From the Heart of Spurgeon

Our Watchword (S1013)

Taking a phrase that occurs three times in the book of the Psalms—“Let such as love thy salvation say continually, let God be magnified”—Spurgeon asks three simple questions. With regard to the character, who is speaking? With regard to the saying, what are they testifying, and in what spirit? Then, with regard to the wish, why are they so pleading and desiring? Why should godly people desire that the Lord should be magnified? It is a sermon both to encourage and to challenge, for Spurgeon is constantly showing us the depths of what is being sought, but also asking us repeatedly whether or not we can enter into the character, appreciate the saying, and endorse the wish. On one level, the sermon is not really telling us to do anything; on another, it transforms everything we do, for it revives our energies and directs our expectations. It is, then, aimed very much at the heart, concerning our motives and intents. As such, Spurgeon’s hope is that we will be stirred not only to say, “Let God be magnified!” but also to live out that desire in every sphere.

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Bought with a Price (S1004)

Stirred by the death of a faithful deacon of the church, Spurgeon brings that man’s dying words to his brothers to the congregation by way of a sermon. He sets before them in potent language the potent fact that they have been bought at the price of Christ’s life-pains, that the Son of God shed his precious blood to make them his own. From that flows a plain consequence: if Christ has bought you then you are not your own, but you belong to God in your body and soul. Spurgeon explores both the negative side of that and the positive. That leads to a natural conclusion, that those who belong to God ought to glorify God in their bodies as well as in their souls. He closes with some particular reminders and exhortations that it is perfectly proper for the world to keep a close eye upon those who claim to be Christ’s purchased possession, and to expect them to live to the standard of men who follow Christ. To fail to do so is to dishonour the one who bought us. Without for one moment lurching into sentimentality, and holding fast to the plain sense of the words, Spurgeon nevertheless takes advantage of the occasion of the death of Thomas Cook to urge the saints to holiness—a fine example of ‘occasional’ preaching, as well as a clear call for consecrated living.

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The Withering Work of the Spirit (S999)

A multi-texted sermon, this. When Spurgeon uses this approach, sometimes there is sequence and development, sometimes connection, sometimes contrast in his texts. In this case, he uses Isaiah as quoted by Peter, putting both texts side by side. He does so in order to bring out what he believes to be the true meaning of the passage, or at least the emphasis which he brings to light. And so he considers the withering work of the Holy Spirit, the way in which he brings low the glory of man, exposing our sin and our folly, driving home the sentence of death, in order that the incorruptible seed of the word of God, implanted by the Holy Ghost, may be in us, and abide in us for ever. The great bulk of the sermon is given over to a thorough consideration of the way in which the Spirit of God brings the proud heart low, before a brief, earnest testimony and plea concerning the unwithering and unwitherable seed which the Spirit plants in the hearts of God’s people. It is a fine example of a searching sermon, exposing not only our true need but the false refuges to which we might run, in order to bring a challenge to bear, on the far side of which lies the sweetest comfort for those who flee to Christ for safety.

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Lively Reading: Number One Thousand or, Bread Enough and To Spare

This was a landmark for Spurgeon, reflected in the title and substance of his thousandth sermon. Without drawing excessive attention to the occasion, but rather offering a subtle testimony to the mercies of God through the years to this point, and in a tone of humble wonder and sincere appreciation, the preacher emphasises the exceeding abundance of God’s grace in Christ. There is so much, and for so many, for all who come! As a person trusting in Jesus, as a pastor caring for others, as a preacher holding out the Saviour, Spurgeon exults in the generous goodness of God. As you might expect, he employs the text to offer the most wonderful hope to the most needy of sinners, bringing challenge to those who hold off, and comfort to those who come in.

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The Sheep and Their Shepherd (S995)

This is a simple sermon, probably preached by a very sick man. It was printed at the end of a three-month absence from the pulpit at the Metropolitan Tabernacle by Mr Spurgeon, and includes a brief personal note to the congregation at its end, thanking them for their prayers. Although undated, there are intimate touches in it which at least suggest that it came from the period of his suffering. Indeed, the very simplicity of its structure and substance suggests that it may come from the heart of a man who is struggling to do much more than the basics, but who is finding his own comforts, and offering those same comforts to others, from the most basic of truths. With sweet straightforwardness, then, our preacher simply points out the proprietor of the sheep, the marks of the sheep, and the privileges of the sheep, not forgetting—even as he presses home the favours that believers enjoy in Christ—to remind us of our responsibilities to the Saviour, and the need of those who are not yet in his flock to come to the Shepherd that they might receive life from him. Let us not despair of simple sermons, nor assume that sickness spells the end of usefulness, for the Lord is able to show his strength in the weakness of his servants.

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The Pastor’s Parting Blessing (S988)

Musing on the benedictions that drop from the lips of a faithful man, and in anticipation of his own absence from the flock at the Tabernacle, Spurgeon turns to the words with which Paul closes his letter to the Romans: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” With an eye to the affection which underpins the apostolic blessing, he dives into the substance of the particular favour which he enjoins upon God’s people, musing upon the grace which is in and through and with Christ, and some of the dimensions of it. This is the bulk of his treatment. More briefly he considers the people who receive the blessing, and how and why we so need the grace of our Lord. Finally, and very warmly, he surveys the sweet results to be anticipated when such a blessing rests upon the beloved of God. Throughout the sermon, and especially having given himself so largely to the first section, one has the sense of a full heart operating under holy constraint, much material and true pastoral affection forced from the heart through the narrow aperture of the preacher’s mouth under pressure of time. It helps us to consider not just how we pray, and with what sense and desire, but also what we can anticipate when the servants of God call down the mercies of the Lord’s on our needy heads.

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The Wedding Garment (S976)

Picking up the last episode of the parable of the wedding feast, Spurgeon applies it carefully in his own context, acknowledging that times of spiritual excitement often see false professors joining the visible church. He therefore preaches a sermon intended to provoke heart-searching among his hearers, that they may not be found out in the day of God’s testing. With that in mind, he has five simple headings: an enemy at the feast, the king at the feast, who becomes the judge at the feast, making the enemy the criminal at the feast, who is removed by the executioner at the feast. Spurgeon treads through this structure in ever tightening circles, each one built on those preceding. His final charge and plea is to take heed of the gospel sifting that comes through such preaching, before you come to God’s sifting in the day when he draws near, and find yourself exposed to his judgement. Spurgeon never lets go of the stark distinction of life and death, heaven and hell. That breeds a fierce honesty and an earnest compassion, both of which are on display in this telling sermon.

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The Power of Christ Illustrated by the Resurrection (S973)

This delightful sermon lays hold of Christ in his present power by pointing to the display of that power when, at his coming, he works the transformation of all his redeemed people at their resurrection from the dead. The logic is simple. First, Christ has power to raise all his people and to transform their vile bodies that they may be like his glorious body. The preacher takes some time to describe and explain something of what that display of power must involve. Second, from his text he underscores that the power which he has just described currently belongs to Christ, who exerts that power in raising his people from spiritual death, emphasising something of the parallels between the physical resurrection and the spiritual, and the hope that gives. Finally, and very briefly, he presses home our desire as believers to see Christ subduing sinners, closing with a powerful plea to unbelievers to be subdued, and to find life and peace in so doing. The sermon is remarkable for the way in which Spurgeon is able not only to set before us some of the glories to come, but also to explain the present confidence of those who have such a Saviour.

 

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Purging Out the Leaven (S965)

This sermon is one in which Spurgeon clings very closely to his text. His three-point outline follows the overall arc of the verses from which he preaches, while under each main heading, rather than arranging some thoughts as he so often does, he rather follows the substance of the biblical wording closely, unpacking it, explaining it, applying it. The result is a sermon as logical as any others in its arrangement, but tied to the text in a way that is fairly distinctive. The substance of the sermon is one of Spurgeon’s particular concerns: the connection between a saved soul and a holy life, the joy that is found in Christ and the righteousness that is pursued in his strength, the happiness that feeds our desire for holiness, and the holiness that increases our happiness. With his customary care to keep the finished work of Christ at the ground and centre of the whole, Spurgeon urges us to purge out all that is displeasing to him, that without malice and wickedness and in sincerity and in truth, we might keep the feast, always feeding upon Christ for our strength and joy.

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Right Replies to Right Requests (S959)

Spurgeon is deeply concerned with the prayers of God’s people. The Tabernacle, under his care, was a congregation marked by a prayerful spirit, worked out in various opportunities for intercession, and not least a pattern of regular congregational prayer, with particular seasons for pleading God’s blessing. Behind that appetite for prayer lies a confidence in the God who hears prayer. This sermon is grounded on beautiful convictions about the goodness of God. Spurgeon uses Christ’s comparison between the sinful father who still knows how to give good gifts to his children and the Father in heaven who gives good gifts to those who ask him to assure us that right requests obtain right replies. Then, on the same basis, the best requests are likely to obtain the surest answers. Finally, again on the same foundation, the text itself supplies the best request, and so obtains all needful blessings. The sermon, with its practical applications for a praying people, brims over with confidence in the God whose heart toward his people is full of love, and who will never give a bad thing when a truly good one is pleaded by his beloved children.

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