Subject: Study Bible |
Bible Note: You would do well indeed to study the man. Before you judge him. "He preached over 600 times before he was 20 years old. His sermons sold about 20,000 copies a week and were translated into 20 languages. The collected sermons fill 63 volumes equivalent to the 27 volume ninth edition of Encyclopedia Britannica, and "stands" as the largest set of books by a single author in the history of Christianity" "Not a week went by in his mature ministry that souls were not saved through his written sermons." "At his 50th birthday a list of 66 organizations was read that he founded and conducted. Lord Shaftesbury was there and said, "This list of associations, instituted by his genius, and superintended by his care, were more than enough to occupy the minds and hearts of fifty ordinary men"" "He typically read six substantial books a week and could remember what he read and where to find it. He produced more than 140 books of his own." He often worked 18 hours in a day. The missionary David Livingstone, asked him once, "How do you manage to do two men's work in a single day? Spurgeon replied, "You have forgotten there are two of us". In Colossians 1:29. Paul says, "I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me." The year he turned 40 he delivered a message to his pastors' conference with the one-word title, "Forward!". In it he said, "In every minister's life there should be traces of stern labour. Brethren, do something; do something; DO SOMETHING. While Committees waste their time over resolutions, do something. While Societies and Unions are making constitutions, let us win souls. Too often we discuss, and discuss, and discuss, while Satan only laughs in his sleeve ... Get to work and quit yourselves like men" The apostle Paul saw that the outer nature was wasting away. And what kept him going was the abiding assurance that this momentary affliction is working for him an eternal glory. And so he looked to the things that are eternal (2 Cor. 4:16-18). So did Spurgeon. He said, "Meditate with deep solemnity upon the fate of the lost sinner ... Shun all views of future punishment which would make it appear less terrible, and so take off the edge of your anxiety to save immortals from the quenchless flame ... Think much also of the bliss of the sinner saved. There will be no fear of your being lethargic if you are continually familiar with eternal realities" "In comparing one ministerial identity with another he reminded other pastors that at the last supper there was a chalice for drinking the wine and there was a basin for washing feet. Then he said," "I protest that I have no choice whether to be the chalice or the basin. Fain would I be whichever the Lord wills so long as He will but use me ... So you, my brother, you may be the cup, and I will be the basin; but let the cup be a cup, and the basin a basin, and each one of us just what he is fitted to be. Be yourself, dear brother, for, if you are not yourself, you cannot be anybody else; and so, you see, you must be nobody ... Do not be a mere copyist, a borrower, a spoiler of other men's notes. Say what God has said to you, and say it in your own way; and when it is so said, plead personally for the Lord's blessing upon it" Near the end of his life (1890) in (I believe his last) address to his pastors' conference he compares adversity and the ebb of truth to the ebbing tide. "You never met an old salt, down by the sea, who was in trouble because the tide had been ebbing out for hours. No! He waits confidently for the turn of the tide, and it comes in due time. Yonder rock has been uncovered during the last half-hour, and if the sea continues to ebb out for weeks, there will be no water in the English Channel, and the French will walk over from Cherbourg. Nobody talks in that childish way, for such an ebb will never come. Nor will we speak as though the gospel would be routed, and eternal truth driven out of the land. We serve an almighty Master ... If our Lord does but stamp His foot, He can win for Himself all the nations of the earth against heathenism, and Mohammedanism, and Agnosticism, and Modern-though, and every other foul error. Who is he that can harm us if we follow Jesus? How can His cause be defeated? At His will, converts will flock to His truth as numerous as the sands of the sea ... Wherefore be of good courage, and go on your way singing [and preaching!]: The winds of hell have blown The world its hate hath shown, Yet it is not o'erthrown. Hallelujah for the Cross! It shall never suffer loss! The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge. Excerpeted from: http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Biographies1469_Charles_Spurgeon_Preaching_Through_Adversy/ Yes, my friend, Charles Hadden Spurgeon, can rightly be called, The Prince of preachers! John |