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bookslover · #16 (**permalink**) 06-01-2008, 03:54 AM

Here's some more Spurgeon, pleading for balance in the Christian life, from a sermon on John 1:36 preached in 1872:

No subject so well balances the soul as Jesus, the Lamb of God. Other themes disturb the mental equilibrium, and overload one faculty at the expense of others. I have noticed, in theology, that certain brethren meditate almost exclusively upon doctrine, and I think it is not severely critical to say that they have a tendency to become hard, rigid, and far too militant. It is to be feared that some doctrinalists miss the spirit of Christ in fighting for the words of Christ. God forbid I should speak against earnestly contending for the true faith, but still, without fellowship with the living Saviour we may, through controversy, become ill-developed and one-sided.

I think I have noticed that brethren who give all their thoughts to experience are also somewhat out of square. Some of them dwell upon the experience of human corruption until they acquire a melancholy temperament and are, at the same time, apt to censure those who enjoy the liberty of the children of God. Other brethren turn all their attention to the brighter side of experience, and these are not always free from the spirit of carnal security, which leads them to look down on trembling and anxious hearts, as though they could not possess true faith in God.

I think, also, that I have noticed that those who pay all their homage at the shrine of practical theology have a tendency to become legal, and to exchange the privileges of believers for the bondage of servants. This, also, is a grievous fault. But, when a man takes Christ Jesus crucified to be his mind's main thought, he has all things in one: doctrine, experience, and practice, combined. As Canaan contained Carmel, and Sharon, and Eschol, and Hermon, so Jesus comprehends all good things.