In Election, a sermon delivered by the great teacher Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon in September 1855, he states, "Election in the Christian should make him very fearless and very bold. No man will be so bold as he who believes that he is elect of God. What cares he for man if he is chosen of his Maker? What will he care for the pitiful chirpings of some tiny sparrows when he knoweth that he is an eagle of a royal race? Will he care when the beggar pointeth at him, when the blood royal of heaven runs in his veins? Will he fear if all the world stand against him?" Here is one of the most gripping and succinct messages on the subject ever delivered!
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) was England's best-known preacher for most of the second half of the nineteenth century. In 1854, just four years after his conversion, Spurgeon, then only 20, became pastor of London's famed New Park Street Church (formerly pastored by the famous Baptist theologian, John Gill). The congregation quickly outgrew their building, moved to Exeter Hall, then to Surrey Music Hall. In these venues, Spurgeon frequently preached to audiences numbering more than 10,000—all in the days before electronic amplification. In 1861, the congregation moved permanently to the newly constructed Metropolitan Tabernacle.
Simple and brief, yet succinct depiction of Election and what that means to the Elect. We are indebted to this fine man of God; for by God, he has given us wonderous works.
O livreto é na verdade um sermão de Spurgeon onde o mesmo elucida brevemente, como convém a sermões, a veracidade da doutrina da eleição - com base simbólica no pensamento dos antigos (após1500) mas principalmente no Novo Testamento; o caráter absoluto da predestinação pela santificação e fé na verdade; a eternidade da mesma; a pessoalidade do chamado e, ainda, os efeitos dessa doutrina. A leitura é super indicada, principalmente pelo volume de informação em tão poucas páginas.
Como crítica fica: i) a ausência de fontes aos dados apresentados, onde alguns são duvidosos; ii) a não exposição dos principais argumentos opostos à doutrina. Ambas as críticas não se aplicam para o contexto de um sermão, e, portanto, talvez a obra merecesse 5 estrelas. Mas como foi publicada como livro, supostamente pelo próprio Spurgeon, poderia ter sido preparada com esses dados pelo próprio autor ou por uma crítica da edição.
Spurgeon knows how to explain the Election Doctrine in the classic-way of the puritans, He just show the people the Gospel, and It does its work itself. God blessed this man.