The Spurgeon Series 1857 & 1858. Charles H. Spurgeon

father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and am no more worthy to be called your son: make me as one of your hired servants.” Off he goes. He begs his way from town to town. Sometimes he gets a lift on a coach, perhaps, but at other times he goes trudging his way up barren hills and down desolate vales, all alone. And now at last he comes to the hill outside the village, and sees his father’s house down below. There it is; the old poplar tree against it, and there are the stacks around which he and his brother used to run and play; and at the sight of the old homestead all the feelings and associations of his former life rush upon him, and tears run down his cheeks, and he is almost ready to run away again. He says “I wonder whether father is dead. I daresay mother broke her heart when I went away; I always was her favourite. And if they are either of them alive, they will never see me again; they will shut the door in my face. What am I to do? I cannot go back, I am afraid to go forward.” And while he was thus deliberating, his father had been walking on the housetop, looking out for his son; and though he could not see his father, his father could see him. Well, the father comes downstairs with all his might, runs up to him, and while he is thinking of running away, his father’s arms are around his neck, and he starts kissing him, like a loving father indeed, and then the son begins, — “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no more worthy to be called your son,” and he was going to say, “Make me as one of your hired servants.” But his father puts his hand on his mouth. “No more of that,” he says; “I forgive you all; you shall not say anything about being a hired servant — I will have none of that. Come along,” he says, “come in, poor prodigal. Ho!” he says to the servants, “bring here the best robe, and put it on him, and put shoes on his poor bleeding feet; and bring here the fatted calf and kill it; and let us eat and be merry. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost and is found. And they began to be merry.” Oh, what a precious reception for one of the chief of sinners! Good Matthew Henry says — “His father saw him, there were eyes of mercy; he ran to meet him, there were legs of mercy; he put his arms around his neck, there were arms of mercy; he kissed him, there were kisses of mercy; he said to him — there were words of mercy, — Bring here the best robe, there were deeds of mercy, wonders of mercy — all mercy. Oh, what a God of mercy he is.”

      16. Now, prodigal, you do the same. Has God put it into your heart? There are many who have been running away a long time now. Does God say “return?” Oh, I bid you to return, then, for as surely as ever you do return he will take you in. There never was a poor sinner yet who came to Christ, whom Christ turned away. If he turns you away, you will be the first. Oh, if you would only try him! “Ah, sir, I am so black, so filthy, so vile.” Well come along with you — you cannot be blacker than the prodigal. Come to your Father’s house, and as surely as he is God he will keep his word — “He who comes to me I will in no wise cast out.”

      17. Oh, if I might hear that some had come to Christ this morning, I would indeed bless God! I must tell here for the honour of God and Christ, one remarkable circumstance, and then I have finished. You will remember that one morning I mentioned the case of an infidel who had been a scorner and scoffer, but who, through reading one of my printed sermons, had been brought to God’s house and then to God’s feet. Well, last Christmas day, the same infidel gathered together all his books, and went into the marketplace at Norwich, and there made a public recantation of all his errors, and a profession of Christ, and then taking up all his books which he had written, and had in his house, on evil subjects, burned them in the sight of the people. I have blessed God for such a wonder of grace as that, and pray that there may be many more such, who, though they be born prodigal, will yet return home, saying, “I have sinned.”

      {a} Ticket of Leave (TOL) was a document given to convicts when granting them freedom to work and live within a given district of the colony before their sentence expired or they were pardoned. TOL convicts could hire themselves out or be self-employed. They could also acquire property. Church attendance was compulsory, as was appearing before a Magistrate when required. Permission was needed before moving to another district and ‘passports’ were issued to those convicts whose work required regular travel between districts. See Explorer “http://members.iinet.net.au/~perthdps/convicts/res-11.html”

      {b} William II (c. 1056-2 August 1100), the third son of William I of England (William the Conqueror), was King of England from 1087 until 1100, with powers also over Normandy, and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales. William is commonly known as ‘William Rufus’, perhaps because of his red-faced appearance. Although William was an effective soldier, he was a ruthless ruler and, it seems, was little liked by those he governed: according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, he was ‘hated by almost all his people.’ However, chroniclers tended to take a dim view of William’s reign, arguably on account of his long and difficult struggles with the Church: these chroniclers were themselves generally products of the Church, and so might be expected to report him somewhat negatively. Thus William was roundly denounced in his time and after his death for presiding over what was held to be a dissolute court, in terms which, in modern times, have raised questions over his sexuality. According to Norman tradition, William scorned the English and their culture. William seems to have been a flamboyant character, and his reign was marked by his bellicose temperament. He did not marry, nor did he produce any offspring, legitimate or otherwise. His chief minister was Ranulf Flambard, whom he appointed Bishop of Durham in 1099: this was a political appointment, to a see that was also a great fiefdom. See Explorer “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_II_of_England”

      {c} Francis Spira (d. 1548) was an Italian lawyer who became a Protestant but apostatized. He died in despair thinking himself to be a reprobate. See Explorer “http://www.puritanboard.com/f18/francis-spira-17917/”

      Preaching For The Poor

      No. 114-3:57. A Sermon Delivered On Sunday Morning, January 25, 1857, By C. H. Spurgeon, At The Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens.

       The poor have the gospel preached to them. {Matthew 11:5}

      1. John, the forerunner of Christ, had some followers who continued with him after Christ had come in the flesh, and publicly showed himself among the people. These disciples were in doubt as to whether Jesus was the Messiah or not. I believe that John himself had no doubt whatever about the matter, for he had received positive revelations and had given substantial testimonies on the subject. But in order to relieve their doubts, John said to his disciples, in some such words, “Go and ask him yourselves”; and, therefore, he dispatched them with this message, “Tell us whether you are the one that should come, or do we look for another?” Jesus Christ continuing his preaching for a while, said, “Stay and receive your answer”; and instead of giving them an affirmative reply, “I am that Messiah,” he said, “Go and show John again those things which you hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” As much as to say, “That is my answer; these things are my testimonies — on the one hand, that I come from God, and, on the other hand, that I am the Messiah .” You will see the truth and force of this reply, if you will observe that it was prophesied about the Messiah, that he should do the very things which Jesus at that moment was doing. It is said of the Messiah, in Isaiah 35:5,6: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness waters shall break out, and streams in the desert.” The Jews had forgotten this too much; they only looked for a Messiah who would be clothed with temporal grandeur and dignity, and they overlooked the teaching of Isaiah, that he would be “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” And besides that, you observe, they overlooked the miracles which it was prophesied would attend the coming of the glorious one, the King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus gave this as his answer — a practical demonstration of John’s problem, proving it to an absolute certainty. But he not only referred to the miracles, he gave them a further proof — “The poor have the gospel preached to them.” This, also, was one evidence that he was the Messiah. For Isaiah, the great Messianic prophet, had said,