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Coming Events and Present Duties: What the Bible Tells Us Clearly about Christ’s Return [Updated and Annotated]
▶ DESCRIPTION
The volume now in the reader's hands requires a few introductory words of explanation. It contains little that is entirely new. It consists of eight sermons, delivered on public occasions, at various intervals during my ministry, and afterwards published in the form of tracts. Of these sermons, one or two have perhaps obtained a greater circulation than they deserved, while one or two, in my humble judgment of more real worth — have received comparatively little notice. They are now brought together in their present form, for the convenience of those who wish to have a manual of my views of prophecy, in a compact state.
▶ CONTENTS
1. Preface to Second Edition
2. Preface
3. Watch!
4. What Time Is It?
5. Idolatry!
6. The Reading Which Is Blessed
7. Occupy Until I Come
8. Scattered Israel to Be Gathered
9. Other Books
▶ AUTHOR
Ryle was a strong supporter of the evangelical school and a critic of Ritualism. He was a writer, pastor and an evangelical preacher. Among his longer works are Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century (1869), Expository Thoughts on the Gospels (7 vols, 1856–69), Principles for Churchmen (1884). Ryle was described as having a commanding presence and vigorous in advocating his principles albeit with a warm disposition. He was also credited with having success in evangelizing the blue collar community. His second son, Herbert Edward Ryle also a clergyman, became Dean of Westminster.
The volume now in the reader's hands requires a few introductory words of explanation. It contains little that is entirely new. It consists of eight sermons, delivered on public occasions, at various intervals during my ministry, and afterwards published in the form of tracts. Of these sermons, one or two have perhaps obtained a greater circulation than they deserved, while one or two, in my humble judgment of more real worth — have received comparatively little notice. They are now brought together in their present form, for the convenience of those who wish to have a manual of my views of prophecy, in a compact state.
▶ CONTENTS
1. Preface to Second Edition
2. Preface
3. Watch!
4. What Time Is It?
5. Idolatry!
6. The Reading Which Is Blessed
7. Occupy Until I Come
8. Scattered Israel to Be Gathered
9. Other Books
▶ AUTHOR
Ryle was a strong supporter of the evangelical school and a critic of Ritualism. He was a writer, pastor and an evangelical preacher. Among his longer works are Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century (1869), Expository Thoughts on the Gospels (7 vols, 1856–69), Principles for Churchmen (1884). Ryle was described as having a commanding presence and vigorous in advocating his principles albeit with a warm disposition. He was also credited with having success in evangelizing the blue collar community. His second son, Herbert Edward Ryle also a clergyman, became Dean of Westminster.
- GenresChristian
201 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2007
183 people are currently reading
92 people want to read
About the author
J.C. Ryle
821 books490 followers(John Charles Ryle) Ryle started his ministry as curate at the Chapel of Ease in Exbury, Hampshire, moving on to become rector of St Thomas's, Winchester in 1843 and then rector of Helmingham, Suffolk the following year. While at Helmingham he married and was widowed twice. He began publishing popular tracts, and Matthew, Mark and Luke of his series of Expository Thoughts on the Gospels were published in successive years (1856-1858). His final parish was Stradbroke, also in Suffolk, where he moved in 1861, and it was as vicar of All Saints that he became known nationally for his straightforward preaching and firm defence of evangelical principles. He wrote several well-known and still-in-print books, often addressing issues of contemporary relevance for the Church from a biblical standpoint. He completed his Expository Thoughts on the Gospels while at Stradbroke, with his work on the Gospel of John (1869). His third marriage, to Henrietta Amelia Clowes in 1861, lasted until her death in 1889.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 4, 2018
In 1879, Ryle published a theme collection of sermons and tracts about 'coming events and present duties' (aka end times prophecy). In his preface, he makes a great point, one that we'd all do well to remember. "I judge nobody. I only ask liberty to hold and state distinctly my own views. The day will decide who is right. It is the new heart, and faith in Christ’s blood — which are absolutely necessary to salvation. The man who knows these two things experimentally, may be wrong about prophecy—but he will not miss Heaven." He goes on to state eleven articles of his prophetic creed. Of those eleven, I find myself mostly in agreement.
1. I believe that the world will never be completely converted to Christianity by any existing agency, before the end comes. In spite of all that can be done by ministers, churches, schools, and missions —the wheat and the tares will grow together until the harvest; and when the end comes, it will find the earth in much the same state that it was when the flood came in the days of Noah.(Matthew 13:24-30; 24:37-39.)
2. I believe that the wide-spread unbelief, indifference, formalism, and wickedness, which are to be seen throughout Christendom —are only what we are taught to expect in God's Word. Troublous times, departures from the faith, evil men waxing worse and worse, love waxing cold —are things distinctly predicted. So far from making me doubt the truth of Christianity, they help to confirm my faith.
3. I believe that the grand purpose of the present dispensation is to gather out of the world an elect people —and not to convert all mankind. It does not surprise me at all to hear that the heathen are not all converted when missionaries preach, and that believers are but a little flock in any congregation in my own land. It is precisely the state of things which I expect to find.
4. I believe that the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is the great event which will wind up the present dispensation, and for which we ought daily to long and pray. "May Your kingdom come!" "Come, Lord Jesus!" should be our daily prayer. We look backward, if we have faith, to Christ dying on the cross; and we ought to look forward no less, if we have hope, to Christ coming again.
5. I believe that the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ will be a real, literal, personal, bodily coming; and that as He went away in the clouds of Heaven with His body, before the eyes of men —so in like manner He will return.
6. I believe that after our Lord Jesus Christ comes again, the earth shall be renewed, and the curse removed; the devil shall be bound, the godly shall be rewarded, the wicked shall be punished; and that before He comes, there shall be neither resurrection, judgment, nor millennium, and that not until after He comes, shall the earth be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord.
7. I believe that the Jews shall ultimately be gathered again as a separate nation, restored to their own land, and converted to the faith of Christ, after going through great tribulation.
8. I believe that the literal sense of Old Testament prophecies has been far too much neglected by the Churches, and is far too much neglected at the present day, and that under the mistaken system of spiritualizing and accommodating Bible language, Christians have too often completely missed its meaning.
9. I do not believe that the preterist scheme of interpreting the Apocalypse, which regards the book as almost entirely fulfilled; or the futurist scheme, which regards it as almost entirely unfulfilled —are either of them to be implicitly followed. The truth, I expect, will be found to lie between the two.
10. I believe that the Roman Catholic Church is the great predicted apostasy from the faith, and is Babylon and Antichrist; although I think it highly probable that a more complete development of Antichrist will yet be exhibited to the world.
11. Finally, I believe that it is for the safety, happiness, and comfort of all true Christians, to expect as little as possible from Churches or Governments under the present dispensation —to hold themselves ready for tremendous convulsions and changes of all things established —and to expect their good things only from Christ's second advent.
This one includes the following sermons: "Watch!" "What Time Is It?" "Idolatry!" "The Reading Which is Blessed" "Occupy Until I Come" and "Scattered Israel to Be Gathered."
Each sermon has a scriptural basis. "Watch!" is expository preaching on Matthew 25:1-13, "What Time Is It?" is expository preaching on Romans 13:12. "Idolatry" is expository preaching on 1 Corinthians 10:14. "The Reading Which Is Blessed" is expository preaching on Revelation 1:1-3. "Occupy Until I Come" is expository preaching on Luke 19:11-13. "Scattered Israel to Be Gathered" is expository preaching on Jeremiah 31:10. Most--if not all--sermons have application and invitation built right in.
1. I believe that the world will never be completely converted to Christianity by any existing agency, before the end comes. In spite of all that can be done by ministers, churches, schools, and missions —the wheat and the tares will grow together until the harvest; and when the end comes, it will find the earth in much the same state that it was when the flood came in the days of Noah.(Matthew 13:24-30; 24:37-39.)
2. I believe that the wide-spread unbelief, indifference, formalism, and wickedness, which are to be seen throughout Christendom —are only what we are taught to expect in God's Word. Troublous times, departures from the faith, evil men waxing worse and worse, love waxing cold —are things distinctly predicted. So far from making me doubt the truth of Christianity, they help to confirm my faith.
3. I believe that the grand purpose of the present dispensation is to gather out of the world an elect people —and not to convert all mankind. It does not surprise me at all to hear that the heathen are not all converted when missionaries preach, and that believers are but a little flock in any congregation in my own land. It is precisely the state of things which I expect to find.
4. I believe that the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is the great event which will wind up the present dispensation, and for which we ought daily to long and pray. "May Your kingdom come!" "Come, Lord Jesus!" should be our daily prayer. We look backward, if we have faith, to Christ dying on the cross; and we ought to look forward no less, if we have hope, to Christ coming again.
5. I believe that the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ will be a real, literal, personal, bodily coming; and that as He went away in the clouds of Heaven with His body, before the eyes of men —so in like manner He will return.
6. I believe that after our Lord Jesus Christ comes again, the earth shall be renewed, and the curse removed; the devil shall be bound, the godly shall be rewarded, the wicked shall be punished; and that before He comes, there shall be neither resurrection, judgment, nor millennium, and that not until after He comes, shall the earth be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord.
7. I believe that the Jews shall ultimately be gathered again as a separate nation, restored to their own land, and converted to the faith of Christ, after going through great tribulation.
8. I believe that the literal sense of Old Testament prophecies has been far too much neglected by the Churches, and is far too much neglected at the present day, and that under the mistaken system of spiritualizing and accommodating Bible language, Christians have too often completely missed its meaning.
9. I do not believe that the preterist scheme of interpreting the Apocalypse, which regards the book as almost entirely fulfilled; or the futurist scheme, which regards it as almost entirely unfulfilled —are either of them to be implicitly followed. The truth, I expect, will be found to lie between the two.
10. I believe that the Roman Catholic Church is the great predicted apostasy from the faith, and is Babylon and Antichrist; although I think it highly probable that a more complete development of Antichrist will yet be exhibited to the world.
11. Finally, I believe that it is for the safety, happiness, and comfort of all true Christians, to expect as little as possible from Churches or Governments under the present dispensation —to hold themselves ready for tremendous convulsions and changes of all things established —and to expect their good things only from Christ's second advent.
This one includes the following sermons: "Watch!" "What Time Is It?" "Idolatry!" "The Reading Which is Blessed" "Occupy Until I Come" and "Scattered Israel to Be Gathered."
Each sermon has a scriptural basis. "Watch!" is expository preaching on Matthew 25:1-13, "What Time Is It?" is expository preaching on Romans 13:12. "Idolatry" is expository preaching on 1 Corinthians 10:14. "The Reading Which Is Blessed" is expository preaching on Revelation 1:1-3. "Occupy Until I Come" is expository preaching on Luke 19:11-13. "Scattered Israel to Be Gathered" is expository preaching on Jeremiah 31:10. Most--if not all--sermons have application and invitation built right in.
September 13, 2022
John Charles Ryle is quickly becoming one of my favorite preacher / theologians. He is very easy to read, but his content follows that rich stream of Puritan teaching and is saturated in Scriptural truth.
This book is a collection of sermons on the end times--a topic I needed further study in. Ryle is unique in that he is regarded a great reformed preacher, promoted heavily by Banner of Truth, yet he nevertheless diverges from mainstream reformed thinking when he sees the Bible do so. Ryle is strictly premillennial, and insists on a literal fulfillment to those many Old Testament prophecies about Israel's return to the land and the Messiah's physical reign. He is critical of alternative views that seek to spiritualize a prophecy when a plain reading would do much better: "If you expect the Jews to take the 53rd of Isaiah literally, be sure you take the 54th and 60th and 62nd literally also. The Protestant Reformers were not perfect. On no point, I venture to say, were they so much in the wrongas in the interpretation of Old Testament prophecy." This ability to break from what is generally held on the basis of Biblical conviction is most commendable.
One of the questions I have wrestled with he addresses most straightforwardly: "Why study something so uncertain and full of alternative interpretations?" Ryle insists that the study of the end times is of great importance to the Christian life and to living sober minded in these days. It will spur us "more and more to be a 'doing' Christian." It is "thre reading that is blessed" and will reap Spiritual reward in the Christian's life.
His sermon on the 10 virgins and the final sermon "Heirs of God" are perfectly structured and very convicting. Even without the end times subject matter, these sermons are worth the reading of the book alone.
This book is a collection of sermons on the end times--a topic I needed further study in. Ryle is unique in that he is regarded a great reformed preacher, promoted heavily by Banner of Truth, yet he nevertheless diverges from mainstream reformed thinking when he sees the Bible do so. Ryle is strictly premillennial, and insists on a literal fulfillment to those many Old Testament prophecies about Israel's return to the land and the Messiah's physical reign. He is critical of alternative views that seek to spiritualize a prophecy when a plain reading would do much better: "If you expect the Jews to take the 53rd of Isaiah literally, be sure you take the 54th and 60th and 62nd literally also. The Protestant Reformers were not perfect. On no point, I venture to say, were they so much in the wrongas in the interpretation of Old Testament prophecy." This ability to break from what is generally held on the basis of Biblical conviction is most commendable.
One of the questions I have wrestled with he addresses most straightforwardly: "Why study something so uncertain and full of alternative interpretations?" Ryle insists that the study of the end times is of great importance to the Christian life and to living sober minded in these days. It will spur us "more and more to be a 'doing' Christian." It is "thre reading that is blessed" and will reap Spiritual reward in the Christian's life.
His sermon on the 10 virgins and the final sermon "Heirs of God" are perfectly structured and very convicting. Even without the end times subject matter, these sermons are worth the reading of the book alone.
November 9, 2025
J.C. Ryle writes this book from a historic pre-millennial perspective, but has insights that dispensational or amillennial positions will find helpful. A post-millennialist will probably not find much of value in Ryle’s thoughts. My chief complaint of this work is that it is very repetitive due to it being a collection of disconnected sermons (not a series) and so Ryle said many of the same things on different occasions. Had this been rewritten as a book rather than a collection of sermons, it would be about half the length. I also wish Ryle had given more scripture supporting his beliefs about Israel. In every sermon he says there is an abundance of scriptures that support his view but quotes maybe one or two in all those sermons. Again, a book format would have served better as he would have had more time to unpack and defend his views with more scriptural engagement. Overall, I was underwhelmed by this book.
August 20, 2025
This book deserves a much broader audience. It's so well done.
I’ve heard the usefulness of the study of prophecy questioned quite frequently. I wish I’d had this book on hand then to give those questioners. It’s a beautiful mix of Biblical exposition and practical application. I don’t always agree with everything Ryle wrote or preached, but this book is spot on. It is full of the joyful anticipation of our Lord’s return and rule over the world from a restored Israel and Jerusalem. But it also calls us to faithful living until that day.
Read this one! You will be challenged to rejoice in Christ’s victory, study the Word of God, and reach out to those who need Christ’s salvation.
I’ve heard the usefulness of the study of prophecy questioned quite frequently. I wish I’d had this book on hand then to give those questioners. It’s a beautiful mix of Biblical exposition and practical application. I don’t always agree with everything Ryle wrote or preached, but this book is spot on. It is full of the joyful anticipation of our Lord’s return and rule over the world from a restored Israel and Jerusalem. But it also calls us to faithful living until that day.
Read this one! You will be challenged to rejoice in Christ’s victory, study the Word of God, and reach out to those who need Christ’s salvation.
November 13, 2022
I read this book for free on Google play books. Published by Aneko Press.
A book on eschatology, a very conservative one. the author didn't want to make any interpretation to the symbols in the book of revelations. the author argue that there remains a very large number of visions and emblems which the Spirit has not thought fit to interpret. These symbols are unquestionably dark and mysterious. Even after all the attempts of commentators, both ancient and modern, preterist and futurist, there are still many visions and symbols of Revelation which we do not understand.
A book on eschatology, a very conservative one. the author didn't want to make any interpretation to the symbols in the book of revelations. the author argue that there remains a very large number of visions and emblems which the Spirit has not thought fit to interpret. These symbols are unquestionably dark and mysterious. Even after all the attempts of commentators, both ancient and modern, preterist and futurist, there are still many visions and symbols of Revelation which we do not understand.
July 5, 2023
Let's just say that exposition is not a strong point of this collection of sermons.
September 22, 2024
I have read a few books by J. C. Ryle and always find them to be very informative. Don't let the time period of his books deter you from reading them. They are still relevant to our times.
January 30, 2018
JC Ryle cuts to the chase quickly. He is not one to speculate onlast things but sticks to the Scripture and what he knows. He sets no dates but focuses on what Revelation and other Scripture says about the end times. Though written in 1867 and going against the current grain of allegorizing Scripture and claiming Israel's blessings for the Church, Ryle correctly interprets Scripture to foretell the regathering of Israel in their land. This is an excellent focus for the Church as we approach the end times.
March 17, 2025
Another great book by Ryle.
I find it interesting that several people claim that Ryle was an historic premillennialist, yet I grew up in a church that was, I believe, mostly optimistic amillennialist or post, and I found nothing to disagree with Ryle on in this book.
I find it interesting that several people claim that Ryle was an historic premillennialist, yet I grew up in a church that was, I believe, mostly optimistic amillennialist or post, and I found nothing to disagree with Ryle on in this book.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews