The Daily Spurgeon

He made us for His Glory

2012-05-25T07:00:00.000-04:00

It was for this end that the Almighty made us, and for nothing short of this, that we might glorify God and enjoy him for ever. When a man fashions a vessel or a tool, it is that it may answer the purpose for which he designed it, and if it does not answer his design he casts it away. What man will keep a horse or a cow if it yield him no benefit? And if a dog never owned you as its master, who among you would long call it your own? God has made us that we may glorify him, and if we do not honor him we miss the end and object of our being. I care not what you do nor what you are; though you should be owners of a score of counties, if you love not God your soul is poor and degraded; though men should set you on a column high in air, and account you a hero, if you have not lived for God you have lived in vain. As the vine which yields no cluster is useless, so is a man who has not honored God. As an arrow which falls short of the mark, as a fig tree which yields no figs, as a candle which smokes but yields no light, as a cloud without rain and a well without water, is a man who has not served the Lord. He has led a wasted life — a life to which the flower and glory of existence are lacking. Call it not life at all, but write it down as animated death.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Gone. Gone For Ever," delivered May 28, 1876. Image by Stefano on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

The Man of Glory is with you!

2012-05-21T12:17:00.000-04:00

They that serve God much, and well, and draw near to his innermost presence, in that proportion draw away from men, as to deriving comfort from them. But, oh, there are no heights to which Jesus has not risen, no attainments which he has not surpassed. That glorious man is with you, with you in the singleness of heart with which you serve your God, with you in the perfect consecration which the Holy Ghost has given you, with you in the intimate fellowship of your soul with the Eternal Father. In your highest flight of ecstasy there is still a man at your right hand, saying, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God.”

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Our Lord's Humanity - A Sweet Source of Comfort." Image by Stefano on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

God has given you an anchor

2012-05-12T11:13:00.001-04:00

This world is like a sea, restless, unstable, dangerous, never at one stay. Human affairs may be compared to waves driven with the wind and tossed. As for ourselves, we are the ships which go upon the sea, and are subject to its changes and motions. We are apt to be drifted by currents, driven by winds, and tossed with tempests: we have not yet come to the true terra firma, the rest which remaineth for the people of God; God would not have us carried about with every wind, and therefore he has been pleased to fashion for us an anchor of hope most sure and stedfast, so that we may outride the storm.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Anchor," delivered May 21, 1876. Image by Stefano on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

You cannot know what Christ has done for you

2012-05-11T11:32:00.000-04:00

A superior in the East never washes an inferior’s feet: Christ acts as if he were inferior to his friends, inferior to those poor fishermen, inferior to those foolish scholars who learned so slowly, with whom he had been so long a time and yet they did not know him, who soon forgot what they knew, and needed line upon line and precept upon precept. Having loved them to the end, he stoops to the extreme of stooping, and bows at their feet to cleanse their defilements.

Who, I say, can compute the depth of this descent? You cannot know what Christ has done for you, because you cannot conceive how high he is by nature, neither can you guess how low he stooped in his humiliation and death. With an eagle’s wing you could not soar so high as to behold him as God over all blessed for ever, sitting at the right hand of the Father, the adored of cherubim and seraphim: nor could you dive, even if you dared to take a plunge into the abyss, until you reached the depth of “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me”: and yet you must somehow know the interval, I was about to say the infinity, between these two points of height and depth before you could know what Jesus has done for you.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Unknown Ways Of Love," delivered May 14, 1876. Image by Stefano on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

The tree is known by its fruit

2012-05-10T07:00:00.000-04:00

Saving faith appropriates the finished work of the Lord Jesus, and so saves by itself alone, for we are justified by faith without works; but the faith which is without works cannot bring salvation to any man. We are saved by faith without works, but not by a faith that is without works, for the real faith that saves the soul works by love and purifies the character.

If you can cheat across the counter, your hope of heaven is a cheat too; though you can pray as prettily as anybody, and practice acts of outward piety as well as any other hypocrite, you are deceived if you expect to be right at last. If as a servant you are lazy, lying, and loitering, or if as a master you are hard, tyrannical, and unchristianlike towards your men, your fruit shows that you are a tree of Satan’s own orchard, and bear apples which will suit his tooth. If you can practice tricks of trade, and if you can lie — and how many do lie every day about their neighbors or about their goods — you may talk about being justified by faith as you like, but all liars will have their portion in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, and amongst the biggest liars you will be, for you are guilty of the lie of saying, “I am a Christian,” whereas you are not. A false profession is one of the worst of lies, since it brings the utmost dishonor upon Christ and his people.

The fruit of the righteous is righteousness: the fig tree will not bring forth thorns, neither shall we gather grapes from thistles. The tree is known by its fruit, and if we cannot judge men’s hearts, and must not try to do so, we can judge their lives, and I pray God we may all be ready to judge our own lives and see if we are bringing forth righteous fruit, for if not, ye are not righteous men.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Soul-Winner," delivered January 20, 1876. Image by Jenny Downing on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Work for Christ while you are young!

2012-05-09T07:00:00.000-04:00

But there is work for every believer to do in Christ’s vineyard. There is work for children, there is work for young men, work for young women, and it is good to begin early. The Lord Jesus Christ, who was so pleased with the widow’s mite, is very pleased with a child’s love to him. We big people are very apt to think, “What can a little girl do for Jesus?” Oh, but if that little girl does not do something for Jesus now that she is saved, she will very likely grow up to be an idle Christian, and not serve God in after years as she should.

I like to see the little trees which they put into our gardens, you know, the little pyramids, and other dwarf trees; I like to see them even from the first bear just a little fruit. I think, sometimes, that pears, when there are only one or two on the tree, are far finer in flavour than those on the big tree, which too often have lost in quality what they have gained in quantity. That which is done for Jesus Christ by young Christians, by weak Christians, by timid Christians, often has a very delicate flavour about it, precious to the taste of Jesus. It is good to begin serving him in our youth.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Best Burden For Young Shoulders." delivered. Image by Jenny Downing on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

God is jealous for you

2012-05-08T07:00:00.000-04:00

Holy fear leads us to dread anything which might cause our Father’s displeasure. A good child would not do anything which would make his father feel vexed with him. “It vexes me,” says he, “if it vexes my father.” So let there be always with us a fear to offend our loving God. He is jealous, remember that. It is one of the most solemn truths in the Bible, “The Lord thy God is a jealous God.” We might have guessed it, for great love has always that dangerous neighbor jealousy not far off.

They that love not have no hate, no jealousy, but where there is an intense, a definite love, like that which glows in the bosom of God, there must be jealousy. And oh, how jealous he is of the hearts of his people! How determined he is to have all their love! How I have known him to take away the objects of their attachment, one after another — break their idols, and deprive them of their precious vanities — all to get their hearts wholly to himself, because he knew it would never be right with them while they had a divided heart, It was injurious to themselves, and so he is jealous of that which injures them, and jealous of that which dishonors him. Let us have this holy fear very strong upon us, and we shall avoid anything which might grieve the Spirit of God.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Godly Fear And Its Goodly Consequence." delivered. Image by Jenny Downing on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

He considers your sins to be gone

2012-05-07T08:01:00.002-04:00

When God forgives our sin he covers us as completely as the wood of the ark was covered within and without with pitch: our sin is covered and hidden right away from his observation. Child of God, I beg you to think of this for a moment, God is pacified towards you because your sin is covered — all of it; yea, it is all gone. As far as God is concerned your sin has ceased to be. He laid it on Jesus Christ your substitute, and he took it and bore the penalty of it — nay the thing itself; he, as your scapegoat, carried your sin right away, and it is lost in the wilderness of forgetfulness. Into the depths of the sea hath he cast your iniquities. In his own tomb hath he buried your offenses.

What saith the Scripture? “He has finished transgression and made an end of sin.” Grand word! Made an end of it. And if there be an end of it, why there is an end of it, and it has gone. This day, O believing child of God, there is fulfilled towards you that gracious word: “In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.” Through faith in Jesus your transgressions are all removed as far from you as the east is from the west. The depths have covered your sins; there is not one of them left. The Lord is pacified for all that we have done, so that no ground of quarrel remains.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Heart Full And The Mouth Closed." Image by Attila Magyar on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Hunger for Jesus

2012-05-05T11:32:00.002-04:00

...Christ is as needful to the soul as bread is to the body. Meat and drink are absolutely requisite: and so you must have Christ or you cannot live in the true sense of that word. Take away food from the body it must die: deny Christ to a man, and he is dead while he liveth. There is in us a natural desire after meat and drink, an appetite which springs out of our necessity, and reminds us of it: labor to feel just such an appetite after Christ.

Your wisdom lies in your knowing that you must have Jesus to be your own Savior, and in owning* that you will perish if you do not receive him, and it is well with you when this knowledge makes you crave, and pine, and pant for him. Hunger after him, thirst after him; blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after him, for he will fill them.

* - that is, admitting

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Truly Eating The Flesh Of Jesus," delivered April 9, 1876. Image by Jenny Pansing on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

His Strength is made perfect in weakness

2012-05-03T07:00:00.000-04:00

I do not wonder when strong men say strong things, but I have often marvelled when I have heard such heroic sentences from the weak and trembling. To hear the sorrowing comfort others, when you would think they needed comfort themselves; to mark their cheerfulness, when if you and I suffered half as much we should have sunk to the earth — this, is, worthy of note.

God’s strength is perfectly revealed in the trials of the weak. When you see a man of God brought into poverty, and yet in that poverty never repining; when you hear his character assailed by slander, and yet he stands unmoved like a rock amidst the waves; when you see the gracious man persecuted and driven from home and country for Christ’s sake, and yet he takes joyfully the spoiling of his goods and banishment and disgrace — then the strength of God is made perfect in the midst of weakness. While the man of God suffers, and is under necessities and distresses, and infirmities, then it is that the power of God is seen. It was when tiny creatures made Pharaoh tremble that his magicians said, “This is the finger of God,” and evermore God’s greatest glory comes from things weak and despised.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Strengthening Words From The Savior's Lips," delivered April 2, 1876. Image by Jenny Pansing on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Prayer is your Weapon!

2012-05-02T08:56:00.000-04:00

“Praying in the Holy Ghost” is the weapon with which the hosts of the Lord will put to rout the armies of the alien. The prayers of saints are the mighty artillery with which the walls of our Jerusalem are protected. Supplication is a cannon which throws tremendous bolts against the advancing foe, as Sennacherib knew when Hezekiah pleaded with God. The prayers, however, must be deeply spiritual, written on the heart by the Holy Ghost, and presented with energy of his creating. Formal, lifeless petitions are but a Chinese painted fortress, but praying in the Holy Ghost is an impregnable castle.

Those “groanings which cannot be uttered” are pieces of ordnance which make the gates of hell to tremble. But we must put our hearts under the influence of the blessed Spirit of God and then lift them up in continued intercession before God, and there can be no fear about the preservation of our minds from the error of the wicked. A praying church soon tries the spirits of false prophets, and casts them forth as evil. I have far more faith in prayer than in controversy. Keep the prayer meetings right, maintain private prayer with earnestness, and we may laugh to scorn all the sophisms of unbelievers and deceivers.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "A Weighty Charge," delivered March 26, 1876. Image by Stephen Heron on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Trials help to strengthen us

2012-05-01T11:14:00.000-04:00

You may have learned all about anchors, sir, but you never know the value of a sheet anchor till you have got into a storm. You may read and hear on shore all about a tempest, and you may have met with beautiful descriptions of it, and think you know how it tosses the ship about; but I will warrant you that a good heave or two will let you know more about sea-sickness and the effects of those mighty tempests that rouse the billows and rock the vessels than all the books you have ever read for sound instruction or seasonable entertainment. And how much has the character of God been revealed to us in trouble.

We do not know our friends till we fall into adversity; neither is that "friend who sticketh closer than a brother" truly prized by us till we are brought into trouble, and then we know his power to sympathize and to succor. Trials help to strengthen us. It is impossible for a Christian to be very strong — in certain ways, at any rate — unless he grapple with difficulties and endure hardships. There is no proving your courage and prowess in war, except you smell gunpowder, and are exposed to the dread artillery. There is no learning to be strong in the battle except you pass through trouble: depend upon it. My arm would soon weary if I had to lift the blacksmith’s hammer for an hour or two, and make horseshoes. I am afraid I should soon give up the business. But the blacksmith’s arm does not ache, for he has been at it so many years, and he rings out a tune on the anvil, so joyfully does his strong arm do the work. Practice has strengthened him. And so, when we have become inured to trial and trouble, faith is to us a far more simple matter than it was before, and we become "strong in the Lord and in the power of his might."

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Sihon and Og, Or Mercies In Detail." Image by Zach Dischner on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Follow Jesus, then expect this

2012-04-30T08:37:00.000-04:00

The Spirit of God upon Jesus Christ was not recognised by the ungodly world to be indeed divine, but they perceived and were astonished at a something about him which they did not understand. He spake with authority and not as the scribes, and they confessed “Never man spake like this man.” They did not know what spirit he was of, but they knew they hated it, and straightway they began to oppose him.

Now, brothers and sisters, if you have the same seal as your Lord...the same result will follow: men will wonder at you, misunderstand you, and oppose you. And what is the reason? Never in this world did the Spirit of promise appear without opposition from the spirit of bondage. Isaac was the child of promise, and did not Ishmael, who was born after the flesh, persecute him? The two seeds, of the flesh and of the promise, are at daggers drawing with each other. When the Lord sets his seal upon you by giving you the Spirit of promise, so that you are not under the law but under Christ, the world will know it; they will not admire you, but they will strive against you to destroy you.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Sealing Of The Spirit," delivered March 19, 1876. Image by FrankBonilla.tv on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Where can I find God?

2012-04-28T14:16:00.001-04:00

It is not going to your priest or to your clergyman, or to your Bible or to your Prayerbook, or even to your knees in formal prayer; but you must draw near to God in Christ Jesus, and he must be found of you as a man finds a treasure and takes it to be his own. “But where shall I find him?” saith one. When they sought God of old they went to the mercyseat, for there the Lord had promised to speak with them. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ is that mercy-seat, sprinkled with precious blood, and if you want to find God, you must seek him in the person of Jesus Christ. Is it not written: “No man cometh unto the Father but by me!”

Jesus is the one Mediator between God and man, and if you would find God, you must find him in the person of Jesus the Nazarene, who is also the Son of the Highest. You will find Jesus by believing him, trusting him, resting upon him. When you have trusted Jesus, you have found God in Jesus, for he hath said, “He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father.” Then have you come to God when you have believed in Jesus Christ. How simple this is! How unencumbered with subtleties and difficulties! When God gives grace, how easy and how plain is believing. Salvation is not by doing, nor by being, nor by feeling, but simply by believing.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Conversions Encouraged," delivered March 12, 1876. Image by Angelo Amboldi on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

A Complete Conversion

2012-04-26T07:00:00.000-04:00

When a man believes in Jesus Christ he puts away his false gods, and worships the great Father of spirits; he makes no inferior object the aim of his being, but henceforth lives for the glory of God. This is a glorious turning, a complete conversion of the man’s heart and soul.

To turn to God means not merely to forsake the false god for the true, but to turn from the love of sin. Sin lies that way, but God’s glory lies in the opposite quarter. He who looks sinward has his back to God — he who looks Godward has his back to sin. It is blessed conversion when men turn from the folly of sin to the glory of God. With weeping and supplication do men so turn, confessing their wrongdoing, lamenting their transgressions, abhorring their evil lustings, desiring pardon, and hoping for renewal of their nature. Precious in the sight of the Lord are the tears of penitence and the sighs of contrite hearts. We can never be satisfied with the results of our ministry unless faith leads man to hearty repentance towards God, an intense loathing of their sins, and an actual forsaking of them.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Conversions Desired," delivered March 5, 1876. Image by NeilsPhotography on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

More Love for Jesus!

2012-04-24T07:00:00.000-04:00

My brethren, are not multitudes wrapped up in forms and ceremonies? If the service pleases the eye and the ear are they not quite content? Love to the person of Christ has not occurred to the mass of avowed worshippers of Jesus. We know others to whom the end-all and be-all of religion is an orthodox statement of doctrine. So long as the preaching is according to the confession of faith, and every word and act is piously correct, they are well pleased; but no love to Jesus ever stirs their bosoms, religion to them is not an exercise of the heart at all — it is mere brain work, and hardly that. They know nothing of the living soul going out towards a living person, a bleeding heart knit to another bleeding heart, a life subsisting on another life and enamoured of it. We know brethren who carry this very far, and if the preacher differs from them in the merest shade, they are overwhelmed with pious horror at his unsoundness, and they cannot hear him again: even if he preach Christ most preciously in all the rest of his discourse, it is nothing, because he cannot sound their “Shibboleth.”

What is orthodoxy without love, but a catacomb to bury dead religion in. It is a cage without a bird; the gaunt skeleton of a man out of which the life has fled. I am afraid that the general current of church life runs too much towards externals, and too little towards deep burning love to the person of Christ. If you preach much about emotional religion, and the heart-work of godliness, coldblooded professors label you as rather mystical, and begin to talk of Madame Guyon and the danger of the Quietist school of religion. We would not mind having a little spice of that, even if we were blamed for it, for after all the realizing of Christ is the grand thing. The faith which is most blessed is faith which deals most fully with the person of Jesus Christ, the truest repentance is that which weeps at a sight of his wounds, and the love which is most sweet is love to the adorable person of the Wellbeloved.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Lovest Thou Me?," delivered February 27, 1876. Image by Jeff Kubina on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

What He says He means

2012-04-23T11:04:00.000-04:00

Do you want to be saved? Believe God as you would believe the one that told you that your house was on fire. Believe God as you would believe your friend, believe him actively, really, truly, for that is faith. God tells you that you have trangressed against him, but that he wills not your death — that he has therefore sent his Son into the world to suffer in the stead of sinners, and that if you rely upon his Son you shall have immediate forgiveness and shall be saved. Believe that message. Believe it to be true. You ought to believe it, for God cannot lie.

It is an indisputable fact that whatever God says stands good. It is not contingent upon aught [i.e., anything] but his own will, and he is without variableness or shadow of turning, What he says he means. Believe him, then, whom ye have not seen as you would believe any one whom ye see daily. Give credit to the word he has written as you would credit any word that is spoken to you.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "A Remonstrance And A Rejoinder." Image by Zach Dischner on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Mercy came although He knew us

2012-04-21T07:00:00.000-04:00

Man while living in rebellion against God is as much under his Maker’s eye as the bees in a glass hive are under your eye when you stand and watch all their movements. The eye of Jehovah never sleeps; it is never taken off from a single creature he has made. He sees man — sees him everywhere — sees him through and through, so that he not only hears his words but knows his thoughts, — does not merely behold his actions but weighs his motives, and knows what is in the man as well as that which comes out of the man. One is often led to cry, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain unto it.” That God should know all, even all the little things about man’s sin is a dreadful thing for unpardoned souls to think of.

I was reading the other day a very pretty observation upon one of our Savior’s sayings, and I cannot help telling it to you. You remember he says two sparrows are sold for a farthing, and yet one of them does not light on the ground without your Father. But in another passage he says, “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings? And not one of them is forgotten of God.” Do you notice that? Two for a farthing — five for two farthings; so there is an odd one thrown in for taking a double quantity. Only a sparrow! Nobody cares about that odd sparrow, but not one of them is forgotten of your heavenly Father — not the odd sparrow even. And so no stray thought of yours, no imagination, no trifle which you have quite forgotten, which indeed you never took any heed of, has escaped your heavenly Father’s notice. The text is true to the fullest possible extent “I have seen his ways.”

God has seen your ways at home, your ways abroad, your ways in the shop, your ways in the bedchamber, your ways within as well as your ways without, — the ways of your judgment, the ways of your hope, the ways of your desire, the ways of your evil lustings, the ways of your murmurings, the ways of your pride. He has seen them all, and seen them perfectly and completely; and the wonder is that, after seeing all, he has not cut us down, but instead of it has proclaimed this amazing word of mercy, “I have seen his ways, and will heal him. I have seen all that he has done, and yet for all that I will not cast him from my presence, but I will put my mercy and my wisdom to work with divine skill to heal this sinner of the wickedness of his soul.”

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Amazing Grace." Image by Zach Dischner on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

He deals out His grace to the unworthy

2012-04-20T09:19:00.001-04:00

Many a man relieves an unknown person in distress whom he would not think of helping if he knew his character. Some generous hearts are perpetually victimized this way: they deal out their money to those who are altogether unworthy, but if they knew of this unworthiness they would not be so free with their gifts. Now, the Lord is aware of the unworthiness of those to whom he deals out his grace, and it is the glory of that grace that he pours it upon the utterly undeserving. He knows exactly what men are, and yet he is kind to the evil and to the unthankful. He gives his grace to those who, like Manasseh, and Saul of Tarsus, and the dying thief, have nothing but sin about them, and deserve his hot displeasure rather than his gracious love.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Amazing Grace." Image by Sean McGrath on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Does sin still attract you?

2012-04-19T07:00:00.000-04:00

Are you willing to be obedient to the command, “Cease to do evil, learn to do well”? “Oh,” saith one, “I am willing enough to be obedient, but where is the strength to come from?” Ah, my blessed Lord does not ask you to find the strength; for that you may look to him. If you are willing he will grant you the power; nay, in making you willing he has already begun the work. If this morning he has made you truly willing to give up sin, his blessed Spirit will never leave you till sin is overcome. Jesus is able to cleanse you from the power of sin as well as from the guilt of it. The point is this — has he made you willing to be made holy? Are you at this present moment willing to be washed and cleansed? Do not answer this question till you have looked at it and marked the self-denial it will cost you. After doing so I fear that honesty will compel some of you to say, “I am not prepared to undergo the change which is here proposed.” You know, my hearer, that sin in some attractive form is very sweet to you, and while it is so there can be no hope of pardon for you.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Reasons For Parting With Sin," delivered February 13, 1876. Image by Photo Extremist on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

We need our trials

2012-04-18T12:12:00.000-04:00

While Joseph was tried in prison God’s great object was to prepare him for the government which awaited him. It was designed first to give him power to bear power: a rare acquirement. Solomon says, “As the fining pot to silver, and the furnace to gold, so is a man to his praise.” Many a man can bear affliction, but few men can endure prosperity; and I have marked it, and you must have marked it too, that the most perilous thing in all the world is to step suddenly from obscurity into power. Have we not seen men, illiterate and unknown, suddenly introduced to the Christian pulpit, and made much of, and has it not frequently turned out that their names have been by-and-by prudently forgotten, for they were overthrown by the dizzy heights to which they were lifted? It is far better that a man should fight his way up to his position, that he should be assailed by enemies and distrusted by friends, and should pass through a probationary career. Even then he can only stand as the Lord holds him, but without it he is in especial peril. Hence the apostle says, “not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.” If I knew that some young man here present would be greatly owned of God in the future, and become in future a prince in our Israel, if by lifting up of this finger I could screen him from fierce criticism, misrepresentation, and abuse, I would not do it, because, severe as the ordeal might be to him, I am persuaded it is needful that he should pass through it in order to make him able to bear the giddy heights of the position for which God intends him.

Joseph on the throne of Egypt, I know not what he might have been if first of all he had not been laid in the stocks. His feet learned to stand fast on a throne through having been set fast in a dungeon. His gold chain was worn without pride because he had worn a chain of iron; and he was fit to be the ruler of princes because he had himself been a servant among prisoners. Through his trial God gave him power to bear power, and this is a far rarer gift than the power to endure oppression and contempt.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Trial By The Word," delivered February 6, 1876. Image by Xristoforos on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Considering ourselves in humility

2012-04-17T07:00:00.000-04:00

The right position of a Christian is to walk with lowly humility before God, and with meekness towards his fellow Christians. The lowest room becomes us most, and the lowest seat in that room. Look at Paul, who knew far more of Christ than we do, and who served him far better. It is edifying to notice his expressions. He is an apostle, and he will by no means allow any one to question his calling, for he has received it of the Lord; but what does he say? “Not meet to be called an apostle.” What can be lowlier than this? But we shall see him descending far below it. He takes his place among the ordinary saints, and he will not give up his claim to be numbered with them, for he has made his calling and election sure; but where does he sit among the people of God? He styles himself “less than the least of all saints.” There is no small a descent from “not meet to be called an apostle” to “less than the least of all saints;” but he went lower yet, for at another time he confessed himself to be still a sinner, and coming into the assembly of sinners where does he take his position? He writes himself down as “the chief of sinners.” This is submission to God, the true surrender of every proud pretension or conceited claim.

If, my brethren, the Lord has called us to be ministers, let us ever feel that we are not worthy of so great a grace: since he has made us saints, let us confess that the very least of our brethren is more esteemed by us than we dare to esteem ourselves, and since we know that we are sinners let us look at our sins under that aspect which most reveals their heinousness, for in some respects and under certain lights there are evils in our character which make us guiltier than the rest of our fellow sinners. The stool of repentance and the foot of the cross are the favourite positions of instructed Christians.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Unconditional Surrender," delivered January 30, 1876. Image by dorena-wm on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Let us approach His Glory

2012-04-16T07:00:00.000-04:00

The presence of God, as you know, in the temple and the tabernacle was known by the shining of the bright light called the Shekinah between the wings of the cherubim over the ark of the covenant. We often forget that the presence of God in the most holy place was a matter of faith to all but the high priest. Once in the year the high priest went within the awful veil, but we do not know that even he ever dared to look upon the blaze of splendor. God dwelleth in light that no man may approach unto. The smoke of the incense from the priest’s censer was needed partly to veil the exceeding glory of the divine presence, lest even those chosen eyes should suffer blindness. No one else went into the hallowed shrine, and only he once in the year. That symbolical pavilion of Jehovah is not for a moment to be compared with our Lord Jesus, who is the true dwelling-place of the Godhead, for “in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” What a masterly sentence that is! None but the Holy Ghost could surely have compacted words into such a sentence, — “In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.”

The manifestation of the Godhead in Christ is not unapproachable, for we may freely come to Jesus: a voice out of the excellent glory bids us come boldly unto the throne of the heavenly grace. We cannot come too often, nor be too long in our approaches unto Jesus, the true mercy-seat. The atonement has been offered, and the veil of the temple, that is to say, the flesh of Christ, has been rent, and now we may approach the Godhead in Christ Jesus without trembling. Verily, as I think of God, incarnate God in Jesus Christ, and dwelling among the sons of men, I feel how true it is, “In this place is one greater than the temple.”

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "One Greater Than The Temple," delivered January 23, 1876. Image by Rennett Stowe on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Something you will not regret

2012-04-14T07:00:00.000-04:00

If I have any message to give from my own bed of sickness it would be this — if you do not wish to be full of regrets when you are obliged to lie still, work while you can. If you desire to make a sick bed as soft as it can be, do not stuff it with the mournful reflection that you wasted time while you were in health and strength.

People said to me years ago, “You will break your constitution down with preaching ten times a week,” and the like. Well, if I have done so, I am glad of it. I would do the same again. If I had fifty constitutions I would rejoice to break them down in the service of the Lord Jesus Christ. You young men that are strong, overcome the wicked one and fight for the Lord while you can. You will never regret having done all that lies in you for our blessed Lord and Master. Crowd as much as you can into every day, and postpone no work till to-morrow. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.”

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "For The Sick And Afflicted." Image by Matt McGee on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

The Fragrant Beauty of Holiness

2012-04-13T10:11:00.003-04:00

The Easterns did not think themselves fit for their banquets till they had washed their face and anointed themselves with perfumed oil. They were very fond of locks dripping with oil and faces bright therewith. Certainly there is a beauty which the Spirit gives to men, which they can never obtain in any other way. Oh, the excellence of the character that is formed by the hand of the Spirit of God! It is a beautiful thing which even God himself delights to look upon; it is a thing of beauty, and in the most emphatic sense a joy for ever. He that is made comely with the comeliness which the Holy Spirit gives must be a happy man. Other beauty may bring sorrow, but the beauty of holiness makes us akin to angels.

Once more, it becomes a perfume. When oil was poured on a man his presence scented the air around him, and when the Spirit of God is given to us it is perceived by other spiritual minds. Cannot you detect in a brother’s prayer that he has been with Jesus? Do you not know by the lives of some of Christ’s dear saints that he is very familiar with them? Do you not perceive that they have had a special anointing? The ungodly world cannot tell it, but saints discern it. The nostril of the wicked is only pleased by the leeks, and the garlic, and the onions of Egypt, but the believing nostril has been sanctified, and it perceives the delicate myrrh and cinnamon, and sweet calamus and cassia, which make up the anointing oil. The rare combination of sacred qualities which make up a holy character will be seen in the believer in whom the Holy Spirit displays his power, and as a consequence he will be glad at heart.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Oil Of Gladness," delivered January 16, 1876. Image by Matt McGee on Flickr under Creative Commons License.