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Quotes by C. H. Spurgeon
Affliction of itself does not sanctify any body, but the reverse. I believe in sanctified afflictions, but not in sanctifying afflictions.— filed under Affliction
Most of the grand truths of God have to be learned by trouble; they must be burned into us by the hot iron of affliction, otherwise we shall not truly receive them.— filed under Affliction
The Lord gets His best soldiers out of the highlands of affliction.— filed under Affliction
As sure as God ever puts His children into the furnace, He will be in the furnace with them.— filed under Affliction
Whatever we do to please ourselves, and only for the sake of the pleasure, not for an ultimate object, is "play," the "pleasing thing," not the useful thing. The first of all English games is making money. That is an all-absorbing game; and we knock each other down oftener in playing at that than at football, or any other rougher sport; and it is absolutely without purpose; no one who engages heartily in that game ever knows why. Ask a great money-maker what he wants to do with his money - he never knows. He doesn't make it to do any thing with it. He gets it only that he may get it. "What will you make of what you have got?" you ask, "Well, I'll get more," he says. Just as at cricket you get more runs. There is no use in the runs; but to get more of them than other people is the game. And there is no use in the money; but to have more of it than other people is the game.— filed under Amusement
There are believers who by God's grace, have climbed the mountains of full assurance and near communion, their place is with the eagle in his eyrie, high aloft; they are like the strong mountaineer, who has trodden the virgin snow, who has breathed the fresh, free air of the Alpine regions, and therefore his sinews are braced, and his limbs are vigorous; these are they who do great exploits, being mighty men, men of renown.— filed under Assurance
Never try to save out of God's cause; such money will canker the rest. Giving to God is no loss; it is putting your substance in the best bank. Giving is true having, as the old gravestone said of the dead man: "What I spent I had, what I saved I lost, what I gave I have."— filed under Beneficence
Many books in my library are now behind and beneath me. They were good in their way once, and so were the clothes I wore when I was ten years old; but I have outgrown them. Nobody ever outgrows Scripture; the book widens and deepens with our years.— filed under Bible
Conversion is not, as some suppose, a violent opening of the heart by grace, in which will, reason, and judgment are all ignored or crushed. The reason is not blinded, but enlightened; and the whole man is made to act with a glorious liberty which it never knew till it fell under the restraints of grace.— filed under Bible
He who climbs above the cares of this world, and turns his face to his God, has found the sunny side of life. The world's side of the hill is chill and freezing to a spiritual mind; but the Lord's presence gives a warmth of joy which turns winter into summer.— filed under Cares
A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you, and were helped by you, will remember you when forgetme-nots are withered. Carve your name on hearts, and not on marble.— filed under Character
دو In agony unknown He bleeds away His life; in terrible throes He exhausts His soul. "Eloi! Eloi! lama sabachthani? And then see! they pierce His side, and forthwith runneth out blood and water! This is the shedding of blood, the terrible pouring out of blood, without which, for you and the whole human race, there is no remission.— filed under Christ's Sufferings and Death
A child of God should be a visible Beatitude, for joy and happiness, and a living Doxology, for gratitude and adoration.— filed under Christians
God works, and therefore we work; God is with us, and therefore we are with God, and stand on His side.— filed under Christian Service
Jesus was a great worker, and His disciples must not be afraid of hard work.— filed under Christian Service
I believe that when Paul plants and Apollos waters, God gives the increase; and I have no patience with those who throw the blame on God when it belongs to themselves.— filed under Christian Service
When men's hearts are melted under the preaching of the word, or by sickness, or the loss of friends, believers should be very eager to stamp the truth upon the prepared mind. Such opportunities are to be seized with holy eagerness.— filed under Christian Service
The greatest, strongest, mightiest plea for the church of God in the world is the existence of the Spirit of God in its midst, and the works of the Spirit of God are the true evidences of Christianity. They say miracles are withdrawn, but the Holy Spirit is the standing miracle of the church of God to-day.— filed under Christianity
I think I speak not too strongly when I say that a church in the land without the Spirit of God is rather a curse than a blessing. If you have not the Spirit of God, Christian worker, remember you stand in somebody else's way; you are a tree bearing no fruit, standing where another fruitful tree might grow.— filed under Church
Doubts about the fundamentals of the gospel exist in certain churches, I am told, to a large extent. My dear friends, where there is a warm-hearted church, you do not hear of them. I never saw a fly light on a red-hot plate.— filed under Church
The church may go through her dark ages, but Christ is with her in the midnight; she may pass through her fiery furnace, but Christ is in the midst of the flame with her.— filed under Church
Losses and crosses are heavy to bear; but when our hearts are right with God, it is wonderful how easy the yoke becomes.— filed under Cross Bearing
Death is the waiting-room where we robe ourselves for immortality.— filed under Death
Do not wade far out into the dangerous sea of this world's comfort. Take the good that God provides you, but say of it, "It passeth away;" for, indeed, it is but a temporary supply for a temporary need. Never suffer your goods to become your God.— filed under Earth
Though Manasseh repented, his son Amon followed in the footsteps of his father in his wickedness, but not in his righteousness. Children will imitate their fathers in their vices, seldom in their repentance.— filed under Example
This is faith, receiving the truth of Christ; first knowing it to be true, and then acting upon that belief.— filed under Faith In Christ
The first thing in faith is knowledge. What we know we must also agree unto. What we agree unto we must rest upon alone for salvation. It will not save me to know that Christ is a Saviour; but it will save me to trust Him to be my Saviour.— filed under Faith In Christ
Faith has a saving connection with Christ. Christ is on the shore, so to speak, holding the rope, and as we lay hold of it with the hand of our confidence, He pulls us to shore; but all good works having no connection with Christ are drifted along down the gulf of fell despair.— filed under Faith In Christ
He that buildeth his nest upon a Divine promise shall find it abide and remain until he shall fly away to the land where promises are lost in fulfillments.— filed under Faith In God
The vendors of flowers in the streets of London are wont to commend them to customers by crying: "All a blowing and a growing." It would be no small praise to Christians if we could say as much for them.— filed under Growth In Grace
God looketh upon any thing we say, or any thing we do, and if He seeth Christ in it, He accepteth it; but if there be no Christ, He putteth it away as a foul thing.— filed under Holiness
Holiness is the architectural plan upon which God buildeth up His living temple.— filed under Holiness
When home is ruled according to God's word, angels might be asked to stay a night with us, and they would not find themselves out of their element.— filed under Home
When you see a man with a great deal of religion displayed in his shop window, you may depend upon it he keeps a very small stock of it within. -— filed under Hypocrisy
Men turn their faces to hell, and hope to get to heaven; why don't they walk into the horsepond, and hope to be dry?— filed under Hypocrisy
Ah, sinner, may the Lord quicken thee! But it is a work that makes the Saviour weep. I think when He comes to call some of you from your death in sin, He comes weeping and sighing for you. There is a stone that is to be rolled away your bad and evil habits - and when that stone is taken away, a still small voice will not do for you; it must be the loud crashing voice, like the voice of the Lord which breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.— filed under Impenitent
Some temptations come to the industrious, but all temptations attack the idle.— filed under Indolence
I am not the only one that condemns the idle; for once when I was going to give our minister a pretty long list of the sins of one of our people that he was asking after, I began with, "He's dreadfully lazy." "That's enough," said the old gentleman; "all sorts of sins are in that one."— filed under Indolence
- When you see a mad dog, don't argue with him unless you are sure of your logic.— filed under Infidelity
The serene, silent beauty of a holy life is the most powerful influence in the world, next to the might of the Spirit of God.— filed under Influence
I would not choose to go where I would be afraid to die, nor could I bear to live without a good hope for hereafter.— filed under Life
A Christian is the gentlest of men; but then he is a man.— filed under Manhood
Some people are never content with their lot, let what will happen. Clouds and darkness are over their heads, alike whether it rain or shine. To them every incident is an accident, and every accident a calamity.— filed under Murmuring
From mad dogs and grumbling professors may we all be delivered, and may we never take the complaint from either of them.— filed under Murmuring
The best thing is to go from nature's God down to nature ; and if you once get to nature's God, and believe Him, and love Him, it is surprising how easy it is to hear music in the waves, and songs in the wild whisperings of the winds; to see God everywhere in the stones, in the rocks, in the rippling brooks, and hear Him everywhere, in the lowing of cattle, in the rolling of thunder, and in the fury of tempests. Get Christ first, put Him in the right place, and you will find Him to be the wisdom of God in your own experience.— filed under Nature
"Sir," said the Duke of Wellington to an officer of engineers, who urged the impossibility of executing the directions he had received, "I did not ask your opinion, I gave you my orders, and I expect them to be obeyed." Such should be the obedience of every follower of Jesus.— filed under Obedience
The disciples of a patient Saviour should be patient themselves.— filed under Patience
The world's proverb is, "God help the poor, for the rich can help themselves; " but to our mind, it is just the rich who have most need of Heaven's help. Dives in scarlet is worse off than Lazarus in rags, unless Divine love shall uphold him.— filed under Poverty
Our prayers are ships. We send them to no uncertain port. They are destined for the throne of grace; and while they take a cargo of supplications from us, they come back argosies laden with the riches of Divine grace. Prayer pulls the rope below, and the great bell rings above in the ears of God. Some scarcely stir the bell, for they pray so languidly; others give but an occasional pluck at the rope; but he who wins with heaven is the man who grasps the rope boldly and pulls continuously, with all his might.— filed under Prayer
Sometimes a fog will settle over a vessel's deck and yet leave the topmast clear. Then a sailor goes up aloft and gets a lookout which the helmsman on deck cannot get. So prayer sends the soul aloft ; lifts it above the clouds in which our selfishness and egotism befog us, and gives us a chance to see which way to steer.— filed under Prayer
John Bunyan, while he had a surpassing genius, would not condescend to cull his language from the garden of flowers; but he went into the hayfield and the meadow, and plucked up his language by the roots, and spoke out in the words that the people used in their cottages.— filed under Preaching
The great bell of Moscow is too large to be hung, the question arises, what was the use of making it? Some preachers are so learned that they cannot make themselves understood, or else cannot bring their minds to preach plain, gospel sermons; here, too, the same question might be asked.— filed under Preaching
I never wish to be more charitable than Christ. I find it written: Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."— filed under Regeneration
Beware of no man more than of yourself; we carry our worst enemies within us.— filed under Selfishness
As for our own faults, it would take a large slate to hold the account of them; but, thank God, we know where to take them, and how to get the better of them.— filed under Sin
A man must have a stout digestion to feed upon some men's theology; no sap, no sweetness, no life, but all stern accuracy, and fleshless definition. Proclaimed without tenderness, and argued without affection, the gospel from such men rather resembles a missile from a catapult than bread from a Father's hand.— filed under Theology
When our troubles are many we are often by grace made courageous in serving our God; we feel that we have nothing to live for in this world, and we are driven, by hope of the world to come, to exhibit zeal, self-denial, and industry.— filed under Trials
Can you by humble faith look to Jesus and say: "My substitute, my refuge, my shield; Thou art my rock, my trust; in Thee do I confide?" Then, beloved, to you I have nothing to say, except this: "Never be afraid when you see God's power; for now that you are forgiven and accepted, now that by faith you have fled to Christ for refuge, the power of God need no more terrify you than the shield and sword of the warrior need terrify his wife and child."— filed under Trust In Christ
My trust is not that I am holy, but that, being unholy, Christ died for me. My rest is here, not in what I am or shall be or feel or know, but in what Christ is and must be,- in what Christ did and is still doing as He stands before yonder throne of glory.— filed under Trust In Christ
If you tell your troubles to God, you put them into the grave; they will never rise again when you have committed them to Him. If you roll your burden anywhere else, it will roll back again like the stone of Sisyphus.— filed under Trust In God
Toward the future let us look calmly, cheerfully, trustfully. The Lord is in it, and if we are His, we need fear no evil. I would sooner walk in the dark, and hold hard to a promise of my God, than trust in the light of the brighest day that ever dawned.— filed under Trust In God
Want of will causes paralysis of every faculty. In spiritual things man is utterly unable because resolvedly unwilling.— filed under Will
A Christian making money fast is just a man in a cloud of dust, it will fill his eyes if he be not careful.— filed under Worldliness