# “No man becomes bad all at once” by Charles Spurgeon

- Link: https://tollelege.net/2008/01/08/no-man-becomes-bad-all-at-once-by-charles-spurgeon/
- Published: 2008-01-08T14:08:48-06:00
- Author: tollelege

“After secret backsliding comes a sin which is publicly reported, and men cry, ‘
Shame!’ Yet it is not that one sin, but the general state of the man’s heart which
is the saddest part of it. No man becomes bad all at once. True, the single lightning
flash slew its victim, but the bolt had not fallen if there had been no previous
gathering of the elements into the condition of storm.

The overt scandal is only the development of what was in the man,—the root of the
evil lies deeper still. When we hear of a man who has mined his character by a surprising
act of folly, we may surmise, as a rule, that this mischief was but one sulphurous
jet from a soil charged with volcanic fire; or, to change the figure, one roaring
lion from a den of wild beasts.

As you would, on your bended knees, cry day and night that no moral catastrophe 
may occur to you, beware of the sin which leads to it, beware of the backsliding
which culminates in it; for if we have not the cause, the effect will not follow.
The Lord will preserve us if, day by day, we cry unto Him to cleanse our way.”

–Charles H. Spurgeon, _An All-Round Ministry: Addresses to Ministers and Students_.(
Accessed [here ](http://www.spurgeon.org/misc/aarm05.htm)on 01.08.08).

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