C.H. Spurgeon Quotes

A man is made by that which he feeds upon, and for the best manhood you need the best food. As certain silk-worms have their silk coloured by the leaves on which they feed, so if we were to feed on Christ, and nothing else but Christ, we should become pure, holy, lowly, meek, gentle, humble; in a word, we should be perfect even as He is. BA84 The Christian should take nothing short of Christ for his model. ME161 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. WE113 No law but that of absolute perfection could come from a perfect God, and to give us a model that were not absolutely perfect, were to ensure to us superabundant imperfections, and to give us an excuse for them. God sets before his servants no rule of this kind, “Be as good as you can,” but this, “Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Hath any man ever attained to it? Truly we have not, but for all that, every Christian man aims at it. I would far rather my child had a perfect copy to write by, though he might never write equal to it, than that he should have an imperfect copy set before him, because then he would never make a good writer at all. 845.689 There must be a perfect model before us before we can discern our own departures from perfection. 1206.679 If God were to create free agents, knowing both good and evil, and put them where man will be in heaven, without their undergoing any preparatory process, it would be a dangerous experiment; but for him to let them know evil to the full, and yet be for ever bound to perfect holiness, because infinite love sways them with omnipotent obligations of gratitude, this is to make creatures which bring exceeding glory to their author. These are not merely fashioned on his wheel, but dipped into the blood of his own suffering self, and indwelt by his own mighty power, and well may they be precious in his sight. 1240.356 There is no holy walking without careful watching. Depend upon it, no man was ever good by chance, nor did anyone ever become like the Lord Jesus by happy accident. “I put gold into the furnace,” said Aaron, “and there came out this calf,” but nobody believed him. 1526.148 Hang that question up in your houses, “What would Jesus do?” and then think of another, “How would Jesus do it?” for what he would do, and how he would do it, may always stand as the best guide to us. 1599.287 You, my boy, are not to invent a system of writing; yours is a much easier task, keep to your copy, imitate every letter, ay, every turn and twist of your master’s hand. Scholars can only learn by imitation, and we are all scholars. It may be something to aspire to be the head of a school of painting; but the first thing for the young artist to do is to copy. He who cannot copy cannot originate; depend upon that. 1725.327 Nearness to God brings likeness to God. The more you see God the more of God will be seen in you. 1725.334 We do not desire that our pattern should be lowered, but that our imitation should be raised. 1778.245 He has taken off some of the coarsest surface, but he will polish you yet to an exceeding beauty. I verily believe, if we could see ourselves as we shall be, it would make us laugh for very joy. 2036.427 Never do what you could not suppose Christ would have done. 2449.41 The man who is deeply discontented with himself is probably growing fast into the full likeness of Christ. 3325.508 What Jesus loves, we love; what Jesus hates, we hate; what Jesus seeks, we seek; what Jesus shuns, we shun. This is true friendship when there is but one heart in two bodies, and when one heart in the twain produces with undivided strength one object. 3437.602