The faithful proclamation of the Gospel was front and centre throughout Spurgeon’s ministry. Many of sermons that are reproduced by Bath Road Baptist Church for distribution around the world focus on the gospel. As Michael Haykin states, “He [Spurgeon] was determined that when he preached it would be the Lord Jesus who was pre-eminently exalted in his sermons” (Life & Legacy, p. 8).
In a sermon entitled “Soul Winning” (preached in 1869) based on Proverbs 11:30 (“He that winneth souls is wise”), Spurgeon drew men and women to worship and adore the living God. He says, “Even if I were utterly selfish, and had no care for anything but my own happiness, I would choose, if I might, under God, to be a soul-winner, for never did I know perfect, overflowing, unutterable happiness of the purest and most ennobling order, till I first heard of one who had sought and found a Saviour through my means. I recollect the thrill of joy which went through me! Oh! The joy of knowing that a sinner once at enmity has been reconciled to God, by the Holy Spirit, through the words spoken by our feeble lips” (ibid., p. 9).
The Word of God was central to Spurgeon’s sermons. He said, in 1891, “Bible hearers, when they hear indeed, come to be Bible lovers” (ibid.). Interestingly, Spurgeon never preached a series of sermons from any book of the Bible, as he was afraid that that style of preaching might quench the Spirit. He “chose the text for his Sunday morning sermon on the previous evening, the Sunday evening sermon was generally outlined on Sunday afternoon” (ibid.).
