Dr. BJ Condrey

A Quote by Spurgeon: I am reading Spurgeon’s message titled, “Where are the Nine?” where he preaches from Luke 17:11–19 about the ten lepers. It is a delightful and very insightful message. Because I am preaching from Luke 17:11–19 this coming Sunday, I took some time to read this sermon. Before sharing a quote from this sermon that really stood out to me, I want to share a few thoughts on how I prepare:

1. Read the passage over and over and over (What business has someone to preach if they do not sink themselves into a passage and let it wash over and through them?)
2. Pray. Seek the Lord for specific direction (Nobody preaches to an abstract void; a person is called to preach to a specific audience at a specific moment in time)
3. Study, Study, Study (What do other Bible scholars, authors, and preachers say about this passage?)
4. What seems to jump off of the page at me as I read and reread? (I trust that this is often the Holy Spirit highlighting something that he wants me to focus on)
5. Chew on the story all week as I come and go (Chew = Meditate; As I walk around or go about my business, I will mull this story over in my mind so that it gets “in me”)

With all of this in mind, today I came across Spurgeon’s sermon on the ten lepers. He mainly focuses on the one that returned, and rightfully so. I then came across this in the sermon: We learn much by prayer. Did not Luther say, “To have prayed well is to have studied well”? I venture to add a rider to what Luther has so ably said: To have praised well is to have studied better. Praise is a great instructor. Prayer and praise are the oars by which a man may row his boat into the deep waters of the knowledge of Christ” (see note below for citation).”

Is this not beautiful? Prayer and praise. How many Christians still care about growing in their knowledge of Christ? Is not this desire to grow in the knowledge of Christ the spring that gives life to all else?

Oh Lord, place your desires in the deepest places of our hearts.

C. H. Spurgeon, “‘Where Are the Nine?’ Or, Praise Neglected,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 32 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1886), 691.