Until John, we have been using older manuscripts of Ryle's Expository Thoughts. Just recently, though, EP Publishing has put out a lightly updated version of Ryle's work, which I am now working from. If you are interested in a physical copy of the Expository Thoughts, you can find it HERE.

John 8:21-30

1. We learn that it is possible to seek Christ in vain.
2. We learn how wide is the difference between Christ and the ungodly.
3. We learn how awful is the end to which unbelief can bring.

"There is no safety except in seeking Christ while He may be found and calling on Him while He is near, seeking Him with a true heart and calling on Him with an honest spirit. Such seeking, we may be very sure, is never in vain."

"The true Christian will do well never to forget this line of demarcation. If they love their soul and desire to serve God, they must be content to find themselves separated from many around them by a gulf that cannot be passed."

"Let us never suppose that there is any lack of love in speaking of hell. Let us rather maintain that it is the highest love to warn men and women plainly of danger, and to plead with them to flee from the wrath to come. It was Satan, the deceiver, murderer and liar, who said to Eve in the beginning, “You will not surely die” (Genesis 3:4). To shrink from telling people that unless they believe they will die in their sins may please the devil, but surely it cannot please God."

Questions:

1. We read here a painful truth, namely that there can be those who look like they are seeking the Lord, but it is in vain. Ryle gives the example of those who seek Christ in certain circumstances, but if they are removed, those seeking in vain would fall away with them. We are encouraged that there is no seeking the Lord with a true heart and calling on him with an honest spirit. How does this truth hit us?
2. To follow Christ means that the world will not love us. Are we content to find ourselves separated from many around us who do not love Christ? Or, does the world love us as one of its own? Is it clear to those around us that we are Christians?
3. We read the sobering words in this text that those who do not believe will die in their sins. Ryle exhorts us to consider that to not speak of hell with others is not only unloving but pleases Satan who lied to Even in the garden about dying! Now please hear me clearly, this doesn't mean every conversation with an unbeliever must mention hell, but let us ask ourselves, do I ever speak of hell when I speak to unbelievers or do I avoid it? Let us not deceive ourselves in thinking it is unpopular today, because it has always been an unpopular teaching! But may we be more like Jesus who spoke about hell, than Satan who lied about the death to come!