Faith fulfilling the Divine Purposes – Charles Spurgeon

MR. RICHARD KNILL, of happy and glorious memory, an earnest worker for Christ, felt moved, I know not why, to take me on his knee, at my grandfather’s house, and to utter words like these, which were treasured up by the family, and by myself especially, “This child,” said he, “will preach the gospel, and he will preach it to the largest congregations of our times.” I believed his prophecy, and my standing here today is partly occasioned by such belief. It did not hinder me in my diligence in seeking to educate myself because I believed I was destined to preach the gospel to large congregations; not at all, but the prophecy helped forward its own fulfillment; and I prayed, and sought, and strove, always having this star of Bethlehem before me, that the day shall come when I should preach the gospel. Even so the belief that we shall one day be perfect, never hinders any true believer from diligence, but is the highest possible incentive to make a man struggle with the corruptions of the flesh, and seek to persevere according to God’s promise.