Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834–1892) was undoubtedly evangelistic in his preaching. He was known as the “Prince of Preachers” because he arranged his sermons around the text and was only occasionally textual-topical and highly typological. Within his Lectures to My Students resides a treasure trove of wisdom that illuminates the man and his unwavering confidence in Christ. Spurgeon noted in his journal that someone tricked him into preaching his first sermon. Despite his lack of formal education, he was ahead of his time and emphatically Christ-centered in his preaching. What is more, the humanity of Spurgeon shone through in his openness about his bouts with depression. I want to offer three observations about the preaching of Charles Spurgeon.
Persuasive Exposition
Spurgeon sought to persuade the unrepentant in his sermons and his writing. In All of Grace, he demonstrated the significance of his desire for the lost. Specifically, he did not conceal his intentions toward the lost. Spurgeon professed, “Let me persuade you to reason with yourself thus: Ungodly as I am, though this heart of steel will not relent, though I smite in vain at my breast, yet He died for such as I am, since he died for the ungodly. Oh, that I may believe this and feel the power of it upon my flinty heart!” Speaking to readers, Spurgeon sought to connect through his persuasive rhetoric to help them see the necessity of their need for Christ. This example typifies Spurgeon’s passionate zeal for the lost and dependence upon Scripture in his message.
Moreover, Spurgeon’s sermons consistently appealed for a response. In his sermon “The New Heart,” Spurgeon declared, “And now reflect every one of you—you that are not converted—that we are all this morning in God’s hands. We deserve to be damned. . . . We ought to cast ourselves on our faces as soon as we reach our homes and cry, ‘Great God, save me, a sinner!’” This sermon’s appeal demonstrates Spurgeon’s desire to see the lost come to Christ. He passionately pursued a response of repentance. Even his writings extolled this conviction. He wrote, “Rest not content until you see clear evidence in your converts of a simple, sincere, and decided faith in the Lord Jesus. With undivided faith in Jesus Christ, there must also be unfeigned repentance of sin.” Spurgeon’s sermon “Bread Enough to Spare” argued, “There is hope for hopeless souls in the Savior. In addition to arousing us, it ought to elevate the sinner’s thoughts. . . . O come ye, come ye, come ye; come and welcome; come to the Redeemer’s blood. Holy Spirit, compel them to come, that in the house of mercy they may be filled.” This sermon’s appeal demonstrates Spurgeon’s dependence upon the Holy Spirit to change the audience’s desire to turn to Christ.
Christocentric Exposition
Spurgeon’s exposition of 2 Corinthians 4:6 illustrates his passion for the glory of Christ. His preaching evidenced his conviction for the gospel and the fervency of his appeal to others. He pleaded, “Brothers and sisters, if you have learned the truth of God, manifest it and make it and make it plain to others! Proclaim the gospel, not your own thoughts, for it is Christ whom you are to make manifest. Let the clear white light shine through you that others may behold your Lord.” Spurgeon’s argument was to persuade his audience to be vessels of the Holy Spirit for the proclamation of the gospel. His exposition led him to the natural exhortation of the text to glorify God through glorifying Christ.
Typological Exposition
Strictly speaking, Spurgeon was not a classical expositor but was Christological and—from a pure hermeneutical position—indeed Christocentric. He learned preaching in the Puritan style. As such, Scripture drove his sermons to aspire to get to the gospel. He set the example that preaching the gospel does not have to be a miserable experience for the preacher or the audience: “Sermons need to be broken up, varied, decorated, and enlivened; and nothing can do this as well as the introduction of types, emblems, and instances. . . . Certainly, a gracious discourse is none the better for being bereft of every grace of language.”
Conclusion
Spurgeon illustrated his ethos through his social concern and personal piety. Dargan declared that he was known for his “genial, winsome, sympathetic, hearty” temperament coupled with his “candor and sincerity” to the extent that it was said of him that “the Christian showed in all his work.” There is no question that Spurgeon was committed to the proclamation of Scripture—the logos. His passion for Christ anchored his pathos to the gospel. Alister McGrath identified Spurgeon as “the most influential Baptist of the nineteenth century,” and this was due to his effectiveness as a preacher. His influence was due not only to his oratory skills but also, in part, to his social concern. However, these paled in comparison to his passion for the risen Christ.
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