Charles H. Spurgeon The Prince of Preachers

In January 1892, the city of London, England, was plunged into mourning: Charles Haddon Spurgeon, a preacher not yet 60 years old, had died, months after giving his last sermon.

When Spurgeon’s body lay in repose at his Metropolitan Tabernacle church—a 5,600-seat edifice that would be called a “megachurch” today—for three days, 60,000 mourners streamed in to pay their respects. As his two- mile-long funeral procession wound its way through the streets, 100,000 stood in solemn respect. Even the pubs were closed that day.

All this for a Christian preacher. Imagine that!

But Spurgeon was no mere sermonizer. Friends and critics alike knew him as the “Prince of Preachers” for his flamboyant style, his exhortations to the lost, and his uncompromising stand for biblical orthodoxy as he knew it.

It all started with a snowstorm. Then 15 years old, Spurgeon was prevented from reaching his usual church by the brutal weather. He ended up in a Primitive Methodist chapel, where a shoemaker or tailor—the young man wasn’t sure which—spoke on Isaiah 45:22 in a rough-hewn manner.

“My dear friends, this is a very simple text indeed,” the speaker declared. He added, “It says, ‘Look.’ Now that does not take a deal of effort. It ain’t lifting your foot or your finger; it is just ‘look.’”

Going on in a similar vein, this layman’s words were used by God to reach Spurgeon’s heart. The speaker looked straight at the visitor and declared, “Young man, you look very miserable. And you will always be miserable— miserable in life and miserable in death—if you do not obey my text. But if you obey now, this moment, you will be saved.”

Spurgeon heeded the man’s call to “look to Jesus Christ” and his life was forever changed. Within a year, he was preaching in his part of the country. Not yet 20, he was invited to do six months of preaching at a 232-member congregation in London. He went to the capital, and never left.

A preacher to thousands—newspapers in Britain and America reprinted his sermons—Spurgeon’s impact on ministry is still felt today, with wide distribution of his commentaries. Although chronic illness led to his death before the age of 60, Charles Spurgeon’s reach extended far beyond his base in London, and beyond his lifetime.

Reflect: Is there a single verse—or sermon—that made a difference in the direction of your life? Share it with someone. It could help them more than you know.

Key Bible Texts

Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. (Isaiah 45:22 KJV)