AP

Charles Spurgeon, The Risen King, ed. by J. A. Medders, The Good Book Company, 2025.

            Anything by Spurgeon will feed the soul, and this is no exception. The Good Fight consists of 40 short devotionals designed to be read for Easter. It is, as one would expect from Spurgeon, very much centred on Christ – His person, His work, and His claims on us. For Day 18 Spurgeon comments: ‘Jesus Christ is a monopolizer of human hearts; he will never accept just one part of our person.’ Christ is the goal more than heaven, for heaven without Christ would be a harp without strings (Day 31).

            Spurgeon was a master at quick illustrations and short summaries of gospel truth. In teaching that Christ has set us free, he imagines a bird that has lived in a cage for years. Then the cage is removed, but the bird has become too used to its prison. Spurgeon exhorts his befuddled readers: ‘Fly away, sweet songbird!’ (Day 34) All of Christianity rests on Christ’s being a risen Saviour – one who has saved His people and has left the tomb empty (Day 40).  

I have only one note of possible concern. Each devotional is accompanied by a call to reflect and to pray, written by the editor, J. A. Medders. These are most appropriate, which is high praise, but a number of the prayers are offered to Christ in the name of Christ. This might sound a little odd (e.g. Days 10, 30, 40). The ESV for John 14:14 records Christ as saying: ‘If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.’ The ‘me’ is missing in many manuscripts – and so in some translations (e.g. the KKJV). Perhaps one ought not to overdo any qualms along these lines.

Few preachers have rivalled Spurgeon for his capacity to apply his message to his hearers or readers. Yes, he is speaking to each one of us, and we feel it. Finally, the good news is that Medders is working on a Christmas devotional along the same lines, to be entitled The Newborn King.

 – Peter Barnes