Delivered on Sunday Morning, March 29th, 1863, by the
Rev. C. H. SPURGEON,
At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington
“For the Lord, whose name is jealous, is a jealous God.”—Exodus 34:14.
THE PASSION OF JEALOUSY IN MAN is usually exercised in an evil manner, but it is not in itself necessarily sinful. A man may be zealously cautious of his honor, and suspiciously vigilant over another, without deserving blame. All thoughtful persons will agree that there is such a thing as virtuous jealousy. Self-love is, no doubt, the usual foundation of human jealousy, and it may be that Shenstone is right in his definition of it as “the apprehension of superiority,” the fear lest another should by any means supplant us; yet the word “jealous” is so near akin to that noble word “zealous,” that I am persuaded it must have something good in it. Certainly we learn from Scripture that there is such a thing as a godly jealousy. We find the Apostle Paul declaring to the Corinthian Church, “I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy, for I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” He had an earnest, cautious, anxious concern for their holiness, that the Lord Jesus might be honored in their lives. Let it be remembered then, that jealousy, like anger, is not evil in itself, or it could never be ascribed to God; his jealousy is ever a pure and holy flame. The passion of jealousy possesses an intense force, it fires the whole nature, its coals are juniper, which have a most vehement flame; it resides in the lowest depths of the heart, and takes so firm a hold that it remains most deeply rooted until the exciting cause is removed; it wells up from the inmost recesses of the nature, and like a torrent irresistibly sweeps all before it; it stops at nothing, for it is cruel as the grave (Cant. 8:6), it provokes wrath to the utmost, for it is the rage of a man, therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance (Proverbs 6:34), and it over throws everything in the pursuit of its enemy, for “wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before jealousy?” For all these reasons jealousy is selected as some faint picture of that tender regard which God has for His own Deity, honor, and supremacy, and the holy indignation which he feels towards those who violate his laws, offend his majesty, or impeach his character. Not that God is jealous so as to bring him down to the likeness of men, but that this is the nearest idea we can form of what the Divine Being feels—if it be right to use even that word toward him—when he beholds his throne occupied by false gods, his dignity insulted, and his glory usurped by others. We cannot speak of God except by using figures drawn from his works, or our own emotions; we ought, however, when we use the images, to caution ourselves and those who listen to us, against the idea that the Infinite mind is really to be compassed and described by any metaphors however lofty, or language however weighty. We might not have ventured to use the word, “jealousy” in connection with the Most High, but as we find it so many times in Scripture, let us with solemn awe survey this mysterious display of the Divine mind. Methinks I hear the thundering words of Nahum, “God is jealous and the Lord revengeth, the Lord revengeth and is furious, the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reseryeth wrath for his enemies.” My soul be thou humbled before the Lord and tremble at his name!
The final question that we need to answer on the topic of preaching is the result of everything we have earlier discussed. What should preaching accomplish? Although what preaching accomplishes is the result of everything we have already discussed, understanding what it should accomplish will lead to a commitment to the preferred style of preaching…expository. There are several things that I think we need to acknowledge as not being goals of preaching.
The answer to this question is really rooted in the previous two posts. But to restate what I said on Monday, most of what people consider to be good preaching really isn’t good preaching at all. A preacher simply entertaining a congregation isn’t preaching. A speaker that is able to move an audience emotionally doesn’t mean that he is a good preacher.
Expository preaching differs from topical preaching, in fact they are in direct contradiction to each other. In topical sermons, the Bible passage is used as support material for the topic. In expository sermons, the Bible passage is the topic, and support materials are used to explain and clarify it. Expository preaching solves all the problems that are created by topical preaching.
Before we dive into the topic of why topical preaching is dangerous, I believe it is necessary to define what is meant by topical preaching. Topical preaching is where the preacher will decide on a topic up front and then set out to find verses that appear to deal with the selected topic. There are several reasons why this is dangerous.