That was one full of wisdom post. I apprciate your study skills Daniel. Another outstanding gift from our Lord to you, and for us.

I was thinking of the different intensity each of us might have in our hearts for others come to Christ. I was speaking with a Salvation Army worker the other day, as he rang his bell next to his donation pot, and I mentioned how William Booth was a man who had such a fire in his belly for souls, that you are standing here and gathering money and are connected to him, who lived over a hundred years ago. This particualr worker wasn't really aware of the history of SA. But it was a pleasant time, and an encouragement to him.

I, myself, have moments of great longing for the lost to be found. But for the most part I don't. Though I want it for sure all the time. And this is of course the Holy Spirit, who cahanged my heart, and abides with me, and in me.

So, I would agree with brother Charles that every Christian must have a tender heart for the lost; even the most vile sinner.

"For, but for the grace of God, there go I."- John Newton (I think)

Thanks Daniel. And a Merriest Christmas to you and your lovely fam! And my Merry is a "Joy to the World! The Lord has Come!", Merry Christmas!

 

Don,

In the context of the original quote, Spurgeon was addressing a charge being made against evangelicals at the time, that they were being selfish in looking after their own salvation. Spurgeon notes that since salvation from sin necessarily means salvation from selfishness, the charge was moot. He remarked that it was a quintessential point in salvation to be set free from that hardness of heart and clarelessness about others that attends the unregenerate. Thus, anyone who had (absolutely) no desire to see the lost come to Christ can hardly be called "saved" - for what have they been saved from?

The catch here though is the same catch for all sin, and we must be careful with it, lest we damn those who are not damned. No believer is without sin, so that every believer will be selfish at times. The truth is that even believers, when they are carnal, will not have a desire to see people saved.

Salvation has not (yet) redeemed our sinful flesh, otherwise we would rightly argue that anyone who fails to always desire that the lost be saved, is in fact unsaved, and lo, we would be wiser than angels who themselves are not discerning enough to know who are the tares and who are the wheat.

When I first heard this quote, I trembled before it, because I knew in my heart that my love for the lost is at best halting and beggarly. It is a shame that so many people quote it as an absolute, as though it were the sniff test for true™ Christianity. We should all be so dependant upon our Lord that such selfishness finds no purchase in us, but who among us is consistently so?

 

clarelessness? er, I mean carelessness.

 

Merry Christmas to you also Don. I looked this one up because I hear it quoted so often in the Arminian camp, and used so often to solicit (what amounts to) an entirely guilt/fear driven carnal effort in people to suddenly love the lost --or else!

That kind of talk sounds great in the pulpit, but has no power to free a man from the same bondage that makes him tremble.

Remembering that Christians are not perfect, but being sanctified, is not meant to excuse our lovelessness, but rather to encourage us when the enemy would use our lack of growth to further pin us down in our immaturity. Knowing that God truly loves us, and learning to walk in that love - trusting in His promises, and circumventing these snares, is the heart and soul of Christian growth.

But I digress.

 

"That kind of talk sounds great in the pulpit, but has no power to free a man from the same bondage that makes him tremble."

Got ya. Good word Daniel. I have grown to know your heart over the years, and it's wonderful how you pull out these deep truths from Scripture from your heart as well.
Even though our hearts are desperately wicked, we are indwelt with God the Holy Spirit of comfort and peace and joy and love.

Thanks for edifying me Daniel.

And I look forward to one day being in heaven with you, and all my other comrades in Christ, and we can all gaze upon Jesus, and enjoy Him forever and ever without sin anymore.

 

Wow, thanks for this. I will certainly be referencing this often when I see Spurgeon being quoted. It seems there are some folks who quote these exact snippets as if to say anyone who isn't on the street corner preaching every night is in some kind of danger. I love our evangelist friends, but not all have been called to be evangelists.

 

it's 2021 and i've come across these posts, actually almost in tears, as i remembered this exact post by Spurgeon. There was a time that i had this desire for the lost - it was right when the LORD saved me. and something has happened that bound me in the fear of men. I know, when i fear men, i don't fear GOD - i guess that's a famous quote as well. Due to the fact that I once had this desire to see people saved and now somehow no longer, already gives me the impression that I seem to have probably shipwrecked in my faith myself. I wonder what happened along the way....
i seem to be lukewarm; and JESUS said HE will spit those out that are lukewarm. So, HE will spit me out. Even this doesn't cause something like panic within me! I must be cold hearted and numb as one can be.
and no, please don't say 'the fact that you are thinking about these things, proves that you're not!' i believe this is nonsense. the fact is that i feel i'm lukewarm, i feel and see that i don't do the things one should do if he's saved...
well, i guess i just wanted to get these thoughts off my shoulder somewhere...

 

Anonymous

Thanks for posting.

In 2 Tim, Paul thanks God for Timothy's sincere faith - a faith Paul writes, that was in both Timothy's mother and grandmother. I ask myself why Paul mentions the sincerity of Timothy's faith, or that this same faith was likened to the faith of others in Timothy's life?

I think the answer is found in the verses that follow - where Paul encourages Timothy to stir up the gift that is in him. Generally, we don't tell people to stir something up, unless we have a reason to believe it is stagnant. From the salutation - it seems Timothy was struggling in his faith and that this struggle was choking out the gift that was in him.
Paul doesn’t chastise Timothy for such a struggle, but rather encourages Timothy to rekindle the gift that was in him.
Remember the woman who as sick for 18 years, bound up by a spirit we are told (Luke 13) such that she was bent over doubled and couldn’t straighten herself out?

Your situation sounds similar to my ears. You once walked well, but for years now you’ve been hobbled, and feel like you can’t be free from it. If it was a spirit that kept this woman bound up like this – it could well be a spirit that has you in bondage – maybe your bondage isn’t physical – but it is certainly a kind of bondage.

Our Lord's response to that woman who endured 18 years of bondage is instructive:

"You hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead him away to water him? And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath Day?"

Aren’t you in a kind of bondage – spiritual bondage? I commend you to appeal to our Lord who sets the prisoners free. Not as a beggar coming for a crumb, but as a son seeking freedom from a bondage that is more powerful than you are. Humble yourself before God – that means to submit yourself to His rule, to the point that you view yourself as having no “right” to disobey God, or to act on your own desires. If you believe that God is God, and that His way is right and good. Then you ought to walk in that same way for the same reason.

I hope you overcome this.