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Spurgeon believed that the power of the pulpit lay not in the preacher, but in the Word of God. Therefore, he believed that preachers should preach expositional sermons. These were sermons that took a text of Scripture as their main theme and sought to explain and apply those texts to the people. Spurgeon did not forbid other kinds of sermons, but he charged pastors to make expositional preaching their main practice.
When crafting a sermon, Spurgeon taught his students to stick closely to the text. Whatever doctrine or application they taught, their matter “must be congruous to the text.” They should avoid thrusting the text to the side to make room for their own ideas. Instead, “the discourse should spring out of the text as a rule.” This should be evident not only to the preacher but to all that listen. The more people can see that the preacher is speaking “plainly the very word of God,” the more the sermon comes “with far greater power to the consciences of hearers.”
Some have critiqued Spurgeon’s preaching and have wondered if he was really an expositional preacher. Perhaps in reading his devotions from Morning and Evening or working through one of his more typological sermons, some have found Spurgeon to be looser in his handling of the text than they’re used to. At least two things can be said in response.
First, Spurgeon’s expositional preaching was not about a style, but a commitment to rooting his sermons in the Word of God. Some associate expositional preaching with a certain style, particularly with verse-by-verse preaching. Spurgeon, however, cared less about style. He cared more about his preaching being rooted in God’s Word. Preaching was “not a lecture about the Scripture, but Scripture itself opened up and enforced.” Most of Spurgeon’s sermons covered a single verse. But on occasion, he also preached longer passages.
But regardless of style or length of passage, Spurgeon’s aim (and the aim of all expositional preaching) was to open and apply the Scriptures to his people.
Second, Spurgeon was not afraid to preach the overarching narrative and theology of Scripture. When preaching on a single verse, Spurgeon often used that verse as a lens through which he meditated on all of Scripture, both systematically and redemptive-historically. But even in doing so, he did not abandon the text but constrained his reflections by it. A careful reading of his sermons will show that his points are not random; they flow from the structure and content of the passage. Additionally, Spurgeon was mindful of the context of the passage, which he often incorporated in the Scripture reading. In planning the service, Spurgeon always looked for readings drawn from the context or related to the text. He also provided brief commentary as he read so that by the sermon, his people had some understanding of the context. This preparatory work in the text allowed him to go further and deeper in his preaching without losing the historical-grammatical context.
At the end of the day, whether he succeeded in preaching any given sermon expositionally can be debated. What is clear is that Spurgeon advocated such preaching and sought to do it himself. These are the kinds of sermons that should make up the bulk of a pastor’s preaching. “Although in many cases topical sermons are not only allowable, but very proper, those sermons which expound the exact words of the Holy Spirit are the most useful and the most agreeable to the major part of our congregations.”
Excerpted with permission from Spurgeon the Pastor by Geoff Chang. Copyright 2022, B&H Publishing.
“The Thermopylae of Christendom”: Spurgeon the Pastor and Preaching
Spurgeon’s pastoral ministry was more than just preaching. With so much to do, he envied Daniel Rowland who “would have nothing to do with the management of the church… He kept himself to his preaching, came in through a door in the back wall of the meeting-house and disappeared suddenly when he had done.” A pastor in that situation “ought to preach like an angel.” This was not Spurgeon’s situation. He did not occupy a preaching station but pastored a church.
And yet, we should note that Spurgeon’s pastoral ministry was not less than preaching. Even with everything on his plate, he never failed in this most fundamental of pastoral responsibilities: to preach the Word. Spurgeon believed this to be true not only for himself but for all pastors. Spurgeon believed that the pulpit was “the Thermopylae of Christendom.” But in referring to “Christendom,” Spurgeon did not have any grand ideas about a Christian nation. Rather, he was referring to the local church. Just as the future of Greece depended on King Leonidas I in the Battle of Thermopylae, so Spurgeon believed that the health and unity of the church depended on the preaching of the Word. No matter how industrious of an administrator or counselor a pastor was, if he failed in his preaching, the church would also fail. At the pulpit, “the fight will be lost or won.” Therefore, Spurgeon charged his pastoral students that “the maintenance of our power in the pulpit should be our great concern, we must occupy that spiritual watch-tower with our hearts and minds awake and in full vigor.”
Throughout Spurgeon’s ministry, for a congregation of more than 5,000 members, the Metropolitan Tabernacle demonstrated remarkable unity. The church meeting minutes do not give any evidence of congregational infighting or disagreement with the elders. The church repeatedly affirmed their love and support for their pastor. The reason for this cannot be that Spurgeon always made the right decisions and pastored his church perfectly. Rather, if you were to ask him, Spurgeon would point to his preaching. Week after week, his congregation was “really fed” from God’s Word, and thus, they were satisfied and forgave “a great many sins.” Therefore, for the pastor, “pulpits must be our main care,” or everything else will fail.
As we will see, Spurgeon’s responsibilities as a pastor grew throughout his ministry. To help him with new members and pastoral care, Spurgeon led the church in calling men to serve as elders. To help him with the day-to-day pastoral and administrative responsibilities, he brought on his brother, James, to serve as his associate pastor. For all the various institutions and societies connected with the church, he relied on his deacons to assist him in his leadership. But when it came to the pulpit ministry of the church, Spurgeon alone took charge of the responsibility. He did most of the preaching, and when he was unable to preach, he arranged for pulpit supply from faithful preachers. This is not because he was territorial about the pulpit. Rather, Spurgeon understood that the heart of his pastoral calling was to responsibly give oversight to the preaching of the Word. The health and ministry of the church depended on this one thing, and he would not delegate that responsibility to anyone else.
As a result, Spurgeon felt the weight of responsibility in his preaching. The pulpit was his Thermopylae, and every sermon was a spiritual battle against the schemes of Satan. Because he preached so often and was so gifted, it would be easy to imagine Spurgeon growing comfortable with the task of preaching. This, however, was far from the case. Susannah, his wife, tells of the “soul-travail and spiritual anguish” that Spurgeon experienced during his sermon writing, not “in their preparation or arrangement, but in his own sense of accountability to God for the souls to whom he had to preach the gospel of salvation.” As his congregation multiplied and his sermons were being published around the world, Spurgeon felt the growing responsibility of each sermon. One friend tells how, in his earlier years, Spurgeon could not keep anything down before each sermon, in anticipation of the throngs who would gather to hear him. Only later in life would that physical struggle be overcome.
He did not, however, find this to be a deficiency. He once confessed to his grandfather about his physical and emotional struggles before entering the pulpit. His grandfather responded, “Be content to have it so; for when your emotion goes away your strength will be gone.” Though he preached thousands of sermons, Spurgeon never got over the weighty and awesome responsibility of preaching. “When we preach and think nothing of it, the people think nothing of it, and God does nothing by it.” As his ministry grew, Spurgeon did not coast in the pulpit but approached each sermon with trembling and prayerful dependence. This was his work as a pastor.
Excerpted with permission from Spurgeon the Pastor by Geoff Chang. Copyright 2022, B&H Publishing.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon entered everlasting rest on January 31, 1892. While it may be true that Christendom lost one of her best preachers, it must not be forgotten that a local church, the Metropolitan Tabernacle, lost her faithful lead undershepherd. Though in mourning, the church sought to press on in obedience to the Lord in its worship and work. The following statement from the Elders and Deacons to the members of the Tabernacle demonstrates that Spurgeon was not a mere preacher; he was the pastor of his people. Though he had made some practical provisions for his passing, there was still much about the future that was uncertain. More importantly, however, Spurgeon had prepared the church spiritually, leading them to love and trust God and to live obediently to His glory, even amid loss.
Statement of Deacons and Elders read to the Church of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Lord’s Day Evening, Feb. 7, 1892.
To the members of the church assembled at the first communion service after the decease of our beloved and revered pastor, C.H. Spurgeon, held Lord’s Day evening February 7, 1892.
Under the great calamity which has fallen upon the church, the Deacons and Elders have endeavoured to effect to the wise counsels, and to carry out the wishes of our late beloved pastor in every particular, and they take the earliest opportunity of thanking their fellow members for their confidence and support, and for their hearty co-operation by which, under the blessing of God, the unity and usefulness of the church have been maintained.
By the removal of the Senior Pastor upon whom the Great Head of the Church bestowed such abundant honour, we have been called to suffer a loss and a grief so impossible to express. In order that the trial may be sanctified to us, as a church, and that we may glorify our covenant God in his visitation, we must bow in humble submission to the rulings of the Divine Will, and prayerfully wait for the further leading of the Holy Spirit.
As a church we are of one heart, and of one mind in the grateful acknowledgement of the good hand of God, by which our beloved pastor was led to make the present arrangement for the supply of the pulpit, and for the administration of all the departments of our church life and work.
One in heart and in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, the beloved Junior Pastor, James A. Spurgeon, has for many years, borne a large share of the burden incidental to the maintenance and direction of the work of this church; and his beloved brother was ever grateful for his practical wisdom and prudence, in which he had the most entire confidence. Never at any period of the history of the church were we in greater need of his judicious counsels than now, and, “esteeming him very highly in love for his work’s sake,” the church officers announce with devout thankfulness, that he has consented to serve the church as “acting pastor” during this most solemn crisis.
The Rev. A. T. Pierson, D.D. who came to this country at the invitation of our late beloved pastor, to serve the church in the preaching of the Word, and whose richly edifying ministry in our midst has so fully justified the wisdom of the choice, has also consented to continue his labours amongst us during our present trial and need.
The pastoral and ministerial work of the church will, therefore, be maintained for the present in every respect under the arrangements so wisely made by our late beloved pastor.
Ample time will thus be secured for waiting upon the Lord in prayer that we may know the good pleasure of His will as to the future guidance of the church whose welfare is so dear to us all, and for whose prosperity we must labour together to the praise of the glory of his grace, “whose we are and whom we serve.”
The final weeks of Spurgeon’s life were spent in sunny Menton, in southern France. Throughout his ministry, he had gone there to recover from his various ailments and overwork. Now, in the fall of 1891, Spurgeon was there once again. Under the care of his wife Susie and skilled doctors, the congregation fully expected him to recover and return to London to continue his famous ministry at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. Spurgeon himself held on to this hope. But this was not to be. On January 31, 1892, Spurgeon went to be with the Lord.[1]
Throughout his ministry, Spurgeon wrote many letters to his congregation during his travels. Even when traveling abroad, visiting new places, and preaching before thousands, Spurgeon never forgot his own church. In his letters to them, we see the affection of a pastor for his people, his confidence in his elders and deacons, and his dependence on his people for their prayers. During his final trip to Mentone, Spurgeon committed to writing a weekly letter back to his people, updating them on his situation and encouraging them to persevere. These four letters comprise Spurgeon’s final pastoral words to his people.[2]
Over the next four weeks, we will be publishing Spurgeon’s last letters to his congregation, beginning on December 24 and ending on January 14. While nobody expected these to be his last words to his church, they are a fitting conclusion to his pastoral ministry. In them, we see Spurgeon’s confidence in God’s power to build up the church and save the lost, even apart from his own ministry. We see his call for his people to persevere in the truth of the gospel. And we see his evident love for them. In other words, what characterized Spurgeon’s ministry from the very first day continued to his last breath. May the same be true of pastors today.
Menton. Jan. 14. 1892
My Dear Friends,
I have not seen the doctor since writing last time, & I have therefore little to say about my health so far as medical testimony goes. We have had a week of broken, uncertain weather; days of rain, intervals of wind, & hours of cold. This has kept me very much within doors, for I dare not run the risk of a chill; & therefore I fear I have made no progress, & can hardly hope that I am quite so well, as to my internal mischief. In other respects I feel fairly up to the mark, & deeply grateful to be free from pain, & free from fear as to the ultimate result.
I earnestly hope that your weather will improve. When it is bad here what must it be with you. The snow on the mountains reminds us of what others are enduring. I wish I could be in such health as to be always with you, but as this cannot be I am most thankful for the retreat afforded by this sheltered spot, & even more so for the rest of heart which comes to me through knowing that you are all spiritually fed under the ministry of Dr. Pierson. May his health be maintained & that of his wife during your trying winter.
You may feel sure that I am doing pretty well, or the doctor would be looking me up. When he next calls I will have a bulletin from him; & till then you may rest in peace about me. May the saturating showers of blessing, for which I am looking, soon fall in tropical abundance, & may no part of the field be left dry. If there are any very sad, down-cast, & self-condemned ones among you, I desire my special love to them. The Lord himself looks from heaven to spy out such special characters. See Job 33:27, 28. I think this text is a message for somebody. May grace abound towards you.
The final weeks of Spurgeon’s life were spent in sunny Menton, in southern France. Throughout his ministry, he had gone there to recover from his various ailments and overwork. Now, in the fall of 1891, Spurgeon was there once again. Under the care of his wife Susie and skilled doctors, the congregation fully expected him to recover and return to London to continue his famous ministry at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. Spurgeon himself held on to this hope. But this was not to be. On January 31, 1892, Spurgeon went to be with the Lord.[1]
Throughout his ministry, Spurgeon wrote many letters to his congregation during his travels. Even when traveling abroad, visiting new places, and preaching before thousands, Spurgeon never forgot his own church. In his letters to them, we see the affection of a pastor for his people, his confidence in his elders and deacons, and his dependence on his people for their prayers. During his final trip to Mentone, Spurgeon committed to writing a weekly letter back to his people, updating them on his situation and encouraging them to persevere. These four letters comprise Spurgeon’s final pastoral words to his people.[2]
Over the next four weeks, we will be publishing Spurgeon’s last letters to his congregation, beginning on December 24 and ending on January 14. While nobody expected these to be his last words to his church, they are a fitting conclusion to his pastoral ministry. In them, we see Spurgeon’s confidence in God’s power to build up the church and save the lost, even apart from his own ministry. We see his call for his people to persevere in the truth of the gospel. And we see his evident love for them. In other words, what characterized Spurgeon’s ministry from the very first day continued to his last breath. May the same be true of pastors today.
Menton. Jan. 6. 92
My Dear Friends,
There is nothing for me to say in reporting myself to head-quarters beyond this – that I hope & believe that the steady & solid progress which had begun is continued, & will continue. If a doctor were to visit me now for the first time, & were to investigate my disease, he would pronounce it to be a bad case. But those who know what I have been, & how much worse than at present everything was – must wonder at me, & think it a remarkably good case. God be thanked for all that he has done in answer to his people’s prayers. Never let us have a doubts as to the fidelity of ability of the God of the promises & of the mercy-seat.
On looking back upon the Valley of the Shadow of death through which I passed so short a time ago, I feel my mind grasping with firmer grip than ever that everlasting gospel which for so many years I have preached to you. We have not been deceived. Jesus does give rest to those who come to him, he does save those who trust him, he does photograph his image on those who learn of him. I hate the Christianized infidelity of the modern school more than ever, as I see how it rends away from sinful man his last & only hope. Cling to the gospel of forgiveness through the substitutionary sacrifice; & spread it with all your might, each one of you, for it is the only cure for bleeding hearts.
Peace be unto you as a whole; & peace be to each one! I greet with whole-hearted gratitude my brother Dr. Pierson, & with unfeigned love each deacon, elder, & member, & worker. My own dear brother in the flesh is also ever watching over the concern of our great work. May the Lord himself keep watch over all. To Mr. Stott, I wish a long & prosperous ministry where the Lord shall direct him.
The final weeks of Spurgeon’s life were spent in sunny Menton, in southern France. Throughout his ministry, he had gone there to recover from his various ailments and overwork. Now, in the fall of 1891, Spurgeon was there once again. Under the care of his wife Susie and skilled doctors, the congregation fully expected him to recover and return to London to continue his famous ministry at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. Spurgeon himself held on to this hope. But this was not to be. On January 31, 1892, Spurgeon went to be with the Lord.[1]
Throughout his ministry, Spurgeon wrote many letters to his congregation during his travels. Even when traveling abroad, visiting new places, and preaching before thousands, Spurgeon never forgot his own church. In his letters to them, we see the affection of a pastor for his people, his confidence in his elders and deacons, and his dependence on his people for their prayers. During his final trip to Mentone, Spurgeon committed to writing a weekly letter back to his people, updating them on his situation and encouraging them to persevere. These letters comprise Spurgeon’s final pastoral words to his people.[2]
Over the next four weeks, we will be publishing Spurgeon’s last letters to his congregation, beginning on December 24 and ending on January 14. While nobody expected these to be his last words to his church, they are a fitting conclusion to his pastoral ministry. In them, we see Spurgeon’s confidence in God’s power to build up the church and save the lost, even apart from his own ministry. We see his call for his people to persevere in the truth of the gospel. And we see his evident love for them. In other words, what characterized Spurgeon’s ministry from the very first day continued to his last breath. May the same be true of pastors today.
Menton Dec. 31. 91
My Dear Friends,
I am sorry my letter of last week reached London too late for reading on Sunday, but this was occasioned by delays in the trains, & not by any omission on my part. It is kind on the part of so many newspapers to publish it, for thus I trust most of you have read it.
I believe I am right in reporting a greater change in the disease than could be spoken of before. It is still a great drain upon me; but as it has improved so far, I believe it will make more rapid diminution. What a joy it will be to be within measurable distance of the time to return to my pulpit & to you. I have not reached that point yet.
Now may the Lord cause the cloud of blessing to burst upon you in a great tropical shower. I am expecting this. Grateful beyond expression for all that the Lord has done & is doing, I am eager for more. Indulgence in covetousness is sinful, but not when we “covet earnestly the best gifts.” All that I can do is to pray & expect. I am sometimes fearful lest anything in me should hinder the blessing; do you not each one feel the same fear on your own account? Before some sweet music is about to be heard, there is a hush. Each one is afraid to breathe lest the tone should be spoiled & the music marred. I fell just so at this moment. May no whisper that would grieve the Holy Spirit be heard in house or heart. Let all coldness, worldliness, difference, or selfishness be put forth as the old leaven, that we may keep the feast of New Year without anything that defileth.
The Lord himself deal out to each one of his children a full portion, & to those who linger at the gate, may the Good Spirit give his gracious drawings that they may cross the sacred threshold this day. Peace be within the gates of our dear sanctuary, & prosperity within her doors. For my brethren & companions sake will I now say, “Peace be within thee.”
The final weeks of Spurgeon’s life were spent in sunny Menton, in southern France. Throughout his ministry, he had gone there to recover from his various ailments and overwork. Now, in the fall of 1891, Spurgeon was there once again. Under the care of his wife Susie and skilled doctors, the congregation fully expected him to recover and return to London to continue his famous ministry at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. Spurgeon himself held on to this hope. But this was not to be. On January 31, 1892, Spurgeon went to be with the Lord.[1]
Throughout his ministry, Spurgeon wrote many letters to his congregation during his travels. Even when traveling abroad, visiting new places, and preaching before thousands, Spurgeon never forgot his own church. In his letters to them, we see the affection of a pastor for his people, his confidence in his elders and deacons, and his dependence on his people for their prayers. During his final trip to Mentone, Spurgeon committed to writing a weekly letter back to his people, updating them on his situation and encouraging them to persevere. These letters comprise Spurgeon’s final pastoral words to his people.[2]
Over the next four weeks, we will be publishing Spurgeon’s last letters to his congregation, beginning on December 24 and ending on January 14. While nobody expected these to be his last words to his church, they are a fitting conclusion to his pastoral ministry. In them, we see Spurgeon’s confidence in God’s sovereign grace, even apart from his own ministry. We see Spurgeon’s call for his people to persevere in the truth of the gospel. And we see his evident love for them. In other words, what characterized Spurgeon’s ministry from the very first day continued to his last breath. May the same be true of pastors today.
Menton. Dec. 24. 91.
My Dear Friends,
For the last time in the year 1891 I write you, & with this brief note, I send hearty gratitude for your loving-kindness to me during the year which is ending & fervent wishes for a special blessing on the year so soon to begin. I have nearly finished thirty-eight years of my ministry among you, & have completed XXXVII volumes of published sermons, preached in your midst. Yet we are not wearied of each other. I shall hail the day when I may again speak with you. Surrounded by ten thousand mercies my time of weakness is rendered restful and happy; but still to be able in health & vigour to pursue the blissful path of useful service, would be my heaven below. To be denied activities which have become part of my nature, seems so strange; but as I cannot alter it, & as I am sure that infinite wisdom rules it, I bow before the divine will, — my Father’s will. Again the Doctor reports favourably, that is to say, yesterday he said that there was decided improvement as to the disease; nothing great, but as much as he could hope for; — nothing speedy could be looked for, but matters were going most encouragingly. I was to be very careful about a chill, etc.
This is an old & dull story to you. Only your prayerful & persevering interest in me could make me bold enough to repeat it.
Honestly, I do not think you are losers by my absence, so long as the Lord enables our dear friend Dr. Pierson to preach as he does. There is a cloud of blessing resting on you now. Turn the cloud into a shower by the heavenly electricity of believing prayer. May the Watch-night be a night to be remembered, & on the first hour of the year may the Lord say, “From this day will I bless you.”
Almost a decade after Spurgeon’s death, his publishers (and Tabernacle members) Passmore and Alabaster brought out a book of 367 pages. It was filled with 40 addresses by Spurgeon, almost all of which were given extemporaneously at his church’s Monday evening prayer meeting. When I came to our congregation (originally named Metropolitan Baptist Church, presumably after Spurgeon’s congregation), I soon rearranged our prayer meeting. One of my most enjoyable reading experiences was earlier this year when I first read Mr. Spurgeon’s book Only a Prayer Meeting! I had bought my copy of the 1976 Pilgrim Publications reprint in 1984 in Inverness, Scotland. But it had lain unread among scores of other volumes of Spurgeon’s works, which, for some reason, got more of my attention.
Then I took it with me on a trip and began to read it on the plane flight across the country from San Diego to DC. It captured my attention. I couldn’t put it down. I found Spurgeon describing his own prayer meeting in terms at many points like our own! And I also read accounts of remarkable providences and Biblical wisdom as Spurgeon exhorted his own people to prayer. And regularly, more than a thousand of them would join him on a Monday evening for their prayer meeting.
Pastors, you will enjoy the outspokenness of Spurgeon in his opinions, even if you may not always share his view. In his first lecture, he is decrying the spectacle of street work of The Salvation Army, accompanied by too many passing false conversions. Spurgeon says, ‘Gold, silver and precious stones are scarce material, not easily found; but then they endure the fire. What is the use of religion which comes up in a night, and perishes as soon?’
Other times, you’ll find yourself chuckling in recognition or agreement. Practical wisdom is found on every page. ‘Let as many as possible take part in the utterance of the church’s desires; the change of voice will prevent weariness, and the variety of subjects will excite attention. Better to have six pleading earnestly, than two drowsily. . . .’ We’ve all been there!
Another part of the wonder of this volume is the plain way with which Spurgeon writes even more as a Christian than as a pastor. What I mean is that his wisdom in being a pastor is merely a subset of his greater and deeper experience as a Christian. In one lecture Spurgeon warns ‘There is even a danger of loving some things which are associated with Christ as much as we love Christ Himself; and we must be on the watch against such a feeling as that.’ That simple observation is what a living Christian feels who loves the ministry God has called him to, but who loves God more, and who (rightly) senses the danger in his own soul of loving the Lord’s work more than the Lord Himself. May God deliver each one of us from such wrong-headed and wrong-hearted professionalism.
His evangelistic arguments with the reluctant believer are powerful, too. Look at the last couple of paragraphs in his address ‘God’s Willingness to Bless Saints and Sinners.’ In the middle of that passage, Spurgeon urges the wavering on to faith—‘Make a dash for it. Believe that Jesus Christ is able to save you. Trust Him, and He has saved you. . . . Cease to look within, and begin to look up.’ Here Spurgeon’s evangelistic heart pours out through his exhortations to pray. He is a challenge to us, and a model for us.
Along the way, Spurgeon attacks worldliness and annihilationism. He attacks giving up too soon. ‘We are called, not to flirt with error, but to fight with it; therefore, let us be brave, and push on the conflict.’ And he teaches the Bible, too. When was the first public worship service in the world? Spurgeon has a whole address on it here! Can children be converted? Yes, he answers! Fistfuls of simple truths are here given out for the reader who will take a few minutes and peruse a chapter. One or two a day, and the whole volume will be read in less than a month. Once I started reading it on that flight I couldn’t put it down until I had read the whole thing!
There is a sad note in this book. Spurgeon could tell that the pouring out of the Spirit he had so long enjoyed was waning toward the end of the 19th century. He writes ‘Thirty years ago, things were very different from what they are now. It was easy to gather a congregation then, compared with what it is now; the spirit of hearing is departing from our cities.’ As we face our own questions of spiritual decline, let’s listen to this wise older brother who has gone before us, about how we can assault the throne of grace ourselves, and lead our congregations to join us in this holy contest.
This article was originally published on the Christian Focus blog here.
In 1959, C. S. Lovett, pastor of Baldwin Park Baptist Church, published his guide to personal evangelism, entitled Soul-Winning Made Easy. In it, he describes “the controlled conversation technique,” which “ignores excuses and complete side-steps the explosive area of religious debate.” Instead, Lovett focuses on Revelation 3: Jesus knocking on the door of our hearts and urging sinners to open their hearts to him. Lovett writes, “If he can truly be made aware of Christ waiting at the door of his heart, his responsibility becomes most clear. This makes soul-winning a positive ministry requiring fewer skills. Actually, it is a new frontier which allows Christian obedience to become fun!”
In addition to a gospel presentation, Lovett provides practical directions in evangelism (complete with illustrations). For example, in pressing for a decision, Lovett instructs,
Lay your hand firmly on the subject’s shoulder (or arm) and with a semi-commanding tone of voice, say to him, “Bow your head with me.”
NOTE: Do not look at him when you say this, but bow your head first. Out of the corner of your eye you will see him hesitate at first. Then, as his resistance crumbles, his head will come down. Your hand on his shoulder will fell the relaxation and you will know when his heart yields. Bowing your head first, causes terrific psychological pressure.
This brand of technique-based, results-driven evangelism grew to be quite popular in the 60s and 70s. Soul winning was a phrase that captured the optimism and energy of the movement.
But where did “soul-winning” come from? My guess is that one source of the phrase can be traced back to the ministry of C. H. Spurgeon. In 1897, five years after his death, his associates published The Soul Winner, a collection of sermons and lectures to the Pastors’ College, Sunday School teachers, and his own congregation on evangelism. The title came from a sermon preached in 1869 at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, entitled “Soul Winning,” based on Proverbs 11:30, “He that winneth souls is wise.” Baptists have long admired Spurgeon as the preeminent pastor-evangelist, with many thousands converted under his ministry. So, it only makes sense that “soul winning” would become a popular phrase among those who saw themselves as heirs of his evangelistic ministry.
But were C. S. Lovett’s methods in line with Spurgeon’s teaching on evangelism? What do we learn from Spurgeon about soul winning from his 1869 sermon?
Soul winning is not about a particular technique or style
Revivalistic evangelism emphasizes technique – a form of words, certain gestures, “terrific psychological pressure.” But for Spurgeon, such techniques can provide no guarantee of conversion, nor is God limited by them. Certainly, God can use such things. But Spurgeon taught that effective evangelism could come about in many different styles and methods, using all kinds of people and personalities.
He who actually, really, and truly turns men from the error of their ways to God, and so is made the means of saving them from going down to hell, is a wise man; and that is true of him whatever his style of soul-winning may be.
He may be a Paul, deeply logical, profound in doctrine, able to command all candid judgments; and if he thus win souls he is wise.
He may be an Apollos, grandly rhetorical, whose lofty genius soars into the very heaven of eloquence; and if he wins souls in that way he is wise, but not otherwise.
Or he may be a Cephas, rough and rugged, using uncouth metaphor and stern declamation, but if he win souls he is no less wise than his polished brother or his argumentative friend, but not else. The great wisdom of soul-winners, according to the text, is proven only by their actual success in really winning souls.
Spurgeon rejected any religion which taught that the use of a technique could produce salvation. This was the error of Roman Catholicism, which was creeping into the Church of England in his day.
I am sorry to say that much of legerdemain and trickery are to be met with in the religious world. Why, there are those who pretend to save souls by curious tricks, intricate maneuvers, and dexterous posture making. A bason of water, half-a-dozen drops, certain syllables—heigh, presto!—the infant is a child of grace, and becomes a member of Christ and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven. This aqueous regeneration surpasses my belief; it is a trick which I do not understand: the initiated only can perform the beautiful piece of magic, which excels anything ever attempted by the Wizard of the North. There is a way, too, of winning souls by laying hands upon heads, only the elbows of aforesaid hands must be encased in lawn, and then the machinery acta, and there is grace conferred by blessed fingers! I must confess I do not understand the occult science.
In the end, a belief in soul winning as a technique means that we place our trust in man, robbing God of his glory. Soul winning cannot fundamentally be about human effort, but it must be rooted in God.
Soul winning depends on God to work through human means
At the same time, while God is sovereign over salvation, his people also have an essential role to play. In evangelism, God graciously uses human means to accomplish His sovereign work. While the soul winner knows there are no guaranteed methods of evangelism, he employs all kinds of means to share the gospel. But even as he does so, he is utterly dependent on God in all his efforts. The soul winner’s job is to proclaim Christ faithfully and leave the results to God.
To accomplish such a work, a man must be wise, for to win a soul requires infinite wisdom. God himself wins not souls without wisdom, for the eternal plan of salvation was dictated by an infallible judgment, and in every line of it infinite skill is apparent. Christ, God’s great soul-winner, is “the wisdom of God,” as well as “the power of God.” There is as much wisdom to be seen in the new creation as in the old. In a sinner saved, there is as much of God to be beheld as in a universe rising out of nothing; and we, then, who are to be workers together with God, proceeding side by side with him to the great work of soul-winning, must be wise too. It is a work which filled a Savior’s heart—a work which moved the Eternal mind or ever the earth was. It is no child’s play, nor a thing to be achieved while we are half asleep, nor to be attempted without deep consideration, nor to be carried on without gracious help from the only-wise God, our Savior.
And what is that means by which God works his saving work? It is the proclamation of the gospel. Speaking to preachers, Spurgeon declares,
He will succeed best, who keeps closest to soul-saving truth. Now, all truth is not soul-saving, though all truth may be edifying. He that keeps to the simple story of the cross, tells men over and over again that whosoever believeth in Christ is not condemned, that to be saved, nothing is wanted but a simple trust in the crucified Redeemer; he whose ministry is much made up of the glorious story of the cross, the sufferings of the dying Lamb, the mercy of God, the willingness of the great Father to receive returning prodigals; he who cries, in fact, from day to day, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world,” he is likely to be a soul-winner, especially if he adds to this much prayer for souls, much anxious desire that men may be brought to Jesus, and then in his private life seeks as much as in his public ministry to be telling out to others of the love of the dear Saviour of men.
The soul winner prays and labors expectantly for conversions
On the opposite side of the revivalists are those who preach orthodox sermons but do not expect any conversions. In Spurgeon’s day, these were the hyper-Calvinist groups. They were proper in their theology and had an orthodox understanding of God’s sovereignty. And yet, when it came to evangelism, they could often be cold and dispassionate. Such an attitude could never result in soul winning.
The preacher himself wins souls, I believe, best, when he believes in the reality of his work, when he believes in instantaneous conversions. How can he expect God to do what he does not believe God will do? He succeeds best who expects conversion ever time he preaches. According to his faith so shall it be done unto him. To be content without conversions is the surest way never to have them: to drive with a single aim entirely at the saving of souls is the surest method of usefulness. If we sigh and cry till men are saved, saved they will be.
This is not to say that the preacher can ever presume on God’s grace. We know this because Spurgeon insists that prayer is a necessary ingredient in evangelism. “The soul-winner must be a master of the art of prayer.” Apart from prayerful dependence on God, we should have no reason to expect Him to work. Nonetheless, as those who have prayed for the lost and are preaching the gospel, we do so believing that the gospel “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” The soul winner is not content to merely preach faithful sermons, but he longs to see sinners saved.
Soul winning requires perseverance
Though we believe in “instantaneous conversions,” we also understand that evangelism will require perseverance. Far from soul-winning being something easy and fun, Spurgeon used Bunyan’s allegory to compare soul winning to besieging a city:
How do we win souls, then? Why, the word “win” has a better meaning far. It is used in warfare. Warriors win cities and provinces. Now, to win a soul, is a much more difficult thing than to win a city. Observe the earnest soul-winner at his work; how cautiously he seeks his great Captain’s directions to know when to hang out the white flag to invite the heart to surrender to the sweet love of a dying Savior; when, at the proper time, to hang out the black flag of threatening, showing that if grace be not received, judgment will surely follow; and when to unfurl, with dread reluctance, the red flag of the terrors of God against stubborn, impenitent souls. The soul-winner has to sit down before a soul as a great captain before a walled town; to draw his lines of circumvallation, to cast up his intrenchments and fix his batteries. He must not advance too fast—he may overdo the fighting; he must not move too slowly, for he may seem not to be in earnest, and may do mischief. Then he must know which gate to attack—how to plant his guns at Ear-gate, and how to discharge them; how, sometimes, to keep the batteries going, day and night, with red-hot shot, if perhaps he may make a breach in the walls; at other times, to lay by and cease, and then, on a sudden, to open all the batteries with terrific violence, if peradventure he may take the soul by surprise or cast in a truth when it was not expected, to burst like a shell in the soul, and do damage to the dominions of sin. The Christian soldier must know how to advance by little and little—to sap that prejudice, to undermine that old enmity, to blow into the air that lust, and at the last, to storm the citadel.
To use another image, Spurgeon also compares soul-winning to wooing someone with love, again another task that requires perseverance and wisdom.
There are secret and mysterious ways by which those who love win the object of their affection, which are wise in their fitness to the purpose. I cannot tell you how the lover wins his fond one, but experience has probably taught you. The weapon of this warfare is not always the same, yet where that victory is won the wisdom of the means becomes clear to every eye. The weapon of love is sometimes a look, or a soft word whispered and eagerly listened to; sometimes it is a tear; but this I know, that we have, most of us in our turn, cast around another heart a chain which that other would not care to break, and which has linked us twain in a blessed captivity which has cheered our life. Yes, and that is very nearly the way in which we have to save souls.
Rather than expecting instant results, we should know that evangelism will require persistent effort as we seek to communicate the gospel to others.
Every Christian is called to be a soul winner
Lovett’s purpose for publishing his book was to equip lay Christians with the techniques they needed to share the gospel. Ironically, however, his techniques were more suited for people with the personality of a salesperson (as is evidenced by the illustrations), rather than all Christians. But true soul winning is the responsibility of all Christians, not simply those with a certain kind of personality or who have learned a specific technique.
But I am not talking to ministers, but to you who sit in the pew, and therefore to you let me turn myself more directly. Brothers and sisters, you have different gifts. I hope you use them all. Perhaps some of you, though members of the church, think you have none; but every believer has his gift, and his portion of work. What can you do to win souls?
Conclusion
Today, we might find Lovett’s brand of soul winning humorous. But it made sense in his day, given his context of 19th-century American revivalism and 20th-century modernity and therapeutic culture. But what about Spurgeon? Indeed, there were aspects of Spurgeon’s evangelistic practices that were also influenced by his culture. Spurgeon’s social activism, plain-speaking, and organizational efforts blended with his evangelistic fervor to fit his Victorian context.
And yet, in the points that we see above, Spurgeon’s evangelism was rooted fundamentally not in method but in theology. Spurgeon understood that salvation is from God alone. He believed that the Spirit alone brings about conversion. And salvation will only happen as the gospel of Christ is faithfully proclaimed. So, while Spurgeon may have contextualized his evangelistic practices, he refused to compromise the theological convictions on which they were based. And in the end, it was his theology, not culture, which shaped his evangelism.
For Spurgeon, soul winning meant a clear articulation of the gospel and humble dependence on God for salvation.
So far in this series on pastoral character, we’ve considered the role of the pastor’s piety and the pastor’s holiness upon his ministry. Those articles have largely been cautionary, warning pastors against the particular temptations that come in ministry. But what should a pastor cultivate positively in order to grow in pastoral character? Spurgeon’s first answer would likely be the importance of cultivating communion with Christ, expressed in the pastor’s private prayer.
The Problem: Ministerialism
One of the greatest dangers that the minister faces is the danger of what Spurgeon calls formalism or officialism or ministerialism. Listen to his description:
The worst [snare a minister can face] is the temptation to ministerialism — the tendency to read our Bibles as ministers, to pray as ministers, to get into doing the whole of our religion as not ourselves personally, but only relatively concerned in it. To lose the personality of repentance and faith is a loss indeed…
I hate ministerialism, yet I often find it creeping upon me. One gets inside a pulpit, and begins to feel that he is not as other men are; but I like, if I can, to preach as a sinner to sinners; as one saved by grace to tell the love which Christ had towards me, the chief of sinners, and “less than the least of all saints.” I do not doubt that, as soon as you get out your little book to take with you, you feel like a missionary, and not simply like a sinner saved by grace. But, I pray you, do not feel like a missionary; feel like a sinner who has been washed in the precious blood of Jesus. You will never do good if you go to your work simply because of your office, [rather than] because of your soul being in it, because your heart yearns toward sinners, because you must have them saved. Strive not against any habits that are good; but against that evil tendency which, somehow or other, Satan, who is exceedingly crafty, manages to cast over our very best habits.
In other words, even as we pursue holiness and fight sin, we have to keep the gospel central. We have to cultivate a deep awareness and sorrow over our personal sin and the temptations of our hearts. We have to live in dependence on God’s grace in Christ. And then we speak as sinners saved by grace. This is how our holiness becomes warm and attractive.
Apart from our own personal grasp of the gospel, all our efforts at piety and holiness will become a stumbling block to our own sanctification and ministry. The strange thing is that people don’t always notice ministerialism in their pastor. The unspiritual people in the congregation won’t mind that their pastor doesn’t demonstrate any spiritual life before them. Even while the minister is just keeping up appearances, a church can have a growing budget and the congregation can be entertained. But in the end, as far as the pastor is concerned, it’s all external rituals and no spiritual life.
Spurgeon describes one such situation:
I read the other day, that no phase of evil presented so marvelous a power for destruction, as the unconverted minister of a parish, with a £1200 organ, a choir of ungodly singers, and an aristocratic congregation. It was the opinion of the writer, that there could be no greater instrument for damnation out of hell than that. People go to their place of worship and sit down comfortably, and think they must be Christians, when all the time all that their religion consists in, is listening to an orator, having their ears tickled with music, and perhaps their eyes amused with graceful action and fashionable manners; the whole being no better than what they hear and see at the opera — not so good, perhaps, in point of aesthetic beauty, and not an atom more spiritual. Thousands are congratulating themselves, and even blessing God that they are devout worshippers, when at the same time they are living in an unregenerate Christless state, having the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. He who presides over a system which aims at nothing higher than formalism, is far more a servant of the devil than a minister of God.
May such words never be said of our ministries.
The Answer: Private Prayer
So what’s the solution? How do we fight against formalism? We fight by cultivating our private prayer lives, our communion with God. And Spurgeon particularly emphasizes prayer… Not just Bible reading, but prayer, i.e. communion with Christ. Prayer, as Calvin puts it, is our chief expression of faith. Prayer is how faith is manifested and expressed. If you don’t believe there is a God or that you need God, then you don’t pray. But if you do believe there is a God who hears, if you believe that you need Him, then the way you express that belief is through prayer.
As good evangelicals, we naturally emphasize the importance of Bible reading, and that’s exactly right. The Bible is where we hear from God. But we need to take all that Bible study and devote ourselves to prayer. Prayer is how we take all that Bible reading and turn it into communion with God, internalizing it and making it ours. And this is especially important for students to hear. Spurgeon wrote,
All that a college course can do, for a student is coarse and external compared with the spiritual and delicate refinement obtained by communion with God. While the unformed minister is revolving upon the wheel of preparation, prayer is the tool of the great potter by which he molds the vessel. All our libraries and studies are mere emptiness compared with our closets. We grow, we wax mighty, we prevail in private-prayer.
The closet is the best study. The commentators are good instructors, but the Author himself is far better, and prayer makes a direct appeal to him and enlists him in our cause. It is a great thing to pray one’s self into the spirit and marrow of a text; working into it by sacred feeding thereon, even as the worm bores its way into the kernel of the nut.
So pastors, teachers, devote time each day to studying God’s Word, for your own personal reading, for your sermon preparation, for Bible study… but always combine that reading with meditation and prayer. This is how you grow in piety. Reflect the truth of that passage back to God in prayer. Allow your Bible reading to be a means of communion with God, rather than merely putting together a lesson or a sermon. This is only possible through private prayer.
Of course, it’s not just in Bible study or for 30 minutes each morning. Rather the pastors’ life should be marked by prayer at every moment.
Whenever his mind turns to his work, whether he is in it or out of it, he sends out a petition, sending up his holy desires as well-directed arrows to the skies. He is not always in the act of prayer, but he lives in the spirit of it. If his heart be in his work, he cannot eat or drink, or take recreation, or go to his bed, or rise in the morning, without evermore feeling a fervency of desire, a weight of anxiety, and a simplicity of dependence upon God; thus, in one form or other he continues in prayer. If there be any man under heaven, who is compelled to carry out the precept — “Pray without ceasing,” surely it is the Christian minister.
Even as Spurgeon told his students this, he recognized his own deficiencies in this area. In fact, he said that he didn’t know of any minister, deacon, or elder who could say that he was “occupied with God in prayer to the full extent to which he might be” and he himself could make no such claim either. If you feel like you are lacking in your own prayer life, don’t lose heart. Let that be your starting point: confess this to God and pray for his help. And then begin taking steps so you can be in prayer more consistently.
These days, with podcasts, audiobooks, our smart devices, we’re losing more and more our opportunities for being quiet and being able to pray. There’s so much we fill our lives with, which means if we are to pray without ceasing, we have to intentionally make space for it. As pastors and teachers of God’s Word, this is how we grow mighty in the Spirit and in Christlikeness… by cultivating a life of prayer.
Apart from a life of prayer and communion with Christ, our ministry remains merely superficial.
The preacher who neglects to pray much must be very careless about his ministry. He cannot have comprehended his calling. He cannot have computed the value of a soul, or estimated the meaning of eternity. He must be a mere official, tempted into a pulpit because the piece of bread which belongs to the priest’s office is very necessary to him, or a detestable hypocrite who loves the praise of men, and cares not for the praise of God. He will surely become a mere superficial talker, best approved where grace is least valued and a vain show most admired. He cannot be one of those who plough deep and reap abundant harvests. He is a mere loiterer, not a laborer. As a preacher he has a name to live and is dead. He limps in his life like the lame man in the Proverbs, whose legs were not equal, for his praying is shorter than his preaching.
Even though we don’t have many insights into Spurgeon’s private prayer life, it’s clear that what he cultivated there flowed out into his public prayers. Spurgeon taught that public prayer was the most important part of the service, even more important than the sermon. Much of what takes place in the “worship service” is geared towards man, rather than God. But in prayer, we are reminded that we have gathered before Almighty God, to worship Him. As he preached in other churches, he often lamented how lacking these services were in prayer.
When Spurgeon led his congregation in prayer, many people noted how those occasions were more powerful and memorable than the sermon. One of his associates recorded,
Many times [Spurgeon] has testified that, when leading the great congregation in prayer, he has been so rapt in adoration, and so completely absorbed in the supplication or thanksgiving he has been presenting, that he has quite forgotten all his surroundings, and has felt even a measure of regret, upon closing his petition, and opening his eyes, to find that he was still in the flesh, in the company of men of like passions with himself, instead of being in the immediate presence of the Most High, sharing in the higher worship of the holy angels and the spirits of just men made perfect.
As one attendant wrote, “His prayer was greater to me than his sermon. In his sermon, he talked with men. In his prayer, he communed with God.” This was no formalism. His people’s hearts were warmed as they listened to and participated with their pastor as he communed with God in prayer. And this was only possible because Spurgeon cultivated a private prayer life, drawing near to Christ in prayer moment by moment.
