…[T]he merciful Christian is not one who shuts anybody out. He is not one who thinks anyone beneath his notice. He would be glad if he could bring to Jesus the most fallen and the most depraved! And those dear brothers and sisters who are the most completely occupied in this holy work we honor, for the lower they have to go, the greater is their honor, in the sight of God, in being permitted thus to rake the very kennels of sin to find jewels for Christ, for surely, the brightest gems in His crown will come out of the darkest and foulest places where they have been lost! “Blessed are the merciful” who care for the fallen, for those that have gone astray—“for they shall obtain mercy.” – Charles Spurgeon
Read the whole sermon text at Spurgeon Gems
We’re drawing near the end of this series, and I found this one of the most blessing and convicting sermons to read through. The truth is that each Christian, when we desire to sit under any instruction, must turn the light of truth on his own heart first. We cannot be sitting in pride towards others while hiding our own sins under a rock—the only way we can hope to bring the truth of the deadliness of sin and the true life in Jesus to another, is if we put off all arrogance, all self-aggrandizement and conceit, and humble ourselves before the throne.
In doing this we follow the path of Jesus. We follow after him when we turn to God and confess our sins, trusting his promise of forgiveness and cleansing. We follow after him when we listen to and obey God’s Word. We follow after him when we hear of someone who is hurting, and we give compassionately to serve them and heal them. We follow after him when we give without fear of loss, when we cry out in faith to God for provision, when we endure frustration and fear and insult for the sake of giving glory to Jesus. And we follow after Jesus when we live a life in prayer, because we know our weaknesses and faults and continue to pray to our Father for exactly what we should pray to him for: for the strength and will to continue to live in that state of mercy towards others.
The Christian faith is no stranger to controversy, and certainly this age has served both to improve communication as well as to provide ample opportunities to inflame disagreements. I am tempted to tie this comment to the most recent controversies over social justice but the truth is, this applies to all disagreements and controversies: brethren, show mercy to each other.
Hot and angry battles over important matters are understandable, but I have seen people anathematizing others quite literally over this issue. I’ve seen people say things that are honestly shocking to me, about brothers in the faith, implying such that says if one does not take up their rhetoric and position that they are not worthy to be called Christians. I’m really trying hard here to not call out individuals because this is not a single-issue thing either–I’ve seen it happen in similar ways over all kinds of issues the church engages the world on, everything from taxation to abortion to traffic stops.
Now I don’t want to give the impression that I’m saying, “Don’t disagree, don’t have passionate and well-considered positions on important issues.” Nor am I trying to say “Side A is well-considered and Side B is just stupid and reactionary.” What I am saying is, let’s not engage this issue the way the world is. And in saying that I can tell you that I have certainly had to keep myself in check and walk away when I would have engaged on this or other things in angry and un-Christlike ways. And to be sure, I have been guilty of this many times.
I sincerely hope that we can see public and open discussion on this and other issues within the body in a way that gives glory to Christ. That may mean that folks step out from behind their podcasts and Twitter accounts and do something literally in some kind of open forum–but why shouldn’t we want that? And certainly that may still not mean that we come to agreement, but at least we can see a bold reminder of the fact that whether you believe that the concept of social justice has a place within the church or whether you believe it is a danger to the gospel–the position that I take, for the record–we can be reminded that we are all brothers and sisters bought by the blood of Christ.
Engage with your opponent with the object of showing love and mercy. Let us bear fruit in keeping with repentance towards each other, and I think in this case it means each one of us beginning any discussion by taking a look at ourselves, being reminded of the mercy the Lord has shown us faithfully in keeping his promises to his children, and showing that same mercy to our own brethren. Pray for the one you disagree with, talk with him in seeking peace not in some humanistic sense but in the sense that demonstrates that we have been granted peace of an eternal and immeasurably greater sense with God. Do it for the sake of the name of Christ, and let truth not be forgotten but rather let it be sought in a spirit of love.
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Jon Ladner lives in Denton, TX with his wife, Rachel. He is a high school English teacher, a writer, a musician, and he has been doing audio production in varying capacities for several years. Through the Spurgeon Audio Podcast, he enjoys digging into the compelling writings of Charles Spurgeon. Visit his blog at jonladnertheturingtest.blogspot.com. Follow them on Twitter at @SpurgeonAudio, on Facebook at Facebook at Spurgeon Audio, or visit their website at https://spurgeonaudio.org.
- Charles Spurgeon’s “Morning and Evening” – December 13, Morning - December 13, 2022
- Charles Spurgeon’s “Morning and Evening” – December 10, Evening - December 10, 2022
- Charles Spurgeon’s “Morning and Evening” – December 10, Morning - December 10, 2022
