Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31 January 1892)
CH 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.
A strong figure in the “reformed” tradition, Spurgeon stood almost alone in his opposition to the liberal theological tendencies of his day. He started a Pastor’s College, now named after him, to train men for the ministry. His ‘lectures to my students’ is still a best seller where he urges preachers to preach “the soul-saving truth of Christ and him crucified.”
But anyone who has read his sermons will know how passionately Spurgeon also contended for the person and work of the Holy Spirit. “Without the Spirit of God” he would say, “we can do nothing.” Surely, this was the key to his success.
May this compilation of quotations by Spurgeon on the Spirit spur us all on to follow his example - to depend less on methods and more on the Spirit. As Spurgeon once said, “We do not require novel forms of service; we must have the fire Spirit, the wind Spirit, to work by us till people everywhere cry out for salvation”.
