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.
“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 person 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. There is a link to order
it on the Spurgeon Archive. Should you desire just to read
it online, here is the link to the Spurgeon Archive. Be blessed! http://www.spurgeon.org/misc/gfw.htm
“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
Repentance
“By it
[Repentance] a sinner, out of a sight and sense, not only of the danger, but
also of the filthiness and odiousness of his sins, as contrary to the holy
nature and righteous law of God, and
upon the
apprehension of his mercy in Christ to such as our penitent, so grieves for and
hates his sins, as to turn from them all unto God, purposing and endeavoring to
walk with him in all the ways of his commandments.” Westminster
Confession of Faith, Chapter XV Section II
Prayer
"When
we rely upon organization, we get what organization can do; when we rely upon
education, we get what education can do; when we rely upon eloquence, we get
what eloquence can do. But when we rely upon prayer, we get what God can
do." A. C. Dixon
You Must Be
Made New Men
“They that
are truly converted are new men, new creatures; new not only within, but
without; they are sanctified throughout, in spirit, soul and body; old things
are passed away, all things are become new; they have new hearts, and new eyes,
new ears, new tongues, new hands, new feet…they walk in newness of life, and
continue to do so to the end of life.”
Jonathan
Edwards, Religious Affections, pp. 313-14
Wooing
Sinners
“Why does
God woo and beseech you by his ambassadors, if he is not willing to be in
covenant?”
Thomas Watson, Religion Our True Interest.
“A Million Voices — From the
Universe, the earth, the atom, from numberless specialized organs and odd
creatures on land, in the air and in the sea, and from the body and mind of man
— all bear witness for God and Creation!” Fred John Meldau, Why We
Believe in Creation, Not Evolution, originally published by Christian
Victory Publishers; Denver, 1959. Out of print. Online edition available. A
helpful book. Click link: http://www.present-truth.org/3-Nature/Creation/Creation-not-EvolutionTOC.htm
Brother
Meldau was correct. But why can’t most people hear the millions of
voices, i.e., see the evidence? Because they have not yet heard the one omnipotent
voice -- the Voice of God! Jesus said “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they
follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” (John 10:27, 28)
The
Testimony of The Holy Spirit
“Since for
unbelieving men religion seems to stand by opinion alone, they, in order not to
believe anything foolishly or lightly, both wish and demand rational proof that
Moses and the prophets spoke divinely. But I reply: the testimony of the Spirit
is more excellent than all reason. For as God alone is a fit witness of himself
in his Word, so also the Word will not find acceptance in men's hearts before
it is sealed by the inward testimony of the Spirit. The same Spirit, therefore,
who has spoken through the mouths of the prophets must penetrate into our
hearts to persuade us that they faithfully proclaimed what had been divinely
commanded ...”
John
Calvin, Institutes of the
Christian Religion 1.7.5.
Serving God
Many folks
want to serve God, but only as advisors.
The two
basic rules of human enlightenment:
1. There is a God.
2. You're not Him!
-Mikey, via Charles Rosson, Springdale, Arkansas
Sensitive
to Warning- Charles H. Spurgeon
“Because
thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when
thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants
thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy
clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord” (2 Kings
22:19).
Many
despise warning, and perish. Happy is he who trembles at the word of the Lord.
Josiah did so, and he was spared the sight of the evil which the Lord
determined to send upon Judah because of her great sins. Have you this tenderness?
Do you practice this self-humiliation? Then you also shall be spared in the
evil day. God sets a mark upon the men that sigh and cry because of the sin of
the times. The destroying angel is commanded to keep his sword in its sheath
till the elect of God are sheltered: these are best known by their godly fear,
and their trembling at the Word of the Lord. Are the times threatening? Do
Popery and Infidelity advance with great strides, and do you dread national
chastisement upon this polluted nation? Well you may. Yet rest in this promise,
“Thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace: and thine eyes shall not
see all the evil which I will bring upon this place” (2Kings 22:20).
Better still, the Lord Himself may come, and then the days of our mourning shall
be ended.
(Very
relevant, though written over 120 years ago! From Faith’s Checkbook for
April 3rd)
The
True Christ is Still the Only Way- Charles Woodruff
Jesus
warned us there would be false prophets and false Christs. “Then if any
man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there
shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and
wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect”
(Matthew 24:23, 24). Regardless of what new agers such as Oprah and
Eckhart Tolle may say; regardless of what postmodern “organizer” preachers like
Rick Warren and Bill Hybels may say; regardless of what hatemonger preachers
like Jeremiah Wright and company may say; no matter how apparently successful.
and extremely wealthy some of them are. As Chuck Norris, quoting from another,
reminded us; “Christ is either who He claimed to be, or He is the most
notorious liar who ever lived!” Remember Jesus said “I am the way, the
truth, and the life; no man cometh unto to the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).
He
Must Increase, but I Must Decrease--John 3:30
I
would far rather publish the good writings of my brothers and sisters than
to
seek glory for myself by always being the one doing the writing, or the
preaching.
Let Him who “ever lives to make intercession for us” (Hebrews
7:25),
receive any glory that comes from these feeble publishing efforts. To
paraphrase
George Whitefield “Let the name of Woodruff perish, but Christ
be
glorified!” I only let you know who I am so that I may be of service to you
in
Jesus Christ. (Cw)
As
George Whitefield himself said:
“Unloose
my stammering tongue to tell, Thy Love immense, unsearchable”.
