Sermon Shorts from Spurgeon — Sermon 30: The Power of the Holy Ghost

The resurrection of Christ, then, was effected by the agency of the Spirit! And here we have a noble illustration of his omnipotence. Could you have stepped, as angels did, into the grave of Jesus, and seen his sleeping body, you would have found it cold as any other corpse. Lift up the hand; it falls by the side. Look at the eye; it is glazed. And there is a death-thrust which must have annihilated life. See his hands: the blood distills not from them. They are cold and motionless. Can that body live? Can it start up? Yes; and be an illustration of the might of the Spirit. For when the power of the Spirit came on him, as it was when it fell upon the dry bones of the valley, “he arose in the majesty of his divinity, and, bright and shining, astonished the watchmen so that they fled away; yea, he arose no more to die, but to live forever, King of kings and Prince of the kings of the earth.”

From the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Volume 1, Sermon 30 by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Sermon Shorts from Spurgeon — Sermon 17: Joseph Attacked by the Archers

Why does one of God’s ministers preach the gospel powerfully? Because God gives him assistance. Why does Joseph stand against temptation? Because God gives him aid. The strength of a Christian is divine strength. My brethren, I am more and more persuaded every day that the sinner has no power of himself, except that which is given him from above. I know that if I were to stand with my foot upon the golden threshold of heaven’s portal, if I could put this thumb upon the latch, I could not open that door, after having gone so far towards heaven, unless I had still supernatural power communicated to me in that moment. If I had a stone to lift, to work my own salvation, without God’s help to do that, I must be lost, even though it were so little. There is naught that we can do without the power of God. All true strength is divine. As the light cometh from the sun, as the shower from heaven; so doth spiritual strength come from the Father lights, with whom there is neither variableness nor shadow of a turning.

From the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Volume 1, Sermon 17 by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Sermon Shorts from Spurgeon – Sermon 7-8: Christ Crucified

The gospel to the Christian is a thing of power. What is it that makes the young man devote himself as a missionary to the cause of God, to leave father and mother, and go into distant lands? It is a thing of power that does it—it is the gospel. What is it that constrains yonder minister, in the midst of the cholera, to climb up that creaking staircase, and stand by the bed of some dying creature who has that dire disease? It must be a thing of power which leads him to venture his life; it is love of the cross of Christ which bids him do it. What is that which enables one man to stand up before a multitude of his fellows, all unprepared it may be, but determined that he will speak nothing but Christ and him crucified? What is it that enables him to cry, like the war-horse of Job in battle, Aha! and move glorious in might? It is a thing of power that does it—it is Christ crucified. And what emboldens that timid female to walk down that dark lane in the wet evening, that she may go and sit beside the victim of a contagious fever? What strengthens her to go through that den of thieves, and pass by the profligate and profane? What influences her to enter into that charnel-house of death, and there sit down and whisper words of comfort? Does gold make her do it? They are too poor to give her gold. Does fame make her do it? She shall never be known, nor written among the mighty women of this earth. What makes her do it? Is it love of merit? No; she knows she has no desert before high heaven. What impels her to it? It is the power of the gospel on her heart; it is the cross of Christ; she loves it, and she therefore says—”Were the whole realm of nature mine. That were a present far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.”

From the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Volume 1, Sermon 7-8 by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

https://ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/sermons01/sermons01.vii.html

Serve Christ with Humility

Philippians 3:4-7  Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:  5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;  6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.  7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.

More than anyone else, the Apostle Paul could have boasted of himself.  He was a “Hebrew of Hebrews” with Pharisaical training and a zeal for the law.  In fact, he was “blameless” concerning the law.  In addition, he was intellectually sharp and and well-respected.  By his own admission, he could have had “confidence in the flesh”.  But he didn’t. Continue reading

Power in the Day of Death

Ecclesiastes 8:8a There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death:

Death affects all.  It is an event over which we human beings have no control.  It can occur in a moment and forever change the lives of those still here. Continue reading