charles haddon spurgeon

"On Christ, and what he has done, my soul hangs for time and eternity. And if your soul also hangs there, it will be saved as surely as mine shall be. And if you are lost trusting in Christ, I will be lost with you and will go to hell with you. I must do so, for I have nothing else to rely upon but the fact that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, lived, died, was buried, rose again, went to heaven, and still lives and pleads for sinners at the right hand of God." - c.h. spurgeon

excerpts from biographical "sketch"at
christian biography resources

Charles Haddon Spurgeon:
English Baptist;
born at Kelvedon (40 miles northeast of London), Essex, [England], June 19, 1834;
died at Mentone (13 miles northeast of Nice),
France, January 31, 1892.

In 1851 he became usher in a school at Cambridge, and entered
the lay preachers' association in connection with the Baptist church
meeting in St. Andrews Street, Cambridge. Forced by circumstance
he preached unprepared his first sermon in a cottage at Teversham
near Cambridge, at the age of sixteen.

His gifts were recognized at once and his fame spread.
He preached in chapels, cottages, or in the open air in
as many as thirteen stations in the villages surrounding
Cambridge, and this after his school duties for the day were
past. In 1852 he became pastor of the small Baptist church at
Waterbeach, and in 1854, after preaching, three months on
probation[ trial period], he was called to the pastorate of the
New Park Street Church, Southwark, London.
Only 100 persons attended his first service; but before the end of
the year the chapel had to be enlarged...

..., in 1856, Spurgeon preached at the Surrey Gardens music-hall
to congregations which numbered 10,000 people; and at twenty-two
he was the most popular preacher of his day.

In 1861 the Metropolitan Temple [Tabernacle], seating 6,000,
was opened and there he ministered until his death, retaining
his popularity and power as a preacher to the end.

i just recently finished a biography of spurgeon by arnold dallimore, which i heartily recommend. if it is possible to be incredibly encouraged and discouraged at the same time, that would be my state as i finished the book. this one man accomplished more by the time he was thirty years old than most people do their entire life. he was a man of great character and integrity. he loved and treasured the bible, and loved its message. spurgeon was a man who preached the gospel unendingly, and he was often brought to tears while in the pulpit while pleading for sinners to come to christ.

known in his day, and still called by many "the prince of preachers", spurgeon's abilities as a preacher were known literally all over the world.

not only a preacher, but spurgeon also founded and ran a pastor's college and an orphanage, and also founded and edited the monthly publication " the sword and the trowel". it has also been documented that spurgeon hand wrote over 500 letters a week during his ministry (not only by hand, but with a pen that needed to be dipped in ink every few words!).

if the sheer volume of his work load doesn't leave an impression, consider this. for most of his adult life spurgeon was often times rendered incapacitated by gout and arthritis, as well as numerous other illness and spent days and sometimes weeks at a time in bed, unable to move because of intense pain.

thousands of spurgeon's sermons remain and can easily be purchased, as well as many of his other writings.

*insert disclaimer from previous sketches' about human fallibility*

spurgeon was a man of unwavering conviction and commitment, and endured daily public criticism for most of his adult life. still, he never wavered, and never compromised the gospel of christ for the approvel of men who did.

if you want to be encouraged and challenged in a way that leaves you wanting to love the gospel as much as possible, i present to you, charles spurgeon.
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there are literally thousands of printed works by spurgeon, so the list is by no means exhaustive. that being said, i recommend these to you to learn about and from this amazing servant of god: (click titles for links)

spurgeon: a new biography
a very good introduction to spurgeon. it hits the high points of spurgeon's life without losing the intimacy of a good biography. information gathered largely from spurgeon's own autobiography as well as his contemporaries. i devoured this in a week of "spare time" increments.

morning and evening
a collection of short, one page devotions for every day of the year. one for morning and one for evening each day.

the best of charles spurgeon
i won't be redundant (the title says it all), though "best" is subjective.
one can get a good taste of spurgeon in this volume, which updates

the language a bit from the 19th century british of spurgeon's day.

a treasurey of david
spurgeons magnum opus. a thorough discussion of every verse of every psalm.

sermons of charles spurgeon
for those who can't get enough, for under $50 you can have five volumes (over 4,000 pages) of sermons complete with date and location preached.