The saved people lived the saved life. By their fruits ye shall know
them. (pg. 15)
“There are many opinions as to the secret of your great influence.
Would you be good enough to give me your own point of view?” After a moment’s pause,
Spurgeon said, “My people pray for me.” (pg. 20)
Spurgeon had no sympathy with the easygoing theology that seemed to
regard conversion as little more than a change of opinion. (pg. 33)
Spurgeon knew enough of the history of the Church to convince him of
the value of layman’s testimony. The early Church was a church of witnesses.
(pg. 49)
There is no way of learning to preach which can be compared with
preaching itself. If you want to swim, you might get into the water, and if you
at first make a sorry exhibition, never mind; for it is by swimming as you can
that you learn to swim as you should. We ought to be lenient with beginners,
for they will do better by and by. If young speakers in Cambridge had been discouraged
and silenced, I might not have found my way here, and therefore I shall be the
last to bring forth a wet blanket for any who sincerely speak for Christ,
however humble may be their endeavors. The fear of there being too many
preachers is the last that will occur to me. (pg. 50)
When asked how he secured such vast congregation, Spurgeon said, “I did
not seek them. They have always sought me. My concern has been to preach Christ
and leave the rest to His keeping.” (pg. 90)
Do not make minor doctrines main points. For instance, the great
problems of sublapsarianism and superlapsarianism, the trenchant debates
concerning eternal filiation the earnest dispute concerning the double
procession, and the pre- or post- millenarian schemes, however important some may
deem them, are practically of very little concern to that godly widow woman,
with seven children to support by her needle, who wants far more to hear of the
loving-kindness of God or Providence than of the mysteries profound. If you
preach to her on the faithfulness of God to His people, she will be cheered and
helped in the battle of life. But difficult questions will perplex her or send
her to sleep. She is, however the type of hundreds of those who most require
your care. Our great master theme is the good news from heaven; the tidings
of mercy through the atoning death of Jesus, mercy to the chief of sinners upon
their believing in Jesus. (pg. 100)
Spurgeon believed it was better to unveil the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ than to solve problems of scriptural harmony. He recognized no
knowledge of God except through the scriptures. His idea of the spiritual use
of the Bible placed it beyond the scope of historical criticism. He would say, “It
is not for us to sit in judgement upon the Word but to let the Word judge us.”
(pg. 101)
To Spurgeon it would have been as silly to question the promises of the
New Testament as to question the value of sunlight. (pg. 102)
Theoretically, there were limits to redemption but practically, the
barriers were all taken down. Spurgeon’s doctrine was: Whoever will, let him
come. Other preachers ingeniously created limits and restrictions but Spurgeon saw
God’s mercy to be as wide as the sea. (pg. 104)
For him, the raw material of religion was: ”Trust n the Lord and do
good.” (pg. 104)
It must have been a great day for Spurgeon. He had been in London only
a few years, and he was acclaimed as the most popular preacher, probably the
most popular man, in the country. But he had not forgotten the voice he had
heard: “Seekest thou great things for thyself? See them not.” (pg. 106)
Spurgeon introduced a new element into preaching. His lectures on
preaching are among the best. His ideal was that of the fisherman. He lowered
his net to catch fish; he baited his hook, not for decorative purposes but
to secure souls.
“Sermons,” Spurgeon wrote, “should have real teaching in them, and
their doctrine should be solid, substantial, and abundant. We do not enter the
pulpit to talk for the talk’s sake.” He insisted the preacher much proclaim
Christ always and everywhere. Christ’s Person, offices, and work must be “our
one great all-comprehending theme. The world still needs to be told of its Savior
and of the way to reach Him.”
Spurgeon insisted from the first that nothing could compensate for the absence
of teaching. He insisted on practicality. Some think in smoke and preach in
clouds; Spurgeon was concerned that the people understand his meaning. Clear expression
is not a natural gift; it comes with practice, and the price of preachers was
continually clarifying his thought.
He admonished his students that no matter what their genius might be, nothing
would make up for the absence of personal study. Fluent speech and impromptu
wit were to be regarded as dangerous. “If you seek these gifts as pillows
for an idle head, you will be much mistaken, for the possession of this noble power
will involve you in a vast amount of labor in order to increase and retain it.”
(pg. 138)
Our sermons should be our mental lifeblood – the outflow of our
intellectual and spiritual vigor; or, to change the figure, they should be
diamonds well cut and well set, precious intrinsically and hearing bearing the
marks of labor. God forbid that we should offer to the Lord that which
costs us nothing.
Spurgeon paid great attention to his sermons’ opening passages.
He valued the first sentence as setting out what he purposed to do, indicating
the road along which he would lead the thought of the congregation. His opening
usually placed his hearers in the very center of the subject. Unnecessary
words were eliminated. (pg. 140)
Prayer is the avenue by which the conscious life of God is
entered. It is not simply waiting on the Lord, making confession or giving
praise; to Spurgeon it was abandoning oneself to the consciousness of the Presence. (pg. 144)
Social service may be divided into two parts: talking and doing. There
are those who become eloquent about the condition of slum dwellers and old
people. There are the others who serve; they may have little gift of speech but
they do the work. Spurgeon believed in doing what he could to change conditions
by changing individuals. His theory was that the changed life transforms the circumstances.
What is now familiarly known as social service, was from Spurgeon’s
point of view, the ordinary expression of Christian character. He firmly
believed the best description of pure religion was that given by the apostles
James: “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to
visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself
unspotted from the world.” (pg. 151)
The attitude toward money is an acid test of religion. (pg. 204)
Source: Charles Spurgeon: The Prince of Preachers, Heroes of the Faith (1997), by Dan Harmon
