Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31 January 1892) - Spurgeon regularly preached to a congregation of more than 10,000 people in Victorian London while still in his twenties. His sermons were transcribed and published, selling up to 25,000 copies every week. As many as 2,500 of his sermons are still on sale today and he continues to be highly influential among Christians of different denominations. While he is often recognized for his strong reformed theology, Spurgeon also emphasized the need for the Holy Spirit's power. These blogs will reflect the second emphasis.
The necessity of preachers being under the influence of the Spirit
"While Peter spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word." Acts 10:44
Beloved, the Holy Ghost fell on Peter first, or else it would not have fallen on his hearers. There is a necessity that the preacher himself, if we are to have souls saved, should be under the influence of the Spirit. I have constantly made it my prayer that I might be guided by the Spirit even in the smallest and least important parts of the service; for you cannot tell but that the salvation of a soul may depend upon the reading of a hymn, or upon the selection of a chapter.
Two persons have joined our church and made a profession of being converted simply through my reading a hymn - "Jesus, lover of my soul". They did not remember anything else in the hymn, but those words made such a deep impression upon their mind, that they could not help repeating them for days afterwards, and then the thought arose, "Do I love Jesus?" And then they considered what strange ingratitude it was that he should be the lover of their souls, and yet they should not love him. Now I believe the Holy Spirit led me to read that hymn. And many persons have been converted by some striking saying of the preacher. But why was it the preacher uttered that saying? Simply because he was led thereunto by the Holy Spirit.
Rest assured, beloved, that when any part of the sermon is blessed to your heart, the minister said it because he was ordered to say it by his Master. I might preach to-day a sermon which I preached on Friday, and which was useful then, and there might be no good whatever come from it now, because it might not be the sermon which the Holy Ghost would have delivered to-day. But if with sincerity of heart I have sought God's guidance in selecting the topic, and he rests upon me in the preaching of the Word, there is no fear but that it shall be found adapted to your immediate wants. The Holy Spirit must rest upon your preachers. Let them have all the learning of the wisest men, and all the eloquence of such men as Desmosthenes and Cicero, still the Word cannot be blessed to you, unless first of all the Spirit of God hath guided the minister's mind in the selection of his subject, and in the discussion of it.
C.H. Spurgeon. June 20, 1858 at the Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens
