From the Heart of Spurgeon

Though Spurgeon typically preaches from fairly brief texts, he occasionally takes longer sections, and sometimes—as on this occasion—hangs his thoughts on a single phrase. This is not an easy mode of preaching, as it can lead to strained exegesis, shallow substance, or repetitive or tortured structure. While it helps that the phrase in question is the loaded one, “through faith,” Spurgeon also avoids these traps by setting his phrase in its context, connecting grace and faith. He then proceeds in a manner both systematic and pastoral, drawing on his rich theological heritage and his concern for troubled men and women. First he asks what faith is, and gives some standard answers in a lively fashion. In particular, he weaves in a number of illustrations to take account of the heat and heaviness of the morning in which he preaches, a good example of a preacher responding to his circumstances. Next Spurgeon answers the question why faith is selected as the channel of salvation. Finally, he asks how we can obtain and increase our faith, closing his sermon with some very down-to-earth counsels. This is, then, a sermon in which theological care and practical counsel is closely bound throughout, all intended to bring sinners to the Saviour and assure them of their security in him. Read the sermon here: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/what-is-it-how-can-it-be-obtained Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

While Spurgeon usually preaches on single texts he does not invariably preach isolated sermons. On Sunday 5th June, 1881, he preached from 1 Corinthians 3:6–9 about God's co-labourers. On Sunday 12th June he took up the same theme of labourers on God's farm, this time from Mark 4:26–29, explicitly linking the two sermons together. If the first sermon showed how far human agency is required in the work of the gospel, and how dependent all results are upon the Lord, the second sermon emphasises how far a holy labourer can go, and how far he cannot go: “the measure and limit of human instrumentality in the kingdom of grace.” As so often, Spurgeon's structure is fairly simple and repetitive: what we can and cannot do, what we can and cannot know, what we may and may not expect if we work for God, and what sleep workers may and may not take. It is an intensely practical sermon of particular encouragement and instruction to Christian workers—and which Christian ought not also to be a worker on God's farm? Read the sermon here: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/what-the-farm-labourers-can-do-and-what-they-cannot-do Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Spurgeon regularly throws a little exegetical advice into his sermons, often at the beginning, and he does so here, encouraging his hearers to interpret each portion of Scripture in its context, which he immediately applies to his text, in which Job claims that “the root of the matter is found in me.” Spurgeon first examines this root and defines it in terms of confidence in a living Redeemer. Next, he digs deeper into the matter of something which lies at the root—something which is essential, vital, comprehensive of all the rest. Thirdly, Spurgeon addresses the fact that we can personally discern our possession of this root, not always easily but carefully and comfortingly. Finally, he presses some practical lessons upon our souls, especially considering the way in which we can—in various ways and to various degrees—be guilty of persecuting someone in whom is the root of the matter. It is another example of the remarkable number of directions in which Spurgeon can turn the truth in a single sermon. Read the sermon here: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/the-substance-of-true-religion Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

A man's heart-longings provide an accurate index of his present and future character. Put simply, “Tell me what a man really wants and I will tell you what he is really like and what he will one day be.” Grace gives a man a new and heavenly set of desires for the judgments of God, what Spurgeon calls the saint's absorbing object. Then he considers the saint's ardent longing for those judgments. Finally, he points to the saint's cheering reflections drawn from such desires of the heart. The structure is simple, with that happy repetition which helps both to follow the argument and to fix it in the mind. As so often, Spurgeon moves without fanfare from David's experience to ours, unpacking the inner life of the believer in every age, giving preachers an example of what it means to enter into the mind and heart of his hearers. Spurgeon also excels in encouragements, which he offers both with regard to what a Christian is now and what he will one day be, so closing the loop of his sermon. And, of course, he wants us to be sure that such longing after God's judgments makes Christ himself most precious to the saints. Read the sermon here: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/holylongings Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

How much is joy a feature of your life as a Christian? While he recognizes that the fruit of the Spirit is one cluster, nevertheless Spurgeon wants us to focus in this sermon on joy as part of the believer's spiritual experience. Some have a melancholy disposition which needs to be overcome; others seem to be committed to gloom as a religious essential. Spurgeon would have us understand that joy is a legitimate and inevitable element of the fruit of the Spirit (though varied in the experience of different believers), and also wants us to grasp the singular character of this joy as well as the various forms and circumstances in which a Christian may enjoy it. However, he also includes warnings about the way in which the growth of this spiritual fruit may be hindered, as well as encouraging us to cultivate what he considers to be the obligation of spiritual joy, giving us various reasons why joy is such a blessing which incite us to seek and keep this happy fruit. And there is a practical conclusion, as he calls his congregation to “rise as one man, and sing, ‘Then let our songs abound, / And every tear be dry: / We're marching thro' Immanuel's ground / To fairer worlds on high.'” Read the sermon here: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/the-fruit-of-the-spirit-joy Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

This is the last sermon in Volume 26 of the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit. After a fairly extended introduction in which the preacher sets out to demonstrate that “true penitents do not seek to extenuate or diminish the sin which has been forgiven them, but they own how great it is, and set it forth in all its enormity as it appears before their enlightened eyes,” Spurgeon launches into his main substance. Although it has no publication date, it may be selected for the last sermon of the year because of its retrospective emphasis. Look back, says Spurgeon, to excite adoring gratitude; look back to sustain deep humility; look back to renew genuine repentance; look back to kindle fervent love; look back to arouse ardent zeal; look back to make you hopeful for the salvation of others; look back to confirm your confidence for yourselves. Of course, you need not wait until year's end for such a retrospective. Every child of God can consider what they were before, and be stirred up to such deep affections. Read the sermon here: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/iwasbefore-yk4yk Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

In this sermon Spurgeon seeks to plumb something of the depths of Christ's grief over sin. (Interestingly, the following week, and the following printed sermon, is an effort properly to record the joy of our Lord.) The preacher begins with a brief survey of the three occasions on which our Lord wept, revealing his grief over domestic sorrow, national troubles, and human guilt. It is the second of these to which he turns his attention. Spurgeon first of all assesses the Lord's inward grief, looking at the heart from which poured forth such tears. While this might horrify some (and please others), Spurgeon also offers a fairly bold rejection of divine impassibility (which he does a few times over the course of the next few sermons, so it is no passing thought). He is not at his clearest at this point in the sermon, both with regard to Christ's two natures and the nature of God himself, perhaps seeking to communicate something of the depths of the Mediator's sorrow. But the heart which produced these tears of distress also produced words of sorrow, and these allow the preacher to trace something more of the cause of our Saviour's anguish of heart. All this leads to a pointed conclusion, in which the Spurgeon holds out not only the horror of condemnation, but also the opportunity to enter into the new Jerusalem through faith in this same Jesus who wept over the earthly city. Read the sermon here: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/the-lamentations-of-jesus Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

This is one of those sermons which seems to bubble over in a torrent from the preacher's soul. Rather than broadening out, it narrows down, perhaps a reflection of pressure of time in the preaching, coming to an ever more narrow focus. The sermon begins with the excellence of a humble walk, considering what that means. It moves on to the humble walk as an evidence of salvation, with Christ in his proper place in your heart. This humble walk is also a symptom of spiritual health, calling us to self-examination, including in our response to providences which we may not appreciate. It is also a cause for very great anxiety, by which Spurgeon means that we must take it seriously, because it is too easy to presume upon. Finally, a humble walk is the source of the deepest conceivable pleasure, for “the man that leaves everything to God finds joy in everything.” The sermon is a great example of unpacking a very brief phrase in a thoroughly Christian fashion, pressing it into the conscience in a way that both brings us low and lifts us up. Read the sermon here: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/walking-humbly-with-god Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

This very sweet sermon takes a seminal declaration of gracious forgiveness as the starting point of a very simple treatment of this central theme. After an introduction in which he presses home the need to believe what God says concerning forgiveness, Spurgeon launches into a warm treatment of the measure, manner, and manifestations of forgiving grace. In the first he emphasises the divine largesse, the greatness of God's heart in putting away sin, the riches of divine grace. In the second, which is much like the first in tone, he calls us to reckon with God acting in accordance with those divine riches. In the third, his emphasis turns to the fact that it is through the redemption in Christ's blood that these riches of grace are revealed and bestowed. As he concludes, he returns to the thrust of his introduction, asking us whether or not it is right for believers to speak of themselves using the same language as unbelievers, to pray or praise as if we had not received the forgiveness of sins. The preacher calls us to feel the love that arises from forgiven sin, the only proper response to such wonders of grace. Read the sermon here: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/the-glories-of-forgiving-grace Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

A typically probing sermon from Spurgeon, who is as tenacious in calling for self-examination as he is earnest in pleading the cause of Jesus Christ. Though he gives a little time to John, it is really only to set up the Baptist as the foil for Herod. At first, Spurgeon speaks charitably of all that Herod did which was “so far, so good.” Then, he speaks honestly of all that Herod lacked, and how—despite some fair appearances—he ultimately had no faith in or attachment to the Jesus whom John preached. Finally, he speaks sadly of Herod's end, pleading with his hearers not to fall into Herod's trap. With characteristic precision, Spurgeon probes our souls, forcing us to ask whether or not we are dallying with faithful preachers or truly embracing the Jesus whom they preach. We cannot afford to be merely impressed; we must be converted indeed. Read the sermon here: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/johnandherod Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Here Spurgeon considers two offices of Christ, those of Judge and Saviour, as they are found in him as Mediator. Both, he suggests, have reference to mankind as sinners, and then he unpacks what that means, and the relationship which they have to each other, and how the one leads us to the other. It is, on some levels, a very simple sermon, and yet the tracing out of the two offices—without being overly clever and showy—enables the preacher to press home the realities of both sin and grace, concluding with an earnest plea to come to the Saviour who forgives in order that you might not be judged as you deserve. It is a good example of a sermon which seems quite straightforward on the surface (albeit Spurgeon's headings require a little more careful thought than is sometimes the case) while having and drawing out depths of understanding beneath it and behind it. Read the sermon here: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/the-mediatorjudge-and-saviour Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

This rallying-cry is drawn from Moses' question to Israel when sin was rampant among the people, and the sermon is preached shortly after a general election when men had been choosing a side. Spurgeon uses the political and social climate to impress upon our souls spiritual truth. After drawing attention to the character of Moses, Spurgeon looks at the question and command which issues from him, in terms of decision, avowal, and consecration. He elevates it to the very question of salvation and extends it to every consequent decision which a believer makes in the service of Christ. With characteristic intensity, the preacher calls for an entire commitment to the Lord based on our relationship to him as our Creator, Redeemer, and Preserver, and applies it closely to his own society, and—by extension—to ours, asking about our modes of worship, our casual superstitions, our sinful amusements, and our general tampering with principle. As so often, we are called to repentance and to correction, stirred and drawn by the King whom we serve and the matters which are at stake.   Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

This sermon digs deep into our attitude to the Word of God. Sometimes Spurgeon draws lines from a text, at other times—as this one—he draws lines through the text, working phrase by phrase through the verses he is handling, explaining and applying as he goes. It is, in one sense, the very demonstration of the principles he is setting forth. Job stated, “My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and not turned aside. I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.” From this, Spurgeon asks us to consider Job's holy life, his tenacity in knowing and doing God's will, and then Job's holy sustenance, how his delight in the words of God's mouth have been food to his soul. As so often, Spurgeon combines rebuke with comfort, exhortation with consolation, both to challenge us with regard to holy living, and to encourage us with regard to the strength God supplies for such a life. Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/the-fair-portrait-of-a-saint Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

“Teach me to do your will.” That may seem like a very simple and straightforward prayer, but what does it mean to pray it, and what kind of answer might we expect? Spurgeon anticipates a child of God who seeks to know what is the path of obedience, but is perplexed and distressed. He therefore unpacks this brief petition to show us the character, the substance, and the intent of a prayer that has no taint of a legal spirit. Then he explores the ways in which God might answer this prayer, leading us in the right way by all the means which he has at his disposal to show us what is true and good and right. It is a sweetly pastoral sermon on a number of levels, for it anticipates particular difficulties, offers distinct encouragements, corrects specific misunderstandings, and urges manifest obedience. There is nothing here that is complicated, mysterious, or bewildering. It is sanctified and spiritual sense for holy living in a world in which the right way is not always easy to discern. Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/at-school Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

This sermon might be read as a follow-up to that on “The Dromedaries.” If the former sermon is intended to help us find our proper place, the purpose of this “is for every man to have a good spirit in his present place, so as to occupy it worthily.” The preacher says he is less interested here to arrange the people where they might be and more to encourage the people where they are. Thus in broad strokes he addresses six classes of Christian workers: those who think they can do nothing; those who think they are laid aside; those who have only small talent; those who are under great difficulties; those who are not appreciated; and, those who are discouraged because they have so little success. Given that most Christian workers fall into one or more of those categories at any given time, and often over a period of time, there should be something here for every labouring saint. Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/cheer-up-my-comrades Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

This sermon has a curious title indeed, and a somewhat unusual text, too. As he delights to do, the preacher draws a parallel between the Old Testament history and the new covenant experience, in this case the kingdom of Solomon and the kingdom of Christ. After establishing some of those parallels, Spurgeon begins to consider the officers who had responsibility in Solomon's household, showing that each had a particular charge, each was bound to act according to that charge, and each would receive supplies according to his charge. On the basis of the parallels, Spurgeon—applying throughout and especially at the end of the sermon—urges us to think about the work the Lord has given to us and to others in his kingdom, and to consider how we discharge that work. It is, again, a typical call to action from a man persuaded that it is the privilege of every child of God to serve his King: “Everything for Jesus, the glorious Solomon of our hearts, the Beloved of our souls!” Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/the-dromedaries Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Spurgeon himself introduces this sermon with a few words of thanksgiving, and tells us, with characteristic desire, “I thought the best way in which I could express my thankfulness would be to preach Jesus Christ again, and set him forth in a sermon in which the simple gospel should be made as clear as a child's alphabet.” With this in mind, he turns to the bronze serpent which Moses lifted up in the wilderness, and under five simple headings seeks not only to set forth Christ Jesus as the object of faith, urging him upon sinners, but also to encourage those who know Christ to hold him up themselves. The classic gospel notes of Spurgeon's ministry ring out again in this sermon, and remind us of his desire to remain always close to the cross in all his preaching. What, then, could be more suitable on such a significant occasion than to go back to the old theme and speak once more of the Son of God's love and the Saviour of sinners? Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/lifting-up-the-brazen-serpent Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

This fascinating sermon begins with a contrast between Abraham and Lot, so much so that Spurgeon reminds us that his text is not, “Remember Lot,” but, “Remember Lot's wife.” However, by the end of the sermon he has deliberately returned to the first idea, and in between he has made a careful survey of the relationship between Lot and his wife before concentrating on the way in which she perished in her sin. That brings him back to Lot, because one of the themes of this sermon is the way in which the lives of a husband and a wife are closely intertwined, and have a mutual spiritual impact. More specifically, Spurgeon emphasises the responsibility of a godly man to lead his family righteously. A sermon like this involves some ‘reading into the white spaces' of the history, some holy speculation and careful surmise, but the overall effect is to bring the teaching of this episode close to home, and to force husbands, with their wives, to consider carefully the effect of their example and instruction. Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/remember-lots-wife Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

This sermon carries a fearful amount of weight. Preached at a period when British interests were at a low ebb, British policy abroad seemed to Spurgeon bloody and ugly, when the weather was cold and wet through the summer, he considers the withdrawing of God from sinful nations, sinning saints, and unbelieving sinners. The first element, the national, is a fine example of proper ‘political' preaching, a Christian bemoaning unrighteousness and injustice in and from the country he loves, and asking what is to be done in response. The second element is almost as forceful, peeling back the folds of our hearts and confronting us with sins and their consequences in the lives even of God's people, though with gleams of light shining through the clouds, because of divine faithfulness. The third, and briefest, reminds the ungodly that without turning to Christ they will suffer the fearful, eternal punishment of their sin, and so calls on all to seek the Lord. While Spurgeon is always manifestly earthed in his time and place, drawing illustration from it and making application to it, this sermon has a distinct flavour of a man who is very much a pilgrim, but a pilgrim in a particular place and time, seeking to respond as a Christian patriot to the need of the hour. Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/the-middle-passage-ny2jz Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Both sobering and cheering, this sermon carries us to the prophet Habakkuk, who saw all the dangers associated with ‘the midst of the years' and the impending judgments of God upon a sinful, sliding, sleeping people. Transposing it to a church which has enjoyed twenty-five years of God's blessing in association with the ministry of God's word, Spurgeon highlights tellingly the prophet's fear of the slackness and slowness that can afflict us in the middle passage (a clever title, for it also refers to the grief-ridden, wearisome part of the sea voyages of certain vessels, including slavers). He moves on to the prophet's prayer, that the Lord would revive his own work, and what that means for our own hearts and our knowledge and sense of the living God. Then there is the prophet's plea, primarily that God would in wrath remember mercy. Then Habakkuk, his heart at rest in his God, returns to his labour and gets on with his work content in the knowledge that God will be his God regardless of what the future holds. It is a potent sermon for those in the middle years of life, or of labour, for churches resting on their lees, for those concerned about the stagnation of religious life in a region or nation. May God set our hearts again to plead for a blessing in the midst of the years! Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/the-middle-passage Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

This delightful sermon blends the twin beauties of prayer and praise from Philippians 4:6—“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” After an extended introduction which suggests that the preacher's soul it fully taken up with his topic, Spurgeon first underscores the reasons why Christians should mingle thanksgiving with prayer, urging us to “illuminate your prayers; light them up with rays of thanksgiving all the way through,” so that even if grief and sorrow are the burden of the prayer, it has at least some sparkles of gratitude. Then he turns the same thought in another direction, showing the evil of the absence of thanksgiving in our prayers, showing just how selfish and wilful that ungrateful pleader is. Finally, Spurgeon suggests that, according to the context, peace is the result of mingling thanksgiving with our prayers, together with warmth of soul and expectant hope. The sermon as a whole is not just an incentive to pray, but an incentive to a certain kind of praying, prayer in which pleading and praising are woven together, in which our intercessions are given a sweet aroma by being perfumed with thanksgiving to the God of all mercies. I hope it is as stirring to you as it seems it was to Spurgeon as he preached it. Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/the-seven-sneezes-eyes-opened-kybej-l3s3c-mx3hy Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

The beginning of Volume XXV has curious numbering, reflecting the fact that Spurgeon is very sick in Mentone while these sermons are being produced and published. There are combinations of letters and mediations from his sickbed with shorter sermons preached on different occasions. Most of them, taken together, are the same length as his regular output, but following the pattern can be a touch confusing. These sermons share a certain approach: taking a physical experience and drawing a spiritual parallel. So you have here a nose and eyes! The nose belongs to the child whom God raised from the dead by Elisha, and that child's seven sneezes become a parable of the simple, unpleasant, monotonous, and sure indications of spiritual life in a newly-regenerated man or woman. The eyes belong to Hagar, and—just as the Lord opened her eyes in the wilderness to see the water which she needed for the life of her and her son—so we need our eyes opened. Spurgeon wonders at what remarkable things we might see if our spiritual eyes could see the past, the future, the angels, or the coming glory. He thinks of the things that darken our eyes to spiritual reality, and yearns for God to open the eyes of the inwardly blind, before thinking of the things which a believer might see at the communion table: Christ near at hand, our standing in Christ, and our happy prospects. May God open the eyes of us all, to see Christ for salvation, and to know our joy in him! Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/the-seven-sneezes-and-eyes-opened Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

There is a state of peace and there is a sense of peace. Spurgeon does not confuse or confound the two. In a distinctly pastoral sermon, he begins with the priority of the objective state of peace, secured by Jesus Christ and received and enjoyed by faith in him. He steps us through the stages of our experience in obtaining this peace, not just describing but directing the guilty sinner to Christ. He underscores the certainty and security of a peace granted by God for Christ's sake. Then he moves to the secondary and subjective sense of peace, grounded in the objective reality of our standing before God pardoned through Christ's blood and clothed in Christ's righteousness. Here again the shepherd's heart is very much in evidence, as Spurgeon thinks about the way a child of God might complain about or query his own feelings. The preacher reminds us that we do not expect to have peace with the devil, with the flesh, with the world, or with our own sin, and so we should not draw the wrong conclusions from those battles. We do have peace with God, however, and we are told what that looks like and how that operates, in our communion with him and confidence in him in all things. Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/peace-a-fact-and-a-feeling Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Perhaps your instinct in looking at this title is to go, in your mind's eye, to Calvary, and to consider our Saviour hanging between the two transgressors. While you have not necessarily followed the intended trail, you have come to the right place. It is not so much the men on either side whom we consider, but the man on the middle cross, for it is by him that the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. These are the three crucifixions of the title: first, the crucified Christ; then, the crucified world; finally, the crucified believer, whether that be Paul or whomever else. Thus we have set before us the glory of the cross itself, as well as the consequences of that glory for God's people. So Spurgeon considers the way in which the Christian all too often esteems and courts the world, and asks us to look at the world once more under the shadow of the cross. He also counsels the Christian about the way in which the world will now look at us, and how they will despise and disdain those who live under that same sweet shadow. Here Spurgeon shows us something of what it means to preach a crucified Christ—not simply to rehearse another ‘Calvary sermon' but rather to demonstrate over and over, in the broad sweep and the fine detail of Christian living, what it means to trust and to follow the Lamb of God who was slain. Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/three-crosses Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

We do not and cannot keep the law of God in order to obtain peace with God. Any such effort is doomed to failure. At the same time, conversion transforms our attitude and relationship to God's law. Our Father's rule has become our highest delight. His parental chastisements for disobedience are real, and his fatherly pleasure in obedience is our happiness. It is this latter principle which underpins this sermon: “Those who are children of God should seek after universal obedience to the divine commands.” The bulk of Spurgeon's treatment of his text is a sweeping assessment of this believing obedience, its blessedness, its necessity, its range, its substance. He then turns more briefly to the excellent result of such conduct, which is a lack of shame. He thinks about this in terms of the believer's standing before men, when we look at ourselves in the mirror, when we serve the Lord, when we come to our last day, and in all our relation to God himself. Here again he emphasises that it is not our own obedience which we will plead, but the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. That said, there is a peace and strength in a clear conscience which will enable us to come to our Father with confident hope, for the evidence of a right standing before him is a right walk in his sight. Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/a-clear-conscience Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Spurgeon can be derided as a shallow exegete and a naive theologian, but he is not half so careless or thoughtless as many imagine. Far from being a mere performer, Spurgeon is deeply committed to the truth of God, not least as a true churchman—committed to the house of God, the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. His concern in this sermon is that we understand what the church is in itself, and what she is in relation to God and to his truth. Spurgeon not only steps through his text, developing his case, but builds layer upon layer of pointed application, focusing all the force of the truth he has considered upon the heart. Beginning with a reminder that this letter was written so that Timothy might know how to conduct himself in the house of God, Spurgeon concludes by telling us that we too ought to know how we should behave when it comes to the church. This is a most penetrating treatment of the topic, and calls into question, for every hearer both then and now, whether or not we really know what the church is and ought to be. We often talk a good game when we speak of Christ's church, but what do our actions really show about our convictions? Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/what-the-church-should-be-nf27s Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

This is a sermon about suffering, a fast-moving treatment of Isaiah 48:10 which puts us right in the furnace of affliction. Spurgeon emphasises God's purposeful wisdom and grace in bestowing trials upon his saints. Having considered the distinctive way in which God deals with his people, both together and individually, Spurgeon muses on the furnace as the place where we first meet with God, as a place which does not change the election of God, as the emblem of God's choice, as the workshop of electing love, as the great school in which we learn election, and as the place where God's higher purposes in election are revealed. Perhaps this sermon was prompted by trials in the church, or in the lives of particular friends, or his own distinct sufferings. Whatever may have helped to stir the preacher's soul, the result is an address full of sympathetic wisdom, reminding us that the troubles of the saints are not without purpose and point, and that the Lord—in so dealing with us—is acting always in love, to work sin out of us and grace into us. Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/refined-but-not-with-silver Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

This sermon brims over with holy affections. Spurgeon is entranced by the beautiful form of his text and its beautiful content, the blending of the inner and outer man in the possession and expression of wonderful blessings. The Lord himself is the strength and shield of every believer. With sweet certainty, the follower of Jesus can say that we trusted him and received help from him. Our response is deep and true: our hearts greatly rejoice. As so often, Spurgeon wants us to know that the great blessing is God himself, and that to have him is to be blessed indeed. He emphasises the reality of this, the certainty of this—it is no religious fancy, no mere spiritual metaphor. There is similar intensity in the believer's own attitude toward his Lord: from the very core of our being, we trust in him who is such a God to us. And, of course, the trusting heart is a rejoicing heart, making a proper response to the delights of having God as our God. It is this note of praise, this life of praise, at which Spurgeon aims. Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/a-sacred-solo Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Holiness is precious to believers, and it is precious to Spurgeon—his concern for vital godliness shines through again and again in his ministry: “Complete consecration of every faculty of mind and body unto the Lord is our soul's deepest wish.” His text for the occasion is one that have used to undermine the believer's pursuit of principled godliness: “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace” (Rom 6:14). First, he carefully expounds what it means not to be under the law, but under grace. Second, he encourages the saints with the special assurance that sin shall not have dominion over them. Finally, he underscores the remarkable reason for this statement, explaining the relationship between the two parts. He lifts us above a mere legal obedience to a heartfelt pursuit of godliness: “not work for salvation, but being saved, work; being already delivered, go forth and prove by your grateful affections and zealous actions what the grace of God has done for you.” Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/believers-free-from-the-dominion-of-sin Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Spurgeon's handling of the book of Job is always fascinating. He is sensitive to its exegetical challenges, and to the circumstances of its various characters. Here he takes us to Elihu, a man who shows true wisdom in speaking carefully on God's behalf, telling more truth than any of Job's other friends, and also ready to correct Job's misunderstandings and complaints. With lessons for every preacher and for any Christian, Spurgeon helps us to consider the weight of speaking on behalf of the God of heaven, and the necessary disposition for such a work. He also wants us to think about how we ought to go about such a work, and the various elements of character and conduct which give force to the labour. Finally, and briefly, he seeks to demonstrate the very duty he has been pressing upon others by pointed speech on God's behalf to various classes of hearer who are before him as he preaches. The sermon as a whole is a helpful reminder of the duty and privilege of being advocates for God, in whatever small measure, and a call to engage in that work with a right spirit and aim. Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/gods-advocates-breaking-silence Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

This is a very practical and personal sermon. It does not delve deep into theological profundities concerning whether or not God can in fact tempt anyone to sin. Rather, it takes the whole petition from the perspective of the frail and feeble sinner who seeks from God his kindnesses and mercies that we might be spared from any circumstances in which we might be led into sin. So Spurgeon first considers the spirit which suggests such a petition, the frame of heart from which such a desire might rise. Then he ponders the potential trials which trouble someone who is praying in this way, the avenues into sin which they want to avoid. Finally, with time running down, the preacher throws out a few practical lessons, more seed thoughts than developed applications. Throughout, a true believer's sensitivity to sin—even to the prospect of sin—is on careful display. One catches a glimpse into the preacher's soul, and the holy fear which characterised the preacher and which he pressed upon his congregation. Do we hear many such sermons today, in which a holy horror of sin underlies the whole? Perhaps here is a clue to the blessing that rested on Spurgeon's ministry. Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/lead-us-not-into-temptation Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

This excellent sermon is a study in pride and a lesson in humility. Spurgeon's first concern is to drive home the lesson that “whatever advantages we any of us possess over our fellow men we have received from God.” He does this by surveying the advantages we enjoy, and tracing them to their source, almost brutally dismantling any notion we might have that we have somehow made ourselves to be what we are or gained for ourselves any of our blessings. This Spurgeon proves by unrelenting logic, applied to the spheres of nature and of grace. The truths so expressed become the foundation for a series of practical lessons, dealing with both our attitudes and our actions, as we are both humbled in ourselves and then turned toward our God and our fellows, and directed in the way in which we should respond to these things. The simple structure—two points, explication followed by application—does not in any way hinder Spurgeon's pointed and profound handling of the text. Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/a-catechism-for-the-proud Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Isaiah describes the Messiah as one who made intercession for the transgressors (Is 53:12). With this as his starting point, but turning immediately to the prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ for his crucifiers, Spurgeon opens the topic out to a consideration of our Saviour's mediatorial intercession. He asks us first to admire the grace which is shown in Christ's prayers for transgressors. He shows us how our Intercessor fills us with confidence in himself. He urges us to follow his example, because “the life of Christ is a precept” to his disciples. The whole becomes a powerful study in a compassionate heart and voice, pressing us to understand just how merciful it is in Christ to speak on behalf of transgressors, and asking us whether or not we truly appreciate what that means, both for our own blessing and for our own attitude to others. Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/jesus-interceding-for-transgressors Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

There are vanities and there are verities. There are fancies and there are facts. There are passing things and there are enduring things. There are bursting bubbles and there are lasting beauties. Giving full rein to the force of the apostle's language, Spurgeon assesses what it means not to look at, to mark, to heed, to consider, the things which can only be seen, which are passing away, whether present joys or sorrows. His language digs in quite fiercely, pressing us to ask how much significance we attach to that which is passing away. Then he turns to the things which cannot now be seen, but which are spiritually substantial, the eternal glories which “gleam afar to nerve our faint endeavour.” Spurgeon says these need to be grasped by faith as we meditate upon them. They must be considered with delight by God's people, to stir our affections and appetites (though considered with horror by the unconverted, so that they might be turned to Christ before all their delights are ruined forever). They must be dwelt upon with hope, so that we live truly as heirs of God, joint-heirs with Christ, inheritors together with the saints in light. The striking contrast of the text comes out in the emphatic way in which Spurgeon holds before us the emptiness of a passing world, and the fulness of joy in the world which is to come. Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/vanities-and-verities Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

We return to an earlier sermon for this lively reading, preached during the heady days at Exeter Hall, when Spurgeon was still something of a shock to the London scene. This is a sermon on conformity to Christ Jesus according to the divine plan and purpose. It asks and answers three very simple questions: In what sense is a believer to be conformed to the image of Christ? Why should we be transformed into the image of the heavenly man? And, is it possible to be so conformed? Having set out what it means to be like Christ in his character, suffering, and glory, and giving us reasons to desire and pursue such conformity, the last section is a beautiful portion in which Spurgeon puts some earnest, even desperate concerns in the mouths of various inquirers, in each case giving warm and comforting answers. To be sure, there are warnings in his conclusions, but the sermon holds out a glorious, and gloriously-assured prospect to all who are in Christ now, in whom the Spirit is working and will work likeness to our Saviour.

This is a notably textual sermon. Of course, Spurgeon always preaches from a text, and typically draws his structure from that text. However, in this sermon, the exegesis of the text lies on the surface of the sermon and more or less provides its structure, rather than lying in the background. With a little clunkiness at times, though with no lack of clarity, Spurgeon steps through the text, demonstrating why it is so significant that the Lord is here identified as the God of peace, and what he has done in bringing Christ from the dead, and why he has done it, with special reference to the intended holiness of his people, concluding on a note of praise. The lack of sermonic polish does not remove the sermonic power, as the preacher brings the truth to bear upon our souls, turning—with his usual relish—to the finished work of Christ in order to motivate and direct the saints in a path of righteousness, made able to walk it by the gracious Spirit. Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/the-god-of-peace-and-our-sanctification Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

This sermon has a slightly different structure to Spurgeon's usual offerings. It has two main headings, one in which he proves the doctrine of the final perseverance of the saint, and one in which he improves it (in the Puritan sense of seeking to obtain profit from it). Spurgeon is typically rooted to his text, but in this more doctrinal sermon he proves his doctrine by turning to various other Scriptures in order to demonstrate and defend the truth of Christian perseverance. He offers us seven arguments in total before hitting us with two simple lessons to learn, one for believers and one for those still outside the kingdom. A convinced Calvinist, Spurgeon is concerned not only to clear the doctrine from the slurs of Arminians but also from the misunderstandings of other Calvinists, seeking to give us a biblically-proportioned grasp on this wonderful truth, “not the licentious idea that a believer may live in sin, but that he cannot and will not do so.” Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/the-final-perseverance-of-the-saints Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

This delightful sermon is taken from Moses' dying words. Spurgeon asks why, given the danger of proclaiming the happiness of man (because of his tendency to exalt himself), Moses should be carried along by the Holy Spirit so to speak? He suggests that dwelling upon our happiness in the right way should console us in our trouble and inspire us for future service. With that in mind, he urges us to chide ourselves for our spiritual unhappiness, if we are Christians, for we have so many good reasons for joy. We are saved, and that by the Lord himself! We are both shielded by God and divinely armed for our spiritual warfare! Our victory is secure! With the bulk of his preaching time gone, Spurgeon spends the last minutes of his sermon hammering home the blessings of grasping our blessings in Christ, running through the impact on ourselves of enjoying God in this way, culminating in the effect it has through us on others, as we commend the grace of God in the Saviour to sinners. He closes by urging the lost to taste and see that the Lord is good, to realise that we have—in our highest flights of heavenly eloquence—failed to tell them the half of the joy the happy spiritual Israel, a people saved by the Lord. Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/happiness-the-privilege-and-duty-of-christians Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

In another sermon from Psalm 119, Spurgeon focuses on spiritual quickening—the enlivening and invigorating of his title—by means of the Word of God brought to bear upon our hearts. It is simple and straightforward in its arrangement, as so often with Spurgeon. He first gives us various reasons why we need such quickening. Next, he points out some motives to seek this enlivening and invigorating of the soul. Thirdly, he mentions some ways in which it is worked in our hearts. Finally, he suggests certain pleas for obtaining this blessing, drawn from the psalm itself. It is, of course, a sermon soaked in grace, for Spurgeon is properly persuaded that there is no spiritual life outside of and apart from Jesus Christ himself. It is also a very realistic sermon, for it takes full account of our need of life at every stage of Christian experience. Indeed, the preacher would have us grasp the three needful blessings in three important phases of the reality of spiritual life. First, that sinners might ask the Lord for life (which would itself indicate that life was coming). Second, that, every Christian would be always praying for invigorating grace, stirring the soul. Third, that every child of God would be marked by a lively appetite for ever-increasing measures of his favour, lifting us ever closer to Christ and into nearer fellowship with the triune God. Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/enlivening-and-invigorating Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Every believer is a student and servant of God, and therefore desires to know God's word. Here Spurgeon moves from the prayer of such a student—to understand the way of the Lord's precepts—to the occupation of the scholar—speaking of the Lord's wondrous ways. Of course, in dealing with these two elements, Spurgeon overflows with gospel delight, taken up with the manner in which God has made himself known in Jesus Christ, and our pleasure in making known God manifest in his Son. But the preacher also wants to drive home that connection between understanding and declaration, between study and service, and so he pleads how the enchantment of divine truth fills our hearts and our mouths with good things. During this season, Spurgeon mentions a couple of times a Tabernacle elder by the name of Mr Verdon, “a mighty soul-hunter before the Lord.” He was one of Spurgeon's gospel snipers, lovingly picking off the spiritually wounded after a powerful sermon. Spurgeon seems to have mourned him particularly, and this sermon is intended to bring others into the same spirit and employment. Oh, for more Verdons in our churches! Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/the-students-prayer Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

In this sermon, Spurgeon—as he sometimes does—takes a verse in its context, and then applies it in a different direction. Interestingly, he takes time at the end of the sermon to return to the text as a whole—the parable of the two sons called to the vineyard in Matthew 21—and to give us a brief exposition of the whole. Conscious of the parallels between Israel as called to work for the Lord, and the exhortation to the church of Christ to labour for their Redeemer, Spurgeon takes the command to “go work” in its most evident and pressing sense. He exhorts the people of God to take note of their character as sons, of the labour to which they are called, of the immediacy of the effort required, and the sphere of that investment—our Father's vineyard. Spurgeon's clarion calls to Christian endeavour pepper his output, and constitute one of the most noteworthy elements of his public ministry. Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/why-may-i-rejoice Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Here is another part of a sequence of sermons, one of five preached over successive Lord's days on Christ as the end of the law, the conqueror of Satan, the overcomer of the world, the maker of all things new, and the destroyer of death. The relationship is thematic, and the substance is both doctrinal and experiential. In the sermon we will consider, on Christ as the conqueror of Satan, Spurgeon shows, first, his insightfulness in handling the text, peppering the whole sermon with biblical-theological insights and comments, noticing and noting occasional gleams of truth; he shows, also, his profound spirituality in connecting the arc of the experience of Christ as champion of mankind with the experience of Christ's people in their own experience of grace and combat with the Adversary. Taking four facts from Genesis 3:15, Spurgeon reworks those four aspects in three different layers, one more doctrinal, one more experiential, and one more practical. It is, in short, a masterful handling of the text, brilliant not because of its cleverness but because of its closeness to the heart. Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/why-may-i-rejoice Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

While Spurgeon is not typically a sequential expositor of Scripture, there are several occasions on which he runs together sermons on a certain theme, or sets them up as counterpoints one to another. This sermon is partner to the previously-published address, “Wherefore Should I Weep?” In that previous sermon, our Lord was seen correcting and illuminating a natural grief. In this, Christ corrects and directs a natural joy into a more elevated course. This, perhaps, is one of the ways in which Spurgeon deliberately maintains balance in his public ministry, aware of its own windings and, it may be, of his own inclinations and predilections. So here he points us toward a joy that needs to be moderated, then identifies a joy which needs to be excited, and then—no surprise if we know Spurgeon!—points us toward Christ as the one who sympathises with us in this highest and purest joy. It is a very sweet sermon, lifting our eyes heavenward and fixing our gaze on the great Giver of the best gifts. Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/why-may-i-rejoice Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

God's might is seen in creation, in providence, in judgment. However, while these are all suitable topics for adoration, Spurgeon directs our attention to the works of God in mercy and grace. A lengthier introduction means a certain tautness in the sermon as a whole, as Spurgeon deals with this mighty mercy revealed in our experience, displayed in Christ Jesus, and practically recognised by us all. The first point gives Spurgeon an opportunity to range over God's dealings with us in various aspects of salvation. The second enables him to focus on the person and work of the Saviour. The third is really a series of pressing applications, revealing the impact which this reality should have on our thinking, feeling, and acting. It is well for us to consider the simplicity of this arrangement, an arrangement which—despite the concentration of his material—enables Spurgeon to roam over a reasonably wide area of Christian faith and life. It is a useful example of fairly terse sermonising, as the preacher packs truth fairy densely but not heavily into brief compass. Of course, the main concern remains its spiritual impact, and that same density puts force behind the pointed counsels with which the sermon concludes. Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/the-mighty-arm Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

This attractively-titled sermon would certainly draw in unbelievers, as well as engaging many Christians. Spurgeon addresses it to all, concluding his sermons with a word to unbelievers who know themselves unhappy or feel themselves happy presently, and to Christians who are either unhappy or happy. The foundation of these applications lies in his two main divisions: living in the Lord's presence always, and trusting in the Lord's presence always. For each, Spurgeon unpacks what it means and how it works out. What is particularly striking, in this sermon, is that Spurgeon identifies the contented man, first and foremost, as the Lord Jesus. This enables him to hold the Lord before us for adoration and contemplation, learning from the Saviour himself what it means to walk in happiness before God. Adroitly, Spurgeon moves from Christ's example to our imitation, pressing the two into each other wisely and well. All of these counsels and comforts bring us to those last brief charges to different classes of hearer, leaving us considering Christ as the Author and Finisher of our faith, and—we might hope—ready to live before his God and ours, and to trust the Lord in all things. Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/the-secret-of-a-happy-life Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Spurgeon is in his element when considering the love of God toward us in Christ Jesus, and we find him exulting in that theme here. The structure of the sermon is very neat. Having introduced his theme, he uses his text (1 John 4:19) to provide us first with doctrinal instruction, teaching us about the primacy and impact of God's love. Then he moves on to experimental information, as the mark and evidence of a right relationship with God. Third, he employs it for practical direction, carrying us to the cross for love and from the cross with love. Finally, he offers this love as an argumentative defence, demonstrating how God's love gives us an answer for various cavils and challenges which a Christian might face. It is a masterful demonstration of how a particular truth, rich and sweet in itself, can be turned in various directions, and applied in a variety of helpful ways, illuminating the mind, assuring the heart, directing the steps, and equipping for testimony and service. While that might seem particularly clever and orderly, never does the preacher lose sight of the Christ of God and the love which is revealed in him. Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/loves-birth-and-parentage Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Spurgeon never tired of seeking souls. Every sinner pointed to the cross and brought by grace into Christ's fold made him eager to more. Neither did he think that this was somehow an unusual or singular desire. As far as he was concerned, every believer should have the same goal, and could anticipate a blessing in its pursuit. I think he feared that these desires might shrivel or deflect. It is, then, no surprise that his sermons often return to this theme, as here. On this occasion, he has two simple points to make: first, that “the life of the believer is, or ought to be, full of soul blessing,” and, second, that “the pursuit of the believer ought always to be soul winning.” Regarding the first, he talks about the benefits that a truly holy man or woman brings to those around them, as the goodness of God spills over from their own into adjoining lives. After the life, says Spurgeon, the effort: here he urges God's people to seek after souls, as some men seek to win hearts, honours, and wealth. This, he contends, is heavenly wisdom. Not content with general exhortations, he suggests that, in the aftermath of that very sermon, that every hearer determines to win a soul that very night. It is a startlingly personal and immediate conclusion and application, and one which we might readily take to heart. Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/strengthening-words-from-the-saviours-lips Check out the new From the Heart of Spurgeon Book! British: https://amzn.to/48rV1OR American: https://amzn.to/48oHjft Connect with the Reading Spurgeon Community on Twitter! https://twitter.com/ReadingSpurgeon Sign up to get the weekly readings emailed to you: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon. Check out other Media Gratiae podcasts at www.mediagratiae.org Download the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app