The personal testimony of Charles Haddon Spurgeon

A couple of days ago, I came across the personal testimony of one of the greatest preachers of the Christian Gospel in the 19th century - Charles Haddon Spurgeon. As his situation may apply to others, I am going to share his testimony on this blog. May it be a blessing to someone. ("Editorial" inserts are in brackets, and in this Italic font).

"I thought the sun was blotted out of my sky - that I had so sinned against God that there was no hope for me. I prayed - the Lord knows how I prayed; but I never had a glimpse of an answer that I knew of. I searched the Word of God; the promises were more alarming than the threatenings. I read the privileges of the people of God, but with the fullest persuasion that they were not for me. The secret of my distress was this: I did not know the Gospel. I was in a Christian land; I had Christian parents; but I did not fully understand the freeness and simplicity of the Gospel."

(I wonder - is there someone reading this post who identifies with the young C.H.Spurgeon? Someone who is going through the same, or similar, thought processes? Do read on!)

"I attended all the places of worship in the town where I lived, but I honestly believe that I did not hear the Gospel fully preached. I do not blame the men, however. One man preached the divine sovereignty. I could hear him with pleasure; but what was that for a poor sinner who wished to know what he should do to be saved? There was another admirable man who always preached about the law; but what was the use of ploughing up the ground that wanted to be sown? Another was great practical teacher. I heard him - but it was very much like a commanding officer teaching the manoeuvres of war o a set of men without feet! What could I do? All his exhortations were lost to me. I knew that it was said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31), but I did not know what it was to believe in Christ.

I sometimes think that I might have been in darkness and despair now, had it not been for the goodness of god in sending a snow-storm one Sunday morning when I was going to a place of worship. When I could go no further, I turned down a court and came to a little hall. In the hall there were a dozen, or fifteen, people. The minister did not come that morning - snowed-up, I suppose. A poor man, a shoemaker, a tailor, or something of that sort, went up into the pulpit to preach.

He was obliged to stick to his text, for the simple reason that he had nothing else to say. The text was: "Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth." (Isaiah 45:22). He did not even pronounce the words rightly, but that did not matter.

There was, I thought, a glimpse f hope for me in the text. He began thus: "My dear friends, this is a very simple text indeed. It says, "Look". Now that does not take a great deal of effort. It isn't lifting your foot or your finger. It is just "Look". Well, a man need not go to a college to learn to look. A man need not be worth a thousand pounds a year (a very large sum in 1850!) to look. Anyone can look. A child can look. This is what the text says: "Look unto Me."

"Aye," he said, many of you are looking to yourselves. No use looking there. You'll never find comfort in yourselves. Some look to God the Father. No: look to Him by and by. Jesus Christ says "Look unto Me." Some of you say, "I must wait for the Spirit's working." You have no business with that just now. Look to Christ. It runs, "Look unto Me."

Then he followed up his text in this way: "Look unto Me; I am sweating great drops of blood. Look unto Me; I am hanging on the cross. Look! I am dead and buried. Look unto Me; I rise again. Look unto Me; I ascend; I am sitting at the Father's right hand. Oh look unto Me! Look unto Me!"

When he had spoken about ten minutes, he looked at me under the gallery and, I dare say, with so few present, he knew me to be a stranger. He then said: "Young man, (he was fifteen years of age)  you look very miserable." Well, I did; but I had not been accustomed to have remarks made on my personal appearance, from the pulpit, before! However, it was a good blow struck. He continued: "And you will always be miserable - miserable in life, and miserable in death - if you do not obey my text. But if you obey now, this moment, you will be saved."

Then he shouted, "Young man, look to Jesus Christ!" I did 'look'.

There and then the cloud was gone, the darkness had rolled away, and that moment I saw the sun. I could have risen that moment and sung, with the most enthusiastic of them, of the precious blood of Christ, and the simple faith which looks to alone to Him. Oh, that somebody had told me that before: "Trust Christ, and you shall be saved."

It was, no doubt, wisely ordered, and I must ever say:
"E'er since by faith I saw the stream

Thy wounds supplied for me;

Redeeming love has been my theme,

And shall, for ever, be." "

The power of the Blood.

This morning, in L'Église Évangélique Libre, in Bergerac, was another first - for me! Having already been the first native English speaker to preach in French, I spoke this morning at the monthly bi-lingual worship service - in BOTH English and French (i.e. I provided my own translation of the English into French!). The response, I am happy to be able to say, was very positive - with one native Frenchman even asking me, afterwards, if I would give him some French lessons!!! (he was joking, of course!).

I'm not going to provide the text of the message here (it should be online at http://eel-bergerac.fr/apercu.htm within a few days), but do want to share a story that I included in the message which, itself, was on the Power of the Blood of the Christ. For the benefit of the few who follow this blog, and who speak French - either as a first, or second, language - I will provide both versions!

The story is told of an old woman who lay dying.  Her pastor visited her.  “I am told,” he said, “that you are dying”.  “Yes”, she replied.  “And have you made your peace with God?” asked the pastor.  “No”, came the simple response.  “And aren’t you afraid to meet God without having made your peace with Him?” “Not at all”, was the answer that startled the pastor.  He grew more earnest.  “Dear woman,” he asked, “do you realise that you have but a short time to live, and that you must soon meet a holy God?”  “I do.”  “And you are not afraid?”  “Not at all.”  “And you haven’t made your peace with Him?”  “No.”  “Whatever are you thinking of?” cried out the pastor.  A smile passed over the features of the dying woman.  “I have not made my peace with God because I do not need to do so. Jesus made peace, almost 2,000 years ago, through His blood, shed on the Cross, and I am simply resting in the peace He made!”

On raconte l'histoire d'une femme agée mourante. Son pasteur lui rend visite. « On m'a dit, » dit-il, « que vous êtes mourante ». « Oui », répondit-elle. « Et avez-vous fait la paix avec Dieu? » demanda le pasteur. « Non », fut la simple réponse. «Et n'avez pas peur de rencontrer Dieu sans avoir fait la paix avec Lui? » «Pas du tout». Cette réponse fit tressaillir le pasteur. Il devint plus sérieux. « Chère madame, » demanda-t-il, « ne réalisez-vous pas que vous avez peu de temps à vivre, et que vous devez bientôt rencontrer le Dieu saint?» «Je le sais.» «Et vous n'avez pas peur?» «Pas du tout. » « Et vous n'avez pas fait la paix avec Lui? » « Non ! » « A quoi pensez-vous? » s écria le pasteur. Un sourire s’afficha sur les levres de la femme. « Je n'ai pas fait la paix avec Dieu parce que je n’ai pas besoin de la faire. Jésus a fait la paix, il y a près de 2000 ans, par Son sang, versé sur la Croix, et je peux tout simplement me reposer sur la paix qu'il a faite! »

The lesson from the story concerned the happiness of those who have learned to thus rest in the peace that the Christ has made - peace between sinful people like you and like me - through His own blood, shed at Calvary. As Paul write to the early believers in Ephesus, "In Him [Jesus] we have redemption through His blood" (1:7). Jesus has paid the debt that we owe, but that we could never repay. Because of His perfect sacrifice, the just demands of God's law have been fully met, and we may enter into communion with our Creator.

Have you entered into that peace? It is available to all - regardless of your social position; your educational achievements; your employment (or lack thereof!); your financial standing; the size of your home, or car, or wide-screen television set; or any other of the many criteria by which society tends to measure and judge us. All that we need to do - but it is a BIG "all" - is to confess to our sinfulness; accept that we are unable to do anything about it; receive the offer of salvation that is made to us; and turn away from the sins that weigh us down. Not something that we are capable of doing on our own, but that can be achieved as we open ourselves to the working of God the Holy Spirit - the "Breath of God" in the Hebrew language - and let Him have His way in our lives.

Are you resting in the peace that is offered in Christ Jesus? You may do so - and you will never regret it, either in this life, or in eternity.