The Upper Room (J. C. Ryle)

The Upper Room

Being a Few Truths for the Times

The dawn of New Testament Christianity in an upper room in Jerusalem and its final triumph when ‘many shall come from East and West and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven’, mark the beginning and ending respectively of the general sweep of this republished volume of papers by Bishop J.C. Ryle.

Sermons in some cases, lectures in others, they all exhibit the robust evangelical doctrine and down-to earth application, characteristic of Ryle’s style. With a vibrant challenging note and an occasional flash of humor, reliable advice, grounded in Biblical principles, is offered to ministers and congregations, parents and children, young and old, converted and unconverted.

Ryle’s deep pastoral concern for his flock and his gospel zeal compel every reader’s attention.  As with all his writings, Ryle continues to have an astonishingly contemporary and relevant tone in whatever he writes.

“I have reached an age when I cannot reasonably expect to write much more. There are many thoughts in this volume which I do not wish to leave behind me in the precarious form of separate single sermons, addresses, lectures, and tracts. I have therefore resolved to gather them together in the volume I now send forth, which I heartily pray God to bless, and to make it a permanent blessing to many souls.”

— J. C. Ryle, at the time of first publication of The Upper Room in 1888.

Table of Contents

1. “They went into an upper room”
2. “Luke, the beloved physician”
3. Simplicity in Preaching
4. Foundation Truths
5. The Good Way
6. “One Blood”
7. “Let any man come”
8. Victory
9. Athens
10. Portraits
11. “To Whom?”
12. Our Profession
13. Many
14. Without Clouds
15. The Lord’s Garden
16. The Duties of Parents
17. Rights and Duties of Lay Churchmen
18. Questions about Regeneration
19. Thoughts for Young Men
20. Questions about the Lord’s Supper
21. “For Kings”