READING SPURGEON (WITH HELP FROM CURTIS VAUGHAN)

 READING SPURGEON

Charles Haddon Spurgeon was a famous English Baptist pastor in the middle 1800s. He is often called the “Prince of Preachers”. Many people who call him that have not actually read his sermons. They are not light reading. However, a fair number of young people, including young pastors, have begun reading them.  

You can find the multi-volume set of Spurgeon’s sermons in many places.  Many church libraries have them.  My BSU in college had a set, and young preacher boys used to steal his sermons and preach them in a simplified format.  Most of his sermons are online now also, thanks to Phil Johnson (The Spurgeon Archive), Midwestern Theological Seminary (The Spurgeon Library), and others.  You can also read his “Morning and Evening” devotions or “Treasury of David” commentary on the Psalms. 

My initiation to Spurgeon came at my church, Travis Avenue Baptist Church, in Fort Worth.  We had a Wednesday night series done by Dr. Curtis Vaughn, a seminary professor and member of the church.  He read from an autobiography of a noted preacher each Wednesday night and discussed it.  There was one for Spurgeon, one for Wesley and some others I don’t remember.  Then, he encouraged us to read them.  I don’t know if anyone else did, but I did if I could find them.  

One of the ones I read was Spurgeon’s.  I was captivated by his dedication to learning.  For example, as a young man, when he rode out to villages to preach, he would read on horseback, letting the horse follow the road or path.  He preferred “old” books, notably by Puritan authors.  I did go on to read some of his sermons, but I also went on to read Puritan authors where I could find them.  That largely meant prowling through the public library looking for authors whose names I recognized from that era.

This was not a very organized approach. I had no system. But, I found and read some great books.  I learned a lot of sound theology and how to apply it to life. 

So, thank you Curtis, and thank you, Charles.  Since you are both in heaven today, I hope you get to talk things over.  

Save a seat for me, won’t you?  I have some questions.