Pleading and Encouragement (sermon 1795)

There is a particular trick which our Adversary loves to use both to hinder sinners and to disturb saints, and that is to paint the character of God in the darkest possible shades, to twist and pervert the Almighty and All-Merciful God's revelation of himself. In this sermon, preached from three texts, Spurgeon sets out, in the best sense, to vindicate the character of God. While still insisting upon the utter holiness of the Most High, Spurgeon nevertheless makes most clear the compassion of the Lord, and his willingness to save, and his pleadings with those who are lost in the misery of sin, and his provision for them in Christ Jesus to find life and joy and peace, through forgiveness. He emphasises God's delight in salvation, not as a mere idea, but as a sweet reality. As you can imagine, the sermon is peppered with strong reasoning and urgent pleading for sinners who may have the wrong idea of God to understand his gracious heart, as he makes himself known in the Word of God, and to come to him that they might not die, but live.