From the Heart of Spurgeon

This was one of the most notable sermons which Spurgeon ever preached. Despite his expectation that it might damage or even destroy the circulation of his printed sermons, it sold tens of thousands of copies over the years. It strikes at one particular error, and consistently addresses an underlying problem. The particular error is the doctrine embedded in the Church of England of baptismal regeneration; the underlying problem, and one which Spurgeon addresses repeatedly in the sermon, is that of a lack of honesty and integrity in our convictions and commitments. The sermon is not bitter in tone, but it potently manifests the spirit of a man who is deeply persuaded of the danger of the lie he exposes, and desperate that sinners should realise that it is faith alone in Christ alone by which a sinner can be saved. He wants the people of God actually to know what they believe, and to speak and live accordingly.

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The death of Lazarus affords Spurgeon the opportunity to consider Christ’s purposes in allowing his beloved people to undergo fearful trials. He thinks of the impact on the apostles as they travel with him, and the way in which this experience would strengthen their faith. He ponders the effect on the family itself, enhancing their confidence in him, assuring them of his real love and power. He assesses the impact that trials can have on those who are looking on, for when others see what Christ has done, they are drawn to him. It is, on some levels, quite a simple sermon. However, it is full of particular encouragements both for God’s people and for others, as we not only see the heart and arm of Christ revealed, but are also given a glimpse into his mind, into his wise and gracious purposes in all the things that come upon us.

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The preacher starts hot and gets hotter in this stirring sermon, setting Christ before the eyes of faith not only in his humiliation but in his exaltation, challenging us to consider Christ enthroned with as much confidence as we rest on Christ crucified. He sets before us Christ in the perpetual activity of his shepherding of his flock, reigning in majesty and with power. From this he further deduces the endurance of the church as Christ’s kingdom—because of her King, she not only exists but endures, and that with a stately calm and security. And so, says Spurgeon, we anticipate and pursue the glory of Christ across the earth. Here he rises to his crescendo, drawing on the imagery of Gideon’s army, and calling on the saints of God to shine and to shout, that Christ may be magnified in the earth. His closing plea is for the support of those who preach, and for the building of churches in which they can preach, urging every saint to throw themselves into the glorious endeavour of glorifying our glorious Christ. What do we do? What do I do? What do you do, to this glorious end?

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Spurgeon was never merely some genial Victorian pulpiteer. For all his compassionate kindness, for all his practical philanthropy, for all his winsome goodness, he was a faithful preacher to the souls of others. So he notices the glints of justice in the Christ who shows such mercy, in his making the fruitless fig tree of Mark 11 to be an emblem of destruction. Spurgeon talks about the kinds of religious people symbolised by such a tree—those who have leaves but no fruit. He points out that only this fig tree was cursed, and demonstrates the Lord’s patience with those who are not fruit-bearing at this time. He insists upon the Lord’s right to expect the fruit of grace where there are the leaves of profession, showing how these must relate one to the other. He also holds forth the horror of condemnation for those who deceive, who have the leaves but not the fruit. This sermon peels back the heart-layers and brings us to humble, and—we might hope—truly fruitful self-examination.

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I confess to a soft spot for this sermon. I preached at home a short series of sermons on this passage, eventually repeated at a conference in the US, and still find both the passage itself, and Spurgeon’s treatment of it, sincerely stimulating and spiritually profitable. Spurgeon uses the pathetic king Joash, who failed to shoot his arrows as the ailing prophet, Elijah, required, as a foil for his exhortation to God’s people in a newly-planted church to do all that lies in their power to strive for God’s glory in dependence on God’s promise. His challenge against slack-handedness and his encouragement to wholeheartedness in the service of God still rings true, and still echoes down into our own age with something of its original force and fervour.

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