The Gospel Focus of Charles Spurgeon - Book Review

The Gospel Focus of Charles Spurgeon (Long Line of Godly Men Profiles) is the second book that I have read by Steven J. Lawson. The first one was The Expository Genius of John Calvin, which you can find my review of by clicking here.

When I was younger, reading biographies was not all that important to me. I enjoyed fiction, most specifically, science fiction and fantasy.  But as I have "aged" biographies, especially those focused on prominent people in church history, have begun to draw my attention and have brought me great encouragement. And Steven J. Lawson does an amazing job of bringing these individuals to life through his knowledge and study and by focusing on essential details and aspects of their lives.

In this book about Charles Spurgeon, I have used the "highlight" feature on my kindle more than any other book that I have read. Nearly every page had some quote from Spurgeon that I found either encouraging, thought provoking, or convicting.

The author begins this book by talking about the impact that Spurgeon had on him as a Pastor. After being confronted with the Biblical teachings on the sovereignty of God, he found himself wrestling with how to preach.  Then he says that Spurgeon showed him:

"In one hand, he (Spurgeon) held the sovereignty of God in man's salvation. With the other hand, he extended the free offer of the gospel to all. He preached straightforward Calvinistic doctrine, then, in the same sermon, fervently urged lost sinners to call on the name of the Lord. Having expounded the truths of predestination, he then warned his listeners that if the refused Christ, their blood would be on their own hands. In sermon after sermon, this prolific preacher expounded God's sovereign grace with unmistakable precision. Yet, he did it with a genuine passion for the lost." 

"I concluded that this was what it must look like to be consumed with the glory of God in the salvation of the elect and, at the same time, be filled with flaming zeal in reaching sinners with the gospel. There was no cold, clinical Calvinism here -- no dead orthodoxy, no 'frozen chosen' religion, no empty rehearsing of Reformed doctrine for people to take or leave as they might choose. Neither was there any shallow evangelism that portrayed God as pacing heaven, wringing His hands, desperate for someone to accept Him. Instead, here was what the Puritans described as a fire in the pulpit, yielding both the light of Calvinistic truth and the heat of evangelistic passion." 

"In Spurgeon, I saw a historical example of what God was calling me to be and do. I finally understood that my Reformed theology was not a hindrance but a launching pad for evangelism. Here was the best of both worlds. I already had come to see clearly how these twin truths meet in the Bible. Now I could see how they come together in preaching." 

"Tragically, many pulpits today are pulled toward on of two extremes -- the dead orthodoxy of Hyper-Calvinism or the shallow inconsistencies of Arminianism. In the former error, the doctrines of grace are upheld, but with little burden for the lost and no free offer of the gospel to all. In the latter error, there is soul-winning fervor, but the supreme authority of God in the salvation of men's souls is denied. Between these polar opposites stands the biblical Calvinism, claiming the high ground in both message and ministry."

There are so many other quotes and sayings of Spurgeon that I wanted to include in this review, but I believe that this quote from Lawson captures the importance of reading about Spurgeon, while at the same time revealing much of my own heart as well.

I highly recommend this book. Whatever the cost, it is worth every penny. Consider picking up the Kindle version on Amazon.

The Expository Genius of John Calvin - Book Review

About a month ago I finished reading The Expository Genius of John Calvin by Steven J. Lawson.  I had read another book about Calvin about a month before this, but I was especially intrigued by the focus of this book.  I was also intrigued by the low price when I purchased the Kindle edition.  (I think it was in the free section for about a week.)

Knowing that, it doesn't mean as much if I say that it was a worthwhile purchase.  Let's pretend that it was regular price at the time... "It was a worthwhile purchase!"  Did the pretending help?

OK, OK, let me just say that it was a really good book.  It was easy to read and covered aspects of Calvin's life and ministry that I hadn't heard of before.  I appreciated the examples that this book shared from different messages that Calvin preached.  The book was well researched and the examples demonstrated the points the author was making as to the methods of Calvin's sermons.

It was interesting to find out that he attempted to speak in such a way so that the common man could understand the message.  When he would quote other passages of scripture, he wouldn't always mention that it was a quote, quite often state a phrase or a portion to emphasize a point.  It was as if Scripture simply flowed from his lips.

I was also greatly encouraged to learn that the focus of Calvin's ministry was simply to "preach the word."  Change didn't come because he had political influence or even an office.  He was simply the pastor who held the belief in Scripture alone.  He faithfully preached his way through book after book of the Bible.  Many times picking up exactly where he had left off after an illness or even after the time he was run out of town, when he returned he started at the very passage in the book he had been preaching through.

The book ends with a plea for faithful preaching, voiced by stating, "We want again Calvins!"  C.H. Spurgeon said this of Calvin:

Among all those who have been born of women, there has not risen a greater than John Calvin; no age before him ever produced his equal, and no age afterwards has seen his rival.

At another time he said:

John Calvin propounded truth more clearly than any other man who ever breathed, knew more of Scripture, and explained it more clearly.

From the author:

We now stand in the twenty-first century, almost five hundred years removed from John Calvin's time, but we find ourselves in an equally critical hour of redemptive history. As the organized church was spiritually bankrupt at the outset of Calvin's day, so it is again in our time.  Certainly to judge by outward appearances, the evangelical church in this hour seems to be flourishing.  Megachurches are springing up everywhere. Christian contemporary music and publishing houses seem to be booming.  Men's rallies are packing large coliseums. Christian political groups are heard all the way to the White House.  Yet the evangelical church is largely a whitewashed tomb.  Tragically her outward facade masks her true internal condition.

Though I don't agree with that exactly, mostly because we forget to factor in the global church, I think the author might be dead on when it comes to the American Church.  More importantly, I believe that the remedy is not to be found in a program or a new Bible Study, but in the preaching of the Word.  I will close with one more quote of Spurgeon's that the author also chose to end with:

We want again Luthers, Calvins, Bunyans, Whitefields, men fit to mark eras, whose names breathe terror in our foemen's ears.  We have dire need of such.  Whence will they come to us? They are the gifts of Jesus Christ to the Church, and will come in due time... 

I do not look for any other means of converting men beyond the simple preaching of the gospel and the opening of men's ears to hear it.  The moment the church of God shall despise the pulpit, God will despise her. It has been through the ministry that the Lord has always been pleased to revive and bless His churches.

You Must Be Full

You will not be able to extemporize good thinking unless you have been in the habit of thinking and feeding your mind with abundant and nourishing food. Work hard at every available moment. Store your minds very richly, and then, like merchants with crowded warehouses, you will have goods ready for your customers, and having arranged your good things upon the shelves of your mind, you will be able to hand them down at any time without the laborious process of going to market, sorting, folding, and preparing. . . .  Take it as a rule without exception, that to be able to overflow spontaneously you must be full.

~Charles Spurgeon

[HT: Justin Taylor]

If I may be so bold...

I am always surprised at the forwardness of some of the preachers from days gone by.  Here is an excerpt from Charles Spurgeon’s 1867 sermon “A Song at the Well-head” (Found on the Gospel Coalition):

You are retired for your private devotions; you have opened the Bible, and you begin to read. 

Now, do not be satisfied with merely reading through a chapter. Some people thoughtlessly read through two or three chapters—stupid people for doing such a thing! 

It is always better to read a little and digest it, than it is to read much and then think you have done a good thing by merely reading the letter of the word. 

For you might as well read the alphabet backwards and forwards, as read a chapter of Scripture, unless you meditate upon it, and seek to comprehend its meaning. 

Merely to read words is nothing: the letter kills. 

The business of the believer with his Bible open is to pray, “Lord, give me the meaning and spirit of your word, while it lies open before me; apply your word with power to my soul, threatening or promise, doctrine or precept, whatever it may be; lead me into the soul and marrow of your word.” 

Also, it is not the form of prayer, but the spirit of prayer that shall truly benefit your souls.
That prayer has not benefited you, which is not the prayer of the soul. 

You have need to say, “Lord, give me the spirit of prayer; now help me to feel my need deeply, to perceive your promises clearly, and to exercise faith upon them.” 

In your private devotions, strive after vital godliness, real soul-work, the life-giving operation of the Spirit of God in your hearts.

Amen.

The House of Mourning

"It is better to go to the house of mourning

than to go to the house of feasting,"

 (Ecclesiastes 7:2 ESV)

In the last two weeks I have come across this passage of scripture without intending to.  The first time was during a movie called, The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry.  It is a Christian movie that my wife found on Netflix.  Here is a bit about it from the movie's website:

Best buddies Dustin (Jansen Panettiere), Albert (Frankie Ryan Manriquez), and Mark (Allen Isaacson) are twelve year old boys looking forward to a summer of fun in 1970.  When Dustin mows the lawn of seventy-five year old Jonathan Sperry (Gavin MacLeod), a man he has seen at church, a unique friendship develops.

What happens the rest of this summer is something Dustin and his friends will never forget!

The movie is not being released on DVD until May 4th.  It was a really good movie, but I am only mentioning it because one of the characters, Mr. Sperry, uses this passage in a teaching moment with the neighborhood boys.

The second time I encountered this verse was on Tuesday.  I had dedicated myself to trying to read some of Spurgeon's sermons over Christmas break.  The next sermon on the list was using this passage.  Spurgeon asks the question though, is it really possible to say that the house of mourning is better than the house of feasting?  Sure, there are those sinful houses of feasting that leave a person empty and the house of mourning would be better than that.  But what about those good houses of feasting?  Those joy-filled family feasts that my mind rests so easily upon around this time of the year.  Or those times when my soul is feasting upon the joy that comes from the felt presence of the Lord.  Is the house of mourning really better than those?

The Preacher, referring to King Solomon, tells us why this house of mourning is better:

"...for this is the end of all mankind,

and the living will lay it to heart."

 (Ecclesiastes 7:2 ESV)

Do you see his reasons?  This is the end of all mankind, and if the living will really take it to heart, there will be a much greater benefit than you might find in even the best of the houses of feasting.

I am reminded of this again today as my brother-in-law and his family head out to the funeral services of his grandmother.  From all accounts she was a woman of great faith.  We are praying today that God will use this house of mourning in the lives of the family.  Maybe they will take it to heart.

Preach Christ or Go Home—And Other Spurgeon Quotes on Christless Preaching – Justin Taylor

[I stole this post from Justin Taylor: Between Two Worlds.  Please visit his blog! Always Great Stuff!]

Guest Post by Tony Reinke

The very idea of a “Christless sermon” appalled Charles Spurgeon. It was a plague he confronted repeatedly (and vividly) in his own sermons. Although sometimes overstated to make his point, his words are a healthy challenge today over 100 years after his death. Here’s a small collection of colorful quips:

“The motto of all true servants of God must be, ‘We preach Christ; and him crucified.’ A sermon without Christ in it is like a loaf of bread without any flour in it. No Christ in your sermon, sir? Then go home, and never preach again until you have something worth preaching.” [7/9/1876; sermon #2899]

“Leave Christ out? O my brethren, better leave the pulpit out altogether. If a man can preach one sermon without mentioning Christ’s name in it, it ought to be his last, certainly the last that any Christian ought to go to hear him preach.”[undated; sermon #768]

“Leave Christ out of the preaching and you shall do nothing. Only advertise it all over London, Mr. Baker, that you are making bread without flour; put it in every paper, ‘Bread without flour’ and you may soon shut up your shop, for your customers will hurry off to other tradesmen. … A sermon without Christ as its beginning, middle, and end is a mistake in conception and a crime in execution. However grand the language it will be merely much-ado-about-nothing if Christ be not there. And I mean by Christ not merely his example and the ethical precepts of his teaching, but his atoning blood, his wondrous satisfaction made for human sin, and the grand doctrine of ‘believe and live.’” [10/23/1881; sermon #1625]

“I know one who said I was always on the old string, and he would come and hear me no more; but if I preached a sermon without Christ in it, he would come. Ah, he will never come while this tongue moves, for a sermon without Christ in it—a Christless sermon! A brook without water; a cloud without rain; a well which mocks the traveler; a tree twice dead, plucked up by the root; a sky without a sun; a night without a star. It were a realm of death—a place of mourning for angels and laughter for devils. O Christian, we must have Christ! Do see to it that every day when you wake you give a fresh savor of Christ upon you by contemplating his person. Live all the day, trying as much as lieth in you, to season your hearts with him, and then at night, lie down with him upon your tongue.” [3/6/1864; sermon #558]

“Sooner by far would I go to a bare table, and eat from a wooden porringer something that would appease my appetite, than I would go to a well-spread table on which there was nothing to eat. Yes, it is Christ, Christ, Christ whom we have to preach; and if we leave him out, we leave out the very soul of the gospel. Christless sermons make merriment for hell. Christless preachers, Christless Sunday school teachers, Christless class leaders, Christless tract distributors—what are all these doing? They are simply setting the mill to grind without putting any grist into the hopper. All their labor is in vain. If you leave Jesus Christ out, you are simply beating the air, or going to war without any weapon with which you can smite the foe.” [2/11/1866; sermon #3288]

“The Spirit of God bears no witness to Christless sermons. Leave Jesus out of your preaching, and the Holy Spirit will never come upon you. Why should he? Has he not come on purpose that he may testify of Christ? Did not Jesus say, ‘He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you’? Yes, the subject was Christ, and nothing but Christ, and such is the teaching which the Spirit of God will own. Be it ours never to wander from this central point: may we determine to know nothing among men but Christ and his cross.” [5/30/1880; sermon #1540]

“Where there is nothing of Christ, brethren, there is nothing of unction, nothing of savor, and a man is quite right not to attend such a ministry as that. Leave Christ out of your preaching, and you have taken the milk from the children, you have taken the strong meat from the men; but if your object as a teacher or preacher is to glorify Christ, and to lead men to love him and trust him, why, that is the very work upon which the heart of God himself is set. The Lord and you are pulling together.” [4/17/1887; sermon #2409]

“Christ not only supplies the necessities of his people, but he gives them abundant and superabundant joy in the luxuries of his grace. You do not really preach the gospel if you leave Christ out; if he be omitted, it is not the gospel. You may invite men to listen to your message, but you are only inviting them to gaze upon an empty table unless Christ is the very center and substance of all that you set before them.” [6/16/1878; sermon #2787]

I needed this word...

I was scrolling through the Google Reader, when this post jumped out at me:

"We need the help of the Holy Spirit."

"If we are not instructed, how can we instruct? If we have not thought, how shall we lead others to think?

It is in our study-work, in that blessed labour when we are alone with the Book before us, that we need the help of the Holy Spirit. He holds the key of the heavenly treasury, and can enrich us beyond conception.

He has the clue of the most labyrinthine doctrine, and can lead us in the way of truth. He can break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron, and give to us the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places.

If you study the original, consult the commentaries, and meditate deeply, yet if you neglect to cry mightily unto the Spirit of God, your study will not profit you."

–Charles H. Spurgeon

I needed that word of encouragement.

the bitter cup

Just read a great article at Randy Alcorn's blog.  The article is titled, Nourishment for the Soul, and you can read it by clicking here.  The article has to do with suffering and the goodness of God.  If you have a few moments you should click through to read it.  In it he mentions the sufferings of Joni Eareckson Tada, Sono Harris, and himself.

There is also a Spurgeon quote that I found to be less difficult to read than it used to be.

“It would be a very sharp and trying experience to me to think that I have an affliction which God never sent me, that the bitter cup was never filled by his hand, that my trials were never measured out by him, nor sent to me by his arrangement of their weight and quantity.”

Seeing that we have done so much talking about suffering at church lately, I knew that I needed to post this quote.

On Reading

I am definitely not the first to say it, but reading is important.  And I mean good, deep reading.

I have been pondering ways to promote this concept with my family, my church members, my friends, acquaintances, and possibly even with complete strangers.  I haven't come up with anything substantial yet, but the thought keeps moving closer and closer to the front of my mind.  I feel the need to do something, but I am just not sure what that something is going to be.

In the meantime, just to prove that I am not alone, here is a C.H. Spurgeon quote on reading:

We will look at Paul’s books. We do not know what the books were about, and we can only form some guess as to what the parchments were. Paul had a few books which were left, perhaps wrapped up in the cloak, and Timothy was to be careful to bring them.

Even an apostle must read. Some of our very ultra-Calvinistic brethren think that a minister who reads books and studies his sermon must be a very deplorable specimen of a preacher. A man who comes up into the pulpit, professes to take his text on the spot and talks any quantity of nonsense is the idol of many. If he will speak without premeditation, or pretend to do so, and never produce what they call a dish of dead men’s brains – oh, that is the preacher!

How rebuked they are by the apostle! He is inspired, and yet he wants books! He has been preaching for at least thirty years, and yet he wants books! He had seen the Lord, and yet he wants books! He had had a wider experience than most men, and yet wants books!

He had been caught up into the Third Heaven and had heard things which it was unlawful for a man to utter, yet he wants books! He had written the major part of the New Testament, and yet he wants books! The apostle says to Timothy, and so he says to every preacher, “Give attendance to reading” (1 Tim. 4:13).

The man who never reads will never be read. He who never quotes will never be quoted. He who will not use the thoughts of other men’s brains proves that he has no brains of his own.

Brethren, what is true of ministers is true of all our people. You need to read. Renounce as much as you will all light literature, but study as much as possible sound theological works, especially the Puritanic writers and expositions of the Bible.

[HT: Trevin Wax]

I also ran across a blog post from Douglas Wilson.  He is talking about being a writer in this post, but his main point is Read until your brain creaks.  Here is a snippet:

Read. Read constantly. Read the kind of stuff you wish you could write. Read until your brain creaks. Tolkien said that his ideas sprang up from the leaf mold of his mind. These are the trees where the leaves come from.

Read the rest of the article here.

Well, if you have any ideas on how I could promote reading, let me know.

This Volume

This volume is the writing of the living God:  each letter was penned with an almighty finger; each word in it dropped from the everlasting lips; each sentence was dictated by the Holy Spirit.

Albeit that Moses was employed to write his histories with his fiery pen, God guided that pen.  It may be that David touched his harp, and let sweet Psalms of melody drop from his fingers; but God moved his hands over the living strings of his golden harp.  It may be that Solomon sang canticles of love, or gave forth words of consumate wisdom, but God directed his lips, and made the preacher eloquent.

I follow the thundering of Nahum, when his horses plough the waters, or Habakkuk, when he sees the tents of Cushan in affliction; if I read Malachi, when the earth is burning like an oven; if I turn to the smooth page of John, who tells of love, or the rugged fiery chapters of Peter who speaks of fire devouring God's enemies; if I turn to Jude who launches forth anathemas upon the foes of God, everywhere I find God speaking; it is God's voice, not man's; the words are God's words, the words of the Eternal, the Invisible, the Almighty, the Jehovah of this earth.

This Bible is God's Bible, and when I see it, I seem to hear a voice springing up from it, saying, "I am the book of God; man, read me."

~C.H. Spurgeon [from his sermon titled "The Bible"; Spurgeon's Sermons Volume I]

Man.  Read it!

Look...

I just re-started reading through some of Spurgeon's Sermons. It is a set that I received as a gift from my wife several years ago. I read this yesterday, and thought I would share it.

First, to whom does God tell us to look for salvation?  O, does it not lower the pride of man, when we hear the Lord say, "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth?"  It is not, "Look to your priest, and be ye saved:"  if you did, there would be another god, and beside him there would be some one else.  It is not, "Look to yourself;" if so, then there would be a being who might arrogate some of the praise of salvation.  But it is "Look to me."

How frequently you who are coming to Christ look to yourselves.  "O!" you say, "I do not repent enough."  That is looking to yourself.  "I do not believe enough."  That is looking to yourself.  "I am too unworthy."  That is looking to yourself.  "I cannot discover," says another, "that I have any righteousness."  It is quite right to say that you have not any righteousness; but it is quite wrong to look for any.

~ C.H. Spurgeon