From the Heart of Spurgeon

This fascinating sermon begins with a contrast between Abraham and Lot, so much so that Spurgeon reminds us that his text is not, “Remember Lot,” but, “Remember Lot’s wife.” However, by the end of the sermon he has deliberately returned to the first idea, and in between he has made a careful survey of the relationship between Lot and his wife before concentrating on the way in which she perished i...

This sermon carries a fearful amount of weight. Preached at a period when British interests were at a low ebb, British policy abroad seemed to Spurgeon bloody and ugly, when the weather was cold and wet through the summer, he considers the withdrawing of God from sinful nations, sinning saints, and unbelieving sinners. The first element, the national, is a fine example of proper ‘political’ preach...

Both sobering and cheering, this sermon carries us to the prophet Habakkuk, who saw all the dangers associated with ‘the midst of the years’ and the impending judgments of God upon a sinful, sliding, sleeping people. Transposing it to a church which has enjoyed twenty-five years of God’s blessing in association with the ministry of God’s word, Spurgeon highlights tellingly the prophet’s fear of th...

This delightful sermon blends the twin beauties of prayer and praise from Philippians 4:6—“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” After an extended introduction which suggests that the preacher’s soul it fully taken up with his topic, Spurgeon first underscores the reasons why Christians should mingle thanks...

The beginning of Volume XXV has curious numbering, reflecting the fact that Spurgeon is very sick in Mentone while these sermons are being produced and published. There are combinations of letters and mediations from his sickbed with shorter sermons preached on different occasions. Most of them, taken together, are the same length as his regular output, but following the pattern can be a touch con...

There is a state of peace and there is a sense of peace. Spurgeon does not confuse or confound the two. In a distinctly pastoral sermon, he begins with the priority of the objective state of peace, secured by Jesus Christ and received and enjoyed by faith in him. He steps us through the stages of our experience in obtaining this peace, not just describing but directing the guilty sinner to Christ....

Perhaps your instinct in looking at this title is to go, in your mind’s eye, to Calvary, and to consider our Saviour hanging between the two transgressors. While you have not necessarily followed the intended trail, you have come to the right place. It is not so much the men on either side whom we consider, but the man on the middle cross, for it is by him that the world has been crucified to me,...

We do not and cannot keep the law of God in order to obtain peace with God. Any such effort is doomed to failure. At the same time, conversion transforms our attitude and relationship to God’s law. Our Father’s rule has become our highest delight. His parental chastisements for disobedience are real, and his fatherly pleasure in obedience is our happiness. It is this latter principle which underpi...

Spurgeon can be derided as a shallow exegete and a naive theologian, but he is not half so careless or thoughtless as many imagine. Far from being a mere performer, Spurgeon is deeply committed to the truth of God, not least as a true churchman—committed to the house of God, the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. His concern in this sermon is that we understand what the...

This is a sermon about suffering, a fast-moving treatment of Isaiah 48:10 which puts us right in the furnace of affliction. Spurgeon emphasises God’s purposeful wisdom and grace in bestowing trials upon his saints. Having considered the distinctive way in which God deals with his people, both together and individually, Spurgeon muses on the furnace as the place where we first meet with God, as a p...

This sermon brims over with holy affections. Spurgeon is entranced by the beautiful form of his text and its beautiful content, the blending of the inner and outer man in the possession and expression of wonderful blessings. The Lord himself is the strength and shield of every believer. With sweet certainty, the follower of Jesus can say that we trusted him and received help from him. Our response...

Holiness is precious to believers, and it is precious to Spurgeon—his concern for vital godliness shines through again and again in his ministry: “Complete consecration of every faculty of mind and body unto the Lord is our soul’s deepest wish.” His text for the occasion is one that have used to undermine the believer’s pursuit of principled godliness: “For sin shall not have dominion over you, fo...

Spurgeon’s handling of the book of Job is always fascinating. He is sensitive to its exegetical challenges, and to the circumstances of its various characters. Here he takes us to Elihu, a man who shows true wisdom in speaking carefully on God’s behalf, telling more truth than any of Job’s other friends, and also ready to correct Job’s misunderstandings and complaints. With lessons for every preac...

This is a very practical and personal sermon. It does not delve deep into theological profundities concerning whether or not God can in fact tempt anyone to sin. Rather, it takes the whole petition from the perspective of the frail and feeble sinner who seeks from God his kindnesses and mercies that we might be spared from any circumstances in which we might be led into sin. So Spurgeon first cons...

This excellent sermon is a study in pride and a lesson in humility. Spurgeon’s first concern is to drive home the lesson that “whatever advantages we any of us possess over our fellow men we have received from God.” He does this by surveying the advantages we enjoy, and tracing them to their source, almost brutally dismantling any notion we might have that we have somehow made ourselves to be what...

Isaiah describes the Messiah as one who made intercession for the transgressors (Is 53:12). With this as his starting point, but turning immediately to the prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ for his crucifiers, Spurgeon opens the topic out to a consideration of our Saviour’s mediatorial intercession. He asks us first to admire the grace which is shown in Christ’s prayers for transgressors. He shows u...

There are vanities and there are verities. There are fancies and there are facts. There are passing things and there are enduring things. There are bursting bubbles and there are lasting beauties. Giving full rein to the force of the apostle’s language, Spurgeon assesses what it means not to look at, to mark, to heed, to consider, the things which can only be seen, which are passing away, whether...

We return to an earlier sermon for this lively reading, preached during the heady days at Exeter Hall, when Spurgeon was still something of a shock to the London scene. This is a sermon on conformity to Christ Jesus according to the divine plan and purpose. It asks and answers three very simple questions: In what sense is a believer to be conformed to the image of Christ? Why should we be transfor...

This is a notably textual sermon. Of course, Spurgeon always preaches from a text, and typically draws his structure from that text. However, in this sermon, the exegesis of the text lies on the surface of the sermon and more or less provides its structure, rather than lying in the background. With a little clunkiness at times, though with no lack of clarity, Spurgeon steps through the text, demon...

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 S...

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 c...

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...

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 himsel...

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...

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...