Tom Carter

10 Steps to Teaching the Bible Like Charles Spurgeon

Virtually all the quotations in this article come from Spurgeon’s Commentary on Great Chapters of the Bible, compiled and edited by Tom Carter, Kregel Publications, 1998.

1. Point to Christ. Spurgeon said of his preaching, “Whatever text I choose, I always make a bee-line to Christ and his cross.”

Here’s what Spurgeon said while teaching on heaven in Revelation 22: “To be in heaven is to be with Christ. Heaven without Christ is existence without life, feasting without food, sight without light. It is a contradiction in terms. There cannot be a heaven without Christ. He is the sum total of bliss, the fountain from which heaven flows, the element of which heaven is composed. Christ is heaven, and heaven is Christ. The true Christian life, when we live near Christ, is the rough draft of our heavenly intimacy with him.”

And here is how Spurgeon pointed to Christ while speaking on Psalm 23:4: “When a shadow is cast across the road, you pass through it, hardly realizing it is there. You have your eyes fixed on the light up ahead. Believers are so comforted by the presence of Christ that they do not notice they are in the shadow of death. When they pass from one world to another, it is like going from England to Scotland. It is all one kingdom, and one sun shines in both lands. Christ can sympathize with his people, because he also walked through the valley of the shadow of death when he died on the cross. It is a great comfort to the sheep to know their shepherd has walked the gloomy way before them.”

2. Apply the Bible’s truths to people’s lives. While preaching on the creation account in Genesis 1, Spurgeon said,

“When God began to arrange the world in order, it was shrouded in darkness, and it had been reduced to emptiness. This is the condition of all people when God begins to deal with them in grace. They are formless and empty of all good things. They have no trace of faith, love, hope, or obedience. They are a spiritually confused mass of sinfulness in which everything is misplaced. The best of people in their natural condition are utterly ‘formless and empty.’

“The Spirit of God hovering over the waters was the first act of God in preparing this planet to be the home of human beings. Likewise, the first act of grace in the soul is for the Spirit of God to move within it. We don’t know how the Spirit of God comes there. We cannot tell how he acts, even as we cannot tell how the wind blows where it wants (John 3:8). But until the Spirit of God hovers over the soul, nothing is done toward its new creation in Christ Jesus. The best person mere morality ever produced is still ‘formless and empty’ if the Spirit of God has not come upon him. ‘Darkness was over the surface of the deep,’ but the Holy Spirit could work in the dark. In the same way, the dark depravity of human nature does not prevent the Spirit of God from making us brand new in Christ.”

After quoting John 14:24, in which Jesus said, “These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me,” Spurgeon added: “This is a wonderful denial of originality by Jesus. If anyone could have spoken his own words, it was surely the Christ of God. But he was a messenger, and he delivered his heavenly Father’s message. Since this is true of Christ, it is also true of us. We ought to be careful not to deliver our own thoughts and philosophies. If the Lord Jesus Christ did not do that, what fools his servants must be if they pretend to do it. If a teaching is not revealed in Scripture, it will not be taught by me, nor should it be received by you. Our only power is the Word of God. When we speak a message that is not ours but the Father’s we can feel safe about it and sure of its success. To some this may look like weakness, but it is real strength.”

After quoting Romans 8:18, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us,” Spurgeon commented: “Paul made our present sufferings a matter of simple arithmetic. He added them all up and saw what the total was. He was then about to calculate the equal sum of glory, but he gave it up and just said, ‘I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.’ Did they stand as one to a thousand? No, for then they would have been worthy of comparison. Even if our sufferings equaled one millionth of our future glory, they would have been worth comparing. But Paul saw that there was no proportion whatever to them. The sufferings were a single drop, and the glory as the boundless ocean.”

While teaching on Matthew 27:46, where Jesus cried from his cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Spurgeon said, “If you die without trusting in Christ, he will forsake you forever. If you ask, ‘Why have you forsaken me?’ he will answer, ‘Because you have forsaken me.’ But more awful than crying out, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ is to be apart from God and not care about it, to be living like some whom I am now addressing—without God and without hope—yet that never concerns them at all. I pity the agony of the man who cannot bear to be without his God. But at the same time, I can bless the Lord that he feels such agony as that, for that proves to me that his soul will never perish.”

3. Use vivid language.

Spurgeon said, “Many people reject the teaching of God’s wrath, but as for me, I have never been able to believe in a little hell, because I cannot find in the Bible any trace of a little heaven, a little Savior, a little sin, or a little God. I believe in drawing my theology to scale.”

One way to use vivid language is through the use of illustrations. Take them from life. While speaking on the Holy Spirit, Spurgeon told this story:

“A doctor once told a Christian there was no soul. He asked, ‘Did you ever see a soul, hear a soul, smell a soul, taste a soul, or feel a soul?’

“The Christian answered no to each question except the last, to which he replied, ‘Yes, I can feel my soul inside me.’

“‘Well, said the doctor, ‘you have four senses against you but only one for you.’

“‘Very well,’ said the Christian. ‘Did you ever see a pain, hear a pain, smell a pain, taste a pain, or feel a pain?’ The doctor answered just as the Christian had—the first four times no and the last time yes. The Christian replied, ‘You also have four senses against you but only one for you.’

“Still, the doctor answered that that was enough.

“So worldly people can say there is no Holy Spirit, because they cannot see him. But we can feel him, and that is enough to convince us he lives.”

The best illustrations come from your life. While speaking on Matthew 6:33, Spurgeon used these two illustrations:

“If you want a paper sack, you don’t need to go into a shop to buy it. If you buy anything, you will get the paper sack thrown into the bargain. So when you go to God seeking first ‘his kingdom and his righteousness,’ the other things in our lives, which are like paper sacks, will be given to us in the bargain.”

“When I decided to enter college, revolving in my mind the joys of scholarship and the hope of being something in the world, Jeremiah 45:5 came to my heart: ‘Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not.’ Then I thought of Matthew 6:33, ‘Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.’ In that moment I gave up everything. I renounced my worldly ambitions. The finest prospects melted into thin air, merely on the strength of those two passages. I believed that God would most certainly fulfill his purpose if I could obey his command.”

4. Expose the truths of the Bible. This is what expository teaching is all about. Consider the Bible a sponge, and squeeze all the juice you can out of it. Teach Scripture and not your own ideas. If I didn’t have the Bible to teach, I’d run out of things to say in a few weeks. But because of Scripture, I’ve served the same church for more than 44 years and can be fresh every week! Spurgeon was a master of exposing the truths of the Bible. This is why his teaching is still popular today. In Genesis 1, God did his creative acts, and then the writer comments, “And it was so.” Here’s a spiritual truth Spurgeon brings out of that statement:

“Note the end of verse 7: ‘And it was so.’ You will find these words six times in Genesis 1. Everything God ordains will happen. This is true of all his promises. Whatever he has said shall be fulfilled to you, and you shall one day say of it, ‘And it was so.’

“It is equally true of all God’s threats—what he has spoken shall surely be fulfilled. Then the ungodly will have to say, ‘And it was so.’ These words convey to us the great lesson that the word of God is sure to be followed by the deed of God. He speaks, and it is done.

“You were promised salvation, peace, and pardon, ‘and it was so.’ Your needs have come; have the supplies also come? I am sure you will say, ‘It was so.’ It is often strangely so, but it is always so. Martyrs have gone to the stake with the promise, ‘I am with you always, to the very end’ (Matthew 28:20), and it was so. Jesus keeps his word to the letter.”

While speaking on Isaiah 55:7, “Let the wicked forsake his ways, and the evil man his thoughts,” Spurgeon remarked, “A man says, ‘I won’t be hanged for my thoughts.’ Maybe not, but you can be condemned for them. No one has really forsaken the way of wickedness until he hates the very thought of wickedness. If your thoughts run after evil, your tongue will soon speak evil, and your hands will soon do evil. In the previous clause, God deals with the outward condition when he commands us to forsake our ways, but here he deals with the inward spirit when he commands us to forsake out thoughts. Conversion must show itself both in our hearts and our outward lives.”

Ephesians 1:4 says God chose us to make us holy and blameless in his sight. Here is Spurgeon’s comment on that verse:

“We were chosen not because we were holy but that we might ‘be holy.’ God’s purpose will not be fulfilled until we are holy. If you do not have a holy character, you cannot talk of being chosen in Christ. Holiness is the noblest goal for which we could have been elected. Isn’t it the highest of our hearts’ desires ‘to be holy and blameless in his sight’? Then why does any Christian quarrel with the teaching of election?

“I have met people who say they are perfectly holy, but I believe they are under a delusion. No doubt those who know them do not think they are perfect. We make no claims to be holy and blameless in our own sight, but through Christ, God has made us holy and blameless in his sight.

“It would be something to be ‘blameless’ before the devil, as Job was (Job 1:8-11). It would also be something to be blameless in the eyes of people who are ready to criticize us. But to be holy and blameless in God’s sight whose eyes read our thoughts is a far higher accomplishment. Only God can do this for us, and only through Christ. So our ‘praise’ (v. 3) belongs to him.”

5. Teach with a warfare mentality. When Spurgeon taught, he stood toe-to-toe with the devil and did battle for human souls. Here are three examples:

“There is a young pastor whom God is greatly blessing, who says he owes his fervency to a remark I made in a certain college that I visited. I was asked on the spur of the moment to speak a word to the students, and I said, ‘Well, brethren, I have nothing to say to you except this—whenever you see the devil, have a shot at him.’ The young man told me that he remembered that sentence and it had often been of service to him. So I say it again to every Christian here. Whenever you see the devil, have a shot at him. If you see sin, rebuke it. If you see doubt, try to remove it. If you see darkness, bring the light to shine on it.”

“The preaching of Christ is the whip that flogs the devil. The preaching of Christ is the thunderbolt, the sound of which makes all hell shake.”

“I am often charged with preaching doctrines that may do a lot of harm. I have my witnesses here to prove that the things I have preached have done a great deal of harm, but they have not done harm either to morality or to God’s church. The harm has been inflicted on Satan.”

I’m tempted to consider Bible teaching a partial fulfillment of my job description, but Spurgeon reminds me there is more to teaching God’s Word than meets the eye. It is invisible warfare with the prince of darkness.

6. Don’t just impart information, but be God’s tool of formation. This is the Bible’s purpose in our lives. The apostle the Corinthians told the Galatians he was “in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you” (Galatians 4:19). That’s the way Spurgeon felt. After quoting Hebrews 11:24, that “Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,” Spurgeon had this to say:

“No doubt that when Moses ‘refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,’ some told him he was acting unkindly to his adoptive mother. ‘She drew you out of the water. She saw that you were nursed and cared for. She has given you everything your heart has desired. But Moses’ faith made him do the right thing. Jesus said, ‘Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me’ (Matthew 10:37). Moses teaches us that we ought to abhor the thought of obtaining honor in this world by compromising our faith.

“Nothing but faith could have brought Moses to that decision. No one would choose to be mistreated, but to be mistreated along with the people of God is completely different. In Moses’ day, the followers of God were not in themselves lovable people. They were wretchedly poor, makers of bricks, and utterly spiritless. They were literally a herd of slaves, broken down, crushed, and depressed. Only faith could have led Moses to side with them. Moses teaches us to take our place with those who follow Christ and the Scriptures, even if they are not all we would like them to be. Moses left honor (v. 24), the pleasures of sin (v. 25), and now wealth, for he gave up the treasures of Egypt (v. 26). Faith makes us willing to part with everything for Christ. An unbeliever would not choose disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, but neither does an unbeliever live by faith.”

7. Teach in the here-and-now, not in the there-and-then.

Instead of teaching about what happened to Abraham or David or the Corinthians, teach what God wants to accomplish in the lives of your people, and use Abraham or David or the Corinthians as an example. No one you know loses sleep over Abraham or David or the Corinthians. But they do lose sleep over their marriages, children, jobs, their place in life, their effectiveness in life, their other relationships, and their finances. So don’t focus on Abraham or David or the Corinthians. In his book Mastering Contemporary Preaching Haddon Robinson writes, “Life-changing preaching does not talk to people about the Bible. Instead, it talks to people about themselves—their questions, hurts, fears, and struggles—from the Bible.” So when you’re doing a Bible study on a passage about Abraham, David, the Corinthians, or someone else, apply the truths from their lives directly to your people.

I once preached a sermon on Genesis 14 titled “Abraham—Man of War!” But people today don’t care if Abraham was a man of war. They don’t live in his world. If I could preach that message over, I’d title it, “You’re in the Army Now!” That’s more in the here-and-now.

While preaching on Hebrews 11, Spurgeon said:

“This is a very familiar chapter, but it is no less precious. In it we read of the heroes of faith. I have never read a chapter setting forth the heroes of unbelief. Unbelief is barren, impotent, a curse, a mere negation. But faith bears fruit, produces good works, and achieves marvels. If not for the faith that moved these people to accomplish such valiant deeds as described here in Hebrews 11, we might not have known anything about them. May you and I possess the same precious faith that we read about here in Hebrews 11. Without it we can neither enter heaven nor fight our way through this world.”

8. Teach prayerfully. Spurgeon prayed right in front of his listeners while he was teaching. While teaching from Matthew 6 about how the lilies of the field don’t worry, Spurgeon prayed:

“My Lord, I want to grow to your praise as the lily does. I want to be content to be what you make me and to wear what you give me.”

“Lord, help me to be free from worry. May I be so eager for heavenly things that I completely leave my earthly cares with you.”

9. Finish creatively. Some pastors are like tennis players. They look pretty good on the court, but they can’t win the only point that really counts—the last one. Someone once gave me this advice on teaching: “Tell them what you’re going to tell them. Tell them. Then tell them what you told them.” But repetition in a message makes people feel bored. Spurgeon challenges me to be more creative than that.

After preaching on Romans 8:31, which says, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Spurgeon concluded this way:

“There is an opposite of this, and it is true of some of you here. ‘If God is against you, who can be for you?’ If you are an enemy to God, your very blessings are curses to you. Your pleasures are only the prelude to your pains. Whether you have adversity or prosperity, as long as God is against you, you can never truly prosper. Take half an hour this afternoon to think this over: If God is against me, what then? What will become of me in this world and the next? How shall I die? How shall I face God on the Judgment Day? It is not an impossible ‘if’ but an ‘if’ that amounts to a certainty, I fear, in the case of many who are sitting in this house of worship today.”

When I preached on that same verse, I concluded by saying, “Since God is for you, shouldn’t you be for Him?” Then I suggested several specific things they could do to show their commitment to Christ.

After speaking on the theme of the Bible, my three action steps were: 1. Commit to reading the Bible through in a year. I told them they could do it at the rate of 15 minutes a day. 2. Invest in a study Bible. I showed them several. 3. Study the Bible in a group. I had our adult Sunday school teachers come up and share what they were doing in their classes, whom their classes were for, where they met, etc.

10. Saturate your heart and mind in Scripture. There is no shortcut to this. Spurgeon was a master at teaching the Bible, because the Bible mastered him and made him like the Master. Here is one final quotation:

“The words of Scripture thrill my soul as nothing else ever can. They carry me high and dash me down. They tear me in pieces and build me up. The words of God have more power over me than David’s fingers had over his harp strings. Is it not so with you?”