Lectures to My Students

"I do believe in my heart that there may be as much holiness in a laugh as in a cry; and that, sometimes, to laugh is the better thing of the two, for I may weep, and be murmuring, and repining, and thinking all sorts of bitter thoughts against God; while, at another time, I may laugh the laugh of sarcasm against sin, and so evince a holy earnestness in the defense of the truth. I do not know why ridicule is to be given up to Satan as a weapon to be used against us, and not to be employed by us as a weapon against him. I will venture to affirm that the Reformation owed almost as much to the sense of the ridiculous in human nature as to anything else, and that those humorous squibs and caricatures, that were issued by the friends of Luther, did more to open the eyes of Germany to the abominations of the priesthood than the more solid and ponderous arguments against Romanism. I know no reason why we should not, on suitable occasions, try the same style of reasoning. 'It is a dangerous weapon,' it will be said, 'and many men will cut their fingers with it.' Well, that is their own look-out; but I do not know why we should be so particular about their cutting their fingers if they can, at the same time, cut the throat of sin, and do serious damage to the great adversary of souls." From Charles Spurgeon's Lectures to My Students Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) was an English Baptist minister, famous as the Prince of Preachers. One of the most eloquent men of his day, Spurgeon started charities, fought against liberalism, and endured depression with laughter and joy. He was one of those rare theologians who lived a life of sacrifice while also enjoying good food and a fine cigar. However, the center of Spurgeon's ministry was preaching the Gospel and changing hearts and these lectures for aspiring pastors never forgets the center of the ministry: love for Christ and for the lost. "You will surely laugh out loud as you read Spurgeon. And just as surely, you will find your sin skewered, your faith reinforced, and your wisdom nourished. But there is something more Spurgeon was a man who embodied the truth that to be in Christ means to be made ever more roundly human, more fully alive.... To read Spurgeon is to catch that fire and become more vivid."From Michael Reeves's Introduction"--