It was one of the very last sermons that Charles Haddon Spurgeon would give in his long ministry. It was May of 1891....and Spurgeon....55 years old at the time....would go to be with his Lord in January of 1892. The audio sermon is available about twenty posts below this....with a link to a British gentleman reading the sermon....for we do not even have Spurgeon's voice recorded let alone a whole sermon that he preached.
I gave a pretty audacious title to the post and the link....The Most Penetrating....Maybe The Clearest....And Certainly The Most Urgent Evangelistic Sermon That I Have Ever Heard. Spurgeon titled the sermon....An Urgent Request For An Immediate Answer. I listened to it again last evening....and then I decided to read the transcript. Here is why....
A good part of the beginning of the sermon is on Genesis 24 where Abraham sent his servant to his original country to bring back a wife for Isaac. This alone is an astounding portion of God's Word....but if you are not familiar with it during the sermon....you can get lost. So please....read Genesis chapter 24 in preparation....and then prepare to hear or read the product of the mind of one of God's greatest evangelists!
The evangelistic call in this sermon is somewhat different....probably....than anything you will have ever heard. Spurgeon had preached for forty years up to this point....the church in England was collapsing....and contained in the sermon was forty years of accumulated wisdom....along his knowledge that he probably had few years left on this earth....all this gave him the urgency in this sermon.
What comes to mind as I type this is a sinking ship. Some of the passengers....possibly as on the Titanic as they were beginning to fill the few lifeboats....hesitated on entering a lifeboat....thinking that surely that ship would not....even could not....sink. Orders were barked....get in the boats....or get out of the way.
We should not need examples like this for none of us knows if this is not the day that we will die. I'm reminded of Bing Crosby's death. He had just completed a round of golf in Spain....and was 74....only a year older than I am....and shot an 85....not to confuse you. He said to the person walking with him...."Let's go get a Coke"....and collapsed....possibly dying before he hit the ground. The death of Pete Maravich at 40 comes to mind also....on a basketball court....with James Dobson by his side. It was reported that his last words were...."I feel great."
So we should not need reminded of these things but Spurgeon was a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He had watched people in the pews hem and haw....some of them for decades. I have witnessed the exact same thing. That is what makes this sermon different. If you are one of these folks who remain uncommitted....you need to hear this sermon....or read it.
If you are a Christian who has loved ones that fall into that category....you should heed Spurgeon's message in this sermon.
Spurgeon used Abraham's servant as an example. When he found the young woman that he was sure was perfect for Isaac....he wanted an answer right them if she would go back with him. Again and again in this sermon....Spurgeon told the unbelieving hearers in the pews....make your decision right now....for otherwise you will hem and haw forever.
Folks....time is short before Jesus Christ returns with His mighty angels. I will give one anecdote that Spurgeon related. It was about Benjamin Franklin. A man was in his store and interested in a certain book but wanted to get Franklin down in his price. He asked him how much the book was and was told...."a shilling".....the man hemmed and hawed and asked...."Come, Mr. Franklin, now what will you take for it?" Franklin responded...."Two shillings." The man stewed for a while and asked again...."I want the book but will not give two shillings....what will you take for it." Maybe you know what Ben Franklin said....."Three shillings." Spurgeon's message here was that it gets harder as time goes on!
You will find this sermon powerful.....and humbling....possibly even devastating! Spurgeon also said that if one gives no answer....then they are giving an answer of no.....no....they are admitting that they do not believe in Christ....no....they will not follow him.
So will you listen to or read this sermon? Yes or No? Do you want to make sure your salvation? Not answering this question....is answering....no.....you do not want to make sure your salvation.....no....you are not interested in these things.
Addendum: On June 7, 1891 Charles Haddon Spurgeon gave his last sermon.....this in the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London. His son and successor.....Thomas Spurgeon....fourteen years later.....recited his father's last words from that pulpit....into an Edison recording machine. These were those last words....
"If you wear the livery of Christ, You will find him so meek and lowly of heart that you find rest unto your souls.
He is the most magnanimous of captains.
There never was his like among the choicest of princes.
He is always to be found in the thickest part of the battle.
When the wind blows cold he always takes the bleak side of the hill.
The heaviest end of the cross lies ever on his shoulders.
If there is anything that is gracious, generous, kind, tender,
yea lavish and superabundant in love, you always find it in him.
His service is life, peace, joy.
Oh, that you would enter on it at once!
God help you to enlist under the banner of JESUS CHRIST!
