(The
year before his death in 1892 Charles Spurgeon delivered an address at the Pastor’s College Conference
entitled: The Greatest Fight in the World. It was enthusiastically received by a great assembly of hearers and at the close of the meeting urgent requests were made for its publication. This received wide acclaim, being
translated into other languages and
passing through several editions in English. After Spurgeon's death a Christian friend arranged that a copy of the book should be sent to every minister in England. That particular edition was entitled, C. H.
Spurgeon's Final Manifesto, an apt title for one of
Spurgeon's last works, since it reflects the
convictions of a lifetime concerning the great central issues of the Faith. The
following are excerpts from the last chapter on Our Strength.)
Our Strength
“Granted that we preach the Word alone;
granted that we are surrounded by a model church, which, alas, is not always
the case; but, granted that it is so, OUR STRENGTH is the next
consideration. This must come from THE SPIRIT OF GOD. We believe in the Holy Ghost, and in our absolute dependence
upon him. We believe; but do we believe practically? Brethren, as to ourselves
and our own work, do we believe in the Holy Ghost? Do we believe because we
habitually prove the truth of the doctrine? We must depend upon the Spirit in
our preparations. Is this the fact with us all? Are you in the habit of working
your way into the meaning of texts by the guidance of the Holy Spirit? Every
man that goes to the land of heavenly knowledge must work his passage thither;
but he must work out his passage in the strength of the Holy Spirit, or he will
arrive at some island in the sea of fancy, and never set his foot upon the
sacred shores of the truth.”
“We cannot
succeed in supplication except the Holy Ghost helpeth our infirmities, for true
prayer is “praying in the Holy Ghost.” The Spirit makes an atmosphere around
every living prayer, and within that circle prayer lives and prevails; outside
of it prayer is a dead formality. As to ourselves, then, in our study,
in prayer, in thought, in word, and in deed, we must depend upon the
Holy Ghost.”
“In the pulpit
do we really and truly rest upon the aid of the Spirit? I do not censure any brother for his mode of preaching, but I must
confess that it seems very odd to me when a brother prays that
the Holy Ghost may help him in preaching, and then I see him put his hand
behind him and draw a manuscript out of his pocket, so fashioned that he can
place it in the middle of his Bible, and read from it without being suspected
of doing so. These precautions for ensuring secrecy look as though the man was
a little ashamed of his paper; but I think he should be far more ashamed
of his precautions. Does he expect the Spirit of God to bless him while he is
practicing a trick? And how can He help him when he reads out of a paper from
which anyone else might read without the Spirit’s aid? What has the Holy
Ghost to do with the business? Truly, he may have had something to do with the
manuscript in the composing of it, but in the pulpit his aid is superfluous.
The truer thing would be to thank the Holy Spirit for assistance rendered, and
ask that what he has enabled us to get into our pockets may now enter the
people’s hearts. Still, if the Holy Ghost should have anything to say to the
people that is not in the paper, how can he say it by us? He seems to me to be
very effectually blocked as to freshness of utterance by that method of
ministry. Still, it is not for me to censure, although I may quietly plead
for liberty in prophesying, and room for the Lord to give us in the same hour
what we shall speak.”
“Remember,
again, that he will never encourage idleness. The Holy Ghost will not
come to rescue us from the consequences of willful neglect of the Word of God
and study. If we allow ourselves to go up and down all the week doing nothing,
we may not climb the pulpit stairs and dream that the Lord will be there and
then tell us what to speak. If help were promised to such, then the lazier the
man the better the sermon. If the Holy Spirit worked only by impromptu
speakers, the less we read our Bibles and the less we meditated on them the
better. If it be wrong to quote from books, "attention to reading"
should not have been commanded. All this is obviously absurd, and not one of
you will fall into such a delusion. We are bound to be much in
meditation, and give ourselves wholly to the Word of God and prayer, and
when we have minded these things we may look for the Spirit's approbation and
co-operation. We ought to prepare the sermon as if all depended upon us, and
then we are to trust the Spirit of God knowing that all depends upon
Him. The Holy Ghost sends no one into the harvest to sleep among the sheaves,
but to bear the burden and heat of the day. We may well pray God to send more "labourers"
into the vineyard; for the Spirit will be with the strength of labourers, but
he will not be the friend of loiterers.”
“Recollect, again, that the Holy Ghost will not bless us in order to
sustain our pride. Is it not possible that we may be wishing for a great
blessing that we may be thought great men? This will hinder our success: the
string of the bow is out of order and the arrow will turn aside. What does
God do with men that are proud? Does he exalt them? I trow not (i.e.,
think not), Herod made an eloquent oration, and he put on a dazzling silver
robe which glistened in the sun, and when the people saw his vestments and
listened to his charming voice, they cried, "It is the voice of a god, and
not of a man"; but the Lord smote him, and he was eaten of worms. Worms
have a prescriptive right to proud flesh; and when we get very mighty and very
big, the worms expect to make a meal of us. "Pride goeth before destruction
and a haughty spirit before a fall." Keep humble if you would have the
Spirit of God with you. The Holy Ghost takes no pleasure in the inflated
oratory of the proud; how can he? Would you have him sanction bombast?
"Walk humbly with thy God", O preacher! for thou canst not walk with
him in any other fashion; and if thou walk not with him, thy walking
will be vain.”(most emphasis mine, cw)
(I have just finished reading The Greatest Fight in
the World in the Evangelical Press edition from 1980 and I was greatly
blessed as I so often am reading Spurgeon. I have quoted small excerpts, but
the entire book is only 64 pages and may be ordered from Pilgrim Publications.
Here is a link to order it: http://pilgrimpublications.auctivacommerce.com/Search.aspx?k=greatest+fight+in+the+world Should
you desire just to read it online, here is a link to the Spurgeon Archive. Be
blessed!)
“It is easier to preach ten sermons than it
is to live one” (unknown author).
Civility or Grace
“Civility does but wash a man, grace changes
him…Civility is but strewing flowers on a dead corpse. A man may be wonderfully
moralised, yet but a tame devil.”
Thomas Watson, The
Beatitudes
Gospel Warning
This is a
warning I hope we all take to heart. As people of The Word, we have to ask ourselves
how we can really expect to improve on a perfect model. Cautiously I will say that some new ways of
applying the unchanging biblical principles are fine...we need to be able to
communicate with 21st Century culture, but we must not abandon the heart of the
Gospel and basics of authentic discipleship in the process. Charles Woodruff
2 comments:
Hi Charles,
I pray that all is well with you. I know that you have times of weariness but my hope is that Christ himself is refreshing you for the work he has for you!
I loved this teaching by Spurgeon. I am always in awe of men like him who were so inspired in their writings by God's Spirit. There are many good teachings within this one message. I am taking them all to heart. We are in a time when the darkness is taking down so many yet we are to stand, holding on by faith, and be the light as Christ shines through us. We must continue! There is too much at stake to grow weary now that we are so close to the end.
Stay strong, my brother. You are doing a great work for the kingdom and I thank God that he uses you as he does. I hope to talk to you soon. I have you in prayer. May God keep you strong and your mind clear and focused.
Marianne, Your kindness is once again shown. Thank you. I am coming along. If it was not for God's grace, I would be in the pit. I know that; I always have. He is strengthening me with His marvelous grace. Just pray for me. As you said, we are not far from the finish line now, either way. He will come again, or take me home to be with Him. Either way, I rejoice. You are correct, Spurgeon was one of the greatest of God's men. I love him. He inspires me. Thanks again. I'll be in touch.
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