Who was Charles Spurgeon?

Throughout the month of August, we’re preaching Great Texts - single-verse sermons in honour of Charles Haddon Spurgeon. But who was Spurgeon anyway?

Below is a short introduction, adapted from a longer essay by Alistair Begg.

Who was Spurgeon?

For those wanting to get to know the life and times of Charles Spurgeon, this course by TGC will provide a useful overview and numerous links to delve deeper into ‘the Prince of Preachers.’

For those wanting to get to know his (3,500!) sermons, the Spurgeon Library at MBTS is the place to start.

As someone raised in the UK and a student of church history, it’s impossible to ignore the legacy of Charles Haddon Spurgeon; he preached over 3,500 sermons, collated in over 63 volumes. It is estimated that he preached to over 10 million people during his lifetime. He died on January 31, 1892—the same month as a Cardinal and a prince—and yet it was Spurgeon, not the others, whose death brought London to a standstill. Despite his modest upbringing as the son and grandson of ministers, Spurgeon commanded the respect and love of a nation.

60,000 filed past his casket at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. On the day of his funeral, shops closed, flags flew at half-mast, and over 100,000 people lined the streets for a two-mile-long procession. All this for a man who once remarked of his own reputation:
“If to be made as the mire of the streets again, if to be the laughingstock of fools and the song of the drunkard once more will make me more serviceable to my Master, and more useful to his cause, I will prefer it to all this multitude, or to all the applause that man could give.”

Boy Preacher

At age 10, a missionary predicted Spurgeon would preach to thousands. Soon after being converted aged 15, this prophecy began to be fulfilled as a teenage Spurgeon began preaching and quickly drew attention for his powerful oratory. Despite his youth, he delivered complex, compelling sermons that were accessible and yet profound. And so, aged just 19, he was invited to become the pastor of New Park Street Chapel in London. As Spurgeon preached the message of Christ crucified, his reputation would grow, and the young preacher from rural Essex soon gained an international reputation.

Suffering and Struggles

His preaching was rooted in deep conviction—the themes of the authority of Scripture, God’s sovereignty, and bold calls to holy living reappear throughout his sermons. Yet not everyone was impressed. Despite his popularity, he endured harsh criticism from fellow ministers who ridiculed him as a “pulpit buffoon.” These attacks cut him deeply. “Down on my knees have I often fallen… with the hot sweat rising from my brow under some fresh slander poured upon me; in an agony of grief my heart has been well nigh broken.”

Yet Spurgeon’s deepest sorrows came from the Surrey Gardens disaster. On October 19, 1856, as fourteen thousand flooded the music hall to hear him preach, a voice cried “Fire,” and seven were killed in the ensuing stampede. This event would plunge Spurgeon into a deep depression that would reappear throughout his life.

“My spirits were sunken so low that I could weep by the hour like a child, and yet I knew not what I wept for.”

Reflecting on one such episode, he once confessed, “Down on my knees have I often fallen... in an agony of grief my heart has been well nigh broken.” Accompanying these frequent depressions were many physical illnesses. Spurgeon suffered from debilitating gout that often left him bedridden for weeks. And yet, it is these sufferings that provide one of his most compelling traits; in these sufferings, he exalts Christ, drawing strength from the wounds of his suffering Saviour and knows to lead others back to joy.

Reading Spurgeon is not easy. The language is 150 years old and will be impossible without putting our phones aside for an hour. But to persevere is to meet a man who knew Jesus, and knew him amongst the deepest sorrows of life. As we sit and listen, it will be from the overflow of his heart that we will know his Master too.