The

Sword and the Trowel

A Record

OF

Combat with Sin and of Labour for The Lord

Edited by C. H. Spurgeon

1873

“They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon. For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.”—Nehemiah 4:17, 18.

London:

PassMore & Alabaster, 4, Paternoster Buildings,

and all booksellers.

Preface

Friendly Reader,

THROUGH another year I have tried to cater for you, hunting up topics of interest with no small degree of anxiety, and sending forth my monthly magazine with earnest desires that it might not only win a hearing, but produce beneficial results of all kinds. You are the best judge as to how far I have succeeded in avoiding dulness, and at the same time providing solid matter. It is mine to thank you for the courtesy which has borne with me, and the generosity which has continued to give the periodical the benefit of your perusal; I do thank you very heartily, and beg at the same time to wish you in all sincerity the benedictions of God at this season.

The year 1873 is now a matter of history. To each one of us in the retrospect it wears a different visage, but to each one it has doubtless been a year of great mercy, for which we do well to bless the name of the Lord. Let us shut the gate of the year with thanksgiving, even as we opened it with hope. To the church of God, as a whole, it has not, we fear, been a year conspicuous for growth. Its colour is not altogether black, but certainly not altogether bright; it has been a mingled season, calling forth both regrets and praises. The zeal of God’s people is not dead, neither is it distinguished for fervour; the character of the work done is not to be censured, neither can it be greatly praised. Our progress has been but slow, yet progress there has been. Our light is not clear, neither is it turned into darkness. There is a general need of improvement, revival, and refreshing; but there is a sense of this need pretty widely felt, and this is a very hopeful sign. Every moment of the wheat’s history, from the time of sowing to the day of reaping, is big with importance to the husbandman, and so every year of the history of the church is a crisis, upon which vital interests depend; the present time is probably neither more nor less fraught with peril than eras now past and forgotten, but it assuredly is a period in which there is need of great faith, and no room for vainglorious exultation. The most sanguine must see reasons for watchfulness, and the despondent may be excused if they suffer from a measure of serious anxiety. Clouds are gathering, storms are threatening, and the vessel had need be kept in good trim, with all her crew at their posts. Superstition possesses the public mind, and divides the empire of current thought with her equally deadly rival, unbelief. Both from the ...