Focusing on Charles H. Spurgeon’s life and ministry, Steve Lawson delivered Midwestern Seminary’s eighth annual Spurgeon Lectures on Biblical Preaching at Midwestern Seminary on Oct. 26-27.
Lawson, who is president of OnePassion Ministries and professor of preaching at The Master’s Seminary in Sun Valley, Calif., was also inducted by President Jason Allen as the school’s ninth Spurgeon Fellow.
Lawson provided an in-depth summary of Spurgeon’s life and ministry during the two-day lecture series, keying in on the Baptist preacher’s evangelistic approach in the pulpit as the presentations’ focal point.
“The Spurgeon Lectures have become a highly-anticipated event at Midwestern Seminary each fall semester,” Allen said. “Suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the lecture series is now in its eighth year. We’ve experienced God’s favor through the pastors and scholars who have delivered these lectures in years past. In the lectures, we typically have modeled for our seminary community what it means to preach biblical, expository messages from God’s Word.
“This year, Steve Lawson has provided a unique perspective of Spurgeon himself, helping us better understand who Spurgeon was as a man and preacher. Dr. Lawson, a gifted expository preacher in his own right, is also a well-respected church historian in our day. These two days spent under Dr. Lawson’s teaching have blessed and enriched our entire seminary community and have, once again, reminded us of the importance of and need for sound, biblical preaching in our local churches.”
Conferring Lawson as a Spurgeon Fellow, Allen recognized him “for his ongoing leadership in equipping church leaders, for his commitment to the expository preaching of God’s Word, and for his service to the broader evangelical community.”
“Charles Spurgeon as Preacher-Evangelist”
In his lectures, Lawson focused on Charles Spurgeon’s evangelistic preaching ministry.
“Summarizing Spurgeon’s life and ministry is like trying to wrap your arms around the Atlantic Ocean,” Lawson said. “If Martin Luther is the greatest Reformer God ever gave to the Church, if John Calvin is the greatest theologian, if Jonathan Edwards is the greatest pastor-philosopher, if George Whitefield is the greatest itinerate evangelist, then Charles Spurgeon has to be the greatest pastor-evangelist God has ever given to the Church.”
Lawson surveyed Spurgeon’s early life and ministry, including Spurgeon’s tenure as pastor at England’s most famous Reformed Baptist church, New Park Street Chapel in London.
The church experienced dramatic growth, Lawson said. Spurgeon routinely addressed overflowing crowds and was a primary figure in founding The Pastors’ College, a school for theological training that helped prepare over 900 men for pastoral ministry.
Still, Lawson contended, the crux of Spurgeon’s ministry was the content of his preaching. Spurgeon was revered as a gospel preacher, and his sermons were widely published.
Lawson attributed Spurgeon’s success in the pulpit to his insistence on evangelistic preaching. Lawson described Spurgeon’s approach under four primary headings: the priority of soul-winning in Spurgeon’s preaching ministry and Spurgeon’s biblical, historical, and personal persuasions to preach the gospel with fervency and passion.
Lawson’s second address focused on two additional “anchors” of Spurgeon’s preaching ministry, including Spurgeon’s personal mentor, George Whitefield, and Spurgeon’s ministerial call from God.
Lawson encouraged the Midwestern Seminary community to emulate Spurgeon’s desire for mentorship, saying, “Every one of you in this service today needs to be mentored by giants from church history. There will be a low ceiling over your head in spiritual growth and development if you are not walking with spiritual giants. That is the purpose of passages like Hebrews 11.
“You need spiritual giants to take you by the hand—their influence, godliness, piety, and doctrinal convictions being poured into you. Sit at the feet of these great men and women of the past and be discipled by them.”
Lawson closed the lecture with reflections on the power of Spurgeon’s preaching, which Lawson contended was the work of the Holy Spirit. Lawson related a testimony Spurgeon gave concerning the need for not one but two preachers to fill the pulpit every Sunday, an allusion to the preacher and the help he receives from the Spirit.
Following the completion of the second lecture, Lawson joined Allen for a Q&A session and luncheon in Midwestern Seminary’s Lower Chapel Banquet Hall.
Past guest presenters for the Spurgeon Lectures and, thus, Spurgeon Fellow inductees include John MacArthur, Alistair Begg, Al Mohler, H.B. Charles, Jr., Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, and D.A. Carson.
To view the Spurgeon Lectures, visit https://www.mbts.edu/category/spurgeon-lectures/
