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
the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him.
“THE part of the text on which we shall meditate is this—"The Spirit of Truth, you know Him, for He dwells with you and shall be in you." Observe that the Holy Spirit is here called the Spirit of Truth.”
In a little while the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you also will live.
“IT is very noticeable in this verse and in many other parts of the New Testament, what a sharp line of demarcation the Lord draws between His people and the world—"The world sees Me no more, but you see Me."”
In a little while the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you also will live.
“WHATEVER religious privileges men of the world may have, they will lose them. It was a great favor to see Christ in the flesh.”
Whoever does not love Me does not keep My words. The word that you hear is not My own, but it is from the Father who sent Me.
“ALL through this thrice-blessed chapter, man cuts a very sorry figure. Whoever it is that speaks, whether it is Philip, or Judas, or Thomas, each one displays his own ignorance, either by asking an unwise question or by making a mistaken request.”
Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.
“OUR LORD WAS now about to die, to depart from this world, and to ascend to his Father; he therefore makes his will; and this is the blessed legacy which he leaves to the faithful—“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.””
You heard Me say, ‘I am going away, and I am coming back to you.’
“THE loving Jesus saw a shade of sadness fall upon the faces of the 12 while He talked to them of His departure.”
I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit.
“In further explaining the meaning of this passage, let me remark that Christ did not say "Without Me you can perfect nothing," but, "Without Me you can donothing."”
I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit.
“THIS is not the language of a man of ordinary mold. No saint, no Prophet, no Apostle would ever have addressed a company of faithful men and have said to them, "Without me you can do nothing."”
You are My friends if you do what I command you.
“OUR Lord Jesus Christ is beyond all comparison the best of friends—a friend in need, a friend indeed. "Friend!" said Socrates, "there is no friend!" But Socrates did not know our Lord Jesus, or he would have added, "except the Savior."”
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin.
“THE PECULIAR SIN of the Jews, the sin which aggravated above everything their former iniquities, was their rejection of Jesus Christ as the Messiah.”
But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated Me without reason.’
“IT IS usually understood, that the quotation our Saviour here refers to is to be found in the 35th Psalm, at the 19th verse, where David says, speaking of himself immediately and of the Saviour prophetically, “Let not them who are mine enemies rejoice over…”
He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you.
“IT is the chief office of the Holy Spirit to glorify Christ. He does many things, but this is what He aims at in all of them—to glorify Christ. Brothers and Sisters, what the Holy Spirit does must be right for us to imitate!”
I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”
“[Other Sermons by Mr. Spurgeon upon the same text are #1327, Volume 22—CHRIST THE OVERCOMER OF THE WORLD and #1994, Volume 33— SWEET PEACE FOR TRIED BELIEVERS.] The Believer is in two places, and he lives two lives.”
For You granted Him authority over all people, so that He may give eternal life to all those You have given Him.
“THIS was used by our Savior as an argument why the Father should glorify Him in His dread hour of conflict. Our Lord did as much as say, "You have already given Me what I now ask.”
Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.
“OUR subject this morning [Sermon #1946, Volume 33—Eternal Life within Present Grasp] was concerning laying hold on eternal life, and I thought that I would say a little more, tonight, about eternal life.”
I ask on their behalf. I do not ask on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those You have given Me; for they are Yours.
“To begin with, I remark that our Lord Jesus pleads for His own people. When He puts on His priestly breastplate, it is for the tribes whose names are there.”
I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You.
“THE PASTOR'S RETURN. THREE SPECIALLY- SELECTED SERMONS TO HIS CHURCH, CONGREGATION, READERS AND FRIENDS, CONSISTING OF A RETROSPECT, A PROSPECT [No. 1883] AND AN EXHORTATION [No. 1884.] WHAT a wonderful intercommunion and fellowship exists between the Father and the Son in the matter of redemption!”
I am not asking that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one.
“THE text, as we observed on a former occasion, [Sermon #47, Volume 1—CHRIST'S PRAYER FOR HIS PEOPLE contains two prayers—a negative prayer and a positive prayer. First, there is the negative prayer—"I pray not that You should take them out of the world."”
As You sent Me into the world, I have also sent them into the world.
“HERE is a great fact mentioned, namely, that the Father sent the Son into the world. Our Lord's disciples believed this. Jesus says Himself, "They have believed that You did send me."”
I am not asking on behalf of them alone, but also on behalf of those who will believe in Me through their message,
“IN the very opening of this subject one feels inexpressibly delighted to see the wondrous love of our Savior towards His people.”
Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, that they may see the glory You gave Me because You loved Me before the…
“THE PRAYER OF THE SAVIOR rises as it proceeds. He asked for his people that they might be preserved from the world, then that they might be sanctified, and then that they might be made manifestly one; and now he reaches his crowning point—that they…”
They brought Him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year.
“NOTE the words in verse 13—"and led him away to Annas first." This man, Annas, has not become so infamous as Pontius Pilate because his name did not happen to be mentioned in the Creed, but, in some respects, he was even more guilty than…”
Because it was cold, the servants and officers were standing around a charcoal fire they had made to keep warm. And Peter was also standing with them, warming himself.
“WE note from this incident that it was a cold night in which our Redeemer agonized in the Garden of Gethsemane. [See Sermon #2767, Volume 48—JESUS IN GETHSEMANE.] A cold night and yet He sweat!”
One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Didn’t I see you with Him in the garden?”
“PETER was on dangerous ground. When his Master was being buffeted, he was trying to make himself comfortable. We read of the high priest's servants, that they warmed themselves and Peter stood with them and warmed himself.”
“Not this man,” they shouted, “but Barabbas!” (Now Barabbas was an insurrectionist.)
“THE custom of delivering a prisoner upon the day of the Passover was intended, no doubt, as an act of grace on the part of the Roman authorities towards the Jews.”