You could have gathered all my info in this article from wikipedia, but I have enjoyed researching it and sharing about about Charles Spurgeon, one of the greatest preachers and Christians in the history of Christianity. Charles Spurgeon lived from 1834 to 1892. “He was an English Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations, to some of whom he is known as the “Prince of Preachers. By the time of his death in 1892, he had preached nearly 3,600 sermons and published 49 volumes of commentaries, sayings, anecdotes, illustrations and devotions. On October 7, 1857, he preached to his largest crowd ever – 23,654 people – at The Crystal Palace in London. Many sermons were transcribed as he spoke and were translated into many languages during his lifetime. He is said to have produced powerful sermons of penetrating thought and precise exposition. His oratory skills are said to have held his listeners spellbound in the Metropolitan Tabernacle, and many Christians hold his writings in exceptionally high regard among devotional literature. He wrote his sermons out fully before he preached, but what he carried up to the pulpit was a note card with an outline sketch. On March 18, 1861, his congregation, the New Park Street Chapel, moved permanently to the newly constructed purpose-built Metropolitan Tabernacle, seating 5,000 people with standing room for another 1,000. The Metropolitan Tabernacle was the largest church edifice of its day. Spurgeon continued to preach there several times per week until his death 31 years later. He never gave altar calls at the conclusion of his sermons, but he always extended the invitation that if anyone was moved to seek an interest in Christ by his preaching on a Sunday, they could meet with him at his vestry on Monday morning. Without fail, there was always someone at his door the next day.” (Wikipedia) He was a firm proponent of the 5 tenets of Calvinism. He preached for the Baptist Church. He wrote several hymns. Singing at the Metropolitan Tabernacle were acapella and he was opposed to the use of insturmental music in worship. He was a friend and supporter of James Hudson Taylor, the founder of China Inland Missions that sent hundreds of missionaries to China. David Livingstone carried one of Spurgeon’s sermons with him to Africa. Inspired by George Muller, he founded the Stockwell Orphanages in 1867 which cared for hundreds of orphans until being bombed in WWII. He founded the Almshouse for charity for the poor. He founded 24 groups with ministries distributing Bibles, caring for the poor, supporting missionaries, building hospitals, etc. He gave generously to those groups. He made millions of pounds from his published sermons and books, but died poor, leaving his wife only 2,000 pounds. In 1887 he was involved in the “downgrade controversy”. His church had joined the Baptist Union, but some were denying the inerrancy and inspiration of the Scriptures, (i.e., they had “downgraded” the Bible and the principle of sola scriptura). He felt that Darwin’s theory of evolution was weakening the union. His church left the Baptist Union b/c of this controversy. He strongly opposed the owning of slaves. He lost support from the Southern Baptists as a result of that. He praised William Wilberforce for ending slavery in England with the Act of Emancipation. “Like other Baptists of his time, despite opposing Dispensationalism, Spurgeon anticipated the restoration of the Jews to inhabit the Promised Land.” (Wikipedia) He suffered from depression in his later years. He began a lifelong battle with gout when he was just 33, and died in 1892 at the age of 57 from gout and kidney failure. “An estimated total of 100,000 people either passed by Spurgeon as he lay in state or attended the funeral services. An unknown number lined the streets for the cortége. As the cortége passed the Stockwell Orphanage it stopped briefly while the children sang a verse of one of his favorite hymns “For ever with the Lord,” with the refrain “Nearer home.”. Along the route, some flags were at half-mast.” (Wikipedia) Here is that song sung by the Metropolitan Tabernacle Choir: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B_0nDStx3Q&list=RD5B_0nDStx3Q&start_radio=1

I had read about Spurgeon preaching to thousands but I could not visualize holding an audience of 5,000 spellbound with his sermons. But then I read one of his sermons sent to me by a friend, sermon #2257 to be read at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in 1892. He used Romans 1:20-21 as his text: “They are without excuse: because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful.”

In this sermon, he challenged nominal Christians who “know God” but seldom think about God. He said, “I (personally) must have a God; I cannot do without him. He is to me as necessary as food to my body, and air to my lungs. The sad thing is, that many, who believe that there is a God, yet glorify him not as God, for they do not even give him a thought. I appeal to some here, whether that is not true. You go from the beginning of the week to the end of it without reflecting upon God at all. You could do as well without God as with him. Is not that the case? And must there not be something very terrible in the condition of your heart when, as a creature, you can do without a thought of your Creator, when he that has nourished you, and brought you up, is nothing to you, one of whom you never think? Again, dear friends, there are some who think of God a little, but they never offer him any humble, spiritual worship. When the organ peals out its melodious tones, but the heart is not in the singing, dost thou think that God has ears like a man, that can be tickled with sweet sounds? Why hast thou brought him down to thy level? He is spiritual; the music that delights him is the love of a true heart, the prayer of an anxious spirit. (Remember that he was opposed to instrumental music in worship although he did not condemn it). Further, the people mentioned in my text did not glorify God, for they did not obediently serve him. My dear hearer, have you served God? Have you looked upon yourself as a servant of God? When you awoke in the morning, did you say, “What does God expect me to do to-day?” When you have summed up the day, have you applied this test, “How far have I endeavored to serve God to-day?”  There is another charge to be brought against those who glorified not God, although they knew him; that is, they did not trust him. You trust your old uncle; but you never trust yourGod. In addition to this, they did not seek to commune with him. Are there not some here who never tried to speak to God? It never occurred to you, did it? And God has not spoken to you; at least, you have not known whose voice it was when he did speak. It is a very sad business when a boy, who has been at home with his father and mother for years, has never spoken to them. He came down in the morning, and ate his breakfast; he came in, and devoured his dinner; he took his supper with them by night; but never spoke to them. Would you have a boy of that kind living with you? You would be obliged to say. “John, you must go; it pains me to send you away, but I cannot bear to have you sitting here in silence. If I speak to you, you never answer me.” Some of you cannot remember the time when you spoke to God, or God spoke to you: it is so very long ago, if it ever did occur in your past experience. There are some who, although they know God, they do not want to be reconciled to him. Whosoever believeth in Christ Jesus is at once forgiven; he is adopted into the family of God; he drinks the wine of the love of God; he is saved with an everlasting salvation. There are many who know this in their minds; but it never excites any desire for it in their hearts. Those who are mentioned by Paul are accused of WANT OF GRATITUDE (this sermon is called GRATITUDE). I cannot say anything much worse of a man than that he is not thankful to those who have been his benefactors; and when you say that he is not thankful to God, you have said about the worst thing you can say of him.” (All quotes from his sermon).

WOW! When I read this sermon, it spoke to me like it did to those he preached to in the 1800’s! I can see why they were spellbound to his preaching! So practical and yet profound. His illustration about the boy who never spoke to his parents was so good. I thought, “I hear sermons today but nothing like what Spurgeon preached.” Churches today might be filled if we had preaching like that. He convicted people of their sins and lack of reverence for God. You don’t hear a lot of sermons today convicting people of their sins. In his opening remarks of the sermon, he said that he was not talking about how bad the Romans were 2,000 years ago (and they were evil), but that he was talking about the sins of the 1800’s. That sermon would fit very well in the 2,000’s, wouldn’t it. Especially in the U.S. where we are so materially blessed that we don’t think about God, etc. as the sermon points out.

I hope you enjoyed this article, but more importantly I hope the the Spirit of God that inspired Spurgeon to preach that sermon will work in you (and me) today through that sermon. I know it made me think a lot about my own spiritual experience with God.