Spurgeon is in his element when considering the love of God toward us in Christ Jesus, and we find him exulting in that theme here. The structure of the sermon is very neat. Having introduced his theme, he uses his text (1 John 4:19) to provide us first with doctrinal instruction, teaching us about the primacy and impact of God’s love. Then he moves on to experimental information, as the mark and evidence of a right relationship with God. Third, he employs it for practical direction, carrying us to the cross for love and from the cross with love. Finally, he offers this love as an argumentative defence, demonstrating how God’s love gives us an answer for various cavils and challenges which a Christian might face. It is a masterful demonstration of how a particular truth, rich and sweet in itself, can be turned in various directions, and applied in a variety of helpful ways, illuminating the mind, assuring the heart, directing the steps, and equipping for testimony and service. While that might seem particularly clever and orderly, never does the preacher lose sight of the Christ of God and the love which is revealed in him.

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Spurgeon never tired of seeking souls. Every sinner pointed to the cross and brought by grace into Christ’s fold made him eager to more. Neither did he think that this was somehow an unusual or singular desire. As far as he was concerned, every believer should have the same goal, and could anticipate a blessing in its pursuit. I think he feared that these desires might shrivel or deflect. It is, then, no surprise that his sermons often return to this theme, as here. On this occasion, he has two simple points to make: first, that “the life of the believer is, or ought to be, full of soul blessing,” and, second, that “the pursuit of the believer ought always to be soul winning.” Regarding the first, he talks about the benefits that a truly holy man or woman brings to those around them, as the goodness of God spills over from their own into adjoining lives. After the life, says Spurgeon, the effort: here he urges God’s people to seek after souls, as some men seek to win hearts, honours, and wealth. This, he contends, is heavenly wisdom. Not content with general exhortations, he suggests that, in the aftermath of that very sermon, that every hearer determines to win a soul that very night. It is a startlingly personal and immediate conclusion and application, and one which we might readily take to heart.

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Full of rich encouragements centred in Christ’s person, this address brings us to a source of rich assurance in Christ’s own promise to Paul, that the Lord’s strength would be made perfect in his servant’s weakness. The sermon involves a somewhat convoluted approach, in which Spurgeon twists and turns the text through its various shades of meaning, throwing the emphasis upon different words in his text to bring out the nuances. That done, Spurgeon traces a line from Christ through Paul to all the saints, explaining how the all-sufficient grace of God in Christ is perfected, or brought to full expression, in his servants. He emphasises the essential strengthlessness of the creature, and the power of God magnified through that human weakness. That brings him to the blessedness of Christ’s power in his people, concluding with an urgent appeal never to ask the Lord to make us strong in ourselves, but rather to glorify himself in our weakness by manifesting his own strength in us. He goes so far as to say, “beseech the Lord to make and keep you weakness itself, that in you his power may be displayed.” In all his exhortations to Christian endeavour, this preacher never strays from his underlying conviction that we depend utterly upon the God of heaven for all grace and strength.

Read the sermon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/resources/strengthening-words-from-the-saviours-lips

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