We object not to the narration of the deeds of our unregenerate condition, but to the mode in which it is too often done. Let sin have its monument, but let it be a heap of stones cast by the hands of execration - not a mausoleum erected by the hands of affection.
Interpretation
The quote criticizes how we commemorate sin and wrongdoing, advocating for a representation of regret rather than admiration.
Charles Spurgeon's quote reflects a deep philosophical stance on how we confront and remember our moral failures. He argues that while it is important to acknowledge human imperfection, the narrative surrounding our sins should not be glorified or romanticized. Instead, it should serve as a reminder of our faults, ideally represented by a pile of stones—symbolizing rejection and disdain—rather than monument-like structures that could evoke affection or nostalgia for those sins.
In practice
This quote can be used in a sermon to discuss the importance of acknowledging our faults and their consequences.
Amusement should be used to do us good “like a medicine”: it must never be used as the food of the man...Many have had all holy thoughts and gracious resolutions stamped out by perpetual trifling. Pleasure so called is the murderer of thought. This is the age of excessive amusement: everybody craves for it, like a babe for its rattle.
When you see no present advantage, walk by faith and not by sight. Do God the honor to trust Him when it comes to matters of loss for the sake of principle.
It is far easier to fight with sin in public than to pray against it in private.
You will never glory in God till first of all God has killed your glorying in yourself.
After faith comes repentance, or, rather, repentance is faith's twin brother and is born at the same time.
["All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant."] The original Hebrew word that has been translated "paths" means "well-worn roads' or "wheel tracks," such ruts as wagons make when they go down our green roads in wet weather and sink in up to the axles. God's ways are at times like heavy wagon tracks that cut deep into our souls, yet all of them are merciful.
Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites.
To make the child in your own image is a capital crime, for your image is not worth repeating. The child knows this and you know it. Consequently you hate each other.
Any man who is not a communist at the age of twenty is a fool. Any man who is still a communist at the age of thirty is an even bigger fool.
For what is faith unless it is to believe what you do not see?
Fair... You'd be amazed how often I hear that word, Frank Zhang,and how meaningless it is. Is it fair your life will burn so short and bright? Was it fair when I guided your mother to the Underworld? No, not fair. And yet it was her time. There is no fairness in Death. If you free me, I will do my duty.
Boundaries don't protect rivers, people do.
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