These Words Are the Words of God

spurgeonMy friends, stand over this volume, and admire its authority. This is no common book. It is not the sayings of the sages of Greece; here are not the utterances of philosophers of past ages. If these words were written by man, we might reject them; but oh, let me think the solemn thought—that this book is God’s handwriting, that these words are God’s. Let me look at its date; it is dated from the hills of heaven. Let me look at its letters: they flash glory on my eye. Let me read the chapters: they are big with meaning and mysteries unknown. Let me turn over the prophecies: they are pregnant with unthought-of wonders. Oh, book of books! And wast thou written by my God? Then will I bow before thee. Thou book of vast authority, thou art a proclamation from the Emperor of Heaven; far be it from me to exercise my reason in contradicting thee. Reason! thy place is to stand and find out what this volume means, not to tell what this book ought to say. Come thou my reason, my intellect, sit thou down and listen, for these words are the words of God. I do not know how to enlarge on this thought. Oh! if you could ever remember that this Bible was actually and really written by God! Oh! if ye had been let into the secret chambers of heaven, if ye had beheld God grasping his pen and writing down these letters, then surely ye would respect them. But they are just as much God’s hand-writing as if you had seen God write them. This Bible is a book of authority; it is an authorized book, for God has written it. Oh, tremble, tremble, lest any of you despise it; mark its authority, for it is the Word of God.


Charles Spurgeon




The New Park Street Pulpit Sermons, Volume 1, sermon 15: The Bible (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1855), 111.

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Our Covenant Lord

spurgeonCovenant theology glorifies God alone. There are other theologies abroad which magnify men; they give him a finger in his own salvation, and so leave him a reason for throwing up his cap and saying, “Well done I;” but covenant theology puts man aside, and makes him a debtor and a receiver. It does, as it were, plunge him into the sea of infinite grace and unmerited favour, and it makes him give up all boasting, stopping the mouth that could have boasted by filling it with floods of love, so that it cannot utter a vainglorious word. A man saved by the covenant must give all the glory to God’s holy name, for to God all the glory belongs. In salvation wrought by the covenant the Lord has exclusive glory.


Charles Spurgeon




The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 20, sermon 1,186: The Blood of the Covenant (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1874), 443.

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Charles Spurgeon – Jesus Came to Save Sinners

spurgeonJesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. It is a very surprising thing—a thing to be marveled at most of all by those who enjoy it. I know that it is to me even to this day the greatest wonder that I ever heard of, that God should ever justify me. I feel myself to be a lump of unworthiness, a mass of corruption, and a heap of sin, apart from His almighty love. I know by a full assurance that I am justified by faith which is in Christ Jesus, and treated as if I had been perfectly just, and made an heir of God and a joint heir with Christ; and yet by nature I must take my place among the most sinful. I, who am altogether undeserving, am treated as if I had been deserving. I am loved with as much love as if I had always been godly, whereas aforetime I was ungodly. Who can help being astonished at this? Gratitude for such favor stands dressed in robes of wonder.

C. H. Spurgeon, All of Grace: An Earnest Word with Those Who Are Seeking Salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009), 9–10.


Charles Spurgeon




All of Grace: An Earnest Word with Those Who Are Seeking Salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009), 9–10.

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The Fruit of the Spirit: Joy

spurgeonIt is quite true that the Spirit of God produces sorrow, for one of his first effects upon the soul is holy grief. He enlightens us as to our lost condition, convincing us of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, and the first result upon our heart is astonishment and lamentation. Even when we look to Christ by the work of the Spirit one of the first fruits is sorrow: “They shall look on him whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, and be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.” But this sorrow is not the ultimate object of the Spirit’s work, it is a means to an end. Even as the travail of the mother leadeth up to the joy of birth, so do the pangs of repentance lead up to the joy of pardon and acceptance. The sorrow is, to use a scriptural figure, the blade, but the full corn in the ear is joy; sorrow helps on the fruit, but the fruit itself is joy. The tears of godly grief for sin are all meant to sparkle into the diamonds of joy in pardoning love.


Charles Spurgeon




The New Park Street Pulpit Sermons, vol. 27 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1881), 73-74. Vol. 27, Sermon No. 1,582; Titled: The Fruit of the Spirit: Joy; Delivered on Lord’s Day morning, February 6th, 1881. Click here for a free PDF of this sermon.

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Seek More After The Spirit Of God

Lastly, as the best advice I can give, seek more of the Spirit of God, for this is the way to become Christ-like. Vain are all your attempts to be like him till you have sought his Spirit. Take the cold iron, and attempt to weld it if you can into a certain shape. How fruitless the effort! Lay it on the anvil, seize the blacksmith’s hammer with all your might; let blow after blow fall upon it, and you shall have done nothing. Twist it, turn it, use all your implements, but you shall not be able to fashion it as you would. But put it in the fire, let it be softened and made malleable, then lay it on the anvil, and each stroke shall have a mighty effect, so that you may fashion it into any form you may desire. So take your heart, not cold as it is, not stony, as it is by nature, but put it into the furnace; there let it be molten, and after that it can be turned like wax to the seal, and fashioned into the image of Jesus Christ.


Charles Spurgeon




The New Park Street Pulpit Sermons, vol. 1 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1855), 164. Vol. 1, Sermon No. 20; Titled: Christ’s People – Imitators of Him; Delivered on Sabbath. Click here for a free PDF of this sermon.

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Look At Him

“Well,” say some, “we have proceeded so far, what next shall we do? We know we have an interest in him, but we are still sensible of manifold deficiencies. Next then, let me entreat you to study Christ’s character. This poor Bible is become an almost obsolete book, even with some Christians. There are so many magazines, periodicals, and such like ephemeral productions, that we are in danger of neglecting to search the Scriptures. Christian, wouldst thou know thy Master? Look at him. There is a wondrous power about the character of Christ, for the more you regard it the more you will be conformed to it. I view myself in the glass, I go away, and forget what I was. I behold Christ, and I become like Christ.


Charles Spurgeon




The New Park Street Pulpit Sermons, vol. 1 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1855), 164. Vol. 1, Sermon No. 20; Titled: Christ’s People – Imitators of Him; Delivered on Sabbath. Click here for a free PDF of this sermon.

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How Can You Change And Imitate Christ?

It is my business, then, before you depart, to tell you how you can become transformed into the image of Christ.
 In the first place, then, my beloved friends, in answer to your inquiry, let me say, you must know Christ as your Redeemer before you can follow him as your Exemplar. Much is said about the example of Jesus, and we scarcely find a man now who does not believe that our Lord was an excellent and holy man, much to be admired. But excellent as his example, it would be impossible to imitate it, had he not also been our sacrifice. Do ye this morning know, that his blood was shed for you? Can ye join with me in this verse,—


“O the sweet wonders of that cross,
Where God the Saviour lov’d and died;
Her noblest life my spirit draws,
From his dear wounds and bleeding side,


”
If so, you are on a fair way to imitate Christ. But do not seek to copy him until you are bathed in the fountain filled with blood, draw from his veins. It is not possible for you to do so; your passion will be too strong and corrupt, and you will be building without a foundation, a structure which will be about as stable as a dream. You cannot mould your life to his pattern, until you have had his Spirit, till you have been clothed in his righteousness.


Charles Spurgeon




The New Park Street Pulpit Sermons, vol. 1 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1855), 163-164. Vol. 1, Sermon No. 20; Titled: Christ’s People – Imitators of Him; Delivered on Sabbath. Click here for a free PDF of this sermon.

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Sermon 2257: Inexcusable Irreverence and Ingratitude (Romans 1:20-21)

A dramatic re-preaching of Spurgeon’s Sermon 2257 from Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit sermons volume 39.

Romans 1:20-21:
“20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

Excerpt:
Away with everything that is in you, or about you, and just trust Christ, and you shall immediately be saved. Whoever, in this great congregation, will but look to Jesus, shall be saved upon the spot. However great your iniquities, however stony your heart, however despairing your mind, look, look, look, look. And then, when you look to Christ, your ingratitude will be forgiven, and it will die. You will love him who has loved you, and you shall be saved, and saved for ever.

A PDF of this sermon in updated language can be found here.

Music credit: Dexter Britain “The Time to Run” found here: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dexter_Britain/Creative_Commons_Selection/The_Time_To_Run

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If You Love Me

“If ye love me,”—Christian, hear that word, let the sweet syllables ring for ever in your ears, like the prolonged sounding of silver-toned bells—“if ye love me, if ye love me, keep my commandments.” Oh, Christian, let that “if” be put to thee this morning. “If ye love me.” Glorious Redeemer! is it an “if” at all? Thou precious, bleeding Lamb, can there be an “if?” What, when I see thy blood gushing from thee; is it an “if?” Yes, I weep to say it is an “if.” Oft my thoughts make it “if,” and oft my words make it “if.” But yet methinks my soul feels it is not “if,” either.


“Not to mine eyes is light so dear,
Nor friendship half so sweet.”


“Yes, I love thee, I know that I love thee. Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee;” can the Christian say. “Well then,” says Jesus, looking down with a glance of affectionate approbation, “since thou lovest me, keep my commandments.” O beloved, what mightier reason can I give than this? It is the argument of love and affection. Be like Christ, since gratitude demands obedience; so shall the world know that ye have been with Jesus.


Charles Spurgeon




The New Park Street Pulpit Sermons, vol. 1 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1855), 163. Vol. 1, Sermon No. 20; Titled: Christ’s People – Imitators of Him; Delivered on Sabbath. Click here for a free PDF of this sermon.

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True Blessedness

SpurgeonFEW men judge things aright. Most people measure by appearances; few know the teat of reality. We pronounce the man blessed who grasps the sceptre or wears the crown; whereas perhaps no peasant in his dominions enjoys less happiness than he does. We pronounce that man blessed who has uninterrupted and perpetual health; but we know not the secret gnawings of the heart, devoured by its own anguish, and embittered by a sorrow that a stranger cannot perceive. We call the wise man happy, because he understandeth all things, from the hyssop on the wall to the cedar of Lebanon; but he saith, “Of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.” We are all for pronouncing our neighbour’s lot happier than our own. As Young says of mortality, “All men think all men mortal but themselves,” we are apt to think all men happy but ourselves. But oh! if we could see things as they are,—if we were not deceived by the masquerade of this poor life,—if we were not so easily taken in by the masks and dresses of those who act in this great drama, be it comedy or tragedy,—if we could but see what the men are behind, the scenes, penetrate their hearts, watch their inner motions and discern their secret feelings, we should find but few who could bear the name of “blessed.” Indeed, there are none except those who come under the description of my text, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” He is blessed, thrice blessed, blessed for evermore, blessed of heaven, blessed of earth, blessed for time, blessed for eternity, but the man whose sin is not forgiven is not blessed,—the mouth of Jehovah hath said it, and God shall manifest that cursed is every man whose transgression is not forgiven, whose sin is not covered.


Charles Spurgeon




The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 53 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1907), 409. Vol. 53, Sermon No. 3,054; Titled: Pardon and Justification; Published on Thursday, August 22, 1907. Click here for a free PDF of this sermon. | Listen to this sermon RePreached.

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