From Charles H. Spurgeon's sermon, "Preaching for the Poor," January 25, 1857:
The pulpit has become dishonored. It is esteemed as being of very little worth and of no esteem. Ah, we must always maintain the dignity of the pulpit. I hold that it is the Thermopylae of Christendom. It is here the battle must be fought between right and wrong—not so much with the pen, valuable as that is as an assistant—as with the living voice of earnest men, "contending earnestly for the faith once delivered unto the saints." In some Churches the pulpit is put away, there is a prominent altar but the pulpit is omitted. Now the most prominent thing under the Gospel dispensation is not the altar which belonged to the Jewish dispensation but the pulpit. "We have an Altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle!" That Altar is Christ but Christ has been pleased to exalt "the foolishness of preaching" to the most prominent position in His house of prayer. We must make sure that we always maintain preaching. It is this that God will bless. It is this that He has promised to crown with success. "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." We must not expect to see great changes nor any great progress of the Gospel until there is greater esteem for the pulpit—more said of it and thought of it.
JTR
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