Speeches to My Students (Hardcover)

Although Charles Spurgeon is still remembered as the most popular preacher of the Victorian era, it is often forgotten that the influence he exerted on his fellow ministers and theological students was, arguably, an even greater factor in his life than his own personal ministry. That he organized a college, oversaw the training of some 845 students, presided over an annual conference of ministers, and considered all of this to be "the labor and delight of his life," are but little-known facts today.

Spurgeon's "Lectures to My Students" contains the substance of the addresses he regularly delivered, every Friday afternoon, to the students of the college. This new, complete, unabridged edition from Banner, recently composed, contains all the lectures from the original first and second series, including: The Minister's Self-Watch; The Preacher's Private Prayer; The Fainting of the Minister; The Holy Spirit in Connection with Our Ministry; The Need for Decisiveness for Truth; and Concerning Conversion as Our Goal. Also included is a third series of lectures, originally published as "The Art of Illustration," which focuses on the nature, use, and sources of illustrations and anecdotes in preaching.

"My lectures at the College are colloquial, familiar, full of anecdotes, and often humorous; purposefully prepared to suit the occasion. At the end of the week, I meet with the students and find them tired from other more rigorous studies, so it seems best to be as lively and interesting in my lectures as possible. They have grown weary of classical studies, mathematics, and theology, and are only in a position to receive something that will attract and hold their attention and inflame their hearts.

The solemn task in which Christian ministers are engaged demands the whole of a man, and that whole in its highest degree. To engage in it half-heartedly is to insult God and humanity. Sleep must forsake our eyelids before we allow men to perish. And yet, we are all given to sleep like others, and students too can act like the foolish virgins; therefore, I have tried to speak with soul, trying not to create or foster boredom in others. May He in whose hand are the churches and their pastors bless these words for the younger brethren in the ministry; if He does, I shall consider myself more than rewarded and will praise the Lord with gratitude." Charles Haddon Spurgeon