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QUOTES BY
CHARLES H. SPURGEON
Five Volumes
QUOTES BY
CHARLES H. SPURGEON
Volume One
The Wisdom of the Gospel
The gospel is the sum of wisdom; a collection of knowledge; a
treasure-house of truth; and a disclosure of mysterious secrets. In
it we see how justice and mercy may be associated; here we see
unalterable law entirely satisfied, and sovereign love carrying
away the sinner in triumph. Our meditation on it broadens the
mind; and as it opens to our soul in successive flashes of glory, we
stand astonished at the profound wisdom manifest in it. Yes, dear
friends! if you seek wisdom, you will see it displayed in all its
greatness; not in the firmness of the earth's foundations—not in
the measured march of the clouds of the sky, nor in the perpetual
motions of the waves of the sea; not in the vegetation with all its
intricate forms of beauty, nor in the animal with its marvelous
tissue of nerve, and vein, and sinew; nor even in man, that last
and loftiest work of the Creator. But turn aside and see this great
sight!-an incarnate God upon the cross; a substitute atoning for
mortal's guilt; a sacrifice satisfying the vengeance of Heaven, and
delivering the rebellious sinner. Here is essential wisdom;
enthroned, crowned, and glorified. Admire, you men of the earth,
if you are not blind; and you who glory in your learning bow your
heads in reverence, and admit that all your skill could not have
devised a gospel that is one so just to God, so safe to man.
The Poison of False Teaching
There have been many, destroyed by poisons, given to lull them to
sleep; many have been ruined by the cry of "peace, peace," when
there is no peace; hearing gentle things, when they ought to be
hearing things that convict their hearts. Cleopatra's asp was
brought in a basket of flowers; and men's ruin often lurks in fair
and sweet speeches. But the Holy Spirit's comfort is safe, and you
may rest on it. Let him speak the word, and there is a reality
about it; let him give the cup of consolation, and you may drink it
to the bottom; for in its depths there are no residue, nothing to
intoxicate or ruin; it is all safe.
The Compelling Power of the Cross
What is it that makes the young man devote himself, as a
missionary, to the cause of God, to leave father and mother, and
go into distant lands? It is a thing of power that does it; it is the
gospel. What is it that constrains the far away minister, in the
midst of cholera, to climb up that creaking staircase, and stand by
the bed of some dying creature who has that tragic disease? It
must be a thing of power which leads him to risk his life; it is love
of the cross of Christ which urges him to do it. What is that which
enables one man to stand up before a multitude of his fellows, all
unprepared it may be, but determined that he will speak nothing
but Christ, and Him crucified? What is it that enables him to cry,
like the war horse of Job, in battle, Yes! and more glorious in
might? It is a thing of power that does it—it is Christ crucified.
What encourages that timid female to walk down that dark road
some wet evening, that she may go and sit by the victim of a
contagious fever? What strengthens her to go through that den of
thieves, and pass by the depraved and perverted? What influences
her to enter into that house of death, and there sit down and
whisper words of comfort? Does gold make her do it? They are to
poor to give her gold. Does fame make her do it? She will never be
known nor written among the mighty women of this earth. What
makes her do it? What impels her to it? It is the power, the thing
of power; it is the cross of Christ—she loves it, and she therefore
says, Were the whole realm of nature mine, As a present it would
be far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul,
my life, my all.
Look to Calvary
O Young man, build your studio on Calvary! there raise your
observatory, and scan by faith the lofty things of nature. Take a
recluse's cell in the garden of Gethsemane, and wash your face
with the waters of Siloam. Let the Bible be your standard classicyour
last appeal in matters of contention. Let its light be your
illumination, and you will become more wise than Plato, more
truly learned than the seven sages of antiquity.
An Old Fool
O man! of all fools, a fool with a grey head is the worst fool
anywhere. With one foot in the grave, and another foot on a sandy
foundation, how will I depict you, but by saying to you as God
said to the rich man, "You fool! This very night your life will be
demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared
for yourself?"
The Rejection of the Gospel
When the gospel was first preached, instead of being accepted and
admired, one universal hiss went up to heaven; men could not
bear it; its first preacher they dragged to the edge of the cliff, and
would have sent Him down headlong; yes, they did more-they
nailed Him to a cross, and there they let Him spend His dying life
in agony such as no man has borne since. All His chosen ministers
have been hated and abhorred by the worldly; instead of being
listened to, they have been scoffed at; treated as if they were
rubbish, and the very scum of mankind.
Look at the holy men in the early days of the church, how they
were driven from city to city, persecuted, afflicted, tormented,
stoned to death, wherever the enemy had power to do so. Those
friends of men, those real philanthropists, who came with hearts
big with love, and hands full of mercy, and lips pregnant with
celestial fire, and souls burned with holy influence; those men
were treated as if they were spies in the camp, as if they were
deserters from the common cause of mankind; as if they were
enemies, and not, as they truly were, the best of friends. Do not
suppose that men like the gospel any better now than they did
then. There is an idea that you are growing better; but the heart
within is still the same. The human heart of today dissected,
would be just like the human heart a thousand years ago; the gall
of bitterness within that bosom of yours, is just as bitter as the gall
of bitterness of Simon of old. We have in our hearts the same
inherent opposition to the truth of God; and hence we find men,
just as in the past, who scorn the gospel.
Staying Alive in Christ
If you feel at any time "death working in you," as doubtless you
will, withering the bloom of your religious devoutness, chilling the
fervor of your devotions, and quenching the allegiance of your
faith, remember, He who first aroused you to life in Christ must
keep you alive. The Spirit of God is like the sap that flowed into
your poor dry branch, because you were grafted into Christ, and
by that sap alone you can ever bring forth fruit to God.
The Trinity
A gospel without a Trinity! it is a pyramid built upside down on
its apex. A gospel without the Trinity! it is a rope of sand that
cannot hold together. A gospel without a Trinity! then, indeed,
Satan can overturn it. But, give me a gospel with the Trinity, and
the might of hell cannot prevail against it; no man could any more
overthrow it than a bubble could split a rock, or a feather break a
mountain in half. Get the thought of the three persons, and you
have the essence of all divinity. Only know the Father, and know
the Son, and know the Holy Spirit to be one, and all things will
appear clear. This is the golden key to the secrets of nature, and
he who understands this, will soon understand as much as mortals
ever can know.
Read Your Bible
You know more about your ledgers than your Bible; you know
more about your magazines and novels than what God has
written; many of you will read a novel from the beginning to the
end, and what have you got? A mouthful of foam when you are
done. But you cannot read the Bible; that solid, lasting,
substantial, and satisfying food goes uneaten, locked up in the
cupboard of neglect; while anything that a man writes, a best
seller of the day, is greedily devoured.
The Science of Jesus Christ
The science of Jesus Christ is the most excellent of sciences. Let no
one turn away from the Bible because it is not a book of learning
and wisdom. It is. Would you know astronomy? It is here—it tells
you of the Son of Righteousness and the Star of Bethlehem.
Would you know botany? It is here—it tells you of the plant of
renown-the Lily of the Valley, and the Rose of Sharon. Would you
know geology and mineralogy? You shall learn it here—for you
may read of the Rock of Ages, and the White Stone with the name
engraved thereon, which no man knows except he who receives it.
Would you study history? Here is the most ancient of all the
records of the history of the human race. Whatever your science
is, come and bend over this book; your science is here. Come and
drink out of this pure fountain of knowledge and wisdom, and you
will find yourself made wise unto salvation.
God's Gift of Change
Have you now a sweet temper, whereas you once were hotblooded?
Do not boast of it; you will be angry yet again if He
allows you. Are you now pure, whereas you were once unclean?
Do not boast of your purity; it is a plant, the seed of which was
brought from heaven; it never was within your heart by nature; it
is God's gift, and God's alone.
The Attraction of Christ
Our world has two forces; it has one tendency to run off at a
tangent from its orbit; but the sun draws it by a centripetal
power, and attracts it to itself, and so between the two forces it is
kept in a perpetual circle. Oh! Christian, you will never walk
right, and keep in the orbit of truth, if it were not for the influence
of Christ perpetually attracting you to the center. You feel, and if
you do not always feel, it is still there-you feel an attraction
between your heart and Christ, and Christ is perpetually drawing
you to Himself, to His likeness, to His character, to His love, to His
bosom, and in that way you are kept from your natural tendency
to fly off and be lost in the wild fields of sin. Bless God, that Christ
lifted up draws all His people unto Him in that fashion.
Free Will
"Do you see the cat? She sits there, and will lick her paws and
keep herself clean." "I see that," said the other. "Well," said the
first speaker, "Did you ever hear of one of the hogs taken out of
the pigsty that ever acted like the cat?" "No," he said. "But he
could if he wanted to," said the other. "Yes! truly he could if he
wanted to; but it is not according to his nature, and you never saw
such a thing done, and until you have changed the swine's nature,
he cannot perform such a good action, and God's Word says the
same thing of man."
Tell It to God
Cast your troubles where you have cast your sins; you have cast
your sins into the depths of the sea, there cast your troubles also.
Never keep a trouble half an hour on your own mind before you
tell it to God. As soon as the trouble comes, quick, the first thing,
tell it to your Father in heaven. Remember, that the longer you
take telling your trouble to God, the more your peace will be
impaired. The longer the frost lasts, the more likely the ponds will
be frozen.
The Wisdom of the Holy Spirit
How wise the Holy Spirit is! He takes the soul, lays it on the table,
and dissects it in a moment; He finds out the root of the matter,
He sees where the evil is, and then He applies the knife where
something is required to be taken away, or puts dressing and
ointment where the sore is, and He never makes a mistake. O,
how wise is the blessed Holy Spirit; from every other comforter I
turn and leave them all, for You are He who alone gives the wisest
consolation.
Commanded to Smile
Cultivate a cheerful disposition; endeavor as much as you can to
always wear a smile; remember that this is as much a command of
God as that one which says, "You shall love the Lord with all your
heart."
The Perfect Preacher
Christ Jesus was an exciting preacher; He sought all means to set
a pearl in a frame of gold, that it might attract the attention of the
people. He was not willing to place Himself in a local church, or to
preach to a large congregation, like our good brethren in the city,
but would preach in such a style that people felt they must go to
hear Him. Some of them gnashed their teeth in rage and left His
presence in anger, but the multitudes still thronged to Him to hear
and to be healed. It was no commonplace experience to hear this
King of preachers, He was too straightforward to be dull, and to
humane to be incomprehensible.
Our Watchman
It was once said by Solon, "No man ought to be called a happy
man until he dies," because he does not know what his life is to
be; but Christians may always call themselves happy men here,
because wherever their tent is carried, they cannot pitch it where
the cloud does not move, and where they are not surrounded by a
circle of fire. "I myself will be a wall of fire around them, and I
will be their glory within." They cannot live where God is not the
head of the house, watchman, and safeguard of salvation.
"All my ways shall ever be
Ordered by His wise decree."
The Peace of Christianity
Oh! you that are not Christians, it would worthwhile to be
Christians, if it were only for the peace and happiness that
religion gives. If we had to die like dogs with no future, still this
religion would be worth having to make us live here like angels.
Oh, if the grave were what it seems to be, the goal of all existence,
if the black nails of the coffin were not so bright with stars, if
death were the end and our lamps were quenched in darkness,
when it was said, "Dust to dust and earth to earth; "yet it would
be worthwhile to be a child of God, only to live here.
Dreams
We dream of everything in the world, and a few things more! If
we were asked to tell our dreams, it would be impossible. You
dream that you are at a feast; Behold! the foods change into a
flying horse, and you are riding through the air; or again,
suddenly transformed into a morsel for a monster's meal. Such is
life. The changes occur as suddenly as they happen in a dream.
Men have been rich one day, they have been beggars the next. We
have witnessed the exile of monarchs, and the flight of a king—or,
in another direction, we have seen a man, neither reputable or
honorable in status, at a single stride exalted to a throne; and you
who would have shunned him in the streets before, were foolish
enough to throng your streets to stare at him. Ah! such is life.
Leaves of the tree were not more easily moved by the winds, nor
are dreams more variable—"Do not boast about tomorrow, for
you do not know what a day may bring forth."
Bible Light
It is better to have two lights than only one. The light of creation
is a bright light. God may be seen in the stars; His name is written
in shiny letters on the darkness of night; you may discover His
glory in the ocean waves. Yes, in the trees of the field; but it is
better to read it in two books than in only one. You will find it
here more clearly revealed; for He has written this book Himself,
and He has given you the key to understand it, if you have the
Holy Spirit. Yes, beloved, let us thank God for this Bible; let us
love it; let us count it more precious than much fine gold.
Cloudy Future
How foolish are those men who wish to pry into the future; the
telescope is ready, and they are looking through; but they are so
anxious to see, that they breathe on the glass with their hot breath
and they dim it, so that they can discern nothing but clouds and
darkness.
Hypocrisy
Every now and then we turn over fair looking stone which lies
upon the green grass of the professing church, surrounded with
the growth of apparent goodness, and to our astonishment we find
beneath all kinds of filthy insects and loathsome reptiles, and in
our disgust at such hypocrisy, we are driven to exclaim, "All men
are liars; there are none in whom we can put any trust at all." It is
not fair to say so of all; but really, the discoveries which are made
of the insincerity of our fellow creatures are enough to make us
despise our kind, because they can go so far in appearances, and
yet have so little soundness of heart.
The Blood Stained Book
Our Bible is a blood-stained book. The blood of martyrs is on the
Bible, the blood of translators and believers. The pool of holy
baptism in which you have been baptized is a bloodstained pool—
many have had to die for the vindication of that baptism which is
the answer of a good conscience towards God. The doctrines
which we preach to you are doctrines that have been baptized in
blood-swords have been drawn to kill the confessors of them; and
there is not a truth which has not been sealed by them at the
stake, or the block, or far away on the lofty mountains, where
they have, been slain by hundreds.
God's Eyes on Us
God might, if He pleased, wrap himself with night as with a
garment; He might put the stars around His wrist for bracelets,
and bind the suns around His brow for a crown; He might dwell
alone, far, far above this world, up in the seventh heaven, and
look down with calm and silent indifference, upon all the doings of
His creatures; He might do as the heathens supposed their false
god did, sit in perpetual silence, sometimes nodding his awful
head to make the fates move as he pleased, but never taking
thought of the little things of earth, disposing of them as beneath
his notice, engrossed within his own being, swallowed up within
himself, living alone and retired; and I, as one of his creatures,
might stand at night upon a mountain-top, and look upon the
silent stars and say, "You are the eyes of God, but you do not look
down on me; your light is the gift of His omnipotence, but your
rays are not smiles of love to me. God, the mighty, Creator, has
forgotten me; I am a despicable drop in the ocean of creation, a
leaf in the forest of beings, an atoll in the mountain of existence.
He does not know me; I am alone, alone, alone." But it is not so,
beloved. Our God is of another order. He notices every one of us;
there is not a sparrow or a worm that continues to live apart from
His decrees. There is not a person upon whom His eye is not fixed.
Our most secret acts are known to Him. Whatever we do, or
endure, or suffer, the eye of God still rests upon us, and we are
under His smile-for we are His people; or under His frown-for we
have sinned against Him.
The Power of God
Any farmer can get a good crop out of good soil; but God is the
farmer who can grow cedars on rocks, who can not only put the
hyssop upon the wall, but put the oak there too, and make the
greatest faith spring up in the most unlikely place. All glory to His
grace! The great sinner may become great in faith. Be of good
cheer, then, sinner! If Christ should make you repent, you have no
reason to think that you will be the least in the family. Oh! no!
your name may yet be written among the mightiest of the mighty
and you may stand as a memorable and triumph instance of the
power of faith.
Seeing Jesus
If we look at something in the pitch blackness of the dark, we
cannot see it; but we have done what we were told. So, if a sinner
only looks to Jesus, He will save him, for Jesus in the dark is as
good as Jesus in the light; and Jesus, when you cannot see him, in
as good as Jesus when you can.
The Anchor of Calvary
There was an evil hour once when I released the anchor of my
faith; I cut the cable of my belief; I no longer moored myself tight
to the coasts of the Revelation of God; I allowed my vessel to drift
with the wind; I said to reason, "You be my captain;" I said to my
own brain, "You be my rudder;" and I started on my mad
voyage. Thank God, it is all over now; but I will tell you its brief
history. It was one hurried sailing over the tempestuous ocean of
free thought. I went on, and as I went, the skies began to darken;
but to make up for that deficiency, the waters were brilliant with
the glitter of brilliancy. I saw sparks flying upward that pleased
me, and I thought, "If this is free thought, it is a good thing." My
thoughts seemed like gems, and I scattered stars with both my
hands; but before long, instead of these flashes of glory, I saw
grim fiends, fierce and horrible, come up from the waters, and as
I rushed on, they gnashed their teeth, and grinned at me; they
seized the bow of my ship and dragged me on, while I, in part, was
impressed at the swiftness of my motion, but yet shuddered at the
terrific rate with which I passed the old landmarks of my faith. As
I hurried forward with a dreadful speed, I began to doubt my
very existence; I doubted if there were a world, I doubted if there
were such a thing, as myself. I went to the very verge of the
dreamy realms of unbelief. I went to the very bottom of the sea of
Unbelief. I doubted everything. But here the devil foiled himself—
for the very extravagance of the doubt, proved its absurdity. Just
when I saw the bottom of that sea, there came a voice which said,
"And can this doubt be true?" At this very thought I awoke. I
started from that death-dream, which, God knows, might have
damned my Soul, and ruined my body, if I had not awoke. When I
arose, faith took the helm; from that moment I no longer doubted.
Faith steered me back; faith cried, "Away, away!" I cast my
anchor on Calvary; I lifted my eye to God; and here I am, "alive,
and out of hell."
Traveling to Our Destiny
This world is turning around on its axis once every twenty-four
hours; and besides that, it is moving around the sun in the 365
days of the year. So that we are all moving; we are all flitting
along through space. And as we are traveling through space, so
we are also moving through time at an incalculable rate. Oh! what
an idea it is, if we could we grasp it! We are all being carried
along as if by a giant angel, with broad outstretched wings, which
he flaps to the sound of thunder, and flying before the lightning,
makes us ride on the winds. The whole multitude of us are
hurrying along-to a place that will be decided by the test of our
faith and the grace of God; but it is certain, we are all traveling.
Do not think that you are stable things; do not fancy that you are
standing still; you are not. Your pulses each moment beat the
funeral marches to the tomb. You are chained to the chariot of
rolling time; there is no slowing of the horses, or leaping from the
chariot; you must be constantly in motion.
A Trip to Heaven
Christ is the chariot in which souls are drawn to heaven. The
people of the Lord are on their way to heaven, they are carried in
everlasting arms; and those arms are the arms of Christ. Christ is
carrying them up to His own house, to His own throne; in time
His prayer-"Father, I want those you have given Me to be with
Me where I am" shall be completely fulfilled. And it is being
fulfilled now, for He is like a strong charger drawing His children
in the chariot of the covenant of grace unto Himself. Oh! blessed
be God, the cross is the plank on which we swim to heaven; the
cross is the great covenant transport which will weather out the
storms, and reach its desired heaven. This is the chariot, the sides
are made of gold, and the bottom of silver, it is lined with the
purple of the atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God's Book
The Bible is the writing of the living God—each letter was penned
with an Almighty finger; each word in it dropped from the
everlasting lips; each sentence was dictated by the Holy Spirit.
Even though Moses was employed to write his histories with his
fiery pen, God guided that pen. It may be that David touched his
harp, and let sweet Psalms of melody drop from his fingers; but
God moved his hands over the living strings of his golden harp. It
may be that Solomon sang songs of love, or gave forth words of
consummate wisdom, but God directed his lips, and made the
preacher eloquent. If I follow the thundering Nahum, when his
horses plowed the waters, or Habakkuk, when he sees the tents of
Cushan in affliction; if I read Malachi, when the earth is burning
like an oven; if I turn to the smooth page of John, who tells of
love, or the rugged, fiery chapters of Peter, who speaks of fire
devouring God’s enemies; If I turn to Jude, who launches forth
anathemas upon the foes of God, everywhere I find God speaking;
it is God’s voice, not man’s; the words of God’s words, the words
of the Eternal, the Invisible, the Almighty, the Jehovah of this
earth. This Bible is God’s Bible, and when I see it, I seem to hear a
voice springing up from it, saying "I am the book of God; man,
read me. I am God’s writing; open my pages, for I was penned by
God; read it, for he is my author, and you will see him visible and
manifest everywhere." "I have written to him the great things of
my law."
Pilgrimage of a Pious Life
A pilgrim sets out in the morning, and he has to journey many
days before he gets to the shrine which he seeks. What varied
scenes the traveler will behold on his way! Sometimes he is on the
mountains, and in time he will descend into the valleys; here he
will be where the brooks shine like silver, where the birds sing
out, where the air is balmy, and trees are green, and luscious
fruits hang down to gratify his taste; and in time he will find
himself in the arid desert, where no life is found, and no sound is
heard, except the screech of the wild eagle in the air, where he
finds no rest for the sole of his foot – the burning sky above him,
and the hot sand beneath him – no roof of trees, and no house to
rest himself; at another time he finds himself in a sweet oasis,
resting by the wells of water, and plucking fruit from palm trees.
One moment he walks between the rocks in some narrow gorge,
where all is darkness; at another time he ascends the hill, Mizar;
now he descends into the valley of Baca; and in time he climbs the
hill of Bashan, "a high hill is Bashan;" and yet again going into a
den of leopards, he suffers trial and affliction. Such is life—ever
changing. Who can tell what may come next? Today it is fair, the
next day there may be the thundering storm; today I may need
nothing, tomorrow I may be like Jacob, with nothing but a stone
for my pillow and the heavens for my curtains. But what a happy
thought it is, though we do not know where the road winds, we
know where it ends. It is the straightest way to heaven to go round
about. Israel’s forty years wanderings were, after all, the nearest
path to Canaan. We may have to go through trail and affliction;
the pilgrimage may be a tiresome one, but it is safe; we cannot
trace the river upon which we are sailing, but we know it ends in
floods of bliss. We cannot track the roads, but we know that they
all meet in the great metropolis of heaven, in the center of God’s
universe. God help us to pursue the true pilgrimage of a pious life!
Life's Goal
There is no loss in being a Christian, and making God the first
object; but make anything else your goal, and with all your
running, should you run ever so well, you shall fall short of the
mark; or if you gain it, you shall fall uncrowned, unhonored to the
earth. "My soul, wait only upon God."
The Simple Gospel
If it would take me seven years to describe the way of salvation, I
am sure you would all long to hear it. If only one learned doctor
could tell the way to heaven, how would he be sought after! And if
it were in hard words, with a few scraps of Latin and Greek, it
would be all the better. But it is a simple gospel that we have to
preach. It is only "Look!" "Ah!" you say, "is that the gospel? I
shall not pay any attention to that." But why has God ordered you
to do such a simple thing? Just to take down your pride, and to
show you that he is God, and that beside him there is none else.
Oh, mark how simple the way of salvation is. It is, "Look! Look!
Look! Four letters, and two of them alike! "Look unto me, and be
saved, all the ends of the earth."
What is Faith?
Faith is to say, that "mountains, when hidden in darkness, are as
real as in the day." Faith is to look through that cloud, not with
the eye of sight, which sees nothing, but with the eye of faith,
which sees everything, and to say, "I trust him when I cannot see
him; I tread as firmly as I would on the rock; I walk as securely in
the tempest as in the sunshine, and lay myself to rest upon the
surging billows of the ocean as contentedly as upon my bed."
Holy Spirit Power
As a man does not make himself spiritually alive, so neither can
he keep himself so. He can feed on spiritual food, and so preserve
his spiritual strength; he can walk in the commandments of the
Lord, and so enjoy rest and peace, but still the inner life is
dependent upon the Spirit as much for its future existence as for
its birth. I do truly believe that if it should ever be my lot to put
my foot upon the golden threshold of Paradise, and put this
thumb upon the pearly latch, I would never cross the threshold
unless I had grace given me to take that last step whereby I might
enter heaven. No man himself, even when converted, has any
power, except as that power is daily, constantly, and perpetually
infused into him by the Holy Spirit.
Waiting Upon God
Oh! It is a happy way of smoothing sorrow, when we can say,
"We will wait only upon God." Oh, you agitated Christians, do
not dishonor your religion by always wearing a frown of concern;
come, cast your burden upon the Lord. I see you staggering
beneath a weight which He would not feel. What seems to you a
crushing burden, would be to him nothing but a small amount of
dust. See! The Almighty bends his shoulders, and he says, "Here,
put your troubles here."
School of Trouble
Most of the great truths of God have to be learned by trouble;
they must be burned into us with the hot iron of affliction,
otherwise we shall not truly receive them. No man is competent to
judge in matters of the kingdom, until first he has been tried;
since there are many things to be learned in the depths which we
can never know in the heights. We discover many secrets in the
caverns of the ocean, which, though we had soared to heaven, we
never could have known. He shall best meet the needs of God’s
people as a preacher who has had those needs himself; he shall
best comfort God’s Israel who has needed comfort; and he shall
best preach salvation who has felt his own need of it.
Meeting with the Lord
If I desired to put myself into the most likely place for the Lord to
meet with me, I would prefer the house of prayer, for it is in
preaching, that the Word is most blessed; but still I think I should
equally desire the reading of the Scriptures; for I might pause
over every verse, and say, "Such a verse was blessed to so many
souls; then, why not to me? I am at least in the pool of Bethesda; I
am walking among its porches, and who can tell but that the angel
will stir the pool of the Word, while I lie helplessly by the side of
it, waiting for the blessing?"
Obedience that Will Not Save
Oh! It is not some heretic flush upon the cheek of consumptive
irresolution that God counts to be the health of obedience. It is not
some slight obedience for an hour that God will accept at the Day
of Judgment. He said "continued;" and unless from my early
childhood to the day when my gray hairs descend into the tomb, I
shall have continued to be obedient to God, I must be condemned.
Unless I have from the first dawn of reason, when I first began to
be responsible, obediently served God, until, like a shock of corn,
I am gathered into my Master’s barn, salvation by works must be
impossible to me, and I must (standing on my own footing), be
condemned. It is not, I say, some slight obedience that will save
the soul. You have not continued "in all things which are written
in the book of the law," and therefore, you are condemned.