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.
The Minister’s Farewell (S289)
Grieving the Holy Spirit (S278)
Faith Illustrated (S271)
The Tabernacle of the Most High (S267)
A Home Mission Sermon (S 259)
The Necessity of the Spirit‘s Work (S251)
Mr. Fearing Comforted (S 246)
Prayer Answered, Love Nourished (S 240)
“Compel them to come in” (S227)
Lively Reading: Compel them to come in (Luke 14:23)
The Christian's Heaviness and Rejoicing (S 222)
Declension from First Love (S 217)
“As thy days, so shall thy strength be” (S210)
The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit (S201)
The Heavenly Race (S 198)
The Great Revival (S 185)
Particular Redemption (S 181)
The Two Talents (S 175)
The Warning Neglected (S 165)
The First and Greatest Commandment (S162)
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