Charles Spurgeon was a famous Baptist preacher in the 1800’s and is one of my heroes. He is widely considered to be the “Prince of Preachers” and God used him in many extraordinary ways. On October 7th, 1857, he preached to the largest crowd ever – 23,654 people – at The Crystal Palace in London. Before preaching, Spurgeon performed some tests in the Palace. Little did he know that God was going to use him in a mighty way that day. In his own words, Spurgeon tells the story like this:
“In 1857, a day or two before preaching at the Crystal Palace, I went to decide where the platform should be fixed; and, in order to test the acoustic properties of the building, I cried in a loud voice, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” In one of the galleries, a workman, who knew nothing of what was being done, heard the words, and they came like a message from heaven to his soul. He was smitten with conviction on account of sin, put down his tools, went home, and there, after a season of spiritual struggling, found peace and life by beholding the Lamb of God. Years after, he told this story to one who visited him on his death-bed.”
Amazing! All Spurgeon did was quote a Bible verse and God the Holy Spirit used it to regenerate the heart of a worker nearby who had no intentions of listening to Spurgeon. That blows me away.
Two Points
1) Only God can save someone. Yes, Spurgeon quoted the verse, but God saved the worker nearby, not Spurgeon. Our words alone cannot raise the dead to life. God’s words alone can raise to life the worst of sinners.
2) Testimonies like this can still happen. We cannot read testimonies like this and think, “Oh, that was back then; that would never happen today.” No, stories like this can still happen. In fact, even better stories can happen today! We must first be faithful to God in the little things to ever be entrusted with the bigger things but we should have faith to be a part of experiences as such.
Do you want to be a part of an experience like this?
Pray for it. Be faithful to God. Let him use you.
