In this sermon, Spurgeon invites every struggling, doubting, or suffering person to stop looking inward at their problems and instead look outward to Jesus — walking them through five scenes: his life of poverty and persecution, his death on the cross, his resurrection, his ascension into heaven, and his promised return. He argues that no matter what a person is facing — whether poverty, slander, spiritual darkness, fear of death, or doubt about their own faith — there is something in Christ's story that directly meets that need and brings light and comfort. Spurgeon closes with a simple but urgent appeal: the only thing keeping anyone from peace is where they are looking, and the moment a person fixes their eyes on Jesus and trusts him, even with weak and imperfect faith, the darkness begins to lift.

Sermon delivered by Charles Spurgeon on May 23, 1858.

Spurgeon argues that rejecting the gospel of Jesus Christ is not a passive or neutral act but an active sin — in fact, the most serious sin a person can commit — because when a preacher faithfully delivers God's Word, it is essentially Christ himself speaking, and to dismiss it is to reject Christ directly. He explains that hearing the gospel and turning away actually makes a person more guilty, not less, because it strips away every possible excuse: they cannot claim ignorance of the law, ignorance of the punishment, ignorance of how to be saved, or lack of a good example. Spurgeon closes with a solemn warning that those who die having repeatedly heard and rejected Christ will face the heaviest judgment of all, and urgently pleads with his listeners to believe on Jesus now, before it is too late.

Sermon delivered by Charles Spurgeon on May 16, 1858.

Spurgeon takes the accusation that Christians "turned the world upside down" and flips it into a compliment, arguing that the world was already upside down — valuing pride, wealth, war, and self-righteousness — and that the gospel of Jesus simply sets it right by lifting up the humble, the merciful, the peacemakers, and the poor in spirit while humbling the proud and self-satisfied. He walks through the Beatitudes from Matthew 5 to show how Jesus consistently honored the people the world looked down on, and how Christ's teachings on forgiveness, generosity, loving enemies, and trusting God rather than wealth directly contradict the common wisdom of every age. Spurgeon then turns the sermon inward, challenging every listener to ask whether their own heart has been "turned upside down" — whether their hopes, pleasures, companions, and priorities have genuinely changed — because true conversion is not a small adjustment but a complete reversal of everything a person once lived for.

Sermon delivered by Charles Spurgeon on May 9, 1858.

Spurgeon speaks directly to Sunday school teachers, reminding them that they are not independent workers but stewards — servants trusted by God with some of his most precious possessions, namely the souls of children — and that this responsibility is far weightier than most of them realize. He walks through what the final accounting before God will look like, stressing that it will be deeply personal and detailed, covering every individual child, every missed opportunity, every careless lesson, and every prayer that was or wasn't prayed — with no hiding behind the success of fellow teachers. He closes by urging teachers to do frequent self-examination now, whether weekly, when a student leaves, when a child falls ill, or when they themselves are sick, so they are not caught unprepared on their deathbed or at the final judgment — but he also offers genuine encouragement, promising that a teacher who faithfully leads even one child to Christ will be welcomed into heaven by that very soul.

Sermon delivered by Charles Spurgeon on May 4, 1858.

Drawing from the prophecy that Christ would build God's temple, Spurgeon explains that the true church of God is not a building or a denomination but every genuine believer in Jesus — and that Christ alone, like a master builder, does every part of the work: choosing, shaping, cleansing, and placing each person exactly where they belong, both in this life and in eternity. Just as Solomon's temple required cut stones, cedar beams, and gold overlay, believers are spiritually hewn, polished, and glorified entirely through Christ's work — not their own efforts — and even death itself is like being carried across a river by Christ's own hand to be set permanently in his heavenly temple. Spurgeon closes with a sobering warning to those who are not yet part of Christ's church, urging them to trust in Jesus now rather than face the day when the final roll is called and their name is found missing.

Sermon delivered by Charles Spurgeon on May 2, 1858.

Speaking to a missionary society that had recently lost workers to violence, Charles Spurgeon offers comfort by pointing to history — showing how false religions, cruel empires, and godless philosophies have all crumbled over time — and arguing that God is always at work through even the darkest events to advance the spread of the gospel. He then turns to prophecy, declaring that just as God has torn down so many enemies of truth in the past, he will one day bring all war to a complete end and establish Christ's kingdom across the entire earth. Spurgeon closes with a frank challenge to his own Baptist community, saying that lack of unity, stinginess with money, lukewarm prayer, and a weak spiritual life at home are the real reasons missions are not succeeding, and urging every believer to treat every single day as a mission day by speaking, giving, and praying for the cause of Christ.

Sermon delivered on April 28, 1858.

Using Paul's vision of a Macedonian man pleading for help as his starting point, Charles Spurgeon argues that the greatest gift the church can offer the world is the preaching of the gospel, because it not only saves souls but also brings freedom from tyranny, breaks superstition, and even civilizes nations. He passionately urges his congregation to hear the unspoken cry of suffering people around the world who have never heard of Jesus, comparing their silence to a wounded, unconscious person who cannot ask for help but desperately needs it. Spurgeon then directly challenges his listeners to respond — whether by going as missionaries, giving generously of their wealth, or sharing the gospel in their own neighborhoods — warning that praying for missions while refusing to give money or go personally is empty and hypocritical.

Sermon delivered on April 25th, 1858.

In this sermon, Charles Spurgeon focuses on Jesus's prayer the night before his crucifixion, where Jesus boldly asks God the Father to bring all those given to him into heaven to be with him forever — a prayer Spurgeon says carries the certainty of a promise because Jesus spoke it with divine authority. He explains that the people Jesus prayed for are those who have surrendered their hearts to him, and that if you genuinely trust in Christ today, you can be confident your name was written in that prayer. Spurgeon then paints a breathtaking picture of heaven — not as a place of golden streets, but as an eternity of seeing Jesus face to face, watching him reign in glory, and ultimately sharing in his triumph — and urges anyone without this hope to stop and consider what they are trading away for the temporary pleasures of this world.

Sermon delivered on April 18th, 1858.

Opening with a dramatic story of a building collapse that narrowly missed killing thousands of people, Charles Spurgeon argues that God's hand is not only present in massive, earth-shaking events, but in every tiny detail of life — from the path of a sparrow to the random thoughts of a king — and that nothing in the universe happens by accident. He walks through examples like the story of Joseph and the birth of Jesus to show how seemingly small, unrelated coincidences are actually carefully timed threads in God's larger plan, distinguishing this view from fatalism by pointing out that unlike blind fate, God's providence has a loving purpose behind every event. Because of this, Spurgeon urges believers to live with courage, calm, and trust — not panicking in hard times, not grieving excessively in loss, and not clinging too tightly to good things — since every circumstance, good or bad, is held in the hands of a God who knows even the number of hairs on their heads.

Sermon delivered on April 11, 1858.

Using the story of Israelites who tried to win a battle by carrying the ark of the covenant into war, Charles Spurgeon makes the point that religious rituals and ceremonies — like baptism, communion, or church attendance — are meant to point us toward God, but they have no power to save anyone on their own. He observes that, ironically, the people who care the most about outward religious forms are often the ones with the least genuine faith, because following rules and rituals feels easier and more flattering to human pride than truly surrendering one's heart to God. Spurgeon closes with a serious warning that trusting in any ceremony or good work instead of personally trusting in Jesus Christ is a dangerous deception that will ultimately fail, and he urges his listeners to seek a real inward change of heart rather than settling for an empty outer religion.

Sermon delivered on April 4, 1858.