Author: Charles Spurgeon

Pray with Spurgeon: End the power of sin

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Cleanse your people, Lord. Purify our conscience from dead works. Help us to know that we are forgiven and to have no doubt about it. May we know that we are cleansed from the guilt and filth of sin. May we, therefore, have bold access to our Father in heaven. Let the power of sin that has been broken be destroyed in us. Sin no longer rules us, but it still lurks in the corners, waiting to take control again. Thank you for the promise, “Sin shall not have dominion over you.” We pray it will never have control over us!

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“They loathed all food and came near the gates of death.” (Psalm 107:18)

Appetite departs from men when they are sick: the best of food is nauseous to them, their stomach turns against it. “And they came near the gates of death.” From want of food, and from the destructive power of their malady, they slide gradually down till they lie at the door of the grave; neither does the skill of the physician suffice to stay their downward progress. As they cannot eat, there is no support given to the system, and as the disease rages, their little strength is spent in pain and misery. Thus it is with souls afflicted with a sense of sin: they cannot find comfort in the choicest promises but turn away with loathing even from the gospel, so that they gradually decay into the grave of despair. The mercy is that though near the gates of death, they are not yet inside the sepulcher.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

How God’s grace helps you grow

Today we prayed that God would set us free from the power of sin. We ask God to help us grow in holiness, because we know that God’s grace doesn’t just save us from sin, it also gives us the power that we need to slay sin. The work of growing in godliness is a work of cooperation between us and God’s grace.

One of my all-time favorite books is The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges. This book explains how God’s grace empowers Christians to slay sin and grow in godliness. It is one of the helpful, practical, and encouraging books that I have ever read! If you want to grow in godliness, start with The Discipline of Grace.

I know that I recommend this book all the time in this newsletter, but only because it really is an incredible resource. I hope you’ll grab a copy today.

Reading The Discipline of Grace will definitely help you grow in holiness. I hope you’ll grab a copy today.

Buy The Discipline of Grace:

* Get the audiobook for free with a free trial of Audible. Even if you cancel, the audiobook will be yours to keep (and trust me, you’ll want to read this one multiple times!)

Pray with Spurgeon: God, help us love Jesus

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

Our Father, who is in heaven, please forgive our sinful acts towards your Son. We know you take pleasure in him, and we also do, but sometimes we fail to show it. Grant us the ability to love him perfectly. May we be able to say, “Lord, you know everything; you know that we love you.” May we love you so much that even our enemies will recognize it and say, “See how they love their Lord!” May we show our love for you as clearly and decisively as our Master showed his love for buried Lazarus.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Fools suffered affliction because of their rebellious ways and their iniquities.” (Psalm 107:20)

Many sicknesses are the direct result of foolish acts. Thoughtless and lustful men, by drunkenness, gluttony, and the indulgence of their passions, fill their bodies with diseases of the worst kind. Sin is at the bottom of all sorrow, but some sorrows are the immediate results of wickedness: men by a course of transgression afflict themselves and are fools for their pains.

Worse still, even when they are in affliction, they are fools still; and if they were brayed in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet would not their folly depart from them. From one transgression they go on to many iniquities, and while under the rod they add sin to sin. Alas, even the Lord’s own people sometimes play the fool in this sad manner.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

How can you increase your love for Jesus?

Today, we prayed that God would increase our love for his Son. This has been a particular prayer of mine over the last several months as I’ve been preaching through the Letter to the Hebrews at my church. I’ve summarized the message of the book this way: Jesus is better than anything, so don’t let go of him. If we read Hebrews, we ought to walk away adoring our wonderful Jesus.

A great resource to help you study Hebrews is Hebrews For You by Michael Kruger. This is a simple commentary that will help any Christian understand and apply the message of Hebrews (Don’t be scared by the “commentary” label, this book is accessible to anyone).

Hebrews will fill your heart with love for Jesus and Hebrews for You will help you along the way, so I hope you’ll buy a copy today.

Buy Hebrews for You:

Weekend Edition: We are raised up with Christ

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PRAYER FOR THE CHURCH (BY SPURGEON)

God, as we gather be pleased to reveal yourself to your servants. Oh, for the uplifting of the veil, for the drawing near of the people that are made glad by the blood, for the speaking of God unto the soul, and the speaking of our soul unto God.

Oh, for communication with the Eternal, for such fellowship as they may have who are raised up together with Christ, and made to sit in the heavenly places with him. Oh, Savior, grant us a glimpse of your great love. One flash of your eye is brighter than the noonday. One word from your lips will be sweeter to us and more full of music, than the harps of angels.

Amen.

GET A FREE BOOK

Thanks to Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Spurgeon College for sponsoring the Weekend Edition.

This month, Midwestern is giving away three copies of Dr. Geoff Chang’s new book, Spurgeon the Pastor. Plus, everyone who enters will receive the first chapter for free! Click here to enter to win.

Spurgeon the Pastor is a great book. When you read this book, Spurgeon becomes your mentor — you’ll learn from his example what a healthy church should look like. This is an incredible resource (and it’s NOT just for pastors!)..

Midwestern has also curated some great resources, including FREE seminary-level video classes. Get all of these resources right here.

WEEKEND LONG READ (SERMON BY SPURGEON)

The Power of His Resurrection

The resurrection of the Lord Jesus was in itself a marvelous display of power. To raise the dead body of our Lord from the tomb was as great a work as the creation. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, each one wrought this greatest miracle.

Read the full sermon from the Spurgeon Center for Biblical Preaching at Midwestern Seminary.

A FREE RESOURCE FROM MIDWESTERN

The Gospel Never Does Nothing

As we prepare to worship Christ this Easter, we desire that many people will come to know Christ as we celebrate his resurrection.

This article reminded me that no matter what kind of a response we see at our services, we can have confidence that God will do his work.

PREPARE FOR MINISTRY AT MIDWESTERN

Midwestern is home of the Spurgeon Library, which contains more than 6,000 volumes from Spurgeon’s personal library and many of his personal artifacts.

In just a few weeks, they’ll be hosting their annual Spurgeon Library conference. This year, the conference will focus on Spurgeon’s private devotional life.

Registration for the conference is just $30, which includes book giveaways. If you’re close to Kansas City, MO, you don’t want to miss this event.

Pray with Spurgeon: A Prayer for Good Friday

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

We are nothing, you are everything. We are poor worms of the dust, and you are the Eternal Son of God. We are disgusted with ourselves that there ever could have been a temptation to be ashamed of the Crucified, ashamed of the soft impeachment that we are indeed your followers. Forgive us Savior! Because of your great tenderness, put this away also among all our other sins, and mention it not against us forever that such a wicked cowardliness could have made us so hold our tongue when we ought to have spoken for you. From henceforth may we be able to say, “I’m not ashamed to own my Lord or to defend his cause.”

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“For he has broken down the bronze gates and cut through the iron bars.” (Psalm 117:16)

The Lord breaks the strongest gates and bars when the time comes to set free his prisoners, and spiritually the Lord Jesus has broken the most powerful of spiritual bonds and made us free indeed. Brass and iron are as tow before the flame of Jesus’ love. The gates of hell shall not prevail against us, neither shall the bars of the grave detain us. Those of us who have experienced his redeeming power must and will praise the Lord for the wonders of his grace displayed on our behalf.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Christ suffered for suffering people

Today as we reflect on Christ’s suffering, we can remember that the cross proves that Jesus sympathizes with us as we suffer. This means that there is unparalleled wisdom in his Word for seasons of suffering.

Spurgeon knew that suffering was an important experience in the Christian life, which is why he preached about it so often. If you want to learn Spurgeon’s biblical wisdom on trials, check out Spurgeon on Suffering: Reflections on Our Pain and God’s Grace. This is a collection of 12 classic sermons on trials, suffering, and perseverance.

I put this collection together to help suffering Christians (which is all of us!) find a deeper, more biblical hope through the worst of our trials. I know that this book will encourage you.

(Plus, buying a copy of this book is a great way to support this ministry, so I can continue to send out a newsletter each day)

Buy Spurgeon on Suffering:

Pastor, preach Jesus this Easter

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ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

This excerpt was taken from one of Spurgeon’s Easter sermons. May it bless you as you prepare to preach the “Old, Old Story” this weekend.

I may not have many more opportunities of preaching, and I make up my mind to this one thing, that I will waste no time upon secondary themes, but when I do preach it shall be the gospel, or something very closely bearing upon it. I will endeavor each time to strike under the fifth rib, and never beat the air. Those who have a taste for the superfluities may take their fill of them, it is for me to keep to the great necessary truths by which men’s souls are saved. My work is to preach Christ crucified and the gospel, which gives men salvation through faith.

I hear every now and then of very taking sermons about some bright new nothing or another. Some preachers remind me of the emperor who had a wonderful skill in carving men’s heads upon cherry stones. What a multitude of preachers we have who can make wonderfully fine discourses out of a mere passing thought, of no consequence to anyone. But we want the gospel. We have to live and die, and we must have the gospel. Certain of us may be cold in our graves before many weeks are over, and we cannot afford to toy and trifle: we want to see the bearings of all teachings upon our eternal destinies, and upon the gospel which sheds its light over our future.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION (BY SPURGEON)

Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this illustration in your own preaching to describe the necessity of faith,

Think of the influence of faith on all the other graces of God. Love is the sweetest of all; but how can I love until knowledge gives me a view of Christ? Knowledge opens the door, and then, through that door, I see my Savior. I cannot love a Christ I do not know, at least, in some degree; and if I know nothing about the excellences of Christ—what he has done for me and what he is doing now—I cannot love him. In Christ’s case, to know is to love, and the more I know, the more I will love. And then there is hope. How can I hope for a thing if I do not know of its existence? Hope may be the telescope, but then, till I get knowledge, there is something in front of the glass; I can see nothing whatever. But knowledge takes away the impediment, and then, when I look through the optic glass, I can see the glory to be revealed. But I cannot hope for what I know nothing about. I must know there is a heaven, or I cannot hope for it.

RESOURCE FOR PASTORS

Special thanks to the Christian Standard Bible for sponsoring the Pastor’s Note newsletter. The CSB is both accurate and readable. So that you (and your flock) can read God’s Word with confidence, clarity, and precision.

Click here to learn more about the CSB (and request a free CSB Bible).

THANKS FOR READING

Brothers,

While you may feel a lot of pressure to preach a “home run” this weekend, remember that God is sovereign. As long as you preach Jesus, God will certainly be glorified.

Pastor, rest in the resurrection. Because the empty tomb proves that you aren’t the hero that your church needs.

If this newsletter is encouraging, please share it with another pastor. You can forward this email to a pastor you know.

If someone forwarded this email to you, sign up to get another one every week. Click here to subscribe.

Blessings to your ministry,

Doug H.
Creator of SpurgeonBooks
Preaching Pastor of Pillar Church of Washington DC

Pray with Spurgeon: God, you love us (help us love you)

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

We thank you for ever coming so near us, and our prayer is that we may have the grace today to feel very near to you. You are not strange to your own flesh, and shall we be strange to you? Great Bridegroom, you love us, and you delight in us, and shall we not delight ourselves in you?

Come, take away the hardness of our hearts, and give us now to be quick and tender, sensitive to your love. Melt the wax, and then impress your image on it, and make us bear the faintest touch of your finger throughout the whole of life. Oh for want of sensitiveness, how we miss the highest privileges you give. Make us very tender. Oh that we might yield to your sweet love with all our hearts. May we rejoice in you beyond all things, and find our heaven in the effects of your relationship to us.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Let them give thanks to the LORD for his faithful love and his wondrous works for all humanity.” (Psalm 107:15)

The sight of such goodness makes a right-minded man long to see the Lord duly honored for his amazing mercy. When dungeon doors fly open, and chains are snapped, who can refuse to adore the glorious goodness of the Lord? It makes the heart sick to think of such gracious mercies remaining unsung: we cannot but plead with men to remember their obligations and extol the Lord their God.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Increase your faith and fight your sin

Today we prayed that God would increase our love for himself. We prayed for this today, because we can’t do it alone — we need God the Holy Spirit to bear the fruit of self-control in our lives (Galatians 5:23).

While our growth in holiness is a miracle that only God can do, we also have a role to play in this work. You will not automatically grow in godliness — you need to pursue godliness with the strength that God the Holy Spirit gives you.

A great, practical book on growing in godliness (self-control, taming the tongue, and more) is The Practice of Godliness by Jerry Bridges. This book won’t just tell you that something is sinful, it will actually equip you practical tools and truths from God’s Word to slay your sin and live in godliness.

Whatever pressing sin you are currently facing and want to grow in, The Practice of Godliness by Jerry Bridges is a great resource to help you take your next steps. I hope you pick up a copy today.

Buy The Practice of Godliness:

Pray with Spurgeon: Jesus is alive (and we are forgiven)

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

If any among us have not yet been forgiven, Father forgive them. Oh let great love convince of sin, and lead to the sin-atoning blood. This very day may many a sinner lose the burden of his sin at the empty tomb of Christ. Oh for pardons to be freely distributed! You are the Father of pardons. “Who is God like unto you, passing by iniquity, transgression and sin, and remembering not the iniquity of the remnant of your people?” Glory be unto your name!

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“He brought them out of darkness and gloom and broke their chains apart.” (Psalm 117:14)

The Lord in providence fetches out prisoners from their cells and bids them breathe the sweet fresh air again, and then he takes off their fetters and gives liberty to their aching limbs. So also he frees men from worry and trouble, and especially from the misery and slavery of sin. This he does with his own hand, for in the experience of all the saints it is certified that there is no jail-delivery unless by the Judge himself.

He sets them free by force, so liberating them that they could not be chained again, for he had broken the manacles to pieces. The Lord’s deliverances are of the most complete and triumphant kind, he neither leaves the soul in darkness nor in bonds, nor does he permit the powers of evil again to enthral the liberated captive. What he does is done forever. Glory be to his name.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

A devotional to help you run from sin and cling to Christ

Today we prayed, celebrating that God has fully forgiven us of our sins by the blood of Christ. But God wants us to have confidence that our sins are forgiven, to help us know that we are forgiven of our sin by the great mercy of Christ.

One resource that’s been helpful as I’ve studied God’s Word and his promise of forgiveness is Whiter Than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy by Paul Tripp. This book features 52 short devotionals (one for every week of the year) on Psalm 51. This is an incredible resource to help you remember the horrors of your sin and the wonders of God’s amazing grace.

You could read the book over the next few months with just five minutes a day, or read one devotional each week for the next year. I can’t think of a better way to spend your time than reflecting on God’s mercy towards broken sinners like us.

I hope you’ll buy a copy and enjoy mediating on God’s unending mercy with me. I know this devotional will be a great way for you to spend your year, rooted in God’s unchanging grace.

Buy Whiter Than Snow:

Weekend Edition: God, fill your church with joy

Get a prayer from Spurgeon in your inbox every day. Subscribe to the Pray with Spurgeon newsletter for free.

PRAYER FOR THE CHURCH (BY SPURGEON)

As we gather with our church, many of us need comfort; our heart is cast down within us. Command your loving-kindness this weekend, and let your song be with us at this moment. Up from the shades may we ascend into the eternal light. Oh, that the sun of your love might shine full on our brows, until our faces shall be bright like the face of Moses!

Oh, that we might have such fellowship with God this morning, that we might defy Satan, defy unbelief, defy the flesh, defy the world, with a holy joy which comes not of the creature, and which the creature cannot mar—a “joy unspeakable and full of glory,” a drink out of the eternal fountains, which well up from the deep which lies under, in the immutable and everlasting love and decree of God. Oh, let it be so with every child of yours this good weekend.

Amen.

GET A FREE BOOK

Thanks to Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Spurgeon College for sponsoring the Weekend Edition.

This month, Midwestern is giving away three copies of Dr. Geoff Chang’s new book, Spurgeon the Pastor. Plus, everyone who enters will receive the first chapter for free! Click here to enter to win.

Spurgeon the Pastor is a great book. When you read this book, Spurgeon becomes your mentor — you’ll learn from his example what a healthy church should look like. This is an incredible resource (and it’s NOT just for pastors!)..

Midwestern has also curated some great resources, including FREE seminary-level video classes. Get all of these resources right here.

WEEKEND LONG READ (SERMON BY SPURGEON)

Now, and Then

“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face.” (1 Corinthians 13:12)

There are many things that we have been accustomed to see that, after this transient life has passed, we shall see no more. Though we delighted in them, and they pleased our eyes while sojourning on earth, they will pass away as a dream when one awakes; we shall never see them again, and never want to see them; for our eyes in clearer light, anointed with eye-salve, shall see brighter visions, and we shall never regret what we have lost, in the presence of fairer scenes we shall have found.

Other things there are that we know now and shall never forget; we shall know them forever, only in a higher degree, because no longer with a partial knowledge; and there are some things that we see now that we shall see in eternity, only we shall see them there in a clearer light.

Read the full sermon from the Spurgeon Center for Biblical Preaching at Midwestern Seminary.

A FREE RESOURCE FROM MIDWESTERN

How to Respond to Deconstructionist Social Media

How should we respond to videos online that claim to “disprove” Christianity? This article offers a “tried and true” response.

PREPARE FOR MINISTRY AT MIDWESTERN

What Jesus purchased is precious. We’ve made it our purpose. Midwestern Seminary exists for the Church, and we serve the church by biblically educating God-called men and women to be and make disciples of Jesus Christ. If you’re called to serve the church, train with us, for the Church.

Pray with Spurgeon: We are unashamed in God’s presence

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DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)

As for our sin, you have cast it as far from us as from yourself, as far as the east is from the west. Have you not said, “I will cast all their sins behind my back” (Isaiah 38:17)? And you have done it. Even to as many as have looked to the wounds of Jesus you have given personal cleansing, and we are clean everywhere through the water and the blood; and we need not be ashamed to stand even before your presence, O three-times holy one, for we have washed our robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, we would always be before you, and serve you day and night in your temple, dwelling ever with you, sleeping under the shadow of your wings, and rejoicing in the light of your countenance.

Amen.

VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)

“Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; he saved them from their distress.” (Psalm 107:13)

Many a man offers what he calls prayer when he is in good ease and thinks well of himself, but in very deed the only real cry to God is that which is forced out of him by a sense of utter helplessness and misery. We pray best when we are fallen on our faces in painful helplessness.

Speedily and willingly, God sent relief. It was a long time before they cried, but it was not long before he saved. They had applied everywhere else before they came to him, but when they did address themselves to him, they were welcome at once.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE

Spurgeon’s Earliest Sermons (And Hundreds of Other Resources)*

This month, the Spurgeon Study Bible is available for 50% off for “Pray with Spurgeon” subscribers (Just use promo code SPURGEON23).

One of my favorite features of the Spurgeon Study Bible is the LOST SERMONS. Throughout the study Bible, you can find outlines of some of Spurgeon’s earliest sermons — you can even see them in Spurgeon’s own handwriting!

Up until a few years ago, they had never been published or widely read, and now there are 20 of them available right in your Spurgeon Study Bible. These sermons are saturated with rich gospel content. I know they will bless and encourage you.

The Lost Sermons are just one of the many incredible features to this Study Bible. I highly recommend grabbing one now while they’re 50% off!

Buy the Spurgeon Study Bible on Lifeway.com (Use promo code SPURGEON23 to save 50%)

Pastor, you must pray for your church (because this calling is too great for you)

Get wisdom encouragement for Spurgeon in your inbox every week. Subscribe to the The Pastor’s Note newsletter for free.

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)

The preacher who neglects to pray much must be very careless about his ministry. He cannot have comprehended his calling. He cannot have computed the value of a soul, or estimated the meaning of eternity. He must be a mere official, tempted into a pulpit because the piece of bread which belongs to the priest’s office is very necessary to him, or a detestable hypocrite who loves the praise of men, and cares not for the praise of God. He will surely become a mere superficial talker, best approved where grace is least valued and a vain show most admired. He cannot be one of those who plough deep and reap abundant harvests. He is a mere loiterer, not a laborer. As a preacher he has a name to live and is dead. He limps in his life like the lame man in the Proverbs, whose legs were not equal, for his praying is shorter than his preaching.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION (BY SPURGEON)

Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this illustration in your own preaching to describe the effective call of salvation.

When our brave King Richard was shut up in prison, far away in Germany, you know how he was found out by Blondel, a troubadour? The king and the minstrel had composed a song between them. First the minstrel sang one verse, and then the king sang one, and no other man in the whole world ever knew what the verses were except the king and the minstrel.

So the minstrel wandered through many realms and sang the first verse of his song. He sang it at all kinds of castle gates and dungeon doors, but there came no response, for the king was not inside. But at last, as providence would have it, he sang it in the right place, and faintly from inside he heard from the deep dungeon the voice that knew, and could sing, the second verse. And as he sang the third, and the fourth came through the iron bars, he knew that the king was there, for the verses could have been sung by none other than he.

I am sometimes occupied in preaching the gospel, and I preach it to thousands who give no response. There is no evidence of the Lord’s having chosen them. But another time there is a heart that says, “Your face, O Lord, I do seek.” Then I have found out the Lord’s chosen ones, found out the hidden ones, discovered as many as were ordained to eternal life. For their believing is the response to God’s gospel, and the evidence of their being the favorites of heaven. They, and they alone, believe in this way. As for those who do not believe, they perish in their sins. “But as many as received him—to those who believe in his name—he gave to them authority to become children of God” (John 1:12).

THANKS FOR READING

Brothers,

The apostles ought to be our model in ministry: “We will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4). We cannot minister the Word without prayer. We cannot build the church without prayer. We will not have anything useful to say to the church without prayer.

Pray, not just as a means to an end (“God, help me to preach!”), but because you need to know your God.

If this newsletter is encouraging, please share it with another pastor. You can forward this email to a pastor you know.

If someone forwarded this email to you, sign up to get another one every week. Click here to subscribe.

Blessings to your ministry,

Doug H.
Creator of SpurgeonBooks
Preaching Pastor of Pillar Church of Washington DC