Voices and influences
Charles Spurgeon
Preached in London for thirty-eight years and spent twenty-one years writing The Treasury of David, which is why this site reads him on the Psalms first.
His schooling is not in this site's record.
Summary
This site quotes Charles Spurgeon 2,849 times across 60 books, and lists 7 works. The place to start is The Treasury of David.
- Lived 1834 to 1892, British.
- Quoted here most in Psalms: 1,910 of 2,849.
- The Treasury of David: Psalm by psalm: his own exposition, notes gathered from older commentators, and short hints for a preacher.
- Spurgeon preached the five points of Calvinism as the structure of the gospel.

Charles Spurgeon
- Lived
- 1834 to 1892
- Nation
- British
- Tradition
- Reformed Baptist
5 of 2,849 quotations
Own words
Quoted in full, because Charles Spurgeon died in 1892 and these works are out of copyright. Each citation below names its edition and its year. A citation naming a modernised text means that edition makes its own editorial changes, and that edition's terms are not in this site's record.
“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.”
The rest of the quotation
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.
Genesis 1:1–5 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. BSB
“They are corrupt. They rot above ground; their heart and life are depraved. And speak wickedly concerning oppression. The reek of the sepulchre rises through their mouths; the nature of the soul is revealed in the speech.”
The rest of the quotation
They choose oppression as their subject, and they not only defend it, but advocate it, glory in it, and would fain make it the general rule among all nations. "Who are the poor? What are they made for? What, indeed, but to toil and slave that men of education and good family may enjoy themselves?
Psalms 73:8 They mock and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression. BSB
“Blessed— see how this Book of Psalms opens with a benediction, even as did the famous Sermon of our Lord upon the Mount! The word translated ‘blessed’ is a very expressive one.”
The rest of the quotation
The original word is plural, and it is a controverted matter whether it is an adjective or a substantive. Hence we may learn the multiplicity of the blessings which shall rest upon the man whom God hath justified, and the perfection and greatness of the blessedness he shall enjoy. We might read it, "Oh, the blessednesses!"
Psalms 1:1–2 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night. BSB
“And he shall be like a tree planted—not a wild tree, but ‘a tree planted, ‘ chosen, considered as property, cultivated and secured from the last terrible uprooting, for ‘every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up:’ Matthew 15:13.”
The rest of the quotation
"By the rivers of water;" so that even if one river should fail, he hath another. The rivers of pardon and the rivers of grace, the rivers of the promise and the rivers of communion with Christ, are never-failing sources of supply.
Psalms 1:3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does. BSB
“They shall stand there to be judged, but not to be acquitted. Fear shall lay hold upon them there; they shall not stand their ground; they shall flee away; they shall not stand in their own defense; for they shall blush and be covered with…”
The rest of the quotation
eternal contempt. Well may the saints long for heaven, for no evil men shall dwell there, "nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous." All our congregations upon earth are mixed. Every Church hath one devil in it. The tares grow in the same furrows as the wheat.
Psalms 1:5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. BSB
Influence, on the record
This site quotes Charles Spurgeon 2,849 times across 60 books.
This site’s own count of what it does with the voice
His weekly sermons were printed from 1855 and run to sixty-three volumes. The last volumes were printed after his death.
The New Park Street Pulpit and The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, 1855 to 1917.
The Treasury of David took twenty-one years and runs to seven volumes.
The Treasury of David, 1869 to 1885.
John Piper wrote his study of Spurgeon's life as one of three biographies in The Hidden Smile of God.
John Piper, The Hidden Smile of God, 2001.
The life, in order
- 1834Born at Kelvedon in Essex, and raised in part by his grandfather James Spurgeon, an Independent minister.
- 1850Converted at fifteen in a snow-bound Primitive Methodist chapel, under the text of Isaiah 45:22.
- 1851Preached his first sermon, at sixteen.
- 1851Took his first pastorate, at seventeen.
- 1853Called to New Park Street Chapel in London at nineteen.
- 1855His weekly sermons began to be printed as the New Park Street Pulpit.
- 1856Founded the Pastors' College.
- 1861The congregation moved into the Metropolitan Tabernacle and the printed sermons took its name.
- 1866Founded the Colportage Association.
- 1867Founded the Stockwell Orphanage.
- 1869 to 1885Wrote The Treasury of David, his commentary on the Psalms.
- 1887Resigned from the Baptist Union in October over its drift on inspiration, the atonement and eternal judgment.
- 1892Died on 31 January.
The life told as one accountfrom this site's record
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
How to read this voice
Spurgeon is quoted here for the Psalms first and for the gospel second. He preached to a room and then corrected the printer's copy, so the sentences are built to be heard, and a paragraph often turns one idea over three or four ways. Read him for the sentence that lands. For a technical note on the Hebrew he defers to the older commentators he prints beside his own work.
Start here
The Treasury of David
Psalms commentary, 1869–1885
Psalm by psalm: his own exposition, notes gathered from older commentators, and short hints for a preacher. This site quotes it more than any other work of his.
1,810 quotations on this site
Search archive.orgSearch the Christian Classics Ethereal Library
The New Park Street / Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit
sermon series, 1855–1917; final volumes posthumous
The weekly sermons as they were printed. Search it by text when you want him on one verse.
1,039 quotations on this site
Search archive.orgSearch the Christian Classics Ethereal Library
Lectures to My Students
1875, 1877, 1894 vols
What he taught the men at his own college about preaching, prayer and pastoral work.
Not quoted on this site yet
Search archive.orgSearch the Christian Classics Ethereal Library
A Defense of Calvinism
essay, 1860s; widely reprinted
His own account of the doctrine he preached, in his own words.
Not quoted on this site yet
Search archive.orgSearch the Christian Classics Ethereal Library
All of Grace
first edition, 1886
A short book written for a reader who is not yet a Christian.
Not quoted on this site yet
Search archive.orgSearch the Christian Classics Ethereal Library
Morning and Evening
daily devotional, 1865; revised 1869
A page for each morning and each evening of the year.
1 quotation on this site
Search archive.orgSearch the Christian Classics Ethereal Library
The Down Grade Controversy correspondence and articles
Sword and Trowel, 1887–1892
What he wrote in his own magazine during the dispute that ended his years in the Baptist Union.
Not quoted on this site yet
Search archive.orgSearch the Christian Classics Ethereal Library
Their whole shelf sits at The Spurgeon Archive (CCEL) and Spurgeon Center.
2,849 quotations across 60 books
Where this voice is quoted
“Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means, “God with us”).
“THOSE words, "being interpreted," salute my ear with much sweetness. Why should the word, "Emmanuel," in the Hebrew, be interpreted at all?”
So he got up, took the Child and His mother by night, and withdrew to Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod.
“EGYPT occupies a very singular position towards Israel. It was often the shelter of the seed of Abraham. Abraham, himself, went there when there was a famine in the land of his sojourn.”
and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.”
“WE find the Jews speaking of Paul, and they say, "We have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes"—Acts 24:5.”
“Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”
“WHEN CHRIST CALLS US by his grace we ought not only to remember what we are, but we ought also to think of what he can make us. It is, "Follow me, and I will make you."”
And at once they left their nets and followed Him.
“This is a mark of the effectual calling by Divine Grace—whenever it comes, men are led "straightway" to obey it. I may call you as long as I please, yet you will not come to Christ for all my calling.”
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
“BECAUSE man had perfect righteousness before the Fall, he enjoyed perfect blessedness. If you and I shall, by Divine Grace, attain to blessedness hereafter, it will be because God has restored us to righteousness.”
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
“THIS is the seventh of the beatitudes. There is a mystery always connected with the number seven. It was the number of perfection among the Hebrews and it seems as if the Savior had put the peacemaker there—as if He were nearly approaching to the…”
You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
“THIS title had been given by the Jews to certain of their eminent Rabbis. With great pomposity they spoke of Rabbi Judah, or Rabbi Jochanan, as the lamps of the universe, the lights of the world.”
that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the…
“[On this night the Tabernacle was free to all comers, the regular congregation having vacated their seats.] You see our Lord Jesus Christ's philosophy of Nature. He believed in the immediate Presence and working of God.”
So then, this is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.
“I THINK there is room for very great doubt, whether our Saviour intended the prayer, of which our text forms a part, to be used in the manner in which it is commonly employed among professing Christians.”
Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
“‘Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.’Matthew 6:10. OUR Father’s will shall certainly be done, for the Lord ‘doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth.’”
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
“LOOKING over a book of addresses to young people the other day, I met with the outline of a discourse which struck me as being a perfect gem. I will give it to you.”
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
“THERE is just as much need of this exhortation today as there was when our Savior first uttered it.”
Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
“IN reading this chapter one is led to feel that it is not, after all, an easy thing to be a sincere Christian. The way is hard, the road is narrow.”
The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy to have You come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
“THIS centurion was a worthy man from the human point of view, but he called himself unworthy when he turned towards our Lord.”
When Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those following Him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.
“You remember that we commenced this morning's sermon by observing that Jesus is not reported to have marvelled either at the gigantic architecture of the Temple, or at the wonderful discipline of the Roman army, or at the profound knowledge of the rabbis.”
When Jesus arrived at Peter’s house, He saw Peter’s mother-in-law sick in bed with a fever.
“This event took place at Capernaum, but Peter's residence was at Bethsaida, for we read, "Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter." How came Peter to have a house at Capernaum? Poor fishermen do not often have two houses.”
When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to Jesus, and He drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.
“IT was the evening—in all probability it was the evening of a Sabbath day. The Jews were so tender not to break the Sabbath that they did not even bring forth the sick to the Savior until the evening was come.”
“You of little faith,” Jesus replied, “why are you so afraid?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it was perfectly calm.
“THE winds were howling, the waters were roaring and the disciples thought that the little ship must surely be engulfed in the raging sea, so they awakened their Master from His sorely-needed sleep and cried to Him, "Lord, save us! We are perishing."”
The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey Him!”
“THIS story of the storm upon the lake is wonderfully full of spiritual interest. Not only does it, literally, show to us the Divine power of our blessed Master in lulling the storm, rendered the more conspicuous by being placed, side by side, with the…”
Just then some men brought to Him a paralytic lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.”
“I REMARKED in the reading that the Gospel of Matthew is especially the Gospel of the Kingdom and of the King.”
Just then some men brought to Him a paralytic lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.”
“[Other Sermons by Mr. Spurgeon concerning the man sick of the palsy are as follows—#2337, Volume 39—THE PHYSICIAN PARDONS HIS PALSIED PATIENT; #2417, Volume 41—FIRST FORGIVENESS, THEN HEALING and #3016, Volume52—GOOD CHEER FROM FORGIVEN SIN.]”
As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Matthew got up and followed Him.
“This is a little bit of autobiography. Matthew wrote this verse about himself. I can fancy him, with his pen in his hand, writing all the rest of this Gospel, and I can imagine that when he came to this very personal passage, he laid…”
Later, as Jesus was dining at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with Him and His disciples.
“How strangely different was our Lord Jesus Christ from the philosophers of Greece! They were reserved in their demeanor—eclectic, or studiously choice in their tastes and jealous of contact with their fellow creatures.”
On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
“THIS was Christ's apology for mingling with publicans and sinners when the Pharisees murmured against Him. He triumphantly cleared Himself by showing that according to the fitness of things He was perfectly in order. He was acting according to His official Character.”
Where this site parts from this voice
Spurgeon preached the five points of Calvinism as the structure of the gospel. He set out his reasons himself in A Defense of Calvinism in the 1860s. This site's tradition is Wesleyan and Pentecostal, and it does not teach unconditional election as he taught it. He preached in 1864 that Christ returns before the millennium and that Israel will be restored, and this site's tradition holds both of those with him. It parts from him on the timing of the rapture. This site's record names no sermon of his that teaches the removal of the church before the tribulation.
Charles Spurgeon, A Defense of Calvinism (1860s), and his sermon of 1864 on Israel's restoration.
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