Charles Spurgeon Quotes & Sayings

Unless you have forgiven others you read your own death warrant when you repeat the Lord's Prayer — Charles Spurgeon

Now let us find solace in the finished work of our Lord Jesus. Everything is fully done: justice demands no more. — Charles Spurgeon

No matter how dear you are to God, if pride is harboured in your spirit, He will whip it out of you. They that go up in their own estimation must come down again by His discipline — Charles Spurgeon

What an encouraging thought that Jesus - our beloved Husband - can find comfort in our lowly feeble gifts! Can this be, for it seems far too good to be true? May we then be willing to endure trials or even death itself if through these hardships we are assisted in bringing gladness to Immanuel's heart. — Charles Spurgeon

I slew him-this right hand struck the dagger to his heart. My deeds slew Christ. Alas! I slew my best beloved; I killed him who loved me with an everlasting love. Oh eyes, why do you refuse to weep when you see Jesus' body mangled and torn? Give vent to your sorrow, Christians, for you have good reason to do so. — Charles Spurgeon

Make the most of prayer ... Prayer is the master-weapon. We should be wise if we used it more, and did so with a more specific purpose. — Charles Spurgeon

Be careful, dear friends, that you do not misrepresent God yourselves. You who murmur; you who say that God deals hardly with you, you give God an ill character; when you look so melancholy, worldlings say, "The religion of Jesus is intolerable;" and so you stain the honor of God. — Charles Spurgeon

Nothing puts life into men like a dying Savior. — Charles Spurgeon

It is a grand thing to see a man thoroughly possessed with one master-passion. Such a man is sure to be strong, and if the master-principle be excellent, he is sure to be excellent, too. — Charles Spurgeon

I believe that much of the secret of soul-winning lies in having bowels of compassion, in having spirits that can be touched with the feeling of human infirmities. — Charles Spurgeon

If we do wrong and no harm comes of it, we are not thereby justified. If we did evil and good came of it, the evil would be just as evil. It is not the result of the action, but the action itself which God weighs. — Charles Spurgeon

Let me say that for comfort, there is no thought more full of sweetness than that of an eternal God engaged in Christ Jesus to His people; to love, and bless, and save them all. One Who has made them the distinguished objects of His discriminating regard from all eternity, it is the eternal God. — Charles Spurgeon

Every sinner must be quickened by the same life, made obedient to the same gospel, washed in the same blood, clothed in the same righteousness, filled with the same divine energy, and eventually taken up to the same heaven, and yet in the conversion of no two sinners will you find matters precisely the same. — Charles Spurgeon

A dark cloud is no sign that the sun has lost his light; and dark black convictions are no arguments that God has laid aside His mercy. — Charles Spurgeon

Lord Jesus, cause me to know in my daily experience the glory and sweetness of Thy name, and then teach me how to use it in my prayer, so that I may be a prince prevailing with God. — Charles Spurgeon

Men will never be great in theology until they are great in suffering. — Charles Spurgeon

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. — Charles Spurgeon

No one is so miserable as the poor person who maintains the appearance of wealth. — Charles Spurgeon

God be thanked when the Law so works as to take off the sinner from all confidence in himself! To make the leper confess that he is incurable is going a great way toward compelling him to go to that divine Savior, who alone is able to heal him. This is the whole end of the Law toward men whom God will save. — Charles Spurgeon

Prayer is the lisping of the believing infant, the shout of the fighting believer, the requiem of the dying saint falling asleep in Jesus. — Charles Spurgeon

True prayer is the trading of the heart with God, and the heart never comes into spiritual commerce with the ports of heaven until God the Holy Ghost puts wind into the sails and speeds the ship into its haven. — Charles Spurgeon

Morality may keep you out of jail, but it takes the blood of Jesus Christ to keep you out of hell. — Charles Spurgeon

Many a text [of Scripture] is written in a secret ink which must be held to the fire of adversity to make it visible. — Charles Spurgeon

It is the habit of faith, when she is praying, to use pleas. Mere prayer sayers, who do not pray at all, forget to argue with God; but those who prevail bring forth their reasons and their strong arguments — Charles Spurgeon

The verb 'highly favored' (Luke 1:28) is the same as 'made us accepted' in Ephesians 1:6, referring to all of God's children. All true believers have been 'highly graced' by the Lord. — Charles Spurgeon

Alas! You complain that your soul is out of tune. Then ask the Master to tune the heart-strings. — Charles Spurgeon

The man who is deeply discontented with himself is probably growing fast into the full likeness of Christ. — Charles Spurgeon

One word from the Lord is like a piece of gold to a believer, who is like a jeweler, shaping and hammering out the promise for a number of weeks. — Charles Spurgeon

Sometimes we think we are too busy to pray. That is a great mistake, for praying is a saving of time. — Charles Spurgeon

Nonsense is nonsense whether it rhymes or not, just as bad half-pennies are good for nothing whether they jingle or lie quiet. — Charles Spurgeon

When God's mercies are coming, their footfalls are our desires to pray. — Charles Spurgeon

Free-will doctrine-what does it? It magnifies man into God. It declares God's purposes a nullity, since they cannot be carried out unless men are willing. It makes God's will a waiting servant to the will of man, and the whole covenant of grace dependent on human action. Denying election on the ground of injustice, it holds God to be a debtor to sinners. — Charles Spurgeon

I would rather teach one man to pray than ten men to preach. — Charles Spurgeon

My friends, it is one thing to go to church or chapel; it is quite another thing to go to God. — Charles Spurgeon

Every time you prefer the pleasures of this world to the joys of heaven, you spit in the face of Christ; every time when to gain in your business, you do an unrighteous thing, you are like Judas selling Him for thirty pieces of silver; every time you make a false profession of religion, you give Him a traitor's kiss; every word you have spoken against Him, every hard thought you have had of Him, has helped to complete your complicity with the great crowd which gathered around the Cross of Calvary, to mock and jeer the Lord of life and glory. — Charles Spurgeon

True prayer is neither a mere mental exercise nor a vocal performance. It is far deeper than that - it is spiritual transaction with the Creator of Heaven and Earth. — Charles Spurgeon

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. — Charles Spurgeon

When you go through a trial, the sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which you lay your head. — Charles Spurgeon

This day, my God, I hate sin not because it damns me, but because it has done Thee wrong. To have grieved my God is the worst grief to me. — Charles Spurgeon

Sufficient for the day is all that we can enjoy. We cannot eat or drink or wear more than the day's supply of food and raiment; the surplus gives us the care of storing it, and the anxiety of watching against a thief. One staff aids a traveller, but a bundle of staves is a heavy burden. Enough is not only as good as a feast, but is all that the greatest glutton can truly enjoy. This is all that we should expect; a craving for more than this is ungrateful. When our Father does not give us more, we should be content with his daily allowance. — Charles Spurgeon

The joys of heaven will surely compensate for the sorrows of earth. — Charles Spurgeon

He that can toy with his ministry and count it to be like a trade, or like any other profession, was never called of God. But he that has a charge pressing on his heart, and a woe ringing in his ear, and preaches as though he heard the cried of hell behind him, and saw his God looking down on him-oh, how that man entreats the Lord that his hearers may not hear in vain! — Charles Spurgeon

We venture to assert, that if there be any day in the year, of which we may be pretty sure that it was not the day on which the Savior was born, it is the 25th of December. Regarding not the day, let us, nevertheless, give thanks to God for the gift of His dear Son. — Charles Spurgeon

I believe that one reason why the church of God at this present moment has so little influence over the world is because the world has so much influence over the church. — Charles Spurgeon

Blessed are the peacemakers, and one sure way of peacemaking is to let the fire of contention alone. Neither fan it, nor stir it, nor add fuel to it, but let it go out by itself. Begin your ministry with one blind eye and one deaf ear. — Charles Spurgeon

We are in a wrong state of mind if we are not in a thankful state of mind. — Charles Spurgeon

When we tell the story of our own conversion, I would have it done with great sorrow, remembering what we used to be, and with great joy and gratitude, remembering how little we deserve these things. — Charles Spurgeon

The friend of God must not spend a day without God, and he must undertake no work apart from his God. — Charles Spurgeon

Beware of no man more than of yourself; we carry our worst enemies within us. — Charles Spurgeon

We know that God's being is perfect, His essence infinite, His dominion absolute, His power unlimited, and His glory transcendent. — Charles Spurgeon

That conversion which is all joy and lacks sorrow for sin, is very questionable. — Charles Spurgeon

Go forth today, by the help of God's Spirit, vowing and declaring that in life - come poverty, come wealth, in death - come pain or come what may, you are and ever must be the Lord's. For this is written on your heart, 'We love Him because He first loved us.' — Charles Spurgeon

Prayer irrigates the fields of life with the waters which are stored up in the reservoirs of promise. — Charles Spurgeon

You and your sins must separate or you and your God will never come together. No one sin may keep you; they must all be given up, they must be brought out like Canaanite kings from the cave and be hanged up in the sun. — Charles Spurgeon

I cannot conceive of a greater wounding of the heart of Christ than to pay reverence to anything in the shape of a cross, or to bow before a crucifix! — Charles Spurgeon

Nothing can be more sublime this side of heaven than the singing of this noble Psalm by a vast congregation. It is all ablaze with grateful adoration. — Charles Spurgeon

Nothing but grace makes a man so humble and, at the same time, so glad. — Charles Spurgeon

It is of no use for any of you to try to be soul-winners if you are not bearing fruit in your own lives. How can you serve the Lord with your lips if you do not serve Him with your lives.? How can you preach His gospel with your tongues, when with hands, feet, and heart you are preaching the devil's gospel, and setting up an antichrist by your practical unholiness? — Charles Spurgeon

The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father. — Charles Spurgeon

We would labor earnestly to raise a believer in salvation by free will into a believer in salvation by grace, for we long to see all religious teaching built upon the solid rock of truth and not upon the sand of imagination. At the same time, our grand object is not the revision of opinions, but the regeneration of natures. We should bring men to Christ, not to our own particular views of Christianity. — Charles Spurgeon

I met another man who considered himself perfect, but he was thoroughly mad; and I do not believe that any of the pretenders to perfection are better than good maniacs ... for while a man has got a spark of reason left in him, he cannot, unless he is the most impudent of impostors, talk about being perfect. — Charles Spurgeon

The boundless stores of Providence are engaged for the support of the believer. — Charles Spurgeon

Bible study is the metal that forges a Christian. — Charles Spurgeon

A prayerless church member is a hindrance. He is in the body like a rotting bone or a decayed tooth. Before long, since he does not contribute to the benefit of his brethren, he will become a danger and a sorrow to them. Neglect of private prayer is the locust which devours the strength of the church. — Charles Spurgeon

How gentle and tender ought we to be with others who are foolish when we remember how foolish we are ourselves — Charles Spurgeon

All originality and no plagiarism makes for dull preaching. — Charles Spurgeon

Sometimes we are inclined to think that a very great portion of modern revivalism has been more a curse than a blessing, because it has led thousands to a kind of peace before they have known their misery; restoring the prodigal to the Father's house, and never making him say, "Father, I have sinned." — Charles Spurgeon

If there were no hell, the loss of heaven would be hell. — Charles Spurgeon

He who have two grounds of trust is lost! — Charles Spurgeon

Nothing is so sweet as to lie passive in God's hands, and know no will but His. — Charles Spurgeon

Obedience to the will of God is the pathway to perpetual honor and everlasting joy. — Charles Spurgeon

The Gospel is like a caged lion. It does not need to be defended, it just needs to be let out of its cage. — Charles Spurgeon

Humility is to make a right estimate of one's self. — Charles Spurgeon

I fear that many a man's good resolutions only need the ordinary fire of daily life to make them melt away. So, too, with fine professions and the boastings of perfection which abound in this age of shams. — Charles Spurgeon

The more holy, the more humble. — Charles Spurgeon

Fill the earth with your songs of gratitude. — Charles Spurgeon

It is a reading age, a preaching age, a working age, but it is not a praying age. — Charles Spurgeon

I believe that nothing happens apart from divine determination and decree. We shall never be able to escape from the doctrine of divine predestination - the doctrine that God has foreordained certain people unto eternal life. — Charles Spurgeon

They must be slain by the Law before they can be made alive by the gospel. — Charles Spurgeon

Darkness is the fit hour for beasts of prey, and ignorance the natural dwelling place of cruelty. — Charles Spurgeon

Be deaf, be blind, be dead to gossip, and it will grow disgusted with you and select a more sensitive victim. — Charles Spurgeon

He that is ashamed to speak the truth has need to be ashamed of himself. — Charles Spurgeon

Our spiritual manhood in heaven will discard many things which we now count precious, as a full-grown man discards the treasures of his childhood. — Charles Spurgeon

Trust in the person's promise who dares to refuse what they fear they cannot perform. — Charles Spurgeon

Too many think lightly of sin, and therefore think lightly of the Savior. — Charles Spurgeon

If God has fit you to be a missionary, I would not have you shrivel down to be a king. — Charles Spurgeon

Lord, send Your life throughout the entire church. Visit Your church; restore sound doctrine and holy, earnest living. Take away from professing Christians their love of frivolities, their attempts to meet the world on it's own ground, and give back the old love of the doctrines of the Cross and Christ. May free grace and dying love again be the music that refreshes the church and makes her heart exceeding glad. — Charles Spurgeon

I hope the doctrine that Christians ought to be gloomy will soon be driven out of the universe. There are no people in the world who have such a right to be happy, nor have such cause to be joyful as the saints of the living God. — Charles Spurgeon

If any man thinks ill of you, do not be angry with him, for you are worse than he thinks you to be. — Charles Spurgeon

Occasionally, some brother sings very earnestly through his nose, often disturbing those around him, but it does not matter how the voice sounds to the ears of man. What is important is how the heart sounds to the ears of God. — Charles Spurgeon

As soon as a man has found Christ, he begins to find others. — Charles Spurgeon

I would not give much for your religion unless it can be seen. Lamps do not talk, but they do shine. — Charles Spurgeon

If it does not glorify Christ, let it not console or please you. — Charles Spurgeon

The faith which saves is not one single act done on a certain day: it is an act continued and persevered in throughout the life of man. — Charles Spurgeon

God is too good to be unkind, too wise to be mistaken; and when you cannot trace His hand, you can trust His heart. — Charles Spurgeon

Morality is a neat cover for foul venom, but it does not alter the fact that the heart is vile, and the man himself is under damnation. Men will be damned with good works as well as without them, if they make them their confidence (rather than Jesus Christ). — Charles Spurgeon

But you are not under a system similar to that by which the Jews were obliged to pay tithes to the priests. If there were any such rule laid down in the Gospel, it would destroy the beauty of spontaneous giving and take away all the bloom from the fruit of your liberality! There is no law to tell me what I should give my father on his birthday. There is no rule laid down in any law book to decide what present a husband should give to his wife, nor what token of affection we should bestow upon others whom we love. No, the gift must be a free one, or it has lost all its sweetness. — Charles Spurgeon

I believe the hard heartest, most cross grained and most unloving Christians in all the world are those who have not had much trouble in their life. And those that are the most sympathizing, loving and Christlike are generally those who have the most affliction. The worse thing that can happen to any of us is to have a path made too smooth. One of the greatest blessings the Lord ever gave us was a cross. — Charles Spurgeon

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. — Charles Spurgeon

You will never be saved against your will; God drags nobody to heaven by the ears. — Charles Spurgeon