Charles Haddon Spurgeon was known as the ‘Prince of Preachers.’ A terrific biography of him can be found on the Spurgeon Center’s Blog: Who is Charles Haddon Spurgeon. 

I love to read the beautiful words of praise Charles Spurgeon preached. One of my favorite sermons is titled, John’s First Doxology.

Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit 1

JOHN’S FIRST DOXOLOGY

SEPTEMBER 2, 1883,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT EXETER HALL.

“Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” ~Revelation 1:5, 6

JOHN had hardly begun to deliver his message to the seven churches. He had hardly given in his name and stated from whom the message came, when he felt that he must lift up his heart in a joyful doxology. The very mention of the name of the Lord Jesus, “the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth,” fired his heart. He could not sit down coolly to write even what the Spirit of God dictated, he must rise, he must fall upon his knees, and he must bless, and magnify and adore the Lord Jesus. This text is just the upward burst of a great geyser of devotion. John’s spirit had been quiet for a while, but all of a sudden the stream of his love to Jesus leaps forth like a fountain, rising so high that it would seem to bedew heaven itself with its sparkling column of crystal love. Look at the ascending flood as you read the words, “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Truth is timeless. Beautiful praise for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is timeless. I like to read this sermon out loud, but I must confess, in the midst of the praise of these paragraphs, I become so touched and blessed by the Holy Spirit, I rarely reach the end of even one paragraph without breaking down into tears of joy.

I don’t know when the idea to share this sermon, over the course of a year of Sundays, came to me, but it did, and so through 2021 I hope to share a portion, and perhaps a short comment, on what the words mean to me.

‘—Fired his heart—‘ I hope my own heart is fired this year of 2021. In the midst of what seems to be so much encroaching evil I want to turn my eyes toward the Lord Jesus Christ even more. When I feel the power of the Lord Jesus rest upon me, I must do as John and Spurgeon did, I must adore Him. I must share the Good News. I must let my joy in him ‘leap forth like a fountain.’

I ask you to read the words of John and Spurgeon out loud. We can all add some praise into the cacophony of so much contemptible negativity and attempted mind-control. The best defense against evil is praising the Lord and calling upon His Holy Name. Amen.