posted by Phil Johnson
The PyroManiacs devote some space each weekend to highlights from The Spurgeon Archive. The following excerpt is from "A Sermon for New-Year's Day," a message preached on Thursday Evening, 1 January 1885 at the Met Tab.
e ought not, as men in Christ Jesus, to be carried away by a childish love of novelty, for we worship a God who is ever the same, and of whose years there is no end.In some matters "the old is better." There are certain things which are already so truly new, that to change them for anything else would be to lose old gold for new dross. The old, old gospel is the newest thing in the world; in its very essence it is for ever good news.
In the things of God the old is ever new, and if any man brings forward that which seems to be new doctrine and new truth, it is soon perceived that the new dogma is only worn-out heresy dexterously repaired, and the discovery in theology is the digging up of a carcase of error which had better have been left to rot in oblivion.
In the great matter of truth and godliness, we may safely say, "There is nothing new under the sun."
12 comments:
ahh, Ecc 1:10, the affixed scripture in my blog header, suffice it to say.
the new is never new.
In prayer, I often just sit in amazment and complete awe (and thankfulness!) at how little we really do know down here, (if there was a "down here")
my greatest impression is how minute our understanding of God really is. Even the wisest one of us, past and present barely scratch the surface of understanding.
His grace is more than sufficient.
His grace is sufficient, indeed.
His Word a wellspring of living water that quenches the soul, and layer by layer lifts the veils that blind us.
How great is our God, I love Him so.....
"...childish love of novelty..."
Spurgeon was such a great wordsmith, able to capture a whole feeling or dynamic in a few, well chosen words.
Isn't this what we're seeing so much of today? Childishness, in resistance to and petulance toward authority; and novelty, in that almost anything can be spouted in church and legitimized simply because it's "new."
Amen to the prince of preachers, and to northword and johnny.
Now off to worship our Savior, and to bring Him sacrifices of thanksgiving and praise for His great mercy.
Have a great Lord's day.
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True, that.
The grand total of people I've banned in over a year has now risen, I believe, to one (1).
I wish we could actually -ban- people, and that we had an active list of who has been banned just for personal reference.
I'm just sayin'. I mean, as far as I can remember, Chamblee and bob.blog are banned, and this guy who keeps cussing or whatever this weekend.
Anyhoo, getting back to Spurgeon, amen. There are no new heresies under the sun! We are viscerally inclined to evil (Deuteronomy 31:21; Romans 3:10-18), and our righteousness is but filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). How did those "new" and "innovative" approaches at worshipping God on our own terms work out for the Babelites with their tower and the Israelites with their golden calf?
3500 years ago, God decreed that of the entire generation He had miraculously delivered out of Egypt—even Moses, and except for Joshua and Caleb—not a single one would not set foot in the Promised Land due to their stubborn grumbling and complaining, despite the divine Grace that they had witnessed and been the beneficiaries of. 3000 years ago, David wrote in Psalms 14 and 53, "There is none who does good, not even one." There is nothing that any of us we can do to purify ourselves before a holy God who cannot abide sin. 2000 years ago, Paul quoted those psalms in his letter to the Romans (3:10-18). Our plight was set out over 2000 years ago—nothing has changed since then.
There has only been one other constant that is relevant to us, beside man's utter depravity: God's redeeming Grace. We stand condemned by His holy Law, and there is nothing we can do to save ourselves, but entrust ourselves to the Lord and learn to rely wholly upon His grace that we don't deserve, our sins paid for by the Lamb, Jesus Christ, the Son of God whom God gave so that we could have eternal life.
I've read this excerpt before, and enjoyed reading it again :)
Thanks for this...I was preaching on Jeremiah's call to "stand in the ancient paths" this week and this quote fit in perfectly.
I love listening to the classic sermons from Spurgeon. My grandmother showed me this and it's become a favorite of mine.
,Spurgeon Audio Sermons
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