God will supply strength to us

Times of weakness will happen to us all: a great strain may be put upon us, and we may become exhausted, or, under severe depression of spirit, we may imagine ourselves to be ready to die; but at all such times God will supply strength to us: our extremity will be his opportunity; our time of famine will be his hour of plenty. Is not his strength made perfect in weakness? Is it not written that “he giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth strength?”

David sung in the One Hundred and Third Psalm, “He satisfieth my mouth with good things; so that my youth is renewed like the eagle’s,” and he expected it always to be so. “He restoreth my soul,” says he in the Twenty-third Psalm. Often do his psalms which commence in painful depression conclude with exultation, because heavenly love had poured fresh life into his swooning soul. From many a soul-sickness had the son of Jesse been recovered, from many a sinking had he been lifted up into holy joy.... Expect this, then, my brethren, that God will give you new strength as you shall require it. “As thy days, so shall thy strength be.”

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Fresh Grace Confidently Expected," delivered July 20, 1873. Image by Earl Wilkerson on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Sunshine and Showers

Pentecost is followed by persecution: Peter’s sermon by Peter’s imprisonment. Though today a church may flourish abundantly, in a very short time it may be visited with stern adversities, it may be tried none the less, but all the more, because God is in its midst, and is blessing it....

A Christian man is seldom long at ease. Our life, like April weather, is made up of sunshine and showers... Nothing beneath the moon can be depended upon, all things are invariably variable. “Boast not thyself of to-morrow,” saith the wise man; and he might have added, “Boast not thyself of to-day, for thou knowest not how the evening may close, however brightly the morning may have opened.”

Let us learn this lesson at the outset, let us not reckon upon the continuance of present ease, nor fix our happiness upon the fickle weather of this world, but let us be ready for changes, so that, come when they may, we shall not be afraid of evil tidings, our heart being fixed, trusting in the Lord.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Christ Asleep In The Vessel," delivered July 13, 1873. Image by Tim Wang on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

We dare not go away

How many sermons are published now-a-days, as well as preached, which are full of what is called thought. By the cant word “thought” is generally meant contradicting the plain meaning of scripture, and starting new notions. A man who preaches plainly what God reveals is said to be an echo of the Puritans, a dealer in platitudes, a repeater at second-hand of exploded dogmas; but to find out some new lie every week to tell your people, to shake their faith in inspiration every time you open your mouth, and make them believe that there is nothing certain, but that everything is a mere matter of opinion — that is “thought and culture” in these days; and there are in certain dissenting pulpits the most miserable specimens of this school, and in the pews a number of their silly admirers.

Brethren, some of us are too old-fashioned ever to be led astray in that way, and what is more, we have such an awful appetite, we are possessed of such a dreadful hunger, and such insatiable thirst, that we dare not go away from the apple tree, because we want to be always eating; we dare not go away from Jesus Christ, because we are always wanting pardon, always wanting peace, always wanting fresh life, and provided we can retain our hold on Jesus we are not particular about the way in which some of these wonderful trees twist their boughs. We do not feel concerned about the marvels of modern thought, or the resurrections of ancient errors.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Apple Tree In The Wood," delivered July 6, 1873. Image by paul bica on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Repent and believe now

I pray you, do have a little patience with us who preach to you, for our time is short, and you will soon be rid of us. Have a little patience with your Bible, it will soon enough be out of your way! Have a little patience with your poor Christian mother who tries to bring you to the Savior, she will be far from you soon! We, who now trouble you by desiring to do you good, will soon be out of your way.

Ah, poor souls! poor souls! for you will then be out of God’s way, and out of Christ’s way, and out of mercy’s way, banished from the Savior’s presence; and that because the kingdom of God came nigh unto you, and ye put it away from you, for ye would have none of the Lord’s reproofs, but ye turned every one to his own way, and rejected the counsels of God against yourselves. Beloved hearers, may none of you stand in that plight. While I breathe the prayer that it may not be so, may I ask you to pray for yourselves that it will not be so. Will you let me whisper in your ear, as though I stood close by each one of you now; and I will softly and lovingly say, — Repent, and believe in Jesus, now, with all thy might. God help thee, “for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.”

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Spur." Image by Steve-h on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

And you are all brothers

The Lord Jesus is to you your Master, in the sense of contrast to all other governing powers. You are men, and naturally moved by that which moves other men, but still the master motive power with every one of you who is a Christian is the supremacy of Christ. There are some among your fellow servants to whom you render respect, just as in a large firm there are foremen set over different parts of the work, to whom a measure of deference is fitly rendered. Still, as the overseer is not the chief authority, so your earthly superiors are not in the highest sense masters over you.

The highest of your fellow workmen in your Lord’s service is far, far, far below the Master; ministers and fathers in Christ are not the ultimate authorities to whom you bow, and whatever esteem you may pay even to such glorious names as those of Peter, and James, and John, you still regard them but as your fellow servants. “One is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren.” In this sense we are not servants of men, yea, we know no man after the flesh. We are in subjection to the Father of Spirits, but neither to Pope in Rome, nor bishop at home; we are the Lord’s free men, and cheerfully obey those whom he sets over us in his church: but we yield to none who claim lordship over us, and would divert us from obeying the Lord Jesus only.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Way To Honor." Image by Steve-h on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

The one who trusts Christ is secure

God must be false to all his promises, belie his oath, degrade his Son, before he can suffer a soul that seeth the Son and believeth on him to perish. Ye are all safe enough if you are resting there. Do not let a doubt disturb you. Go your way full of peace and consolation, and the Lord be with you! But, oh, if you have never believed in Jesus, may your spirits never know any rest till you do! May you never be content till you flee to him, and rest on him! The Lord grant it, for his dear name’s sake. Amen.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Father's Will. Image by Steve-h on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

We need our Sabbaths

Ah, brethren, this age is an age of care. We live too fast by half, we do too much and accomplish, therefore, too little. Our good sires could afford time for lengthened family devotions of a character which seem impossible to us. They could listen to sermons which would altogether tire us, and snap the bands of our patience, because their minds wore of a more solid order and their lives were vexed with fewer cares. We are all hack and hurry, we ride the whirlwind, we are scarcely satisfied with the speed of lightning. Now, Christian people cannot rush at this pace without serious injury to themselves unless they often refresh themselves with the comforts of God.

The Sabbath day is the great safeguard for the sanity of merchants and business men, and those who break the Sabbath to bring business cares into the one day in seven act a suicidal part. If oftener in the other six days Christian men would get alone with God, pour out their hearts before him, tell him their cares, and unveil to him their souls, they would have more ease of mind, be more strong for the struggle of life, and less likely to fail through an over-wrought brain. “In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.”

The Londoners in the olden times went into the fields on May Day morning to bathe their faces in the dew, for they thought it made them fair; I would that every morning we bathed our faces in the dew of heaven, so should we be comelier to look upon when mingling with men in the business of the day. If every night before we went to sleep we dipped our foot in the ocean of divine love our sleep would be more sweet to us, and care would not corrode and eat into the heart and even into the bodily constitution, as I fear it does in a great number of cases in this weary age. Get away to your God, O Christian!

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Medicine For The Distracted," delivered June 8, 1873. Image by Steve-h on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Work in a spirit of love

...I ask every worker here to take care that he always does his work in a spirit of love, and always regards the Lord Jesus not as a task-master, not as one who has given us work to do from which we would fain escape, but as our dear Lord, whom to serve is bliss, and for whom to die is gain. “O thou whom my soul loveth,” is the right name by which a worker for Jesus should address his Lord.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Good Shepherdess," delivered June 1, 1873. Image by Steve-h on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Where a careless walk will lead you

He is not a wise man who says, “I am a believer in Christ, and therefore it little matters what are my inward feelings and experience.” He who so speaks should remember that keeping the heart with all diligence is a precept of inspiration, and that a careless walk usually comes to a very sorrowful ending. The apostle did take account; but when he had done so he was dissatisfied: “I count not myself to have apprehended.” Nor was that dissatisfaction to be regretted: it was a sign of true grace, a conclusion which is always arrived at when saints judge themselves rightly. Most weighty is that word of Chrysostom, “He who thinks he has obtained everything, hath nothing.”

Had Paul been satisfied with his attainments he would never have sought for more. Most men cry “hold,” when they think they have done enough. The man who could honestly write, “I press forward,” you may be quite sure was one who felt that he had not yet apprehended all that might be gained. Self-satisfaction rings the death-knell of progress. There must be a deep-seated discontent with present attainments, or there will never be a striving after the things which are yet beyond.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Onward!," delivered May 25, 1873. Image by Steve-h on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

When my turn comes

Now, brethren, whenever any man in these times is laughed at for following Christ fully, or ridiculed for bearing an honest testimony for the truth, do not be ashamed of him and turn your backs upon him. Such a man may not expect you to give him double honor, but he may claim that you shall stand shoulder to shoulder with him, and not be ashamed of the reproach which he is called to bear for Christ his Lord. So was it with the church in the olden time, the men who went first in suffering were also first in their love and esteem. They never failed to own that they were brothers to the man who was doomed to die; on the contrary, the Christians of the apostolic times used to do what our Protestant forefathers did in England.

The young Christian people of the church, when there was a martyr to be put to death, would go and stand with tears in their eyes to see him die, and what think ye for? To learn the way! One of them said when his father asked him why he stole out to see his pastor burned, “Father, I did it that I might learn the way;” and he did learn it so well that when his turn came he burned as well, and triumphed in God as gloriously as his minister had done. Learn the way, young man, to bear reproach. Look at those who have been lampooned, and satirized, and say, “Well, I will learn how to take my turn when my turn comes, but as God helps me I will speak for the truth faithfully and boldly.”

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Romans, But Not Romanists." Image by Steve-h on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

The simplicity of the Gospel

God be thanked for the simplicity of the gospel. The longer I live the more I bless God that we have not received a classical gospel, or a mathematical gospel, or a metaphysical gospel; it is not a gospel confined to scholars and men of genius, but a poor man’s gospel, a ploughman’s gospel; for that is the kind of gospel which we can live upon and die upon. It is to us not the luxury of refinement, but the staple food of life.

We want no fine words when the heart is heavy, neither do we need deep problems when we are lying upon the verge of eternity, weak in body and tempted in mind. At such times we magnify the blessed simplicity of the gospel. Jesus in the flesh made manifest becomes our soul’s bread. Jesus bleeding on the cross, a substitute for sinners, is our soul’s drink. This is the gospel for babes, and strong men want no more.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Soul-Satisfying Bread," delivered May 18, 1873. Image by Steve-h on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

When have we learned a doctrine?

My brethren, this is a lesson for us; let us never reckon that we have learned a doctrine till we have seen its bearing upon our lives. Whatever we discover in God’s word, let us pray the Holy Spirit to make us feel the sanctifying influence of it. You know not a man because you recognize his features, you must also know his spirit, and so the mere acquaintance with the letter of truth is of small account — you must feel its influence and know its tendency.

There are some brethren who are so enamored of doctrine that no preacher will content them unless he gives them over and over again clear statements of certain favourite truths: but the moment you come to speak of practice they fight shy of it at once, and either denounce the preacher as being legal, or they grow weary of that which they dare not contradict. Let it never be so with us. Let us follow up truth to its practical “therefore.” Let us love the practice of holiness as much as the belief of the truth; and, though we desire to know, let us take care when we know that we act according to the knowledge, for if we do not our knowledge itself will become mischievous to us, will involve us in responsibilities, but will bring to us no effectual blessing. Let everyone here who knoweth aught, now pray God to teach him what he would have him to do, as the consequence of that knowledge.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Motives For Steadfastness," delivered May 11, 1873. Image by Ken Lund on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Even so has He loved us

It is quite certain, my dear brethren, that you who believe in Jesus are personally the objects of the love of the Triune Jehovah. You are loved as much as you love your children, or as the bridegroom loves his bride — nay, those are very feeble images, for you are loved by God infinitely. The heart of God never does anything weakly; his love is strong and powerful, for it is the affection of an omnipotent spirit. Remember the words of the Lord Jesus — “As the Father hath loved me even so have I loved you.” Do you know how much the Father loves his Son? Can you form any conception? Are you not baffled in the attempt? “Even so,” saith Jesus, “have I loved you.”

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Miracles of Love," delivered May 4, 1873. Image by Ken Lund on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Go to the work, stay at the work

Find a man who is pleading with sinners, really practically engaged in the work, and is bringing souls to Jesus Christ, and I will warrant you that he will be orthodox. He believes in the doctrine of human depravity, for he sees it to be a fact: he believes in the work of the Holy Spirit, for he often sees his own work to be good for nothing: he believes in sovereign grace, for he often observes that some are saved whom he least expected to see, and those whom he looked for are left behind.

There is nothing like work to keep a man soundly evangelical. When a fellow has nothing to do, the devil puts it into his head to write an essay against the orthodox faith. The man is a practical ignoramus, and, therefore, he is wiser than seven men that can render a reason. His hands are unemployed, and, therefore, he wanders about in Christ’s halls, whittling the doctrines of truth, and inventing new notions to please his fancy. Get to work, and you will be healthy. If God makes you a light to others you will be bright yourself, as you are giving the light your shining will burn off the spots and blots. When iron is red hot the blackness disappears. Streams as they run let fall their impurities, and filter themselves; and so the working Christian is enabled by God’s Spirit to purge himself from errors. He does God’s will, and therefore he knows

his doctrine.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Light Of The World," delivered April 27, 1873. Image by pasotraspaso on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

What a peace!

The man who has believed in Jesus feels a deep peace in his soul. “Jesus died for me,” saith he. Then if Jesus died in my stead my sin is put away. God will not be so unjust or inconsistent as to punish me for the very sin for which he put Christ my substitute to grief. If Jesus suffered in my stead, I shall not suffer. It were not just that two should suffer for the selfsame sin. The believer, knowing this, finds satisfaction, smells a savor of rest, and feels peace.

O, what a peace! Believe me, there is nothing like it in this world, it is the peace of God which passeth all understanding, a peace like that which rules amid angelic thrones.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Plenary Absolution." Image by francesco sgroi on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Without the spirit of prayer

If the spirit of prayer be not with the people, the minister may preach like an angel, but he cannot expect success. If there be not the spirit of prayer in a church there may be wealth, there may be talent, there may be a measure of effort, there may be an extensive machinery, but the Lord is not there. It is as sure evidence of the presence of God that men pray as the rising of the thermometer is an evidence of the increase of the temperature. As the Nilometer measures the rising of the water in the Nile, and so foretells the amount of harvest in Egypt; so is the prayer-meeting a grace-ometer, and from it we may judge of the amount of divine working among a people. If God be near a church it must pray; and if he be not there, one of the first tokens of his absence will be slothfulness in prayer.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "A Call To Worship," delivered April 20, 1873. Image by paul (dex) on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Do not reject His righteousness

Men think that they are to be saved by keeping God’s commandments. They are to do their best, and they conceive that their sincere endeavors will be accepted, and they will thus save themselves. This self-righteous idea is diametrically opposed to the whole spirit of the gospel. The gospel is not for you who can save yourselves, but for those who are lost. If you can save yourselves, go and do it, and do not mock the Savior with your hypocritical prayers. Go and stumble among the tombs of ancient Israel, and perish as they did in the wilderness, for into rest Moses and the law can never lead you.

The gospel is for sinners who cannot keep the law for themselves, who have broken it, and incurred its penalty, who know that they have done so, and confess it. For such, a living Savior has come that he may blot out their transgressions. Seek not salvation by the works of the law, for by them shall no flesh living be justified. By the law is the knowledge of sin, and nothing more, but righteousness, peace, life, salvation, come by faith in the living Lord Jesus Christ, and by no other means. “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved;” but if thou goest about to establish thine own righteousness, thou shalt surely perish, because thou hast rejected the righteousness of Christ.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Lord Is Risen Indeed," delivered April 13, 1873. Image by paul (dex) on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

His heart was with the common people

Many men have concealed inordinate pride beneath a crouching manner, mimicking humility while harbouring arrogance. While their spirit has been full of imperial despotism they have pretended to be the friends of the people, and have talked like the veriest demagogues. Not so our truthful Master. He was “meek and lowly in heart.” To him association with the poor and sinful was no affectation of condescension, he was already on their level in intense sympathy with their sorrows.

His heart was with the common people. He did not force himself down from a natural haughtiness to a constrained contact with the lowly, but he became a real friend of sinners, and a willing companion of the needy. He rejoiced in spirit when he said, “Father, I thank thee, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.” His heart was meek and lowly: it was his very nature to be clear of anger and pride, passion, and enmity.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Heart of Jesus," delivered April 6, 1873. Image by Tom BKK on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Be patient and wait for the fruit

We must not always reckon to see nations converted the moment the gospel is preached to them; and especially where new ground has been broken up, where countries have just received the gospel message, we must not be disappointed if neither to-day nor tomorrow we are rewarded with abundant results. God’s plan involves ploughing, sowing, and waiting, and after these the up-springing and the harvest. “Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and the latter rain.”

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Spring," delivered March 30, 1873. Image by Tom BKK on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Trust Your Father in Heaven!

You have been unable to trust God to give you day by day your daily bread, and therefore you have been craving for what you call “some provision for the future.” You want a more trusty provider than providence, a better security than God’s promise. You are unable to trust your heavenly Father’s word, a few bonds of some half bankrupt foreign government you consider to be far more reliable; you can trust the Sultan of Turkey, or the Viceroy of Egypt, but not the God of the whole earth!

In a thousand ways we insult the Lord by imagining “the things which are seen” to be more substantial than his unseen omnipotence. We ask God to give us at once what we do not require at present, and may never need at all; at bottom the reason for such desires may be found in a disgraceful distrust of him which makes us imagine that great stores are needful to ensure our being provided for. Brethren, are you not to blame here, and do you expect the Lord to aid and abet your folly? Shall God pander to your distrust? Shall he give you a heap of cankering gold and silver for thieves to steal, and chests of garments to feed moths? Would you have the Lord act as if he admitted the correctness of your suspicions and confessed to unfaithfulness? God forbid!

Expect not, therefore, to be heard when your prayer is suggested by an unbelieving heart: “Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass.”

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Conditions of Power in Prayer," delivered March 23, 1873. Image by Tom BKK on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

But in the meantime

...“The Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Concerning such a sentence I will venture to say every single syllable in the verse is worth more than whole volumes about heaven might have been, though the Spirit of God might have inspired them - worth more for present and practical purpose to us who are yet among the sons of men. Are there any dear brethren who understand the Book of Revelation, the Book of Ezekiel, and the Book of Daniel? I am pleased to hear it. But if the Lord will help me to understand Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, I shall be perfectly satisfied to go on preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, for I think I shall get up to them by and by in their knowledge of prophecy and mystery, when I come into clearer light and see the Master face to face.

Meanwhile, there are sinners to be saved. We must go about doing this soul-saving business in his name, with the simple means put before us in the gospels and epistles, which we are enabled to understand by the Spirit of God through our own personal experience of the truth revealed.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Royal Homage." Image by szeke on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

What is conviction of sin?

The Lord shuts us up to hopelessness and helplessness in order that he may come, as a God of grace, and display his abounding mercy. All our hope lies in him, and all other hopes are delusions. The great work in conversion is not to make people better, so that they may come to God on a good footing, it is to strip them completely and lay them low, so that God may come to them when they are on a bad footing, or rather on no footing at all, but down in the dust at his feet. The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which is lost, but it wants* God himself to convince men that they are lost; and the Spirit’s work of soul-humbling is just this - to get man to feel so diseased that he will accept the physician; to get him to feel so poor that he will accept the charity of heaven; to get him to know that he is so stripped, that he will no longer be proud of his fig leaves, but will be willing to take the robe of righteousness which Christ has wrought out.

Conviction is sent to kill the man, to break him in pieces, to bury him, to let him know his own corruption; and all this as a preliminary to his quickening and restoration. We must see the bones in the valley to be dead and dry, or we shall not hear the voice out of the excellent glory, saying, “Thus saith the Lord, ‘Ye dry bones live!’” May God in his mercy teach us what all this means, and may we all experience an old-fashioned conversion.

* - that is, it requires

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "An Old-Fashioned Conversation," delivered March 16, 1873. Image by szeke on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Not a self-improvement program

The theory of some is, that there is much natural goodness in men, and they have only to work it out and gradually improve themselves into a state of grace. No, sir, you are on the wrong tack. Do you know what is the very first ceremony of the Christian religion? “Yes,” say you, “baptism.” So it is. And what is baptism? “Buried with Christ in baptism.” Who are buried, then? Living people? No! but dead people.

The very first lesson of the gospel after believing in Christ is that you are, before the law, dead, through having been crucified with Christ, and therefore you must be buried. There is no improving your old nature, mending it up and beautifying it into perfection-the thing is hopeless, and it must die and be buried. The scripture does not say, “Ye must be improved,” “Ye must be born again.” That is quite another thing.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Good News For The Lost," delivered March 9, 1873. Image by -Chiotas- on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Hope for troubled spirits

Let it never be forgotten that the subject of the sorrows of the Savior has proved to be more efficacious for comfort to mourners than any other theme in the compass of revelation, or out of it. Even the glories of Christ afford no such consolation to afflicted spirits as the sufferings of Christ. Christ is in all attitudes the consolation of Israel, but he is most so as a man of sorrows.

Troubled spirits turn not so much to Bethlehem as to Calvary, they prefer Gethsemane to Nazareth. The afflicted do not so much look for comfort to Christ as he will come a second time in splendor of state, as to Christ as he came the first time, a weary man and full of woes. The passion-flower yields us the best perfume, the tree of the cross bleeds the most healing balm. Like in this case cures like, for there is no remedy for sorrow beneath the sun like the sorrows of Immanuel. As Aaron’s rod swallowed up all the other rods, so the griefs of Jesus make our griefs disappear.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Man Of Sorrows," delivered March 2, 1873. Image by -Chiotas- on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

His Promise is good

He cannot be a glorious God, unless his people ultimately be a glorified people; he cannot be true, unless his people be kept to the end, for he has pledged his honor for their safety. Jesus has said, “I give unto my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand.” Yea, the Lord himself hath declared that, “Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation, they shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.” Heaven and earth shall pass away, but God’s word shall not fail, sun and moon shall cease their shining, but he will not alter the thing which hath gone forth of his lips. Hath he said, and shall he not do it? Hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Wonders," delivered February 23, 1873. Image by Zach Dischner on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Nothing worth envying

A soul that gets what God gives him has quite as much as he can hold, and as much as he can want. He has got a portion that might well excite envy. If the world did but know how happy and blessed Christians are, they would count them up in the royal family, and they would envy them beyond all others. There is nothing in the worldling’s estate to envy. The more he has the worse it will be for him to leave it. His fine gardens and lawns and parks will make it hard to die. The greater his earthly honor the worse will be his eternal dishonor. It must be to him a horrible thing to have had a high soar, and then to have all the greater fall because of it.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Good Cause For Great Zeal." Image by Zach Dischner on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Equal Gratitude

Jesus Christ is the gift of the Father’s love to us, but Jesus himself loved his own, and laid down his life for his flock. It is true that the Son loves us, but the Father himself loveth us too, The love of God does not come to us from one person of the blessed Trinity alone, but from all. We ought to make no distinctions by way of preference in the love of either Father, Son, or Holy Ghost. One love dwells in the breast of the one undivided Three, we must adore and bless our Lord Jesus Christ and God, even our Father, with equal gratitude.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Divine Love And Its Gifts," delivered February 16, 1873. Image by nosha on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Conscience Not Enough

Though I have heard ten thousand times that conscience is the vicegerent of God in the soul of man, I have never been able to subscribe to that dogma. It is no such thing. In many persons conscience is perverted, in others only a fragment of it remains, and in all it is fallible, and subject to aberrations. Conscience is in all men a thing of degrees dependent upon education, example, and previous character; it is an eye of the soul, but it is frequently purblind and weak, and always needs light from above, or else it does but mock the soul.

Conscience is a faculty of the mind, which, like every other, has suffered serious damage through our natural depravity, and it is by no means perfect. It is only the understanding acting upon moral subjects; and upon such matters it often puts bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter, darkness for light and light for darkness. Hence it is that men’s sins do not appear to them sin. In all probability there is not one, even among renewed men, who fully knows the evil of sin, nor will there be until in heaven we shall be perfect; and then, when we shall see the perfection of divine holiness, we shall understand how black a thing was sin. Men who have lived underground all their lives do not know how dark the mine is, nor can they know it until they stand in the blaze of a summer’s noon.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Monster Dragged To Light," delivered February 9, 1873. Image by nosha on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Favor every moment

Dear friends, a Christian has infinite cause for gratitude. When I first looked to Christ and was lightened, I thought that if I never received another mercy except that one of being delivered from my load of guilt, I would praise God, if he would but let me, for ever and ever. To have the feet taken out of the miry clay, and to feel them set on the rock of ages, is a subject for eternal gratitude. But you have not received one spiritual mercy only, beloved brother, nor two, nor twenty; you have had them strewn along your path in richest profusion; the stars above are not more numerous, nor the sands beneath more innumerable. Every hour, yea, every moment has brought a favor upon its wings.

Look downward and give thanks, for you are saved from hell; look on the right hand and give thanks, for you are enriched with gracious gifts; look on the left hand and give thanks, for you are shielded from deadly ills; look above you and give thanks, for heaven awaits you.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Always And For All Things," delivered February 2, 1873. Image by nosha on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Freedom and Obedience

The Savior, when the Caesar question was brought forward, answered it most completely. They said, “Shall we pay tribute to Caesar?” “Whose money is this?” said he. “Caesar’s money.” “Very well; you have evidently submitted to Caesar’s government, you are under his sway; therefore pay to him the tax which he demands of you, but still by no means forget that you are under God’s government; therefore render unto God the things that are God’s.” He drew a line of distinction here which ever ought to be maintained. “To Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.”

To maintain order, to repress crime, to preserve individual liberty, to protect each man’s rights, this is Caesar’s business. To teach us religion? Is Caesar to do that? God forbid, for what religion will Caesar teach us? Is he a Pagan? he will enforce idolatry; is he a Papist? he will ordain Popery; is an atheist? he will establish infidelity. Remember the days of Queen Mary, and see what Caesar is capable of when he meddles with religion.

It is none of Caesar’s business to deal with our consciences, neither will we ever obey Caesar in any matter which touches conscience. He may make what laws he will about religion, but by our loyalty to God we pour contempt on Caesar when he usurps the place of God. He is no more to us than the meanest beggar in the street if he goes beyond his own legitimate authority. To Caesar, Caesar’s; politics to politicians; obedience, cheerful and prompt, to civil rulers: to God, and to God only, things that are God’s; and what are these? Our hearts, our souls, our consciences. Man himself is the coin upon which God has stamped his image and superscription (though, alas! both are sadly marred), and we must render to God our manhood, our wills, our thoughts, our judgments, our minds, our hearts.

Consciences are for God. Any law that touches a conscience is null and void ipso facto, for the simple reason that kings and parliaments have no right to interfere in the realm of conscience. Conscience is under law to none but God. We do not believe in liberty of conscience towards God. We are bound towards him, to believe what he tells us, and to do what he bids us; but liberty of conscience in respect to all mankind is the natural right of every man of woman born, and it ought to be tenderly respected.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Questions of the Day and the Question of the Day," delivered January 26, 1873. Image by nosha on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Remember Christ Crucified

Whatever we do not know, my brethren, let us know the cross; whatever subject may have a second place in our estimation, always let the ransomprice paid on Calvary be first and foremost. I would have you study much the four records of the evangelists. Dwell upon them.

Christians ought to be familiar with every little incident of their Savior’s death: there is teaching in every nail; the sponge, the vinegar, and the hyssop all have a meaning in them, and the spear that pierced his side is full of instruction. We ought to study them - study them again, and again, and again. Here is the very essence of our confidence; this is the pillar upon which our souls lean. If there be any hope for sinners; if there be any consolation for sufferers; if there be any cleansing for the guilty; if there be any life for the dead, it is here.... O, dwell at the cross, then. Whatever your minds may forget to consider, let them never lose the savor of this, or leave the meditation of Christ crucified.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "A Holy Celebration." Image by nosha on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Trust Him with your Prayers

Jesus has proved the power of prayer. Oh but, saith one, “he has not proved what it is to pray in trouble like mine.” How grossly thou arrest, the Savior’s trouble was worse than thine. There are no depths so deep that he has not dived to the bottom of them.

Christ has prayed out of the lowest dungeon and out of the most horrible pit. “Ay, but he has not cried under the burden of sin.” How canst thou speak so thoughtlessly! Was ever such a burden of sin borne by any man as was laid on him?” True, the sins were not his own, but they were sins, and sins with all their crushing weight in them too; yet was he heard, and he was helped unto the end. Christ gives thee, in his own experience, the divinest proof that the asking shall be followed by the receiving, even when sin lieth at the door.

Thus much is certain, if you, who are believers, cannot believe in the efficacy of prayer on the very word of Christ, it has come to a strange pass; for, O beloved, you are leaning all your soul’s weight on Jesus. If he be not true, then are you trusting to a false Savior. If he speak not verities, then you are deceived. If you can trust him with your soul, you must of necessity trust him with your prayers.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Prayer Certified of Success," delivered January 19, 1873. Image by merlune on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

The Strength of Man

God has given to all the creatures he has made some peculiar form of strength - one has such swiftness of foot that at the baying of a hound it escapes from danger by outstripping the wind; another, with outspread wing, is lifted beyond the fowler; a third with horns pushes down its enemy, and a fourth with tooth and claw tears in pieces its adversary. To man he gave but little strength compared with the animals among which he was placed in Eden, and yet he was king over all, because the Lord was his strength. So long as he knew where to look for the source of his power, man remained the unresisted monarch of all around him. That image of God in which he shone resplendent sustained his sovereignty over the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the field, and the fish of the sea.

By instinct man turned to his God in Paradise; and now, though he is to a sad degree a discrowned monarch, there lingers in his memory shadows of what he was, and remembrances of where his strength must still be found. Therefore, no matter where you find a man, you meet one who in his distress will ask for supernatural help. I believe in the truthfulness of this instinct, and that man prays because there is something in prayer. And when the Creator gives his

creature the power of thirst, it is because water exists to meet its thirst; and as when he creates hunger there is food to correspond to the appetite; so when he inclines men to pray it is because prayer has a corresponding blessing connected with it.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Prayer Certified of Success," delivered January 19, 1873. Image by merlune on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

If a man can still pray

Now, while a man can pray he is never far from light; he is at the window, though, perhaps, as yet the curtains are not drawn aside. The man who can pray has the clue in his hand by which to escape from the labyrinth of affliction. Like the trees in winter, we may say of the praying man, when his heart is greatly troubled, “his substance is in him, though he has lost his leaves.” Prayer is the soul’s breath, and if it breathes it lives, and, living it will gather strength again. A man must have true and eternal life within him while he can continue still to pray, and while there is such life there is assured hope.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "For The Troubled," delivered January 12, 1873. Image by pasotraspaso on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Dangers of wealth

O, it is noble to see a man lifted up into the high places of wealth and position, made to wear a crown and scarlet robe, and yet for all that walking humbly with his God and fulfilling his duty without a flaw, even as those do who have not such high things to try them. I read this week of a vessel at sea which was overtaken by a storm, and a mountainous wave, a very alp of water, went right over it, putting out the engine fires at once, and sweeping away the wheel and the steering house, so that the vessel lay like a log in the trough of the sea. Now many a man has been like that, a great mass of wealth and prosperity has come upon him, put out the fires of his former zeal, taken away all the steerage of his soul, and he has lain like a log tossed up and down between the waves of worldliness and pride, and has become a total wreck.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Man Greatly Beloved," delivered January 5, 1873. Image by jamesongravity on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

The plain truth of the Gospel

Faith in Jesus makes us righteous through the righteousness of another; it causes us to be accepted in the Beloved, perfect in Christ Jesus. As by the first Adam we fell, so by the second Adam we rise again. Now the way to partake in the benefits of the death of the Lord Jesus is simply by believing in him.

Here let it be understood that believing in Jesus is not a mysterious and complex action. It does not require a week to explain what faith is. Faith believes what God has revealed concerning Christ, and it therefore trusts in Christ as the divinely-appointed Savior. I believe that Jesus was God’s Son, that God sent him into the world to save sinners, that to do so he became a substitute to justice for all those who trust him, and, as I trust him, I know that he was my substitute and that I am clear before God. Since Jesus died for me, God’s justice cannot put me to eternal death for whom Jesus my substitute has died; God’s truth cannot demand a second time the debt which has already been fully paid on my behalf.

The rationale of the whole thing is as plain as possible, and whoever in this world, old or young, Jew or Gentile, literate or illiterate, rich or poor, debauched or moral, will trust in Jesus shall be saved — nay he is saved the moment he does so; but whosoever of women born refuses to trust in Jesus is condemned already, because he hath not believed on the Son of God.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Essence of Simplicity," delivered December 29, 1872. Image by joiseyshowaa on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

A Miracle of Condescension

What a miracle of condescension is here, that God should manifest himself in flesh. It needs not so much to be preached upon as to be pondered in the heart. It needs that ye sit down in quiet, and consider how he who made you became like you, he who is your God became your brother man. He who is adored of angels once lay in a manger; he who feeds all living things hungered and was athirst; he who oversees all worlds as God, was, as a man, made to sleep, to suffer, and to die like yourselves. This is a statement not easily to be believed. If he had not been beheld by many witnesses, so that men handled him, looked upon him, and heard him speak, it were a thing not readily to be accepted that so divine a person should be manifest in flesh. It is a wonder of condescension!

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Hexapla of Mystery," delivered December 22, 1872. Image by "Vittis from Lithuania" on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

The Kingdom in Men's Hearts

The Scribes and Pharisees were very fluent upon sacrifices, offerings, oblations, tithes, fastings, and the like; but what influence could all that exert over aching hearts? Jesus has imperial power over contrite spirits, because he tells them of his one real sacrifice and of the perfection which he has secured to all believers. The priests lost their power over the people because they went no further than the shadow, and sooner or later all will do so who rest in the symbol. The Lord Jesus retains his power over his saints because he reveals the substance, for grace and truth are by Jesus Christ.

What a loss of time it is to debate upon the fashion of a cope, or the manner of celebrating communion, or the color suitable for the clergyman’s robes in Advent, or the precise date of Easter. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity! Such trifles will never aid in setting up an everlasting kingdom in men’s hearts. Let us talk care lest we also set great store by externals, and miss the essential spiritual life of our holy faith. Christ’s kingdom is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost!

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Jesus, The King of Truth," delivered December 19, 1872. Image by Ken Lund on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

A Horror of Sin

It is highly important, beloved, that every one of us should have a deep sense of sin, and a profound horror of it. Those who have but slight convictions, if those convictions bring them to the Savior, are safe, but such persons should pray the Lord to deepen in them their sense of the evil of sin. Slight thoughts of sin lead to slight thoughts of grace! and what can be worse? Nothing is more to be dreaded than a flimsy religion, frail as the spider’s web, unsubstantial as the air.

Lord, give me deep repentance. Teach me to know my sin, and all the evils which lurk in it; make me to shudder at it, and dread it as a burnt child dreads the fire. Do not, dear friend, be like those people who jauntily confess, “yes, we are sinners,” but who merely intend thereby, to chime in with a general form of speech. Such false speeches are a mockery of God. Thank God, if you have been laid low under the law. Bless God, for deep subsoil ploughing and trenching. I desire to feel, every day, that sin is an exceeding bitter thing, a deadly evil, a moral poison, the essence of hell. O, to loathe iniquity and see with self-abhorrence its heinous character; for so shall we prize the salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love which thought it, the blood which bought it, and the grace which wrought it out!

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Dwell Deep, O Dedan." Image by Matthew P Sharp on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

The proud He will abase

Shall Jesus, who had all things in himself, be lowly, and shall we, who owe all to his charity, be lifted up? God forbid.

Beloved, above all things it is dangerous for a Christian to be exalted above measure, for if he be, he will rob God of his glory, and this is a high crime and misdemeanor. The Lord has said, “I will not give my glory to another.” To give God’s glory to graven images is bad, but to usurp it for ourselves is by no means better. I see no difference between the worship of a God of stone and the worship of a God of flesh. Self is as degrading an idol as Juggernaut or Kalee. God will not honor that man who retains honor for himself. The meek he will exalt, the proud he will abase.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Thorn In The Flesh," delivered December 8, 1872. Image by Robert S. Donovan on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

He empowers you where you are

Work on, dear friend, and wait on, for it is no business of yours to correct your Maker’s arrangements. He who placed you where you now are, knew what he was at. Look at your infirmities with another eye. No longer allow them to distress you; but the rather glory in them because they afford room and space for the divine power to rest in you and work by you. Listen no more to the wailings of your trembling flesh, which cries, “Alas, I am weak,” but hear the voice of him who saith “I am God Almighty.”

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Life, Walk and Triumph of Faith." Image by Robert S. Donovan on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

It will all hinge on this!

There is a spot of earth that must be shovelled out for you to be laid into to fill up the vacuum. And your soul shall live: your soul shall never die. Let not those who tell you of annihilation be believed for a moment. It must exist.

Put it to yourself whether it shall be with the worm that never dieth and the fire that never shall be quenched, or with Christ who liveth in his glory, and who shall come a second time to give glory to his people and raise their bodies like his own.

Oh, it will all hinge on this — “Dost thou believe in Jesus?”

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "A Visit To The Tomb." Image by Kevin Dooley on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Needing to be stirred up

There are many kinds of gifts. All Christians have some gift. Some may have but one talent, but all have one at the least. The Great Householder has apportioned to every servant a talent. No single part of a vital body is without its office. True, there are some parts of the body whose office has not been discovered; even the physician and the anatomist have not been able to tell why certain organs are in the human frame, or what office they serve, but as even these are found to be necessary, we are quite sure that they fulfill some useful purpose. Truly, there are some Christians who might be put in that category: it might puzzle anybody to know what they are capable of; and yet it is certain they have some charge committed to them to keep, and that, if true believers, they are essential parts of the body of Christ.

As every beast, bird, fish, and insect, has its own place in nature, so has every Christian a fit position in the economy of grace. No tree, no plant, no weed, could be dispensed with without injury to nature’s perfectness; neither can any sort of gift or grace be lost to the church without injury to her completeness. Every living saint has his charge to keep — his talent, over which he is a steward. A measure of gift is in all of us, needing to be stirred up.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Our Gifts And How To Use Them." Image by shioshvili on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Picking and Choosing

Beware of picking and choosing in God’s word. It is a very dangerous symptom when there is any portion of Scripture that we are afraid to read. If there is one single chapter in the Book that I do not like, it must be because I feel it accuses and condemns me, and my duty ought to be to face that chapter at once and answer its accusation, and endeavor as far as possible to purify myself by God’s help from that which the passage of Scripture condemns. Brethren, read that passage most which stings you most.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Secret Food And The Public Name." Image by Zach Dischner on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Beams in our own eyes

The tendency among men is, when they grow a little earnest, to expend their zeal upon other people, and frequently in the way of faultfinding. It is wonderfully easy to wax indignant at the indolence, the divisions, the coldness, or the errors of the Christian church, and to fulminate our little bulls against her, declaring her to be weighed in our balances and found wanting, as if it mattered one halfpenny to the church what the verdict of our imperfect scales might be. Why, instead of a tract upon the faults of the church, at the present moment, it would be easy to write a folio volume; and when it was written it would be wise to put it in the fire.

Friend, mind those beams in your own eye, and leave the Lord Jesus to clear the motes from the eye of his church. Begin at home; there is in-door work to be done. Instead of vainly pointing to the faults of others, pour forth thine earnestness in praising God, and say thou unto thine own heart, “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name."

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Saints Blessing The Lord," delivered October 20, 1872. Image by Zach Dischner on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

And now we are one with Him

Who shall doubt that ye are blessed of the Lord that made heaven and earth, since for you the Son of God laid aside his royalties to become the Son of Man? Union with you in your nature was clear evidence that the heart of Christ was with you. Gethsemane and Calvary speak volumes concerning the reality of the blessings which God has given to his chosen, for there they were loved to the death and redeemed by blood. An incarnate God, a Mediator covered with bloody sweat, a Redeemer wounded and slain, — What say you to this? “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift,” said the apostle; and even so say we.

Nor was the gift of Jesus Christ’s dying, all; for Jesus’ living is still ours; his resurrection teems with the blessings of life and immortality. We are one with him, and he is for ever our Head; and in him, by virtue of his ascension, we have received the gift of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, and will dwell in us for ever.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Lord Blessing His Saints," delivered September 26, 1872. Image by Zach Dischner on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Our only place of safety

Oh, that we may have grace every one of us to flee to Christ! There is our only safety. Simple faith in Jesus is the basis for the character which will evidence at last that you are chosen of God. A simple belief in the merit of the Lord Jesus, wrought in us by the Holy Ghost, is the rocky foundation upon which shall be built up, by the same divine hands, the character which shall evidence that the kingdom was prepared for us from before the foundations of the world. God work in us such a character, for Christ’s sake. Amen.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Great Assize," delivered August 25, 1872. Image by shioshvili on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Human nature and our faith

...[D]id the religion of Jesus owe anything to human nature? It is sometimes said that it commends itself to human nature. It is false: the religion of Jesus opposes unrenewed human nature. In Christ’s day revenge was one of the most glorious things known; it was sung of, it was preached upon, it was the joy of men; and what religion but Christianity ever taught men never to retaliate? Christ said, “Love your enemies, and pray for them that despitefully use you.” Is this in human nature?

Is there anything in the commands of Christ that at all flatters pride or conciliates lust? He judges our thoughts as well as our actions. “He that looketh upon a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” Is that agreeable to human nature? Does that run in the same vein as our passions, think you? Mahomet prospered because his religion pandered to human weakness; but there is in the religion of Christ no yielding to what are called the natural passions, no providing for sensual desires. “Take up,” saith he, “not thy scimitar but thy cross.” He says not, “Increase thine harem.” No, but “Crucify the flesh.”

Is there any glorification of human intellect in the religion of Jesus? Is not its invariable command, “Believe, and live.” If Christianity spreads, it spreads in opposition to human nature, by changing human nature, by making it what it never was and never could have been, had not the incorruptible truth of God been planted in it like “a root in a dry ground.”

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "A Root Out Of A Dry Ground," delivered October 13, 1872. Image by shioshvili on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

In the Midst of Us

If there be this day any power in the church of God, it is because the Holy Spirit is in the midst of her. If she be able to work any spiritual miracles, it is through the might of his indwelling. If there be any light in her instruction, if there be any life in her ministry, if there be any glory gotten to God, if there be any good wrought among the sons of men, it is entirely because the Holy Spirit is still with her.

The entire weight of influence of the church as a whole, and every Christian in particular, cometh from the abiding presence of the sacred Paraclete. And brethren, we shall do well to treat the Holy Spirit as we would have treated Christ had he been yet among us. Our Lord’s disciples told him their troubles; we must trust the Comforter with ours. Whenever they felt that they were barbed by the adversary, they fell back upon their Leader’s power; so must we call in the aid of the Holy Spirit. When they needed guidance they sought direction from Jesus; we also must seek and abide by the Spirit’s leadings. When, knowing what to do, they felt themselves weak for the accomplishment of it, they waited upon their master for strength, and so must we upon the Spirit of all grace.

Treat the Holy Spirit with the love and tender respect which are due to the Savior, and the Spirit of God will deal with you as the Son of God did with his disciples.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Paraclete," delivered October 6, 1872. Image by tropicaLiving under Creative Commons License.

For His Sake

The believer under persecution should remember that he is suffering no strange thing, but is only enduring that which fell upon his Master before him. Should the disciple expect to be above his Lord? “If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household.” If they had received Christ they would have received us, but since they reject both Christ and his sayings, the followers of Christ must expect that both their persons and their doctrines will be lightly esteemed.

Remember that in addition to his being our Master, Jesus is also God. Shamefully unrighteous was the opposition of mankind to God, whom by all reasons of right and justice they were bound to reverence: yet he endured, with almighty patience, the contradiction of sinners against himself. A word from his lips would have withered them, but, like a sheep before her shearers, he was dumb. One glance of his eye of fire would have consumed their spirits, but that eye distilled a tear instead. Ye are but men, is it much that men should mock at you? If God himself, in the person of his dear Son, has endured the opposition of sinners, who are you, Oh sons of men, that you should wonder, much less should murmur, when you are reviled for Jesus’ sake?

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "A Honeycomb," delivered September 29, 1872. Image by docentjoyce under Creative Commons License.