Grieving the Holy Spirit

Grieving the Holy Spirit

Spurgeon builds his case for not grieving the Holy Spirit on two foundations: first, the Spirit's love — surveyed through his early striving with us before conversion, his patient perseverance when we resisted him, his work in quickening and teaching us, his help when we cannot pray, his indwelling despite our constant sin — arguing that this record of tender, costly, persistent love makes grieving him a particularly shameful ingratitude; and second, the Spirit's sealing, by which he attests the reality of our faith, marks us as God's own property, and preserves us unto the day of final redemption. He then identifies the ways believers grieve the Spirit — impure thoughts and outward sins, neglect of prayer and Scripture, ingratitude, unbelief — and traces the effects of his withdrawal: the Word becomes dark, comfort vanishes, power for service dries up, and all the graces wilt like flowers without water, leaving the believer in a misery no worldly thing can fill. He closes with both a personal and corporate application: urging any backslider to search out and slay the specific sin that drove the Spirit away and cry for his return, while lamenting that many churches have similarly grieved him into near-absence, and calling God's people to humble themselves, purge whatever is contrary to his Word, and plead for a revival that will open heaven's windows again. Sermon delivered by Charles Spurgeon on October 9th, 1859.

The Blood of the Everlasting Covenant

Spurgeon works through the Everlasting Covenant systematically — identifying the contracting parties as the three persons of the Trinity (not God and man), the stipulations as the Father promising to give his elect to the Son and the Spirit promising to quicken and preserve them, the Son promising to live, die, rise, and intercede until every one is safely delivered — and insists that its "everlasting" character means it is older than creation, surer than any human structure, immutable rather than a revolving door of the believer going in and out of grace, and guaranteed to run on into eternity since it promises the endless happiness of all its objects. He then traces the fourfold relationship of Christ's blood to this covenant: it is Christ's fulfillment of his side of the agreement, it is the bond that now legally obliges the Father to keep every promise he made, it is the evidence by which individual sinners may know they are included (for whoever trusts the blood is thereby proved to be in the covenant), and it is the shared glory of Father, Son, and sinner alike. He closes by insisting that while the decree is particular, the gospel call is as wide as the world, and he invites every trembling sinner to simply trust the blood and not worry about election in the abstract — for if you have chosen Christ it is proof that he has long since chosen you, and any heart that genuinely clings to the cross is thereby marked as one of those for whom the Everlasting Covenant was made. Sermon delivered by Charles Spurgeon on September 4th, 1859.

A Divided Heart

Spurgeon takes the divided heart as a spiritual disease of the most dangerous kind — dangerous because it strikes a vital organ, because its victim is unconscious of how loathsome it is, because it is chronic and deep-seated, and above all because the heart flatters its owner into thinking everything is fine — and he identifies its four main symptoms: formality in religion (defending the shell because there is no kernel), inconsistency of life (one kind of person on Sunday and another on Saturday), variableness of purpose (spasmodic religious enthusiasm that comes and goes with the latest cause), and frivolity toward sacred things. He then traces the sad effects of this condition in three directions: the divided-heart person is personally miserable because the soul cannot rest in two places at once, he is useless and even dangerous to the church since hypocrisy spreads like contagion among healthy people, and he is utterly reprobate in God's sight — for God hates sin anywhere but most of all when it lays its hand on his altar wearing a disguise. He closes with two contrasting words: a solemn warning to the brazen-faced professor that at judgment he will be snatched from among the saints with greater horror than a common sinner receives; and a tender invitation to the broken-hearted penitent who, unlike the divided heart, has had all self-confidence shattered and now desires only to be truly God's — such a person is bidden to trust Christ immediately, since he is willing, able, and waiting to be gracious. Sermon delivered by Charles Spurgeon on September 25th, 1859.

Who Can Tell?

In this sermon, Spurgeon uses the story of Jonah and Nineveh to show how seriously people should take God’s warnings about sin and judgment. He describes how the Ninevites suddenly realized their guilt, the shortness of their time, and the terror of the destruction coming upon them. Even though Jonah offered no promise of mercy, they still repented because they believed there was a chance—“Who can tell?”—that God might forgive. Spurgeon then contrasts their limited hope with the far greater hope available to his listeners, who have clear promises of mercy through Christ’s death and resurrection. He urges sinners to turn to God immediately, reminding them that every warning, every sermon, and every invitation to repent is itself evidence that God is willing to save. Sermon delivered by Charles Spurgeon on September 18th, 1859.

Paul’s Desire To Depart

Spurgeon takes Paul's phrase "to depart and be with Christ" and unpacks it in three movements: first, what death actually is for the believer — not an arrest, not a plunge into darkness, but a quiet departure like a ship leaving harbor, the visible part being simply a calm leave-taking from everything loved on earth; second, what waits on the other side — not a long interval but an immediate arrival, where "to be with Christ" means vision of his face, intimate communion, full fruition of everything faith has only tasted, and a share in his glory forever. He then explains why Paul's desire to depart was genuinely wise and noble rather than cowardly — distinguishing it sharply from the suicide's despair, the philosopher's misanthropy, the ambitious man's bitter disappointment, or the sufferer's flight from pain — and traces Paul's real reasons: the longing to be completely and permanently free from sin, the desire to be reunited with beloved saints who had gone before, and above all the burning hunger to be with Christ himself. Throughout the sermon he addresses two audiences in parallel, showing believers reasons to welcome death with longing confidence, and warning the unconverted that for them death brings no such departure to sweetness but a harvest of their own sowing, companions in judgment rather than in glory, and a meeting with the Christ they despised — not as a welcoming friend but as the righteous Judge. Sermon delivered by Charles Spurgeon on September 11th, 1859.