Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Charles Haddon Spurgeon is considered to be one of the greatest preachers of all time. He was a pastor at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London and gained fame for his direct and powerful preaching style. His church grew to more than 6,000 members and by 1861 he was being called the "Prince of Preachers".

Early Life

He was born in 1834 in Kelvedon, Essex of Dutch parents. Spurgeon was converted in a Methodist chapel, but became a member of a Baptist church in 1850. An eloquent speaker and a hard worker, he grew into a young preacher. His first sermon was at the age of sixteen, and he pastored a church in Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire by the age of only twenty.

Pastor

The Spirit of God worked strongly through him; his congregation grew till the building could not accomadate them all. His oratorical gifts no doubt helped, but it was the truth of the Gospel that gave his words real power. The church had gone from empty to packed within months. People of every class and type gathered to hear.

On 19 Oct. 1856 a malicious alarm of fire raised while Spurgeon was preaching at the Surrey Gardens music-hall led to a panic which caused the death of seven persons and the injury of many others; but the preacher's position was not endangered. At twenty-two Spurgeon was the most popular preacher of the day.[1]

Newington Causeway

Quotes

When asked what he thought should be done when lay people fell asleep in church, he replied, "Someone should wake up the preacher."

"Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom."

Sources

• Biography at wholesomewords.org
• What Hath God Wrought! Dr. William P. Grady, Grady Publications inc. (c.) 1996
• Streans of Civilization vol.2 Garry J. Moes, 1995
• Biography at spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk