A Reader’s Guide to Charles H. Spurgeon

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 TIMOTHY 2:15

Spurgeon is the easiest of the great preachers to read and the hardest to read well. His sentences are vivid, his illustrations homely, and almost everything he wrote is in the public domain and freely available. The difficulty is quantity. Thousands of sermons, dozens of books and a seven-volume commentary make an ocean, and many readers wade in at random and give up. This guide is arranged to save time.

Begin here

All of Grace. Written for seekers late in his life; the best single door into his teaching. In the Ochorus library. Around the Wicket Gate. A companion to All of Grace for those who are anxious and hesitating, full of plain illustrations. In the Ochorus library. The sermons. Rather than attempting the collected volumes, begin with a handful of the best-loved: Compel Them to Come In, Christ Crucified, Free Grace, The Immutability of God, Songs in the Night and The Sinner’s Friend are all in the Ochorus library, among eighteen of his sermons there.

For daily reading

Morning by Morning and Evening by Evening. Two readings for every day of the year, later bound together as Morning and Evening, and never out of print. Rich, occasionally florid, best taken slowly. Both in the Ochorus library. The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith. A promise and a page of comment for each day, written in the hardest years of his life. More personal than Morning and Evening. In the Ochorus library.

On prayer and communion

Mighty Power in Prayer. A dozen of his sermons on prayer, gathered in the Ochorus library, including The Golden Key of Prayer and Order and Argument in Prayer. Till He Come. His communion addresses, published after his death, many given in his sitting-room at Menton. The tenderest of his books. In the Ochorus library.

Plain talk and gathered wisdom

Talks to the Farmer. Sermons drawn from the fields and the harvest, preached for country people and still fresh; the Ochorus library also holds versions for teens and children. Gleanings Among the Sheaves. Short extracts gathered by theme, useful for dipping into, though the brevity sometimes loses the argument. Both in the Ochorus library. John Ploughman’s Talk. Proverbial wisdom in a rustic voice; very popular in its day, and its humour is of its time.

For preachers and teachers

Lectures to My Students. His Friday afternoon addresses to the men of the Pastors’ College; among the most useful books on preaching ever written, and home to The Minister’s Fainting Fits. The Soul Winner, published after his death, gathers his counsel on evangelism. The Treasury of David, his commentary on the Psalms, is a work of many years and many volumes; it is best consulted alongside one’s own reading of a psalm rather than read through.

Approach with care

The collected sermons. The New Park Street Pulpit and The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit run to more than sixty volumes. Some of the finest preaching in the language, and much repetition. Read by topic or text, not from volume one. The Down-Grade papers. Worth reading to understand chapter twenty-two, but best read alongside a balanced account of the controversy, since they give only his side. The addresses on the Song of Solomon. Rich in devotion, but his interpretation runs further than the text and should be held loosely.

About Spurgeon

His Autobiography, compiled after his death by Susannah Spurgeon and his secretary from his own diaries, letters and records, is the fullest source; the Banner of Truth abridgement in two volumes, The Early Years and The Full Harvest, is more manageable. Arnold Dallimore’s Spurgeon: A New Biography (1985) is short, warm and readable. Lewis Drummond’s Spurgeon: Prince of Preachers (1992) is far fuller. Iain Murray’s The Forgotten Spurgeon (1966) focuses on his theological battles and is openly sympathetic to his side. Zack Eswine’s Spurgeon’s Sorrows (2014) is a gentle book on his depression for those who suffer. Read more than one. Most lives of Spurgeon were written by admirers, and it shows in what they leave out.

Three counsels for reading him

Read him with the Bible open. Spurgeon preached from texts, and his authority rests on them. Check them. Read him for his heart rather than his system. Where he presses a doctrine harder than Scripture does, or speaks more harshly than love requires, take the burden and leave the edge.

And read him to be changed, not merely delighted. He is so enjoyable that it is easy to finish a sermon admiring the preacher. He wanted you to finish it looking at Christ.

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 1 THESSALONIANS 5:21