Spurgeon often addresses the kind of Christian despondency that breeds a shameful passivity. He opens this sermon with a lengthy introduction bemoaning the low expectations of God’s people—people who yearn for a lively past and have vague hopes for a brighter future, but have given up all present hopes: “Not here, not now, not us!” This is the attitude that calls inaction, patience, and labels unbelief as realism. To counteract this ugly spirit, Spurgeon presses upon us the signs of harvest (and yes, we might long for more of those in our day!); he points out the wants or needs of harvest, the way in which we should engage in a day when there is work to be done; he warns us of the fears of harvest, reminding all his hearers, both converted and otherwise, that time passes and the work undone might be left undone forever. I can imagine the same despondent Christians today saying that Spurgeon’s circumstances allow him to hope in a way that we cannot; in fact, though we may face particular challenges, the very scope of the work ought to rouse our spirits for labour.
Jesus, the Substitute for His People (S1223)
Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth (S1217)
A Grateful Summary of Twenty Volumes (S1209)
The Reception of Sinners (S1204)
The Claims of God (S1197)
Hindrances to Prayer (S1192)
A Singular Title and a Special Favour (S1182)
Fearful of Coming Short (S1177)
The Lord Chiding his People (S1171)
Without Money and Without Price (S1161)
Daniel Facing the Lion’s Den (S1154)
The Parent’s and Pastor’s Joy (S1148)
The Minister’s Plea (S1139)
Clearing the Road to Heaven (S1131)
God Beseeching Sinners by His Ministers (S1124)
Christ Asleep in the Vessel (S1121)
Onward! (S1114)
A Call to Worship (S1107)
Good Cause for Great Zeal (S1097)
Always, and for All Things (S1094)
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