2 Things to Learn From Charles Spurgeon

(These are notes taken from the sermon: The life and ministry of Charles Spurgeon given by John Piper)

Piper gives two characteristics of Spurgeon that we should strive to follow as we preach the gospel.

1 .He loved truth and exalted it from the pulpit.

Spurgeon once told his students:
"To be an effective preacher you must be sound theologians, those who do away with christian doctrine are, whether they are aware of it or not, the worst enemies of christian living."

Oh how so many pastors have left Christian doctrine to be "relevant" and "contemporary." In Spurgeons day you would have never heard someone leaving a sermon saying 'well that was fun', or "that was entertaining. '
If truth is being proclaimed,  if the gospel is being preached, souls will be in anguish over their sin. You would see conviction leading to repentance.
Pastors have it completely backwards. Offering sermons on life, practicality, and stories of their own experiences. These topical sermons are not enough to bring people to repentance. 
What they need is sound christian doctrine.  What they need is the gospel. What they need is Christ. We need God saturated preaching.

Spurgeon defined the work of preachers as "To know truth as it should be known ,to love it as it should be loved, and then to proclaim it in the right spirit and in proper proportions."

2. Spurgeon loved people

He desired to see as many people as possible be saved and to build them up. He was consumed with the glory of God and salvation of others. He was always on the watch for souls. His deacons were trained to spot people under conviction and bring them to another room so he could minister to them.

My prayer is that God gives us a desire for souls. That the reality of hell and the truth of the gospel will keep us ready and prepared to share the good news.

Spurgeon lived out 1 Corinthians 9:19-23  and I pray we might do so also:

"For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings."