Spurgeon Thursday: He Still Matters

The words of Charles Haddon Spurgeon are timeless and his love and faith in Jesus Christ was unquestionable. I am truly envious of those souls lucky enough to hear him preach. 

1889 a young man by the name of D. C. Davidson left his home in Michigan to go abroad to do post-graduate work in theology. His mom wanted him to go to Yale bit he wanted to make contact with what he called "the vital minds of Europe". He found himself in Berlin and instead of being a place where his faith was deepened and established, he found his faith nearly shattered. He called his stay in Berlin a “horror of great darkness” caused by his exposure to liberal German theology. He wrote “I have encountered many a fiery temptation, but I have never had a temptation cross my pathway so subtle and dangerous as that of German destructive criticism.” In 1890 he traveled to England, his faith nearly destroyed, and there he heard Charles Haddon Spurgeon preach was must have been his final sermons. D. C. Davidson wrote:

When Spurgeon preached the simple old doctrines of the Cross, the pentecostal fire fell from heaven upon the people. I have seen the multitudes in that tabernacle moved by the breath of God, when that man spoke, as the trees of the forest are moved by the wind. It seemed to me that I was in the third heaven, compared to the cess-pool of German criticism in which I had been wallowing.

What could I do but bow down before my Maker and worship, crying, ‘The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!’…The glory of God seemed to fill Mr Spurgeon’s tabernacle. …The poisonous effects of the destructive criticism which had permeated my heart, were consumed like stubble, by the holy fire of God. I saw the Scriptures with new eyes. They became inexpressibly precious to me and the Christ whom they reveal.

We can read his words but we can't imagine the impact they had when spoken aloud. Here was a man who spoke to thousands of people without microphones, amplifiers, and speakers, and he was heard clearly in every corner of his crowded, echoey, acoustical nightmare of a church. I love the way he was and still is able to communicate the perfect truths of God's holiness, I get a chill reading some of his sermons. Could you imagine how much more impactful these words could be with the added communication tools of a trained voice adding inflection and exclamation? 

Here's your weekly splash of Spurgeon: 

On Faith

“Faith is not the trifle that some think it to be. This holy trust in God is the heart and soul of all true experimental godliness.”

“One grain of this faith is worth more than a diamond the size of the world, yes, though you should thread such jewels together, as many as the stars of Heaven for number, they would be worth nothing compared with the smallest atom of faith in Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God!”

On Church

“If I had never joined a church till I had found one that was perfect, I should never have joined one at all; and the moment I did join it, if I had found one, I should have spoiled it, for it would not have been a perfect church after I had become a member of it. Still, imperfect as it is, it is the dearest place on earth to us.”

“If we add to our Churches by becoming worldly, by taking in persons who have never been born again. If we add to our Churches by accommodating the life of the Christian to the life of the worldling, our increase is worth nothing at all, it is a loss rather than a gain! If we add to our Churches by excitement, by making appeals to the passions rather than by explaining the Truth of God to the understanding. If we add to our Churches otherwise than by the power of the Spirit of God making men new creatures in Christ Jesus, the increase is of no worth whatever! ”

“There are, in truth, but two denominations upon this earth; the Church and the world - those who are justified in Christ Jesus and those who are condemned in their sins.”

On Being Productive

“The way to do a great deal is to keep on doing a little. The way to do nothing at all is to be continually resolving that you will do everything.”

On Worry

“Our anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strengths.”

“There is a holy fear which must not be banished from the Church of God. There is a sacred anxiety which puts us to the question and examines us whether we are in the faith—and it is not to be laughed at as some would do. It is all very fine to say, “Believe that you are right, and you are right,” but if you believe that you are right and you are, all the while, wrong, you put yourself beyond the probability of ever getting right! He who believes himself to be saved when he is not, is likely to shut the door of salvation in his own face and to perish self-excluded. God save us from that fatal folly!”

On Creation

“All the flowers of the field, and many of the beasts of the plain, and now the very orbs of heaven, are turned into metaphors and symbols by which the glory of Jesus may be manifested to us. Where God takes such pains to teach, we ought to be at pains to learn.”

On Grief

“A Jesus who never wept could never wipe away my tears.”

“Your emptiness is but the preparation for your being filled, and your casting down is but the making ready for your lifting up.”

On Judgement

“None are more unjust in their judgments of others than those who have a high opinion of themselves.”

“If you are renewed by grace, and were to meet your old self, I am sure you would be very anxious to get out of his company.”

On Christ

"Nothing puts life into men like a dying Savior."

“I have a great need for Christ: I have a great Christ for my need.”

“Nothing teaches us about the preciousness of the Creator as much as when we learn the emptiness of everything else.”

“If Christ is not all to you He is nothing to you. He will never go into partnership as a part Savior of men. If He be something He must be everything, and if He be not everything He is nothing to you.”

On Worship

“All places are places of worship to a Christian. Wherever he is, he ought to be in a worshiping frame of mind.”

On Prayer

"The more we pray, the more we shall want to pray. The more we pray, the more we can pray. The more we pray, the more we shall pray. He who prays little will pray less, but he who prays much will pray more. And he who prays more, will desire to pray more abundantly."

“Prayer should be the natural outflow of the soul you should pray because you must pray, not because the set time for praying has arrived but because your heart must cry unto your Lord.”

On Reading the Bible

“A Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.”

“Nobody ever outgrows Scripture; the book widens and deepens with our years.”

On Pride

“Pride is the devil’s dragnet in which he takes more fish than in any other, except procrastination.”

“When you fancy that you are out of gunshot, there is an enemy close at hand. When you dream that the road is safe, there is a pitfall just before you. When you say, “I am perfectly holy,” the very pride that makes you say so is an indication of a deadly cancer of self-righteousness that is eating into your very soul!”

“It is easy for the Lord to save a sinner, but it is impossible for a self-righteous man to be saved until he is brought down from his fatal pride.”

On Humility

“If you are to go to Christ, do not put on your good doings and feelings, or you will get nothing; go in your sins, they are your livery. Your ruin is your argument for mercy; your poverty is your plea for heavenly alms; and your need is the motive for heavenly goodness. Go as you are, and let your miseries plead for you.”

“Observe that we are told to walk humbly with God. It is of no use walking humbly away from God. I have seen some people very proudly humble, very boastful of their humility. They have been so humble that they were proud enough to doubt God! They could not accept the mercy of Christ, they said. They were so humble. In truth, theirs was a devilish humility, not the humility that comes from the Spirit of God.”

On Pancakes

“There is hardship in everything except eating pancakes.”