Spurgeon on the Christian Life

First sentence: Crowds lined the streets, hoping to catch a glimpse of the olivewood casket as it made its way through the streets of south London.

Spurgeon on the Christian Life by Michael Reeves is one of the books in Crossway's Theologians on the Christian Life series. It is divided into four parts: "Charles Spurgeon," "Christ The Center," "The New Birth," and "The New Life." It blends the formats of biography and theology. Readers learn a bit about Charles Spurgeon--his life and the times in which he lived--and a lot about what Spurgeon believed (taught and preached).

In the introduction, Reeves writes:
This is a book about Spurgeon’s theology of the Christian life, and those were the concerns that lay at the heart of it. Spurgeon was unreservedly Christ-centered and Christ-shaped in his theology; and he was equally insistent on the vital necessity of the new birth. The Christian life is a new life in Christ, given by the Spirit and won by the blood of Jesus shed on the cross... What I have attempted here is to let Spurgeon’s theology of the Christian life shape the very structure—as well as the content—of this book. This is not a comprehensive analysis of Spurgeon’s overall theology, nor is it a biography, though it should help readers get to know both the man and the broad brushstrokes of his theology.
Reeves decided to let Spurgeon do most of the talking for himself. He says, "In my own experience, I generally find reading Spurgeon himself like breathing in great lungfuls of mountain air: he is bracing, refreshing, and rousing. I want, therefore, to try to make myself scarce and let Spurgeon leap at readers himself."

I would say that Reeves was successful.

I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED Spurgeon on the Christian Life. I found it to be packed with great insight. It almost goes without saying that it's relevant as well. Every page of this one has treasure. Most pages have treasures in heaps. That is how good Spurgeon is. But it is also how good Reeves is. He organized, clarified, and wove everything together into a lovely book.

I already loved Charles Spurgeon. This book made me love him even more. It definitely whet my appetite for MORE Spurgeon in 2018. I think this one would be a great book to introduce Spurgeon to new readers and/or new believers. Spurgeon is not an intimidating author--neither is Reeves. And he packs more truth per page--I stand corrected, packs more CHRIST per page--than most any other author I've read. This makes for rich reading indeed. How could you read it and not find it delightful?!

I discovered a kindred spirit in the pages of this book:

"Spurgeon was a man who went at all of life full-on. He was not simply a large presence in the pulpit. In life, he laughed and cried much; he read avidly and felt deeply; he was a zealously industrious worker and a sociable lover of play and beauty. He was, in other words, a man who embodied the truth that to be in Christ means to be made ever more roundly human, more fully alive....It takes no great insight to see that Spurgeon was a big-hearted man of deep affections. His printed sermons and lectures still throb with passion. At times the emotional freight of his sermon would even overcome him, especially when it was about the crucifixion of Christ....Spurgeon publicly admitted that his temperamental sensitivity inclined him to be fearful."

"He treasured the Bible and held it to be entirely trustworthy because he treasured Christ and held him to be entirely trustworthy. (And, sealing the bond between the two, he treasured Christ because the Bible self-evidently presents him as self-evidently good, beautiful, and true.) It also meant that Spurgeon could only be interested in the Christ of the Bible, unlike those who love a “Jesus” other than the one made known in Scripture."

My absolute favorite quote:

"Jesus is the Truth. We believe in him,—not merely in his words. He himself is Doctor and Doctrine, Revealer and Revelation, the Illuminator and the Light of Men. He is exalted in every word of truth, because he is its sum and substance. He sits above the gospel, like a prince on his own throne. Doctrine is most precious when we see it distilling from his lips and embodied in his person. Sermons are valuable in proportion as they speak of him and point to him. A Christless gospel is no gospel and a Christless discourse is the cause of merriment to devils."

Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1893) was a Reformed Baptist pastor and author. This book is both a biography of Spurgeon and an explanation of his theology. The book does a good job of being theological without being hard to understand. Most of the book is quotes from Spurgeon’s sermons and other writings grouped into sections on his main beliefs. My only problem with this book is the section on Calvinism that tries to prove its point by basically ridiculing Arminianism with terrible arguments. But I guess I should’ve expected when I chose to read a book about a Calvinist’s theology. Overall it was a good book and explains how all theology should revolve around Christ.

This is the year of Spurgeon for me. After reading a book on him last year I decided 2018 would be reading anything about Spurgeon. So this book came at a great time and I already love it very much. I love just hearing about Spurgeon's view on life and Jesus. I love that Spurgeon was totally sold out to Jesus but also had a great desire of being able to communicate Jesus to people in a way that they would understand, makes reading this book very enjoyable. If we cannot effectively communicate what we learn, we might just be a loud gong and reading this book makes me realize even more so the importance of good and clear communication. Michael Reeves does a great job of allowing Spurgeon to speak while shining the correct amount of light onto what Spurgeon is saying. This is a good book and really it is a good series.

The authors writing style wasn't as interesting as I would have liked it to be, however, I did enjoy learning more about Spurgeon and what he believes about the Christian life.
I received this book from the publisher for the purpose of review.

The author begins his book by discussing who Charles Spurgeon was as a man. He tells us about Charles’ love of man, how men were attracted to him because he was friendly, easily approachable, and he had a good sense of humor! He was a cheerful man, he enjoyed life, he spoke about botany and the world around him in glowing terms, he had enjoyed observing flowers and nature since his childhood.
He explains why he believed in God’s authorship of the Bible, the necessity of John Calvin’s teachings on the depravity of man’s sin and the grace of God, and the belief that we can do nothing to merit our salvation because God’s Spirit chose us through election and we can not even claim it was “our idea” to choose God, for He knew before we were even born what we would do in our life.
Charles said that when he preached he wanted to draw both believers and unbelievers to Christ and that he wanted “to see people transformed at the very deepest level, their affections and desires turning away from their naturally cherished sins to Christ.”
He entreats pastors to remember that they are in Christ’s stead before men, that they are to tenderly persuade them to turn their hearts to God, they are to sympathize with people, to want to bless them and to show how much they want them to belong to God and not be separated from Him!