Spurgeon’s Practical Wisdom: Or Plain Advice for Plain People (C. H. Spurgeon)

Description

It has sometimes been said that Christians are 'too heavenly minded to be of any earthly use'. While that may apply to some, it could never be said of Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Spurgeon heavenly mindedness combined with zeal to improve the lot of ordinary people . At the height of his ministry there were dozens of enterprises associated with his Metropolitan Tabernacle that served the spiritual and practical needs of men and women, boys and girls.

Although Spurgeon is best remembered as a gospel preacher, he was also a gifted writer. Under the not-so-well-disguised pseudonym of 'John Ploughman', a wise old country farm worker, Spurgeon penned a number of humorous articles on topical subjects for his monthly magazine, The Sword and the Trowel. 'I have somewhat indulged the mirthful vein, but ever with so serious a purpose that I ask no forgiveness', he wrote. In these articles he 'aimed blows at the vices of the many ' and tried to inculcate 'those moral virtues without which men are degraded.' His efforts met with great success. When later published, John Ploughman's Talk and John Ploughman's Pictures were an instant hit with sales of these two volumes exceeding 600,000 in the author's own lifetime. In homes throughout the length and breadth of Great Britain Spurgeon's practical wisdom on subjects such as alcohol, debt, anger, temptation, cruelty, and the family home, were heeded and cherished. In the preface to John Ploughman's Pictures, he was able to write: 'John Ploughman's Talk has not only obtained an immense circulation, but it has exercised an influence for good. Although its tone is rather moral than religious, it has led many to take the first steps by which men climb to better things. '

This fine edition of Spurgeon’s Practical Wisdom, which includes all of the illustrations from the original two volumes, will surely enrich many a Christian home and be treasured by a new generation of readers.

Table of Contents

John Ploughman’s Talk

Preface vii

To the Idle 1

On Religious Grumblers 11

On the Preacher’s Appearance 17

On Good Nature and Firmness 21

On Patience 29

On Gossips 33

On Seizing Opportunities 37

On Keeping One’s Eyes Open 41

Thoughts about Thought 45

Faults 49

Things Not Worth Trying 53

Debt 57

Home 67

Men Who Are Down 75

Hope 81

Spending 87

A Good Word for Wives 93

Men with Two Faces 103

Hints As To Thriving 109

Tall Talk 117

Things I Would Not Choose 125

Try 129

Monuments 135

Very Ignorant People 141

If the Cap Fits Wear It 151

Burn a Candle at Both Ends . . . 155

Hunchback Sees Not His Own Hump . . . 159

It Is Hard for an Empty Sack To Stand Upright 163

He Who Would Please All Will Lose His Donkey 169

All Are Not Hunters That Blow the Horn 173

A Hand-saw Is a Good Thing, but Not To Shave with 177

Don’t Cut Off Your Nose to Spite Your Face 181

He Has a Hole under His Nose . . . 185

Every Man Should Sweep before His Own Door 193

Scant Feeding of Man or Horse . . . 197

Never Stop the Plow to Catch a Mouse 203

A Looking-glass Is of No Use to a Blind Man 207

He has Got the Fiddle, but Not the Stick 213

Great Cry and Little Wool . . . 215

You May Bend the Sapling, but not the Tree 219

A Man May Love His House . . . 223

Great Drinkers Think Themselves Great Men 229

Two Dogs Fight for a Bone . . . 235

He Lives under the Sign of the Cat’s Foot 237

He Would Put His Finger in the Pie . . . 243

You Can’t Catch the Wind in a Net 247

Beware of the Dog 251

Like Cat like Kit 259

A Horse which Carries a Halter is Soon Caught 263

An Old Fox Is Shy of a Trap 267

A Black Hen Lays a White Egg 271

He Looks One Way and Pulls the Other 273

Stick to It and Do It 275

Don’t Put the Cart before the Horse 283

A Leaking Tap is a Great Waste 287

Fools Set Stools for Wise Men to Stumble Over 293

A Man in a Passion Rides a Horse . . . 295

Where the Plough Shall Fail To Go . . . 299

All Is Lost that Is Poured into a Cracked Dish 303

Grasp All and Lose All 307

Scatter and Increase 309

Every Bird Likes Its Own Nest 313

Product Details

Title: Spurgeon’s Practical Wisdom: Or Plain Advice for Plain People

Author: C. H. Spurgeon

Publisher: Banner of Truth

Pages: 328

Binding: Cloth-bound

Size: 22.3 x 14.6 x 2.5 cm

ISBN: 9781848710511