Quotes by Pastor Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834 - 1892)
"Now the devil agitates the coming soul upon that doctrine [election]. 'Oh,' saith he, 'perhaps you are not elect. It is of no use your coming, and struggling, and striving; you may sit still and do nothing, and yet be saved, if you are to be saved; but if your name is written among the lost, all your praying, seeking, and believing cannot save you.' Thus the devil begins preaching sovereignty in the sinner's ear, to make him believe that the Lord will assuredly cut him off. He asks, 'How can you suppose that such a wretch as you can be elected? You deserve to be damned, and you know it. Your brother is a good moral man, but as for you, you are the chief of sinners; do you think God would choose you?' Then if the tempted one is instructed that election is not according to merit, but of God's free will, Satan opens another battery, and insinuates, 'You would not feel like this if you were one of God's elect; you would not be allowed to come into all this suffering, and pray so long in vain.' And again he whispers, 'You are not one of his;' and thus attempts to throw the soul down and tear it in pieces. I would just like to have a blow at his schemes this morning by reminding our friends that when they come to Christ they never need puzzle themselves about the doctrine of election. No one, in teaching a child the alphabet, makes him learn Z before he has learned A; so a sinner must not expect to learn election until he knows faith. The text with which he has to do is this: 'He that believeth on the Lord Jesus shall be saved;'... But if he cannot shake off the subject from his mind, he needs not do it, for he may remember that every penitent is elect, every believer is elect. However great the sinner, if he does but repent, that is a proof that he is elect; if he does but believe on Christ, he is as certainly elected as his faith is genuine." (The Comer's Conflict with Satan)
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