From the Heart of Spurgeon

Jacob’s Waking Exclamation (S401)

Here is a very sweet blend of high and warm theology: the omnipresence of God, as grasped by Jacob when he understood that the Lord was truly present with him at Bethel, and what that still means for God’s people today. Spurgeon first uses that episode to demonstrate the fact that God is always present in every place. He then moves on to talk about the spirit or attitude which recognises this weighty reality. Finally, he explains the practical consequences of this conviction that God is everywhere. As so often, there is a measure of penetrating insight not just into the doctrine itself, but also into the way in which that doctrine plays out in the life of a believer. It gives us a window into the heart of the preacher, and tells us something of his own sense. Ultimately, it helps us to appreciate the character of our Lord, who truly and consistently lived before the eye of God.

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The Church—Conservative and Aggressive (S393)

In some ways, this sermon serves as a counterpoint to the last we considered, preached on behalf of the Baptist Missionary Society. There are times when it can seem hard to hold Spurgeon’s convictions together, but here he sets forth a most vigorous insistence upon the church of Jesus Christ (properly defined!) as the appointed agent for the accomplishment of Christ’s saving purposes in the earth. Accurately understood and fervently grasped, what the preacher here declares would, and should, change our disposition to the church, binding us to her and bringing us to a high pitch of commitment and service, in order that the gospel being preached in and from the church might secure the glory of God in the earth. Let us read and heed!

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The Missionaries’ Charge and Charter (S383)

Preached on behalf of the Baptist Missionary Society, this is Spurgeon at his expansive best. Treading steadily through the text itself, Spurgeon studies out the command that the Lord Christ gives to his disciples. Then he moves on to the argument of the text, the holy logic of Christ’s declaration, sending out his people in accordance with the pattern of his own triumph, granting them both the right and the might to carry out their mission. It underscores the breadth of Spurgeon’s concern for the progress of the gospel, both closer to home and further afield, and his confident expectation that those who go in Christ’s name and power shall accomplish his purposes.

 

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Perfect Cleansing (S379)

Many of the entries in this section of the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit are records of meetings held for various groupings, or sermons preached by others. We simply choose one of the few of Spurgeon’s sermons, a typically warm and earnest treatment of a promise made through Joel: “For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed” (Jl 3:21). In Spurgeon’s hands, this becomes both a promise of present peace of conscience through the cleansing of remaining guilt and a promise of future perfection by the power of God’s Spirit in our humanity. His intention is to encourage us to strive against sin in confident expectation of the work of God continuing in us until the day of completion.

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The First Sermon in the Tabernacle (S369)

Preached on a Monday afternoon by a man overwhelmed by the occasion, by God’s grace Spurgeon rises to it. Here is that famous statement about Christ as the subject of the ministry in the newly-opened Tabernacle, and here a glorious survey of the person and work of the Redeemer, with sweet notes concerning his excellency, his sufficiency, his beauty, the power of Christ crucified when proclaimed boldly and earnestly. If Spurgeon says he is unable to preach as he wishes, me might wish that we were so incapable, for this is a glorious holding up of Christ Jesus, and a powerful plea for all true ministers to go and do likewise, if they would honour God and bless men.

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Humility (S365)

A penetrating sermon preached in anticipation of the move into the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Spurgeon identifies the need for a comprehensive humility (before, during and after any act of service), thoughtfully talks about the ways in which humility is tested (both by favours given and denied), offers means of cultivating humility, and then calls himself and his congregation to pursue such a spirit as they move forward together. It is a terrifying thing to preach against pride, because pride so easily rears its head in the very act. Spurgeon, whose many advocates often suggest that he must have struggled greatly with pride, shows us that he is aware as any man of the dangers of the heart being lifted up. It is too easy to wonder about his struggles, and to overlook the challenges to our own hearts.

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BONUS EPISODE: The Earnest of Heaven (S358)

This delightful sermon on the operations of the Spirit is full, at the front end, of comforts and joys. Spurgeon considers that the Holy Spirit is given as the earnest—the foretaste and guarantee—of heaven to come, and considers what it is about his ministry to us and in us that gives us a true sense of what lies ahead of us as saints. It is a sweet reminder of the spiritual realities enjoyed by the people of God. But Spurgeon is a true evangelist. As well as drawing men to Christ by holding up his beauties and offering his mercies through the Spirit, he also warns men of what it is like to live and die without the Spirit of God. There is a liveliness and an intensity that runs through this sermon: the preacher’s soul is bubbling over as he extols the wonders of redeeming love, and mourns the miseries of those who do not know what it is to have the Holy Ghost dwelling within them.

A Sermon for the Week of Prayer (S354)

This sermon on prayer is simple and scriptural, tied tightly to the text. The preacher exhorts us to continue, to watch, and to give thanks in connection with prayer. Sometimes we make prayer an exercise beyond the grasp of an ‘ordinary Christian’, as if one needs a special gift in order to draw near to God, or requires a certain key to open the heavenly lock. Spurgeon’s points are more prosaic and straightforward: continue in prayer, watch in prayer, and give thanks in prayer. That is not to say that any of these things are easy—all require faith, all demand effort. Nevertheless, here is a prescription against prayerlessness and hopelessness and thanklessness, which ought to stir our souls to come to God, to draw near to the throne of grace persistently and consistently, with holy expectation, and with grateful hearts.

Preaching! Man’s Privilege and God’s Power! (S347)

Are you grateful for the opportunity to hear the Word of God preached? Do you go to the services of worship with relish? Do you consider yourself blessed by God to sit under the ministry of faithful men? Spurgeon wants to teach us how favoured we are to hear preaching, wants us to understand the responsibility we have as hearers to receive the Word of God with faith, and then urges us to come prepared to hear it—not because God relies on our preparation to make the truth effectual, but because if we recognise the value of our blessings, we will seek to make the most of them. To read a sermon like this puts us at a distance from the actual act of preaching, true, but let us read, and—as God gives us opportunity—to hear our own ministers, with a holy relish for the preaching of the Word of God, man’s privilege and God’s power.

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Self-Sufficiency Slain (S345)

“Without me, you can do nothing.” Spurgeon preaches these words as someone who believes this both as a man and as a minister, and it is reflected both in what he says and how he says it. He speaks to the saint, to the sinner, and to the saint in relation to the sinner. He assaults the idea of self-sufficiency at every point. Truly the saint can do nothing apart from Christ, cannot begin any work, cannot complete a work begun, cannot do a small work. That being so, how much less the sinner, dead in trespasses and sins. Spurgeon seeks, in dependence on the Spirit, to drive the sinner to self-despair. That sets the scene for his last point, a reminder that all spiritual labour depends on Christ for its success. The sermon is a little uneven in structure, but even that rather proves its own point: it is not human polish but divine power upon which the church relies!

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