Father, Grant Me…

Today, I am reading through Charles Haddon Spurgeon’s sermon, ‘The Carnal Mind Enmity Against God.’ I am absolutely fascinated in God’s formation of that godly man as his instrument in preaching to his London congregation during the 19th century. First, God knew his audience. Secondly, God knew his message – first as written in his word, and delivered through the will, power, and persuasion of the Holy Spirit. Thirdly, God imparted to Spurgeon his wisdom and discernment of those who attended his church, and who the target audience was from Sabbath to Sabbath. Amazing… wonderful!

Now, how do I know this? I know because reading his sermons I see how God communicated his weekly message to those who were in Spurgeon’s congregation: which included those among the elect; and those among the called and those to be later chosen. In reading his sermons, I had a clear idea of whom he was preaching to: some Sabbaths, he spoke directly to those who professed a belief in Christ Jesus, but asserting statements that the non-believer would argue against, such as the veracity of the Bible. He would deliver his sermon as if their opinion didn’t matter… not in context to the message he had that day (such as the sermon mentioned.) In other sermons, he would direct his message to the non-believer. Using the example of the Bible, Spurgeon directly spoke in defense of the Bible as God’s inspired word in his sermon, ‘The Bible.’

Now, why is this fascinating to me? Because in seeing this mastery that God gave Spurgeon in knowing both God’s word but also God’s audience… it inspires me to be better at prayer in anticipation of meeting the public… more attentive in hearing… discerning the needs of those I come into contact with… and, finally, knowing the specific need(s) of others, asking the Lord to grant me the words to speak in truth, love and patience… for the fruit to be picked is not to picked until ripened… and our Lord is master of the harvest.