I like reading dead preachers, preachers from another era. They have much to teach us about our own times, about the fundamentally unchanged nature of man. They help us understand that there is nothing new under the sun, and therefore to take the drama out of things. Let me explain.
In his letter to the community of Philippi (which we have been studying at Abba House for several weeks), Paul encourages everyone to work out their salvation. There is a very personal aspect to this, with each person focusing on 'their' own advancement in the faith, not that of their neighbor—an injunction that runs counter to our usual inclination to remove the speck from our neighbor's eye while ignoring the log in our own.
Well, imagine that Charles Spurgeon, the prince of preachers, long before me, had dwelt on this question at great length, and I share with you some of his very delicious thoughts on the subject. Reading Spurgeon, as usual, is a treat. Let's listen to him discuss several categories of individuals:
“When they hear a sermon, they sit there with their mouths open, ready to pounce on a half-error. They condemn a man for a word, since they hold themselves to be the standard of orthodoxy, and they size up the preacher as he speaks, with the detachment of those who have been appointed deputy judges of the Great King himself. Oh, dear sir, size up your own person! It is a very good thing to have the right mind and faith, but it is even better to have the right heart.”
What a delight! Or again, and I assure you I haven't invented anything:
“A warning should be sounded to some who spend their time on curious speculations. When they read the Bible, they are not seeking to know whether or not they are saved, but rather whether we are under the third or fourth bowl, when the millennium will come, or what the battle of Armageddon is. Ah, dear sir, study these things if you have the time and the skill to do so, but give first attention to your salvation.”
And he continues:
“I know some who really need to consider their salvation. I'm talking about those who are constantly criticizing others. As soon as they arrive at a place of worship, they begin to observe the clothes and behavior of their neighbors. No one is safe from their remarks; they are judges eager for biting comments. You critics and gossips are looking at 'your own salvation.'
You condemned a preacher the other day for a supposed error, yet he is a servant dear to God who lives close to his Master; who are you, dear sir, to use your tongue against such a person?
The other day, a humble Christian was the target of your gossip and rumors, and his heart was bruised. Turn your gaze inward, turn it inward.
If these eyes, so keen when they look outward, could occasionally turn inward, they would probably see a spectacle of such horror as to take away their sight."
Oh, oh, that's strong. We have to conclude that there is definitely nothing new under the sun.
The next time someone comes to you and tells you how bad they think your preaching is, or how bad they think you are, or better yet, asks you about your doctrine on the end times, think of Spurgeon.
So I read the preachers of another era. And I understand: that man is the same, there have always been and always will be exasperating Christians, that the church has always been imperfect, and will be until Jesus returns—no, sorry, I don't have a precise timetable—and that, joy upon joy, I am one of them.
And I also understand that she remains the light of the world and the testimony of God on earth, the assembly of the saints, and that ultimately, as the same Spurgeon says, it is in the midst of her that I want to live and die.'
Is there a hallelujah in the room?
!
UNIMAGINABLE! If you hadn't mentioned the author's name, we would never have guessed that these thoughts were from the 19th century! Nothing new under the sun.