Self-Sufficiency Slain

A Blow at Self-Righteousness

Spurgeon attacks self-righteousness on three fronts: the plea is self-contradicting, since claiming to be without sin is itself a sin (making God a liar), and any claim to comparative righteousness is really a guilty plea in disguise, since a single sin makes one fully guilty before a God who demands a perfect and unblemished righteousness — just as one crack spoils a costly vase entirely. The self-righteous man condemns himself in his own conscience, since deep down every boaster knows his claims are false, as proven by the fact that pride requires noise to drown out conscience's verdict, and at the deathbed and certainly at the Last Judgment the grandest self-defense collapses into speechless horror before the face of God. He closes by showing that self-righteousness in any form — whether crude ("I deserve Heaven"), refined ("I'm better than most"), despairing ("I cannot come until I feel enough"), or even pious ("I trust my faith or my repentance") — is equally fatal, since the only ground of salvation is Christ himself, not any degree of human preparation, and the moment a sinner simply trusts Christ, that sinner stands before God as fully accepted as Christ himself, all sin having been laid on him and all righteousness freely given. Sermon delivered by Charles Spurgeon on December 16th, 1860.

Self-Sufficiency Slain

Spurgeon expounds "Without Me you can do nothing" in three directions: to the believer, insisting that this means absolutely nothing rather than merely "almost nothing," since even the smallest acts of grace, the first step of faith, and the daily maintenance of spiritual life all depend entirely on Christ — a truth supported by the unanimous praise of all Scripture's saints, the existence of promises for strength that would be unnecessary if believers already had any, and the very existence of the Holy Spirit's office which becomes pointless if man has any native ability toward good. To the unconverted sinner, he argues this truth is even more urgently applicable, since the saint at least has a renewed nature, whereas the sinner is spiritually dead with no capacity for any spiritual good, and though this incapacity does not remove his moral responsibility or reduce God's demands by a single command, Spurgeon says he actually wants sinners to feel this paralysis deeply, because only when a person truly feels they can do nothing in their own strength will they cry out in despair to God and be truly ready to receive saving grace. He closes by applying the same truth to all who labor for others' souls — ministers, revivalists, Sunday school teachers, and parents — warning that excitement-driven "revivals" built on human enthusiasm produce shallow conversions that evaporate, and that the Church's only real power comes from the Spirit, so her first business in any gospel work must be to confess her total inability and cast herself wholly on God, at which point she will accomplish everything precisely because she attempts nothing in her own strength. Sermon delivered by Charles Spurgeon on November 11, 1860.

A Basket of Summer Fruit

Spurgeon takes the vision of the basket of summer fruit — ripe and ready to be consumed — as a picture with three applications: that God's own purposes have a precise ripeness, coming neither too early nor too late, whether in the first advent of Christ, the second advent to come, or the personal timing of each believer's conversion, trials, and deliverances, all of which arrive exactly when divine wisdom ordains. He then applies the image to nations, tracing how Babylon, Greece, and Rome each fell at the precise point when their national sin had ripened to the point of destruction, and warning England to repent of her own national sins before the same judgment overtakes her. He closes with two personal applications — the believer who is ripening day by day in knowledge, experience, spirituality, and kindness through affliction and grace, being made ready for glory like fruit reaching perfect sweetness, and the unconverted sinner who is equally ripening but toward destruction, growing harder, bolder in sin, and more contemptuous of God with each passing year until suddenly gathered into the wrath they have been cultivating — and he pleads urgently for any sinner to turn before the gathering time arrives. Sermon delivered by Charles Spurgeon on October 28th, 1860.

Sin Slain

Using the story of Sisera's defeat and death, Spurgeon paints three pictures of the sinner's journey: first, a slave growing uneasy under sin's yoke without yet knowing why, beginning to pray inarticulate groans and to fight individual sins one by one in his own strength; second, the partial victory of merely conquering outward bad habits, which Spurgeon insists is never enough, since true change must reach the very root and nature of sin rather than simply driving its symptoms into temporary retreat. He then brings the discouraged fighter, who fears his sin can never truly be defeated, to a third and decisive picture — the tomb where Christ's finished work has already nailed sin to death, assuring that the believer's sins, once forgiven through faith in Christ, are not merely defeated but utterly destroyed, never to rise again or be charged against the soul. He closes by acknowledging the ongoing inward struggle every Christian feels between the old and new natures, comforting believers that though sin's full destruction awaits the resurrection, it is already counted dead in Christ, and inviting any despairing sinner who feels they cannot defeat their own sin to simply come and see their guilt nailed to the cross, their hard heart dissolved, and their fears put to eternal rest. Sermon delivered by Charles Spurgeon on July 29, 1860.

Struggles of Conscience

Spurgeon attacks a subtle form of self-righteousness common in his day — the idea that a sinner must first feel their guilt deeply enough, with strong conviction and sorrow, before they have any right to trust Christ — arguing instead that this demand is itself a disguised legalism, since the gospel invites "sinners" as sinners with no qualifying adjective and no preparation of feeling required. He comforts those struggling with this by pointing out that wanting to feel one's sin more is itself evidence of real spiritual life (since the truly wicked never wish to see their guilt at all), gives practical advice on how to gain a deeper sense of sin through examining specific transgressions, sitting under a direct and personal preaching ministry, studying God's law, and especially meditating on Christ's sufferings, and warns sharply against confusing the Holy Spirit's work of conviction with Satan's counterfeit work of driving a soul to despair. He closes with an urgent appeal that anyone waiting to feel "enough" before coming to Christ will wait forever, since the true gospel command is simply "look unto Me" rather than to one's own feelings, and that the sinner's only safety lies in coming exactly as they are now, trusting that Christ's blood — not their preparation for it — is what saves. Sermon delivered by Charles Spurgeon on September 22nd, 1860.