Let's get this out of the way right at the beginning....I listened to this Charles Spurgeon sermon four times within the past four days....A Clarion Call To Saints And Sinners. You might say or think....'You listened to a sermon four times....in four days....you've lost it friend!'
Well let's look at that. It's possible that you....certainly many did....sat around the yard or park yesterday for four to six hours....just sitting in your lawn chair....laughing and talking to friends and family. Maybe you went to a baseball game...and was in the stadium for three hours.....or sat in front of NASCAR on TV....or golfed 18 holes....or sunned at the pool for four hours....or played tennis for two hours....or pickle ball.....this for the fourth time this week....or whatever? Why isn't this considered fanaticism of some sort....but listening to the glorious preached word of our glorious God....more than an hour a week.....is considered fanaticism?How many hours does a serious runner put in on the streets or the track? I used to run four and five times a week....and that is comparatively moderate. How many people read a novel a week....or more....every week of the year....and maybe four novels on vacation? How many women might spend ten times as much time in their garden....or getting their 'steps' in....than the hour they spend preparing their weekly bible study.
How many hours a week do you think that a soldier might spend in training and getting physically fit? Well it would depend....is it in a time of war....or preparing for a coming war? Well there it is....if you are a Christian....then you are a soldier....and there is a war going on all the time! That soldier can work in his or her garden....and be fighting this war at the same time....or running. I used to hit the track on hot summer days.....steam coming up from the rubber....and be praying the whole time. Where is the fanaticism there....in the running in the extreme heat....or in the praying?
I came across that sermon....from probably the greatest preacher that God has blessed his church with over the past century and a half....and I had to have it again and again. I will be listening to it again....Lord willing...in about two hours as I will be on the road. In all of these sermons from either....men of the past....or men today who preach like men of the past....I just sit there praising God for His mercies on the chief of sinners! My spirit is lifted....and my shoulders rise as I hear of the glories of my king....and how He is there....He is always there....to call to me...and give me the strength that I do not have!
So ultimately.....yes....it is fanaticism....for we are all fanatics for something.....even the lazy are fanatics in their laziness! As for that particular sermon....A Clarion Call For Saints And Sinners.....Spurgeon had labored in London for four decades. Look him up on Wikipedia sometime to see what this fanatic had done for orphans and ministers and the poor and the lost right up until he preached that sermon....which was immediately after a number of years of fighting the liberalism taking over the church....a fight that left him physically weakened.....and often discouraged.....but always visited by God's Holy Spirit to continue his soldiering until God would call him home....which was only months after he preached this sermon!
So yes I am a fanatic....but so are you! Chances are that the moment that you leave this post....you will return to the fanaticism that rules your mind. I told my wife yesterday that it is official....I am getting old. I think she rolled her eyes....but there is no retiring from soldiering! Yes others may have to pick up the dropped banner....but then some of the weapons....prayer for example....pleading and bleeding prayer....for those at the front....is a sharper sword than it has ever been.
Spurgeon's message in this sermon is....a trumpet call....right up to your ears....'Rise....and depart this place!....get back on the path.' It is a message to you because it is a message to all of us! Friend....let God bless you through this faithful minister! If I helped you here....then you will be there to help me when I become discouraged....and need to hear that trumpet call.
