What do you think?
Rate this book
New Park Street Pulpit Volume 1 & 2
2 Book Original and Completely Unabridged Issued with a dj
834 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
2 people are currently reading
7 people want to read
About the author
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
5,987 books1,612 followersCharles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) was England's best-known preacher for most of the second half of the nineteenth century. In 1854, just four years after his conversion, Spurgeon, then only 20, became pastor of London's famed New Park Street Church (formerly pastored by the famous Baptist theologian, John Gill). The congregation quickly outgrew their building, moved to Exeter Hall, then to Surrey Music Hall. In these venues, Spurgeon frequently preached to audiences numbering more than 10,000—all in the days before electronic amplification. In 1861, the congregation moved permanently to the newly constructed Metropolitan Tabernacle.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 1, 2019
This is a review for volume 2 of Spurgeon's New Park Street Pulpit (for those interested, I reviewed volume 1 separately several months ago. You can read it here). This volume includes sermons No. 54-106, preached from December 2, 1855 - December 1856.
A number of things caught my attention in this second volume:
(1) Spurgeon preached quite a few powerful sermons from the Old Testament, related to Israel's deliverance from Egypt and the Day of Atonement. See No. 55, "The Exodus," No. 72, "Israel at the Red Sea," and No. 95, "The Day of Atonement."
(2) Several messages develop aspects of Spurgeon's understanding of covenant theology. See No. 69, "The Allegories of Sarah and Hagar," No. 93, "God in the Covenant," and No. 103, "Christ in the Covenant." Spurgeon definitely believed in a covenant of works and covenant of grace and that the Christian is not under the law, but under grace. Concerning the law, Spurgeon said, "The law is, so to speak, Jesus Christ's dog, to go after his sheep and bring them to the shepherd." He taught that the law "is not above a Christian - it is under a Christian." "Some men," Spurgeon said, "hold God's law like a rod in terrorem, over Christians, and say, 'if you sin you will be punished with it.' It is not so. The law is under a Christian; it is for him to walk on, to be his guide, his rule, his pattern." It seems, then, that Spurgeon, with Luther, understood the preparatory work of the law in conversion (though he thought the Puritans perhaps went too far with this, p. 417), and also accepted Calvin's "third use of the law."
(3) 1856 was the year of the Surrey Gardens Music Hall disaster, when on October 19 someone caused a panic by yelling "Fire!." Eight people were killed and dozens more injured. Spurgeon was utterly devastated and out of the pulpit for several weeks. Some of his friends thought he never fully recovered from the duress. When he returned to the pulpit, he preached No. 101, "The Exaltation of Christ." The first words are, "I almost regret this morning that I have ventured to occupy this pulpit, because I feel utterly unable to preach to you for your profit" (p. 377). The sermon itself is, of course, excellent. For more on this episode - and its lasting impact on Spurgeon's life - see the biographies.
(4) Some of Spurgeon's idiosyncrasies come through. For example, he didn't believe in preaching funeral sermons - at least at this point in his ministry (I'm curious about whether this changed). See p. 19. He had strong beliefs about the eternal destiny of all suicides (p. 323). He was critical of Arminian revivalism (p. 40, 76). He strongly believed that the fire in hell is real (p. 104) - and, in fact, continued to preach on hell in ways I've only seen elsewhere in Bunyan and Edwards. He thought infant baptism was a sin (p. 204). He believed in what he called the "doctrine of impulse," i.e. in the very personal leading of the Spirit through impressions on one's mind (p.21, 267). He wasn't afraid to retract a statement or opinion he once held, but came to believe was wrong (p. 191). He had a penchant for quoting (or paraphrasing) Shakespeare - but without giving credit! (p. 105, 237, 252, 388). He disagreed with John Owen's and John Gill's interpretations of Hebrews 6 and held a view somewhat rare: he believed in perseverance and denied that a Christian could lose their salvation, yet thought the list in Hebrews 6:4-5 was descriptive of true believers, not false professors. The key for Spurgeon was understanding the nature and purpose of biblical warnings as a means of helping believers persevere. See No. 75, "Final Perseverance," and especially pages 175-176. Spurgeon anticipates by over 100 years the carefully nuanced views of Thomas Schreiner and Ardel Caneday, expounded in their book "The Race Set Before Us: A Biblical Theology of Perseverance and Assurance." Spurgeon also had a very strong commitment to helping the poor. See especially No. 99, "The Duty of Remembering the Poor."
(5) One more interesting note: in a sermon that reveals Spurgeon's development as a preacher, he talks of how surprised he was to note the frequency with which the apostle's preached on the resurrection. ”Surprised I was when I discovered that the very staple of the preaching of the apostles was the resurrection of the dead. I found myself to have been preaching the doctrine of the grace of God, to have been upholding free election, to have been leading the people of God as well as I was enabled into the deep things of his word; but I was surprised to find that I had not been copying the apostolic fashion half as nearly as I might have done" (p. 97). What follows is one of the longest sermons in this volume, No. 66-67, "The Resurrection of the Dead."
One of my favorite quotations from this volume comes from No. 100, "The Comer's Conflict with Satan." Spurgeon says, "But remember, sinner, it is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee—it is Christ; it is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee—it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that is the instrument—it is Christ’s blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to thy hand with which thou art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to thy hope, but to Christ, the source of thy hope; look not to thy faith, but to Christ, the author and finisher of thy faith; and if thou dost that, ten thousand devils cannot throw thee down..." (p. 375).
So much more could be said. These sermons instruct, convict, frighten, comfort, encourage, and delight. I highly recommend them. Now, on to volume 3!
A number of things caught my attention in this second volume:
(1) Spurgeon preached quite a few powerful sermons from the Old Testament, related to Israel's deliverance from Egypt and the Day of Atonement. See No. 55, "The Exodus," No. 72, "Israel at the Red Sea," and No. 95, "The Day of Atonement."
(2) Several messages develop aspects of Spurgeon's understanding of covenant theology. See No. 69, "The Allegories of Sarah and Hagar," No. 93, "God in the Covenant," and No. 103, "Christ in the Covenant." Spurgeon definitely believed in a covenant of works and covenant of grace and that the Christian is not under the law, but under grace. Concerning the law, Spurgeon said, "The law is, so to speak, Jesus Christ's dog, to go after his sheep and bring them to the shepherd." He taught that the law "is not above a Christian - it is under a Christian." "Some men," Spurgeon said, "hold God's law like a rod in terrorem, over Christians, and say, 'if you sin you will be punished with it.' It is not so. The law is under a Christian; it is for him to walk on, to be his guide, his rule, his pattern." It seems, then, that Spurgeon, with Luther, understood the preparatory work of the law in conversion (though he thought the Puritans perhaps went too far with this, p. 417), and also accepted Calvin's "third use of the law."
(3) 1856 was the year of the Surrey Gardens Music Hall disaster, when on October 19 someone caused a panic by yelling "Fire!." Eight people were killed and dozens more injured. Spurgeon was utterly devastated and out of the pulpit for several weeks. Some of his friends thought he never fully recovered from the duress. When he returned to the pulpit, he preached No. 101, "The Exaltation of Christ." The first words are, "I almost regret this morning that I have ventured to occupy this pulpit, because I feel utterly unable to preach to you for your profit" (p. 377). The sermon itself is, of course, excellent. For more on this episode - and its lasting impact on Spurgeon's life - see the biographies.
(4) Some of Spurgeon's idiosyncrasies come through. For example, he didn't believe in preaching funeral sermons - at least at this point in his ministry (I'm curious about whether this changed). See p. 19. He had strong beliefs about the eternal destiny of all suicides (p. 323). He was critical of Arminian revivalism (p. 40, 76). He strongly believed that the fire in hell is real (p. 104) - and, in fact, continued to preach on hell in ways I've only seen elsewhere in Bunyan and Edwards. He thought infant baptism was a sin (p. 204). He believed in what he called the "doctrine of impulse," i.e. in the very personal leading of the Spirit through impressions on one's mind (p.21, 267). He wasn't afraid to retract a statement or opinion he once held, but came to believe was wrong (p. 191). He had a penchant for quoting (or paraphrasing) Shakespeare - but without giving credit! (p. 105, 237, 252, 388). He disagreed with John Owen's and John Gill's interpretations of Hebrews 6 and held a view somewhat rare: he believed in perseverance and denied that a Christian could lose their salvation, yet thought the list in Hebrews 6:4-5 was descriptive of true believers, not false professors. The key for Spurgeon was understanding the nature and purpose of biblical warnings as a means of helping believers persevere. See No. 75, "Final Perseverance," and especially pages 175-176. Spurgeon anticipates by over 100 years the carefully nuanced views of Thomas Schreiner and Ardel Caneday, expounded in their book "The Race Set Before Us: A Biblical Theology of Perseverance and Assurance." Spurgeon also had a very strong commitment to helping the poor. See especially No. 99, "The Duty of Remembering the Poor."
(5) One more interesting note: in a sermon that reveals Spurgeon's development as a preacher, he talks of how surprised he was to note the frequency with which the apostle's preached on the resurrection. ”Surprised I was when I discovered that the very staple of the preaching of the apostles was the resurrection of the dead. I found myself to have been preaching the doctrine of the grace of God, to have been upholding free election, to have been leading the people of God as well as I was enabled into the deep things of his word; but I was surprised to find that I had not been copying the apostolic fashion half as nearly as I might have done" (p. 97). What follows is one of the longest sermons in this volume, No. 66-67, "The Resurrection of the Dead."
One of my favorite quotations from this volume comes from No. 100, "The Comer's Conflict with Satan." Spurgeon says, "But remember, sinner, it is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee—it is Christ; it is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee—it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that is the instrument—it is Christ’s blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to thy hand with which thou art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to thy hope, but to Christ, the source of thy hope; look not to thy faith, but to Christ, the author and finisher of thy faith; and if thou dost that, ten thousand devils cannot throw thee down..." (p. 375).
So much more could be said. These sermons instruct, convict, frighten, comfort, encourage, and delight. I highly recommend them. Now, on to volume 3!
Displaying 1 of 1 review