Expository Thoughts on Luke, vol. 2
Overview
Volume two of J.C. Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on Luke begins with the Lord’s Prayer. “The substance of the Lord’s Prayer is a mine of spiritual treasure,” writes Ryle. Covering Luke 11–24, Ryle’s thorough examination of Luke serves as a wonderful guidebook for improved comprehension of the Scriptures.
Top Highlights
“what first struck his conscience and moved him to repent, we are not told.” (Page 475)
“We learn, lastly, from these verses, that converted sinners will always give evidence of their conversion.” (Page 293)
“We see, secondly, in these verses, the almighty power of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Page 120)
“We must never explain any text of Scripture in such a manner as to make it contradict another. Our Lord did not mean us to understand that it is the duty of Christians to hate their relatives. This would have been to contradict the fifth commandment. He only meant that those who follow Him must love Him with a deeper love even than their nearest and dearest connections, or their own lives.—He did not mean that it is an essential part of Christianity to quarrel with our relatives and friends. But He did mean that if the claims of our relatives and the claims of Christ come into collision, the claims of relatives must give way. We must choose rather to displease those we love most upon earth, than to displease Him who died for us on the cross.” (Pages 166–167)
“The lesson before us is humbling, heart-searching, and deeply instructive. The best of us are far too like the nine lepers. We are more ready to pray than to praise, and more disposed to ask God for what we have not, than to thank Him for what we have. Murmurings, and complainings, and discontent abound on every side of us. Few indeed are to be found who are not continually hiding their mercies under a bushel, and setting their wants and trials on a hill. These things ought not so to be. But all who know the church and the world must confess that they are true. The wide-spread thanklessness of Christians is the disgrace of our day. It is a plain proof of our little humility.” (Page 234)
- Title: Expository Thoughts on Luke, vol. 2
- Author: J.C. Ryle
- Publisher: Robert Carter & Brothers
- Publication Date: 1879
- Pages: 582
J. C. Ryle (1816–1900) was educated at Christ Church, Oxford, where he was a Craven scholar. He was ordained in 1841 and became a leader of the evangelical party in the Church of England. In 1880, Ryle became the first bishop of Liverpool and also served as the dean of Salisbury. Ryle remained the bishop of Liverpool for 20 years.
Ryle was noted for his doctrinal essays and polemical writings. His bestselling titles include Expository Thoughts on Mark and Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties and Roots which can both be found in the J. C. Ryle Collection (18 vols.). He also contributed three volumes in the Crossway Classic Commentary Collection (13 vols.).
