Doctrines Will Prevail!

"We have known men who believed Calvinistic doctrines, but who preached Calvinism in the morning and Arminianism in the evening, because they were afraid God's gospel would not convert sinners, so they' would manufacture one of their own. I hold that a man who does not believe his gospel to be able to save men's souls, does not believe it at all. If God's truth will not save men's souls, man's lies cannot. If God's truth will not turn men to repentance, I am sure there is nothing in this world that can. When we believe the gospel to be powerful, then we shall see it is powerful. If I walk into this pulpit, and say, "I know what I preach is true," the world says I am an egotist; "The young man is dogmatical." Ay, and the young man means to be; he glories in it; he keeps it to himself as one of his peculiar titles, for he does most firmly believe what he preaches. God forbid that I should ever come tottering up the pulpit-stairs to teach anything I was not quite sure of; something which I hoped might save sinners, but of which I was not exactly certain. When I have faith in my doctrines, those doctrines will prevail; for confidence is the winner of the palm. He who hath courage enough to grasp the standard, and hold it up, will be sure enough to find followers. He who says, "I know," and asserts it boldly in his Master's name, without disputing, will not be long before he will find men to listen to what he says, and who will say, "This man speaks with authority, and not as the Scribes and Pharisees." That is one reason why we do not succeed: we have not faith in the gospel. We send educated men to India in order to confound the learned Brahmins. Nonsense! let the Brahmins say what they like. Have we any business to dispute with them? "O, but they are so intellectual, and so clever." What have we to do with that? We are not to seek to be clever in order to meet them. Leave the men of the world to combat their metaphysical errors. We have merely to say, "This is truth: he that believeth it shall be saved, and he that denieth it shall be damned." We have no right to come down from the high ground of divine authoritative testimony; and, until we maintain that ground, and come out as we ought to do, girded with the belt of divinity,—preaching not what may be true, but asserting that which God has most certainly revealed,—we shall not see success. "We want a deeper faith in our gospel; we want to be quite sure of what we preach. Brethren, I take it, we have not the faith of our fathers. I feel myself a poor, drivelling thing, in point of faith. Why, methought sometimes I could believe anything; but now a little difficulty comes before me; I am timid, and I fear. It is when I preach with unbelief in my heart that I preach unsuccessfully; but when I preach with faith, and can say, "I know my God has said, that in the self-same hour he will give me what I shall preach; and, careless of man's esteem, I preach what I believe to be true," then it is that God owns faith, and crowns it with his own crown." —C. H. Spurgeon

Excerpt taken from a sermon titled "Gospel Missions" by C. H. Spurgeon, Published in 1883