Posted by: fbco <fbco@...>
"Let us begin, then, at the beginning. The first thing in faith is knowledge. A man cannot believe what he does not know. That is a clear, self-evident axiom. If I have never heard of a thing in all my life, and do not know it, I cannot believe it. And yet there are some persons who have a faith like that of the fuller, who when he was asked what he believed, said, "I believe what the Church believes." "What does the Church believe?" "The Church believes what I believe." "And pray what do you and the Church believe?" "Why we both believe the same thing." Now this man believed nothing, except that the Church was right, but in what he could not tell. It is idle for a man to say, "I am a believer," and yet not to know what he believes; but yet I have seen some persons in this position. A violent sermon has been preached, which has stirred up their blood; the minister has cried, "Believe! Believe! Believe!" and the people on a sudden have got it into their heads that they were believers, and have walked out of their place of worship and said, "I am a believer." And if they were asked, "Pray what do you believe?" they could not give a reason for the hope that was in them."
Charles Spurgeon
From the Sermon entitled "Faith" delivered on Dec. 14, 1856 and can be found in it's entirety here: http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0107.htm
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Preaching the Gospel Teaching the Word Contending for the Faith
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Looking to the Future . . . Because People Matter
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Posted by: fbco <fbco@...>
"Let us begin, then, at the beginning. The first thing in faith is knowledge. A man cannot believe what he does not know. That is a clear, self-evident axiom. If I have never heard of a thing in all my life, and do not know it, I cannot believe it. And yet there are some persons who have a faith like that of the fuller, who when he was asked what he believed, said, "I believe what the Church believes." "What does the Church believe?" "The Church believes what I believe." "And pray what do you and the Church believe?" "Why we both believe the same thing." Now this man believed nothing, except that the Church was right, but in what he could not tell. It is idle for a man to say, "I am a believer," and yet not to know what he believes; but yet I have seen some persons in this position. A violent sermon has been preached, which has stirred up their blood; the minister has cried, "Believe! Believe! Believe!" and the people on a sudden have got it into their heads that they were believers, and have walked out of their place of worship and said, "I am a believer." And if they were asked, "Pray what do you believe?" they could not give a reason for the hope that was in them."
Charles Spurgeon
From the Sermon entitled "Faith" delivered on Dec. 14, 1856 and can be found in it's entirety here: http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0107.htm
|
Preaching the Gospel Teaching the Word Contending for the Faith
|
Looking to the Future . . . Because People Matter
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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-- To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: pastormail-unsubscribe@associate.com
