Monday, July 26, 2010

THE MARVELOUS WONDER OF YOUNG SPURGEON


One of the prize books in my library is a little book written in 1857 by a British contemporary of Charles Spurgeon. It was published by Sheldon Blakeman and Co., New York (his authorized USA publisher). The observations of young Mr. Spurgeon (many of which are first hand), gives us a look at him soon after he began ministry which is in many ways unique. Here is a short excerpt from this old book.

We must confess, that for ourselves, the spectacle which is presented by Mr. Spurgeon's preaching to the poor of London, is more affecting than the hearing of the most pathetic strains of his eloquence. No wonder that it cheered the sad heart of John the Baptist, when in prison he was told that Christ was preaching glad tidings to the poor, and that it prepared him joyfully to lay down his neck for his fidelity to the souls of the rich.

See what crowds of artisans are turning away from the halls of the political meetings, of the infidel lectures, and the minor theaters, to gather about Mr. Spurgeon's pulpit. See the weary laborers of Bankside going to hear him. even on the nights of the week days. See twelve thousand of the working people of Bethnal Green, flocking around him in the open field at Hackney.
Take a nearer view. Fix your eyes on individuals here and there. See the poor harlot, who was a few minutes ago passing the doors of the New Parkstreet chapel, determined to cast herself off Blackfriars Bridge. She thought she would step in and for the last time hear something that will prepare her to stand before her Maker. She is just in time to hear the text, "Seest thou this woman?" The preacher speaks of Mary Magdalen, her sins, her washing the Saviour's feet with her tears, and wiping them with the hair of her head. There stands the woman, melted with the thoughts of her own past life, as she hears it described, and more melted with the description of the pardoning love of Jesus. Thus is she saved from death, temporal and eternal.

Go and hear him, ye Thackerays, who satirize the lying, the lust, and the vanity of the English
aristocracy, without offering any remedy therefor.—There is a man who is offering the remedy to the vices of some even of these.

Go and hear him, ye Dickenses, whose stories of the shame, the loneliness, the misery, and the patience of London's poor, have dissolved many a fine lady in tears, without opening her hand to imploring woe. There is a man of liberal and loving soul, who actually shakes hands with all this dirt and rags, searches for the hearts that are buried beneath it, and holds them up to the light of the cross, where they fledge their wings and soar to the glories of heaven.

Go and hear him, ye who are secretly glorying in the large donations ye have made for the benefit of the poor.
There you will find a man who in body, soul, spirit, and grace, is God's own donation to the poor, preaching to them the good old gospel of his grace, in good old English words, and, by the aid of his good Spirit, leading them to the Good Shepherd, "God's unspeakable gift."

From Spurgeon, Life and Ministry; Sheldon, Blakeman and Company, New York,1857. Copied from the original book. I tried to preserve the original wording and punctuation. Only the spacing has been changed. A reprinted modern printing may be available from Amazon. It has been recently printed, and this new printing assigns the authorship to George L Stephenson, 1857 (Charles Woodruff, editor of this excerpt).

Monday, July 12, 2010

FIVE MOST EVIL BIBLE CHARACTERS--CHARLES WOODRUFF




When thinking of more modern evil men, often the name Adolph Hitler, or Joseph Stalin comes to mind. Or possibly Sadam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden or Pol Pot. These are all evil men. Did you know that there are many evil men in the Bible? Also, quite a few evil women. All of us are born in sin. We all have the nature of Adam. Unless God intervenes by His sovereign power, we stay sinful, and lost. All men are sinners, but all are not necessarily as wicked as they could be. Some are more horribly wicked than others. I want to examine briefly those men and women who are the Bible’s five most wicked sinners. Perhaps another time will look at the Bible’s most godly characters. It is my list, and you may have a different one. I am not trying to be exhaustive in the manner of Dr. Herbert Lockyer in his excellent series of books such as All the Women of the Bible, etc… Let me know your vote on “five most evil”. I’d like to know your choices. Also, what is your choice for most righteous, other than Jesus Christ?

1) Judas Iscariot. He has to be at the top of my list. His betrayal of the Lord Jesus Christ earned him that position, in my opinion. He was a conniving man, and a thief. He did not fool Jesus who gave His prophecy straight on who it was that would betray Him.(see Matthew 26:21). I know he was ordained, or chosen to this condemnation (Matthew 26:24; John 6:70; Jude 4). It was his destiny, yet he was guilty, and he was evil.
2) Pontius Pilate. He was an evil man for many reasons. Jesus told him who He was, and yet he refused to believe it, even though he said “I find no fault in this man (Luke 23:4; John 19:4,6). He washed his hands. He will try to wash them for eternity, but he cannot remove the stain of sin. Nothing can, but the blood of the very Man he had crucified. As the creed says, Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate, the only human authority who could have released Him; he wanted to do so, but he was a coward.
3) Jezebel. The first woman on our list. She was an evil woman. She was a follower of false gods. She was a witch (2 Kings 9:22). Her reputation was so scary that Elijah trembled at her promise to kill him (1 Kings 19:2), the very prophet who had stood against the prophets of Baal, and not only had victory at Mount Carmel, but brought rain to parched Israel (1 Kings 18:38, 41).
4) Pharaoh. This particular Pharaoh was ruthless and a very proud man. He refused to let Israel go, in spite of the confrontations with the servants of Jehovah; Moses and Aaron (Exodus 5:1; Exodus 8:8). He would be defeated and rise back up to obstinately oppose Jehovah’s stated purpose again. Finally he lost everything, including his first born child (Exodus 11:5-7), and eventually even his own life (Exodus 14:28; 15:19).
5) Herod. This was Herod the Great, son of Antipater, an Idumean. He was a vicious, selfish ruler who feared giving up his power to the predicted King of Israel. He had all the male children under two years old killed. He was determined to kill Christ, but God’s purpose must be fulfilled. Until then no one could kill Jesus. All the Herod family was wicked, but this one was the worst. He had several of his ten wives killed. He wanted so badly to destroy Christ, yet it is recorded that this Herod died when Jesus was very young (Matthew 2:14-18).