From the Heart of Spurgeon

Struggles of Conscience (Sermon 336)

For so experimental a preacher as Spurgeon, this is an important sermon on the triumph of faith over feeling in the matter of the forgiveness of our sins. From his text, “Make me to know my transgression and my sin,” he draws some consolation for those who are praying such prayers; then there is instruction as to the way God answers such prayers; then there is discrimination between the work of the Spirit and of the devil with regard to the sense of sin; finally, there is exhortation to come to the Christ who can cleanse from every sin. Striking particularly at hyper-Calvinism, and with many plain pastoral counsels, this is a sermon to blow apart some false notions of spiritual experience, and to bring us in faith to Christ for enduring comfort and peace.

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True Prayer—True Power! (S328)

Where does the church of Jesus Christ obtain its power? In prayer to the God of all grace. But what is prayer? Do we really pray? What are we really seeking and expecting? Spurgeon spares us not in this sermon. With penetrating bluntness he exposes the poverty of our praying, addresses our shortcomings, and with straightforward honesty he points us to the remedies we need, and the prospects of blessing held out to us, if only we will go to God to receive them. You may not enjoy this sermon, but heed it well, and you will—you must!—profit by it.

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Contentment (S320)

This is not Spurgeon’s usual approach to a sermon. He opens with a sort of rolling consideration of his text, Philippians 4:11, teasing out some leading thoughts concerning Paul’s learning of this holy art of contentment, and the experience that it encompassed, and the faith that lay behind it. Having completed this survey, Spurgeon applies the text to the rich, to the poor, and to the sufferer. It shows something of the variety of the preacher’s skill to handle the text in a different way, and also shows something of the preacher’s heart for the variety of people under his care, that the different classes of experience should all be addressed, and that we might learn, like Christ, and then like Paul, to be content with the Lord’s dispensations toward us.

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Lively Reading: A Sense of Pardoned Sin (Isaiah 38:17)

A true gospel preacher never holds back the goodness of the good news. In this masterful blend of faith and feeling in the life of the saints, Spurgeon declares the wonder of knowing that God has cast all the sins of every believer behind his back. This is an objective reality and should be a subjective delight! He teases out what this means for us, first as sinners in relation to God as Judge, and then also as children in relation to God as Father. In this, he shows himself a true shepherd as well as an earnest evangelist. His customary assault upon the hearts of those who are lost does not in any way dilute his typical delight in the blessings of those who have been found.

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Full Redemption (S309)

Spurgeon’s rich sense of Scripture is on display here. Not many preachers today might think of preaching from Exodus 10:26, that “there shall not a hoof be left behind.” But Spurgeon draws a line between the complete redemption that God accomplished in bringing his old covenant people out of Egypt and the salvation that he accomplishes when he saves each chosen man, all chosen men, and all that is in those he has chosen, as well as the creation itself, through Christ’s great redemption. No doubt many a modern exegete would cast our preacher aside at this point, but there’s a delightful consistency in his approach that helps us appreciate portions of God’s Word in a new light.

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Jesus About His Father’s Business (S302)

This is a hissing hot sermon: considering the fervour of our Lord, Spurgeon hammers through nine things which reveal the depth of his devotion to the business upon which his heavenly Father had sent him. There is no pause, barely a space to breathe, as the spirit of endeavour which characterised the Great Servant is set before us. It fills us with awe and adoration as we contemplate it. And then, two great pressing conclusions: first, looking at such a Saviour, let us never doubt his desire to save or his willingness to do so; second, looking at such a Saviour, let us never hold back in our own service, called to follow as servants after such a Master as this.

 

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A Revival Sermon (S296)

The preacher sets out the spiritual picture of fruitfulness that is known and enjoyed in a time of true revival. It is a carefully balanced sermon, full of confidence in God and so committed to the use of God’s means to accomplish God’s ends, perhaps encouraged by Spurgeon’s own recent experience. He sets out some of the particular blessings of God’s reviving power in the church, reminds us that it is indeed sovereign grace which is operating, calls for earnest labour in the light of those blessings, and warns us to seize our opportunities to hear and heed the good news as it is in Jesus Christ.

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The Minister’s Farewell (S289)

This is the last sermon Spurgeon preached at the Royal Music Hall in Surrey Gardens. Taking a line through the apostle Paul’s testimony to the Ephesian elders, he summarises the nature of gospel ministry, both feeling and communicating the weight of responsibility not only in those who preach, but also in those who hear. Without bombast, and feeling his great weakness, Spurgeon assures his hearers of his desire to preach the whole counsel of God, and—insofar as he has been enabled to do so—asks how they have responded. Every preacher and every hearer would do well to consider the same kinds of questions.

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Grieving the Holy Spirit (S278)

A very pointed sermon about the possibility of grieving the Spirit. Spurgeon shows a tender heart in so speaking, for he first draws attention to the love of the Spirit and the seal of the Spirit. These aspects of the sermon lay the foundation, setting forth the gracious operations of the One whom we grieve when we resist, neglect, or despise his work in us and the church. With this as the backdrop, the fact of our grieving the Spirit then becomes all the more pressing and painful, whether as individuals or as congregations. Of course, Spurgeon will not conclude without the reminder that the Spirit of grace is quick to draw near to the humble repenter, so leaving us hope.

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Faith Illustrated (S271)

This may not be the most smoothly-structured sermon, but it pulses with urgency and intensity. The preacher’s concern is an assured faith, the confidence of a sinner who has put his trust in the Jesus of the Bible to deliver him from his sins. Spurgeon asks an important question: do we, in our preaching and witnessing, assume too much? Do we think that everyone understands what faith is, and in whom we must rest our faith? Concerned to ensure that such issues are clear, Spurgeon sets forth Paul’s confidence in Christ as a model for our own.

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