“The Lord kills and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and brings up” (1Sam 2:6). How are we to take such a text? Spurgeon suggests two senses, the natural and the spiritual. With regard to the former, he urges the mercies of God upon his hearers, reminding them of them favour that they have known in breath granted, life spared, health restored. But he also takes the text as a metaphor for the spiritual experience of a convert, dying to self and sin in order that we might be raised up together with Jesus Christ. Such an approach allows Spurgeon to cast his net wide, making a variety of applications across the spectrum of his hearers, calling us to thankfulness and soberness as we consider in what gracious ways the Lord deals with us. The preacher’s pointed thoughts and plaintive cries are no less valuable to us today—perhaps even more so, as he calls us back to consider just how intimately the God of heaven is involved in our lives, and to remember just how much we depend upon him.
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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)
Jesus, the King of Truth (S1086)
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