PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL

AUGUST 5, 1855

BY C.H. SPURGEON

The greatest man of Apostolic times was the apostle Paul. He was always great in everything. If you consider him as a sinner, he was the greatest sinner that ever lived; if you regard him as a persecutor, he was the greatest persecutor the Church has ever known, persecuting the Christians from city to city. If you look at him as a convert, his conversion was the most notable one which we have ever read, worked by miraculous power, and by the direct voice of Jesus speaking from heaven-”Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?-If we take him simply as a Christian, he was an extraordinary one, loving his Master more than others, and seeking more than others to exemplify the grace of God in his life. But if you take him as an apostle, and as a preacher of the Word, he stands out preeminent as the prince of preachers, and a preacher to kings-for he preached before Agrippa, he preached before Caesar-he stood before emperors and kings for the sake of the name of Christ.

It was the characteristic of Paul, that whatever he did, he did with all his heart. He was one of those men, who when he set to work, that all of his energies-every nerve, every muscle-were strained in the work to be done, be it evil work before salvation or good work after becoming a Christian. Paul, therefore, could speak from experience concerning his ministry; because he was the chief of ministers. There is no nonsense in what he says; it is all from the depth of his soul. And we can be sure that when he wrote this, he wrote it with a strong hand-”When I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!”

Now, these words of Paul, I trust, are applicable to many ministers today; to all those who are uniquely called, who are directed by the inward impulse of the Holy Spirit to occupy the position of gospel ministers. In trying to consider this verse, we will answer three questions this morning:-First, What is it to preach the gospel? Secondly, Why is it that a minister has nothing to boast of? And thirdly, What is that compelling and that woe, of which it is written, “I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel?”

I. The first question is, WHAT IS IT TO PREACH THE GOSPEL?

There are a variety of opinions concerning this question, and possibly among my own audience-though I believe we are very uniform in our doctrinal sentiments-there might be found two or three very quick answers to this question: What is it to preach the gospel? I will attempt to answer it myself according to my own judgment, if God will help me; and if it does not happen to be the correct answer, you are at liberty to supply a better one yourselves at home.

1. The first answer I will give to the question is this: To preach the gospel is to state every doctrine contained in God's Word, and to give every truth its proper prominence.

Men may preach a part of the gospel; they may preach only one single doctrine of it; and I would not say that a man did not preach the gospel at all if he only preached the doctrine of justification by faith-“By grace you have saved through faith.” I would put him down for a gospel minister, but not for one who preached the whole gospel.

No man can be said to preach the whole gospel of God if he knowingly and intentionally, leaves out one single truth of the blessed God. This remark of mine must be a very cutting one, and ought to strike into the consciences of many who make it almost a matter of principle to keep back certain truths from the people, because they are afraid of them.

In conversation, a week or two ago, with an eminent Christian, he said to me, “Sir, we know that we ought not to preach the doctrine of election, because it is not intended to convert sinners.” “But,” I said to him, “who is the man that dares to find fault with the truth of God? You admit, with me, that it is a truth, and yet you say it must not be preached. I would never dare to say such a thing. I would consider it supreme arrogance to have dared to say that a doctrine ought not to be preached when the all-wise God has seen fit to reveal it. Besides, is the whole gospel intended to convert sinners? There are some truths which God blesses to the conversion of sinners; but are there not other portions which were intended for the comfort of the saint? and ought not these to be a subject of gospel ministry as well as the others? And will I look at one and disregard the other? No: God has said in Isaiah 40:1, ‘Comfort, comfort my people,’ now, if election comforts God's people, then I must preach it.”

But I am not quite so sure, that after all, that doctrine is not designed to convert sinners. For the great Jonathan Edwards tells us, that in the greatest excitement of one of his revivals, he preached the sovereignty of God in the salvation or condemnation of man, and showed that God was infinitely just if he sent men to hell! that he was infinitely merciful if he saved any; and that it was all of his own free grace, and he said, “I found no doctrine caused more thought; nothing entered more deeply into the heart than the proclamation of that truth.”

The same might be said of other doctrines. There are certain truths in God's word which men condemned to silence; indeed they are not to be uttered, because, according to the theories of certain persons, when looking at these doctrines, they are not intended to promote certain ends. But is it for me to judge God's truth? Am I to put his words in the scale, and say, “This is good, and that is evil?” Am I to take God's Bible, and separate it and say, “this is husk, and this is wheat?” Am I to throw away any one truth, and say, “I dare not preach it?” No: God forbid. Whatever is written in God's Word is written for our instruction: and all of it is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. No truth of God's Word ought to be withheld, but every portion of it preached in its own proper order.

Some men purposely confine themselves to four or five topics continually. Should you step into their church, you would naturally expect to hear them preaching, either from this, “children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God,” or else, “Chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.” You know that the moment you step in you are sure to hear nothing but election and deep doctrine that day. Such men also make a mistake, quite as much as others, if they give too great prominence to one truth to the neglect of the others. Whatever is here is to be preached, “the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible, is the standard of the true Christian.

Sadly! sadly! many make an iron ring of their doctrines, and he who dares to step beyond that narrow circle, is not considered orthodox. God bless heretics, then! God send us more of them! Many make theology into a kind of treadmill, consisting of five doctrines, which are eternally rotated; for they never go on to anything else. Every truth ought to be preached. And if God has written in his word that “whoever does not believe stands condemned already,” that is as much to be preached as the truth that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” If I find it written, “O Israel, you have destroyed yourself,” that man's condemnation is his own fault, I am to preach that as well as the next clause, “In me is your help found.” We ought, each one of us who are entrusted with the ministry, to seek to preach every truth. I know it may be impossible to tell you all of it. That high hill of truth has mists on its summit. No mortal eye can see its pinnacle; nor has the foot of man ever walked on it. But yet let us paint the mist, if we cannot paint the summit. Let us depict the difficulty itself if we cannot unravel it. Let us not hide anything, and if the mountain of truth is cloudy at the top, let us say, “Clouds and darkness are around him,” Let us not deny it; and let us not think of cutting down the mountain to our own standard, because we cannot see its summit or cannot reach its pinnacle. He who would preach the gospel must preach all the gospel. He who would have it said he is a faithful minister, must not keep back any part of God’s revelation.

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