We are sure that the gospel we have preached is not after men, because men do not take to it. It is opposed even to this day.  If anything is hated bitterly, it is the out-and-out gospel of the grace of God, especially if that hateful word "SOVEREIGNTY" is mentioned with it.

Dare to say "He will have mercy on whom he will have mercy, and he will have compassion on whom he will have compassion" [Romans 9:15], and furious critics will revile you without stint.

The modern religionist not only hates the doctrine of sovereign grace, but he raves & rages at the mention of it. He would sooner hear you blaspheme than preach election by the Father, atonement by the Son, or regeneration by the Spirit. If you want to see a man worked up till the Satanic is clearly uppermost, let some of the new divines hear you preach a free-grace sermon.

A gospel which is after men will be welcomed by men; but it needs a divine operation upon the heart and mind to make a man willing to receive into his inmost soul this distasteful gospel of the grace of God.

My dear brethren, do not try to make it tasteful to carnal minds. Hide not the offence of the cross, lest you make if of none effect. The angles and corners of the gospel are its strength: to pare them off is to deprive it of power. Toning down is not the increase of strength, but the death of it. Why, even among the sects, you must have noticed that their distinguishing points are the horns of their power; and when these are practically omitted, the sect is effete.

Learn, then, that if you take Christ out of Christianity, Christianity is dead.  If you remove grace out of the gospel, the gospel is gone. If the people do not like the doctrine of grace, give them all the more of it! Whenever its enemies rail at a certain kind of gun, a wise military power will provide more of such artillery. A great general, going in before his king, stumbled over his own sword. "I see," said the king, "your sword is in the way." The warrior answered, "Your majesty's enemies have often felt the same." That our gospel offends the King's enemies is no regret to us.

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"I preach the doctrines of grace because I believe them to be true — because I see them in the Scriptures — because my experience endears them to me; and because I see the holy result of them in believers. I confess they are none the less dear to me because the advanced school despises them: I should never think it a recommendation of a doctrine that it was new. Those truths which have enlightened so many ages appear to me to be ordained to remain throughout eternity."

"The doctrine which I preach to you is that of the Puritans: it is the doctrine of Calvin, the doctrine of Augustine, the doctrine of Paul, the doctrine of the Holy Ghost! The Author and Finisher of our FAITH himself taught most blessed truth which well agreed with our text. [Ephesians 2:8 — "For by grace are you saved through faith; & that not of yourselves: It is the gift of God."]  The doctrine of GRACE  is the substance of the testimony of Jesus."

— Excerpted from The Sword & The Trowel Magazine, January 1887

GOD Ordains not only ENDS, but also THE MEANS to those ENDS.

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"There is a tendency in this age to throw doctrinal truth into the shade. Too many preachers are offended with that stern truth which the Covenanters held, and to which the Puritans testified in the midst of a licentious age. We are told that the times have changed; that we are to modify these old (so-called) Calvinistic doctrines, and bring them down to the tone of the times; that, in fact, they need dilution, than men have become so intelligent that we must pare off the angles of our religion, and make the square into a circle by rounding off the most prominent edges. Any man who doth this, so far as my judgment goes, does not declare the whole counsel of God. The faithful minister must be plain, simple, pointed, with regard to these doctrines. There must be no dispute about whether he believes them or not. He must so preach them that his hearers will know whether he preaches a scheme of freewill, or a covenant of grace — whether he teaches salvation by works, or salvation by the power and grace of God."

— Excerpted from C. H. Spurgeon's sermon #289 "THE MINISTER'S FAREWELL"

NPSP Vol 6, Year 1860, pg. 25, Acts 20:26-27

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"As for our Arminian brethren, it is wonderful to see how they hammer away at the ninth of Romans; steam-hammers and screw-jacks are nothing to their appliances for getting rid of election from that chapter. We have all been guilty of racking Scripture more or less, and it will be well to have done with the evil forever. We had better far be inconsistent with ourselves than with the inspired word. I have been called an Arminian Calvinist or a Calvinistic Arminian, and I am quite content so long as I can keep close to my Bible."

How I Learned of Grace

Born as all of us are by nature, an "Arminian," I still believed the old things I had heard continually from the pulpit, and did not see the Grace of God. When I was coming to Christ, I thought I was doing it all myself, and though I sought the Lord earnestly, I had no idea the Lord was seeking me. I do not think the young convert is at first aware of this.

I can recall the very day and hour when first I received these truths in my own soul — when they were, as John Bunyan says, burnt into my heart as with a hot iron:  I can recollect how I felt that I had grown all of a sudden from a babe into a man — that I had made progress in scriptural knowledge, through having found, once for all, the clue to the truth of God.

One week-night when I was sitting in the house of God, I was not thinking much about the preacher's sermon, for I did not believe it. The thought struck me, "how did you come to be a Christian?" (...I sought the Lord). But how did you come to seek the Lord? — (the truth flashed across my mind in a moment) — I should not have sought Him unless there had been some previous influence in my mind to make me seek Him.

I prayed, thought I, but then I asked myself, "How came I to pray?" — I was induced to pray by reading the Scriptures. I did read them; but what led me to do so? — Then, in a moment, I saw that God was at the bottom of it all, and that He was the Author of my faith; and as the whole doctrine of GRACE opened up to me, and from that doctrine I have not departed to this day, and I desire to make it my constant confession.

   "I ascribe my change wholly to God."

Author: C. H. Spurgeon

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"C. H. Spurgeon earnestly exhorted those who had accepted Christ as their Saviour to come forward amongst his people and avow their attachment to His person and name. Words of kindly encouragement and of loving persuasiveness, were addressed to the timid and retiring ones, who feared to avow themselves to be the Lord's lest they should fall back into sin and dishonor His name. This was followed by an appeal to those who had confessed the name of Jesus — an appeal of so stirring and searching a nature, that many must have felt constrained to say, 'Lord what wilt thou have me to do?' Prayer for more earnest living, abiding, practical godliness, followed this address." — The Sword and the Trowel Magazine, 1865, pg. 70

There is no need to "read into" this comment any more or less than it contains. It certainly gives little "aid and comfort" to some who have ventured to even say that Spurgeon opposed an invitation "because his theology compelled him to reject a practice" which confused a physical action with the spiritual action of faith, as alleged a few years ago in a book review. If this was indeed the case, at least we might expect some sort of documentation from Spurgeon to this effect.

Spurgeon also endorsed "personal work" at the close of a service —

"There is a wonderful work to be done in those lobbies, and in those pews, after a service. There are some dear brethren and sisters who are always doing it; they call themselves my 'dogs' — for they go and pick up the birds that I have wounded. I wish that they might be able to pick up many tonight. Oh, that some of you might always be on the alert to watch a face, and see whether your own canoe alongside that little ship, and see whether you cannot get into communication with the poor troubled one on board, and say a word to cheer a sad heart. Always be doing this; for it you are in prison yourself, the way out of it is help another out. God turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends. When we begin to look after others, and seek to help others. God will bless us. So may it be, for his name's sake! Amen."

It never ceases to amaze me how some will go to such extraneous ends to make Spurgeon "say" what they "wish" he had said. Now even the "charismatics" are trying to get the name of "Spurgeon" into their portfolio — see note below on the Spurgeon "Hoax."

1992 Spurgeon "HOAX"

An article in "VICTORY" magazine, published in Great Britain by Morris Cerullo, the spurious claim has been featured on the front cover proclaiming that "Spurgeon's great, great grand-daughter" was "healed" at a Cerullo meeting in June 1992. If you don't know of Cerullo, you've missed nothing but another professional faker, and this claim about "LUAN SPURGEON" and her "healing" is just another instance of his chicanery.

Spurgeon authority, Eric W. Hayden, sent us the clipping of this report, along with this comment:

"She cannot be the great grand-daughter of C. H. Spurgeon as I was in college with a great, great grand-son and he now is in his 70's — and Tom and Charles were twin sons [of CHS]. I have written to the editor for an explanation but really don't expect a reply. I have also checked with Mr. & Mrs. J. A. Spurgeon of Coventry who have a Spurgeon family tree and they maintain they are the last of the Spurgeons."

In a more recent letter from Hayden [who is the author of several books on Spurgeon published by Pilgrim Publications], the former pastor of Spurgeon's Tabernacle in London says —

"The latest on the 'Luan Spurgeon' affair is that she has moved home and changed her name! This is 'on the grape vine,' not given to me officially from the Morris Cerullo organization [MCWE] — they have still not answered my letter [on the claim of her being the 'great, great grand-daughter' of CHS]."

This hoax is typical of "pentecostalism," as it was born as a hoax and has been so characterized throughout its history. Time would fail to tell of the many claims and their subsequent exposure. From founder Charles Parham (1800s) to Oral Roberts, Pat Robertson and others today, the whole "charismatic" landscape is cluttered with lying "wonders."

Hayden says in Searchlight on Spurgeon [Pilgrim, 1973], "Not only did Spurgeon not belong to the "perfectionist" school of holiness, neither did he belong to the "Pentecostal" school of thought regarding the Holy Spirit. The Pentecostalist believes that a man must have been "baptized" by the Holy Spirit and that "speaking in tongues" is the sign that this "baptism" has taken place. Spurgeon, by contrast, was at times unaware of the Holy Spirit and His influences in his life —

"I have said to myself, 'Do I know that the Spirit of God is in me?' and I have been afraid that it is not; I have then turned to my inner life, (and) when I have looked away to the blood, all has been clear enough! When I do not know whether I have the Spirit, and when I am in doubts as to whether I have the living water, I still know that I believe in the blood, and this brings perfect peace."

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LAST MODIFIED  March 20 - 2006