Sermon of the Week: “Frost and Thaw”

By / Jan 28

In January 1866, a wintry weather episode prompted Charles Spurgeon to preach a sermon titled “Frost and Thaw”. Snowflakes, ice crystals, frost, and wind can teach us truths about God. What can we learn from observing God’s power over nature?

Spurgeon first observed God’s operations in nature itself. By looking at His works in sending natural phenomena like ice and snow, we can learn about God’s character. “It seems to me […],” Spurgeon says, “to make the world so magnificent, to light it up with such a lustre and such a splendour, to think that God is in it, and that it is his ice, and his snow, and his wind, and his cold, and that everything is his […]” (emphasis added).

Secondly, Spurgeon observes how natural phenomena can teach us about God’s law and grace. Law, like a cold frost, cuts, chills, and discomforts as it exposes us, showing our corruption. Without the gospel, exposure to the law of God hardens the heart, leaving us hopeless and despairing. But grace, like a warm southerly wind, ushers in the sweetness of the gospel and God’s actions on behalf of hopeless sinners. The gospel softens the heart, awakens new life, and empowers for growth. Such truth brings the soothing warmth of joy and freedom when the sinner is united with Christ into the family of God.

Have you felt the cold sting of the conviction of sin? Thank God for it. But even more, thank Him for His thawing work of grace.

Excerpt:

Christian, be thou reminded of the goodness of God in the frost of adversity, which you feel this morning. Your losses and burdens are but God’s love dressed in black robes. Rest assured that when God is pleased to send out the biting winds of affliction, he is in them, and he is always love, as much love in sorrow as when he breathes upon you with the soft south wind of joy. Endeavour to see the loving kindness of God in every work of his hand! Praise him — he maketh summer and winter — let your song go round the year! Praise him — he giveth day and sendeth night – give him songs in the night! Despond not, for God is with you, and rejoice evermore in him. Cast not away your confidence; it shall have great recompence of reward. As David wove the snow, and rain, and stormy wind into a song, even so combine your trials, your tribulations, your difficulties, and adversities into a sweet Psalm of praise, and say perpetually —
“I will praise thee every day,
For thine anger’s passed away.”

Read the rest of the sermon here.



Sermon of the Week: “Danger. Safety. Gratitude.”

By / Jan 19

Can a Christian lose his salvation? How should we respond to the news of yet another prominent Christian falling into public sin? What are we to make of the Bible’s many warning passages addressed to Christians? How can I make it to the end?

These are the perennial questions that Spurgeon addresses in his 1874 sermon, “Danger. Safety. Gratitude.” Here, Spurgeon warns his congregation of the reality that any Christian, no matter how mature they may seem in their faith, can fall into egregious sin if they rely on their own devices. Christ alone keeps His children from evil. “If we do not fall, it is not because [the wicked] have not tried to make us fall, but because God has upheld us by his grace. If we know ourselves at all, we must have come to the conclusion that, apart from the grace of God, we are a mass of sin and corruption, and capable of anything that is evil.” Every story of backsliding that we hear stands as a warning to us of the danger of our indwelling sin and this fallen world.

But even in that grave reality, there is reason for much hope. Spurgeon reminds his congregation that although sin is always lurking at the door, safety is found in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. When we put our faith in Christ, He saves us, not just for a moment, but for all eternity. Our sin — ­­­­past, present, and future — is nailed to the cross. And He fills us with His Spirit that He might keep us to the end. “You did not have him to be a Savior for a time, to cleanse you from sin, and then to leave you to fall back into sin,” Spurgeon reminds us. “When you took him to be your Savior, I hope you took him for all your life, and for eternity. That is how he took you[.]” When temptation and sin come knocking, run to Jesus. He will guide you safely through.

Excerpt:

Christ is your Savior from beginning to end, so always regard him in that light; and as your Savior let it be very comforting to you to reflect that he is divine: “The only wise God our Savior.” He who has undertaken to save you is no mere man, and no angel; he is nothing less than the omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient God. Your peril can be averted by his omnipotent might. The hidden dangers in your pathway all lie unveiled to his all-seeing eye. You are safe, not because you can see and avoid the dangers that beset you, nor yet because you are strong, and can conquer your adversaries, but because your Savior is God, and therefore you shall be saved, continuously saved, perfectly saved, and presented as a saved one at the last.

Read the rest of the sermon here.



Sermon of the Week: “Heaven Above, and Heaven Below”

By / Jan 8

What would it look like to enjoy the privileges of heaven during life on earth?

In 1890, less than two years before his death–possibly with premonitions of his approaching entry into the Celestial City–, Charles Spurgeon preached a sermon entitled “Heaven Above, and Heaven Below”, in which he sets forth the idea that heaven is both a present and future reality.

“The fact is,” Spurgeon declares, “that heaven is God fully enjoyed.… [the one w]ho knoweth God knoweth heaven.” In heaven, God Himself will be our deep and unending delight. God has prepared a place of pure perfection for His people: every need supplied, every tear wiped away, and all evil removed. Better yet, all our desires will be transformed to reflect God’s heart. Our hearts will be pure, fixed on Christ, without a hint of sin remaining. Our sanctification will be complete.

However, the privileges of heaven aren’t exclusively reserved for the afterlife. “Think of what you are by grace,” Spurgeon continues, “and remember that what you will be in glory is already outlined and foreshadowed in your life in Christ.” As believers, we don’t have to wait until heaven to experience some of our inheritance. Through Jesus, we are justified, forgiven, and completely righteous in God’s eyes. Our Heavenly Father’s face is shining on us as brightly today as it will for all the ages to come.

As believers here on earth, we cannot possess greater riches than we already have in Christ. Christians are just as wealthy today as they will be in heaven. “The richest saint in glory has no greater possession than his God: and even I also can say, in the words of the psalm, ‘Yea, mine own God is he.’”

Does the disposition of your heart here on earth reflect your status as an heir of heaven? How does the hope of heaven shape your life in the meantime?

Excerpt:

“Already you are as much forgiven as you will be when you stand without fault before the throne of God. The Lord Jesus has washed you whiter than snow, and none can lay aught to your charge. You are as completely justified by the righteousness of Christ as you ever can be; you are covered with his righteousness, and heaven itself cannot provide a robe more spotless…. To-day we have the spirit of adoption, and enjoy access to the throne of the heavenly grace; yea, and to-day by faith we are raised up in Christ, and made to sit in the heavenlies in him. We are now united to Christ, now indwelt by the Holy Ghost: are not these great things, and heavenly things? The Lord hath brought us out of darkness into his marvellous light. Although we may, from one point of view, lament the dimness of the day, yet, as compared with our former darkness, the light is marvellous; and, best of all, it is the same light which is to brighten from dawn into mid-day. What is grace but the morning twilight of glory?”

Read the rest of the sermon here.



Sermon of the Week: “The Immutability of Christ”

By / Dec 31

Where do you look for stability in an ever-changing, tumultuous world? As the year 2025 ends and 2026 begins, we are reminded of the reality of change. Some people look to the future for a fresh start, with hope and expectation. On the other hand, others see the new year as just another indication that the “good old days” are long gone. The uncertainty of the future can bring anxiety and uncertainty. In his first sermon of 1858, Spurgeon reminds us that true stability is found only in the unchanging Christ.

“It is well that there is one person who is the same,” Spurgeon begins. “It is well that there is one stable rock amidst the changing billows of this sea of life; for how many and how grievous have been the changes of this year?” Perhaps he recalled the tragic Lewisham Rail Crash of the previous year. Two trains had collided, killing eleven people and injuring thirty others. Such tragedies remind us of the finitude of life.

Spurgeon encourages his congregation that, amid the swirling seas of life, our anchor is secure: Jesus is Lord. He never changes. His love, his Word, and his gift of salvation hold as true today as they did before time began. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.”

Excerpt:

“Should [Christ] come on earth to visit us again, as sure he will, we should find him the same Jesus; as loving, as approachable, as generous, as kind, and though arrayed in nobler garments than he wore when first he visited earth, though no more the Man of Sorrows and griefs acquaintance, yet he would be the same person, unchanged by all his glories, his triumphs, and his joys. We bless Christ that amid his heavenly splendors his person is just the same, and his nature unaffected. ‘Jesus Christ the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.’”

Read the rest of the sermon here.



Sermon of the Week: “Good Cheer for Christmas”

By / Dec 22

What are you feasting on this Christmas? The Christmas feast is a closely held tradition for countless families. Succulent ham, soft buttery rolls, heaps of mashed potatoes, and all the sides one could hope for cover the banquet table on the day of Christmas. Then, friends and family gather around the table to celebrate the coming of their Lord and His abundant blessings. 

But Spurgeon calls his listeners to feast on Christmas, not just with a physical meal, but the spiritual supper prepared for all believers, “[…] I invite you to the best of all Christmas fare—to nobler food than makes the table groan—bread from heaven, food for your spirit. Behold, how rich and how abundant are the provisions which God has made for the high festival which he would have his servants keep, not now and then, but all the days of their lives!”

First, Spurgeon urges all Christians to meditate on the feast Christ has created through His death, burial, and resurrection. All sinners are welcome at the table. No one is too dirty to partake, for the only requirement for a seat at the banquet is faith in the one who prepared it. “Come hither, all ye whose spiritual tastes are purified by grace, and feed upon this choice provision, which shall be sweet to your taste, sweeter, also, than honey and the honeycomb.”

Second, consider the banquet hall. This place of dining is the church gathered together to glorify their Messiah. Although there are distinctions among the body of believers, whether by ethnicity or geography, all who truly hold to Christ are united. “There is but one church in heaven and earth, composed of men called by the Holy Ghost, and made to live anew by his quickening power; and it is through the ministry of this church that an abundant feast is spread for all nations, a feast to which the nations are summoned by chosen herald, whom God calls to proclaim the good news of salvation by Jesus Christ.” Our local gatherings are a foretaste of that grand gathering of the universal church when Christ returns.

Finally, Christian, remember the guests invited to the table. Guests from all walks of life can come and dine. Under Christ, there is no exclusion owing to race, class, or sex. Jesus will never shut the door on those who desire to come and feast with Him. “Still is it true, ‘Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.’ Some very odd people have come to him, some very wicked people, some very hardened people, but the door was never closed in any one’s face.”

So, as you gather this Christmas with your loved ones to dine, see a picture of the eternal banquet prepared for you in the halls of heaven. Those banquet doors, which have now been thrown open for you, were opened with the coming of a baby boy, the incarnate deity, Jesus Christ the Lord.

Excerpt:

If you believe in Jesus Christ, all these things are yours. Come, poor trembler, the silver trumpet soundeth, and this is the note it rings, “Come and welcome, come and welcome, come and welcome.” The harsher trumpet of the law which waxed exceedingly loud and long at Sinai had this for its note, “Set bounds about the mount: let none touch it lest they die.” But the trumpet for Calvary sounds with the opposite note; it is, “Come and welcome, come and welcome, sinner, come! Come as you are, sinful as you are, hardened as you are, careless as you think you are, and having no good thing whatsoever, come to your God in Christ!” O may you come to him who gave his Son to bleed in the sinner’s stead, and casting yourself on what Christ has done, may you resolve, “If I perish, I will trust in him; if I be cast away, I will rely on him.” You shall not perish, but for you there shall be the feast of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. The Lord bless you very richly, for his name’s sake. Amen.



Sermon of the Week: “The First Christmas Carol”

By / Dec 12

What do you feel when you remember the story of Christmas? Indifference and a shrug of “same old story that’s told every year”? Or does your heart pulsate with joy as you hear the old story, even escalating into song? The angels sang when they announced the Savior’s birth. Their song was simple, yet each phrase swells with meaning, “the highest notes of the divine scale of praise.”

In this 1857 Christmas sermon, Spurgeon unpacks the angels’ refrain: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:14)

“Glory to God in the highest.” At the brink of the entrance of the Savior of the world, the angels offered their highest praise. Not even at the creation of the world were such praises offered. “The whole of God is glorified in Christ; and though some part of the name of God is written in the universe, it is here best read—in Him who was the Son of Man, and, yet, the Son of God.”

“Peace on earth,” they sang. The Incarnation was the inception of peace between God and man. “There had been no peace on earth since Adam fell. But, now, when the newborn King made his appearance, the swaddling band with which he was wrapped up was the white flag of peace.” The gospel inaugurates peace with God, peace with self, and peace with fellow man.

“Good will toward men,” the chorus rang out. How do we know that the Father has good will toward man? He sent His own Son to the manger and the cross. In Christ, we have a subject that ought to move us to sing for joy, especially at Christmas. “No greater proof of kindness between the Creator and his subjects can possibly be afforded than when the Creator gives his only begotten and well beloved Son to die.”

Christ has come to save! If the angels sang with such joy while ringing in the birth of Christ, how should we, the blood-bought people of God, respond?

Excerpt:
And if you say, “Lord, how shall I know that thou hast this good will towards me,” he points to yonder manger, and says, “Sinner, if I had not a good will towards thee, would I have parted with my Son? if I had not good will towards the human race, would I have given up my Son to become one of that race that he might by so doing redeem them from death?” Ye that doubt the Master’s love, look ye to that circle of angels; see their blaze of glory; hear their song, and let your doubts die away in that sweet music and be buried in a shroud of harmony. He has good will to men; he is willing to pardon; he passes by iniquity, transgression, and sin. And mark thee, if Satan shall then add, “But though God hath good will, yet he cannot violate his justice, therefore his mercy may be ineffective, and you may die;” then listen to that first note of the song, “Glory to God in the highest,” and reply to Satan and all his temptations, that when God shows good will to a penitent sinner, there is not only peace in the sinner’s heart, but it brings glory to every attribute of God, and so he can be just, and yet justify the sinner, and glorify himself.

Read the rest of the sermon here.



Sermon of the Week: “Loved and Loving”

By / Dec 8

In December 1881, while recovering from illness in France, Spurgeon sent his church a sermon to remind them of Christ’s love while he was away. The sermon was titled “Loved and Loving.” Amid trials and difficulties, Spurgeon held fast to the truth that the love of Christ is beyond description, for He is the Infinite One. Jesus sees us, His beloved, and He loves us despite how insignificant we are in comparison. “Though he be infinitely above us,” Spurgeon writes, “yet he delights to be one with all his loving ones, and of his own will he gives himself to us.” Jesus is the greatest proof of the love of the Father, who sent His Son to die for the salvation of the world. Now all people, no matter their sin, can come to the Father through Christ and receive His love, for it is not based on the sinner’s merit but on the Savior’s. “A polluted sinner may love the perfect Savior, for there is no word in Scripture to forbid.”

At the same time, Spurgeon wanted his congregation to be assured of Christ’s love, but not to let that joy lead to apathy. The Christian must be vigilant not to let their feet slip or their gaze drift. The more precious the treasure, the more care we will take in preserving it and maintaining it. “The costly vase, the product of a thousand laborious processes, may be broken in a moment; and so the supreme delight of communion with the Lord Jesus, the flower of ten thousand eminent delights, may be shattered by a few moments’ negligence.”

This Christmas season, how are you rejoicing in the love of Christ, who loved us and came for our salvation? 

Excerpt:

Christ is ours, and we know it. Jesus is present, and by faith we see him. Our marriage union with husband or wife cannot be more clear, more sure, more matter of fact, than our oneness with Christ and our enjoyment of that oneness. Joy! joy! joy! He whom we love is ours! We can also see the other side of the golden shield, for he whom we prize beyond all the world also prizes us, and we are his. Nothing in the universe besides deserves for an instant to be compared in value with this inestimable blessing. We would not change with the cherubim: their chief places in the choirs of heaven are poor as compared with the glory which excelleth,— the glory of knowing that I my best Beloved’s am and he is mine. A place in Christ’s heart is more sweet, more honourable, more dear to us than a throne among the angels. Not even the delights of Paradise can produce a rival to this ecstatic joy— “My Beloved is mine, and I am his.”

Read the rest of the sermon here.



Sermon of the Week: “Christ in You”

By / Nov 24

“Christ in you.” This is a mystery, yet this is how Paul describes the Colossian church and all who have put their faith in Christ. But what does it mean? Spurgeon shines a light on this in his 1883 sermon of the same name.

“The gospel is the grand secret: the mystery of mysteries,” Spurgeon opens. As children of God, we receive Christ, God who became man for our sake. We do not just receive knowledge of Christ, a blessing from Him, or a word from Him. Such things are glorious but fall short of the true gift: Christ Himself. “We rejoice in Christ and nothing else but Christ: Christ and no priestcraft; Christ and no philosophy; Christ and no modern thought; Christ and no human perfection. Christ, the whole of Christ, and nothing else but Christ: here lies the mystery of the gospel of the grace of God.”

To compound this mystery further is the way in which one receives Christ: through the simple act of faith. No heroic feat is needed, no standard of righteousness is required, no sin is to be overcome; salvation is by faith and faith alone. “If you are such a poor believer that you can hardly think of assurance or confidence, yet if you do trust the Lord, as surely as the sun comes in by a narrow crack, so will Christ come into your soul by the smallest opening of true faith.” That God allows us to be heirs of the infinite Christ through faith alone is a wonder that we will ponder for all eternity. 

Excerpt:

Wherefore comfort yourselves with this word, Christ in you means you in glory, as sure as God lives. There is no question about that. Go your ways and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and let men see who it is that lives in you. Let Jesus speak through your mouth, and weep through your eyes, and smile through your face: let him work with your hands and walk with your feet, and be tender with your heart. Let him seek sinners through you; let him comfort saints through you; until the day break and the shadows flee away.

Read the rest of the sermon here.



Sermon of the Week: “Fellowship with God”

By / Nov 17

What difference would it make in your life today if you walked in fellowship with God? Spurgeon found a well of deep delight in his relationship with the Lord. “[…] I am persuaded there are more delights in Christ; yea, more joy in one glimpse of his face than is to be found in all the praises of this harlot-world, and in all the delights which it can yield to us in its sunniest and brightest days.” In this 1861 sermon, the Prince of Preachers urges his congregation to examine their hearts and see if they possess true fellowship with God.

Before sin entered the world, humans enjoyed fellowship with God as the sublime delight of life. Tragically, Adam and Eve forfeited this relationship at the Fall. However, through the cross, followers of Jesus can once again experience close fellowship with the Heavenly Father.

First, Spurgeon examines what it means to have fellowship with God the Father. We have fellowship with the Father in His eternal purpose of redeeming a people for His own glory, and in the objects of our affections; namely, His Son, and His saints. We have fellowship with the Father in that we share what He delights in. What makes Him happy makes us happy.

Second, Spurgeon considers what it means to have fellowship with the Son. Believers join with Christ in His sufferings, and in some respects with all points of His life. We unite with Him in sharing the desires and aspirations He had while on earth. Furthermore, we have fellowship with Him in that He kindles our affections toward Himself. “We have […] fellowship with Christ, since his heart is set in us, and our heart is knit to him.”

Finally, Spurgeon sets forth that real fellowship with God sparks a desire for others to enjoy this same fellowship. When you taste something delicious, you want to share it. Inwardly, you feel moved to invite others to enjoy the experience with you. “You have to try this!” we implore those who have not tasted. “You’re missing out!” True fellowship with God motivates us to go and speak of what we’ve seen.

Excerpt:

“Brethren, we would that you had fellowship with us in the peace we feel with God our Father, in the access which we have to his throne, in the confidence which we have in the truth of his promise, in the overflowing joys we experience when he manifests himself to us! We would that you had our hopes, that you could look forward to death and the grave with the same delight as we can, expecting to be transformed into his image, and to see him as he is! We wish you had our faith, only more of it–that you might have the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen! We wish that you had fellowship with us in prevailing prayer, that you knew how to cast your burdens upon the Lord — that you understood how to bring every blessing from on high, by pleading the merits of the Saviour! We wish to gather up all in one, that in everything which is lovely and of good repute, in everything which is happy, ennobling, divine, and everlasting, you might be made partakers and have fellowship with us!”

Read the rest of the sermon here.



Sermon of the Week: “Concerning Saints”

By / Nov 10

“I am no saint,” is a phrase often uttered by individuals reflecting on their past. They take a cursory glance at all the actions and choices they made and know that perfection is far from them. “A true saint wouldn’t act like me,” they may sigh.

But what is a saint? Who is worthy of holding this title? Saints are individuals set apart by the Lord. They are those who have been kept by God from the foundation of the world and placed “into the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ.” All who believe in Christ are worthy of the title of sainthood. “Saints, then, are not people who are dead and buried, and are stuck up in niches for us to admire. There are saints, no doubt, before the throne of God; and we, too, are saints here below if we are what we should be, and if we have received that grace which brings with it deliverance from the reigning power of sin, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the heart.” This honor does not depend upon the one holding the title but upon the One bestowing it. They are now “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession,” (1 Pet 2:9, ESV).

Furthermore, saints of God are exalted high above the rest of creation. They are placed first in the office of sainthood by “God’s grace and mercy, because he has done the most for them.” Saints are now a new creation in Christ, and this second creation is greater than the first. “The new creation of saints infinitely surpasses the creation of the world. Saints are even placed higher than the angels who are around the throne of God […]”

So marvel, all you who have placed your faith in Christ, in this high and holy privilege that you have been given. Bear your title with humility and gratitude. Go out and proclaim to the world that this gift is available to all who believe. “Tell them that there is no life like life for God; there is no joy like joy in Christ, no riches like the riches of God’s grace, no heaven like the heaven of dwelling for ever with him.” And let all the saints praise His name.

Excerpt:

God has taken man into the nearest possible degree of consanguinity to himself, and has illustrated this by varied degrees of relationship. He has made us to be his sons and daughters, and as a corporate body he has made us to be the spouse, the bride, the Lamb’s wife. The Lord Jesus is not ashamed to call us brethren. Thus are we child, spouse, brother. The nearness of our kin to Deity ought to overwhelm us with humble gratitude and with intense delight. God has done infinitely more for us than for all his creatures besides. Rise as you may in creatureship, even till you reach the cherubim and the seraphim, if they be creatures of his hand; even above these stands the Son of God, — the Son of man,— and we are one with him. Oh, the exceeding riches of the grace and the glory of God in his saints!

Read the rest of the sermon here.