Charles Spurgeon on the Ten Commandments

Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) is one of my favorite preachers of old. He really knew how to evangelize. In his lifetime he is known to have preached to over 10 million people. His audiences averaged about 10 thousand. He taught the Ten Commandments because he realized that they were timeless. He had 500 men praying in the boiler room during services so that the Holy Spirit might convict some to come to faith.

He was one of the boldest preachers and witnesses for Christ that has ever lived. He once said, "If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for."

The first four of the Ten Commandments were vertical, which related to God and mankind. The last six were related from mankind to each other. Put together they formed the first cross which pointed to Calvary.

Below are some of the most famous quotes from Charles Spurgeon on the Ten Commandments.

The Ten Commandments, like ten great pieces of cannon, are pointed at thee to-day, for thou hast broken all God's statutes, and lived in the daily neglect of all his commands.

The Ten Commands surround us on all sides, and encompass all the movements of body, soul, and spirit, comprising under their jurisdiction the whole range of moral action; they hold us under fire from all points, and nowhere are we out of range.

I find it sometimes profitable to myself to read the Ten Commandments, and to think over my sins against each one of them. What a list it is, and how it humbles you in the dust to read it over!

Read the Ten Commandments, and pause at each one, and confess that you have broken it either in thought, or word, or deed. Remember that by a glance we may commit adultery, by a thought we may be guilty of murder, by a desire we may steal.

The law of the Ten Commandments is strictly just; it is such a law as a man might make for himself if he studied his own best interests, and had wisdom enough to frame it aright. It is a perfect law, in which the interests of God and man are both studied; it is not a partial law, but impartial, complete, and covering all the circumstances of life. You could not take away one command out of the ten without spoiling both tables of the law, and you could not add another command without being guilty of making a superfluity. The law is holy, and just, and good; it is like the God who made it, it is a perfect law.

"I do not believe that any man can preach the gospel who does not preach the Law." Then he warns, "Lower the Law and you dim the light by which man perceives his guilt; this is a very serious loss to the sinner rather than a gain; for it lessens the likelihood of his conviction and conversion. I say you have deprived the gospel of its ablest auxiliary [its most powerful weapon] when you have set aside the Law. You have taken away from it the schoolmaster that is to bring men to Christ . . . They will never accept grace till they tremble before a just and holy Law. Therefore the Law serves a most necessary purpose, and it must not be removed from its place."

Spurgeon once showed some visitors around his church but he first took them to the boiler room in the basement and showed them 500 men that were to be praying during his sermon. They were praying that the Holy Spirit would allow the message to take root and effectually change them. What a prayer warrior he was and one of the greatest preachers of all time. He helped in the salvation of millions of souls.


Originally published on Jack Wellman Blogspot