by Michaela Classen/MBTS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (MBTS) – The Spurgeon Library at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has established a partnership with Reformation Heritage Books to republish Charles Spurgeon’s 63 volumes of sermons.
The partnership will produce five sets of volumes containing sermons preached by Charles Spurgeon in his church and originally published from 1855 to 1917. The first set was released in August 2024.
“I am thrilled at the Spurgeon Library’s new partnership with Reformation Heritage Books to republish Spurgeon’s sermons,” said President Jason Allen. “Reading Spurgeon’s sermons was immensely helpful for me when I was discerning my call to ministry and especially during my early years of vocational ministry. Even today, I am frequently reminded just how helpful Spurgeon’s sermons are for the modern Christian. And now, with the republication of his sermons, more people will have even greater access to the timeless preaching of the Prince of Preachers.”
The partnership grew out of a conversation between Geoff Chang, curator of the Spurgeon Library, and Joel Beeke, editorial director of Reformation Heritage Books and chancellor of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, during Beeke’s visit to the Spurgeon Library.
“Reformation Heritage Books is so good about publishing books that they believe are going to be useful for pastors, ministers, and theologians,” Chang said. “They have an amazing catalog of edifying books.”
Beeke noted his encouragement by the partnership, saying, “I am grateful for how the Lord has used the Spurgeon Library to preserve the legacy and writings of ‘the Prince of Preachers’ for future generations. I am also excited about the possibility of cross-fertilization between our ministries through our partnership. I trust that people who are already familiar with Reformation Heritage Books will grow to love the Spurgeon Library—and vice versa—and that the Lord will use our work to stimulate a new generation of pastors and laymen to read, study, and spread the writings of Spurgeon in the 21st century and beyond.”
Referring to the 63 sermon volumes as Spurgeon’s “magnum opus,” Chang shared, “For every pastor who loves Spurgeon, this is what they want—to own Spurgeon’s sermons.”
In 1855, while pastoring the New Park Street Chapel in London, Spurgeon began selecting one of his sermons each week to edit and print in a weekly pamphlet. He continued this practice throughout his ministry at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London.
Chang shared, “These sermons were weekly edification throughout the English-speaking world. If you were an evangelical living during Spurgeon’s lifetime, it was a staple. You wanted to read whatever that week’s sermon was, just like you might listen to a podcast today.”
At the end of each year, Spurgeon compiled the year’s weekly sermons into a single volume. After his death in 1892, his London publisher Passmore and Alabaster continued to publish annual volumes until 1917, selecting and editing transcriptions of sermons that Spurgeon had preached but not published in his lifetime. The 63 volumes were later republished but have since gone out of print.
Through the partnership between the Spurgeon Library and Reformation Heritage Books, Chang said, “The next generation of pastors will have access to these sermons.”
Noting the qualities that make Spurgeon’s sermons a valuable resource for the Church today, Chang said, “Spurgeon’s sermons are consistently edifying, devotionally rich, and theologically robust. Especially for pastors who are wanting to grow in their preaching, Spurgeon has become a kind of mentor.”
He went on to say, “The prime need for churches all over America is for pastors who are faithfully expositing the Word and revealing Christ to their people. I want to see these sermons on pastors’ shelves so that they have someone to mentor them in their preaching, their love for God’s Word, and their love for Christ, and of course, for that love to filter down to their people.”
The forthcoming volumes from Reformation Heritage Books will be released in five chronological boxed sets. The first set contains sermons published during Spurgeon’s ministry at the New Park Street Chapel. The remaining sets will contain sermons published during his ministry at Metropolitan Tabernacle and those published posthumously. Each volume will be scanned from original editions provided by the Spurgeon Library.
Chang shared that some of the original volumes included the hymns and Scripture readings from the church service along with each sermon. Speaking of the value of these features for readers today, Chang said, “A preacher reading the sermons can notice how Spurgeon organized his services around the theme of the sermon text.”
The new collection will also contain an index volume, enabling readers to reference sermons on specific subjects and Scripture texts.
Reflecting on the project’s goal to equip pastors to preach Christ to their congregations, Chang shared stories of believers who came to Christ through encountering Spurgeon’s sermons all over the world. “We live in a world that needs to hear the gospel and encounter Christ,” Chang said. “The hope is that, as we continue to get these sermons out, people might hear about Christ.”
He added, “The power is not in Spurgeon, but the power is in the message of the gospel and the way it was delivered from somebody who felt these things deeply. The ministry of Charles Spurgeon continues to have an impact, and we’re grateful to have this stewardship.”
The first boxed set, C. H. Spurgeon’s Sermons: Revival Years – New Park Street Pulpit 1855–1860, is now available for purchase.