I am posting the following sermon because it speaks much about aspects of the process of dealing with sin and genuine conversion that aren’t heard much from today’s pulpits. I also included very brief narrative excerpts and links to two other posts in this blog that will help interested readers to better understand the following ideas.
Sermon Text: Isaiah 64:6-8 King James Version (KJV)
6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
7 And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.
8 But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
To read the entire 12 verses in your preferred version: https://biblehub.com/bsb/isaiah/64.htm
Sermon points are for the 29-minute excerpt; the full 50-minute sermon is also below [bracketed statements, emboldening and underscoring are mine; Spurgeon’s words are often paraphrased below, but I strove to keep his ideas]:
*One whose heart has received the light of Christ is able to see the futility of all his resolutions to be better
*Are you still making resolutions to be obedient and finding your hope therein?
*Have you strengthened your will again and again, believing you will be able to achieve obedience this time, only to fail again?
*How many times will you do so before you are able to believe Jesus words: John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
*Reforming yourself is the wrong approach
*He made a reference to the Negro cleansing himself, it was a reference to the following scripture; as that passage shows the utter futility of self-effort:
Jeremiah 13:23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.
*All of our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; what then can be said of our iniquities?
*The truly awakened soul knows that he cannot stand against temptation in his own strength
*When one is standing in his own strength, the Devil knows when to come with temptation, when one is not ready to fight; then, the vice which you’ve renounced, vowed against…will carry you away
*The believer who has received the lessons of Christ’s school, does not trust himself [For example: Moses received instruction in the school of Christ after he ran from Egypt, during his 40 years in Media, I heard another preacher state]
*[How we receive Christ’s instruction will be shown in a moment]
*Spurgeon stated that one must know himself to know Christ [I assume he meant that after he has been shown his sin, how much he loves it, his rationalization of it, his trusting in it for comfort (instead of Christ = idolatry); after he’s seen how the gracious God has borne with his continued unrepentant failings…then that miserable believer begins to see the preciousness of Christ and begins to consider trusting in him because he reasons that all else has failed and he doesn’t want to go to hell; but must be taught how to do that – Spurgeon gets into that]
*Christ’s lessons bring us to the point where we begin to mourn our sins [beatitude two, it occurs after one sees his spiritual bankruptcy, poverty of spirit, beatitude one, these two beatitudes actually make up two of the 3 major points of this sermon]
*He provides an illustration of a former preacher that taught him wrongly
*The believer who experiences the above may try to pray and not be able to utter a word; the Holy Spirit knows what those groans mean and sends them heavenward
*That we cannot even approach our God is a sin
*God must draw nigh to us before we can draw near Him [one does not determine the time table of his conversion, deliverance; God does. One reason might be that He has lessons to teach that must be learned?]
*Have you felt these things: love of self; of sin; of pride; carelessness for the things of God; inability to stop sinning even when you vow to do so; dry-eyed, ineffective repentance…?
*Such an awakened sinner believes that he is about to be cast into hell [The Pilgrim’s Progress opens with Christian experiencing this; Jonathan Edwards 5 stages of ‘the struggle of faith’ speak of this as step one and two; that is to say, this is what true believers go through on the way to being converted]
*In the above struggle, a believer discovers that he may only truly hope in Christ; all his idols and will power…are useless
*Part 2: If you see yourself in the above, do not take comfort in that; as seeing yourself therein is not the remedy for your problem.
*You must feel it to be true [I think Spurgeon means that God must give you experiential understanding of your condition by revealing to you these things in your daily struggle to walk with Him; and you must accept what He reveals such that you fall down in prayer and seek deliverance from Christ who is the only One who can deliver you]
*It is appropriate to loathe yourself for how you have loved self, sin…. Ezekiel 36 makes that very clear, see link below to explore
*Lastly: the text (Isaiah 64) suggests that we may plea to God as follows:
*”My Father” via our adoption (explained)
*”I am the clay and You are the Potter” therefore: I am helpless, worthless as clay and You can make me something worthy; I have no power or merit, have mercy on me….
*OR, “Lord it is written” that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners such as myself….
*I believe that He came to seek and to save lost sinners; I trust that He can save me — Spurgeon goes on to explain how our pride makes that kind of humiliation difficult
*****This side of the gate of hell, there is hope for you; look to Him;
*****May God, in His mercy, empty you of self, then faith will be easy, otherwise it is impossible
This first video is an 29-minute excerpt; 21 minutes were cut off the front of the whole video. However, the whole video is worth hearing many times until the message comes home; as you will not likely hear any contemporary preachers teach this truth about the process of conversion.
The following video is the entire 50 minute sermon:
The following two excerpts from other posts in this blog say the same things as Spurgeon’s sermon. The second is about the 5-stage process Jonathan Edwards discovered when analyzing the conversion experiences of those who professed conversion during the great awakening of the 1740s.
Step two of Edward’s process is what the whole of Spurgeon’s sermon was about. It is necessary to try to save oneself many times until one understands that he absolutely cannot do it. That realization moves him to step 3. The first beatitude, poverty of spirit, is then experiences. Or it may be right to say that one begins to experience it then.
JONATHAN EDWARDS: A GLIMPSE INTO HIS SPIRITUAL JOURNEY, PART 1
https://sheeplywolves.com/jonathan-edwards-a-glimpse-into-his-spiritual-journey/
The following two paragraphs are excerpts from Jonathan Edwards’ diary wherein he came to conclusions like those preached by Spurgeon above. Edwards has been compared to the apostle Paul for his faith and insights, so what he says carries some weight concerning spiritual experience.
Wednesday, Jan. 2, 1722–23. Dull. I find, by experience, that, let me make resolutions, and do what I will, with never so many inventions, it is all nothing, and to no purpose at all, without the motions of the Spirit of God; for if the Spirit of God should be as much withdrawn from me always, as for the week past, notwithstanding all I do, I should not grow, but should languish, and miserably fade away. I perceive, if God should withdraw His Spirit a little more, I should not hesitate to break my resolutions, and should soon arrive at my old state. There is no dependence on myself.
…The same humbling realization struck again the next week. Edwards found he was too weak to do anything spiritually pleasing to God. He lamented: “Jan. 15, Tuesday. … But alas! How soon do I decay! O how weak, how infirm, how unable to do anything of myself! What a poor inconsistent being! What a miserable wretch, without the assistance of the Spirit of God. … How weak do I find myself! O let it teach me to depend less on myself, to be more humble.”
The following excerpt is from a post on the sinner’s prayer shows Jonathan Edwards 5 stage ‘struggle of faith,‘ I am inserting it here because the excerpt of Spurgeon’s sermon was of his words regarding step 2 of Edwards 5 stage struggle of faith. That is a huge step and one has to experience much failure to learn the lesson that he cannot stop sinning on his own.
That is, if you never become aware of your utter sinfulness and never engage your own will in an effort to stop sinning, you will never experience this step. The problem with that is that step 2 is a required experience in the process of conversion.
THE SINNER’S PRAYER: IF THAT IS HOW YOU WERE “BORN AGAIN,” THEN PLEASE READ THIS POST TO UNDERSTAND THE DANGERS THAT THREATEN YOUR SOUL!
Edwards established a 5 stage process which he termed, the struggle of faith: 1) horror of being eternally lost; 2), the sinner’s attempt to stop sinning via his will power [it cannot be done independently of God’s Spirit]; 3), realization that only God can save him from sin; 4), conviction, the sinner beginning to see that God’s judgment is just; 5), awakening to God with genuine religious affections.
The following prominent Christians spent many years between stages 1 and 5 of Edwards standard of assessment for genuine conversion:
John Calvin, 12 years; Wesley, 23 years; Whitefield, 10 years; Fox, 12 years; Edwards, 5 years; Brainerd, 9 years; Newton, 6 years; Spurgeon, 4 years….
Lastly, something I hear the late Bob Cook say on Walk With The King, a daily 10 minute ministry, seems to be the remedy, at least in part, “Pray your way through the day.” Pray about everything during your day, that is leaning on Christ for His strength. That is no easy thing, however.
Link for Ezekiel 36 on how God would have a believer view his sin:
The Narrative that accompanied the video from the YouTube site: Christian Sermons and Audiobooks:
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Charles Spurgeon Sermon Playlist 2: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list…
What Do You Want? – Oswald Chambers / Christian Devotional / My Utmost for His Highest: https://youtu.be/0DDzA9Ymtck?list=PL7…
Charles Haddon (C.H.) Spurgeon (June 19, 1834 January 31, 1892) was a British Reformed Baptist preacher who remains highly influential among Christians of different denominations, among whom he is still known as the “Prince of Preachers.” In his lifetime, Spurgeon preached to around 10,000,000 people, often up to 10 times a week at different places. His sermons have been translated into many languages. Spurgeon was the pastor of the New Park Street Chapel in London for 38 years. In 1857, he started a charity organization called Spurgeon’s which now works globally. He also founded Spurgeon’s College, which was named after him after his death.
Spurgeon was a prolific author of many types of works including sermons, an autobiography, a commentary, books on prayer, a devotional, a magazine, and more. Many sermons were transcribed as he spoke and were translated into many languages during his lifetime. Arguably, no other author, Christian or otherwise, has more material in print than C.H. Spurgeon.