26 JULY (1874)
An earnest warning against lukewarmness
‘Because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.’ Revelation 3:16
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Malachi 3:6–18
The condition in our text is one of mournful indifference and carelessness. They were not cold, but they were not hot; they were not infidels, yet they were not earnest believers; they did not oppose the gospel, neither did they defend it; they were not working mischief, neither were they doing any great good; they were not disreputable in moral character, but they were not distinguished for holiness; they were not irreligious, but they were not enthusiastic in piety nor eminent for zeal; they were what the world calls ‘Moderates’; they were of the Broad-church school, neither bigots nor Puritans; they were prudent and avoided fanaticism, respectable and averse to excitement.
Good things were maintained among them, but they did not make too much of them; they had prayer meetings, but there were few present, for they liked quiet evenings at home: when more attended the meetings were still very dull, for they did their praying very deliberately and were afraid of being too excited. They were content to have all things ‘done decently and in order’, but vigour and zeal they considered to be vulgar.
Such churches have schools, Bible-classes, preaching rooms and all sorts of agencies, but they might as well be without them, for no energy is displayed and no good comes of them. They have deacons and elders who are excellent pillars of the church, if the chief quality of pillars is to stand still and exhibit no motion or emotion. They have ministers who may be the angels of the churches, but if so they have their wings closely clipped, for they do not fly very far in preaching the everlasting gospel, and they are not flames of fire: they may be shining lights of eloquence, but they are not burning lights of grace, setting men’s hearts on fire. In such communities everything is done in a half-hearted, listless, dead-and-alive way, as if it did not matter much whether it was done or not.
FOR MEDITATION: Christians should not only ‘abstain from all appearance of evil’ (1 Thessalonians 5:22), but also beware of glorying in the mere outward appearance of good (2 Corinthians 5:12), because the Lord looks on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7).
C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 4), (Leominster, UK: Day One Publications, 2007), 218.
An earnest warning against lukewarmness
‘Because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.’ Revelation 3:16
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Malachi 3:6–18
The condition in our text is one of mournful indifference and carelessness. They were not cold, but they were not hot; they were not infidels, yet they were not earnest believers; they did not oppose the gospel, neither did they defend it; they were not working mischief, neither were they doing any great good; they were not disreputable in moral character, but they were not distinguished for holiness; they were not irreligious, but they were not enthusiastic in piety nor eminent for zeal; they were what the world calls ‘Moderates’; they were of the Broad-church school, neither bigots nor Puritans; they were prudent and avoided fanaticism, respectable and averse to excitement.
Good things were maintained among them, but they did not make too much of them; they had prayer meetings, but there were few present, for they liked quiet evenings at home: when more attended the meetings were still very dull, for they did their praying very deliberately and were afraid of being too excited. They were content to have all things ‘done decently and in order’, but vigour and zeal they considered to be vulgar.
Such churches have schools, Bible-classes, preaching rooms and all sorts of agencies, but they might as well be without them, for no energy is displayed and no good comes of them. They have deacons and elders who are excellent pillars of the church, if the chief quality of pillars is to stand still and exhibit no motion or emotion. They have ministers who may be the angels of the churches, but if so they have their wings closely clipped, for they do not fly very far in preaching the everlasting gospel, and they are not flames of fire: they may be shining lights of eloquence, but they are not burning lights of grace, setting men’s hearts on fire. In such communities everything is done in a half-hearted, listless, dead-and-alive way, as if it did not matter much whether it was done or not.
FOR MEDITATION: Christians should not only ‘abstain from all appearance of evil’ (1 Thessalonians 5:22), but also beware of glorying in the mere outward appearance of good (2 Corinthians 5:12), because the Lord looks on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7).
C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 4), (Leominster, UK: Day One Publications, 2007), 218.
26 JULY (1874)
An earnest warning against lukewarmness
‘Because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.’ Revelation 3:16
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Malachi 3:6–18
The condition in our text is one of mournful indifference and carelessness. They were not cold, but they were not hot; they were not infidels, yet they were not earnest believers; they did not oppose the gospel, neither did they defend it; they were not working mischief, neither were they doing any great good; they were not disreputable in moral character, but they were not distinguished for holiness; they were not irreligious, but they were not enthusiastic in piety nor eminent for zeal; they were what the world calls ‘Moderates’; they were of the Broad-church school, neither bigots nor Puritans; they were prudent and avoided fanaticism, respectable and averse to excitement.
Good things were maintained among them, but they did not make too much of them; they had prayer meetings, but there were few present, for they liked quiet evenings at home: when more attended the meetings were still very dull, for they did their praying very deliberately and were afraid of being too excited. They were content to have all things ‘done decently and in order’, but vigour and zeal they considered to be vulgar.
Such churches have schools, Bible-classes, preaching rooms and all sorts of agencies, but they might as well be without them, for no energy is displayed and no good comes of them. They have deacons and elders who are excellent pillars of the church, if the chief quality of pillars is to stand still and exhibit no motion or emotion. They have ministers who may be the angels of the churches, but if so they have their wings closely clipped, for they do not fly very far in preaching the everlasting gospel, and they are not flames of fire: they may be shining lights of eloquence, but they are not burning lights of grace, setting men’s hearts on fire. In such communities everything is done in a half-hearted, listless, dead-and-alive way, as if it did not matter much whether it was done or not.
FOR MEDITATION: Christians should not only ‘abstain from all appearance of evil’ (1 Thessalonians 5:22), but also beware of glorying in the mere outward appearance of good (2 Corinthians 5:12), because the Lord looks on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7).
C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 4), (Leominster, UK: Day One Publications, 2007), 218.
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