Maidenbower Baptist Church

This sermon carries a fearful amount of weight. Preached at a period when British interests were at a low ebb, British policy abroad seemed to Spurgeon bloody and ugly, when the weather was cold and wet through the summer, he considers the withdrawing of God from sinful nations, sinning saints, and unbelieving sinners. The first element, the national, is a fine example of proper 'political' preaching, a Christian bemoaning unrighteousness and injustice in and from the country he loves, and asking what is to be done in response. The second element is almost as forceful, peeling back the folds of our hearts and confronting us with sins and their consequences in the lives even of God's people, though with gleams of light shining through the clouds, because of divine faithfulness. The third, and briefest, reminds the ungodly that without turning to Christ they will suffer the fearful, eternal punishment of their sin, and so calls on all to seek the Lord. While Spurgeon is always manifestly earthed in his time and place, drawing illustration from it and making application to it, this sermon has a distinct flavour of a man who is very much a pilgrim, but a pilgrim in a particular place and time, seeking to respond as a Christian patriot to the need of the hour.