“Reflecting,
the other day, upon the sad state of the churches at the present moment, I was
led to look back to apostolic times, and to consider wherein the preaching of
the present day differed from the preaching of the apostles. I remarked the
vast difference in their style from the set and formal oratory of the present
age. I remarked that the apostles did not take a text when they preached, nor
did they confine themselves to one subject, much less to any place of worship,
but I find that they stood up in any place and declared from the fullness of
their heart what they knew of Jesus Christ. But the main difference I observed
was in the subject of their preaching. Surprised I was when I discovered that
the very staple of the preaching of the apostles was the resurrection of the
dead. I found myself to have been preaching the doctrine of the grace of God,
to have been upholding free election, to have been leading the people of God as
well as I was enabled into the deep things of His Word, but I was surprised to
find that I had not been copying the apostolic fashion half as nearly as I
might have done.
The apostles,
when they preached, always testified concerning the resurrection of Jesus, and
the consequent resurrection of the dead. It appears that the Alpha and the
Omega of their Gospel was the testimony that Jesus Christ died and rose again
from the dead according to the Scriptures. When they chose another apostle in
the room of Judas, who had become apostate, Act 1:22, they said, “Must one be
ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection,” so that the very office
of an apostle was to be a witness of the resurrection. And well did they
fulfill their office.
When Peter
stood up before the multitude, he declared unto them that “David spoke of the
resurrection of Christ.” When Peter and John were taken before the council, the
great cause of their arrest was that the rulers were grieved, because “they
taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead”
Act 4:2. When they were set free, after having been examined, it is said, “With
great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus:
and great grace was upon them all” Act 4:33. It was this which stirred the
curiosity of the Athenians when Paul preached among them, they said, “He seems
to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and
the resurrection of the dead.” And this moved the laughter of the Areopagites,
for when he spoke of the resurrection of the dead, “Some mocked: and others
said, We will hear you again of this matter.” Truly did Paul say, when he stood
before the council of the Pharisees and Sadducees, “Concerning the resurrection
of the dead I am called in question” And equally truly did he constantly
assert, “If Christ be not risen from the dead, then is our preaching vain, and
your faith is vain, and you are yet in your sins.” The resurrection of Jesus
and the resurrection of the righteous is a doctrine which we believe, but which
we too seldom preach or care to read about.”
Though I have
inquired of several booksellers for a book specially upon the subject of the
resurrection, I have not yet been able to purchase one of any sort whatever,
and when I turned to Dr. Owen’s works, which are a most invaluable storehouse
of divine knowledge, containing much that is valuable on almost every subject,
I could find, even there, scarcely more than the slightest mention of the
resurrection. It has been set down as a well-known truth, and therefore has
never been discussed. Heresies have not risen up respecting it, it would almost
have been a mercy if there had been, for whenever a truth is contested by
heretics, the orthodox fight strongly for it, and the pulpit resounds with it
every day. I am persuaded, however, that there is much power in this doctrine,
and if I preach it this morning you will see that God will own the apostolic
preaching, and will be conversions. I intend putting it to the test now, to see
whether there be not something which we cannot perceive at present in the
resurrection of the dead, which is capable of moving the hearts of men and
bringing them into subjection to the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ.”
-C.H. Spurgeon British Minister 1834-1893
