Our Lord Jesus, insists Spurgeon, was not only a man of sorrows, but a man of joys. He knew joys in his humiliation, and he knows joys in his exaltation. He has distinct gladness as the Mediator. Bubbling over with delight, Spurgeon spreads himself in his introduction, delighting to think of the delight which characterises our Lord in glory. Only then does he turn, with particular concentration, to the substance of his sermon, packing in truth because he has less time than otherwise, condensing his study of the distinctive privilege and character of the saints’ joy, drawn from their entering into Christ’s joy. He holds fast to his text, before expanding upon it in the last few moments of his sermon, as—soaked with Scripture, and with a poetry born of piety—he considers the channels through which the blessings of God flow to us, and then soars into a concluding exhortation to God’s people to enter into the joy which the Lord has secured for us. It is a truly happy sermon, and it breeds the kind of happiness which this world cannot offer, but which is received and enjoyed by all who know Christ Jesus as their God and Saviour, and the Almighty as their Father, through him.

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What may seem to be a slightly twee title contains a very sweet truth: “My God will hear me.” With such a brief phrase, Spurgeon simply unpacks it, weaving together doctrine, experience, and practice. Here is a title to relish, “my God,” with all it means. Then there is an argument to grasp, that because he is God and my God, he will hear me. Then there is the favour involved, that all-hearing, sympathetic, wise, and righteous ear which is open to our cry, to enter into our experience. And do not forget, says Spurgeon, the person who is heard. Here he pleads not only with the believer who already enjoys this sweet silver bell ringing in his heart, but also the troubled and distressed soul, sin-sick and sorrowing, who has come to desire God as Saviour. The God of heaven, kind and gracious, will most assuredly hear the one who cries out of the depths. What a joyful thought to take away, and what a great expectation to possess: “My God will hear me!”

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“The Philadelphian church was not great, but it was good; it was not powerful, but it was faithful.” Does that describe the congregation to which you belong? Drawing from Christ’s words to the church of Philadelphia in Revelation 3, Spurgeon identifies the word of praise which Christ offers, the word of prospect, and the word of promise. As ever, the preacher uses this congregation to hold up a mirror in which we may assess our own reflection. Can we receive such praise for our faithfulness in holding to the Word of God? Have we been faithful with what we have received, and so been granted a prospect of further usefulness? And, with all that, can we therefore rest upon the promise, that having kept God’s word, we shall ourselves be kept from temptation? A typical blend of encouragement and challenge, all soaked in the savour of Christ, gives us an opportunity to examine ourselves, to aspire to greater faithfulness and holiness, and to take comfort in the goodness and mercy of our Redeemer.

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There is a splash of sentiment in this selection, because this is another sermon of Spurgeon’s which I remember reading in preparation for preaching. I recall being struck with the preacher’s delight in the Scriptures, with his happy depth of insight, with the experiential substance of the address, with its theological depth and doctrinal precision, and with the practical vigour of the whole. The title of the sermon gives us its two divisions, and—as he often does—Spurgeon walks through the text, drawing out its particular elements, hitting the key notes with brevity and pungency. Instruction, challenge, and encouragement are all readily blended, with the prominent presence of God in Christ the thread which bind things together, the whole evidently preached with a ready dependence on the Holy Spirit. Re-reading this sermon, I found myself wishing that I could come to it with the same freshness as I did the first time I surveyed it, but I trust that I now have a deeper and warmer appreciation for the truths which it contains, and hope that increasing love for the triune God will make that always and increasingly the case.

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There is a particular trick which our Adversary loves to use both to hinder sinners and to disturb saints, and that is to paint the character of God in the darkest possible shades, to twist and pervert the Almighty and All-Merciful God’s revelation of himself. In this sermon, preached from three texts, Spurgeon sets out, in the best sense, to vindicate the character of God. While still insisting upon the utter holiness of the Most High, Spurgeon nevertheless makes most clear the compassion of the Lord, and his willingness to save, and his pleadings with those who are lost in the misery of sin, and his provision for them in Christ Jesus to find life and joy and peace, through forgiveness. He emphasises God’s delight in salvation, not as a mere idea, but as a sweet reality. As you can imagine, the sermon is peppered with strong reasoning and urgent pleading for sinners who may have the wrong idea of God to understand his gracious heart, as he makes himself known in the Word of God, and to come to him that they might not die, but live.

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Preached at Exeter Hall to a congregation which seems to have consisted largely if not exclusively of young men, an extended introduction about the importance of profitable reading gives way to a punchy series of questions. The first, “What is most essential to be understood in this Book?” gives Spurgeon the opportunity to review the gospel in its essence as contained in Isaiah 53. The second, “What is the test of a man’s understanding the Book?” gives the preacher scope to speak of the receptive reader’s delight in Christ and his truth. Thirdly, the question, “What can be done to obtain such a desirable understanding?” allows our preacher to stir up a spiritual appetite in his hearers, and to urge them to use every proper means to grasp the truth as it is in Jesus. Again, the crafting of the sermon is natural and effective, the three questions providing a platform for the preacher not just to proclaim the gospel but to press it home upon his congregation. The final sentences open a precious window into the preacher’s hopeful heart: “When we meet in heaven we shall praise the Lord for making us understand what we read. God bless you all, for Christ’s sake.” What a sweet and happy prospect for us still!

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This week we finally crest the peak of our reading of Spurgeon’s sermons, crossing the halfway line in our reading through the Passmore & Alabaster collection of his preaching. This address, on love as the first fruit of the Spirit, is a fitting marker for the occasion. The sermon bears many of Spurgeon’s hallmarks: richly doctrinal and practical and experimental; full of a lively sense of the Holy Spirit; rising to a Christ-centred crescendo; pleading for the holiness of God’s people and the salvation of the lost; a thorough sense of the text in its context; an inventive and engaging outline; a delight in the grace of our heavenly Father; a lively hope of heaven; a plain call to penetrating self-examination. In one sense there is nothing remarkable about the sermon. In another sense, the fact that this is a further sermon showing a consistent richness of substance and a sustained intensity of spirituality makes it notable not because it stands out but because it is more of the same, and it warms our hearts.

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Here is another sermon in which you detect notes of what today might be called ‘pastoral theology.’ Spurgeon could preach to preachers, certainly, and you see much of that in some collections of lectures and sermons, especially his Lecture to My Students. However, he also wants those who hear the Word of God to have some understanding of what it is to preach the Word of God. So, earlier in this year, you have his sermon on the pastor’s life being wrapped up with the steadfastness of the saints. Here, he opens a window into what is taking place in the man who preaches and to the man to whom he preaches. How does God fit a man to be a minister of the gospel? What does God do in the heart of a converted man? And, what does that converted man have to do, in terms of his own experience of and response to the work of God? Here then you have two divine operations, one upon a preacher, and one upon a hearer, the second developing into its Godward and its manward elements, and yet never merely theoretical, but constantly brought close to the life of those who preach and those who hear.

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