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A Pastor’s Charge | Charles Spurgeon · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed Thinking. This is the deep dive where we
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get our hands on the source material to really understand
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the thinking and the methods behind Christian practice.
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Today we're opening up the introduction to Charles
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Spurgeon's lectures to my students.
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And this isn't just, you know, a bit of historical background.
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It is a direct look into the mind of the Prince of Preachers.
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He lays out his entire philosophy for training
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ministers, the doctrine, the method, and the one single goal
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of it all. And our mission for this is
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pretty clear. We want to understand how
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Spurgeon built an institution, his pastor's college, that was
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so dedicated to strict Orthodox theology on one hand, and this
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incredibly practical, almost aggressive zeal for ministry on
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the other. Right?
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For anyone you know, for you listening, who appreciates that
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high view of Scripture we see in the Westminster Standards,
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Spurgeon gives us this amazing blueprint for how you translate
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that high theology into, well, boots on the ground
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effectiveness. We're going to look at who he
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trained, what he taught them, and I think this is critical how
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he designed the whole system, even it's a it's pretty radical
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financial setup to keep it going without compromising on
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doctrine. We're looking for the DNA of
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good biblical preparation, so let's start.
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What we did in 1856, the Pastors College didn't launch with some
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huge fundraising campaign or a cornerstone ceremony, the text
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says. It started upon a very small
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scale. It was a bootstrapped operation.
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It really was. It came from a pressing need,
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not some grand institutional ambition.
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But the growth, I mean, the growth was just explosive.
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By the time he's writing these lectures, the college had
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already put no less than 350 men through its program. 350 That
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number alone tells you something about the the spiritual hunger
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of the time and the gap that he was filling.
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And look at the retention. He notes that after you account
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for, you know, men who had died or left for other callings,
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about 300 of them were still active in the Baptist
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denomination, still preaching the gospel.
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That's not just a high number of graduates, that's sustained
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deployment. They were sticking with it.
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And that, that gets right to the selection process, which is the
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absolute key to this whole thing.
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You see, Spurgeon wasn't trying to run some kind of theological
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factory. The college was not there to
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make men into preachers. He was convinced you couldn't do
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that. This place was for refining men
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who were already called and already proven.
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That distinction is just so crucial, isn't it?
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They weren't taking guys fresh from a conversion experience who
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were just, you know, eager to give ministry a try.
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What was the baseline requirement to even get in the
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door? It's stated so clearly in the
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text they were there to help in the further education of
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brethren who have been preaching with some measure of success for
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two years at the least. Two years with success.
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Yes, and success wasn't measured by say, academic grades or just
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personal devotion. It was measured in practical
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fruit. Their calling had to be
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confirmed by actual tangible results out in the field.
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So if you showed up with a heart on fire for the Lord, but you
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didn't have a two year track record of successful preaching
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or mission work or evangelism, you just, yeah, you weren't
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getting in. You hadn't cleared the first
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hurdle. No, that is so different from
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the seminary model we often see today, which tends to look for,
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you know, intellectual ability and maybe a raw sense of
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calling. It's a radical prerequisite,
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really. The belief was that the Holy
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Spirit is the one who identifies and equips A preacher long
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before a college committee does so the college's job was, you
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could say, remedial. It was about sharpening, not
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creating. And there were other
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prerequisites too, weren't there on the character side.
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Oh, absolutely. Candidates needed an earnest
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spirit and established Christian character, and on top of that,
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piety, zeal, and the indwelling spirit.
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If those things weren't already there, all the education in the
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world was useless. So the spiritual qualifications
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were the bedrock, but then there was also this very practical
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element, he says. They had to possess the gifts of
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utterance. Yes, I mean, to put it plainly,
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they had to be able to talk and not just talk, but talk about
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the gospel in a way that people would actually listen to.
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It reflects a very high Calvinistic view of a vocation
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of gifting. God gives the gifts, the
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character, the passion, the ability to speak, and the
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college provides the knowledge to make those gifts more
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effective. It doesn't try to install them
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from scratch. Exactly.
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It's less like a university and more like a specialized training
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center, a forge for a specific kind of tool.
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So who specifically were they trying to help?
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But what was the problem they were trying to solve for these
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men? They.
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Were aiming for men who had basically hit a wall.
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The text describes them as being hindered in their efforts to do
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good by the slenderness of their knowledge.
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These were men who didn't have access to guidance or books or
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even just the time to study on the Joan.
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So they had the zeal, they had some success, but they were
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limited by their own intellectual resources.
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They had the engine, a powerful one, but they needed, let's say,
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a better transmission. They needed the educational
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machinery to make their work more efficient and more durable.
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And this is where we get to what for me is one of the most
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incredible parts of this, especially considering the time,
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19th century England, the financial side of it.
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Yes, we have to stop on that. He makes it absolutely,
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absolutely clear poverty was not a barrier.
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It's written right there. Unequivocally, men who had the
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spiritual and practical qualifications need not fear
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refusal at our doors on account of poverty.
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Spurgeon was determined that a divine calling and proven
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spiritual fruit would be the only real filters, not a man's
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bank account. Just think about what that would
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have meant for the student body. You're not getting the sons of
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the Gentry looking for a respectable profession.
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You are getting working class men, lower middle class men who
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have been out in the real world, who have real spiritual
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victories under their belts already.
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The college was built for them, and that setup ensured the whole
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institution was driven by, well, by practicality and spiritual
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need, not by the expectations of the upper crust.
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And the colleges work didn't just stop with these carefully
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chosen ministerial candidates, did it?
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He had a broader vision. That's right, he knew the
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mission needed more than just preachers.
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The Pastors College also ran what it called gratuitous
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evening education. Gratuitous meaning free of
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charge. Completely free and this reached
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a far larger number of men. The goal for this group was a
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bit different, but it was just a strategic for the overall
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mission. What kind of roles was he
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preparing them for? It was very vocational.
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He wanted to fit them to be city missionaries or Cole porters.
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Let's talk about Cole Porters for a second.
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That's a word we don't use much anymore.
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No, we don't. A Cole Porter was a traveling
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seller of religious books and tracts.
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In an age before, you know, radio or the Internet, these men
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were absolutely vital. They weren't just salesman.
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They were often the only evangelical voice someone in a
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remote village might ever hear. So they were like the special
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forces of evangelism. You could see them as the
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auxiliary army. Yes, they spread Bibles,
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sermons, pamphlets. They started conversations and
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built up these little networks of faith in places a full time
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pastor might never get to. So Spurgeon's vision was, you
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could say, holistic. Train the officers, the
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preachers with intense rigor, and then train the lay soldiers
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broadly. And have them all feeding into
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the same evangelistic machine. It's genuine strategic thinking.
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He's seeing the whole ecosystem of the church, not just the guy
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in the pulpit. So that's The Who.
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Now. This whole strategic mission
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was, not surprisingly, anchored in a very specific, very firm
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theological standard. Let's move from who they trained
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to what they taught. Spurgeon was never vague about
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this. Not.
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Even a little bit, the text says.
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The college holds and teaches definite doctrines.
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They stand firmly by the doctrines of grace and the old
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Orthodox faith. That statement is the college's
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entire identity. And for you listening,
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especially if you hold to the Westminster Confession, that
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phrase, the doctrines of grace, is an immediate signpost.
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It places him in a very particular theological strength.
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It does, and it's interesting because he was a Particular
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Baptist, so you might wonder how that fits with the doctrinal
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standard that often defined Presbyterians.
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What's the connection there? How do you square that circle?
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Well, the answer is that the core beliefs about salvation,
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what we call suteriology, were the same.
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Total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement,
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irresistible grace, perseverance of the Saints, Those were the
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shared non negotiable pillars. The differences were on church
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governance or baptism. But the heart of the gospel
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message was identical to our Westminster heritage.
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So. For Spurgeon, the absolute
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sovereignty of God in salvation was the engine, and that was
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more central than any denominational distinctives on
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secondary matters and that. Firm stance immediately put the
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college ads with the the intellectual trends of his day.
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He says the college had no sympathy with the countless
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theological novelties of the present day.
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He didn't. Just see them as new ideas, he
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calls them. Repetitions of errors exploded
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long ago. He was deeply skeptical of any
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theology that presented itself as modern his.
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Argument was that most of these new ideas were just old heresies
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and new clothes, heresies that the Church Fathers or the
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Reformers had already dealt with and defeated centuries ago.
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It's a kind. Of institutional defense
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mechanism, isn't it? If you open the door to novelty,
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you risk letting go of the settled confessions and the
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clear teaching of the Bible. He was fighting against that
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rising tide of, you know, rationalism and liberalism that
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wanted to soften the difficult doctrines.
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Doctrines. Like substitutionary atonement,
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or hell, or the sinfulness of man.
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Yes, and this. Rejection of new ideas connects
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to a really pointed statement he makes.
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He says the college makes no profession of latitudinarian
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charity. That's a bit of 19th century
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theological jargon we should probably unpack.
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We should. Latitudinarianism started in the
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Anglican Church as a movement that advocated for a very broad
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tolerance on church matters and minor points of doctrine.
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A big. Tent sort of idea, right?
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But by. Spurgeon's time in the wider
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Protestant world, it had come to mean a willingness to sacrifice
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doctrinal truth for the sake of a superficial unity or just
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social acceptance. So what?
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Would he have considered a dangerous form of tolerance?
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What was he pushing back against?
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He would. Have seen it in the growing
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trend to downplay the doctrines of grace, for instance, watering
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down the necessity of the new birth of regeneration by the
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spirit or minimizing God's holiness and justice to talk
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only about his love. Latitudinarian charity would say
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it's OK if the preacher in the next town denies the bodily
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resurrection as long as he's, you know, a nice person and.
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Spurgeon saw that not as charity, but as poison.
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Spiritual poison, yes. So his refusal to practice that
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kind of broad charity was a defensive move.
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He wasn't trying to be divisive just for the sake of it.
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He believed that doctrinal precision was directly tied to a
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person's eternal destiny, which he.
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Justifies with that amazing statement.
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In truth alone can true freedom be found.
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It's. The complete opposite of the
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modern view, isn't it? The world says freedom is
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intolerance in relativism and having no fixed points.
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Spurgeon says no true freedom is found only in theological
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certainty, in the fixed liberating truth of the
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doctrines of grace it. Connects that high theology
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directly to the practical job of a minister.
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If your goal is to set people free spiritually, you have to be
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perfectly clear on the truth that sets them free.
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No compromises so. If the doctrine is the anchor,
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the doctrines of grace, then the steering wheel, the main mission
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is soul winning. He is crystal clear that the
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main aim is training preachers rather than scholars, that.
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One phrase, Preachers versus scholars.
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That's the whole philosophy of the college right there.
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It must have shaped every single class, every assignment.
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The intellect is a tool, not the end goal.
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Never. The end goal, the ultimate
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wisdom for a minister as he defines it, is to be wise to win
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souls. That's the only metric that
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matters. That's how of the college and
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every minister it produces should be judged.
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And he's pretty blunt about what failure looks like.
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He says. If a student learns 1000 things
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and yet fails to preach the gospel acceptably, then the
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whole course will have missed its true design.
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Think. About that you could be top of
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your class in Greek and Hebrew. You could write brilliant essays
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on church history. But if you can't deliver the
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gospel in a way that connects with people and leads to
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salvation, you are, in his view, a failure.
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It's a. Huge challenge to an education
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system that so often rewards input, How much you've learned
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over output, how effective you are in the actual work of
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ministry. Spurgeon demanded they focus on
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the output the. Learning is just a means to an
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end, and that end is preaching an acceptable gospel that
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actually changes people's lives so.
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If pure academic mastery wasn't the goal, what were the specific
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skills they were trying to build in these men it seems.
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To be a three legged stool, practical skill, biblical
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knowledge and spiritual character first to develop the
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faculty of ready speech, which isn't.
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Just about being eloquent. It's about being clear, quick on
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your feet, and effective speaking in a way the common
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person on the street can understand exactly.
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The second leg was to help them to understand the Word of God so
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you have the substance to back up your speech.
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And the third, the third is arguably the one that holds it
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all up. To foster the spirit of
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consecration, courage and confidence in God.
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Because a cowardly man, an unconsecrated man, he can't be
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an effective preacher, no matter how well he can speak or how
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much theology he knows, you see. The balance right there, the
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technical skill, the intellectual substance, and the
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spiritual fire and. That focus is why academic
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honors were, well, not just secondary.
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They were actively discouraged as a primary goal.
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Things like literary prizes or honors and classical studies
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were put way on the back burner. He used a really strong word
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here. He calls them perilous.
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Not neutral, not just a distraction, but perilous rather
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than beneficial if they pull a man's attention away from his
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life work. Why perilous?
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I think it's because it introduces the sin of pride
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right into the heart of the ministry.
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I mean, think about it. The hunt for academic success is
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driven by getting recognition from your peers, by intellectual
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achievement. It's about.
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You it's about. You.
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But the life work winning souls is supposed to be driven by
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selfless love and a divine calling.
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The moment a man starts chasing the title or the award or the
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applause of other academics, instead of the conversion of a
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lost person, he's traded his calling for ambition.
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The. Danger is a kind of intellectual
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idolatry. The prize becomes the goal, and
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it replaces the person sitting in the Pew.
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Yes. And it's also just a massive
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waste of time. If a man spends 20 hours a week
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trying to perfect some obscure translation just to win a prize,
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that's 20 hours he didn't spend on sermon prep or visiting the
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sick or evangelism. It's easy.
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To see the modern equivalent, isn't it.
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The perilous distraction today might not be a classics prize,
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but maybe it's building a huge social media following, or
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getting a book deal, or obsessing over the metrics of a
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large church. It's the.
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Exact same principle. Any secondary goal that drains
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energy from the life work of preaching the gospel acceptably
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is a spiritual trap. It's the age-old question, how
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does the world measure success versus how does God measure
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success? Spurgeon demands that his men
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focus only on God's measurement and he.
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Connects this very practical, soul winning mission back to its
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benefit for society as a whole. He argues that training
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ministers this way confers a greater benefit upon mankind.
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Right. The benefit isn't just spiritual
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or otherworldly. He points to the visible,
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tangible results, he says, that around them spring up churches,
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schools and all the agencies of religion and philanthropy.
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A good minister is a catalyst for a healthy civil society
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that. Pushes back against any claim
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that a focus on conversion is somehow narrow minded or
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antisocial. His point is that if you change
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a person's heart, that person then goes out and builds better
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communities, better charities, better schools.
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It's the. Biblical idea of salt and light,
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isn't it spiritual health leads directly to social flourishing
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the. Audacity of this whole vision
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is, I think, matched only by the radical nature of this financial
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model. I mean, by any normal Business
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Standard, this was not a sustainable plan.
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It was just a pure act of faith, it.
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Was he says the college was sustained solely by the free
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will offerings of the Lord's people.
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There was no big endowment, no formal fundraising department
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throwing gallows. And this is key no formal role
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of subscribers guaranteeing a monthly income, which means.
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They were living what week to week they were completely
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reliant on the ongoing voluntary generosity of supporters, that
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is. Exactly it The entire enterprise
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ran on one single conviction. God will supply all our needs
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and the text makes it clear this wasn't just a pious hope, it was
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their actual documented experience from day one they
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trusted and God provided. But a model like that requires
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an incredible level of trust from the donors.
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Which brings us to Spurgeon's personal example.
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His role is so central to the financial integrity of the whole
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thing. His personal.
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Sacrifice was the standard. He has never derived A Farthing
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from the work for himself in any shape.
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He took zero personal financial benefit from the college that he
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founded, that he ran, and that he lectured at constantly.
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That's just. Stunning.
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He's the president, the lead professor, the chief fundraiser,
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and he's taking no salary. He's not even expensing his
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travel. Quite the.
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Opposite, the text says he delights to give to the work all
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that he can, both of money and grotta service.
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He wasn't a beneficiary, he was a contributor.
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He gave his time, his influence and his own money.
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And this. Served a huge practical purpose,
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didn't it, because he took nothing for himself he could the
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more confidently appeals to others for help of.
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Course, his appeal was completely pure.
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He wasn't asking people to fund his lifestyle or his overhead.
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He was asking them to join him in his own sacrifice for the
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sake of the gospel. It removes any possible hint of
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financial funny business. Let's try to.
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Get a sense of the scale of this though, this whole operation,
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all these students, the evening schools, the housing, the food,
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it needed real money. He gives a specific figure, at
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least a £100 is required every week to carry on the work and
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we. Can't just hear that number
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today and think oh £100. We have to understand what that
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meant in the 1870s. A skilled worker back then might
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earn less than 1 LB a week. A middle class professional
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might make 2 or 300 lbs in an entire year.
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So a. £100 a week is over 5000 a year.
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That's enough to pay the annual salaries of what, maybe 20
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respectable professionals or 50 working class men?
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It's a. Huge, continuous amount of
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money. It couldn't be covered by loose
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change in the offering plate. It required major, consistent
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generosity from wealthy supporters and also the steady
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sacrificial giving of thousands of ordinary people.
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It required a whole network of believers who were convinced
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that this work was God's business and.
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Spurgeon makes that connection unavoidable.
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He basically says that if you support the college, you are
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proving that your prayers for more laborers in the Lord's
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harvest are honest. It's.
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Such a powerful challenge. If you pray Lord send out
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workers, then your wallet has to follow your prayer.
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Supporting the place that trains the workers is the logical next
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step. The whole financial system
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ensures that every part of the college, from who gets in to how
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the lights stay on, is reliant on grace, not on human planning.
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So you. Have this intense doctrine, this
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high stakes financial model, you almost expect Spurgeon's
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teaching style to be just as rigid and, well, dry.
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But the text says the complete opposite it.
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Does His lectures were known for being approachable.
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His style was colloquial, familiar, full of anecdote and
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often humorous. And this wasn't an accident.
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It was a very deliberate teaching strategy.
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Why? That style.
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What was the thinking behind it? It had.
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Everything to do with the students schedule, he says.
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They were weary with sterner studies during the week.
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They've been grinding away at classics, mathematics,
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systematic divinity, all the heavy intellectual work.
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So by the. Time they got to him, usually on
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a Friday. They were mentally exhausted.
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Exactly. He knew his audience.
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He knew he couldn't just give them another dense, difficult
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lecture and expect them to absorb it.
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His Friday session was designed to be different, to be
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restorative, motivating and immediately practical.
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So the. Lively, funny, story filled
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approach was meant to attract and secure their attention and
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fire their hearts. It's like the dessert after a
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heavy meal, but a dessert that's meant to send you out ready for
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action. That's a.
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Good way to put it. And that function is captured
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perfectly in the the analogy from his tutor, a Mr. Rogers,
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who called it the sharpening of the pin I.
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Love that analogy. It explains the whole training
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process so well. The work during the week, the
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languages, the theology. That's all the necessary
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preparation. It's the fashioning of the head,
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the straightening, the laying on of the metal in the polishing
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that work. Creates a solid, well made pin.
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But a pin without a point is useless, isn't it?
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Spurgeon's Friday lecture was the final step.
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It was the act of giving point and sharpness to all that
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learning. It was about turning theory into
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truth that could actually Pierce a person's heart and to.
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Do that. The lecturer himself must not be
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dull, and he can't demand any great effort from his audience.
21:05
The delivery had to be alive, full of energy, so the students
21:09
could walk out the door ready to use what they just heard.
21:12
And. That required Spurgeon to lean
21:13
heavily on his own life in ministry, which gave the
21:16
lectures an almost autobiographical tinge.
21:19
He admits it himself. He talks about his frequent
21:21
references to myself, my own methods of procedure and
21:24
personal reminiscences. He.
21:26
Knew he'd get criticism for that right?
21:28
That people would accuse him of being arrogant or self-centered.
21:31
How did he defend that very personal style his.
21:34
Reasoning was purely pragmatic, he said.
21:36
His own experience is the most original contribution which I
21:39
can offer. He figured that for these
21:42
students who were focused on being effective in the pulpit,
21:45
his own proven methods were quite as weighty as any abstract
21:49
theory. I mean.
21:50
If you're learning how to win souls, it makes sense to learn
21:53
from the guy who is arguably the best soul winner alive.
21:57
His own success story was the most relevant case study they
21:59
could possibly have. He.
22:01
Compares himself to a father telling his life story to his
22:04
sons to enforce his maximum, or to an old soldier telling war
22:09
stories to the new recruits. He's asking for the same
22:12
license, the same permission to use his own life as the primary
22:16
textbook. It's not anecdote, it's field
22:19
tested wisdom. It makes.
22:20
Perfect sense why learn about battle from a theorist when you
22:23
have a general who has won the war sitting right in front of
22:26
you it. Bypasses all the abstract debate
22:28
and gets right to what works. And this focus on what works was
22:32
driven by Spurgeon's reading of his culture.
22:35
He saw the ages become intensely practical with the rise of
22:40
industry and science. People demanded reality.
22:43
They didn't have time for lofty, disconnected tradition.
22:46
And if. The age is practical, the
22:48
ministry has to be practical too, he said.
22:50
It needed to be not only orthodox and spiritual, but also
22:54
natural and utterance and practically shrewd natural.
22:57
And utterance. That means getting rid of the
22:59
artificial, stilted style of the old guard, the formal, high
23:03
flown language that had no connection to how people
23:05
actually lived and talked speak. Like a real person and
23:08
practically shrewd means being smart and how you apply the
23:11
truth, knowing how to engage with the world, how to make the
23:14
Bible relevant to daily life, how to spot spiritual nonsense
23:17
when you see it to get. There he knew he had to tear
23:19
some things down. He wanted to combat officialism,
23:22
mannerisms, pomposities and proprieties.
23:25
He saw these as dead relics from a past era that we're getting in
23:28
the way of the living truth. He.
23:30
Uses such strong, almost violent language to attack these things
23:34
he says officialism is sick unto death.
23:36
Life is the true heir to success.
23:39
He saw authenticity and real spiritual life as the forces
23:42
that would just naturally sweep away all that rigid, stale
23:45
tradition. And he.
23:46
Uses that great architectural image to describe the process he
23:50
talks about putting one's foot right through the lath and
23:53
plaster of old affectations to make room for the granite walls
23:57
of reality that. Image is just so perfect.
24:00
Lath and plaster. It's a cheap superficial
24:02
covering. It looks solid but there's
24:03
nothing behind it. It's easily broken, and that's
24:06
exactly what affectation is, a thin veneer over a spiritual
24:10
vacuum. And his argument was that the
24:12
church had to smash those flimsy coverings, the fake piety, the
24:16
unnatural language, the manufactured reverence, to get
24:20
back to the granite walls of reality, the solid, unbreakable
24:23
truth of the gospel. He was.
24:25
Absolutely convinced that truth in life must conquer, but only
24:28
when they're unentumbered with the grave clothes of
24:30
conventionalism and pretense. When the minister is real, when
24:34
the message is direct, the gospel has its best shot at
24:36
reaching the heart. And.
24:37
This demand for reality leads him to his final challenge about
24:41
the nature of the calling itself.
24:43
If the work is this real and this urgent, a minister's
24:47
response has to be total. The ministry, he says, demands a
24:50
man's all, and that all at its best, it's a.
24:52
Sobering and absolute statement. It leaves no room for half
24:56
measures. He says that to engage in it
24:57
half heartedly is an insult to God and man.
25:00
It requires total consecration, a focus, zeal and a real sense
25:04
of urgency. And that.
25:06
Urgency is tied directly to the fact that people are perishing.
25:09
Ministers must forsake slumber so that men shall not be allowed
25:13
to perish. The eternal stakes of the
25:15
mission have to dictate the minister's pace, his energy, his
25:18
entire life. When you.
25:19
Put it all together, you see this seamless system.
25:22
The theological purity of the doctrines of grace dictates the
25:25
message. The practical zeal for winning
25:27
souls dictates the mission. Faith in God's provision
25:30
dictates the financial model, and a ruthless authenticity
25:33
dictates the delivery. Every single piece is
25:36
integrated. It's a.
25:37
Serious system. It demands the absolute most
25:40
from a person, both in personal sacrifice and doctrinal trigger,
25:44
and every part of it is filtered through that one question.
25:48
Does this win souls Anything that didn't help answer yes to
25:52
that question. Whether it was poverty or
25:54
academic pride or theological fads, it was either removed as a
25:57
barrier or dismissed as a distraction.
26:00
And that unified vision is what makes Spurgeon's model so
26:03
compelling. He didn't just train preachers.
26:06
He was forging soul winners in the fire of the old Orthodox
26:10
faith, using the sharpest tools of practical, authentic
26:13
communication he could. So when?
26:15
You think about Spurgeon's demand for the granite walls of
26:17
reality and his call to kick through the laugh and plaster of
26:20
old affectations. It really leaves you with a
26:22
question, doesn't it? What's the modern laugh and
26:24
plaster that's covering up the gospel on our own day?
26:27
That's. The question what are?
26:28
The current conventionalisms or artificialities?
26:31
Is it intellectual pride? Is it a ministry driven by
26:34
metrics? Is a compromise doctrine?
26:36
What do we have to breakthrough to present the gospel with the
26:38
same authentic, shrewd reality that he called for?
26:43
That's a question I think for all of us to take into our own
26:45
churches and ministries a worthwhile.
26:46
Question indeed. If Spurgeon were walking among
26:49
us today, I have a feeling he'd be putting his foot through
26:52
quite a few walls.