Maidenbower Baptist Church

The love of God should be a theme to which we gleefully return, though we can never plumb its depths nor scale its heights. Where do we see this love? It has a distinct manifestation, a full and clear revelation, which involves a person, a place, and a purpose. The demonstration concerns a person, the only begotten Son of God whom the Father sent. The location concerns a place, the world which God made and which had fallen, into which the Son came on his errand of mercy. The intention of God's love concerns the purpose, the grant of life through the Son to those who were dead to all good. This love in Christ is to be believed and to be received.

Having begun with his conclusion, David now describes his experience, the painful path to peace. It was painful not because God required penance, but because David resisted penitence. He maintained a sinful silence, not addressing his sins against the Lord. He felt a heavy hand, the Lord dealing with his erring and stubborn child in chastising love. This brought him to a clear confession, in which he was truly transparent about the depth and breadth of his sin. Consequently, he received full forgiveness, the Lord proving more ready to remove sin than David had been to confess it.

It is very easy—perhaps too easy—for us to accommodate the language of the psalms to ourselves, as if we were the primary reference point. Spurgeon here reminds us that, while it is not wrong to see our own experience written in the psalms, nevertheless we are typically pointed first and plainly to Jesus Christ (indeed, it is this which enables us to interpret our own experience, and learn from it). Thus, here, he takes us to our Lord's deepest trouble, and bids us observe our Lord's behaviour, then to consider our Lord's deliverance, then our Lord's reward for his sufferings, and finally, the Lord's likeness in his redeemed people. The result is a sermon which is vivid and realistic in its depiction of our Saviour's distresses, but which also shows the spirit in which he bore those distresses, and the smile of his Father upon his labours. All this puts our own sorrows in perspective, and helps us to understand Christ's sympathy with us in our distresses, and our confidence that—trusting in him—the God of heaven will also lift us up out of the horrible pit, out of the miry clay.

We are working through a book of systematic theology called "Daily Doctrine" by Kevin DeYoung (Crossway). We hope that you will join us and engage with the book as we seek to learn more about the God of heaven, and what the knowledge of him means for his pilgrim people upon earth. The whole video series can be found here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLydzd6kZnPWdDUP1Dj9CIV_hSp42WEeMb&si=ACvRi4lPPuAH1jqx If you are in the UK you can get the book here: https://amzn.to/3ZX4ICu or https://www.icmbooks.co.uk/product/38356/Daily-Doctrine-A-One-Year-Guide-to-Systematic-Theology or https://uk.10ofthose.com/product/9781433572852/daily-doctrine-hardback. If you are in the US you can get the book here: https://amzn.to/3VSrTNq or https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/daily-doctrine-deyoung.html. Direct from Crossway: https://www.crossway.org/books/daily-doctrine-hcj/ Logos users: https://www.logos.com/product/299143/daily-doctrine-a-one-year-guide-to-systematic-theology

The last time Paul refers to 'my gospel' is part of his encouragement to Timothy in the face of distresses and difficulties. Timothy will need to keep in mind that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to Paul's gospel. The incarnation and the resurrection, with all implied in them, must be what holds up Timothy's soul. These are the facts upon which a sinner can rely and which a Christian must declare.

Psalm 32 is a song of confession and instruction. The Apostle Paul refers to it as a description of the blessedness of the justified man. As we begin studying this psalm, we find it opening with its conclusion: that true and lasting joy consists in the forgiveness of transgression, the covering of sin, the non-imputation of iniquity. These blessings come to the man who is honest with God, and with himself, about the reality of his sin and his need of mercy.

Sometimes you get a sense of the preacher's excitement from the very first sentence of his sermon. It is the case here, as Spurgeon bubbles over from the opening line! With such a verse and theme before him, Spurgeon feels his utter inadequacy to express all that is contained in the exceeding riches of God's grace in Christ Jesus. But, confident that others could preach the gospel better, but could never preach a better gospel, he gives us his best…and what a delight it is! Overflowing with spiritual excitement, his first point really frames the substance along the lines of the text. It is in the second point that his soul begins to soar, telling us that this exceedingly rich grace in Christ is above all limit, observation, and expression, above all our ways of action, our understanding, and all our sins. It is greater than God's promises, greater than anything we have yet received. It is above all measure! What an incitement to come and trust in the Christ through whom all blessings flow! Finally, Spurgeon sets out to illustrate his text just a little more, trying to add a last few strands of thought concerning the patience, the freeness, the effectiveness of divine grace, and its beautiful endurance, carrying us in to eternity future as we wonder how we shall ever be able to tell not just what we now know, but all that we do not now know, as it is unfolded in ages to come.

We are working through a book of systematic theology called "Daily Doctrine" by Kevin DeYoung (Crossway). We hope that you will join us and engage with the book as we seek to learn more about the God of heaven, and what the knowledge of him means for his pilgrim people upon earth. The whole video series can be found here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLydzd6kZnPWdDUP1Dj9CIV_hSp42WEeMb&si=ACvRi4lPPuAH1jqx If you are in the UK you can get the book here: https://amzn.to/3ZX4ICu or https://www.icmbooks.co.uk/product/38356/Daily-Doctrine-A-One-Year-Guide-to-Systematic-Theology or https://uk.10ofthose.com/product/9781433572852/daily-doctrine-hardback. If you are in the US you can get the book here: https://amzn.to/3VSrTNq or https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/daily-doctrine-deyoung.html. Direct from Crossway: https://www.crossway.org/books/daily-doctrine-hcj/ Logos users: https://www.logos.com/product/299143/daily-doctrine-a-one-year-guide-to-systematic-theology

When Paul speaks of 'my gospel' is not a gospel he has crafted for himself, but one he has received from God, relied upon for himself, and proclaimed in obedience. This is the gospel which he preached to the Romans and others, and he puts it in all its context and connections: Christ as its prime preacher, its hidden beauty, its plain revelation, its great scope, its mighty authority, and its saving purpose. By this gospel, the God of heaven is pleased to establish a people, lifting them up and holding them up in Christ, safe and secure in a shifting and passing world.

We can become so anguished in spirit that doubt speaks with a voice that borders on blasphemy: "Has God forgotten to be gracious?" Asaph pushes the logic of his distress toward its ugly conclusion. In this sermon, we apply his question to three cases: the struggling Christian, the sorrowing backslider, and the seeking sinner. Has God forgotten to be gracious? No, and in each case we must remember the character of God, revealed in Christ, and—rebuking unbelief—rely on the grace of God.

Spurgeon says that this text overpowers him: "It is a gem of priceless value." Even before he gets to the formal substance of his sermon, his unusually long introduction has turned that gem in the light so that its facets begin to reflect something of the goodness of God, and set us up for the main elements of his address. In fact, he effectively gives us a couple of mini-sermons before he gets to the sermon proper! When he eventually begins to work through five particulars to which he wants to draw our attention, he first considers blessings in their fullness—God as our sun. Then there are blessings in their counterpoise—that God is also a shield. Developing that thought, he then turns us to blessings in their order. Building on that, we have blessings in development and in maturity. Finally, there are blessings in their universality. The sermon is less one of sequence and more one of layering, thought laid upon thought, and insight upon insight, giving us a rich and sweet feast for those who walk uprightly, and closing with urgent entreaties to enjoy and expect the good things that the Lord has laid up for his people.

We are working through a book of systematic theology called "Daily Doctrine" by Kevin DeYoung (Crossway). We hope that you will join us and engage with the book as we seek to learn more about the God of heaven, and what the knowledge of him means for his pilgrim people upon earth. The whole video series can be found here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLydzd6kZnPWdDUP1Dj9CIV_hSp42WEeMb&si=ACvRi4lPPuAH1jqx If you are in the UK you can get the book here: https://amzn.to/3ZX4ICu or https://www.icmbooks.co.uk/product/38356/Daily-Doctrine-A-One-Year-Guide-to-Systematic-Theology or https://uk.10ofthose.com/product/9781433572852/daily-doctrine-hardback. If you are in the US you can get the book here: https://amzn.to/3VSrTNq or https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/daily-doctrine-deyoung.html. Direct from Crossway: https://www.crossway.org/books/daily-doctrine-hcj/ Logos users: https://www.logos.com/product/299143/daily-doctrine-a-one-year-guide-to-systematic-theology

There are many who have opportunities to hear the Word of God, some regularly and clearly. When this happens, the devil is painfully punctual, never absent, never late, determined to do harm. The devil is fearfully powerful, taking away the word from the hearers. The devil is fiendishly practical, particularly aiming to keep the word from the heart. The devil is viciously purposeful, intending to prevent people believing and being saved. This reminds us of the power of the Word of God preached, and our dependence on the Holy Spirit, and the danger of a careless or contemptuous hearing of the Scriptures.

Paul refers three times to "my gospel." The first occurrence is in Romans 2:16, where he underlines the certainty of judgment, the measure or substance of judgment, and the agent of judgment. All this, he says, is in accordance with his gospel. How does the gospel of God, received, relied up, and proclaimed by Paul, set forth a coming judgment? Is this your gospel too?

This is a sermon full of life and strength preached by a man full of sickness and weakness. The introduction surveys all the key facts contained in the text, giving us the scope of the whole, and then the preacher zeroes in on the reality of the resurrection, unpacking it in its bearing upon other great truths, its bearing on the gospel itself, and its bearing upon us. The sermon is packed full of theology and of Scripture, as Spurgeon uses the opportunity to join the dots for us, connecting the resurrection of Jesus to various other doctrines, demonstrating how it lies at the very heart of all our gospel hope and joy, and then pressing it home in terms of personal expectation and confidence: we must remember this! His last words are a stirring call to grasp that this risen Jesus is ruling still, and that—whatever may be the eulogies, mournful or mocking, pronounced over the religion of Christ—the Saviour who lives and reigns has obtained and must obtain the victory, and we with him. It is a fine sermon for a sick man to preach, no doubt full of comfort to himself, and so flowing forth from his heart to comfort others also.

We are working through a book of systematic theology called "Daily Doctrine" by Kevin DeYoung (Crossway). We hope that you will join us and engage with the book as we seek to learn more about the God of heaven, and what the knowledge of him means for his pilgrim people upon earth. The whole video series can be found here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLydzd6kZnPWdDUP1Dj9CIV_hSp42WEeMb&si=ACvRi4lPPuAH1jqx If you are in the UK you can get the book here: https://amzn.to/3ZX4ICu or https://www.icmbooks.co.uk/product/38356/Daily-Doctrine-A-One-Year-Guide-to-Systematic-Theology or https://uk.10ofthose.com/product/9781433572852/daily-doctrine-hardback. If you are in the US you can get the book here: https://amzn.to/3VSrTNq or https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/daily-doctrine-deyoung.html. Direct from Crossway: https://www.crossway.org/books/daily-doctrine-hcj/ Logos users: https://www.logos.com/product/299143/daily-doctrine-a-one-year-guide-to-systematic-theology

This sermon cuts deeply in order to probe carefully. It is Spurgeon in typically and painfully sober mode. The sermon puts to each hearer the question which Christ asked of his disciples at a season of mass desertion: "Will you also go away?" Searching deeply into our hearts, Spurgeon first asks why Christ asked this question of his twelve disciples, looking at the defections which were taking place. Then he takes the question itself, and this is perhaps the most painful element of the sermon, as Spurgeon points out the contagion of desertion, and how it would cut through the twelve themselves, and the importance of a thoughtful and voluntary attachment to Christ himself. After the wound, the balm: our preacher then considers the three elements of Peter's answer, an answer which we ourselves should give to our divine Leader. So he concludes with the heartfelt plea, "By thy faithfulness, O Lord, keep us faithful!" Is Spurgeon being harsh or hard? Is he trying to unsettle the faithful? Is he deliberately assaulting faith? No, here is a true-hearted minister in difficult times bringing needful warnings to the souls of his congregation, not carelessly undermining but deliberately probing to ensure that we have a good foundation.

We are working through a book of systematic theology called "Daily Doctrine" by Kevin DeYoung (Crossway). We hope that you will join us and engage with the book as we seek to learn more about the God of heaven, and what the knowledge of him means for his pilgrim people upon earth. The whole video series can be found here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLydzd6kZnPWdDUP1Dj9CIV_hSp42WEeMb&si=ACvRi4lPPuAH1jqx If you are in the UK you can get the book here: https://amzn.to/3ZX4ICu or https://www.icmbooks.co.uk/product/38356/Daily-Doctrine-A-One-Year-Guide-to-Systematic-Theology or https://uk.10ofthose.com/product/9781433572852/daily-doctrine-hardback. If you are in the US you can get the book here: https://amzn.to/3VSrTNq or https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/daily-doctrine-deyoung.html. Direct from Crossway: https://www.crossway.org/books/daily-doctrine-hcj/ Logos users: https://www.logos.com/product/299143/daily-doctrine-a-one-year-guide-to-systematic-theology

This royal psalm sets out the blessings God bestows on his King and the service the King renders to the Lord. Divine strength is at the beginning and the end of the whole, which points far beyond David to the Lord Christ, the King of kings. In concluding the psalm, we find a good desire for the saints to possess: "Be exalted, O Lord!" There is a good dependence for saints to profess: "in your own strength," at once a confession of our own weakness and an expectation of God's power. There is a good delight for saints to pursue: "we will sing and praise your power!" This is a good response to the wickedness of the world and the weakness of the church, which we should cultivate now and which will be fully realised at the coming of Christ.

In the aftermath of a particular effort on the part of the Tabernacle congregation, Spurgeon calls on the people to consider the spirit in which they have gone about their business: was their service acceptable to God? He is concerned more with the inward disposition of the heart than with any outward activity, energy, or generosity. So he asks whether our service has been rendered out of a sense of our immeasurable obligation to the Lord. Furthermore, has our service been offered up in the power of divine grace, rather than human nature, even at its best? Have we worked with reverence, a holy shame of face, aware of our own personal sins and the failings of what we bring to the Lord? Have we also come in the spirit of holy cheerfulness, with a godly fear? Finally, are we cultivating a profound sense of the divine holiness, a sense of God as a consuming fire? His point is that, whatever service has been rendered to the Lord, if we take credit to ourselves then we are robbing the altar of God. His closing plea would suit any one of us, as we look back upon whatever we have brought to God in recent days: "Let us bring the sacrifices of the last week to him, with repentance for every fault, humbly pleading that of his grace he will accept it, and earnestly desiring that all we have done may redound to his glory through Jesus Christ his Son, to whom be honour, world without end."

We are working through a book of systematic theology called "Daily Doctrine" by Kevin DeYoung (Crossway). We hope that you will join us and engage with the book as we seek to learn more about the God of heaven, and what the knowledge of him means for his pilgrim people upon earth. The whole video series can be found here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLydzd6kZnPWdDUP1Dj9CIV_hSp42WEeMb&si=ACvRi4lPPuAH1jqx If you are in the UK you can get the book here: https://amzn.to/3ZX4ICu or https://www.icmbooks.co.uk/product/38356/Daily-Doctrine-A-One-Year-Guide-to-Systematic-Theology or https://uk.10ofthose.com/product/9781433572852/daily-doctrine-hardback. If you are in the US you can get the book here: https://amzn.to/3VSrTNq or https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/daily-doctrine-deyoung.html. Direct from Crossway: https://www.crossway.org/books/daily-doctrine-hcj/ Logos users: https://www.logos.com/product/299143/daily-doctrine-a-one-year-guide-to-systematic-theology

What is our response when faced with decisions and difficulties? Abraham is a model of obedient faith. It is helpful to consider what he knew negatively—what he did not know when he went out. It is good to remember what he did know—the presence, promise, and protection of the Lord. It is therefore clear why he did what he did, going out as he was called, obeying God out of implicit trust.

This is a shorter sermon, preached on a Thursday evening, and in it Spurgeon contrasts and compares two texts, each speaking of something good. The first is, perhaps, more surprising: it is good when we are afflicted. The second might make more obvious sense to us: it is good to draw near to God. The first is good when it does not sour the sufferer, but forms, spurs, stirs, sanctifies, and instructs the child of God who is afflicted. The second is good because we feel God near us, are moved to greater trust, and out of it we are able to bear good witness to the works of the Almighty. Do we feel the virtues of both sanctified affliction from the Lord and sweet communion with the Lord? Are we prepared to call both of these good? Are we truly thankful for any afflictions God grants for his holy purposes, and for any closeness which he bestows upon us? These are the questions and comforts with which the preacher leaves his congregation.

We are working through a book of systematic theology called "Daily Doctrine" by Kevin DeYoung (Crossway). We hope that you will join us and engage with the book as we seek to learn more about the God of heaven, and what the knowledge of him means for his pilgrim people upon earth. The whole video series can be found here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLydzd6kZnPWdDUP1Dj9CIV_hSp42WEeMb&si=ACvRi4lPPuAH1jqx If you are in the UK you can get the book here: https://amzn.to/3ZX4ICu or https://www.icmbooks.co.uk/product/38356/Daily-Doctrine-A-One-Year-Guide-to-Systematic-Theology or https://uk.10ofthose.com/product/9781433572852/daily-doctrine-hardback. If you are in the US you can get the book here: https://amzn.to/3VSrTNq or https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/daily-doctrine-deyoung.html. Direct from Crossway: https://www.crossway.org/books/daily-doctrine-hcj/ Logos users: https://www.logos.com/product/299143/daily-doctrine-a-one-year-guide-to-systematic-theology

This sermon unfolds gradually but surely. We do not know exactly where the preacher will take us, but he is evidently following a planned route, and so we are content to take each development of his theme as he introduces us to it. Considering the fundamental truth that without Christ no Christian can do anything of any spiritual value, Spurgeon first of all considers our Lord's assertion as an aspiration of hope. Then he feels it as a shudder of fear. It presses upon him and us next as a vision of failure. Then we hear it as a voice of wisdom. Finally, it rings out as a song of content. In this way, the same statement is made of various use to those who are or profess to be followers of the Lamb, and each comes in its turn. Even the sequence is interesting: hope comes first, then warning, then instruction, then comfort and joy, so that we are pointed in the right direction, cautioned with regard to the prospect, but then encouraged concerning the final outcome. There is a great deal of discernment, then, not only in the substance of the sermon but in its arrangement, as we walk away impressed with the need for a known and felt union with our Lord Jesus if we are to be fruitful in his service.

We are working through a book of systematic theology called "Daily Doctrine" by Kevin DeYoung (Crossway). We hope that you will join us and engage with the book as we seek to learn more about the God of heaven, and what the knowledge of him means for his pilgrim people upon earth. The whole video series can be found here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLydzd6kZnPWdDUP1Dj9CIV_hSp42WEeMb&si=ACvRi4lPPuAH1jqx If you are in the UK you can get the book here: https://amzn.to/3ZX4ICu or https://www.icmbooks.co.uk/product/38356/Daily-Doctrine-A-One-Year-Guide-to-Systematic-Theology or https://uk.10ofthose.com/product/9781433572852/daily-doctrine-hardback. If you are in the US you can get the book here: https://amzn.to/3VSrTNq or https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/daily-doctrine-deyoung.html. Direct from Crossway: https://www.crossway.org/books/daily-doctrine-hcj/ Logos users: https://www.logos.com/product/299143/daily-doctrine-a-one-year-guide-to-systematic-theology

Love labours. In doing so, it overcomes a multitude of difficulties. It triumphs over those difficulties in a way which demonstrates the heavenly source of its energies. Spurgeon actually begins the sermon with a meditation on the Holy Spirit as the only one who can work true Christian love in the heart of sinners like us. Christian love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. It contends with and overcomes self, other people, the world, and hell. The middle section on the triumphs of love is quite splendid. In each case Spurgeon shows what is the bearing, believing, hoping, and enduring power of love, applying the principle to our dealings both with believers and unbelievers, and then pointing us to Christ Jesus as the enduring example and demonstration of that aspect of love. It is a powerful and probing part of the sermon. The last section is much shorter, but can afford to be, as the preacher is really just tying off the threads which he laid in his introduction, and which have run throughout the sermon as a whole. As an example of sermonic construction, including adaptation in the act of preaching, it is most helpful. But it is more than a model for preaching; it is a call to loving living, and one that is convicting and compelling and comforting.

We are working through a book of systematic theology called "Daily Doctrine" by Kevin DeYoung (Crossway). We hope that you will join us and engage with the book as we seek to learn more about the God of heaven, and what the knowledge of him means for his pilgrim people upon earth. The whole video series can be found here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLydzd6kZnPWdDUP1Dj9CIV_hSp42WEeMb&si=ACvRi4lPPuAH1jqx If you are in the UK you can get the book here: https://amzn.to/3ZX4ICu or https://www.icmbooks.co.uk/product/38356/Daily-Doctrine-A-One-Year-Guide-to-Systematic-Theology or https://uk.10ofthose.com/product/9781433572852/daily-doctrine-hardback. If you are in the US you can get the book here: https://amzn.to/3VSrTNq or https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/daily-doctrine-deyoung.html. Direct from Crossway: https://www.crossway.org/books/daily-doctrine-hcj/ Logos users: https://www.logos.com/product/299143/daily-doctrine-a-one-year-guide-to-systematic-theology

The atoning death of Jesus Christ is the climax of history, an event at the end of the ages which marked the absolute shift from shadow to substance, from promise to fulfilment. Here the salvation long expected was brought about. What did our Lord do? He himself appeared. Why did he come? It was to put away sin. How did he do this? By nothing less than the sacrifice of himself, a sacrifice unrepeated and unrepeatable, suitable and sufficient for sinners like us.

A godly husband is, in essence, a man who has learned Christ sufficiently to follow the Lord in his sacrificial love, loving his own wife just as Christ loved the church. Such love has a purposeful quality, is anchored in union, and actively nourishes and cherishes its object. It rises above both abdication (a cowardly stepping back) and tyranny (a bullying disposition) to do real good by God's own standards, regardless of the cost. It sends those who wish to serve Christ as husbands back to the Lord, for only in him and from him do we find cleansing for our sins and strength for his service.

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.

We are working through a book of systematic theology called "Daily Doctrine" by Kevin DeYoung (Crossway). We hope that you will join us and engage with the book as we seek to learn more about the God of heaven, and what the knowledge of him means for his pilgrim people upon earth. The whole video series can be found here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLydzd6kZnPWdDUP1Dj9CIV_hSp42WEeMb&si=ACvRi4lPPuAH1jqx If you are in the UK you can get the book here: https://amzn.to/3ZX4ICu or https://www.icmbooks.co.uk/product/38356/Daily-Doctrine-A-One-Year-Guide-to-Systematic-Theology or https://uk.10ofthose.com/product/9781433572852/daily-doctrine-hardback. If you are in the US you can get the book here: https://amzn.to/3VSrTNq or https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/daily-doctrine-deyoung.html. Direct from Crossway: https://www.crossway.org/books/daily-doctrine-hcj/ Logos users: https://www.logos.com/product/299143/daily-doctrine-a-one-year-guide-to-systematic-theology

We begin with a consideration of marriage more generally, looking at God's union of one man with one woman in a relationship of genuine correspondence, profound cleaving or clinging, total commitment, and a joint commission. From there we move on to begin considering the role of the husband, emphasising first that the keynote for a godly husband, lost in Adam but restored in Christ, is that of love. Love's character is that it is fundamentally Christlike, for we are to love our wives "just as Christ" loved the church. This gives us reason to repent, much to repair, somewhere to return, and something to remember.

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?

We are working through a book of systematic theology called "Daily Doctrine" by Kevin DeYoung (Crossway). We hope that you will join us and engage with the book as we seek to learn more about the God of heaven, and what the knowledge of him means for his pilgrim people upon earth. The whole video series can be found here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLydzd6kZnPWdDUP1Dj9CIV_hSp42WEeMb&si=ACvRi4lPPuAH1jqx If you are in the UK you can get the book here: https://amzn.to/3ZX4ICu or https://www.icmbooks.co.uk/product/38356/Daily-Doctrine-A-One-Year-Guide-to-Systematic-Theology or https://uk.10ofthose.com/product/9781433572852/daily-doctrine-hardback. If you are in the US you can get the book here: https://amzn.to/3VSrTNq or https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/daily-doctrine-deyoung.html. Direct from Crossway: https://www.crossway.org/books/daily-doctrine-hcj/ Logos users: https://www.logos.com/product/299143/daily-doctrine-a-one-year-guide-to-systematic-theology

Looking to Jesus is the way to run the race of faith, a looking away from all else to Jesus Christ alone as he is presented in the Scriptures. This might first be a look of inquiry, then become a look of understanding. It must be a look of contrition, a look of confidence, a look of dependence, a look of desire, and a look of hope. In all this, it cannot be anything but a look of love to the suffering Saviour who has given himself for our lives.

Timothy was exhorted to let no one despise his youth, but rather to show himself an example to all believers. What Timothy must be as a younger pastor, every Christian should be. So we must identify the season of which Paul speaks, 'youth', which extends further than we might imagine. There are two audiences implied for this season of life, the world at large, and the church in particular. There is a contrast established between the effect of this display, either despite and disdain, or potent example. Paul also identifies the spheres in which this example ought to be set.

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.

We are working through a book of systematic theology called "Daily Doctrine" by Kevin DeYoung (Crossway). We hope that you will join us and engage with the book as we seek to learn more about the God of heaven, and what the knowledge of him means for his pilgrim people upon earth.The whole video series can be found here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLydzd6kZnPWdDUP1Dj9CIV_hSp42WEeMb&si=ACvRi4lPPuAH1jqxIf you are in the UK you can get the book here: https://amzn.to/3ZX4ICu or https://www.icmbooks.co.uk/product/38356/Daily-Doctrine-A-One-Year-Guide-to-Systematic-Theology or https://uk.10ofthose.com/product/9781433572852/daily-doctrine-hardback.If you are in the US you can get the book here: https://amzn.to/3VSrTNq or https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/daily-doctrine-deyoung.html.Direct from Crossway: https://www.crossway.org/books/daily-doctrine-hcj/Logos users: https://www.logos.com/product/299143/daily-doctrine-a-one-year-guide-to-systematic-theology

The last great watershed in the record of the Acts has arrived. There have been drops and trickles but now the dam is about to burst. God has put the players in their places and all is being prepared. A Roman named Cornelius is introduced, a devout man who desires God's blessing. Cornelius is instructed by an angel of God to send for a gospel preacher. Cornelius is invested in this prospect, and does all he can as quickly as he can to obey the command of the Lord.Are we hungry for divine favour? Are we thankful for gospel clarity? Are we conscious of God's mercy? Are we grateful for Christ's preachers?