Charles Spurgeon Quotes on Christ, Grace, Faith, Prayer and Trials
Charles Haddon Spurgeon preached to thousands every Sunday in London for nearly forty years, and his sermons were printed every week and sold around the world. He had a gift for the sentence that sticks. That's why he's one of the most quoted preachers who ever lived, and also why so many lines are credited to him that he never said.
Every quotation below is copied exactly from his books in TheWay Library, with the book and sermon it comes from, so you can read it in its setting. Three of his books already have their own quote pages: All of Grace quotes, Morning by Morning quotes, and his counsel to ministers in Spurgeon's advice to preachers. This page draws on the rest: his sermons, letters, the Treasury of David and more. For his life, see who was Charles Spurgeon, and for a guide to all his books, see Charles Spurgeon books.
On Jesus Christ
Spurgeon said he wanted to preach Christ in every sermon, and he did. These lines show why.
I love the doctrines of grace, I love the church of God, I love the Sabbath, I love the ordinances; but I love Jesus most.
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol. 32, "Where Are the Nine?"
It is always Christ from the opening leaf of Genesis to the closing note of Malachi, — Christ, Christ, Christ, and nothing but Christ.
Sermons of the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, Series 8, The Lamb: The Light
As the hammer comes down on the anvil ever with the same ring, so will we preach Christ, Christ, Christ, and nothing else but Christ.
The Letters of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, To Various Friends
The presence of Christ is all that his people can ever want.
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol. 50, Restless! Peaceless!
Socrates and Plato hold up their candles, but Jesus is the sun.
Twelve Sermons on the Resurrection, The Lord Is Risen Indeed
As I must have a master, let me have the Christ of Bethlehem, — the Christ of Nazareth, — the Christ of Calvary, — the Christ of heaven.
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol. 48, A King Sent in Love
On grace and salvation
He was a Calvinist who pleaded with sinners as hard as any evangelist. He saw no conflict: God's grace is free, so anyone may come.
Jesus Christ will take any sinner to heaven, but he will not take any sin to heaven.
Storm Signals, chapter XIII: Cries of Distress
Christ saves his people, not in their sins, but from them.
Gems from Spurgeon, Sin
Thou must not dream that thou hast sinned thyself beyond the power of grace, for his mercy endureth for ever!
Sermons of the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, Series 18, The Breaker and the Flock
Did the Lord love me when there was nothing to love in me?
Sermons of the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, Series 10, Without Money and Without Price
O beloved, you should measure God's grace by the immeasurable; not by your nothingness, but by his infinity!
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol. 47, The High Rock
A sense of sin without faith drives us from God, but a sense of sin with faith draws us immediately to God.
Sermons on Our Lord's Parables, A Sermon for the Worst Man on Earth
Jesus did not die to make God love sinners, for He always did love them; but that His love might be exercised in consistency with holiness.
Messages of Hope and Faith, Sermon IX: Within the Veil
On faith
Spurgeon described faith in the plainest words he could find, because he wanted the simplest hearer to believe.
To believe is to trust, or lean upon Christ Jesus; in other words, to give up self-reliance, and to rely upon the Lord Jesus.
Around the Wicket Gate, Faith in the Person of the Lord Jesus
Thinking of Jesus, and meditating upon Jesus, will breed faith in Jesus.
Messages of Hope and Faith, Sermon IV: Eyes Right!
A sweet sin, harboured in the heart, will prevent a soul from laying hold upon Christ by faith.
Around the Wicket Gate, A Real Hindrance
Faith never seeks honor for herself: she is a self-denying grace.
Sermons of the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, Series 18, Trust
Sense sings but now and then, but faith is an eternal songster.
The Treasury of David, Vol. 4, Psalm 89
Believe every man to be a liar if you will, but never believe that God can fail you.
Grace Triumphant, chapter I: The Novelties of Divine Mercy
On prayer
Spurgeon loved the prayer meeting. His talks at the Monday evening prayer meetings were later gathered in Only a Prayer Meeting.
Prayer with the heart is the heart of prayer: the cry of our soul is the soul of our cry.
Sermons of the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, Series 15, Thought-Reading Extraordinary
David would not have been a man after God's own heart, if he had not been a man of prayer.
The Treasury of David, Vol. 1, Psalm XVII
We kneel in the attitude of prayer; but we do not pray.
Trumpet Calls to Christian Energy, chapter IX: Lukewarmness
Our closets are either Bethels or Bochims, — the house of God or else the house of weeping.
Sermons of the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, Series 6, Weak Hands and Feeble Knees
We must always subjoin at the bottom of the prayer this heavenly postscript, "Father, deny this if it be most for Thy glory."
Gleanings Among the Sheaves, Unsubmissive Prayers
On trouble and comfort
Spurgeon suffered for years from gout, depression and painful illness. He spoke to sufferers as one of them.
We can never so well see the true colour of Christ's love as in the night of weeping.
The Saint and His Saviour, chapter IX: Jesus in the Hour of Trouble
When God chastises you he does not punish as a judge does, but he chastens as a father.
Sermons of the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, Series 4, The Loved Ones Chastened
Our God is not only pitiful, but very pitiful; not only of mercy, but of tender mercy.
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol. 31, The Pitifulness of the Lord the Comfort of the Afflicted
God is never taken by surprise, he has foreseen all things and worked them into his grand plan.
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol. 30, Our Sanctuary
To die in God's presence, is simply to let life blossom into something better than life; but to die without God must be horrible!
Types and Emblems, chapter X: The Fainting Hero
On the Bible
In his last years Spurgeon fought the Down-Grade controversy, standing for the Bible against new teaching in the churches.
We repeat the Word as a child repeats his lesson. It is not ours to correct the divine revelation, but simply to echo it.
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol. 34, The Infallibility of Scripture
As for us, we cast anchor in the haven of the Word of God.
The Greatest Fight in the World
The Book of Psalms instructs us in the use of wings as well as words: it sets us both mounting and singing.
The Treasury of David, Vol. 6, Preface
On love, joy and the Christian life
When love dies orthodox doctrine becomes a corpse, a powerless formalism.
Sermons of the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, Series 17, Love's Complaining
If you would be holy, you must live close to Jesus.
Gleanings Among the Sheaves, Good Works
Sinners are attracted to Jesus by the joy of saints.
My Sermon-Notes, Vol. 4, Joy a Duty
Put on the Lord Jesus Christ for daily wear; not for high days and holy days only, but for all time, and every, time.
Messages to the Multitude, chapter V: Christ Put On
On winning souls
Talk of Christ, and save a soul: that soul saved will be a blessing for ages, and a joy to God throughout eternity.
Teachings of Nature in the Kingdom of Grace, The Growth of a Harvest
What you want, dear teacher, in your beloved charge, is not mere conviction, but conversion; you desire not only impression, but regeneration — life, life from God, the life of Jesus.
The Soul-Winner, chapter VII: How to Raise the Dead
From John Ploughman
Spurgeon also wrote homely advice in the voice of a farm labourer, John Ploughman. It's full of country humor.
Men turn their faces to hell and hope to get to heaven; why don't they walk into the horsepond, and hope to be dry?
John Ploughman's Talk, Hope
Husbands and wives should provoke one another to love, and they should love one another notwithstanding provocations.
John Ploughman's Talk, A Good Word for Wives
Set a stout heart to a stiff hill, and the wagon will get to the top of it.
John Ploughman's Pictures, Stick to It and Do It
Where to read more Spurgeon
The library has ninety-four of his books, so there's no shortage. If you're new to him, start with All of Grace, his short book on how to be saved, and keep Morning by Morning for daily reading. For his sermons, try the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol. 32 or one of the small topical collections such as Twelve Sermons for the Troubled and Tried. All his books are on the Spurgeon author page.