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
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without…
“‘So that they are without excuse: because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful.’Romans 1:20, 21 THOSE who boast of their knowledge betray their ignorance.”
Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?
“GOD is often exceedingly good to those who are utterly unworthy of such treatment. "He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good." Indeed, sometimes the evil seem to have more of the sunshine than the good have!”
Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?
“The apostle is intensely personal in his address. This verse is not spoken to us all in the mass, but to some one in particular. The apostle fixes his eyes upon a single person, and speaks to him as “Thee” and “Thou.””
What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness?
“THE seed of Israel had great privileges even before the coming of Christ. God had promised by Covenant that they should have those privileges and they enjoyed them.”
And this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no distinction,
“THE Apostle here says that "there is no difference," yet he does not mean that all men are alike in all respects. There are very many and important variations among men.”
but also for us, to whom righteousness will be credited—for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
“FAITH—true, saving faith—is in all ages the same. It may exercise itself upon different things, but the faith of Abraham is the same faith as that which was in the heart of Paul—and the faith of Paul was precisely the same faith as that which…”
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.
“THE Apostle sets before us a ladder like that which Jacob saw—the foot rests upon the earth, but the top ascends to Heaven. Tribulation is the foot, but we mount as we see that it works patience. And we climb again, for patience works experience.”
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.
“PENTECOST is repeated in the heart of every Believer. Let me give you a little bit of historical analogy to illustrate the text. The Lord's disciples were made to sorrow at His Cross.”
Again, the gift is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment that followed one sin brought condemnation, but the gift that followed many trespasses brought justification.
“I am not going to speak at length about the Doctrine of the Federal Headship of the first Adam and of the second Adam, which is, to my mind, indisputably taught in this chapter.”
so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
“I shall not pretend to enter into the fullness of this text, but merely select that topic, "Grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." Our Apostle represents man as being subject to two great kings.”
We know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.
“EVERY new man is two men—every Believer in Christ is what he was and not what he was—the old nature and the new nature exist at the same time in each regenerate individual.”
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him.
“THE apostles never traveled far from the simple facts of Christ’s life, death, resurrection, ascension, exaltation, and second advent. These things, of which they were the witnesses, constituted the staple of all their discourses.”
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
“IN the fifth chapter of this Epistle, Paul had shown, at considerable length, our justification from sin through the righteousness of Jesus Christ our Savior.”
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
“IF I chose to occupy your time with controversial matter, I might prove to a demonstration that the apostle Paul is here describing his own experience as a Christian.”
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
“You are well aware, dear Friends, that the division into chapters has only been made for convenience sake and is not a matter of Inspired arrangement.”
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
“CHILDREN are expected to bear some likeness to their parents. Children of God, born of the grandest of all parents, regenerated by the almighty energy of the Divine Spirit, are sure to bear a high degree of likeness to their heavenly Father.”
The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
“MY brethren, what a contrast there is between the present and future estate of the child of God! The believer is here the brother to the worm; in heaven he shall be next of kin to the angels.”
For in this hope we were saved; but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he can already see?
“ACCORDING to our version "we are saved by hope," but that is scarcely in accordance with other parts of Holy Scripture. Everywhere in the Word of God we are told that we are saved by faith.”
And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
“I. WE have here the description of a true Christian, and a declaration of that Christian’s blessedness. We have him first very succinctly, but very fully described in these words—“Them that love God, them who are the called according to his purpose.””
And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.
“WELL said the Apostle in another place, "All things are of God." And here in this passage all works of Divine Grace are evidently so. The pronoun, "He," is repeated yet again and again, as if to set the Lord always before us.”
What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
“THE Truth of God here asserted is indisputable. Even heathens have taken this for their motto and emblazoned it upon their standards of war. "God is for us!"”
He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?
“We have selected this verse as our theme, but our true text you will find in the 22nd chapter of Genesis, the narrative which we read to you this morning at full length and upon which we spoke in detail in our discourse.”
Who is there to condemn us? For Christ Jesus, who died, and more than that was raised to life, is at the right hand of God—and He is interceding for…
“HERE are two very wonderful challenges thrown out by the Apostle Paul. First, he boldly defies anyone to charge the chosen of God with sin—"Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?"”
For He says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
“DO NOT IMAGINE for an instant that I pretend to be able thoroughly to elucidate the great mysteries of predestination. There are some men who claim to know all about the matter.”
But not all of them welcomed the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?”
“EVEN concerning those who have heard the Gospel, it can still be said, "They have not all obeyed the Gospel." And this, dear Friends, is one of the plainest proofs of the deep depravity of human nature.”
