From the Heart of Spurgeon

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

Full of rich encouragements centred in Christ’s person, this address brings us to a source of rich assurance in Christ’s own promise to Paul, that the Lord’s strength would be made perfect in his servant’s weakness. The sermon involves a somewhat convoluted approach, in which Spurgeon twists and turns the text through its various shades of meaning, throwing the emphasis upon different words in his text to bring out the nuances. That done, Spurgeon traces a line from Christ through Paul to all the saints, explaining how the all-sufficient grace of God in Christ is perfected, or brought to full expression, in his servants. He emphasises the essential strengthlessness of the creature, and the power of God magnified through that human weakness. That brings him to the blessedness of Christ’s power in his people, concluding with an urgent appeal never to ask the Lord to make us strong in ourselves, but rather to glorify himself in our weakness by manifesting his own strength in us. He goes so far as to say, “beseech the Lord to make and keep you weakness itself, that in you his power may be displayed.” In all his exhortations to Christian endeavour, this preacher never strays from his underlying conviction that we depend utterly upon the God of heaven for all grace and strength. 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

Spurgeon was a preacher hungry for souls, and he expected and urged the Tabernacle congregation, and other preachers, to cultivate the same appetite. He was persuaded that the glory of God in Christ was best served by the salvation of sinners, and so he made that the great aim of the congregation. He never lost sight of the fact that the only power by which that end could be attained was the strength of Almighty God. He wanted God’s people to desire and delight in such a prospect, and to engage all their holy energies in its pursuit. Preaching here from Acts 11:21, this was his simple outline, and his earnest plea. We see again Spurgeon’s grasp on both the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of men when it comes to salvation, in this case, our absolute reliance upon divine power and our duty to make Christ known in all his saving fulness. It is a sermon which ‘rebukes our slothful ease’ while also exciting us with the happy prospect of seeing the name of Christ exalted in the conversion of sinners. Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/conversions-desired 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 penetrating sermon, and perhaps not what you would expect as Spurgeon’s first sermon in the new year of 1876, but perhaps all the more valuable for that. Maybe we would assume that we need to start the year with something uplifting, but Spurgeon has decided to begin with humbling, God helping him. In truth, it is a theme we should appreciate at any time of the year, for pride is a perennial weed in the garden of the soul. So Spurgeon catechises pride, asking a series of questions that derive from his text and its underlying assumption. By the answers, pride is condemned, being exposed for the ugliness it is. Spurgeon’s method enables his hearers and readers to interrogate themselves, asking where pride has crept into our own hearts, where it has taken root with regard either to natural or spiritual distinctions, and the bitter fruits it bears where it begins to thrive. Of course, he does not conclude without some gospel correctives, encouraging us to remember the grace of God, and so uproot pride and bring forth better and sweeter flowers, including that of faith in Christ, recognising that—if no-one has anything in which to boast—then a sinner may come to the Lord for that which he freely gives. Read the sermon: www.mediagratiae.org/resources/pride-catechized-and-condemned 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 is substantially an expression of adoration, in which Spurgeon traces a line from the general ascription of praise by the church to the specific life of a particular church in glorifying God. Our preacher turns our attention first to God himself, to consider his greatness, his goodness, 45 and his grace toward us. His readiness to bless is then traced out in accordance with the measure of his power toward us. Next, he asks what is our proper response to such favour, and how it is to be given. Finally, and briefly, we are challenged with regard to our attitude, here and now: can we say “Amen!” to Paul’s doxology? As so often, Spurgeon’s language, rich as it is, seems to struggle to keep up with his affections. His ability to enter into his text, especially on such a happy theme, is a wonderful example of a heart attuned to truth, leading to a sermon full of questions that push the borders of experience and expression. If we do not soar so high ourselves, at least we can appreciate the view from one who does, and be stirred to seek more.

Spurgeon does not confuse the place or sequence of faith and love in our relationship to Christ, but neither does he allow either to recede from their proper place and sequence. The one who has put faith in Jesus will be one who loves the Lord Jesus above all. Saving faith always works by love. What does that mean in practice? It means, first, that love to Christ is essential, a defining mark of true Christianity. It therefore means, second, that love to Christ is the test of whether or not someone is a child of God. It means, third, that every one of us should ask whether or not we are manifesting love to God, according to a biblical mode and pattern. This is the path down which Spurgeon walks us, plainly and practically, pressing it closely home. Our instinct today, as much as ever, is probably to resist absolutes, and to soften the edges of clear truth, either for ourselves or others. Spurgeon does not allow us to evade or avoid the cutting edge of unequivocal scriptural statements: if we do not love Christ, then we do not belong to him. These, then, are needful truths for us to consider, in order that we might properly assess our standing before God, and respond accordingly. Read the sermon: www.mediagratiae.org/resources/love-to-jesus-the-great-test 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 sermon on prayer, but this one focusing more on its personal and individual aspects. Interpreting and applying one of Job’s sayings with biblical and pastoral sensitivity (Spurgeon is no mean exegete, and certainly not careless in handing the Scriptures!), God’s servant guides us through a series of observations and directions concerning our approach to God in prayer, both in terms of a more reactive response to God’s truth coming to our souls, and then in our more proactive approaches to the throne of grace. He urges us to make use of both modes in our dealings with God, and then—with his typically Christocentric approach coming to the fore—sets out the ways in which Christ is both God’s Word to us and our response to God himself. It is a sermon full of light and comfort, and a genuine help to those who want to learn how to pray. Spurgeon, himself a man of prayer, is well situated to instruct us in such matters, and to help us think through our patterns and practices in prayer, whether private or public. Read the sermon: www.mediagratiae.org/resources/how-to-converse-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

Here is a powerful exhortation for the church to give itself to prayer, not just regularly but also particularly and occasionally, for special purposes. Spurgeon considers the circumstances in which the early church found itself when it gave itself to prayer, and uses that to exhort and encourage churches to do the same. He emphasises the place which the early Christians gave to prayer in their corporate gatherings and how that is reflected in the way in which they gave themselves to seeking God as a congregation, as well as noticing the place and time of the meeting. He urges us to take account of God’s blessing given in response to the pleading of the saints, reminding us that “all through the church of God the true progress is in proportion to the prayer.” I have heard corporate prayer meetings being denigrated as if they are no proper or valuable institution in the life of the church. I have seen churches in which corporate prayer is shamefully minimised or neglected, often reflected in the number and spirit of those who gather. Here is a helpful and robust corrective to all such attitudes, pointing us toward the profitable necessity of prayer by the church, and urging us to avail ourselves of the opportunity of such dealing with our merciful and mighty 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 is a lovely, lively sermon, full of sweet practicality. Spurgeon considers the way in which a particular household can become a radiating centre of gospel light in a particular neighbourhood, as grace enters it, grips it, and then gushes from it. It is one of those brilliantly inventive sermons, anchored to the text without being wooden, imaginative without being fanciful, challenging without being crushing. It ought to leave us asking whether or not a home that is genuinely Christian—that is, one in which the household is genuinely governed by God’s grace in Christ, characterised by true and lively faith—is operating as it should in spreading gospel influence in the place in which God has placed us. May it stir each one of us to ask, first, whether or not our homes are gripped as they ought to be by the gospel, and, second, whether or not the gospel is shining out from our homes and bringing blessings to our neighbours! If Christ visits our homes and our hearts, surely this should be the happy effect? 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 outlines are rarely elaborate, and some are very plain. That is the case here. The fairly developed introduction clears the ground and establishes the scene. Then Spurgeon takes the simple idea of a final separation from his text in Matthew 25, and offers three straightforward thoughts: the division, the divider, and the rule of the division. His language and imagery are lively but not lurid; he does not pull his punches concerning the final judgment, but neither does he ever give the impression that he is revelling in the detail. He speaks of eternal reality with present affection, pressing home the need for his congregation to reckon with the great day. He handles more complicated matters with wisdom and sensitivity. He closes, as we might well imagine, with a potent appeal to come to the God of grace, not at all on the basis of what we have done, are doing, or will do, but in dependence on the Christ of God who can give us a new heart and a new work to do in service to him. 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 is brief enough to make the reader ask about the occasion of its preaching. No explanation is given in the text, though there may be a shade of a hint. Was it some notable occasion? Did the preacher feel particularly weak and afflicted himself? (Spurgeon often tells his congregation if this is the case.) Is he adapting his material for a particular class of hearers who might struggle with more? Whatever the explanation, the result is a little jewel of a sermon, concentrating on the excellencies of Christ in a way adapted to soothe Christians of a fearful cast of mind, terrified by the notion of condemnation. Of course, the security of the Christian in Christ gives way to a plea toward those who are still outside, that they would come to Christ to enjoy the so-great salvation which he alone provides. Read the sermon here: www.mediagratiae.org/resources/jesus-the-substitute-for-his-people 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

purgeon is happy to preach on preaching, so that the saints under the sound of his voice might know what to expect, and to what they are entitled. He does that in this sermon. Taking the phrase, “Rightly dividing the word of truth” he studies it by way of a series of figures taken from a variety of expositors, each of which sheds its own light on the duty of expounding and explaining and applying the Scriptures. Integrity, honesty, simplicity, clarity, urgency, all come to the fore as Spurgeon explains why it is so important that ministers handle the Word of God as those answerable to God for the souls of those to whom they preach, all considered in the light of eternity. Reading the sermon today is a help to preachers as we consider our duty, and how to discharge it; it is of value to hearers, perhaps to value a faithful ministry—not just despite its probing and pressing nature, but because of it—or to seek out a man who will not play fast and loose with God’s revelation, but handle it faithfully, for their soul’s sake. Read the sermon here: www.mediagratiae.org/resources/rightly-dividing-the-word-of-truth 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 Sword and the Trowel was Spurgeon’s magazine. The January number for 1875 began with an article acknowledging God’s goodness in providing for the publication of sermons for twenty years, and giving some history of the endeavour (this article is included in this week’s printed sermon). This sermon, preached at the end of 1874, is the pulpit testimony to the same. It is marked by humility and gratitude, and by a delight in the gospel which Spurgeon was privileged to preach. There is here both confidence and conviction: this is the preached gospel which the Lord has blessed, and this is the gospel which the preacher is determined to go on preaching, glorious in its object and inexhaustible in its fullness. So, then, there is no surprise that a celebration of gospel preaching becomes an opportunity, once again, to set forth the unsearchable riches of Christ. The sermon ends with this challenge: “Bestir yourselves, feed upon Jesus, and then take of the good cheer to those who do not know the riches of Christ, and as God gives you grace, go you and fulfil this ministry, and you will then say, as I do, and as the apostle said of old, ‘Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.’ The Lord bless you. Amen.” Read the sermon here: www.mediagratiae.org/resources/a-grateful-summary-of-twenty-volumes 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 Read the sermon here: www.mediagratiae.org/resources/rightly-dividing-the-word-of-truth 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 joy in salvation. There is joy in God because of salvation, joy for the repenting sinner because of salvation, and joy for the servants of God who are instruments of blessing because of salvation. Spurgeon sees this figured out for us in the story of the prodigal son returning home. Using careful language, he shows us the joy that is in the father’s heart; he rejoices with the son who is welcomed home by his father; he considers the delight of the servants who are given work to do in welcoming and adorning the once-rebellious child. While he is writing long before some modern debates about the affections of God, and should be read as such, Spurgeon shows us that such questions are not new. Even if some will struggle with his language about God’s joy, we need to ensure that we are able to communicate the divine delight over returning sinners, and to appreciate the delight in the hearts of sinners who return, so that we can enter into that delight insofar as we are given the privilege of serving a saving God. Read the sermon here: www.mediagratiae.org/resources/the-reception-of-sinners 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 is God. Simple as that might sound, it is the profound truth which Spurgeon works out, in measure, in this sermon. Because God is God, and—for believers—especially because he is our God, we are to glorify him in all things. The claims of God are grounded in his being and doing, and then Spurgeon assesses our response to them. So often our attitude is one of disdain or neglect. Where is the honour to which God is entitled from his creatures, his people? And so Spurgeon pleads with us to embrace the claims of God, as not only proper but delightful, ennobling, purifying. It begins with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and works out in cheerful and willing service to the God of our salvation, seeking to honour his claims in thought, word, and deed. 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 eminently practical sermon shows something of the value which Spurgeon places on prayer. Having briefly handled his text in its context, he concentrates on three dangers: hindrances from prayer—those things which keep us from prayer altogether; hindrances in prayer—those things which keep us from really praying when we pray; and, hindrances to the speeding of our prayers—those things which keep us from having access to God, and enjoying answers to our prayers. It is eminently practical and evidently heartfelt. Given the fact that prayer, by its very nature, is so often a battle, these are helpful considerations for us. They keep us from finding easy excuses or offering lazy complaints, and point us back to our own heart disposition, our attitudes and appetites in prayer, and the way in which our prayers are so often and easily undermined by our own carnality and carelessness. This sermon calls us to pray, and exhorts us to pray indeed, making our pleadings with God the very expression of our desires for his glory. 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 truly sweet and happy sermon. Do not be put off by the text: “The God of my mercy shall prevent me.” As Spurgeon makes clear, the point is that the God of my mercy shall go before me, shall anticipate me, shall come to meet me. And so he explains the particular nature of the relationship, the grasp that David has on God’s mercy, and the various ways and senses in which the God of mercy, the God of my mercy, anticipates every demand arising out of the genuine needs of every child of God, and meets us at the very point of need. This covers the past, especially in our experience of salvation; it addresses the present, as God sustains and blesses us in all our circumstances; it provides for the future, knowing that to the very end of our days the God of my mercy will guide us. Spurgeon shows himself a masterly preacher here, building in his applications along the way before sending home a few precious truths at the close of the whole. Here are truths rich and sweet to sustain our souls as we press on in the pilgrim way. 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 considers Paul a balanced preacher—not a middle-of-the-road preacher, but one who both offers salvation in all its fullness, to be received and enjoyed with assurance, and who warns lest the faith which a sinner professes be something else than the saving faith which clings to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. This, then, is a searching sermon, in which the preacher urges us to consider the nature of the true faith which God gives as opposed to the empty faith which some claim. We need to consider the very nature of that faith, and its relation to Christ Jesus. We need to know why it is so important to consider this question, given how many turn away, how many fall short, how many are hypocrites, how many professing Christians simply show little of the evidences of a child of God. We need to understand what is at stake with regard to heaven and hell. We need to know how to respond. Here, Spurgeon is carefully pastoral: these warnings are not designed to crush true faith, but—in shaking it—to send its roots deeper into God, into his truth, into Christ. So he urges us not to draw back but to press on, to cling to Christ wholeheartedly, and so to enter into rest. 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 appreciating Spurgeon the gospel preacher, we should not imagine that his gospel preaching is somehow shallow or narrow, nor that it lacks anything of the pastoral note. Spurgeon cares for the souls of people. He cares that sinners come into the kingdom; he cares that saints be built up in the kingdom. Again, that latter note does not make him a mere sentimentalist. I am not always persuaded that as many of us would have relished sitting under Spurgeon’s ministry as we might imagine! Here he is perfectly straight with his hearers, without being at all harsh. He first reminds us that God will chide, offering some reasons and explanations as to why that will be so. Then he brings in some particular comforts and consolations, emphasising the kindness, patience, and wisdom of Almighty God. His applications are wide-ranging but pointed and searching. It is a grand example of pastoral preaching, gently yet firmly bringing needed truth to bear. 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

You probably have no need to be told that Spurgeon almost instinctively reverts to the pure presentation of the gospel when given the merest opportunity. Here his emphasis is on the freeness of divine grace. Preaching from Isaiah 55:1, he tells us why this is so surprising to fallen man, why it is a necessity (not just from our need, but from the character of the God who saves), and then the salutary influence of this fact—the happy effect of being saved by free grace. As so often, on one level there is nothing particularly novel here, nothing unusual in terms of what Spurgeon says as a preacher. Nevertheless, two things in particular stand out. One is the relentless and intense concentration on this primary idea of freeness, which has the effect of holding it before the eyes so as to drive home the issues. The other, developing from that, is the way in which Spurgeon presses that one truth persuasively into the hearts of his hearers, reasoning and wrestling so that they might grasp the wonderful freeness of God’s great grace in Christ. As hearers, we are made to gaze upon this truth so that, under God, we cannot avoid its marvel. As preachers, we are forced to ask whether or not we are so righteously relentless in pressing home God’s word. 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 Podcast 169: Daniel Facing the Lion’s Den (S1154) Dan 6:10

Spurgeon delighted in communion with the Lord. He was manifestly a man of prayer, and he regularly exhorts his hearers and his readers to embrace that marvellous privilege. It is worth noting the title and content of the sermon: this is not about Daniel in the lion’s den, but facing it; it is about Daniel’s commitment to prayer in the face of fearful pressures, of his principled obedience in the face of awful threats. The sermon itself, then, is simple and straightforward. Spurgeon considers Daniel as a man committed to prayer and blessed and prospered by means of his communication with heaven. He then addresses the privileges of prayer, urging us to take advantage of the opportunities we have to come before the Lord. Then there is Daniel’s decision, his attachment to his holy habit of prayer despite all that comes against him. Finally, there is Daniel’s deliverance, not from his trial, but through his trial. The whole becomes an earnest exhortation to pursue the right course regardless of the difficulties which it brings. This is by no means shallow or moralistic preaching, but neither is Spurgeon afraid to take the saints of the Old Testament as examples and encouragements in righteousness, and we should take the model to heart. 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 Podcast 169: Daniel Facing the Lion’s Den (S1154) Dan 6:10

Here Spurgeon weaves together something complementary in the work of parents and pastors with regard to their children, both physical and spiritual. First of all, working within John’s figure, he applies the words of his text to parents, underscoring the delight that a Christian father or mother feels in the salvation of their sons and daughters, one of the greatest of all earthly joys. Then, he turns to the figure itself as John uses it, speaking of a pastor’s delight in the conversion of sinners, and the profound pleasure that a preacher feels as a spiritual parent when he sees God’s people walking in his ways. He not only expresses but stirs the joy we might feel, urging us to find it by seeking the salvation of those under our care, but also reminding those who profess faith in Jesus Christ of their responsibility so to walk that parents and pastors might feel such delight, and that—ultimately—the Lord himself would be magnified in his children. 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, says Spurgeon, is a sermon “mainly upon my own behalf, and on the behalf of my brethren in the ministry.” Specifically, and for the sake of the saints, and ultimately for the glory of God, he intends “to excite you to be much in prayer, both for myself and all ministers of Christ Jesus.” Without any kind of self-indulgence, and in a spirit of honesty rather than complaint, Spurgeon builds a compelling case for the saints to plead with God on behalf of ministers of the gospel. He explains why the saints should so pray, and who should be engaged, and when and where this duty might be carried out. Then, both for encouragement and challenge, he underscores the reality of the Spirit’s supply and its consequent blessing, and so presses home the need for that supply in answer to the prayers of the saints. How do you think about your pastors? What do you know of their labour and their need of grace in that labour? How do you pray for ministers of the gospel, and your minister? Spurgeon, neither boasting nor whining, draws back the veil a little on the work of ministry to excite our prayers, and the expectation of God’s answer to them. 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/ap

Spurgeon knows how to reason with men, how to plead and persuade as a preacher. This sermon is a fine example of that often-neglected element of ministry. With wisdom from the Word of God, illuminated by the Holy Spirit and proven over long and happy experience, Spurgeon steps through a good selection of the reasons why people do not come to Christ, or think they cannot or have not, and seeks to remove the stumbling blocks. Then, having cleared the road of obstacles, he covers it over with Christ and paves it with promises, so that sinners might go by him to heaven. Both elements are strikingly simple, but wonderfully helpful. Here is the pastor-evangelist indeed, gently but firmly dismantling mistakes and confusions, and introducing—sweetly and straightforwardly—the Saviour and his so great salvation. If we would be physicians of souls, it is well to follow a gifted doctor on his rounds. We could do a lot worse than to learn from Spurgeon how to preach the gospel not by way of general exhortation only, but dealing closely with troubled souls in order to clear their path. 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

I should, perhaps, confess that this sermon was particularly attractive to me as a result of my needing to preach on a particular theme at an upcoming conference. Having been considering a related topic, this sermon made my heart sing! Here is Spurgeon the gospeller, Spurgeon the evangelist, Spurgeon as preacher and teacher in sweet harmony. Conscious very much that he is an ambassador of heaven, Spurgeon fulfils that role while, as it were, shedding much light—almost incidentally—upon the nature of his work. He does this all in a way which humbles man (considered either as ambassador of grace or recipient of grace) and which exalts God. And yet, for all his description of what he is doing and what other gospel ministers ought to do, there is no doubt that he is actually doing it. With consummate skill, the sermon builds into a grand appeal to sinners to thrown down their arms of rebellion and take Jesus Christ as Saviour. 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

Are you tempted to think, in some way or other, that Christ does not really care for you? Do your present circumstances lead you to fear that he has no regard for your well-being? Against such doubts and fears Spurgeon turns his guns as he reasons with us as to how we should think and what we should believe lest we fall into this trap, describing the genuine regard that our Lord has for his beloved people under all circumstances, and assuring us that this will become apparent to us in due course. He gives us an anatomy of ungodly fear and of God’s own care. Again, here is the blend of tender rebuke and careful encouragement at which our preacher excels; here is that pastoral insight into the hearts of men and that faithful grasp of the heart of God which blend together in preaching to the soul so that we both see what is wrong and are led to what is right. 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 develops, early on, into a broadside against spiritual self-satisfaction. Spurgeon demolishes—with unusual thoroughness—any sense of spiritual smugness, by taking Paul’s desire for holiness as his proper standard, as well as considering other models of godliness and his broader experience of mankind. He digs deep, asking by what routes men attain to such a sense of contentedness with their present condition, and the root of such self-applause. Having done most of the heavy lifting in the first and bulkiest part of his sermon, considering the present life, he then hits us rapidly with the other three points which form the outline of his sermon: how Paul looks on his past with accuracy, to the future eagerly, all the while engaging fervently. For all his evangelistic fervour, Spurgeon never lets slip the connection between salvation and true godliness, and here he urges us not to become complacent with present attainments in holiness, but rather to press onward—while we rejoice that Christ’s work for us is complete, we must recognise that the Spirit’s work in us is ongoing, and labour accordingly as new men in Christ. 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 can you tell when God is among his people in a distinctive way? What are the marks of God’s present favour? What are the indications of reviving among the saints? Using Zechariah 8:21 as his springboard, Spurgeon identifies several of the signs of God’s presence among his people: their great interest in divine worship; their encouragement to one another to use the means of grace; their urgency and immediacy in using these means; their eye particularly on God in these duties; and, their personal resolve and investment in waiting upon the Lord. This preacher has a sweet talent for both cutting and binding up; he knows how to expose and clean the wound, but he also knows how to pour in the balm. He is skilled in drawing us to God in Christ, making the exercises of religion seem sweet and delightful to the awakened soul. Here is a true call to worship indeed, not lacking in rebuke for our coolness and dulness, but painting a happy portrait of a people taken up with God, knowing and seeking and enjoying his ministrations toward them. 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 danger in appreciating sermons of robust exhortation, a potential spiritual sado-masochism of sorts, in which we pride ourselves on having received a good whipping, without being any the better for having undergone the experience. One antidote to this is to make sure that the exhortation rides on the back of appreciation, and it is this which Spurgeon does here. He wants us to understand how blessed we are as God’s people, how richly favoured and fed from the royal table, and what that means in terms of our regard for the King’s honour, and how that works out in various spheres of life. That emphasis on blessing is not intended to send us on a ‘guilt trip’ either—it is not mere manipulation to say that if we have fallen short, and our love has cooled, then we ought to repent and do our first works, given how greatly we have been loved and blessed. So, then, let us not indulge ourselves in a bit of self-satisfied self-recrimination, but consider the mercies which God has bestowed, and the honour to which he is entitled from those whom he has so privileged. 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 Spurgeon at his scripturally-centred best, digging deep into his text to tell us the what, and the when, and the why, and the whom, and the how of true thanksgiving. Wisely and insightfully, he reminds us that this must be the fruit of the reconciled heart, the one that knows its relation to God in Christ, setting out the spiritual prerequisites of a grateful soul. Finally, he records some of the excellent fruits of such a spirit, how it honours God, restrains sin, calms us and cheers us, and makes us useful. This is a preacher who delights in God and in all his good gifts. He is able to survey the eternal goods, the temporal goods, the unknown or unseen or unrecognised blessings, and especially to remind us that even in the worst of griefs and pains and afflictions we have good reason to give thanks to our God. With plenty of space to ponder our own attitudes, to repent of our complaining, and to resolve that we will go forth with a more cheerful zeal, this is an uplifting and valuable sermon for any time and place. For some, it may be a needful rebuke; for others, a particular spur; for some, a delightful encouragement; for all, a profitable lesson. 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

Like many of his eminent spiritual forefathers, Spurgeon is very much a theologian of the Holy Spirit. His communion with, relish for, and dependence on the Spirit of God is often prominent in his sermons, and that is itself a reflection of his whole life. This sermon is concerned with a full and rich trinitarianism, for he wants to ensure that the Holy Spirit receives his proper prominence and honour as the third Person of the Godhead. Concentrating on his title as Paraclete, the preacher first explains that name, and then—under pressure of time—turns to the particular nature of the comfort which he brings. His concluding observations bring the matter to bear upon both believers and unbelievers, holding out joy and hope to all who would honour and rely upon the Holy Ghost. The sermon is an antidote both to unscriptural notions of the person and work of the Holy Spirit (with particularly short shrift given to the wilder claims) and to a diminishing of him in the eyes and hearts of his people. 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

Like many of his eminent spiritual forefathers, Spurgeon is very much a theologian of the Holy Spirit. His communion with, relish for, and dependence on the Spirit of God is often prominent in his sermons, and that is itself a reflection of his whole life. This sermon is concerned with a full and rich trinitarianism, for he wants to ensure that the Holy Spirit receives his proper prominence and honour as the third Person of the Godhead. Concentrating on his title as Paraclete, the preacher first explains that name, and then—under pressure of time—turns to the particular nature of the comfort which he brings. His concluding observations bring the matter to bear upon both believers and unbelievers, holding out joy and hope to all who would honour and rely upon the Holy Ghost. The sermon is an antidote both to unscriptural notions of the person and work of the Holy Spirit (with particularly short shrift given to the wilder claims) and to a diminishing of him in the eyes and hearts of his people. 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

Much of this sermon seems to bubble out of the preacher’s heart, gushing forth with less of structure but more of force. It is not without organisation, but his first point concerning the believer’s frequent need of quickening or enlivening is a swirling catalogue of need, flitting from thought to thought as he considers just how dependent we are on the Lord for his mercies. From human need he turns to divine grant, identifying the God of heaven as the one from whom all these mercies flow, and the channels down which he sends them. Spurgeon points us to the way of obedience, before reminding us of the particular seasons in which we might particularly seek this stirring in our souls by the Holy Spirit. As so often, Spurgeon’s style seems to suit the mood of his sermon, the rhythm and arrangement of his words carrying us along even as readers, prompting us to go to our gracious God for his revitalising influence. 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 goes very far Christ Jesus, in all his sermons or in any sermon. Here he is in his element as a preacher of the gospel of his Saviour: “It is mine to preach a Saviour in whom I believe, whom having not seen I love. I am looking to him now for everything, even as I would have you do. I see in him superlative beauties which I wish you to see, and I worship a divinity in him which I desire you to worship. I preach not to you an unknown God, or an untried Saviour.” You can hear the man’s heart bubbling over with joyful faith which he longs to share, and in such a sermon we come close to the heart of Spurgeon, and see something reflected in him of the heart of Christ for sinners. Revelation, contemplation, instruction and adoration run on each other’s heels through the sermon, and I trust will take root in our hearts as we consider it.

This is, in some ways, a sermon about fear. The introduction is fascinating, setting the scene for what follows by tracing out some of the ways in which change and novelty can disturb and unsettle certain people in particular, with the fears that can dominate some of God’s people. Spurgeon responds with words of consolation, direction, and expectation. The whole is marked by realism about the experience of the saints, compassion toward those who struggle, courage in the face of opportunities and difficulties, and pastoral sense and straightforwardness about not succumbing to our fears. Distinctly helpful is his sense of the blessings that await in moving forward into new spheres, even with their challenges—the eagerness with which we can anticipate good things, and the anticipation that in all that comes to pass, our Lord Jesus shall be magnified in our eyes. In a time that seems to be marked by anxiety and even anger among God’s people, when many cling thoughtlessly to what they think they know even at the expense of good things they have not yet known, Spurgeon’s counsels come with timely force to our hearts. 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 people of God ought to pray for saints and for sinners. Spurgeon’s text to enforce this duty is the last phrase of Psalm 141:5, drawn from the Authorised Version: “For yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.” Acknowledging the difficulty of the phrase in the original, Spurgeon takes it in the form in which he finds it in his Bible, and applies it in those two simple directions. In praying for the saints, he teaches us to think in terms of obligation, honour, excellence, and extent. If this first of his two points takes the lion’s share of the space in the sermon, the second part probably wears the crown of intensity, for here the preacher pleads with his congregation to pray for the lost, bringing only a few but fiery reasons for them to do so. Prayer holds a vital place in Spurgeon’s estimation of his own walk with God, and in his estimation of the life and labour of any faithful and fruitful church. It both feeds into the work of the saints, and flows out of it, stirring us to the very labour which sends us back to the throne of grace for strength and for blessing. At one point, Spurgeon asks, “Do you not think, dear brethren, that if we were each one required upon the spot to give an account of his attention to this excellent duty, we should most of us need to be ashamed? May I venture to put the question to every Christian here, have you rendered to God and his church your fair proportion of intercessory prayer?” Assuming that the question receives the same answer today as it did in 1872, I trust that this sermon will prove as useful now as then. 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 is an estimation and celebration of faith, with an exhortation to it. “How is it possible for the preacher to say too much about faith, or to extol this grace too highly!” asks Spurgeon in his opening sentence. The focus of the sermon is on what it means to be a partaker of Christ. Having set forth something of the sense of that, Spurgeon spends time pressing home the solemn and searching question of whether or not we are truly partakers of the Lord Christ. In his customary fashion, Spurgeon pushes this deep into the conscience of his hearers. Then he subjects us to an unerring test of our participation in Christ—our holding steadfastly to the beginnings or foundation of our confidence. And so Spurgeon points us back to Christ, back to Christ as we first closed with him and clung to him, refreshing our spiritual sight and sense. Not lacking in warnings, but full of sweet encouragements, this sermon opens with the note of faith and closes with the eye of faith fixed upon the Lord. 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 Christianity is marked by a deeply personal and experiential affection for the Lord Jesus Christ. Although the expression of that may be somewhat coloured by his context, the foundation of it is thoroughly biblical. One of the ways in which Spurgeon expresses that affection is in the rich and emotive language with which he speaks of Christ. That shows itself often in his handling of the Song of Solomon, a portion of God’s Word in which Spurgeon delights, and a further revelation of Spurgeon’s naturally Christ-centred reading of the Old Testament. Reading it in the Puritan manner, primarily if not entirely as an allegorical expression of the love between Christ and his church, in this sermon he uses his text to underline the importance of the presence of Christ with his people, and the yearning we have—or should have—to know his nearness with us. You may not always find Spurgeon’s handling of the text compelling, but I hope you will find the theme of the sermon valuable. 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 the volume for 1871, and it was preached on the last day of that year. While Spurgeon very rarely preaches sermons in sequence, he often shows his awareness of sermons recently preached, and of the response that people make to them, often drawing in new themes or reiterating previous ones in order to make a pastoral or polemical point. He does have a penchant for preaching from multiple texts on occasion, as he does here. This particular sermon builds on the previous Lord’s day’s sermon, and the promise of joy to come. It zeroes in on the joy that the saints possess, its divine origin and practical value, holding out the blessings to all those who would take them. It is worth remembering that, while Spurgeon is emphatic, insistent and repetitive in his calls for Christian energy and endeavour, he never unyokes that calls from a deep and happy awareness of what God has done for his people in Christ Jesus, and how our ongoing relationship with God in Christ is the source of all our cheerful strength. It is a good sermon with which to close a year, and a good sermon for any time in the year. 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

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