MAJESTY IN MISERY
Dark Gethsemane (vol. 1 of 3)
By C.H. Spurgeon. Banner of Truth. 279 pages. £14.00
ISBN 0 85151 904 0
Banner of Truth are to be congratulated on publishing this series of sermons from the pulpit of Spurgeon, on the great theme of our Lord’s atoning death.
As one has come to expect with Banner publications, the book is superbly set out and therefore the sermons are much easier to read than in other series of Spurgeon’s works.
The centrepiece of the volume (also the subtitle) is ‘Dark Gethsemane’. Here we see displayed very clearly the remarkable way in which Spurgeon made the Scriptures live for the congregation he preached to for 30 years. We are reminded in ‘Love stronger than death’, ‘The weakened Christ strengthened’ and ‘The agony in Gethsemane’ of the matchless depths of the love of Christ in a way which is often missing from contemporary preaching. The central focus on Gethsemane vividly gives us a window into the agony of the cross.
There is a passion throughout to show that God’s just judgement and God’s holy love meet together at the cross, and this is done in a way far removed from the caricature of penal substitution which is often levelled at evangelicals. What is so striking, though, is the way Spurgeon seeks to apply the message to the heart and conscience. Perhaps this is where so much modern preaching fails.
In these sermons we find a wonderful example of preaching which stimulates the mind, moves the emotion and challenges our commitment to obey and serve a Lord who endured so much for us. Not for the first time a reviewer of Spurgeon’s sermons has one simple message — get yourself a copy!
