About C H Spurgeon

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, commonly C.H. Spurgeon, (June 19, 1834 – January 31, 1892) was a British Reformed Baptist preacher who remains highly influential amongst Reformed Christians of different denominations, among whom he is still known as the "Prince of Preachers." Born in Kelvedon, Essex, Spurgeon's conversion to Christianity came on January 6, 1850 at the age of fifteen. On his way to a scheduled appointment, a snow storm forced him to cut short his intended journey and to turn into a Primitive Methodist chapel in Colchester where, in his own words:

"God opened his heart to the salvation message." The text that moved him was Isaiah 45:22 - "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else."

Later that year he was admitted to the church at Newmarket on April 4, 1850. His baptism followed on May 3 in the river Lark, at Isleham. Later that same year he moved to Cambridge. He preached his first sermon in 1851 and, from the beginning of his ministry, his style and ability were considered to be far above average.

In the same year, he was ordained as pastor of the small Baptist church at Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire, where he published his first literary work: a Gospel tract written in 1853.

Biographical Introduction to his sermons

The circulation of Spurgeon's sermons was called one of the 'miracles' of the nineteenth century. Each Thursday from the 11th January 1855 until 26th April 1917, a weekly sermon was published and sold for one penny. During this period, these timely messages were circulated throughout the world, and were the means of great spiritual blessing. Although the preacher himself was called to his eternal rest in 1892, the weekly sermons continued without interruption, long after his death, until they reached the grand total of 3,561.

These extraordinary printed messages are to be found in sixty-three volumes entitled: The New Park Street Pulpit and The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit.   Through these 'literary pulpits', The Prince of Preachers has reached out to far larger numbers than his voice could ever have addressed.

For one man to have preached 3,561 sermons in one pastorate was quite unusual.   However, during his time in London Mr Spurgeon preached many more sermons than these.

In 1883 Passmore & Alabaster published a little book entitled ‘The Present Truth.’ This contained messages preached at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, on Sunday evenings and Thursday evenings, but not included in the aforementioned Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit volumes.  

Read more about C H Spurgeon via the following references:

• The Spurgeon Archive
• Metropolitan Tabernacle
• sermonaudio