JackHammer

This sermon was delivered May 18th, 1879 in commemoration of the completion of Spurgeon’s twenty-fifth year of ministry over the church meeting in the Metropolitan Tabernacle. 

“O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid; O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.” –Habakkuk 3:2.

HABAKKUK had the sadness of living at a time when true religion was in a very deplorable state. The nation had to a great extent departed from the living God; there was a godly party in the kingdom, but the ungodly and idolatrous faction was exceedingly strong. The Lord threatened judgment on the people on account of this, and it was revealed to the prophet that an invasion by the Chaldeans was near at hand. The prophet, therefore, was filled with anxiety as to the future of his country, because he saw its sinful condition and knew where it must end. The book of his prophecy begins with the earnest question of intercession, “O Lord, how long?” His spirit was stirred within him at the sin of the people, and his heart was broken by a vision of the chastisement, which the Lord had ordained. It becomes all who bear witness for God thus to be stirred in soul when they see the name of God dishonored, and have reason to expect the visitations of his wrath. A man without bowels of compassion is not a man of God. Read the rest of this entry →

Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. — Luke 2:15.

NOT to Bethlehem as it now is, but to Bethlehem as it once was, I would lead your meditation this evening.

Were you to visit the site of that ancient city of Judah as it is at present, you would find little enough to edify your hearts. About six miles south of Jerusalem, on the declivity of a hill, lies a small, irregular village, never at any time considerable either in its extent or because of the wealth of its inhabitants. The only building worthy of notice is a convent. Should your fancy paint, as you approach it, a courtyard, a stable, or a manger, you would be sorely disappointed on your arrival. Tawdry decorations are all that would greet your eyes, — rather adapted to obliterate than to preserve the sacred interest with which a Christian would regard the place. You might walk upon the marble floor of a chapel, and gaze on walls bedecked with pictures, and studded with the fantastic dolls and other nicknacks which are usually found in Popish places of worship. Within a small grotto, you might observe the exact spate that superstition has assigned to the nativity of our Lord; there, a star, composed of silver and precious stones, surrounded by golden lamps, might remind you, but merely as a parody, of the simple by of the Evangelists. Truly, Bethlehem was ever little, if not the least, among the thousands of Judah, and famous only for its historic associations. Read the rest of this entry →