimed at four things: the evangelising of English people; the purging of the English national Church; the uniting of English Christians; and the holiness of English believers."

Suppose An Unholy Man Went to Heaven

by J.C. Ryle

"Follow peace with all men, and holiness,
without which no man shall see the Lord." (Hebrews 12:14)

Suppose for a moment that someone was allowed to enter heaven without holiness. What would he do? What possible enjoyment could he feel there? To which of all the saints would he join himself, and by whose side would he sit? Their pleasures are not his pleasures, their tastes are not his tastes, their character not his character. How could he possibly be happy, if he had not been holy on earth?

Now perhaps he loves the company of the light and careless, the worldly-minded and the covetous, the reveler and the pleasure-seeker, the ungodly and the profane. There will be none such in heaven.

Now perhaps he thinks the godly saints too strict and particular and serious, and he rather avoids them. He has no delight in their society. There will be no other company in heaven.

Now perhaps he thinks praying and Scripture reading, and hymn singing, dull and melancholy, a thing to be tolerated now and then, but not enjoyed. He reckons the Sabbath a burden and a weariness; he could not possibly spend more than a small part of it in worshipping God. But heaven is a never-ending Sabbath. The inhabitants thereof rest not day and night, saying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty," and singing the praise of the Lamb. How could an unholy man find pleasure in occupation such as this?

Think you that such would delight to meet David and Paul and John, after a life spent in doing the very things they spoke against? Would he take sweet counsel with them and find that he and they had much in common? Think you, above all, that he would rejoice to meet Jesus, the crucified One, face to face, after cleaving to the sins for which He died, after loving His enemies and despising His friends? Would he stand before Him with confidence and join in the cry, "This is our God... we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation" (Isaiah 25:9)? Think you not rather that the tongue of an unholy man would cleave to the roof of his mouth with shame, and his only desire would be to be cast out? He would feel a stranger in a land he knew not, a black sheep amid Christ's holy flock. The voice of cherubim and seraphim, the song of angels and archangels, and all the company of heaven, would be a language he could not understand.

It does seem clear that heaven would be a miserable place to an unholy man. It cannot be otherwise. People may say they "hope to go to heaven," but they do not consider what they say... We must be heavenly-minded, and have heavenly tastes, in the life that now is, or else we shall never find ourselves in heaven, in the life to come.

Let me now say a few words by way of application: are you holy? Do you know anything of the holiness of which I have been speaking?

I do not ask whether you attend your church regularly, whether you have been baptized, and receive the Lord's Supper, whether you have the name of Christian. I ask something more than all this: are you holy, or are you not?

I do not ask whether you approve of holiness in others, whether you like to read the lives of holy people and to talk of holy things, and to have on your table holy books, whether you mean to be holy, and hope you will be holy some day. I ask you: are you yourself holy this very day, or are you not?

And why do I ask so straightly, and press the question so strongly? I do it because the Scripture says, "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." (Heb. 12:14) It is written, it is not my fancy; it is the Bible, not my private opinion; it is the word of God, not of man.

Alas, what searching, sifting words are these! I look at the world and see the greater part of it lying in wickedness. I look at professing Christians and see the vast majority having nothing of Christianity but the name. I turn to the Bible and I hear the Spirit saying, "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord."

Surely it is a text that ought to make us consider our ways, search our heart, and send us to prayer. You may say you feel much, and think much about these things, far more than many suppose: I answer, This is not the point. The poor lost souls in hell do as much as this. The great question is not what you think, and what you feel, but what you do.

You may say that holiness such as I have described is only for great saints, and people of uncommon gifts. I answer, I cannot see that in Scripture. I read that "every man who hath this hope in Christ purifies himself' (I John 3:3). "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord."

You may say, it is impossible to be so holy and to do our duty in this life at the same time. I answer, You are mistaken; with Christ on your side nothing is impossible. It has been done by many: David, Obadiah, Daniel and the servants of Nero's household are all examples that prove it.

You may say that to be so holy you would be unlike other people. I answer, I know it well. It is just what you ought to be. Christ's true servants were always unlike the world around them: they are a separate nation, a peculiar people, and you must be so too, if you would be saved!

You may say, at this rate very few will be saved. I answer, I know it. It is precisely what we are told in the Sermon on the Mount. The Lord Jesus said, "Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads unto life, and few there be that find it" (Matt. 7:14). Few will be saved because few will take the trouble to seek salvation. Men will not deny themselves the pleasures of sin and their own way for a little season...

You may say, these are hard sayings; the way is very narrow. I answer, I know it. So says the Sermon on the Mount. The Lord Jesus always said that men must take up the cross daily, and that they must be ready to cut off hand or foot, if they would be His disciples. It is in religion as it is in other things, there are no gains without pains. That which costs nothing is worth nothing.



	About the Author J.C. Ryle (1815-1900). Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones was one of the first in modern times to rediscover the writings of Bishop J.C. Ryle, whose name had been all but forgotten by the 1930’s, but whose writings at one time were sold by the millions all around the world. Lloyd-Jones said that he just happened to "stumble across" Ryle's Holiness in the 1930's in a second-hand bookshop. "I shall never forget the satisfaction – spiritual and mental – with which I read it." His works have been characterized as “a distillation of true Puritan theology presented in a highly readable and modern form." As a minister, he is considered one of the greatest of the Victorian evangelicals, and man whom Charles Spurgeon described as "the best man in the Church of England." He was converted at Oxford in 1837, so thoroughly that it was to have a profound effect on his later ministry, as he related nearly 40 years later: “Nothing I can remember to this day appeared to me so clear and distinct as my own sinfulness, Christ's preciousness, the value of the Bible, the absolute necessity of coming out of the world, the need of being born again and the enormous folly of the whole doctrine of baptismal regeneration....People may account for such a change as they like; my own belief is that … it was what the Bible calls "conversion" or "regeneration" ... and nothing to my mind can account for it, but the free sovereign grace of God." In his ministry, he relentlessly called for the reformation of the Church of England, both its clergy and laity, and especially focused on those whose lives did not match their professions. It is said he "… aimed at four things: the evangelising of English people; the purging of the English national Church; the uniting of English Christians; and the holiness of English believers." Suppose An Unholy Man Went to Heaven by J.C. Ryle "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." (Hebrews 12:14) Suppose for a moment that someone was allowed to enter heaven without holiness. What would he do? What possible enjoyment could he feel there? To which of all the saints would he join himself, and by whose side would he sit? Their pleasures are not his pleasures, their tastes are not his tastes, their character not his character. How could he possibly be happy, if he had not been holy on earth? Now perhaps he loves the company of the light and careless, the worldly-minded and the covetous, the reveler and the pleasure-seeker, the ungodly and the profane. There will be none such in heaven. Now perhaps he thinks the godly saints too strict and particular and serious, and he rather avoids them. He has no delight in their society. There will be no other company in heaven. Now perhaps he thinks praying and Scripture reading, and hymn singing, dull and melancholy, a thing to be tolerated now and then, but not enjoyed. He reckons the Sabbath a burden and a weariness; he could not possibly spend more than a small part of it in worshipping God. But heaven is a never-ending Sabbath. The inhabitants thereof rest not day and night, saying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty," and singing the praise of the Lamb. How could an unholy man find pleasure in occupation such as this? Think you that such would delight to meet David and Paul and John, after a life spent in doing the very things they spoke against? Would he take sweet counsel with them and find that he and they had much in common? Think you, above all, that he would rejoice to meet Jesus, the crucified One, face to face, after cleaving to the sins for which He died, after loving His enemies and despising His friends? Would he stand before Him with confidence and join in the cry, "This is our God... we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation" (Isaiah 25:9)? Think you not rather that the tongue of an unholy man would cleave to the roof of his mouth with shame, and his only desire would be to be cast out? He would feel a stranger in a land he knew not, a black sheep amid Christ's holy flock. The voice of cherubim and seraphim, the song of angels and archangels, and all the company of heaven, would be a language he could not understand. It does seem clear that heaven would be a miserable place to an unholy man. It cannot be otherwise. People may say they "hope to go to heaven," but they do not consider what they say... We must be heavenly-minded, and have heavenly tastes, in the life that now is, or else we shall never find ourselves in heaven, in the life to come. Let me now say a few words by way of application: are you holy? Do you know anything of the holiness of which I have been speaking? I do not ask whether you attend your church regularly, whether you have been baptized, and receive the Lord's Supper, whether you have the name of Christian. I ask something more than all this: are you holy, or are you not? I do not ask whether you approve of holiness in others, whether you like to read the lives of holy people and to talk of holy things, and to have on your table holy books, whether you mean to be holy, and hope you will be holy some day. I ask you: are you yourself holy this very day, or are you not? And why do I ask so straightly, and press the question so strongly? I do it because the Scripture says, "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." (Heb. 12:14) It is written, it is not my fancy; it is the Bible, not my private opinion; it is the word of God, not of man. Alas, what searching, sifting words are these! I look at the world and see the greater part of it lying in wickedness. I look at professing Christians and see the vast majority having nothing of Christianity but the name. I turn to the Bible and I hear the Spirit saying, "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." Surely it is a text that ought to make us consider our ways, search our heart, and send us to prayer. You may say you feel much, and think much about these things, far more than many suppose: I answer, This is not the point. The poor lost souls in hell do as much as this. The great question is not what you think, and what you feel, but what you do. You may say that holiness such as I have described is only for great saints, and people of uncommon gifts. I answer, I cannot see that in Scripture. I read that "every man who hath this hope in Christ purifies himself' (I John 3:3). "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." You may say, it is impossible to be so holy and to do our duty in this life at the same time. I answer, You are mistaken; with Christ on your side nothing is impossible. It has been done by many: David, Obadiah, Daniel and the servants of Nero's household are all examples that prove it. You may say that to be so holy you would be unlike other people. I answer, I know it well. It is just what you ought to be. Christ's true servants were always unlike the world around them: they are a separate nation, a peculiar people, and you must be so too, if you would be saved! You may say, at this rate very few will be saved. I answer, I know it. It is precisely what we are told in the Sermon on the Mount. The Lord Jesus said, "Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads unto life, and few there be that find it" (Matt. 7:14). Few will be saved because few will take the trouble to seek salvation. Men will not deny themselves the pleasures of sin and their own way for a little season... You may say, these are hard sayings; the way is very narrow. I answer, I know it. So says the Sermon on the Mount. The Lord Jesus always said that men must take up the cross daily, and that they must be ready to cut off hand or foot, if they would be His disciples. It is in religion as it is in other things, there are no gains without pains. That which costs nothing is worth nothing.