What follows is the introduction for the new volume God’s Purpose for Your Suffering by Charles Spurgeon. Take advantage of the launch sale on the Kindle edition. The price increases July 19, 2023.


When we suffer, the question we all ponder is Why? While we may not know exactly what God is up to in our suffering and trials, we can rest confident that He does have a purpose. Knowing this gives us hope.

The purpose of this book is to give you hope and to help you make the most of your suffering. You can’t ease the pain of your tough situation by complaining and growing bitter (that makes things worse!), but you can make sure that you reap all of the blessings and lessons He has for you.

Suffering is an opportunity.

An Opportunity for Joy

I’ve always found James 1:2–4 astounding:

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

We can count all suffering as joy. God is at work in us. He is at work in our situation. We may not understand His purposes, but we can trust He won’t renege on His promises. And the light that shines from His promises is brighter in the darkness.

It’s hard to count suffering as joy as a young person new to suffering, but the longer we walk with Christ and the more trials we pass through, the more steadfast and filled with faith we will become. James says as much!

An Able Teacher

Charles Haddon Spurgeon knew suffering. On October 19, 1956, while preaching at the Surrey Gardens Music Hall, someone in the crowd yelled “Fire!”, creating a stampede that trampled seven to death and left thirty more seriously injured. Spurgeon likely suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) related to this event the rest of his life.

Spurgeon also suffered from poor health, battling gout and kidney disease at various times. Many in Spurgeon’s own denomination shunned him in the Downgrade Controversy. Off and on Spurgeon battled depression.

His time in the furnace of affliction and his deep biblical insight make the eight sermons in this volume especially helpful for us as we think about the trials and tribulations we face.

“There is in the Bible a remedy exactly fitted for your grief if you could only find it,” wrote Spurgeon. “Sometimes you lose the key of a drawer, and you must have it opened, and therefore you send for the whitesmith, and he comes in with a great bunch of keys. Somewhere among them he has a key that will open your drawer. The Bible contains keys that will open the iron gates of your trouble, and give you freedom from your sorrow.”

In our case, Spurgeon is the locksmith with eight Scripture keys that will revive our souls and rejoice the heart (Psalm 19:7–11). So as you read, turn nuggets of truth into prayer. Ask God to purify you, teach you, mature you, and bless you.

God used Joseph’s suffering. He used Job’s suffering. He used the suffering of Hannah and of the apostle Paul, and of course He used the suffering of His own Son, Jesus Christ.

How might He use yours?


God’s Purpose for Your Suffering by Charles Spurgeon is available in paperback and Kindle editions. Browse other Charles Spurgeon titles.

Free Christian Kindle Books from Randy Alcorn, the Gospel Coalition, and Desiring God

New Book Announcement!

God’s Purpose for Your Suffering by Charles Spurgeon. Enjoy the launch sale with the Kindle edition at $2.99! The price goes up July 1.


Free Books

Free eBook: Before You Share Your Faith by Matt Smethurst

Free Audiobook (with opt-in): Right with God by Michael Reeves

Free eBook (with opt-in) Serving Without Sinking: How to Serve Christ and Keep Your Joy by John Hindley 

Free audiobook: Heaven is a World of Love by Jonathan Edwards and Justin Schell

Logos Bible Software Book Deal

Free eBook: The Consequences of Ideas: Understanding the Concepts that Shaped Our World by R.C. Sproul

Free Audiobook: Prayer and Praying Men by E.M. Bounds

Other Monthly Deals 


Don’t forget that you can promote your book with Cross-Points. Learn more.


Westminster Bookstore has great commentary deals, up to 55% off, on the following sets:

  • Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (30 volumes)
  • ESV Expository Commentary (11 volumes)
  • Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary (8 volumes)
  • Reformed Expository Commentary (34 volumes)
  • The Gospel According to the Old Testament (17 volumes)
  • Focus on the Bible (41 volumes)
  • Preaching the Word NT Set (19 volumes)
  • New Studies in Biblical Theology (58 volumes)

Browse the sale here.

View all special deals here.

Offer ends May 18, 2023!


ICYMI: This month’s freebies and deals

The Great Reduction: Solomon Seeks the Key to Peace by Jay Trott (Sponsored Book)

New Kindle release: God’s Purpose for Your Suffering by Charles Spurgeon

On Sale Now

The Great Reduction: Solomon Seeks the Key to Peace by Jay Trott

What is the secret to happiness?

King Solomon was one of the greatest superachievers of all time and fabulously wealthy. He also had a reputation as the wisest man in the world. But at the end of his life, he was so unhappy that he felt moved to cry out “all is vanity” and wish he had never been born.

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon brilliantly diagnoses the causes of our continuing unhappiness and boils down the secret of peace and contentment to a few essential ingredients. The Great Reduction explains why his prescription for peace is just as relevant today as the day it was written. It also uses his diagnosis to shed light on a happiness that goes far beyond anything Solomon could have imagined.


This is a sponsored post.

On Sale Now

The Great Reduction: Solomon Seeks the Key to Peace by Jay Trott. (This is a sponsored listing.)


Kindle Deals

New Kindle release:


Assorted Free Books

Free eBook (with opt-in): Living Without Worry by Timothy Lane

Free Charles Spurgeon eBook download: Our Savior’s Cries from the Cross. We’ve partnered with the Anchored in Christ email list to give away a great title from Spurgeon that gets to the very heart of what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross.

Free John Piper PDF: 27 Servants of Sovereign Joy

Free Ebook: The Heart of Anger by Christopher Ash


Logos Bible Software Deals

Free Christian Kindle Books from Randy Alcorn, the Gospel Coalition, and Desiring God

Another month, another fresh batch of Christian book deals and freebies, and another month of God’s faithfulness.

If Cross-Points has been a blessing to you, tell a friend! 😎

Free Books!

Logos Deals

Kindle Deals:

Free Christian Kindle Books from Randy Alcorn, the Gospel Coalition, and Desiring God

We’ll admit, some months of free and discounted eBooks are better than others. But it’s the months like this one that make our monthly roundup post always worth checking. 🙂


$0.99 Kindle Deal: Encouraged to Pray by Charles Spurgeon

$5.99 Kindle Deal: NIV, The Grace and Truth Study Bible edited by Albert Mohler

Free eBook (with opt in): Galatians for You by Tim Keller

Free PDF: The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God by D.A. Carson

Free PDF: Come Lord Jesus by John Piper

Logos Free Book: Broadman Bible Commentary: Matthew-Mark

30% off Logos 10 for a limited time

Free Audiobook: The Romantic Rationalist by John Piper; David Mathis; Randy Alcorn; Philip Graham Ryken; Kevin Vanhoozer

Check out Logos’ monthly sale that includes deals on titles like A Praying Church by Paul E. Miller or this flash sale on titles in the New Studies in Biblical Theology series.

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Westminster Books has 22 of the top-selling titles from 2022 on sale.  A top pick is The Biggest Story Bible Storybook by Kevin DeYoung ($12.49). Also includes Christopher Watkin, David Powlison, Tim Challies, John Murray, and more. (You may also enjoy a copy of the ESV Concise Study Bible for under $7.)

Free eBooks:

Kindle Deals:

Logos Deals:

 

 

Now’s the time to buy a new ESV Bible for a gift of in bulk for church!

WTSBooks has 50% off on all ESV Bibles (except some premium leather Bibles due to cost of production).

  • ESV Study Bible
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Check out the sale that ends December 31.

(Also check out the 50% off deal on the new Complete Works of John Owen volume on the Holy Spirit.)

 

“All flesh is like grass
    and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
    and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord remains forever.” 1 Peter 1:24–25