From the Heart of Spurgeon

Three Crosses (S1447)

Perhaps your instinct in looking at this title is to go, in your mind’s eye, to Calvary, and to consider our Saviour hanging between the two transgressors. While you have not necessarily followed the intended trail, you have come to the right place. It is not so much the men on either side whom we consider, but the man on the middle cross, for it is by him that the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. These are the three crucifixions of the title: first, the crucified Christ; then, the crucified world; finally, the crucified believer, whether that be Paul or whomever else. Thus we have set before us the glory of the cross itself, as well as the consequences of that glory for God’s people. So Spurgeon considers the way in which the Christian all too often esteems and courts the world, and asks us to look at the world once more under the shadow of the cross. He also counsels the Christian about the way in which the world will now look at us, and how they will despise and disdain those who live under that same sweet shadow. Here Spurgeon shows us something of what it means to preach a crucified Christ—not simply to rehearse another ‘Calvary sermon’ but rather to demonstrate over and over, in the broad sweep and the fine detail of Christian living, what it means to trust and to follow the Lamb of God who was slain.

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A Clear Conscience (S1443)

We do not and cannot keep the law of God in order to obtain peace with God. Any such effort is doomed to failure. At the same time, conversion transforms our attitude and relationship to God’s law. Our Father’s rule has become our highest delight. His parental chastisements for disobedience are real, and his fatherly pleasure in obedience is our happiness. It is this latter principle which underpins this sermon: “Those who are children of God should seek after universal obedience to the divine commands.” The bulk of Spurgeon’s treatment of his text is a sweeping assessment of this believing obedience, its blessedness, its necessity, its range, its substance. He then turns more briefly to the excellent result of such conduct, which is a lack of shame. He thinks about this in terms of the believer’s standing before men, when we look at ourselves in the mirror, when we serve the Lord, when we come to our last day, and in all our relation to God himself. Here again he emphasises that it is not our own obedience which we will plead, but the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. That said, there is a peace and strength in a clear conscience which will enable us to come to our Father with confident hope, for the evidence of a right standing before him is a right walk in his sight.

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What the Church Should Be (S1436)

Spurgeon can be derided as a shallow exegete and a naive theologian, but he is not half so careless or thoughtless as many imagine. Far from being a mere performer, Spurgeon is deeply committed to the truth of God, not least as a true churchman—committed to the house of God, the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. His concern in this sermon is that we understand what the church is in itself, and what she is in relation to God and to his truth. Spurgeon not only steps through his text, developing his case, but builds layer upon layer of pointed application, focusing all the force of the truth he has considered upon the heart. Beginning with a reminder that this letter was written so that Timothy might know how to conduct himself in the house of God, Spurgeon concludes by telling us that we too ought to know how we should behave when it comes to the church. This is a most penetrating treatment of the topic, and calls into question, for every hearer both then and now, whether or not we really know what the church is and ought to be. We often talk a good game when we speak of Christ’s church, but what do our actions really show about our convictions?

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Refined, but not with Silver (S1430)

This is a sermon about suffering, a fast-moving treatment of Isaiah 48:10 which puts us right in the furnace of affliction. Spurgeon emphasises God’s purposeful wisdom and grace in bestowing trials upon his saints. Having considered the distinctive way in which God deals with his people, both together and individually, Spurgeon muses on the furnace as the place where we first meet with God, as a place which does not change the election of God, as the emblem of God’s choice, as the workshop of electing love, as the great school in which we learn election, and as the place where God’s higher purposes in election are revealed. Perhaps this sermon was prompted by trials in the church, or in the lives of particular friends, or his own distinct sufferings. Whatever may have helped to stir the preacher’s soul, the result is an address full of sympathetic wisdom, reminding us that the troubles of the saints are not without purpose and point, and that the Lord—in so dealing with us—is acting always in love, to work sin out of us and grace into us.

Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/refined-but-not-with-silver

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A Sacred Solo (S1423)

This sermon brims over with holy affections. Spurgeon is entranced by the beautiful form of his text and its beautiful content, the blending of the inner and outer man in the possession and expression of wonderful blessings. The Lord himself is the strength and shield of every believer. With sweet certainty, the follower of Jesus can say that we trusted him and received help from him. Our response is deep and true: our hearts greatly rejoice. As so often, Spurgeon wants us to know that the great blessing is God himself, and that to have him is to be blessed indeed. He emphasises the reality of this, the certainty of this—it is no religious fancy, no mere spiritual metaphor. There is similar intensity in the believer’s own attitude toward his Lord: from the very core of our being, we trust in him who is such a God to us. And, of course, the trusting heart is a rejoicing heart, making a proper response to the delights of having God as our God. It is this note of praise, this life of praise, at which Spurgeon aims.

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Believers Free from the Dominion of Sin (S1410)

Holiness is precious to believers, and it is precious to Spurgeon—his concern for vital godliness shines through again and again in his ministry: “Complete consecration of every faculty of mind and body unto the Lord is our soul’s deepest wish.” His text for the occasion is one that have used to undermine the believer’s pursuit of principled godliness: “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace” (Rom 6:14). First, he carefully expounds what it means not to be under the law, but under grace. Second, he encourages the saints with the special assurance that sin shall not have dominion over them. Finally, he underscores the remarkable reason for this statement, explaining the relationship between the two parts. He lifts us above a mere legal obedience to a heartfelt pursuit of godliness: “not work for salvation, but being saved, work; being already delivered, go forth and prove by your grateful affections and zealous actions what the grace of God has done for you.”

Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/believers-free-from-the-dominion-of-sin

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God’s Advocates Breaking Silence (S1403)

Spurgeon’s handling of the book of Job is always fascinating. He is sensitive to its exegetical challenges, and to the circumstances of its various characters. Here he takes us to Elihu, a man who shows true wisdom in speaking carefully on God’s behalf, telling more truth than any of Job’s other friends, and also ready to correct Job’s misunderstandings and complaints. With lessons for every preacher and for any Christian, Spurgeon helps us to consider the weight of speaking on behalf of the God of heaven, and the necessary disposition for such a work. He also wants us to think about how we ought to go about such a work, and the various elements of character and conduct which give force to the labour. Finally, and briefly, he seeks to demonstrate the very duty he has been pressing upon others by pointed speech on God’s behalf to various classes of hearer who are before him as he preaches. The sermon as a whole is a helpful reminder of the duty and privilege of being advocates for God, in whatever small measure, and a call to engage in that work with a right spirit and aim.

Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/gods-advocates-breaking-silence

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“Lead Us Not into Temptation” (S1402)

This is a very practical and personal sermon. It does not delve deep into theological profundities concerning whether or not God can in fact tempt anyone to sin. Rather, it takes the whole petition from the perspective of the frail and feeble sinner who seeks from God his kindnesses and mercies that we might be spared from any circumstances in which we might be led into sin. So Spurgeon first considers the spirit which suggests such a petition, the frame of heart from which such a desire might rise. Then he ponders the potential trials which trouble someone who is praying in this way, the avenues into sin which they want to avoid. Finally, with time running down, the preacher throws out a few practical lessons, more seed thoughts than developed applications. Throughout, a true believer’s sensitivity to sin—even to the prospect of sin—is on careful display. One catches a glimpse into the preacher’s soul, and the holy fear which characterised the preacher and which he pressed upon his congregation. Do we hear many such sermons today, in which a holy horror of sin underlies the whole? Perhaps here is a clue to the blessing that rested on Spurgeon’s ministry.

Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/lead-us-not-into-temptation

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A Catechism for the Proud (S1392)

This excellent sermon is a study in pride and a lesson in humility. Spurgeon’s first concern is to drive home the lesson that “whatever advantages we any of us possess over our fellow men we have received from God.” He does this by surveying the advantages we enjoy, and tracing them to their source, almost brutally dismantling any notion we might have that we have somehow made ourselves to be what we are or gained for ourselves any of our blessings. This Spurgeon proves by unrelenting logic, applied to the spheres of nature and of grace. The truths so expressed become the foundation for a series of practical lessons, dealing with both our attitudes and our actions, as we are both humbled in ourselves and then turned toward our God and our fellows, and directed in the way in which we should respond to these things. The simple structure—two points, explication followed by application—does not in any way hinder Spurgeon’s pointed and profound handling of the text.

Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/a-catechism-for-the-proud

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Jesus Interceding for Transgressors (S1385)

Isaiah describes the Messiah as one who made intercession for the transgressors (Is 53:12). With this as his starting point, but turning immediately to the prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ for his crucifiers, Spurgeon opens the topic out to a consideration of our Saviour’s mediatorial intercession. He asks us first to admire the grace which is shown in Christ’s prayers for transgressors. He shows us how our Intercessor fills us with confidence in himself. He urges us to follow his example, because “the life of Christ is a precept” to his disciples. The whole becomes a powerful study in a compassionate heart and voice, pressing us to understand just how merciful it is in Christ to speak on behalf of transgressors, and asking us whether or not we truly appreciate what that means, both for our own blessing and for our own attitude to others.

Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/jesus-interceding-for-transgressors

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