Teacher
Charles Spurgeon: The Preacher Whose Sermons Still Preach
A short introduction to Charles Spurgeon, the London preacher whose plain, Christ-centered sermons are still read today, and where readers differ.
- Lived
- 1834–1892
- Known for
- Preaching at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, London
- Nickname
- "The Prince of Preachers"
- Tradition
- Reformed Baptist
- Best entry point
- His daily devotional, Morning and Evening
Charles Haddon Spurgeon preached to thousands in London every week before there were microphones, and well over a century later his words are still in print, still quoted, still doing the quiet work of pointing people to Christ. He was converted as a teenager when a snowstorm pushed him into a tiny chapel where a substitute preacher pressed home a single verse — "Look unto me, and be ye saved" — and Spurgeon said he looked, and was changed. He spent the rest of his life trying to make that same Jesus plain to ordinary people. His sermons are warm, vivid, and unhurried; he reached for everyday pictures rather than scholarly language, and he kept returning to the cross. He suffered from poor health and long seasons of depression, and he spoke about those struggles openly, which is part of why readers who carry their own heaviness still find a friend in him. We point readers to Spurgeon because few teachers have so consistently aimed every sermon at the same target: that you would see Christ and trust him. Where readers may differ: Spurgeon was a convinced Reformed Baptist, and his sermons reflect those convictions — believer's baptism and the doctrines of grace among them. Christians from other traditions will not agree with him on every point, and that is fine; you do not have to share all of his theology to be fed by his relentless focus on Jesus. As with any teacher, read him with an open Bible and weigh what he says against Scripture itself.
Signature works
- Morning and Evening: A daily devotional with a short reading for the start and close of each day — the gentlest place to begin.
- All of Grace: A plain, pastoral explanation of how a person is saved by grace, written for the anxious and the unsure.
- The New Park Street and Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit: The vast collection of his weekly sermons, freely available and still remarkably readable.
- Lectures to My Students: Practical, often funny counsel he gave to men training to preach — useful far beyond the pulpit.