Come Ye Children: Practical Help telling Children about Jesus

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

'A thankless task.' 'A waste of time.' Two of the ways worn out people have described the Christian training of children. You don't have to feel that way! In this book you will find encouragement, practical help and biblical principles.
You will also go away with a new vision of the importance of the work in which you are involved. C.H Spurgeon shows us that telling young people about Jesus is the most important task given to anyone, be they parent, teacher or youth leader.

Genres: Parenting, Christian, Nonfiction, Theology, Christian Living, Faith, Christianity

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Charles 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.

Reviews

[Samuel G. Parkison · Rating 5 out of 5]

So convicting and encouraging. This should be required reading for every Baptist pastor or parent.

[Tori Freeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

“May you strive for the grandest of all ends, the salvation of immortal souls.”

“Your high calling is to be the means, in the hands of God, or bringing life from Heaven to dead souls. Resurrection, then, is our aim! To raise the dead is our mission!”

“You are sent into the world not to do the things which are possible to man, but those impossibilities which God worketh by His Spirit, by the means of His believing people. You are to work miracles, to do marvels. You are not, therefore, to look upon the restoration of these dead children, which in God’s name you are called to bring about, as being a thing unlikely or difficult when you remember who it is that works by your feeble instrumentality.”

What a fantastic, humbling, encouraging, beautiful book. Every Christian parent should add to their “MUST read” list.

[Emily Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely will keep this on my shelf and read again someday as a parent Lord willing! 😊

[Briley Lagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sorry, @beccaharris but just now finishing my assigned reading! 🙈

Come Ye Children helped revive my passion for students ministry right when I needed it to finish residency strong. It gave me a more robust perspective on how important it is to teach our youth about Christ, no matter how young they are.

Being a believer from a very young age, it was also an incredible reminder as to what a gift it is to know Jesus your entire life <3

[Becca Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short read but one of the most encouraging books on training and teaching kids that I have ever read!

[Robin Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remember the days when you were a child, running around with apparently an unlimited supply of energy with our young minds jumping around from one thing to another to for an extended period of time one would think we never could focus on anything for an extended period of time. Yet, at the same time, our young minds absorbed things like a sponge.
If we came from a Christian home, our young minds enthralled by the biblical stories we heard had been able to comprehend biblical teachings which our parents might have had a difficult time in comprehending since they’ve probably forgotten what they’d been taught as a child.
According to scripture, you as a parent have commanded several times by the Lord to teach your children; and a few examples can be found be Deuteronomy 4:9-10, 6:7, Joshua 4:22, and Proverbs 22:6. And to do so is for the Lord should be looked as an honor to obey Him as you’re answering the higher calling he’s given you.
However, the truth be said, many parents are unfortunately ill-equipped to adequately answer this calling which the Lord has given them, and must seek some guidance from a qualified mentor. Luckily for them there’s Charles H, Spurgeon of Blessed Memory [1834-1892] who this book, which is still being published today with an updated, modern English text, and a testament to the worthiness of what the book has to offer well over a hundred years later.
Come Ye Children, is also a testament for the Lord, for He too has taken under the task of promising to teach His children as well; and as proof, you just need to check out the scriptural word which can be found in Psalm 132:12, Isaiah 54:13, and Psalm 34:11.
And although the author is no longer alive to see this, I’ve given his book the 5 STARS this reviewer is giving this book today.

[Philip Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

"He who teaches a class in a Sabbath school has earned a good degree. I had rather receive the title of SST than MA, BA, or any other honour that ever was conferred upon men." - Spurgeon.

Sweet little book talking about the dignity and importance of teaching the gospel to children, as well as some practical things to keep in mind when doing so.

[Anete Ābola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book for every parent, Sunday school teacher, pastor and grandparent.
Very encouraging and inspirational.
It will help you keep in mind the most important thing: to preach the gospel, to have conversation as the aim and nothing else, to be diligent in teaching about God and His Word.

[Cagefighter18 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow this was a surprisingly solid book on the outreach to children by the church, and the view the church should have towards them. I mostly had already encountered and agreed with Spurgeon’s points, but he put them much more clearly than I could. Very winsome as well.

[Johanna Florez · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't find much useful in this book. The chapters seemed both disjointed and repetitive, tossing in Biblical examples of children of faith without actually enhancing the thesis or practical advice in any way. It could have been a much shorter pamphlet and covered all the same ideas.

[Timothy Decker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tremendous!

[Amanda Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a wonderful book. Spurgeon's warmth and passion are evident and beautiful. Am using some of his thoughts to guide an upcoming Sunday-school training.

[Kellyanne Higgins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate his consideration of children as young believers and taking them seriously.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm pretty sure any book written by C.H. Spurgeon is worth your time. This book did not disappoint. Spurgeon offers encouragement and advice when it comes to teaching children about Jesus. Whether you are a parent or a Sunday school teacher-- or aunt, uncle etc you can have a powerful impact on a child's spiritual life. Spurgeon reminds us that ultimately whether the child chooses to know Christ is in Gods hands, we are called to be faithful to pray for the child and teach them diligently about the saving work of Jesus death on the cross for our sins, the gospel.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring, lofty, and practical are three words I would use to describe this book. It is beautifully written with intense heart. Spurgeon brilliantly uses Psalm 34 to weave a warm, convincing plea to reach children with the gospel.
I read it years ago, and I’m glad I read it again. It is addressed to parents and teachers, but that really means everyone. We all have contact with children and are teaching them something. This book will inspire you to think Biblically about children and about their need to be born again!

[Becky Pliego · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely a must read for parents, teachers, and pastors.

Read it first in 2009 and since then, I have returned to visit it several times.

I shared some quotes on my blog:

http://www.beckypliego.com/2012/10/co...

[Alan Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Prince of Preachers tells, in startling clarity, why ministry to children should be foremost in a preacher's mind. It is a true antidote to delusions of grandeur.

[Tracy]

My all time favorite read on the subject of how to commingle children with theology. His profound words are just as true and relevant today as when he first wrote them.

[Nick Dyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book and the simple and very important truths.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short but very helpful.

[Rachel Amos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend this to any Christian. The encouragement and exhortation found within these pages is immeasurable for me. This is one I will read again and again and again.

[e · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brief and bracing exhortation to do right by your kids before the Lord.

[Gwendolyn Harmon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read for any parent or Sunday School worker. It is a scriptural defense of the importance of children to God and of their ability to learn and understand truth from the Bible.

[Reagan Bon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book with an abundance of encouragement for Sunday school teachers and parents of young children.

[Bobby Bonser · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be read at least by everyone who works in children's ministry, and every parent. Besides this audience, I would say that every church member would benefit from reading it. Spurgeon compellingly argues that teaching children is not "second class" work, or work that we put our most inexperienced or youthful/exciting teachers. Teaching children can and in many ways should be looked at as a higher calling, with more gravity, more importance for pinpointed gospel-focused truth.

"Children's ministry" should never be looked at as a training ground for "real ministry." Children's ministry is vital, impactful, important, and God uses it to call children to Himself.

Here are some of my favorite quotes/thoughts from Spurgeon on the matter:

"If there is any doctrine too difficult for a child, it is rather the fault of the teacher's conception of it than of the child's power to receive it, provided that child really converted to God. It is ours to make doctrine simple; this is to be a main part of our work."

"I commend to you the study of instructive books, but above all I commend the study of Christ. Let Him be your library. Get near to Jesus. An hours communion with Jesus is the best preparation for teaching either the young or the old."

Speaking on praying for and loving the children we teach. It is not merely a pedagogical exercise, these are real souls, and real people for us to know and Love: "Love is the grandest preparation for the ministry, whether exercises in the congregation or in the class. Love, and then feed. If thou lovest, feed. If thou dost not love, then wait until the Lord hath quickened thee, and lay not thy unhallowed hand to this sacred service."

Speaking on using entertainment instead of focusing on teaching: "I see no use in fiddles or tambourines; neither lambs nor sheep can be fed in brass bands. There must be doctrine, solid, sound, gospel doctrine to constitute real feeding."

To parents: "Let no Christian parents fall into the delusion that the Sunday School is intended to ease them of their personal duties. The first and most natural condition of things is for Christian parents to train up their own children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."

"Let our teaching be more and more scriptural. Fret not if our classes forget what we say, but pray them to remember what the Lord says."

"Your Sunday Schools are admirable, but what is their purpose if you do not teach the gospel to them? You get children together and keep them quiet for and hour and a half, and then send them home; buy what is the good of it? It may bring some quiet to their fathers and mothers, and that is, perhaps, why they send them to the school; but all the real good lies in what is taught the children. The most fundamental truth should be made most prominent; and what is this but the cross...children need the gospel, the whole gospel, the unadulterated gospel; they ought to have it, and I'd they are taught of the Spirit of God they are as capable of receiving it as persons I'm their ripe years."


Such a rich and profound book and it completely changed the way I look at children's ministry without and outside of the church!

[Abbey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every Christian should read and consider the wisdom and exhortation found in this book. Especially parents or those who hope to be parents someday- but genuinely all believers within the church would benefit greatly.
It’s a short book, chock full of scripture and poignant insights.
(I have the Aneko press version in modern English)

Much of children’s ministry in today’s church serves as a fun daycare while parents listen to the sermon- this is a grievous mistake when the heart of a child is rich soil and they are hungry to learn and know. When faith won’t be smothered by unyeilding logic.
On the other hand when a child makes a profession of faith and has sat under solid teaching, the temptation is skepticism. We look at their faith with a raised brow and bated breath- without saying it we wait for “time to tell”.
Spurgeon addresses here God’s heart for children, the weight of their need and how to love and lead them well.

“How the blessed Savior turns the tables and says, “Don’t say the child cannot come till he is like a man, but know that you cannot come till you are like him.”

“One of the first objectives of the Sunday school should be to teach the children great reverence for these holy writings…”

“…we must first be taught of God ourselves, and then we must ask God to use us to teach…”

[Erika · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book for work. It was written by a minister who was famous for preaching in London to 10,000 people at a time. The idea of the book is great—how do we teach children about God? But, I strongly disliked reading a book written in the 1850s or 1860s. The language was clunky and although they removed most of the “thees and thous”, it was still not updated language. I do feel too that times have changed in the 150+ years since the book was written. The ideas and doctrine are sound. The biblical passages mentioned were mostly easy to connect with teaching young children, but I would not recommend it for those teaching Christian preschool today. I did mark a few good pages, but scoffed more than I appreciated.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read a number of books on child evangelism, but none of them rise to the level of this classic work by Charles Spurgeon. He does not bow to the easy believism of the modern church, but neither does he embrace the skepticism that children do not have the maturity to follow Christ. Instead, he focuses on God's sovereign saving grace that brings life to children dead in their sins. He encourages teachers and workers to look for the slightest signs of God's regenerating power, and then to be grateful for the new life that only God can impart. If you're wanting an excellent book on how to evangelize children Biblically, look no further than this one. I highly recommend it.

[Lindsay Duffy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh, it's OK. For a Christian parenting book, this only focuses on the spiritual side of raising children. Teach them about God and the Bible at an early age. Feels really obvious. The book also feels very tedious since Spurgeon decided to write over a hundred pages (this could have been a decent 50-page booklet). If you want a good Christian parenting book, I recommend "Parenting With Words Of Grace."

[Jessica Tanoesoedibjo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always love Spurgeon’s writings but this one I would greatly commend: how a man of stature and knowledge so values the training up of children…is of great comfort and reminding of the role and privilege a parent has in being given the honor and trust of raising the little ones whom the Lord so treasures. The task seems simple, unseen: yet beautiful is the work of those who prayerfully lead children in the way of the Lord.