From the Heart of Spurgeon

Intercessory Prayer (S1049)

The people of God ought to pray for saints and for sinners. Spurgeon’s text to enforce this duty is the last phrase of Psalm 141:5, drawn from the Authorised Version: “For yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.” Acknowledging the difficulty of the phrase in the original, Spurgeon takes it in the form in which he finds it in his Bible, and applies it in those two simple directions. In praying for the saints, he teaches us to think in terms of obligation, honour, excellence, and extent. If this first of his two points takes the lion’s share of the space in the sermon, the second part probably wears the crown of intensity, for here the preacher pleads with his congregation to pray for the lost, bringing only a few but fiery reasons for them to do so. Prayer holds a vital place in Spurgeon’s estimation of his own walk with God, and in his estimation of the life and labour of any faithful and fruitful church. It both feeds into the work of the saints, and flows out of it, stirring us to the very labour which sends us back to the throne of grace for strength and for blessing. At one point, Spurgeon asks, “Do you not think, dear brethren, that if we were each one required upon the spot to give an account of his attention to this excellent duty, we should most of us need to be ashamed? May I venture to put the question to every Christian here, have you rendered to God and his church your fair proportion of intercessory prayer?” Assuming that the question receives the same answer today as it did in 1872, I trust that this sermon will prove as useful now as then.

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A Persuasive to Steadfastness (S1042)

This sermon is an estimation and celebration of faith, with an exhortation to it. “How is it possible for the preacher to say too much about faith, or to extol this grace too highly!” asks Spurgeon in his opening sentence. The focus of the sermon is on what it means to be a partaker of Christ. Having set forth something of the sense of that, Spurgeon spends time pressing home the solemn and searching question of whether or not we are truly partakers of the Lord Christ. In his customary fashion, Spurgeon pushes this deep into the conscience of his hearers. Then he subjects us to an unerring test of our participation in Christ—our holding steadfastly to the beginnings or foundation of our confidence. And so Spurgeon points us back to Christ, back to Christ as we first closed with him and clung to him, refreshing our spiritual sight and sense. Not lacking in warnings, but full of sweet encouragements, this sermon opens with the note of faith and closes with the eye of faith fixed upon the Lord.

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The Real Presence, the Great Want of the Church (S1035)

Spurgeon’s Christianity is marked by a deeply personal and experiential affection for the Lord Jesus Christ. Although the expression of that may be somewhat coloured by his context, the foundation of it is thoroughly biblical. One of the ways in which Spurgeon expresses that affection is in the rich and emotive language with which he speaks of Christ. That shows itself often in his handling of the Song of Solomon, a portion of God’s Word in which Spurgeon delights, and a further revelation of Spurgeon’s naturally Christ-centred reading of the Old Testament. Reading it in the Puritan manner, primarily if not entirely as an allegorical expression of the love between Christ and his church, in this sermon he uses his text to underline the importance of the presence of Christ with his people, and the yearning we have—or should have—to know his nearness with us. You may not always find Spurgeon’s handling of the text compelling, but I hope you will find the theme of the sermon valuable.

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The Joy of the Lord, the Strength of His People (S1027)

This is the last sermon in the volume for 1871, and it was preached on the last day of that year. While Spurgeon very rarely preaches sermons in sequence, he often shows his awareness of sermons recently preached, and of the response that people make to them, often drawing in new themes or reiterating previous ones in order to make a pastoral or polemical point. He does have a penchant for preaching from multiple texts on occasion, as he does here. This particular sermon builds on the previous Lord’s day’s sermon, and the promise of joy to come. It zeroes in on the joy that the saints possess, its divine origin and practical value, holding out the blessings to all those who would take them. It is worth remembering that, while Spurgeon is emphatic, insistent and repetitive in his calls for Christian energy and endeavour, he never unyokes that calls from a deep and happy awareness of what God has done for his people in Christ Jesus, and how our ongoing relationship with God in Christ is the source of all our cheerful strength. It is a good sermon with which to close a year, and a good sermon for any time in the year.

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Household Salvation (S1019)

If you are expecting this to be a polemical blast against infant sprinkling, think again. Of course, Spurgeon remains throughout an unembarrassed Baptist, but his concern is primarily positive: to allure and to encourage us to long for and to labour for true family religion. In five points, Spurgeon walks through his text, showing a whole family hearing, believing, baptised, serving, and rejoicing. He closes with earnest pleas to all who have any family responsibility to plead with and pray for those over whom the Lord has given them authority and influence. He paints a beautiful picture of the rapid rush of gospel faith through that little community of the household, and urges us to hope for it and to pursue it. We acknowledge that, even among Reformed or Particular Baptists, there are some slight differences of emphasis in this matter, such as the point at which one might baptise a believing child, but Spurgeon gives us a good reminder that—far from disparaging or denying family religion—Baptists ought to be at the forefront of promoting and pursuing it. This sermon offers a delightful spur to that end.

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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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