Review and Free: No Compromise by Charles H. Spurgeon

Charles H. Spurgeon. No Compromise.  Pensacola, FL: Chapel Library, September 5^th, 2014. 24 pp.

This is a sermon by Charles Spurgeon that he preached based upon Genesis 24:5-8.  Spurgeon preached this on October 7, 1888 which would have been around the infamous time of the “Downgrade controversy” in which some of the churches in the Baptist Union that Spurgeon was a part of started watering down the Gospel.  I read this book during a time that I needed to be encouraged while taking a stand on an issue that made others heated.  Knowing Spurgeon’s own battle and that he delivered this sermon during the midst of that time really ministered to me.

I picked this book because of its name and theme.  However, readers must be cautioned that I thought that the book had a slow start and in the beginning I wondered if this was a booklet that was wrongly titled.  The passage the sermon is based upon is the story of Abraham sending his servant to find a wife for his son Isaac.  For some people this might not be a passage one first think about if one wants to teach on not compromising as a Christian.  However, Spurgeon does deliver, especially the second half of the book.  He argues largely on how the servant in looking for a wife for Isaac must not compromise the standard nor in the method of seeking out what Abraham and ultimately what God wants.

As with other sermons by Spurgeon there were some memorable quotes from this message.  Here are a few that stood out to me:

• “I charge you, my fellow-servants, never to go forth to plead with men for God until you have first pleaded with God for men.”
• “My brethren, this is nothing compared with the weight which hangs on the true minister of Christ.”
• “To seek for pearls at the bottom of the sea is child’s play compared with seeking for souls in this wicked London.”
• “Unless the Lord renews the heart, men will always prefer the bird-in-the-hand of this life to the bird-in-the-bush of the life to come.
• “Isaac would never renounce his walk with the living God that he might find a wife. Yet this apostasy is common enough nowadays.”
• “True converts are never daunted by truth or holiness—these, in fact, are the things which charm them.”
• “God will save by the gospel still: only let it be the gospel in its purity.”
• “The true servant of God is responsible for diligence and faithfulness; but he is not responsible for success or nonsuccess. Results are in God’s hands.”

Free: Chapel Library

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