October 4, 2024

Many Christians are happy to affirm Scripture's teaching of eternal assurance, sometimes summarized as "once saved, always saved." However, many are more hesitant when it comes to affirming the Reformed doctrine of effectual atonement or definite atonement, namely that by his death on the cross, Jesus not only made salvation possible, but He accomplished salvation …

September 26, 2024

Writing in 1889, after the Downgrade Controversy, Spurgeon wrestled with the question of unfaithful ministers and congregational accountability. Under the new modern theology, these ministers were using the language of historic Christianity, but redefining that language in rationalist and anti-supernatural ways. But how are churches to hold them accountable? As a congregationalist, Spurgeon believed that …

September 19, 2024

The following excerpt is taken from my new book, The Army of God: Spurgeon's Vision for the Church (Christian Focus, 2024). Amid these many conflicts, two controversies stand out: the Baptismal Regeneration Controversy in 1864 and the Downgrade Controversy in 1887–1888.[1] In the former conflict, Spurgeon battled the growing ritualism which arose from the Oxford Movement …

September 9, 2024

By the summer of 1856, C. H. Spurgeon's ministry was bearing so much fruit. Church membership was growing. People were being converted under his preaching. Young men were being trained for the ministry. Sermons were being sold by the thousands. And yet all would seemingly come to an end in the Surrey Gardens Music Hall …

August 29, 2024

In partnership with Midwestern Seminary, Reformation Heritage Book has undertaken an ambitious publishing venture: republishing Spurgeon’s sermons. Beginning in 1855, Spurgeon edited and published one weekly sermon, out of his many preached sermons. At the end of the year, all these weekly sermons were collected and published in an annual volume. This continued for 37 …

August 15, 2024

Psalm 147:10 He delighteth not in the strength of the horse. Not to great and strong animals doth the Creator in any measure direct his special thought; but in lesser living things he has equal pleasure. If man could act the Creator's part, he would take peculiar delight in producing noble quadrupeds like horses, whose …

August 5, 2024

In 2 Corinthians, Paul defends his apostolic ministry by describing the suffering he experienced because of his work in the gospel: stoning, shipwrecks, beatings, imprisonments, and more. But then Paul concludes his catalog with one last hardship: “And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.” …

June 24, 2024

On January 4, 1859, Spurgeon gave his first public lecture at Exeter Hall for the Young Men’s Christian Association. He began, “I do not feel in my place here to-night. This is the very first occasion in my life upon which I have ever presented myself before the public as a lecturer – at least …

June 3, 2024

The excerpt below is taken from my forthcoming book, The Army of God: Spurgeon's Vision for the Church with Christian Focus. Nineteenth-century rationalism elevated human reason above the authority of Scripture. What was the effect of this movement on the ecclesiology of dissenting churches? Here, I draw out three results: the removal of a credal …

May 15, 2024

For over 130 years, an unassuming notebook of poems has resided among Spurgeon’s books. As his library made its way from his Westwood study in London to William Jewell College in Liberty, MO in 1906, and then to Midwestern Seminary in Kansas City, MO in 2006, this little notebook has gone with it. Among Spurgeon’s …