10 Things We Should Know About Charles Spurgeon (the Prince of Preachers)

My Favorite Spurgeon Bio

"1. His ministry began in the year of his conversion as a young man.

Spurgeon was raised in a Christian home, but was converted in 1850 at fifteen years old. Caught in a snowstorm, he took refuge in a small Primitive Methodist chapel in Colchester. After about ten minutes, with only twelve to fifteen people present, the preacher fixed his eyes on Spurgeon and spoke to him directly:

“Young man, you look very miserable.” Then, lifting up his hands, he shouted, “Young man, look to Jesus Christ. Look! Look! Look! You have nothin’ to do but to look and live.” Spurgeon later wrote, ‘Oh! I looked until I could almost have looked my eyes away.’ 1

The ‘Prince of Preachers’ was tricked into preaching his first sermon that same year. An older man had asked Spurgeon to go to the little village of Teversham the next evening, “for a young man was to preach there who was not much used to services, and very likely would be glad of company.” It was only the next day that he realized the ‘young man’ was himself.2

2. He was a man of hard work and huge influence. (Col. 1:29; 1 Cor. 15:10)

He went on to preach in person up to thirteen times per week, gathered the largest church of his day, and could make himself heard in a crowd of twenty-three thousand people (without amplification). In print he published some eighteen million words, selling over fifty-six million copies of his sermons in nearly forty languages in his own lifetime.

3. He was self-consciously a theological and doctrinal preacher.

While Spurgeon is not known as a theologian as such, he was nevertheless a deeply theological thinker and his sermons were rich in doctrine, and dripping with knowledge of historical theology – especially the Puritans.  Some preachers seem to be afraid lest their sermons should be too rich in doctrine, and so injure the spiritual digestions of their hearers. The fear is superfluous. . . . This is not a theological age, and therefore it rails at sound doctrinal teaching, on the principle that ignorance despises wisdom. The glorious giants of the Puritan age fed on something better than the whipped creams and pastries which are now so much in vogue.3

4. He was pre-eminently a theologian and preacher of the cross.

Spurgeon’s was a cross-centered and cross-shaped theology, for the cross was “the hour” of Christ’s glorification (John 12:23–24), the place where Christ was and is exalted, the only message able to overturn the hearts of men and women otherwise enslaved to sin. Along with Isaiah 45:22, one of Spurgeon’s favorite Bible verses was John 12:32: “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”  For this reason He insisted on celebrating the Lord’s Supper every Sunday. He believed his preaching of the crucified Christ was the only reason why such great crowds were drawn to his church for so many years.

Who can resist his charms? One look of his eyes overpowers us. See with your heart those eyes when they are full of tears for perishing sinners, and you are a willing subject. One look at his blessed person subjected to scourging and spitting for our sakes will give us more idea of his crown rights than anything besides. Look into his pierced heart as it pours out its life-flood for us, and all disputes about his sovereignty are ended in our hearts. We own him Lord because we see how he loved.4  Regeneration, he saw, is a work of pure grace—and those the Lord regenerates, he will indwell.

5. He aimed his ministry and preaching at new birth (as did George Whitefield).

Lessons Learned from a Long Line of Godly Men- Embrace Suffering!

As you make your way through my series of articles on church revitalization articles please consider the Scripture passages and other ministry resources that I have linked in every journal entry.  Suffice it to say, the trials that God took us through during my first four years of ministry in Freeport are really not that unique.   Which Christian parishioner or faithful pastor ever lived a care free life?  Job himself noted that "Man is born into trouble as the sparks fly upward."

As you listen to the following leadership interviews you will hear some faithful Christian leaders share a collection of honest reflections about some of the trials and tribulations of gospel ministry.  The snippet of John MacArthur (1 minute-8 1/2 minutes) and Paige Patterson (46 minutes-52 minutes) are the clips most applicable to this series of articles on reformation ministry.  I continue to learn so much from the testimony and example of godly men such as those interviewed in this audio recording (see below). 

http://www.9marks.org/audio/9marks-leadership-interview-sampler

http://media.9marks.org/audio/interview-leadership-sampler.mp3

Here is one very powerful quote from the 9 Marks interview sampler.  "I have learned to embrace the suffering and to embrace the criticism and the failure and the pain as probably the most productive work of God in my life.... Their is a sense in which the best things that have ever happened to me are the mutinies that have occurred in my church, the disappointments, the criticisms, and the misrepresentations."

Leadership Styles and Following Those Who Are Wired Differently Than You

"What is your style of leadership?"  This is a common question pastoral search teams often ask potential Senior Pastor candidates.  Regardless of the man, biblical leadership has many common ingredients.  Having said that, each leader is wired differently, processes things differently, and inspires his people differently.  I was reminded of this while reading a post by an older pastor/friend of mine (Don Green).

Over the past few weeks Pastor Green has posted various stories about his time at Grace To You and GCC related to his former boss/mentor, Pastor John MacArthur. I thought this was an informative and helpful blog post about different kinds of leadership “styles.”  The following article provides some helpful insights that we can all no doubt benefit from.

"John MacArthur taught me a lot about leadership.

His track record at Grace Community Church, Grace to You, The Master’s University, The Master’s Seminary, his writings, and other things too numerous to mention establishes conclusively that the man knows how to lead people and organizations effectively.

To sit under his teaching is one thing, and is obviously the way most people “know” him.

To work under him is something different. He has a unique style of leadership that takes time and patience to grasp.  So.  Phil Johnson promoted me into the administration of Grace to You in 1999. In time, I became the managing director and held that position until I left Grace to You in April 2012.