Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Trees of Righteousness



We are not only freed from sin through his atonement, but we are rendered acceptable to God through his obedience as our responsible surety. We are “accepted in the beloved,” we are justified through his righteousness. God seeth not us marred in the likeness of the first Adam who sinned, but he seeth us in Christ, the second Adam, remade, redeemed, restored, arrayed in garments of glory and beauty, with the Savior’s vesture on, as holy as the Holy One. He seeth “no sin in Jacob nor iniquity in Israel.” When Jacob learns to trust in the Messiah, and Israel hides behind his representative, the Lord our Righteousness, Jacob ceases to wrestle, for he prevails, and Israel stands in honor, for he is a prince with God. Blessed, thrice blessed, are they who are partakers of Christ in his righteousness.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "A Persuasive to Steadfastness," delivered February 29, 1872. Image by Paul Sapiano under Creative Commons License.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Let the Backsliders Love Him More



It is amazing grace which not only saves at first, bet restores the wandering sheep after it has gone astray. Oh, you Christians who are kept by divine grace walking with God, you have much to praise him for, you ought to bless him every day you live; but you who have fallen and gone aside, if the Lord brings you back you must henceforth render double diligence and sevenfold love. Henceforth you must be like the woman who broke the alabaster box over Christ’s head, you must feel that you cannot do enough for that dear Lord and Savior who saw you in all your rebellions, and yet loved you. Loving you because he would love you; not because you were lovely, but because he would love you; not because you were deserving, but because he would love you. This ought to make you the very choicest of Christians, this should place you in the front of the champions of the Lord in the day of battle.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Mercy's Master Motive," delivered March 17, 1872. Image by Liz West under Creative Commons License.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Made Perfect Through Suffering



It is in the gymnasium of affliction that men are modelled and fashioned in the beauty of holiness, and all their spiritual powers are trained for harmonious action. It was meet also that they should suffer, in order to complete their service. Like their Lord, they had to be made perfect through suffering; and if they had not suffered they had not finished the work which he had given them to do. They needed tribulation, moreover, that they might be made like their Savior; for a saint untroubled, how can he be like the man who wore the thorn crown? Never smitten, never slandered, never despised, never mocked at, never crucified, then how could we be like our Head? Shall the servant be above his Master, or the disciple above his Lord?

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "What And Whence Are These?," delivered February 25, 1872. Image by Bas Lammers under Creative Commons License.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Never give up praying



Never give up praying, not even though Satan should suggest to you that it is in vain for you to cry unto God. Pray in his teeth; “pray without ceasing.” If for awhile the heavens are as brass and your prayer only echoes in thunder above your head, pray on; if month after month your prayer appears to have miscarried, and no reply has been vouchsafed to you, yet still continue to draw nigh unto the Lord. Do not abandon the mercy-seat for any reason whatever. If it be a good thing that you have been asking for, and you are sure it is according to the divine will, if the vision tarry wait for it, pray, weep, entreat, wrestle, agonise till you get that which you are praying for. If your heart be cold in prayer, do not restrain prayer until your heart warms, but pray your soul unto heat by the help of the everblessed Spirit who helpeth our infirmities. If the iron be hot then hammer it, and if it be cold hammer it till you heat it.

Never cease prayer for any sort of reason or argument. If the philosopher should tell you that every event is fixed, and, therefore, prayer cannot possibly change anything, and, consequently, must be folly; still, if you cannot answer him and are somewhat puzzled, go on with your supplications notwithstanding all. No difficult problem concerning digestion would prevent your eating, for the result justifies the practice, and so no quibble should make us cease prayer, for the assured success of it commends it to us. You know what your God has told you, and if you cannot reply to every difficulty which man can suggest, resolve to be obedient to the divine will, and still “Pray without ceasing.” Never, never, never renounce the habit of prayer, or your confidence in its power.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Pray Without Ceasing," delivered March 10, 1872. Image by Lali Masriera under Creative Commons License.

Friday, March 25, 2011

We Need New Victories



Our commission as preachers is to every creature, and, therefore, the more public the teaching of the gospel the better. Truly, there was grace in the earth when in popish times God was loved by men in quiet, and when Christ was worshipped by little knots in secret; but that was a grander day when Luther stood out in the open air and said that Christ was King, and salvation was by his blood. Then, when all over Europe the crowds began to gather in the fields, or beneath the gospel oak, or in the public squares, to listen to the men who not in a corner, not with bated breath, but aloud and boldly, before them all declared that antichrist must come to an end and that the Lord Jesus Christ must be exalted, and faith in him must be declared to be the salvation of the sons of men, oh, it was then that Christ and his church beheld a glorious day.

Blessed be God for the Reformation, but we must not rest in faded laurels, we need new victories. We desire the blessings of the gospel to be extended; and we ought to pray that the gospel may have free course and be glorified, that every street may ring with its charming music, that every alley and court may brighten with salvation, ay, and that not a house in London may he left without knowing that “Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Another Royal Procession," delivered March 3, 1872. Image by André Mouraux under Creative Commons License.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

The Slander of the Saints by the World



Alas! they are often judged with harshness; or they are judged in ignorance; or they are judged by malice — not judged by righteousness, nor by judgment. When their enemies see them, they say, “These are a broken-spirited people; they are moping and melancholy, wretched and sad.” Thus hard things are spoken against them, and unkind stories are told of them. Sometimes they say they are out of their minds, and then they will insinuate that they are only hypocrites and pretenders.

Slander is very busy with the children of God. God had a Son that had no fault; but he never had a son that was not found fault with. Ay, God himself was slandered in paradise by Satan: let us not expect, therefore, to escape from the venomous tongue.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Poor Man's Friend." Image by dawnzy58 under Creative Commons License.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

The Passing of the Saints



Let us be persuaded of this, that no believer dies an untimely death. In every consistent Christian’s case that promise is true, “With long life also will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation;” for long life is not to be reckoned by years as men count them. He lives longest who lives best. Many a man has crowded half a century into a single year. God gives his people life, not as the clock ticks, but as he helps them to serve him; and he can make them to live much in a short space of time. There are no untimely figs gathered into God’s basket; the great Master of the vineyard plucks the grapes when they are ripe and ready to be taken, and not before. Saintly deaths are precious in his sight.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Precious Deaths," delivered February 18, 1872. Image by joiseyshowaa under Creative Commons License.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

But by His Spirit



Endow us, O God, with the Holy Ghost, and we have all we need. The poverty of the members, their want of learning, their want of rank, all these shall be as nothing. The Holy Ghost can make amends for all deficiencies, and clothe his poor and obscure people with an energy at which the world shall tremble. This made the apostolic church mighty, she had the Holy Ghost outpoured upon her: the lack of this made the medieval ages dark as midnight, for men contended about words and letters, but forgot the Spirit: the return of this inestimable blessing has given us every true revival: the working of the eternal Spirit, the presence of Christ in the midst of his people is the Sun of Righteousness arising with healing beneath his wings.

This has been our confidence, as a church, these eighteen years, and if we are yet to see greater and better things, we must still rely on this same strength, the divine presence of Jesus Christ by the wonder-working Spirit. “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord.”

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Real Presence, The Great Want Of The Church," delivered February 11, 1872. Image by Montse PB under Creative Commons License.

Monday, March 21, 2011

The One, Non-Repeatable Sacrifice of the Cross



He himself was the sacrifice; his body the altar, himself the priest, himself also the victim. On Calvary’s tree he presented himself a substitute for human guilt, and there he bore the crushing weight of Jehovah’s wrath in his own body, on the behalf of all his people. On him their sins were laid, and he was numbered with the transgressors; and there he, in their stead, suffered what was due to the righteousness of God, and made atonement to divine justice for the sins of his people. This was done, not by many offerings, but by one sacrifice, and that one alone. Jesus offered no other sacrifice: he had never made one before, nor since, nor will he present another sacrifice in the future. His sin offering is one.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Only Atoning Priest," delivered February 4, 1872. Image by Michael Peligro under Creative Commons License.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

When the waves are ready to swallow you



Happy is that man who can not only believe when the waves softly ripple to the music of peace, but continues to trust in him who is almighty to save when the hurricane is let loose in its fury, and the Atlantic breakers follow each other, eager to swallow up the barque of the mariner. Surely Christ Jesus is fit to be believed at all times, for, like the pole star, he abides in his faithfulness, let storms rage as they may. He is always divine, always omnipotent to succor, always overflowing with lovingkindness, ready and willing to receive sinners, even the very chief of them. Sorrowful one, do not add to thy sorrows by unbelief, that is a bitterness which it is superfluous to mingle with thy cup. Better far is it to say, “Though he slay me yet will I trust in him.”

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Faith's Dawn and its Clouds," delivered January 28, 1872. Image by jsorbieus under Creative Commons License.

Friday, March 18, 2011

The truth shall abide



The prophet Jeremiah, though exceedingly faithful in his mission, which he discharged as God would have him discharge it, with many tears in great love and deep anxiety, nevertheless had a great obstacle in his way. He was met by false prophets who withstood and contradicted him to his face. Not so very surprising either. It must ever be expected that it will be so. If God shall speak by any man, there shall be some other who protests that God speaks by him to the contrary. If there be a Christ, there will be an Antichrist; if there be a Simon Peter, there will be a Simon Marcus, if there shall be raised up by God a Luther, there shall be an Eckius, or some other controversialist who shall seek to resist and overthrow him.

Let no man’s heart then fail him if he be flatly contradicted when he bears testimony for God. Let him rather expect it, and go on never caring, for the fact is, the truth will outlive error, and in the long run that Word of God before which all things else are as grass and as the flower, the perishing flower of the field — the Word of God shall endure for ever and triumph over the ruin of all the words of men.

Tremble not, ye feeble adherents of the truth, who fear lest your weakness should make the truth itself weak, and the strong logic and the powerful rhetoric of its adversaries should overturn the oracles of God. It cannot be. The gates of hell shall not prevail against the gospel, mighty though they be both in power and in sophistry. The truth shall abide; the right shall prevail; for God is faithful, and Christ must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Two Yokes," delivered January 14, 1872. Image by Laszlo Ilyes under Creative Commons License.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

The Word which brings faith



The theory now-a-days is that all preachers worth hearing by this refined generation must be profound thinkers, and inventors of improved theologies. Brethren, let man’s thoughts perish for ever; the thoughts of God and not the thoughts of man will save souls. The truth of God should be spoken simply, with as little as possible of the embellishments of metaphysics, and philosophy, and high culture, and all that stuff. I say the word of God delivered as we find it is that which, when heard, brings faith to the souls of men.

I counsel you, my occasional hearers, you who perhaps have come freshly to this city, or who reside where you have a choice of ministry, seek not that which tickles your ear, but that which your conscience approves as consistent with the word of God; and, though we or an angel from heaven should preach to you that which is not God’s word, do not listen to us, for it will be mischievous to you. Hear you what God the Lord speaketh, and hear nothing else. What though he shall sound forth his word through a ram’s horn, if it be God’s Spirit that giveth forth a certain sound, it shall be more profitable to your soul than though the silver trumpet should be set to the mouth of falsehood, and the sweetest music should regale your ear. The matter of a discourse is far more important than the manner. Saving faith never comes from hearing falsehood, but from the word of God alone.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "How Can I Obtain Faith," delivered January 21, 1872. Image by tsaarni under Creative Commons License.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Do we really belong to Him?



Two men are going along a road, and there is a dog behind them. I do not know to which of them that dog belongs, but I shall be able to tell you directly. They are coming to a crossroad: one goes to the right, the other goes to the left. Now which man does the dog follow? That is his master. So when Christ and the world go together, you cannot tell which you are following; but, when there is a separation, and Christ goes one way, and your interest and your pleasure seem to go the other way, if you can part with the world and keep with Christ, then you are one of his. After this manner these opportunities to return may serve us a good purpose: they prove our faith, while they try our character; thus helping us to see whether we are indeed the Lord’s or not.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Pilgrim's Longings." Image by IcE MaN under Creative Commons License.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Never for Himself




Our Lord Jesus Christ’s heart was expansive and unselfish. He gave himself for his enemies, and died breathing a prayer over them; he lived never for himself. You could not put your finger on one point of his life and say, “here he lived for himself alone.” Neither his prayers nor his preachings, his miracles or his sufferings, his woes or his glories were with an eye to himself. He saved others, but himself he would not save. His followers must in this follow him closely.

Selfishness is as foreign to Christianity as darkness to light. The true Christian lives to do good, he looks abroad to see whom be may serve, and with this eye he looks upon the wicked, upon the fallen and the offcasts, seeking to reclaim them. Yes, in the same way he looks upon his personal enemies, and aims at winning them by repeated kindnesses. No nationality must confine his goodwill, no sect or clan monopolise his benevolence. No depravity of character or poverty of condition must sicken his lovingkindness, for Jesus received sinners and ate with them. Our love must embrace those who lie hard by the gates of hell, and we must endeavor with words of truth and deeds of love to bring them to Christ, who can uplift then to heaven.

Oh that you may all be gentle, quiet, meek in spirit, but full of an ardent, burning affection towards your fellowmen; so shall you be known to be Christ’s disciples.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "A Call To Holy Living," delivered January 14, 1872. Image by Daniel Parks under Creative Commons License.

Monday, March 14, 2011

No Praise Too Great



The man who thinks lightly of Christ also has but poor comfort as to his own security. With a little Savior I am still in danger, but if he be the mighty God, able to save unto the uttermost, then am I safe in his protecting hand, and my consolations are rich and abounding. In these, and a thousand other ways, an unworthy estimate of our Lord will prove most solemnly injurious. The Lord deliver us from this evil.

If our conceptions of the Lord Jesus are very enlarged, they will only be his due. We cannot exaggerate here. He deserves higher praise than we can ever render to him. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high is he above our loftiest conceptions. Even when the angels strike their loudest notes, and chant his praises most exultingly on their highest festal days, the music falls far short of his excellence. He is higher than a seraph’s most soaring thought! Rise then, my brethren, as on eagle’s wings, and let your adoring souls magnify and extol the Lord your Savior.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Glorious Master and the Swooning Disciple," delivered January 7, 1872. Image by Teo under Creative Commons License.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Guiding your business with wisdom




“He will guide his affairs with discretion.”

Those who neglect their worldly business must not plead religion as an excuse, for when a man is truly upright he exercises great care in managing his accounts, in order that he may remain so. It is sometimes hard to distinguish between indiscretion and dishonesty; carelessness in business may become almost as great an evil to others as actual knavery; a good man should not only be upright, but he should be so discreet that no one may have the slightest reason to suspect him of being otherwise.

When the righteous man lends he exercises prudence, not risking his all, for fear he should not be able to lend again, and not lending so very little that the loan is of no service. He drives his affairs, and does not allow them to drive him; his accounts are straight and clear, his plans are wisely laid, and his modes of operation carefully selected. He is prudent, thrifty, economical, sensible, judicious, discreet. Men call him a fool for his religion, but they do not find him so when they come to deal with him. “The beginning of wisdom” has made him wise, the guidance of heaven has taught him to guide his affairs, and with half an eye one can see that he is a man of sound sense. Such persons greatly commend godliness.

Alas, some professedly good men act as if they had taken leave of their senses; this is not religion, but stupidity. True religion is sanctified common sense. Attention to the things of heaven does not necessitate the neglect of the affairs of earth; on the contrary, he who has learned how to transact business with God ought to be best able to do business with men. The children of this world often are in their generation wiser than the children of light, but there is no reason why this proverb should continue to be true.

From the Treasury of David, by Charles Haddon Spurgeon, exposition of Psalm 112. Image by Orest under Creative Commons License.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

What makes my soul dance...



There was nothing in the character of Jupiter, or any of the pretended gods of the heathen, to make glad a pure and holy spirit, but there is everything in the character of Jehovah both to purify the heart and to make it thrill with delight. How sweet is it to think over all the Lord has done; how he has revealed himself of old, and especially how he has displayed his glory in the covenant of grace, and in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. How charming is the thought that he has revealed himself to me personally, and made me to see in him my Father, my friend, my helper, my God.

Oh, if there be one word out of heaven that cannot be excelled, even by the brightness of heaven itself, it is this word, “My God, my Father,” and that sweet promise, “I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.” There is no richer consolation to be found: even the Spirit of God can bring nothing home to the heart of the Christian more fraught with delight than that blessed consideration. When the child of God, after admiring the character and wondering at the acts of God, can all the while feel “he is my God; I have taken him to be mine; he has taken me to be his; he has grasped me with the hand of his powerful love; having loved me with an everlasting love, with the bands of lovingkindness has he drawn me to himself; my beloved is mine and I am his;” why, then, his soul would fain dance like David before the ark of the Lord, rejoicing in the Lord with all its might.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Joy of the Lord, The Strength of His People" delivered December 31, 1871. Image by Bill Harrison under Creative Commons License.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Christ The Bridge



Sin had separated between God and man; but the incarnation bridges the separation: it is a prelude to the atoning sacrifice, but it is a prelude full of the richest hope. From henceforth, when God looks upon man, he will remember that his own Son is a man. From this day forth, when he beholds the sinner, if his wrath should burn, he will remember that his own Son, as man, stood in the sinner’s place, and bore the sinner’s doom.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Joy Born At Bethlehem," delivered December 24, 1871. Image by F Mira under Creative Commons License.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

This is what we wait for...



The pure motive of any man who serves his generation well is generally misrepresented. As a rule the lounger looks on at the laborer not to praise but to blame him: not to cheer him but to chide him. The less he does, the less he will be open to rebuke, and the more he does oftentimes, and the more vigorously, the more he shall be upbraided.

Look not for your reward here. Suppose men praise you, what is their praise worth? It would not fill your nostrils if you were about to die. The approbation of those who have neither skill nor taste — what pleasure can it afford the artist? Should one stoop for it, or, having it, lift his head the higher? Our reward is the approbation of God, which he will give of his abundant grace. He first gives us good works, as one observes, and then rewards us for those good works, as if they were altogether our own. He gives rewards though they are not a debt, but altogether of grace.

Look for the reward hereafter. Wait a bit, man, wait a bit; your reward is not yet. Wait till the week is over, and then shall come the wage. Wait until the sun is gone down, and then there will be the penny for every laborer in the vineyard. Not yet, not yet, not yet. The husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth. This is what we wait for.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "A Visit to the Harvest Field." Image by docentjoyce under Creative Commons License.

Monday, March 7, 2011

An offering God can accept



As prayer will not be truly prayer without the Spirit of God, so it will not be prevailing prayer without the Son of God. He, the Great High Priest, must go within the veil for us; nay, through his crucified person the veil must be entirely taken away; for, until then, we are shut out from the living God. The man who, despite the teaching of Scripture, tries to pray without a Savior insults the Deity; and he who imagines that his own natural desires, coming up before God, unsprinkled with the precious blood, will be an acceptable sacrifice before God, makes a mistake; he has not brought an offering that God can accept, any more than if he had struck off a dog’s neck, or offered an unclean sacrifice. Wrought in us by the Spirit, presented for us by the Christ of God, prayer becomes power before the Most High, but not else.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Throne Of Grace," delivered November 19, 1871. Image by H Matthew Howarth under Creative Commons License.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Jesus: The Final Altar, Priest and Sacrifice



There is but one altar, Jesus Christ our Lord. All other altars are impostures and idolatrous inventions. Whether of stone, or wood, or brass, they are the toys with which those amuse themselves who have returned to the beggarly elements of Judaism, or else the apparatus with which clerical jugglers dupe the sons and daughters of men.

Holy places made with hands are now abolished; they were once the figures of the true, but now that the substance has come, the type is done away with. The all-glorious person of the Redeemer, God and Man, is the great center of Zion’s temple, and the only real altar of sacrifice. He is the church’s head, the church’s heart, the church’s altar, priest, and all in all.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Praises And Vows Accepted In Zion." Image by Rennett Stowe under Creative Commons License.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Let Us Not Sleep



“Let us not sleep, as do others.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:6


The Savior, as I see him throughout the whole of his ministry, appears to me on his knees pleading, and before his God agonising — laying out his life for the sons of men. But, brethren, do I speak harshly when I say that the disciples asleep are a fit emblem of our usual life? As compared or rather contrasted with our Master, I fear it is so.

Where is our zeal for God? Where is our compassion for men? Do we ever feel the weight of souls as we ought to feel it? Do are ever melt in the presence of the terrors of God which we know to be coming upon others? Have we realised the passing away of an immortal spirit to the judgment bar of God? Have we felt pangs and throes of sympathy when we have remembered that multitudes of our fellow creatures have received, as their eternal sentence, the words — "Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire in hell, prepared for the devil and his angels?" Why, if these thoughts really possessed us, we should scarce sleep; if they became as real to us as they were to him, we should wrestle with God for souls as he did, and become willing to lay down our lives, if by any means we might save some.

I see by the eye of faith, at this moment, Jesus pleading at the mercy-seat. “For Zion’s sake,” he saith, “I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest;” and yet, we around him lie asleep, without self-denying activity, and almost without prayer, missing opportunities, or, when opportunities for doing good have been seized, using them with but a slothful hand, and doing the work of the Lord, if not deceitfully, yet most sluggishly. Brethren, “let us not sleep, as do others.” If it be true that the Christian Church is to a great extent asleep, the more reason why we should be awake; and, if it be true, as I fear it is, that we have ourselves slumbered and slept, the more reason now that we should arise and trim our lamps, and go forth to meet the Bridegroom. Let us from this moment begin to serve our Master and his church more nearly after the example which he himself has set us in his consecrated life and blessed death. Let us not sleep then, as did the disciples at Gethsemane.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Sleep Not." Image by Christian Revival Network under Creative Commons License.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Fed by God



The Lord refreshed his weary people with “food convenient for them.” As the oxen, after the yoke was removed, were fed, so God, when he had removed our yoke of guilty bondage, fed us with the finest of the wheat, as he made us understand the gospel of his Son. The doctrines and promises of his word are substantial meat for hungry souls. “My soul shall be satisfied with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.” Certain under-shepherds are afraid of laying too much doctrinal food before the Lord’s people, but it is a great mistake. Truth never surfeits, though it always satisfies. The Good Shepherd does not stint his sheep, but he gives them so much, that they lie down amid the exceeding plenty of the green pastures. They cannot eat it all, and they lie down in the midst of a superabundance, which infinite mercy has provided.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Heaven's Nurse Children." Image by jaci Lopes dos Santos under Creative Commons License.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

The Sun of Righteousness



The king of day is so vast and so bright that the human eye cannot bear to gaze upon him; we delight in his beams, but we should be blinded should we continue to peer into his face; even yet more brilliant is our Lord by nature, for as God he is a consuming fire, but he deigns to smile upon us with milder beams as our brother and Redeemer. Jesus, like the sun, is the center and soul of all things, the fullness of all good, the lamp that lights us, the fire that warms us, the magnet that guides and controls us; he is the source and fountain of all life, beauty, fruitfulness, and strength; he is the fosterer of tender herbs of penitence, the quickener of the vital sap of grace, the ripener of fruits of holiness, and the life of everything that grows within the garden of the Lord. Whereas to adore the sun would be idolatry; it were treason not to worship ardently the divine Sun of Righteousness.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Sun of Righteousness," delivered November 12, 1871. Image by chantrybee under Creative Commons License.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Bring them to hear the Word



It is not all who hear that will be saved, but the ordinary way with God is for men first to hear, then to believe, and so to be saved. “Being in the way, God met with me,” said Obadiah; and the road which a soul should follow to be met with by God is the way of hearing. Though it may seem a very trite thing to say, it is nevertheless exceedingly important, if we are to have household conversion, that there should be a household hearing of the word. This is the chosen instrumentality, and we must bring all under the instrumentality if we wish them to obtain the blessing.

Now, in this City, many fathers never hear the word of God, because they regard the Sabbath Day as a day of laziness. They work so hard all the week, they say, that they are not fit to rise from their beds in the morning, and then, after a heavy dinner, the evening must be spent in loitering about, and chatting away time. Brethren, if you want to see your fellow-workmen saved, you should earnestly endeavor to bring them under the sound of the gospel. Here is a very useful occupation for many of you. You cannot preach, but you can gather a congregation for those who do. A little persuasion would succeed in many cases, and once bring them here, we would hope to hold them.

If I could not be the instrument of converting a soul by preaching the gospel myself, I would habitually addict myself to the bringing of strangers to listen to those whom God has owned to the conversion of souls. Why, our congregations need never be thin — I speak not now for myself, for I have no need — but in no place where the gospel is preached need there be a thin audience, if those who already appreciate the Gospel would feel it to be a Christian duty to bring others to hear it. Do this, I pray you. I believe it to be one of the most important efforts which a Christian man can make, to endeavor to bring the working men of London, and, indeed, all classes of men everywhere, to listen to the Gospel of Christ. The men, the fathers, the heads of households, we must have.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Household Salvation," delivered November 5, 1871. Image by Hugo Silva under Creative Commons License.