Pithy gems from Charles Spurgeon!

Anything that makes us pray is a blessing!

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The sympathy of Jesus, is the next most precious thing to His sin-atoning sacrifice!

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To be almost saved—is to be altogether lost! There are many in Hell who once were almost saved— but who are now altogether damned! Think of that, you who are not far from the Kingdom. It is being in the Kingdom that saves the soul—not being near the Kingdom.

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The world does not read the Bible—the world reads Christians!

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A golden coffin will be a poor compensation for a damned soul!

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If you have lived like the wicked—then you will die like the wicked, and be damned like the wicked!

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There are infidels on earth—but there are none in Heaven, and none in Hell.

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An ounce of heart knowledge—is worth more than a ton of head learning! If knowledge were bliss, the devil would be in Heaven.

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Look to the cross, and hate your sin—for sin nailed your Well-Beloved to the tree!

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That is a good rule for all Christians which I saw in one of our Orphanage schoolrooms, "What would Jesus do?" There cannot be a better guide than that for believers.

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Grace puts its hand on the boasting mouth, and shuts it once for all!

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The marvel of Heaven and earth, of time and eternity, is the atoning death of Jesus Christ. This is the mystery that brings more glory to God than all creation!

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There are two kinds of tears which true Christians shed: the one is a tear of sorrow because of sin; the other is a tear of joy because of pardon.

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Of all I would wish to say, this is the sum: My brethren, preach Christ, always and evermore! He is the whole gospel. His person, offices, and work must be our one great, all-comprehending theme.

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Amusement should be used to do us good 'like a medicine." It must never be used as the food of the man. Many have had all holy thoughts and gracious resolutions stamped out by perpetual trifling. Pleasure, so called, is the murderer of thought. This is the age of excessive amusement—everybody craves for it, like a babe for its rattle!

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Sin is self-damnation!

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Long ago I ceased to count heads. Truth is usually in the minority in this evil world!

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A holy life is in itself a wonderful power, and will make up for many deficiencies. A holy life is the best sermon a man can ever preach!

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The joys of Heaven—will surely compensate for the sorrows of earth.

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There is enough dust on some of your Bibles, to write "Damnation!" with your fingers!

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The devil does not care how many churches you build—if only you have lukewarm preachers and people in them.

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An unholy church! It is useless to the world—and of no esteem among men. It is an abomination, Hell's laughter, and Heaven's abhorrence. The worst evils which have ever come upon the world—have been brought upon her by an unholy church.

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SIN, indeed, is Hell—Hell in embryo, Hell in essence, Hell kindling, Hell emerging from the shell. HELL is but sin, when it has manifested and developed itself to the full. Stand at the gates of Hell and understand how venomous is the disease for which Heaven's remedy is provided in the stripes of the Only Begotten.

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Affliction is the best book in a minister's library!

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As well might a gnat seek to drink in the ocean—as a finite creature to comprehend the Eternal God. A God whom we could fully understand—would be no God. If we could grasp Him—He could not be infinite. If we could fully understand Him—He could not be divine.

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Parents! I beg you so to live, that when you stand over your child's dead body, you may never hear a voice coming up from that clay, "Father, your negligence was my destruction! Mother, your prayerlessness was the cause of my damnation!"

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There is no wolf or lion or serpent which is so brutish—as that beast, man!

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Christian! You have . . . God's infallible wisdom to direct you, His immutable love to comfort you, and His eternal power to defend you!

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As salt tinges every drop in the ocean—so does sin affect every atom of man's nature!

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A hell of corruption, lies within the bosom of the best saint!

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Prayer is the breath, the watchword, the comfort, the strength, and the honor of a Christian. Prayerless souls are Christless souls. Christless souls are Graceless souls. Graceless souls shall soon be Damned souls.

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There is no cure for the love of sin—like the blood of Christ!

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The devil is not afraid of a dust-covered Bible!

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To tell about Jesus without the cross, is to betray Him with a kiss!

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What a sad world man has made this earth!

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The promises of God are inexhaustible!

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Does the world satisfy you? Then you have your reward and portion in this life. Make much of it—for you shall know no other joy.

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God did not need not our love. He could have made a thousand races of nobler creatures than ourselves, all of whom would have loved Him with the deepest love!

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Sin is sovereign—until sovereign grace dethrones it!

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Men will never value a Redeemer so well as when they have a very clear consciousness of the ruin from which He has redeemed them. The preciousness of mercy, is best known by those who discern the terror of justice.

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If your creed and Scripture do not agree—cut your creed to pieces; but make it agree with this Book!

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He who has the key of prayer can open Heaven! Yes, he has access to the heart of God!

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"Whoever claims to live in Him, must walk as Jesus did." 1 John 2:6 Hang that question up in your houses, "What would Jesus do?"
And then think of another, "How would Jesus do it?"
For what Jesus would do, and how He would do it—will always stand as the best guide to us. "Leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps." 1 Peter 2:21

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I would never have known the Savior's love half as much—if I had never been in the storms of affliction .

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If your religion does not make you holy—it will damn you! It is simply painted pageantry to go to Hell in!

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Morality may keep you out of jail—but it takes the blood of Jesus Christ to keep you out of Hell.

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No life can surpass that of a man who quietly continues to serve God in the place where providence has placed him. "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you." 1 Thessalonians 4:11

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The Word of God is like a lion. You don't have to defend a lion. All you have to do is let the lion loose, and the lion will defend itself.

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How can I live in sin—when Jesus has died to save me from it?

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You will always know whether you are delivered from the guilt and condemnation of sin, by answering this question: Am I delivered from the love of sin?

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Is it not a sad thing, that after all Christ's love to us—we should repay it with lukewarm love to Him?

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Be sure, whatever you leave out, that you teach the children the three R's: Ruin, Redemption, and Regeneration.

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Never did water leap from the crystal fountain with half such freeness and generous liberality—as grace flows from the heart of God! He gives forth love, joy, peace and pardon—and He gives them as a king gives to a king! You cannot empty His treasury—for it is inexhaustible. He is not enriched by withholding—nor is He impoverished by bestowing!

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Alas! Much has been done of late to promote the production of dwarfish Christians . Poor, sickly believers turn the church into an hospital—rather than an army. Oh, to have a church built up with the deep godliness of people who know the Lord in their very hearts, and will seek to follow the Lamb wherever He goes!

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Those who dive in the sea of affliction—bring up rare pearls! There is a sweet joy that comes to us through sorrow. Sickness has frequently been of more use to the saints of God, than health has.

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O for grace to study the Bible with Jesus as both our teacher and our lesson!

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I'm throwing all my good works overboard and lashing myself to the plank of free grace; for I hope to swim to glory on it!

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Some men say that they want to be holy, but they keep some little pet sin in the backyard!

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O blessed hurricane that drives the soul to God and God alone!

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Most people have no concern about eternal things. They care more about their cats and dogs than about their souls!

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Lord, paint upon the eyeballs of my soul, the image of your Son!

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Trials are the wine-press out of which shall come the wine of consolation.

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Fiery trials make golden Christians!

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A little sin, like a little pebble in the shoe, will make a traveler to Heaven walk very wearily.

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That demon of pride was born with us, and it will not die one hour before us.

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Better to be sneered at as a Puritan, than to be despised as a hypocrite!

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There is a clean path to Hell as well as a dirty one. You will be lost if you trust your good works—as surely if you trusted your sins!

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The most wicked book you will ever read is your own heart!

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Growth should be rapid where Jesus is the gardener, and the Holy Spirit the dew from Heaven.

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Let us not be astonished when we are called to tread the road which is marked by his pierced feet!

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Communion with Christ is a certain cure for every ill.

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Since I know that Jesus bled for little sins, I cannot wound His heart by indulging in them.

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Better a brief warfare and eternal rest, than false peace and everlasting torment!

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There are some people who would be excellent Christians, if Christianity consisted in having their own way.

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There are many sorts of broken hearts, and Christ is good at healing them all.

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I am afraid that we are too much like the world for the world to hate us.

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Avoid a sugar-coated gospel. Seek the gospel that rips up, wounds and even kills—for that's the gospel that makes alive again!

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Man loves his own ruin. The cup of pleasure is so sweet that though he knows it will poison him—yet he must drink it. And the harlot is so lovely, that though he understands that her ways lead down to Hell—yet like a bullock he follows to the slaughter until the dart goes through his liver! Man is fascinated and bewitched by sin.

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Whenever God means to make a man great—He always breaks him in pieces first.

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A time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep—the church will have clowns entertaining the goats!

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Think lightly of Hell—and you will think lightly of the cross!

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God's rod flogs His child not from Him, but to Him!

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Christian, your surrender to God must be without reserve and without limit!

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Among the wise concealments of God, is that which hides from open view the depravity of our heart and the corruption of our nature!

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The worst thing you have to fear—is the treachery of your own heart!

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We have all heard the story of the man who preached so well and lived so badly, that when he was in the pulpit—everybody said he ought never to come out again; and when he was out of it—they all declared he never ought to enter it again!

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If you love anything better than God—you are idolaters. If there is anything you would not give up for God—it is your idol. If there is anything that you seek with greater fervor than you seek the glory of God—that is your idol. True conversion is a turning from every idol.

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Remember, you can be laughed into Hell—but you can never be laughed out of it!

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Do not give way to little sins —and you will not give way to big ones! Beware of little sins—and you will not commit great ones!

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Too many think lightly of sin—and therefore think lightly of the Savior. He who has stood before his God, convicted and condemned, with the rope about his neck—is the man to weep for joy when he is pardoned, to hate the evil which has been forgiven him, and to live to the honor of the Redeemer by whose blood he has been cleansed.

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The best remedy for affliction, is submitting to God's providence. What can't be cured, must be endured!

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I would bear any affliction—rather than be burdened with a guilty conscience.

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Men are in a restless pursuit after satisfaction and earthly things. They have no thought for their eternal state—as the present hour absorbs them. They turn to another and another of earth's broken cisterns—hoping to find water, where not a drop was ever discovered yet.

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It is an unfortunate thing for the Christian to be melancholy. If there is any man in the world who has a right to have a bright, clear face and a flashing eye—it is the man whose sins are forgiven, who is saved with God's salvation.

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You may look down with contempt on some who do not know as much as you, and yet they may have twice your holiness and be doing more service to God.

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Holiness is the architectural plan upon which God builds up His living temple.

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Give to a pig when it grunts, and to a child when it cries—and you will have a fine pig and a spoiled child! "He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him." Proverbs 13:24 "Discipline your son, for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to his death." Proverbs 19:18 "Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him." Proverbs 22:15 "Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die." Proverbs 23:13 "Discipline your son, and he will give you peace; he will bring delight to your soul." Proverbs 29:17

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Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." Nathan replied, "The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the LORD show utter contempt, the son born to you will die." 2 Samuel 12:13-14 David's experience is very instructive to us. While it teaches us that God can and will forgive us, if we repent of our great and gross sins—yet it also teaches us that sin is an evil and a bitter thing; and that, though the guilt of it may be removed, the evil consequences of it will cling to us and be a subject of sorrow to us—until God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes!

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The preacher's work is to throw sinners down into utter helplessness—that they may be compelled to look up to Him Who alone can help them!

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If we do wrong and no harm comes of it—we are not thereby faultless. 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.

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I know nothing which can . . . so comfort the soul; so calm the swelling billows of sorrow and grief; so speak peace to the winds of trial— as a devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead.

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The Lord's mercy often rides to the door of our heart, upon the black horse of affliction!

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In Christ's love, you have begun a banquet that will never end! The richest, the most celestial, the most transporting joy that mortal mind can know — is a full assurance of the love of God!

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Let me revel in this one thought—before God made the heavens and the earth, He set His love upon me.

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The pastures of the Great Shepherd are wide—but the sweetest grasses grow close to His pierced feet!

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Every truth of God's Word is a diamond of untold value!

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Ten thousand pounds of suffering, are to be preferred to one ounce of sin!

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Self-esteem naturally keeps Jesus out of the heart. The more our self-esteem increases—the more firmly do we fasten the door against Christ. Love of SELF —prevents love of the Savior!

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I believe that before the foundation of the world, God chose all those whom He will eternally save. I equally believe, that whoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ shall be eternally saved. I believe that salvation is all of grace—and damnation is all of man's sin. I believe that God will have the glory of every soul that is saved—and that every lost soul will be responsible for its own ruin.

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I do not know when I am more perfectly happy—than when I am weeping for sin at the foot of the cross.

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In Heaven, we shall see that we had not one trial too many!

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Far be it from us to seek a crown of honor—where our Lord found only a crown of thorns!

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God is so great , that nothing is great to Him. God is so approachable , that nothing is little to Him. His infinite majesty thus naturally brings low the proud, and exalts the humble.

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You will find all true theology summed up in these two short sentences: Salvation is all of the grace of God. Damnation is all of the will of man.

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God is too good to be unkind—and He is too wise to be mistaken. When we cannot trace His hand —we must trust His heart .

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Heart-ravishing dealings with the Lord Jesus Christ's sweet love—spoils a man for the sinful pleasures of this world!

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There is no form of sinfulness to which you are addicted, which Christ cannot remove!

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Hell that is the everlasting prison of all unbelievers!

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A seat in Heaven shall one day be mine! But a chain in Hell would have been mine—if sovereign grace had not saved me!

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Better to go to Heaven alone, than to Hell with a herd!

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When sin is pardoned—our greatest sorrow is ended, and our truest pleasure begins!

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This volume (the Holy Scriptures) 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!

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Soon I shall see an open door in Heaven; the pearl gate will be my way of entrance—and then I shall go in unto my Lord and King and be eternally shut in with Him!

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In countries where leprosy prevails, they shut up the lepers in a place by themselves, lest the terrible disease should infect the whole district. Hell is God's leper colony where sinners must be confined forever when they are incurable and past hope!

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The main aim, end, and objective of God in salvation—is to glorify His own character!

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The road of sorrow is the road to Heaven—but there are wells of refreshing water all along the route.

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My heart —I charge you to hate sin. My eyes —do not look upon sin. My ears —do not listen to sin's siren charm. My feet —do not run in sin's path. My hands —refuse to handle sin. My soul —loath, loath that which murdered Christ, and thrust a spear through the tenderest heart which ever beat!

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Man is unwilling to give up sin—for he loves it too much. He is unwilling to be made holy for he has no desire for spiritual things. God, then, must come to man, for how can man, being naturally dead, and naturally unwilling, ever come to God? "Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed." John 3:19-20 No non-elect soul ever came to Jesus. "No one can come to Me—unless the Father who sent me draws him." John 6:44

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You cannot have Christ as your Savior—unless you also have Him as your Lord!

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Sin mingles even with our holy things. Our best repentance, faith, prayer and thanksgiving could not be received by God—were it not for the merit of Christ's atoning sacrifice.

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"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in times of trouble." Psalm 46:1 He is our refuge—let us hide in Him. He is our strength—let us array ourselves with Him. He is our help—let us lean upon Him. He is our ever-present help—let us rest in Him now.

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To be almost saved—is to be altogether lost! There are many in Hell who once were almost saved—but who are now altogether damned!

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There is no sin that the worst of men have done, which the best of men would not do—if they were left by God.

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Meditation puts the telescope to the eye, and enables us to see Jesus more clearly and fully than we could have seen Him if we had lived in the days of His flesh. Would that our hearts were more in Heaven, and that we were more taken up with the person, the work, the beauty of our adorable Redeemer!

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Stand at the foot of the cross, and count the purple drops by which you have been cleansed; see the thorn-crown; mark His scourged shoulders, still gushing with encrimsoned rills. And if you do not lie prostrate on the ground before that cross, you have never seen it!

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A faith which rests short of the Cross—is a faith which will land you short of Heaven!

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We are sadly unmindful of our God—but He is graciously mindful of us.

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Hell has many gates—though Heaven has but one. "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved." John 10:9

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The Christian delights to be obedient—but it is the obedience of love, to which he is constrained by the example of his master.

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Oh, what wondrous love was that which impelled the Savior onward to Gethsemane —the olive press where He was to be pressed and crushed between the millstones of Jehovah's wrath—in order that He might suffer the penalty due to our transgressions!

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The path of the Christian is not always bright with sunshine—he has his seasons of darkness and of storm as well.

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Oh, yes, the world is a heap of chaff! The only solid treasure is to be found in Christ!

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The same sun which melts the wax—hardens the clay. Just so, the same gospel which melts some people to repentance—hardens others in their sins.

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A religion that cannot stand a little laughter and ridicule, must be a very rotten one.

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Jesus is the great teacher of humility. We need daily to learn of Him. "Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Matthew 11:29

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Where Scripture is silent—you be silent!

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Self-righteousness arises partly from pride—but mainly from ignorance of God's holiness.

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When you are so weak that you cannot do much more than cry—you coin diamonds with both eyes. The sweetest prayers which God ever hears, are the groans and sighs of those who have no hope in anything but His love!

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I have all things and abound—not because I have a good store of money in the bank—but because the Lord is my Shepherd.

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Every page of Scripture is a sheet of gold! No, rather let me say that Heaven's banknotes are here, to be cashed by those who have faith enough to bring them to the God who issued them—that He may make their souls rich to all the intents of bliss!

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It is good to preach with your tongue —if God has called you to do so. But never forget that the best preaching in the world, is to preach with your feet —by your walk and conduct!

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Nothing puts life into men—like a dying Savior!

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To be the Lord's beloved, is the highest possible honor!

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Practical godliness is absolutely necessary to a true Christian character!

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No sin, whatever it is, shall ruin any man if he shall come to Christ for mercy.

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There is no sleep in Hell. Oh, what a blessing it would be, if sleep could enter the habitation of the damned!

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If the Lord's bearing our sin for us is not the gospel—then I have no gospel to preach.

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Come, broken hearts, come to the Physician who never fails to heal! Uncover your wounds to Him—who so tenderly binds them up.

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Scripture is a never-failing treasury fill with boundless stores of grace!

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In the service of God, do not seek popularity or attempt to please the crowds. You must follow the Lord's will wherever it leads you—whether you go alone or not.

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Our Lord will not remember our sins so as to punish them—or so as to love us one atom less because of them.

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Although the Lord may not appear for us in the way we expect, or desire, or suppose—yet He will in some way or other provide for us.

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Grace is promised to us, by which we are . . . restored from our wanderings, cleansed from our impurities, and set free from the chains of sinful habits.

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Nothing brings such leanness into a man's soul—as lack of prayer.

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A bloodless, Christless gospel is fit only for the dunghill. It neither honors God—nor converts men.

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Those of you who profess to be the Lord's people—take care that you maintain a broad wall of separation between yourselves and the world!

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Genuine faith trusts a whole Christ, for the whole of salvation.

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Many saints in dying, have looked up from amidst the stormy waters, and have see Jesus walking on the waves of the sea, and have heard His say, "It is I—do not be afraid!"

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Tongues are more terrible instruments than can be made with hammers and anvils—and the evil which they inflict cuts deeper and spreads wider! "The tongue is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by Hell." James 3:6

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There are but two kinds of people on earth: the church—and the world. Those who are justified in Christ—and those who are condemned in their sins.

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All things are ordained of God and are settled by Him, according to His wise and holy predestination. Whatever happens here on earth—happens not by chance, but according to the counsel of the Most High God!

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Nothing teaches us about the preciousness of the Lord Jesus—as much as when we learn the emptiness of everything else.

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Have your heart right with Christ—and he will visit you often. Fellowship with Christ will turn weekdays into Sundays, meals into sacraments, homes into temples, and earth into Heaven.

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God helps those who cannot help themselves.

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The groans of earth, shall be surpassed by the songs of Heaven! The woes of time, shall be swallowed up in the hallelujahs of eternity!

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A Jesus who never wept—could never wipe away my tears.

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A faithful preacher is a rare creature. And, like a diamond, as precious as he is rare!

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You will never glory in God—until first of all God has killed your glorying in yourself.

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To rejoice in temporal comforts is dangerous, to rejoice in self is foolish, to rejoice in sin is fatal, but to rejoice in God is heavenly.

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When your will is God's will—then you will have your will.

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As for His failing you, never dream of it—hate the thought of it! The God who has been sufficient until now—should be trusted to the end.

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The greatest joy of a Christian, is to give joy to Christ.

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I bear my testimony that there is no joy to be found in all this world, like that of sweet communion with Christ. I would barter all else there is of Heaven for that. Indeed, that is Heaven! As for the harps of gold and the streets like clear glass and the songs of seraphs and the shouts of the redeemed—one could very well give all these up, counting them as a drop in a bucket, if we might forever live in fellowship and communion with Jesus.

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It is not great talents God blesses, so much as likeness to Jesus.

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We cannot help the birds flying over our heads—but we may keep them from building their nests in our hair! Just so with temptations!

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His mercy is so great, that it forgives great sins to great sinners after great lengths of time and then gives great favors and great privileges and raises us up to great enjoyments in the great Heaven of the great God!

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If Christ is not all to you, then He is nothing to you.

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Remember that the Lord Jesus came to take away sin in three ways. He came to remove . . . the penalty of sin, the power of sin, and, at last, the presence of sin!

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It was the mighty power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in Him by which Jesus overcame the world. That same quiet power, if it dwells in us, will make us win the same victory by faith.

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You cannot trust God too much—nor yourself too little! "He who trusts in his own heart is a fool!" Proverbs 28:26

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He bequeaths us His manger , from which to learn how God came down to man—and His cross to teach us how man may go up to God.

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Jesus! it is the name which moves the harps of Heaven to melody. Jesus! the life of all our joys. If there is one name more charming, more precious than another, it is this name. It is woven into the very warp and woof of our psalmody. Many of our hymns begin with it, and scarcely any, that are good for anything, end without it. It is the sum total of all delights. It is the music with which the bells of Heaven ring. It is a song in a word; an ocean for comprehension, although a drop for brevity. It is a matchless oratorio in two syllables; a gathering up of the hallelujahs of eternity in five letters!

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I must take care above all that I cultivate communion with Christ; for though that can never be the basis of my peace with God—yet it will be the channel of it.

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God is so boundlessly pleased with Jesus—that in him, he is altogether well pleased with us.

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Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself—be sure of that!

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If sinners are damned—at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stop. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.

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There never lived a man who was too holy—and there never will live a man who will imitate Christ too closely, or avoid sin too rigidly.

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Every Christian is either a missionary—or an imposter.

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Do not attempt to touch yourself up and make yourself something other than you really are—but come as you are to Him who justifies the ungodly.

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The law is for the self-righteous, to humble their pride.

The gospel is for the lost, to remove their despair.

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The same sun which melts wax hardens clay. And the same Gospel which melts some persons to repentance—hardens others in their sins.

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Let eloquence be flung to the dogs, rather than souls be lost. What we want is to win souls. They are not won by flowery speeches.

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I have a great need for Christ. I have a great Christ for my need.

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Conversion is a turning onto the right road. The next thing to do is to walk on it.

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If you worship a God of gold, you will perish as much as if you worshiped a God of mud. "You cannot serve both God and Money!" Matthew 6:24

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We are not responsible to God for the souls that are saved—but we are responsible for the Gospel that is preached, and for the way in which we preach it

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The Christian should work as if all depended upon him—and pray as if it all depended upon God.

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"God made Him who had no sin, to be sin for us—so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 5:21. Jesus has borne the penalty of sin on behalf of His people. Behold the wonder! There He hangs upon the cross! This is the greatest sight you will ever see! Son of God and Son of Man—there He hangs, bearing unutterable pains, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God. Oh, the glory of that sight! The innocent One, punished!

The Holy One, condemned! The ever-blessed One, made a curse! The infinitely glorious One, put to a shameful sin-atoning death!

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Why is it that some Christians, although they hear many sermons, make but slow advances in the divine life? Because they neglect their prayer closets, and do not thoughtfully meditate on God's Word. They love the wheat—but they do not grind it. They would have the corn—but they will not go forth into the fields to gather it. The fruit hangs upon the tree—but they will not pluck it. The water flows at their feet, but they will not stoop to drink it. From such folly deliver us, O Lord.

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Groanings which cannot be uttered, are often prayers which cannot be refused.

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If God is near a church—it must be a praying church. And if he is not there—one of the first tokens of his absence, will be a slothfulness in prayer.

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A prayerless soul, is a Christless soul. Prayer is . . . the lisping of the believing infant, the shout of the fighting believer, the requiem of the dying saint falling asleep in Jesus.

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Let your cares drive you to God. I shall not mind if you have many of them-if each one leads you to prayer. If every fret makes you lean more on the Beloved—it will be a benefit.

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Prayer bends the omnipotence of Heaven, to your desire. Prayer moves the hand, that moves the world.

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We cannot all argue—but we can all pray. We cannot all be leaders—but we can all be pleaders. We cannot all be mighty in rhetoric—but we can all be prevalent in prayer.

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Scripture meditation is the strong meat on which holy men are nourished. Oh, to be bathed in a text of Scripture, and to let it be sucked up into your very soul, until it saturates your heart!

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Prayer is the autograph of the Holy Spirit upon the renewed heart.

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When you feel disinclined to pray—let it be a sign to you that prayer is doubly necessary! Pray for prayer!

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I have now concentrated all my prayers into one—and that one prayer is this: that I may die to self, and live wholly to Him.

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A child's cry touches a father's heart. Our King is the Father of his redeemed people. If we can do no more than cry—it will bring omnipotence to our aid. A cry is the native language of a spiritually needy soul. It is done with fine phrases and long orations, and it takes to sobs and moans—and so, indeed, it grasps the most potent of all weapons, for Heaven always yields to such artillery.

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If you believe in prayer at all—then expect God to hear you. If you do not expect God to hear you—then you will not have. God will not hear you unless you believe He will hear you; but if you believe He will, He will be as good as your faith. He will never allow you to think better of Him than He is; He will come up to the mark of your thoughts, and according to your faith so shall it be done unto you.

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If any of you should ask me for an epitome of the Christian life, I would say that it is in one word— prayer .

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

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"For we know, brothers loved by God, that He has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words—but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction!" 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5. The gospel is preached in the ears of all men—but it only comes with power to some. The power which is in the gospel, does not lie in the eloquence of the preacher—otherwise men would be converters of souls. Nor does it lie in the preacher's learning—otherwise it could consists of the wisdom of men. We might preach until our tongues rotted, until we should exhaust our lungs and die—but never a soul would be converted, unless there were mysterious power going with it—the Holy Spirit changing the will of man. O Sirs! We might as well preach to stone walls, as preach to men—unless the Holy Spirit is with the Word, to give it power to convert the soul.

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Far better for a man that he had never been born—than that he should degrade a pulpit into a show box to exhibit himself in!

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Ministers should be stars to give light—not clouds to obscure. In some cases the text is as clear as a mirror, until the preacher's breath bedims it.

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I have not much patience with a certain class of Christians nowadays who will hear anybody preach, so long as they can say, "He is very clever, a fine preacher, a man of genius, a born orator." Is cleverness to make false doctrine palatable? Why, sirs, to me the ability of a man who preaches error is my sorrow, rather than my admiration.

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If you think you can never honor Christ until you enter a pulpit—it may be just possible that you will afterwards honor him best by getting out of it as quickly as you can!

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The motto of all true servants of God must be, "We preach Christ; and him crucified!" A sermon without Christ in it is like a loaf of bread without any flour in it. No Christ in your sermon, sir? Then go home, and never preach again until you have something worth preaching!

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A Bible that Is falling apart—usually belongs to someone who isn't.

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Nobody ever outgrows Scripture—the book widens and deepens with our years.

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Sin and sorrow cannot be divorced. Holiness and happiness cannot be separated.

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I would not give a penny for your love to the truth—if it is not accompanied with a hearty hatred of error!

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To pursue union with lost religionists at the expense of truth, is treason to the Lord Jesus.

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The doctrine of the atonement is to my mind one of the surest proofs of the divine inspiration of Holy Scripture. Who would or could have thought of the just Ruler, dying for the unjust rebel? This is no teaching of human mythology, or dream of poetic imagination. This method of expiation is only known among men because it is a fact—fiction could not have devised it. God himself ordained it—it is not a matter which could have been imagined.

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Half our fears arise from neglect of the Bible!

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Every promise of Scripture is a writing of God, which may be pleaded before Him with this reasonable request: 'Lord, do as You have said.' The Heavenly Father will not break His Word to His own child.

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The word of God is always most precious, to the man who most lives upon it!

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The Word of God will be to you a bulwark and a high tower, a castle of defense against the foe. Oh, see to it that the Word of God is in you, in your very soul, permeating your thoughts, and so operating upon your outward life, that all may know you to be a true Bible-Christian, for they perceive it in your words and deeds.

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We shall not adjust our Bible to the age. By God's grace, we shall adjust the age to the Bible.

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The greatest argument against the Bible is an unholy life.

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God thinks of each of His redeemed children—as much as if He had only that one!

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Within the Scripture there is a balm for every wound, and a salve for every sore!

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The world does not read the Bible—the world reads Christians! You are the light of the world.

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When the Spirit of God goes with the Word, then the Word becomes the instrument of the conversion of the souls of men.

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If you hear a man rail at the Bible—you can usually conclude that he has never read it.

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The best interpreter of a book is generally the man who wrote it. The Holy Spirit wrote the Scriptures. Go to Him to get their meaning—and you will not be misled.

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We may make our prophetic charts if we like—but God will follow His own chart!

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It was God's word that made us. Is it any wonder that His word should sustain us?

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Study the Word, that your faith may not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God!

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O Christian—be holy, for Christ is holy. Do not pollute that holy Name with which you are named. Let your family life, your personal life, your business life—be as holy as Christ your Lord would have it to be. Shall saints be shams—when sinners are so real?

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Repentance and desires after holiness never can be separated.

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Stale godliness is ungodliness. Let our religion be as warm, and constant, and natural as the flow of the blood in our veins. A living God, must be served in a living way.

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Perseverance is the badge of all true saints! Perseverance is as necessary to a man's salvation, as conversion.

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Let me ask you—how many atheists are now in this church? Perhaps not a single one of you would accept the title. And yet, if you live from Monday morning to Saturday night in the same way as you would live if there were no God—then you are practical atheists.

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Love for God is obedience; love for God is holiness. To love God and to love man is to be conformed to the image of Christ, and this is salvation.

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There is no repentance where a man can talk lightly of sin—much less where he can speak tenderly and accepting of it.

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The nearer a man lives to God—the more intensely he mourns over his own evil heart!

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To a man who lives unto God, nothing is secular—everything is sacred!

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Repentance grows as faith grows. Do not make any mistake about it—repentance is not a thing of days and weeks, a temporary penance to be gotten over as fast as possible! No—it is the grace of a lifetime, like faith itself. Repentance is the inseparable companion of faith.

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Do not sit down and try to pump up repentance from the dry well of a corrupt nature. It is contrary to the laws of your mind to suppose that you can force your soul into that gracious state. Take your heart in prayer to Him who understands it and say, "Lord, cleanse it. Lord, renew it. Lord, work repentance in it!" The more you try to produce penitent emotions in yourself—the more you will be disappointed. However, if you believingly think of Jesus dying for you, repentance will burst forth.

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He who grows in grace, remembers that he is but dust. He therefore does not expect his fellow Christians to be anything more than dust—he overlooks ten thousand of their faults, because he knows his God overlooks twenty thousand in his own case.

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Hope itself is like a star—not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity, and only to be discovered in the night of adversity.

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Faith goes up the stairs that love has built—and looks out the windows which hope has opened.

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Is there nothing to sing about today? Then borrow a song from tomorrow—sing of what is yet to be. Is this world dreary? Then think of Heaven!

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If I am not today all that I hope to be—yet I see Jesus, and that assures me that I shall one day be like Him.

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You cannot slander human nature—it is worse than words can paint it!

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There is as much love in the blows of God's hand, as in the kisses of His mouth!

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As princes hold the model globe in their hands—so does the Lord in very deed hold the earth!

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Whatever the secondary agent may be, the direct hand of the Lord is in every national calamity.

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The floods of God's mercy, rise above the mountains of our sins!

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There is no cordial of comfort, like that which is poured from the bottle of Scripture.

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Pride lies at the root of all sin. If people were not arrogant, they would not be disobedient.

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Justified people always long to be sanctified.

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Hell itself is but sin fully developed!

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The same lips which spoke us into existence, have spoken the laws by which we are to govern our existence.

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Those who fear God, need not fear anything else!

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Our desires and delights are a better test of our character than anything else. The further a soul advances in grace, the more spiritual and divine are its longings.

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The day we find the perfect church—it becomes imperfect the moment we join it.

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If you give your soul up to anything earthly, whether it be the wealth, or the honors, or the pleasures of this world—then you might as well hunt after the mirage of the desert, or try to collect the mists of the morning, or to store up for yourself the clouds of the sky—for all these things are passing away.

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It is a blessing for us that, as sin lives, and the flesh lives, and the devil lives—so Jesus lives. It is also a blessing that, whatever strength these may have to ruin us—Jesus has still greater power to save us.

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Remember Martin Luther's way of cutting the devil's head off with his own sword. "Oh," said the devil to Martin Luther, "you are a sinner." "Yes," said Luther, "Christ died to save sinners!" Thus he smote him with his own sword. Hide in this refuge, and stay there!

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