Voices and influences
Charles Spurgeon
Spurgeon's theology is Particular-Baptist Calvinism unashamedly preached as gospel.
Works on this site: 1855 to 1887.
6 of 2,848 quotations
In their own words
THIS is, no doubt, a literal and accurate account of God's first day's work in the creation of the world, but the first creation is not the subject of this morning's discourse—we would rather direct your minds to the second creation of God. Every man who is saved by Divine Grace is a new creation. The great work which Jesus Christ is accomplishing in the world, by the Holy Spirit through the Word, is the making all things new. We believe the old creation to have been typical of the new and we shall so use it.
Charles Spurgeon· The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 660: “Light—Natural And Spiritual” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition), 1865Reformed Baptist
Genesis 1:1–5 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
WE know very little about Jabez, except that he was more honorable than his brethren, and that he was called Jabez because his mother bare him with sorrow. It will sometimes happen that where there is the most sorrow in the antecedents, there will be the most pleasure in the sequel. As the furious storm gives place to the clear sunshine, so the night of weeping precedes the morning of joy. Sorrow the harbinger; gladness the prince it ushers in. Cowper says:— “The path of sorrow, and that path alone, Leads to the place where sorrow is unknown.”
Charles Spurgeon· The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 994: “The Prayer of Jabez” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition), 1871Reformed Baptist
1 Chronicles 4:10 And Jabez called out to the God of Israel, “If only You would bless me and enlarge my territory!
ALL labor is honorable. No man ever needs to be ashamed of an honest calling. Whether a potter or a gardener, or whatever else his occupation may be, the workman need never blush at the craft or toil by which he earns his honest wage. "In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread," belongs to us all. The sluggard may well be ashamed of his sloth, but not the diligent man of his industry. It is quite certain that the Word of God does not disparage the most humble calling.
Charles Spurgeon· The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1400: “With the King for His Work!” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition), 1877Reformed Baptist
1 Chronicles 4:23 These were the potters who lived at Netaim and Gederah. They lived there in the service of the king.
THE Temple was not to be built according to the designs of David, or Solomon, or any other man. It was to be built according to a pattern which God, Himself, had formed. In the things of God we are not left to follow our own judgments and devices—we are to look to the Law and to the Testimony for our instructions. To God's Word we must always come for our orders. What God has commanded is binding upon us in His Church. What He has not commanded, we may safely leave undone.
Charles Spurgeon· The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2280: “God's Handwriting Upon David” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition), 1892Reformed Baptist
1 Chronicles 28:19 “All this,” said David, “all the details of this plan, the LORD has made clear to me in writing by His hand upon me.”
IT is not always the most gifted church which is in the most healthy state. A church may have many rich, influential, or learned members—many that have the gift of utterance and understand all sciences—yet that church may be in an unhealthy condition. Such was the case with the church at Corinth.
Charles Spurgeon· The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2875: “Confirming the Witness of Christ” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition), 1904Reformed Baptist
1 Corinthians 1:6 because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you.
PAUL is here arguing for the safety, the perseverance and the ultimate perfection of the saints to whom he is writing. He thanks God for what He has done for them and is assured that He will do yet more—that He will certainly confirm them unto the end—that they may be blameless in the day of Jesus Christ. The Apostle bases his argument upon this Truth of God—"God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord."
Charles Spurgeon· The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2580: “Partnership With Christ” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition), 1898Reformed Baptist
1 Corinthians 1:9 God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
About this voice
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (June 19, 1834 – January 31, 1892) was an English Particular (Reformed) Baptist preacher whose 38-year pastorate ran at New Park Street Chapel, expanded as the Metropolitan Tabernacle (London, 1861). Born in Kelvedon, Essex, raised by his Independent grandfather Rev. James Spurgeon, he was converted at age 15 in a snow-bound Primitive Methodist chapel under the text "Look unto Me, and be ye saved" (Isaiah 45:22). He preached his first sermon at 16, took his first pastorate at 17, and was called to London at 19. His weekly sermons, published from 1855 as the New Park Street Pulpit and after 1861 as the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, ran to 63 volumes. He founded the Pastors' College (1856), the Stockwell Orphanage (1867), and the Colportage Association (1866). His final years were marked by the Down-Grade Controversy (1887–1892), in which he resigned from the Baptist Union over its drift on biblical authority and the gospel.
7 works
What this site reads them for
| The work | Year | Quoted here |
|---|---|---|
| The Treasury of DavidThe standard PD evangelical Psalms commentary; explicitly named in OPERATING_RULES §3 as a MannaFest ingestion-tier-1 source. 21 years of weekly Psalm-by-Psalm work. | 1869 | 1,810 quotations |
| The New Park Street / Metropolitan Tabernacle PulpitThe largest single-author sermon corpus in Christian history. The primary source for any Spurgeon position on any topic. | 1855 | Not quoted here yet |
| Lectures to My StudentsSpurgeon's instruction to his Pastors' College — the standard 19th-c. handbook on evangelical preaching, prayer, and pastoral life. | 1875 | Not quoted here yet |
| A Defense of CalvinismSpurgeon's own articulation of his Calvinism — "I have my own opinion that there is no such thing as preaching Christ and Him crucified, unless we preach what nowadays is called Calvinism." | 1860 | Not quoted here yet |
| All of GraceSpurgeon's most-distributed evangelistic work; a presentation of the gospel of grace for the unconverted reader. | 1886 | Not quoted here yet |
| Morning and EveningThe standard Spurgeon daily devotional, in continuous print since publication. | 1865 | Not quoted here yet |
| The Down Grade Controversy correspondence and articlesSpurgeon's defense of biblical authority, penal substitution, and eternal judgment against the Baptist Union's emerging modernism. | 1887 | Not quoted here yet |
Where to find them
- The Spurgeon Archive (CCEL)
- Spurgeon Center
- The Treasury of David
- The Treasury of David
- The New Park Street / Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit
- The New Park Street / Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit
- Lectures to My Students
- Lectures to My Students
- A Defense of Calvinism
- A Defense of Calvinism
- All of Grace
- All of Grace
- Morning and Evening
- Morning and Evening
- The Down Grade Controversy correspondence and articles
- The Down Grade Controversy correspondence and articles
2,848 quotations across 60 books
Where this voice is quoted
Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
“FROM the descent of the Holy Spirit at the beginning we may learn something concerning His operations at the present time.”
But God raised Him from the dead, releasing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for Him to be held in its clutches.
“PETER is here speaking of the risen Christ, whom God had raised up, "having loosed the pains of death."”
This promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far off—to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
“WE learn from the text a fact worth remembering, namely, that in the first stage of the Christian ministry, the thing to be aimed at is that men should be pricked in the heart.”
But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out, saying,
“THE second persecution of the Church, in which all the Apostles were put into the common prison, was mainly brought about by the sect of the Sadducees.”
God exalted Him to His right hand as Prince and Savior, in order to grant repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.
“THE same fact appears very differently to different people. Our Lord Jesus, having risen from the dead, was exalted with the right hand of God. To the Jewish priests and rulers this was a dreadful announcement.”
So the word of God continued to spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem grew rapidly, and a great number of priests became obedient to the faith.
“CERTAIN things preceded this prosperity—the counterpart of which I verily believe we have experienced among ourselves. There had been a little trouble in the church; some had thought one thing, some had thought another. There appeared to have been a just cause for complaint.”
Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
“I have often heard the argument, "Do not have too many out-stations, keep up a strong central force." But God's plan was that the holy force should be distributed—the holy seed must be sown.”
“Who are You, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” He replied.
“THIS expression is highly characteristic of the Savior from its figurative form. While He was on earth He spoke to the people in parables, and speaking out of Heaven, in this instance, He still adopts the parabolic style, as He did in Patmos, when He…”
“Get up!” the Lord told him. “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.
“THESE words are the hallmark of genuine conversion. "Behold, he prays" is a surer witness of a man's conversion than, "Behold, he sings," or, "Behold, he reads the Scripture," or, "Behold, he preaches." These things may be admirably done by men who are not regenerate!”
And He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that He is the One appointed by God to judge the living and the dead.
“You will notice throughout this short address by Peter how very careful he is to speak not at all upon his own authority, but wholly upon the authority of the Most High.”
Brothers, children of Abraham, and you Gentiles who fear God, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent.
“MY text must be read in the light of the 46th verse, or else I may be thought to be guilty of wresting it from its true meaning.”
In fact, God raised Him from the dead, never to see decay. As He has said: ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’
“WE know from this quotation made by the Apostle Paul in his address at Antioch, that he was alluding not only to David, but to the Lord Jesus, also.”
When Apollos resolved to cross over to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him.
“APOLLOS is not Paul, and Paul is not Apollos. To blend the two in one would be to spoil each one of the two without producing a good third.”
and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” “No,” they answered, “we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
“IT may be well to notice what question the Apostle did not put to these Ephesian disciples of John. He did not say to them, "Have you believed?"”
testifying to Jews and Greeks alike about repentance to God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
“This was the practical drift of Paul's teaching at Ephesus, and everywhere else. He kept back nothing which was profitable to them; and the main profit he expected them to derive from his teaching the whole counsel of God was this, that they should have…”
But I consider my life of no value to me, if only I may finish my course and complete the ministry I have received from the Lord Jesus—the ministry of…
“PAUL says that in comparison with his great objective of preaching the Gospel, he did not count even his life to be dear to himself; yet we are sure Paul highly valued life.”
Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men.
“WHEN Paul was parting from his Ephesian friends, who had come to bid him farewell at Miletus, he did not request of them a commendation of his ability; he did not request of them a recommendation for his fervid eloquence, his profound learning, his comprehensive…”
and I have the same hope in God that they themselves cherish, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.
“THE heathen had, somehow or other, spelled out the Truth of God that the soul of man is immortal. Almost all their religions implied this and some of their sages plainly taught it.”
But when his accusers rose to speak, they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected.
“FESTUS is giving to King Agrippa a brief account of the matter between Paul and the Jews. It may not be a very accurate account. For Festus did not profess to understand the business. He was a Roman governor newly come to Judea.”
So take courage, men, for I believe God that it will happen just as He told me.
“THE presence of a brave man in the hour of danger is a very great comfort to his companions. It is a grand thing to observe Paul so bold, so calm in the midst of all the hurly-burly of the storm.”
So they set a day to meet with Paul, and many people came to the place he was staying.
“WHEREVER Paul is, he has but one errand and whenever Paul preaches, he has but one subject. Once at Athens, when he addressed the Areopagus, he seemed to wander a little from his main point and no special good followed, but this experience bound him…”
Some of them were convinced by what he said, but others refused to believe.
“THIS is the only proper way to calculate the results of our ministry. We just want the account book ruled with two columns. On one side we must put down the long list of the some that believe not.”