This is no mere question of controversy; this is not one of those points on which men may agree to differ, and feel that differences will not shut them out of heaven. A man must be right on this subject, or he is lost forever. Heaven or hell, happiness or misery, life or death, blessing or cursing in the last day – all hinges on the answer to this question: “What do you think about the cross of Christ?”
J.C. Ryle

Spurgeons Gems

Spurgeons Gems

Preface

For more than a century, Charles Haddon Spurgeon’s sermons have been consistently recognized, and their usefulness and impact have continued to the present day, even in the outdated English of the author’s own day.

Why then should expositions already so successful and of such stature and proven usefulness require adaptation, revision, rewrite or even editing? The answer is obvious. To increase its usefulness to today’s reader, the language in which it was originally written needs updating.

Though his sermons have served other generations well, just as they came from the pen of the author in the nineteenth century, they still could be lost to present and future generations, simply because, to them, the language is neither readily nor fully understandable.

My goal, however, has not been to reduce the original writing to the vernacular of our day. It is designed primarily for you who desire to read and study comfortably and at ease in the language of our time. Only obviously archaic terminology and passages obscured by expressions not totally familiar in our day have been revised. However, neither Spurgeon’s meaning nor intent have been tampered with.

Tony Capoccia

All Scripture references are taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (C) 1978 by the New York Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. Spurgeon’s Gems by Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)

Gem #1 – Communion with God

“All my fountains are in you,” said David. If you have all your fountains in God, your heart will be completely full. If you went to the foot of Calvary, there will your heart be bathed in love and gratitude. If you often go to your place of seclusion, and there talk with your God, it is there that your heart will be full of calm determination. If you go out with the Master to Mount Olivet, and looked down with Him on a wicked Jerusalem, and weep over it with Him, then will your heart be full of love for eternal souls. If you continually draw your stimulus, your life, the whole of your being from the Holy Spirit, without whom you can do nothing, and if you live in close communion with Christ, there will be no fear of you having a cold heart.

He who lives without prayer–he who lives with little prayer–he who seldom reads the Word–he who seldom looks up to heaven for a fresh influence from on high–he will be the man whose heart will become cold and barren; but he who calls in secret to his God–who spends much time in holy seclusion–who delights to meditate on the words of the Most High–whose soul is given up to Christ–who delights in his fullness, rejoices in his all-sufficiency, prays for his second coming, and delights in the thought of his glorious return–such a man, I say, must have an overflowing heart; and as his heart is, so will be his life. It will be a full life; it will be a life that will speak from the grave, and reverberate into the future. “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life,” and plead with the Holy Spirit to keep it full; otherwise, the outcome of your life will be feeble, shallow, and superficial; and you might as well not have lived at all.

Gem #2 – Loving Your Neighbor

I am certain you need no exhortation to love yourself, you will take care of your body, your comfort will be your primary concern. You would line your own nest with downy feathers if you could. You will do these things for yourself. Well, then, as much as you love yourself, love your neighbor.

Gem #3 – Power in the Heart

A man’s power in the world, other things being equal, is just the ratio of the power and strength of his heart. A full-hearted is always a powerful man: if he is wrong, then he is powerful for deception; if error is in his heart, he is sure to make it notorious, even though it may be a downright lie. May a man never be so ignorant as to be powerful for wrong. However, if his heart is full of love for a good cause, he becomes a powerful man for that issue, because he has heart-power, heart force.

A man may be lacking a good education and training in the proper manners of our society; but give him a good strong heart, that beats hard, and there is no mistake about his power. Let him have a heart that filled to the brim with an cause, and that man will do thing, or else he will die gloriously defeated, and will glory in his defeat. HEART IS POWER.

Gem #4 – Shadows of Mercy

When the sunlight of God’s mercy rises upon our needs, it casts the shadow of prayer far down upon the plain; or, to use another illustration, when God piles up a hill of mercies, He Himself shines behind them, and He casts on our spirits the shadow of prayer, so that we may rest certain, if we are in prayer, our prayers are the shadows of mercy.

Gem #5 – Omnipotence

Omnipotence may build a thousand worlds, and fill them with treasures; Omnipotence may crush mountains into dust, and cause all the seas to evaporate, and destroy the stars, but Omnipotence cannot do one unloving thing toward a believer. Oh! rest assured, Christian, a harsh act, an unloving action from God toward one of His own people is quite impossible. He is kind to you when he throws you into prison as when he takes you into a palace; He is as good when He sends famine into your house as when He fills your cupboards with plenty. The only question is, “Are you His child?” If so, He has rebuked you in affection, and there is love in His discipline.

Gem #6 – Wings of Prayer

Prayer is the rustling of the wings of the angels that are on their way bringing us the blessings of heaven. Have you heard prayer in your heart? You will see the angel in your house. When the chariots that bring us blessings do rumble, their wheels do sound with prayer. We hear the prayer in our own spirits, and that prayer becomes the sign of the coming blessings. Even as the clouds appear before the rain, so prayer precedes the blessing; even as the first green blade of a plant is the beginning of the harvest, so is prayer the prophecy of the blessing that is about to come.

Gem #7 – Reservoir of the Heart

You have seen the great reservoirs provided by our water companies, in which is kept the water which is to supply hundreds of streets and thousands of homes. Now, the heart is the reservoir of man, and our life is allowed to flow in its proper season. That life may flow through different pipes–the mouth, the hand, the eye; but still all the actions of the hand, the eyes, and the lips, derive their source from the great fountain and central reservoir, the heart; and therefore, there is no problem showing the great need that exists for keeping this reservoir, the heart, in a proper state and condition, since otherwise that which flows through the pipes must be foul and corrupt.

Gem #8 – God’s Purpose for Us

There is not a spider hanging on the wall that doesn’t have an errand; there is not a weed growing in the corner of the church lot that doesn’t have a purpose; there is not a single insect fluttering in the breeze that does not accomplish some divine decree; and I will never believe that God created any man, especially any Christian man, to be a blank, and to be a nothing. He made you for an end. Find out what that purpose is; find out your niche, and fill it. Even if it be something small, if it is only to be someone who picks up trash at the side of the road, or one who mows the church lawn, do something in this great battle for God and truth.

Gem #9 – Undivided Purpose of Heart

Suppose you see a lake, and there are twenty or thirty streams running from it: why, there won’t be one strong river in the whole area; there will be a number of little brooks which will be dried up in the summer, and will be temporary torrents in the winter. Every one of them will be useless for any great purpose, because there is not enough water in the lake to feed more than one great stream.

Now a man’s heart has only enough life in it to pursue on object fully. You must not give half of your love to Christ, and the other half to the world. No man can serve God and money, because there is not enough in the heart to serve the two.

Gem #10 – Pride

How easy it is for you and I to boast in ourselves! How hard it is to be humble! That demon of pride was born with us, and it will not die one hour before us. It is so woven into our very natures, and until we are dressed in our grave clothes and laying in the coffin, shall we ever hear the last of it.

Transcribed by:

Tony Capoccia
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