It's been a while since I offered you some thoughts by one of my all-time favorites -- Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892). The pens of some writers put out a best-selling book and then fade. Others might put out two of three. Still others are popular for a time, but their writings lose relevance over time. Spurgeon is different. He offers us a seemingly endless source of timeless spiritual inspiration and encouragement even to this day. The following 25 quotes are simply a small sampling of the wise guidance he still has to offer. Enjoy.
"With heights of joy in serving my Master I am very familiar. But into the very depths of despair -- such an inward sinking that I cannot describe -- I have likewise sunk. Yet I do know that my Redeemer lives, that the battle is sure, and that the victory is safe."
"Whenever God means to make a man great, He always begins by breaking him in pieces first."
"When I was coming to Christ I thought I was doing it all myself, and though I did seek the Lord, I had no idea the Lord was actually seeking me."
"Unbelief will destroy the best of us. Faith will save the worst of us."
"Do not go [to church] where it is all fine music, grand speech, and beautiful architecture. Go where the Gospel is preached and go often."
"A great deal of unfaithfulness is caused by endeavoring to please people."
"I may know all the doctrines of the Bible, but unless I know Christ, there is not one of them that can save me."
"'Men ought always to pray' (I Thess. 5:17). It is always the wisest thing to do. 'Men ought always to pray.' It is sometimes the only thing they can do. 'Men ought always to pray,' or else they can take the matter out of God's hand. 'Men ought always to pray,' for they always need God's help, whether they think so or not."
"Wash your face each morning in a bath of praise."
"As a bird cannot exhaust the air in the sky, nor a fish the water in the sea, so we cannot exhaust the grace of God."
"Never account prayer second to preaching. No doubt prayer in the Christian church is as precious as the preaching of the Gospel. To speak to God on behalf of men is a part of the Christian priesthood that should never be despised."
"When the devil opens his mouth in slander, it gives me the opportunity to shove the sword of truth down his throat."
"Never let anxieties about sanctification destroy your confidence in justification."
"Beware of self-righteousness. The Black Devil of licentiousness destroys his hundreds, but the White Devil of self-righteousness destroys his thousands."
"We must expect trials, because trails are the element of faith. Faith without trial is like a diamond uncut, the brilliance of which has never been seen. A fish without water, or a bird without air, is faith without trial."
"The first link between my soul and Christ is not my goodness but my badness, not my merit but my misery, not my riches but my need."
"Believer: You stand before God as if you were Christ, because Christ stood before God as if He were you."
"Lord Jesus, we come just as we are. This is how we came at first, and this is how we come still, with all our failures, with all our transgressions, with all and everything that is what it ought not to be. We do bless You that You did receive us and that by Your wounds we are healed. You do receive us, and our sins, and by Your sin-bearing we are set clear and free from sin."
"The greatest enemy to the human soul is the self-righteous spirit which makes men look to themselves for salvation."
"Whatever a man depends upon, whatever rules his mind, whatever governs his affections, whatever is the chief object of his delight, is his god."
"It is never said [in the Bible] 'whom the Lord loves He enriches,' but it is said 'whom the Lord loves He disciplines.'"
"Any faith that rests short of the Cross is a faith that will land you short of heaven."
"A Bible that is falling apart usually belongs to a person who isn't."
In the Grip of His Grace, Pastor Jeff
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