Latest / Reformed Thinking / Prosperity Under Persecution (Exodus 1:10-12) | Charles Spurgeon

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Prosperity Under Persecution (Exodus 1:10-12) | Charles Spurgeon · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to another deep dive on reformed thinking.
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Glad to be here. Yeah, so today imagine an empire
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that is just doing everything in its capacity to crush a minority
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population. Right, Like totally mobilizing
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the state against them. Yes, absolutely.
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Yeah. We are talking about state
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sponsored slave labor, relentless psychological
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warfare, and then eventually legalized infanticide.
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It is a horrifying scenario to even picture.
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It really is. But here's the thing.
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As the Empire swings its heaviest hammers, the officials
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totally fail to realize that every single blow is forging the
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specific weapon that will guarantee their own destruction.
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Wow. Yeah, it is a historical
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paradox. It is it is this paradox where
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fierce opposition against a group of people predictably
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results in their multiplication and their spiritual growth.
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Which is a scenario that completely defies conventional
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human logic. I mean, you expected people
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under that much pressure to just vanish, but instead they
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multiply. Precisely so if you have ever
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felt cornered by circumstances or opposed for your beliefs,
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this deep dive is going to show you how those specific pressures
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are repurposed by a sovereign God.
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And we are looking at a specific text to ground this right.
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We are we are examining a historical sermon by Charles
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Haddon Spurgeon. It is titled Prosperity under
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Persecution. That is such a striking title.
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Yeah, and it focuses on a passage from the Book of Exodus
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chapter 1, verses 10 through 12. We are looking at the Israelites
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in Egypt generations after Joseph has died.
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Right. So the whole dynamic in the
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country has shifted drastically. OK, let's unpack this.
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Because when you look at Pharaoh's strategy, it was not
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just blind rage. You know, he was doing
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geopolitical math. That is a highly accurate way to
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frame it. The situation in Egypt at this
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time is basically a master class in political anxiety and
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calculation. How so?
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Well, you have a new pharaoh, right?
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And the ruling class of Egypt views themselves as vulnerable.
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They look at the Israelites who have lived in the region of
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Goshen for generations and they see a massive separate
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population. And they are multiplying at an
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astonishing rate. Yes.
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So Pharaoh's fear is intensely pragmatic.
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He thinks if an invading army comes across our borders, this
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massive population of Israelites might ally with our enemies.
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Right, they might fight against us and then leave the country.
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Exactly. I mean, absolutely.
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It is a classic national security crisis in the mind of
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the Egyptian king. He assumes they represent 1/5
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column, like a sleeping threat from within.
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Yes, the text states that, Pharaoh said.
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Come on, let us deal wisely with them.
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Which is fascinating language. Deal wisely.
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Right, because that is worldly wisdom in action.
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It is shrewd, highly logical from a purely earthly
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perspective, and entirely devoid of any consideration of the
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Divine. So his solution is not wholesale
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slaughter at first. No, he opts for systemic
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subjugation. He decides to enslave them,
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scatter them into grueling manual labor, and force them to
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build treasure cities, specifically Pitham and Ramses.
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The goal there is psychological as much as it is physical, I
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think. Oh, without a doubt.
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By crushing their bodies with bricks and mortar under the
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brutal heat of the Egyptian sun, he intends to break their
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spirits. Because a broken people do not
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rebel. Right, and furthermore, A
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severely overworked, physically exhausted people do not
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reproduce at the same rate. That was the calculation.
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And if this were just a normal conflict between an Egyptian
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king and a nomadic clan, that plan would have worked.
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Florida State IT. Totally would have.
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The Egyptian Empire possessed the resources, the military
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backing, and the institutional framework to just erase the
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Israelites from history. But the true battle is not
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between Pharaoh and the sons of Jacob.
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No, it is not the. True battle is between Pharaoh
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and Jehovah. And that shifts the entire
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board. It really does.
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It is no longer a localized geopolitical dispute.
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It actually makes me think of martial arts, specifically
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Aikido. Oh, that is an interesting
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comparison. How so?
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Well, if you look at Aikido, the core philosophy is based on not
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meeting force with force. Like if someone throws a heavy
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punch at you, you do not stand there and try to punch their
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fist to stop it. Right.
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That just results in broken bones, yeah.
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Instead, a grandmaster of aikido will step to the side, take hold
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of the attacker's wrist, and use the attacker's own forward
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momentum to throw them off balance.
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Oh, I see where you're going with this.
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Right. The harder the enemy strikes,
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the more aggressive their forward motion is, the more
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spectacular their own defeat becomes.
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That is a great visual. And God acts like that
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grandmaster. He takes the aggressive,
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destructive momentum of Pharaoh's political machinery,
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and Florida State redirects it to achieve his own sovereign
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purposes. What's fascinating here is that
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God does not just put up a shield to bounce the evil away.
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He said that just block it. No, He actively subjects that
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evil to his eternal decrees. He guarantees that the very
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thing designed to destroy his people will actually benefit
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them and glorify His name. Spurgeon points out that God
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meets the rage of the enemy calmly and quietly.
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The census numbers prove the total error of Pharaoh's
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calculation. The biblical text notes that the
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more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew.
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It just backfired completely. Pharaoh applies the pressure and
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the Israelites respond like certain herbs that release their
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strongest scent only when they are violently trodden down.
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Or like those trees that grow taller and stronger when heavy
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weights are hung on their branches.
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Yes, exactly that kind of natural resilience triggered by
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opposition. But wait, I have to ask if God
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is sovereign, punishing an entire generation with brutal
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slavery just because they got a little too comfortable with
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Egyptian cucumbers seems wildly disproportionate.
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It is a tough thing to wrestle with.
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How does Spurgeon justify the severity of the mechanism?
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Why did God allow the Israelites to suffer under the whip of the
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taskmasters in the first place? It is a vital question to
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understand the necessity of the affliction.
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We have to look at the state of the Israelites before the
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persecution started. OK, set the scene for us.
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They were living in Goshen, which was prime real estate.
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Oh yeah. The best of the land.
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It was fertile. It was separate from the main
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hustle of the Egyptian cities initially, and they had settled
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down quietly. They thought it was their
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permanent rest. Spurgeon lists out their diet,
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which paints a very specific picture.
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Yes, he mentions they loved the leeks, the garlic, the onions,
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the melons and the cucumbers. They had full belly and a
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comfortable routine. Very comfortable, they were very
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satisfied with the physical, sensual pleasures of their
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environment. And that physical comfort LED
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directly to cultural and spiritual assimilation, didn't
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it? It absolutely did.
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They were adopting the manners and customs of the Egyptians.
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Spurgeon notes that it is on record that they actually
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worship the gods of Egypt. Wow, so they were basically
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losing their religion? They were becoming virtually
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indistinguishable from their host nation.
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If you were a traveler passing through, apart from maybe some
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slight differences in language or family structure, you would
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have assumed they were just native Egyptians.
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They had forgotten their distinct identity as the seed of
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Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Yes.
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They were losing their covenantal identity.
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So the Taskmaster's whip, as brutal as it was, served as a
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severe discipline to break that illusion.
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It was a shocking wake up call. When they were forced to hear
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the crack of the whip from morning until night, when they
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were scattered up and down the country doing incessant back
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breaking toil, Goshen was no longer dear to them.
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Not at all, they suddenly realized.
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We are not Egyptians. We are strangers here.
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We are slaves. The affliction stopped their
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cultural assimilation dead in its tracks.
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It caused them to loathe their environment.
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And that loathing was a necessary mechanism.
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God never intended for his people to be absorbed into
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another family or another nation.
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Because he had a specific inheritance for them.
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Right, the land of Canaan. But human nature has a massive
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inclination to settle. I hear that, but I still
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struggle with the method though. How so?
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Well, God is entirely sovereign. Couldn't have just spoken a word
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to convince them to leave. It's like a prophetic
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announcement, yeah. You could have sent a prophet
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with a compelling message and said the time has come, Canaan
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is much better, let's pack up. Why did it require physical
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beatings to get them to move? Because a polite suggestion does
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not move millions of comfortable people.
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I guess that is fair. Persuading an entire nation to
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abandon their homes, the land where they were born and
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nourished, for an unseen promised land across a harsh
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wilderness that would have been impossible without a massive
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disruption. So it is about breaking inertia.
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Exactly. Imagine Moses walking into a
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prosperous ocean filled with people enjoying their
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agricultural wealth and saying, let us leave all these melons
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and cucumbers and walk into the desert.
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They would have laughed him out of the room.
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They absolutely would have. The sharp knife of affliction
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had to be used to cut the bonds that tied them to the Egyptian
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world. It is the difference between
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knowing something intellectually and feeling it in your bones.
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Yes, the the environment had to become hostile so that leaving
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wasn't just a geographical preference, it was a desperate
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necessity for survival. And the suffering achieved
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something far more significant than just a geographic
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relocation. What do you mean it achieved a
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spiritual awakening? That is the core of Spurgeon's
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observation here. They had forgotten to pray.
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Oh wow, yeah. They had forgotten the God of
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their fathers. But when the Scourge hit, when
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the terror and the pain and the vexation became unbearable, what
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did they do? They be took themselves to their
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knees, yes. In secret, they began to utter
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groanings to the Most High. The smarting of the whip forced
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them to lift their eyes, filled with bitter tears and silently
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appealed to heaven. They cried out for mercy.
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The affliction drove them back to the covenant.
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So Pharaoh thinking he is securing his own nation's future
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is actually the instrument God uses to wake up the Israelites,
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wean them off Egyptian culture, and prepare them to take up
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their separate place in the wilderness.
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The irony is staggering. It really is.
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But the darkest part of this history is actually where the
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divine irony peaks. Because when the slavery did not
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stop the population growth, Pharaoh escalated his tactics to
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an unthinkable level. Yes.
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He issued A decree to murder the male Hebrew children.
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It is a terrifying escalation of state sponsored violence.
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The midwives were instructed to kill the boys right at birth,
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and when that failed, the order was given to throw every newborn
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Hebrew boy into the Nile River. It is an attempt to completely
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eradicate the future of the nation by targeting the next
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generation of men. It is the ultimate display of
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earthly might and cruelty. Here's where it gets really
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interesting though. Look at what happens.
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This specific decree, the command to drown the boys in the
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river, is the very thing that moves Moses's mother to act.
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Right. She sees her son, she has faith
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in God, and she refuses to obey the King's command.
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She knows she has to hide him, so she builds a basket of
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bulrushes, waterproofs it with pitch and places the child on
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the brink of the Nile. It is such a desperate move.
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But technically she puts him in the river, complying with the
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letter of the law, but in a way that preserves his life.
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And the staggering reversal unfolds immediately, because who
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comes down to bathe in the river?
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Pharaoh's own daughter. Yes, she finds the basket.
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She opens it, sees the crying child and has compassion on him.
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She knows he is a Hebrew child, a child her father has condemned
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to death. Yet she extricates him from
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apparel, adopts him capriciously and brings him directly into the
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Royal Court. Because of Pharaoh's murderous
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edict, Pharaoh himself ends up funding, feeding, housing, and
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educating the exact man who will eventually orchestrate the
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devastation of Egypt. You cannot make this up.
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Moses gets the absolute best education the ancient world has
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to offer, right under Pharaoh's nose, paid for by Pharaoh's
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treasury. He grows up learning the inner
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workings of the Egyptian government, their military
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strategies, their culture, all of which prepares him to be the
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man who will vex the fields of zone with a high hand.
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Wait. Clarify what the fields of zone
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means for those who might not be familiar with the geography.
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Oh sure. Zone was a major city in ancient
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Egypt, often associated with the royal residence.
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So in the text speaks of God doing wonders in the fields of
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Zone. It is a poetic way of saying God
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struck right at the heart of Egyptian royal authority.
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And he used the man trained within that very system to do
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it. Yes, and Spurgeon draws A
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theological line here, pointing out that Arrow stands as the
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great representative of the Kingdom of Darkness in those
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days. He is a type of the seed of the
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serpent. Let's unpack that term, The seed
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of the serpent and the seed of the woman.
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That goes all the way back to Genesis 3, right after the fall
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of man. Yes, exactly.
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In Genesis 3.15, Gus declares there will be enmity between the
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serpent and the woman, and between the serpent's offspring
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and her offspring. The seed of the woman would
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eventually crush the serpent's head, while the serpent would
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strike his heel. Right.
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This sets up the entire biblical narrative as a conflict between
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the forces of darkness and the people of God.
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Pharaoh is acting as the seed of the serpent, trying to eradicate
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the people from whom the ultimate will come.
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And God's method of defeating the serpent often involves this
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specific maneuver. He makes the enemy's most lethal
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weapon the exact instrument of the enemy's own destruction.
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It is brilliant. If there had been no death
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decree, Moses would have grown up as a normal slave boy in
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Goshen. He would never have been
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educated in the court. The decree that was meant to
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destroy the deliverer was the vehicle that prepared the
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deliverer. It is a phenomenal demonstration
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of Providence. The enemy lunges with a deadly
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weapon and the simply pivots takes the weapon and uses it to
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dismantle the enemy's entire empire.
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If we connect this to the bigger picture, Spurgeon transitions
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from this historical type, the Israelites in Egypt, to what we
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call the anti type. Which is the New Testament
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church? Yes, the Church and the
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subsequent history of Christianity.
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He argues that the exact same principles apply throughout
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history. Whenever Christ gathers a
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church, whether it is in a massive empire or a tiny
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village, opposition is stirred up.
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Because Christ himself said that the world would hate his
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followers because he chose them out of the world.
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The enmity between the seed of the servant and the seed of the
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woman continues. But just like in Egypt, whenever
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a great persecution is raised against the Christian Church,
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God overrules it. Spurgeon gives some fantastic
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examples from the early church. Yeah, I'm thinking of the book
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of Acts. Right.
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If you read Acts, you find the early disciples clustered in
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Jerusalem. They are enjoying fellowship,
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They are sharing meals. They are comfortable.
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And Stephen is martyred. Yes, a bloody, violent
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persecution breaks out against the Church in Jerusalem.
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And what is the result? The disciples are scattered
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abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria.
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And everywhere they go, they preach the word.
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The persecution fueled the expansion.
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Then you have King Herod. He stretches out his hand to
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harass the church, and he executes James, the brother of
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John, with a sword. It is a devastating blow.
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A core leader is dead. But Luke records the aftermath
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and almost the exact same words used in Exodus.
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He writes that the Word of God grew and multiplied.
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It is as if the author of Acts wants us to connect the dots
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back to Egypt. The parallels are undeniable.
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The Roman emperors tried the same tactics as Pharaoh.
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They fed Christians to wild beasts in the amphitheaters.
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They burned them at the They tried to crush the movement
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entirely. But it only produced eager
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martyrs and massive growth. The Church grew at a staggering
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rate, precisely when her foes were most fierce.
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Persecution acted as a wind that filled the sails of the ship.
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Spurgeon uses 2 brilliant metaphors to explain the
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mechanics of how this works. He talks about the salt in the
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hive. Let's start with the Hive.
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OK, so he says Christians are very apartment to get hived.
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We love being together. We find a good community, a
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solid church. We just want to stay clustered
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in our comfortable little hive. We want to enjoy each other's
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fellowship and make honey for ourselves.
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Right. We did not want to part.
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We did not want to scatter. And the sociology of it is
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fascinating. It is a natural human
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inclination to seek a tribe and stay within the safety of those
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borders. Comfort is appealing.
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Very appealing. The fear of the unknown keeps
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people clustered. But God permits persecution to
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come in and basically kick the hive.
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It scatters the bees into various swarms, and each of
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those swarms flies off and begins to make honey in a new
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location. It forces reproduction of the
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hive. Yes, and then he uses the
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analogy of salt. Christ calls believers the salt
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of the earth, but salt is completely useless if it is just
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kept clumped together in a box in the pantry.
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That makes total sense. To do its job to preserve the
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meat and stop corruption, the salt has to be scattered by
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handfuls over the flesh. When believers are kept in great
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bands, we are happy, but we only conquer when we are separated
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and scattered abroad. We see this clearly in the
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history of the Reformation and specifically with the Puritan
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forefathers. Well, for sure, they faced an
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apostate, dominant church in Europe that was determined to
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crush out pure evangelism. The state and the institutional
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church conspired to enforce conformity.
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So the Puritans were driven out. They were compelled to take up
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their stand outside the establishment bearing reproach.
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Detail the specific pressures they faced in Europe for a
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second, because it was not just a mild disagreement, it was
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systematic exclusion. Oh, it was heavy.
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It involved fines, imprisonment and the inability to hold public
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office or attend universities unless they conform to the state
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churches specific liturgy and governance.
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Pastors were ejected from their pulpits.
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Families were impoverished. And the increasing rigor of the
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persecution constrained them to leave their native shores
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entirely. They board the Mayflower, they
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crossed the Atlantic, and they founded an entirely new Center
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for the proclamation of the Gospel in the wilderness of a
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new continent. Spurgeon argues there might have
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been no church in the United States if those early believers
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had not been driven to the Wilds.
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The hostility in Europe was the mechanism that planted the
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gospel on a new continent. God is moving his pieces on the
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board, and he uses the malice of the enemy to position his people
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where they can have the maximum impact.
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And the application extends to modern everyday circumstances as
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well. Oh, absolutely A.
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Believer might face what looks like a terrible reverse of
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fortune. Maybe they lose a job due to
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their convictions or they are forced to relocate to a place
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they do not want to go, like a rural village or a foreign
18:36
country. They view it as a hardship.
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Right, but God designs it as an appointment to special service.
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They bear the gospel with them. To a people sitting in darkness,
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Espergent asks where should lamps be set up but in dark
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places? Where should the guard be placed
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but where the enemy is most likely to assault?
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It radically changes the way you view a forced relocation or a
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sudden shift in your life circumstances.
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You are not just being pushed, you are being planted.
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That is a powerful way to put it.
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But if persecution drives people out and scatters them, it leaves
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a very exposed, very vulnerable core group behind.
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That is true. How do those remaining believers
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survive? This brings us to the internal
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mechanism of persecution. While the scattering spreads the
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gospel outwardly, the pressure also does some very heavy
19:25
lifting inwardly. It works to purify the believers
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who remain. The internal health of the
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church is directly tied to the external pressure it faces.
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Explain that a bit more. Well, in periods of prolonged
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peace, what Spurgeon calls soft silken days, making a religious
19:40
profession is highly convenient. It is easy to be a Christian
19:43
when everyone else is. One right It often pays well, It
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gains you social approval, people think better of you.
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It might even bring customers to your shop.
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There are many societal conveniences attached to a
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profession of religion when the culture favors it.
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But that creates a massive problem for the integrity of the
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church. You end up with a heap on the
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threshing floor that is a mixture of wheat and chaff.
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Yes, you get people who are professing faith not because
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they have been regenerated, but because it is socially
20:09
advantageous. They are acting apart.
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Spurgeon calls them the Demas and Judas types.
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Right. And for context, Judas is
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obviously the disciple who betrayed Christ for 30 pieces of
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silver. And Demas.
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Demas is a figure mentioned in the New Testament epistles.
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The apostle Paul writes with great sorrow.
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Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me.
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So a Demas type is someone who attaches themselves to the
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church when it is beneficial or exciting.
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But the moment the world offers a better reward, or the moment
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the cost of discipleship gets too high, they abandoned the
20:43
faith. They love the present world more
20:45
than they love Christ. They are hypocrites.
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Yes, but when the threat of persecution arises, the entire
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dynamic changes. Because when being baptized in
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water might involve a baptism of blood, when speaking up for
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Christ might bring a word of conviction from a judge and
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subsequently death, the convenience evaporates
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instantly. The persecution acts as a
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winnowing fan. OK, a winnowing fan.
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Yeah, in ancient agriculture, A winnowing fan was used to toss
21:13
the thresh grain into the air. The heavy solid wheat would fall
21:16
straight back down to the floor, but the wind would catch the
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light, empty chaff and blow it away.
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Persecution is the wind. Exactly.
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Those who do not truly love Christ run to the other side.
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The cowards shrink away, and what is left?
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Only the true, the brave, the elect of God.
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They stand fast and firm. The church becomes like a heap
21:37
of golden wheat, clean and pure. Spurgeon argues that the church
21:40
actually becomes stronger by losing that I'll company.
21:43
He shares 2 highly specific and frankly very relatable examples
21:47
of how this purification happens even without the threat of
21:50
physical death. He talks about social
21:52
persecution, doesn't he? Yes, he mentions society lady
21:55
who was baptized and immediately upon making her faith public she
22:00
gets the cold shoulder in all the wealthy circles she used to
22:03
move in. Her invitations to high society
22:05
events dry up. People who used to fawn over her
22:08
now ignore her or treat her with disdain.
22:10
It is a subtle but devastating form of rejection for someone
22:14
accustomed to status. And Spurgeon asks his
22:16
congregation, Did he feel disposed to condole her or to
22:21
congratulate her? Did he feel sorry for her loss
22:24
of social standing? His answer is telling, he
22:27
rejoiced. He thanked God for.
22:29
It why? Because she was now farther
22:31
removed from temptation. The rejection from the world was
22:34
a protective barrier. Then he goes another example, a
22:36
young man who joins the church and the next day at his workshop
22:39
his Co workers meet him with loud laughter and bitter scorn.
22:42
They mock his faith relentlessly.
22:44
And again, Spurgeon is thankful. Because now that young man
22:48
cannot take up the same position with them.
22:50
He cannot join in their coarse jokes or their sinful habits
22:52
without about feeling the intense friction of his own
22:55
public profession. He is a marked man.
22:57
The Gulf has been fixed. This touches on a vital
23:00
theological point regarding the danger of affinities between
23:03
believers and the world. What happens when the church
23:06
gets too close? When the Church gives way to the
23:08
world seeking a friendship full of fascination, it brings on a
23:12
leanness of spirit. If believers try to blend in, if
23:15
they become scarcely known as Christians, it weakens their
23:19
testimony and promotes Satan's ends.
23:22
So the separation is necessary for survival.
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Yes. When persecution breaks out,
23:26
barriers are set up, distinctive colors are worn, the two camps
23:31
are kept in open hostility. And because of that clear
23:33
boundary, the church is kept pure, her armor stays bright,
23:37
and she is prepared for victory. I want to pose a challenging
23:40
thought regarding our current cultural climate.
23:42
OK, let's hear it. There is a massive craving
23:45
within many modern churches for cultural approval.
23:49
There is an obsession with being seen as relevant, cool, or on
23:53
the right side of history according to whatever the
23:55
prevailing societal metrics are. That is definitely a prevalent
23:58
trend. So does that modern craving
24:00
actually weaken the witness of the Church?
24:03
Are we too afraid of the workshop mockery?
24:06
Are we so desperate to be invited to the society ladies
24:09
dinner parties that we compromise our distinctive
24:11
colors? Spurgeon would argue that an
24:13
aggressive push for cultural acceptance is far more dangerous
24:16
to the soul than outright rejection.
24:18
You would argue it is lethal. Because the rejection is what
24:21
forces you to walk carefully. If the culture equads you, you
24:25
let your guard down. You assimilate.
24:27
Just like the Israelites eating the leeks and onions in Goshen.
24:29
And this brings the corporate purification of the whole church
24:33
down to the intensely personal level of the individual
24:36
listeners. Daily trials.
24:38
How does this friction forward individual faith?
24:41
Spurgeon notes that slander and cruel mockings are beneficial
24:44
because they stimulate circumspection.
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If you know unfriendly eyes are watching you, waiting for you to
24:50
slip up, you are going to be very careful about how you live.
24:53
He brings up a bizarre but fitting story of a Roman citizen
24:56
who supposedly wish he had a window in his chest so that
25:00
everyone can see his heart and know his pure intentions.
25:03
Spursion laughs at that, right. Yeah, he says, under the
25:06
scrutiny of slander, a Christian might soon wish for a shudder
25:09
for that window. We do not want every passing
25:12
thoughts scrutinized by enemies. But the reality is we are
25:16
observed. Our lives are supposed to bear
25:18
criticism. We serve a jealous God and our
25:21
works will be tested by fire. So the ordinary ordeal of human
25:25
censure actually acts as a sanctifying pressure.
25:29
It forces us to take heed to our ways.
25:31
It. Creates a tenacity of faith, and
25:33
this applies not just to our conduct, but to our theological
25:36
convictions. When your beliefs are opposed,
25:39
it affects how you hold on to truth.
25:41
Spurgeon uses a wonderful analogy here.
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He says there is a light way of holding doctrine, like a boy
25:46
holding a ball in his hand. It is easily dropped.
25:49
It can be tossed away without much thought.
25:51
A lot. Of people hold their theology
25:53
like that, they heard it somewhere or they read it in a
25:55
popular book and they agree with it, but it hasn't cost them
25:58
anything. It is an intellectual accessory.
26:00
Right. But when you are assaulted by
26:03
heresies or mocked by science, falsely so-called, or when you
26:07
suffer for what you believe, the dynamic changes.
26:10
The king prints the mark of the doctrine directly into your
26:13
soul. The trials burned the doctrines
26:15
into us. You cannot part with a truth
26:18
that has cost you your reputation, a truth that has
26:20
sustained you when your friends abandoned you.
26:22
You hold it with a tenacious grip because it has been proven
26:25
in the furnace. It shifts from an intellectual
26:28
proposition to a lifeline. So what does this all mean
26:31
practically for a person listening right now who feels
26:34
overwhelmed by this kind of opposition?
26:36
It means that the trial is driving you to your knees, and
26:38
that is precisely where you need to be.
26:41
Spurgeon contrasts the seasons of our lives.
26:44
In the summer days of prosperity, when everything is
26:46
going well, the human heart gads about after vain delights.
26:50
We wander. We look for satisfaction in
26:52
earthly things. Our prayer life becomes shallow,
26:56
but when the keen cutting winter blast of affliction hits,
26:59
everything changes. The believer runs back to their
27:01
own abode. They fly back their ark just
27:04
like Noah's dove when the waters covered the earth and it found
27:07
no resting place for the sole of its foot.
27:09
When the world frowns at you, it is a blessed frown because it
27:12
makes you seek your Savior smile.
27:15
Anything that drives you to your knees is fundamentally good for
27:18
you. It infuses courage, it inspires
27:20
confidence, and it makes you lean entirely on the invisible
27:25
arm of the Eternal. The glory of the Church is to
27:27
live nearer to God, and persecution is the mechanism
27:30
that forces that proximity. But Spurgeon does not advocate
27:33
for passive endurance. He does not say just take the
27:36
hits, hide in the ark and wait for it to be over.
27:39
This raises an important question.
27:41
What should you do? He introduces a concept that
27:44
requires aggressive action. When the believer faces this
27:48
kind of intense opposition or personal failure, they are
27:51
called to launch a counter attack.
27:53
Spurgeon did not just preach this as an abstract theory.
27:56
He lived it. He really did.
27:58
There was a moment where his own spiritual ecosystem completely
28:02
collapse on him. In the pulpit, he shares a
28:04
highly specific, very raw, personal anecdote about his own
28:07
failure. And you have to understand,
28:09
Spurgeon was the Prince of preachers.
28:11
He spoke to thousands without notes.
28:13
He was a master orator, capable of holding massive crowds
28:16
spellbound. Which makes his failure all the
28:19
more crushing. He shares a story about a time
28:21
he was preaching in a country village.
28:23
He stepped into the pulpit and suddenly his text completely
28:27
slipped from his memory. And with the text when his
28:30
entire train of thought he had absolutely nothing to say.
28:34
Imagine the silence in that room.
28:36
Imagine the physical sensation of hundreds of eyes looking at
28:40
you, waiting for the words of life, and your mind is
28:43
completely blank. The panic, the humiliation.
28:47
He sat down in the pulpit, utterly confounded.
28:49
It was a moment of acute public failure.
28:52
For an orator, losing your words is the equivalent of a surgeon
28:55
dropping their scalpel in the middle of a critical operation.
28:58
Most people would run from a failure like that.
29:01
They would dwell on the embarrassment, maybe shrink back
29:03
from public speaking for a while.
29:04
They would let the failure define their future output.
29:07
But look at Spurgeon's response in that exact moment of
29:10
humiliation as he sat there in the pulpit.
29:13
He did not wallow. He began to pray with Strong
29:16
crying for living water. He poured out his soul to God,
29:19
asking that the water would gush forth for others.
29:22
And then he made a vow. He mobilized a sacred
29:25
conscription of his faculties. He vowed that if Satan's enmity
29:29
had brought him this low, if the enemy had managed to humiliate
29:33
him and silence him in that pulpit, he was going to take
29:37
revenge on the Philistines. And his method of revenge is
29:40
brilliant. He did not just vow to preach a
29:42
better sermon next week. No, he vowed to find new men,
29:45
take them under his wing, and train them for the ministry.
29:49
If the enemy shut his mouth for one night, he was going to open
29:52
10 other mouths to preach the gospel in his place.
29:56
And the Providence of God met that vow instantly.
29:59
The very next morning, a man approached him.
30:02
Spurgeon accepted him at once as sent by God, and began equipping
30:05
him and others after him to preach.
30:08
This is the origin of his pastors college which went on to
30:10
train hundreds of men who planted churches all over the
30:13
world. It is the Hydra concept in Greek
30:16
mythology. If you chop off 1 head of the
30:17
hydra, 2 more grow in its place. The enemy thought he scored a
30:21
victory by confusing Spurgeon's mind for one sermon.
30:24
But Spurgeon's response was to multiply his efforts
30:27
exponentially. He basically said you want to
30:30
fight, fine, I'm going to gather all my reserve strength and I'm
30:33
going to create a lifelong institution to win fresh
30:36
trophies of victory. It is a brilliant strategy for
30:39
dealing with spiritual discouragement.
30:42
What is the mechanism for a listener facing career failure
30:46
today? If you feel foiled in your work,
30:48
if you face a devastating set back in your business, your
30:51
ministry or your family life, do not yield.
30:55
Determine that if you do not win today, you will win tomorrow.
30:58
If you were blocked in one area, press into the enemies territory
31:01
in another. Take revenge on the opposition
31:03
by trying to do 10 times more good than you did before.
31:06
Satan is highly pragmatic. If you realizes that attacking
31:09
you only results in you multiplying your efforts and
31:11
doing more damage to his Kingdom, he will likely find it
31:14
wiser to leave you alone. That brings completely different
31:17
energy to the idea of enduring hardship.
31:20
It is not surviving, it is weaponizing the hardship for
31:23
greater output. As we draw towards the close of
31:26
this analysis, we need to synthesize these realities.
31:29
The text presents a dual reality about how God operates with his
31:33
people. God holds the rod of affliction
31:35
in one hand. He permits the trial, the
31:38
mocking, the scattering, the failure.
31:40
But in his other hand, he holds tender blessings.
31:43
Spurgeon insists that God never strikes a child of his without
31:46
having a blessing in store. When you face unwanted
31:49
affliction, you are promised unusual delights.
31:51
God opens new Windows. He provides special consolations
31:55
in the deepest waters. As the tribulations abound, the
31:58
consolations in Christ Jesus abound equally.
32:01
He is uniquely present when you were driven out into the
32:04
wilderness. That is the comfort for the
32:06
believer, but the text also contains a stark, chilling
32:09
warning for those who do not have this divine protection.
32:12
Spurgeon shifts the tone to address the unconverted, the
32:16
people of the world. While the men of God flourish in
32:19
adversity, the men of the world are entirely ruined by their
32:22
prosperity. Worldly prosperity is a trap.
32:25
The men of the woodland delight in the cup of sensual pleasure,
32:27
but it has bitter dregs that they will eventually be
32:30
compelled to swallow. Their days of sunshine are
32:32
temporary. They have troubles, but the
32:34
tragedy is that they have no God to resort to when the real
32:37
plagues hit. Spurgeon uses the imagery of the
32:40
swellings of Jordan in the Old Testament.
32:43
Crossing the Jordan River during flood stage was a terrifying
32:46
prospect. Prophetically, it is a metaphor
32:50
for death. When the final crisis arrives,
32:52
when the waters rise, the person who has trusted in their wealth,
32:56
their social standing or their comfortable life will have no
32:59
refuge. No earthly friend can help you
33:02
in the dying hour. No brother can cross that river
33:05
with you. You will have no God to help
33:07
you. It is a terrifying realization
33:10
that the comfort you idolize is the very thing that left you
33:12
completely vulnerable when it mattered most.
33:15
It is a call to reliance. The entire sermon is an argument
33:18
for trusting the sovereign who orchestrates all events, who
33:21
bends the malice of Pharaoh and the mockery of the workshop to
33:24
secure the salvation of his people.
33:26
We have covered a massive amount of historical and theological
33:29
ground today. We looked at Egyptian
33:31
geopolitics, the purification of the church through the winnowing
33:34
fan, the danger of the comfortable hive, and the holy
33:38
revenge of a humiliated preacher.
33:39
But I think there's one more thing to leave the listeners
33:41
with, yes. I want to leave you with one
33:44
final, unexamined idea to ponder based on everything we have
33:47
discussed. Is severe persecution.
33:51
If friction, if opposition, is the precise mechanism God uses
33:55
to guarantee the purity, the growth and the spiritual
33:58
vitality of his people, should we actually be highly suspicious
34:02
of prolonged seasons of absolute peace and cultural dominance?
34:07
Amid a life of total comfort, a life where your faith costs you
34:10
absolutely nothing, be a far more dangerous test of your soul
34:14
than the threat of a Roman amphitheater.
34:15
The absence of a broken bone on the X-ray does not mean the
34:18
patient is healthy. The spirit might be entirely
34:21
atrophied from lack of resistance.
34:22
When the sea is calm, that might be when you were in the greatest
34:25
danger of forgetting the God of your Father's and settling for
34:28
the leeks and onions of the culture.
34:30
Keep wrestling with these truths and we will see you next time on
34:32
Reformed thinking.