From the Heart of Spurgeon

The Tabernacle of the Most High (S267)

As the church to which he preaches sets out on the building of a place of worship, the Metropolitan Tabernacle, so Spurgeon reminds them that the true church is not made of bricks and mortar, but of living stones, in union with Christ as the Cornerstone. Diverting their attention from the material needs of the hour, he properly points them to the church as the building of God, his particular dwelling place, and his glorious temple. It is a sweet reminder of the spiritual constitution of the true church of Christ, and perhaps a needful reminder, too, that our first concern is not the material beauty of the buildings in which we meet, but the spiritual beauty of the people who meet there, to the glory of the God whom we serve.

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A Home Mission Sermon (S 259)

This is one of Spurgeon’s calls to arms: a trumpet sounding to stir the saints to endeavour. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, says the Preacher of Ecclesiastes, and Spurgeon enter’s into the Preacher’s exhortation, and then develops some evangelical arguments—some gospel reasons—why every Christian should take it to heart, and put forth their hand in serving the Lord Almighty. It leaves us asking not, “What must I do?” but, “What may I do” in considering the opportunities before us to bring glory to God.

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The Necessity of the Spirit‘s Work (S251)

God never makes pointless and empty promises. If he has promised that he would put his Spirit within us, it must be because it it necessary that the Holy Spirit be so given, and work in our hearts. And that is Spurgeon’s simple proposition: “that the work of the Holy Spirit is absolutely necessary to us, if we would be saved.” He proves this by five strands of evidence, concerning the nature of fallen man, the inadequacy of the appointed means, the need for the acts of the Father and the Son to be brought to bear on our hearts, the experience of a true Christian, and the dependence of a believer on the Spirit for every acceptable work. His closing question brings it all to bear: do you have this Spirit at work in your heart?

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Mr. Fearing Comforted (S 246)

Taking his sermon title from a Bunyan character, Spurgeon addresses a sermon primarily to doubting believers. His main point throughout is that faith must look to Christ, while doubt creeps in when our eyes turn to our troubles. This is true in our temporal circumstances, in which we need to remember that we are Christ’s servants, who he is to us, that he is governing all things and has always helped us to this point. It is true also with regard to our spiritual concerns, in which we might have doubts about our acceptance with God, and our endurance to the end. It is in looking to Christ that we are saved, and in looking to Christ that we are kept, knowing ourselves saved.

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Prayer Answered, Love Nourished (S 240)

Spurgeon tells God’s pilgrims that looking forward is good, but that looking back is also necessary. In this case, he recommends a retrospective on prayer, considering seven particulars about the way in which the Lord has heard the voice and the supplications of his people. As he works his way through the shortcomings of our praying, the abundance of God’s blessing, and the manner in which the Lord dispenses his kindnesses, the preacher gives us reason after reason to love the Lord for the way in which he has heard us, with three sweet applications, regarding our praises, our obedience, and our testimony.

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“Compel them to come in” (S227)

This sermon is less an exposition of the text, not even an application of it, but more a wholehearted response to it. It is, perhaps, the kind of gospel preaching to which few of us are now accustomed. It is full-orbed, Calvinistic evangelism—a man wholly persuaded of God’s willingness and ability and readiness to save, and therefore determined to obey his Lord’s command and to search out sinners and reason with them, urge them, plead with them, exhort and entreat them, to accept Christ as he is freely offered to them in the gospel, with words and with tears.

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Lively Reading: Compel them to come in (Luke 14:23)

Tomorrow's episode is focused on the sermon Compel them to come in, sermon number 227. In anticipation of discussing this wonderfully evangelistic sermon, we thought it would be helpful to release a lively reading of the complete sermon. We pray it is a blessing to you.

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The Christian's Heaviness and Rejoicing (S 222)

Another sermon in which personal experience adorns divine truth: Spurgeon makes a careful point about the necessity of the Christian’s grief and distress in trials, tribulations and temptations. He explains why such experience is necessary for God’s people, and shows how Christian joy, rooted in enduring spiritual reality, is entirely consistent with such experience. For God’s people burdened by sorrows and troubles, here is comfort, standing on the rock of truth as the storms of affliction batter our hearts.

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Declension from First Love (S 217)

This hard-hitting sermon seems to flow hot from the preacher’s own heart. He brings to bear Christ’s charge to the church in Ephesus from Revelation 2:4, that we have left our first love. There’s nothing soft and cuddly about this sermon: it comes with real and necessary force. There is nothing half-hearted about this sermon: Spurgeon puts himself in the firing line first, and only then does he bring the gun to bear upon the congregation. But who would suggest that there has been no decline in our love for Christ? This is a sermon to bring us low, and then bring us back, God willing.

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“As thy days, so shall thy strength be” (S210)

Anyone who has run the Christian race for any length of time becomes conscious of their own frailty. Spurgeon does not hold back in bringing us face to face with the reality of our weakness as pilgrims, setting it forth plainly and feelingly. At the same time, he reminds us of the richness of the promise that God gives to his pilgrim people, that he shall match strength to the days he gives us, and so enable us to run with endurance the race that is set before us. These are not soft comforts, but full of good substance, cold water for weary souls.

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