Farm Sermons
By C.H. Spurgeon
Bryntirion Press. 319 pages
ISBN 1850491372
True Happiness
By Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones
Bryntirion Press. 93 pages
ISBN 1850491380
We are in debt to Bryntirion Press for bringing alive classical sermons by two great preachers of the past.
Spurgeon's style is more remote from our age, and is not exposition as judged by today's standards. In that sense it may not be the best model for preachers of today. But there is always an evangelistic punch in his preaching. He is never afraid to speak out against deadness in the life of the church. Even in the 19th century, he saw it as a wasteland and has a lovely account of church leaders who are of the 'jellyfish' variety.
Dr. Lloyd Jones is much nearer home. His exposition of Psalm 1 gives a telling insight into a great preacher on a small canvas. The Psalm is expounded clearly within its own context and the wider context of the Bible as a whole. The Doctor expounds with great logic, but also with great passion using both illustrations and quotations from poetry and well-known hymns. There is much to learn here.
But even more, the book is a telling contemporary challenge on what constitutes happiness. These sermons were originally preached in 1963 at the beginning of a New Year. They are even more relevant today. He speaks of the danger of the church compromising with a scoffing world and becoming like chaff rather than like a tree planted by the water. The main thrust of the book is that the wrong way to find happiness is to pursue it as the goal. Obedience to God and his Word is the only pathway to genuine happiness.
In both these books we are reminded not to forget the evangelistic call in our preaching, nor to be fearful of straight speaking against those forces set against the gospel. The preacher of today will be wise not to try to copy the style of either these two great men of their age. But their principles and priorities should be ours.
